Tang Dynasty Swordsman

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Tang Dynasty Swordsman

Author: Red Army

Synopsis: The Tang Dynasty faces calamities, the An Lushan Rebellion rises… Li Ji, from another timeline, encounters a completely unfamiliar era and a group of completely unfamiliar ancient people. His past as a history researcher offers him no foresight or premonition. How will he unfold this second chapter…?

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(This paragraph continues from my previous work, "Lehuma." If you haven't read that book, you can skip to the first chapter; it won't affect the plot.)

Just as the autumn heat was raging and the midday sun was extremely scorching, there were a few small sheds on the rooftop that the leaders had built privately. Although they were locked up and difficult to enter, one could lean against them and barely form a small patch of light shade.

Under the thin shade, four young men sat in a circle on the ground, with newspapers spread out in the middle and several playing cards face down. They were intently examining the cards in their hands, their expressions serious and tense—although two of them had long, thin strips of torn paper stuck to their foreheads, hanging down past their noses and even somewhat obstructing their vision, making their expressions rather comical…

Suddenly, a young man sitting facing east pulled out a card and slammed it onto the newspaper in front of him, shouting, "As Emperor Hua said, 'Heroes of the world are inherently without a master.' So every man should play against those without a master!"

Upon seeing this, the player opposite him on the east side was first dumbfounded, then immediately cried out in despair, "Damn it, do you know what cards I have? How dare you play a no-trump card with a cat? Are you crazy?!"

One of the men chuckled, "Since we have Hua Taizu's quotes, even if you grab a handful of shit, or even if he grabs a handful of shit himself, Li Ji will definitely beat us to a pulp." While gesturing for the other to put away his trump card, he casually asked, "I heard you're planning a new topic, investigating whether Pei Gai is a time traveler—really?"

"How could that be? I'm not crazy," the person being asked sniffed—probably from the tickling paper stuck to their face—and replied with a pout, "It was just a few posts about games I wrote online..."

This player, Li Ji, is a young research intern at the History Institute of the Weinan Academy of Social Sciences. His main research area is the early history of the Wei and Jin dynasties, and he has a particularly strong interest in—or rather, admiration for—Emperor Taizu of Hua, Pei Gai. The T-shirt Li Ji is wearing is a custom-made piece he ordered online, inscribed with a couplet from the front hall of the Huajing Mausoleum:

"One Liu in the west, one Liu in the east, resurrected by borrowing a corpse, the foundation of the dynasty is hard to restore; the Three Kingdoms before and after, inheriting the mandate of heaven and establishing a dynasty, Pei Bai is evergreen."

The Western Liu and Eastern Liu refer to the Former and Later Han dynasties, respectively. "Resurrecting the dead" refers to Liu Yuan's Hu-Han regime. The Former Three Kingdoms were Wei, Shu, and Wu, while the Later Three Kingdoms were Jin, Han, and Zhao. This is a couplet that describes the era in which Pei Gai lived and praises his great achievements.

Once Pei Gai was mentioned, Li Ji immediately launched into a long-winded explanation. While arranging his cards, he said to his companions, "Don't you all think that Emperor Taizu of Hua was incredibly insightful, and that many of his policies were ahead of their time? He really didn't seem like a simple member of an aristocratic family or a bureaucratic son. If we're talking about people in Chinese history who most resemble time travelers, there are only two: one is Wang Mang, who suffered a shameful defeat, and the other is Pei Gai, who achieved a complete victory and had a profound influence on later generations..."

The person across the street interjected, "Isn't it said that Liu Xiu is the chosen one?"

Li Ji curled his lip: "The chosen one and the time traveler are two different things. Emperor Guangwu of Han believed in apocryphal books and was superstitious. Even if he time traveled, he probably traveled back from before the 17th century. Unlike Emperor Taizu of Hua..." He got excited and started gesturing wildly. For some reason, his right index and middle fingers slipped, and a playing card spun and flew to the side, landing right on the edge of the rooftop, outside the iron railing.

Li Ji straightened up, stood up, and hurried over to pick it up. His companion behind him reminded him, "The railing over there isn't very sturdy; be careful not to fall."

Li Ji didn't care and turned his head without any precautions, laughing and saying, "It doesn't matter if I fall. It's only the 18th floor. I'll just die when I get to the bottom. There's no pain..." At this moment, he was already close to the edge of the rooftop. A fat pigeon, which no one knew, was perched on the inside of the railing, enjoying the scenery. When it saw someone coming, it was startled and flapped its wings, flying away with a swift motion, just grazing Li Ji's temple as it darted away.

