Aromatic Flesh

“Heh.” The man in the dark long robe raised his head as his lips finally curved up in a faint smile before taking out another deep drag from the cigarette he had taken out of his pocket. It was for the best that they left; now, no one would vie for his top position.

But still, why was there a tinge of loneliness in the air?

That scoundrel Qian YunSheng, how could one man deserve all the luck and good deeds in the world?

At this moment, Wen ChuanXi promised himself that in the future, he would also have a wealthy young lady chasing after him everywhere!

In the late autumn of 1924, little did they know that their paths would diverge, and it would take them twenty-five long years to finally meet again.

Amidst the falling tree leaves and the faint morning light, Gu MingYue and Qian YunSheng stepped onto the train bound for the capital – NanJing.

Being a renowned actor, Qian YunSheng had amassed a significant amount of savings. Though most of his earnings were deposited in the bank, the hastily collected belongings from his home were worth around 2000 yuan¹. Together with the money and jewellery in Gu MingYue’s bag, the two of them need not worry about their expenses even if they lived a simple and secluded life.

The train’s long whistle echoed mournfully, and the carriage gently swayed as Gu MingYue, seated in the third-class seat, stole glances out the window. The morning mist lingered like a delicate veil, shrouding the buildings of ShangHai.

She wrapped a red-knitted shawl around her shoulders, and a wide-brimmed grey-blue hat concealed most of her face, leaving only her dainty chin and rosy lips exposed. However, the small patch of fair and radiant skin was enough to captivate anyone’s imagination.

“Get some rest.” Qian YunSheng gently patted Gu MingYue’s shoulder before pulling her into his embrace. He draped a thick woollen scarf over both of them, keeping the damp chill at bay, while Gu MingYue leaned comfortably against Qian YunSheng’s neck, finding a sense of security in this position, while effectively concealing her face.

After the JiangSu-ZheJiang War, droves of refugees sought refuge in ShangHai with many forced to endure hunger and cold on the streets. Though Gu MingYue didn’t fully grasp the historical context of this world, she knew from the original novel that this was not the first, nor would it be the last, time of turmoil and war in those tumultuous years.

The chaotic state of the country gave rise to a group of generals similar to Xue HeZe’s father, while the suffering fell upon the common people.

As the train left ShangHai, Gu MingYue sighed deeply. She was completely clueless about the encounters of Qian YunSheng and Xue HeZe with the bandits, and as the most important cannon fodder in this story, Xue HeZe had surprisingly little presence in the narrative because she had died way before the male protagonist met the female protagonist. And ever since the system encountered the unknown attack in the previous mission world, some functions had remained unrepaired, leaving Gu MingYue with limited and unclear information about the original plot.

As she leaned against his embrace, Gu MingYue heard the steady and gentle rhythm of the man’s breathing in her ears. Once the train departed from Shanghai, Qian YunSheng visibly relaxed, allowing himself to temporarily release the tension that had burdened him. But as his body eased, fatigue quickly took its toll, and he drifted into a deep slumber while holding the soft and warm woman tightly.

Gu MingYue had not slept all night, but now as she closed her eyes, sleep eluded her. The train carriage was spacious, yet only a few people occupied it. The journey from ShangHai to NanJing would last about ten hours, during which she needed to devise a plan to deal with the impending encounter with the bandits.

Having gone through various mission worlds, she gradually noticed the subtle connections that existed between different mission interfaces. These intricate links spanned across time and space, interconnecting the past, present, and future of diverse mission worlds. Thus far, every mission she embarked on seemed to take place in a similar location within the vast continent inhabited by the descendants of Yan and Huang.

Gu MingYue’s world was intricately woven from the pages of a novel, and every mission she entered was a manifestation of different novel story settings. Whether it was an ancient civilization or a technologically advanced modern society, each mission world was molded within a specific historical and technological framework. The modern mission worlds and post-apocalyptic mission worlds shared striking resemblances in terms of geography, cultural customs, and technological progress. Reflecting on her mission experiences, Gu MingYue ventured a bold hypothesis: all these mission worlds were interconnected through a central reference world line, spanning across ages and embracing all conceivable historical developments of human society. Within this reference line, multiple branches emerged, each parallel and linked to the reference world, yet standing independently. Based on this concept, the novel-inspired mission worlds originated from specific parallel branches, branching out to form diverse and distinct realms.

In a way, her speculation had come remarkably close to uncovering the truth of the mission worlds. However, what she hadn’t foreseen was that the reference world line was not singular; it also branched off into a parallel auxiliary line. This auxiliary line gave birth to countless wondrous and fantastical mission worlds, each with its own unique and unimaginable future.

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