It was twilight, the sun hadn’t risen yet but the sky was illuminated. He lay on the ground, caked by mud and drenched by water.

His eyelids twitched and he slowly woke up. Raising his head, he sat up and looked at the scenery in front of him. He felt strangely awake even though it felt as though he was asleep for a long time. His ocean-blue eyes looked at the darkened sky, the muddied ground, and himself.

“Where…?” the boy murmured to himself. He looked at his small hands which were supporting his body. Slowly standing up, he surveyed himself.

“This is…me?” the boy felt an unfamiliar sensation as though he was missing something.

He was covered in mud and it felt dirty, but where was he going to wash up? He looked around and saw that he was at the foot of a small hill. As he looked at the peak, something about it felt familiar, almost nostalgic. Resolving himself, he walked step by step up the hill.

After walking a bit stumbled, he felt as though his body was rusty. How long have I been asleep?

After a bit of walking, he reached the top. A house. It was a house that felt familiar to him.

“Is this my house?” he questioned but no one was there to answer him. He saw an open window but decided not to jump in. It would become awkward if he was caught sneaking into someone’s house. So, he walked around until he found a backdoor.

And to his surprise, there was a well! He rushed to the well and drew a pail of water. But then he remembered something crucial, he didn’t have a clean set of clothes! He turned back to the house and bit his lips. Maybe the residents would be kind enough to lend him some.

“Hello? Is anyone home?” He knocked on the backdoor.

After waiting a while, he thought, is there really no one here? Would it be rude to intrude?

He thought for a while before pushing the door. It was an emergency, it couldn’t be helped.

“Pardon my intrusion!” he politely informed. He entered the house and looked around. The house was strangely quiet and what was that pungent smell? But more than that, why does this house feel so familiar?

He instinctively walked around the house. As he walked past closed door after door, he finally found an open one. Peering inside, the room was trashed but it had a slight fragrance in the air. The decorations on the floor and ripped bed covers indicated that this was a girl’s room.

I shouldn’t head inside, he shook his head. He had manners, what kind of person would he be if he just barged inside a girl’s room without permission? But that thought went to the back of his mind when he saw a mirror.

I want to see what I look like… He hastily crept in and stood in front of the mirror. The image in front of him surprised him. Rubbing and pinching every inch of his face, he asked, “Is this me?”

He was just too handsome and pleasing to look at. I should be a ladies' man, right? But would a ladies' man be sleeping in the mud? I should ask one sometimes.

Then he noticed something else. “What in the…?” he tilted his head upwards. There was a long mark on his neck. It was blood-red in color. At first, he thought that he was bleeding but after feeling no pain, he calmed down. Touching the mark, he was surprised! The blood-red mark was his skin.

“Why does it look like someone slit my neck?” he continued to look at the mark. He guessed that it might be a birthmark or scar of some sort. But it was surprising that this scar was so proportionate. Just like him, the scar was pleasing to look at.

“How strange!” he exclaimed and looked around the room. The room left him with a nostalgic feeling as well as a faint sense of sorrow. He looked at the open closet. The clothes inside were tossed aside and some were even ripped. There were some on the ground as well.

“What happened here?” he headed out of the room. The pungent smell was definitely heavier in the halls.

He walked down the halls. When he walked past some more rooms, but he paused after passing one of them. He turned to look at the room. The door was closed but it felt as though this room had something to do with him. His instincts kept on telling him that he’d find something substantial here. He opened the door and headed inside.

He looked around the room and felt home. This sent chills down his spine. I don’t even remember anything so how could this be my home!?

The room was also messy as if a storm had gone through here. He looked towards the ground and saw many clothes on the ground. They were boys’ clothes! Picking one up, he put them against his body and measured them. It fit him perfectly! But unfortunately, he couldn’t take it as it was torn.

He looked around and saw a chest of drawers. The drawers were pulled halfway and some even taken out. He saw that one of the drawers on the very bottom was left unopened.

He tilted his head. Why was this left intact? But he didn’t dwell on it for long and opened the drawer. Inside was a white robe with black borders and pants to go with it!

He pumped his fist! A burden was lifted from his shoulders. He took the clothes out and set them on top of the chest of drawers. He tried to close the drawer but it was stuck! He shook it a bit and then shoved it with force.

Cha-ching!

“Huh? Cha-ching?” He heard the sound of something jingling inside but there was nothing inside! He opened it and looked inside. No, wait! There was a box inside.

He took the box out and saw numerous copper pieces inside.

“Copper taels!” he was overjoyed. Amidst his joy, he failed to notice that his knowledge had no clear source. He put the box of copper taels on top next to the set of clothes.