Li Ji was even more startled than the pigeon. He stumbled and quickly reached out to grab the railing. But his weight of over 140 pounds was all on the dilapidated iron railing—with a "crack," the railing broke, Li Ji's hand slipped, his foot slipped, and he tumbled headfirst over the rooftop!

He was upside down, his body suspended in mid-air, thinking to himself, "Damn it, why did I have to make such a bold prediction?" Then he saw the playing card floating and swaying in front of him, and then suddenly—it turned into a leaf.

Li Ji felt countless thoughts and emotions that didn't belong to him flood his mind in an instant, and then everything went black, and he knew nothing more...

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Li Ji felt as if he were in a dark wilderness, with a blurry figure in front of him standing at a crossroads, his back to him. He took two quick steps, and perhaps hearing the footsteps, the person slowly turned around.

The man was dressed in ancient attire, wearing a black gauze hat, a cross-collared Hu-style robe, and a jade belt. He also held a three-foot-long green bamboo staff in his hand. Li Ji was not surprised at all; on the contrary, he instinctively felt that he knew this person. He naturally cupped his hands and asked, "Could you be His Majesty Emperor Hua Taizu?"

Upon further reflection, Pei Gai realized that "Taizu" was a temple name, which he certainly didn't know. Just as he was about to change his address, the other person smiled at him and said, "You've arrived. Where are you going?"

Li Ji glanced behind the other person and saw seven or eight paths radiating into the distance, each branching off further away until they disappeared into the dark, unseen depths of chaos. He scratched the back of his head in confusion: "I don't know where to go..."

"Excuse me, which way is the way back?"

The man who resembled Emperor Taizu Pei Gai suddenly sighed softly: "Go back? The same person cannot step into the same river of time twice."

"What do you mean?"

“I cannot return to where I came from, nor can you go back to where you came from. All the entanglements are truly accidental.” As he spoke, Pei Gai picked up his bamboo cane, seemingly just pointing casually: “Try this road and see where you will go.”

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When Li Ji woke up, he felt pain all over his body, and his head was spinning. Before he even opened his eyes, he felt as if a life experience completely outside his own had been inserted into his mind, and he seemed to realize it quite naturally:

Holy crap, I've actually time-traveled too... Time travel really does exist!

A voice called out beside him, "Changwei, Changwei, are you still alive?"

Who is Changwei...? Li Ji suddenly realized that this Changwei must be referring to himself. He was born in Ji County, Weizhou, hence the name Li Ji, with the courtesy name Changwei.

He slowly opened his eyes and saw a gaunt face close to his, filled with anxiety. Upon seeing Li Ji open his eyes, the other person breathed a long sigh of relief and said, "Thank goodness, thank goodness, it's good that you're still alive."

This person must be my…cousin? His name is Li…what was it again? I remember his courtesy name, “Changyuan.” Like me, he is a descendant of the Li family of Jingzhao, and he previously lived in seclusion in Yingyang…

What era is this exactly? Li Ji was somewhat bewildered, desperately searching through memories that didn't belong to him—

What the heck? The Tang Dynasty?!

Chapter 1: What Ghostly Appearances Are They?

Li Ji, a young researcher at the Institute of History of the Weinan Academy of Social Sciences, skipped his midday break in the sweltering summer heat and went to the rooftop with some colleagues to play "Upgrading" (a card game). While trying to collect playing cards, he was startled by a small pigeon and lost his footing, falling headfirst from the 18th-floor rooftop. Inexplicably, he was transported to ancient times.

But after searching through the memories of this life that seemed to have been forcibly stuffed into his mind, he was still a little unsure—was this really ancient times, or another world?

Because the history of this world in his memory is completely different from his original timeline.

Actually, it can't be said that they are completely different. It seems that the history before the "Yongjia Rebellion" in the Jin Dynasty, based on this forcibly inserted consciousness, roughly matches my own timeline. All the differences begin around the time of Yongjia, as if we have completely embarked on a different path.

Because in this world, there was no Hua Taizu Pei Gai, or rather, there was one, but he played no role and left no influence. The Jin Dynasty of "Yongjia" is known to later generations as the "Western Jin Dynasty" because shortly after Sima Ye ascended the throne in Chang'an, he was also captured by the Hu and Han peoples, and the Yellow River basin was completely occupied. Sima Rui, the Prince of Langya, who had crossed the river to the south earlier, then ascended the throne in Jiankang, which is known in history as the "Eastern Jin Dynasty".