He could finally change out of his dirty clothes! But before, he did that, he wanted to look around more. Leaving the clothes and copper taels, he walked out of the room. He paused as he was just about to leave. Looking back, that inexplicable feeling of nostalgia still remained.

He shook his head and left the room. He kept walking through the halls. A few oil portraits and sketches were hung on the walls. Looking at a portrait, he froze. It was a painting of five people, they looked like a family. A husband and wife, and three children. Looking at the boy in the middle of two girls, he was astonished.

That boy looked like him! But that boy didn’t have ocean-blue eyes nor did he have the blood-red mark on his neck. But looking at the boy in the portrait, he didn’t feel that pleasing sensation when he saw his face in the mirror.

“Is that me or is that someone else?” he tilted his head in confusion. “Maybe he just looks like me or vice versa?”

His eyes wandered on the portrait. All the other people in them gave him a strong urge of nostalgia and familiarity.

“Who are they to me?” he walked past that portrait and continued forward. Maybe, they’ll have the answers I need…

As he continued on, the pungent odor became more and more apparent. It started stinging his nose.

“It’s coming from the living room,” he remarked subconsciously.

He looked at the door to the living room, the smell was suffocating. He cautiously went inside but the sight inside made him stumble backward.

Urp!

He wanted to puke but forcefully held it in as he scrambled backward in horror! Inside was the couple he saw in the portrait. B-But they were dead, their heads separated from their bodies! Blood pooled under them. And the smell had been blood all along!

“No, no, no!” tears streamed down his face. He curled up and buried his head in his knees. He was horrified and faintly sad as well. But the source of this sorrow felt detached from him. It felt as though he had heard the death of his friend’s parents. But at this time, he hadn’t yet noticed it. After a while of cowering and trembling, he calmed down. Raising his head, he slowly walked to the room.

Looking at that horrifying sight again, his face scrunched up. He couldn’t leave them like this. He backed away from the living room and searched around. Coming inside the dining room, he entered a room. The room had various tools inside. He looked around. Sickles, hammers, and shovels, he grabbed the shovel from the middle shelf and left the room. Going out the back, he looked for a suitable spot. The sun had finally risen, illuminating the sky further.

Finding a good spot, he started digging. As he dug, he fell into deep thought. Who killed them? Where are the three children? Was I one of them? He had too many questions but no answers to any of them. But he knew for certain that they had been murdered. The scared expression which was frozen on the woman’s face and the lifeless expression on the man’s, all led to this conclusion. The woman must’ve died first and her death made the man lose hope. They must’ve really loved each other.

This thought felt like a weight on him. He felt terrible but could do nothing about it. He finished digging one hole. He wanted it to be six feet but didn’t have the time. After digging one, he dug another three feet deep just like the last one. He hastened his speed. Whoever killed them might come back and even if they didn’t, someone else might. It would be tough to talk his way out if he was caught snooping around here.

After he was done digging, he rushed back to the living room. Bracing himself, he started dragging the woman’s headless body. His face scrunched up. He felt nasty, as though he was doing something terrible.

“Haah~” he dragged her body through the halls, leaving a bloody trail behind. Her body was cold and stiff. After leaving through the back door, he gently lowered her body into one of the holes before running back inside. The next time he came out was with her head. He placed it above her neck so that they formed a complete body. He did the same with the man’s corpse as well. By this time, his clothes were also drenched with blood. He filled the hole with the previously dug soil, completing their graves. After he was done, he exhaled heavily. Clasping his hands, he prayed for them. Hopefully, you two will meet in another life, a better one.

After he was done, he finally took the clothes he previously found and the box full of copper taels. He took off his dirty clothes and washed with the water from the well. When he took off his clothes, he saw two pendants hung around his neck, a jade one and a copper one. The jade one was exquisitely carved while the copper was a small plain cylinder.

When he touched the jade, his mind became strangely calm. All the anxiety and fear he felt from when he first woke up here had vanished. But he didn’t notice; rather this sensation was new, so he couldn’t understand. Next, he looked at the copper pendant, the name ‘Yunfan’ was etched into it.

“Is this my name or someone close to me?” he wondered. But then he shook his head, “Regardless, I can’t use this name.” He tied the pendants around his neck.

After he was done, he tied his long hair back and put on the fresh set of clothes.

Fixing his robes, he looked into the box. There were 45 copper taels. Shoving the money into his pockets, he shook his head. This won’t last me for long.

He looked at the house. I can’t stay here. People here might know me and if someone could kill the people in this house without the people around kicking up a fuss, then that means they don’t look favorably on them. I need to leave!

Clenching his fists, he walked down the hill to the east. He was alone in this strange new world. But that didn’t mean he would stay like this. He resolved himself. He wanted to know who he was and what happened here. With resolve in his eyes, he walked east intending to go to Huangye town.