Following the Eastern Jin Dynasty came the Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen dynasties. In the north, various nomadic tribes rebelled, and more than a dozen empires and kingdoms fought amongst themselves until the unification by the Later Wei Dynasty. The Later Wei then split into eastern and western parts, which were subsequently usurped by their respective ministers, establishing the short-lived Zhou and Qi dynasties. Shortly after the Zhou dynasty conquered the Qi, the powerful minister Yang Jian usurped the throne again, establishing the Sui Dynasty, which quickly marched south to conquer the Chen dynasty and unify China.

However, the Sui Dynasty was also short-lived, falling into chaos after two generations and collapsing after three. Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang, then rose to prominence amidst the chaos and established the unified Tang Empire. The Tang Dynasty was ruled by Emperor Gaozu, Emperor Taizong, Emperor Gaozong, Emperor Zhongzong, and Emperor Ruizong, with the intervening events of Wu Zetian usurping the Zhou throne and Emperor Zhongzong's restoration. The current Tang emperor is the third son of Emperor Ruizong (whose name is unclear), and has reigned for over forty years…

Li Ji only had time to search his memory for any historical discrepancies. He had no time to consider who he was or who this cousin was. His gaze was unfocused, utterly clouded and confused. Seeing this, the cousin grew anxious and quickly waved his hand in front of Li Ji's eyes to observe his reaction, continuing to call out, "Changwei, Changwei, Changwei, come back!"

Yes, in this life I am also called Li Ji, courtesy name Changwei. Four years ago, my parents died, and I went to Henan to live with my cousin... This is the person who is anxiously calling out to me right now—

Li Ji's scattered gaze gradually focused and settled on his cousin's face. This man was probably in his thirties, with handsome features; by later standards of beauty, he could be considered a very handsome man.

After filtering out the memories and emotions that had forced their way into his mind, Li Ji's first impression of this person was that he was thin, extremely thin—probably due to a vegetarian diet he had maintained for over ten years, abstaining from meat—yet he didn't appear haggard; his skin was smooth and radiant, without any eye bags or wrinkles, almost like a spokesperson for skincare cream. Perhaps due to his thinness, his eyes appeared very large, with a piercing, restrained glint, and his nose was also very high and straight; his long, flowing beard, undoubtedly meticulously maintained, appeared somewhat disheveled as the wind blew it…

—By the way, this person's real name is Li Bi!

Although the Li family of Zhao County and the Li family of Longxi, from which the current Tang emperor is descended, are not from the same family, they have always maintained a good relationship. "My" sixth-generation ancestor, Li Bi, and Emperor Taizu of Tang (posthumously honored) Li Hu were both among the Eight Pillars of State of Western Wei. Therefore, the family held prominent positions in Western Wei, Northern Zhou, and even Sui Dynasty. Although their status declined significantly after entering Tang Dynasty, they were still considered an official family.

However, this cousin Li Bi, whose ancestral home was in Jingzhao—near Xi'an—did not seem to like being an official. Although he was intelligent from a young age and was valued by the prime minister and even the emperor, he always admired the Taoism of Laozi and Zhuangzi and sought a place to live in seclusion between Mount Hua and Mount Song. I followed him and lived the life of an ordinary person—although I was considered an upper-class person, I was barely able to worry about food and clothing.

This time, I'm following Li Bi, leaving the secluded Yingyang, heading northwest... Where exactly? My thoughts are in turmoil, and I can't remember for the moment...

Hearing Li Bi calling out incessantly, as if summoning a soul, Li Ji had no time to think further and replied, "Brother... I am not dead, but... I seem unable to move."

Li Bi let out a long sigh of relief, then said, "It would be strange if you could still be jumping around after falling from such a height." He gently touched Li Ji's body with both hands, as if checking for injuries.

Li Ji struggled to twist his neck, and it seemed he could still move it... He tried to raise his right hand, clenched his fist, and it didn't seem to hinder him. But when he tried to raise his left hand, it was weak and he felt waves of pain.

Li Bi gently stroked Li Ji's left shoulder down to his left wrist before forcing a smile: "Your left arm is dislocated, but it's alright, I'll set it for you."

He didn't know how he pulled and then released, but Li Ji was in excruciating pain and couldn't help but cry out. However, the pain in his right arm subsided by about 70-80%. Li Bi asked, "How are your waist and legs? As long as your spine isn't injured, you'll be fine."

Li Ji gritted his teeth, struggled, and used his hands to prop himself up, sitting up—thank goodness, his back wasn't broken, he wouldn't be paralyzed. Then, under Li Bi's guidance, he tried to move his legs, only to discover—his right leg was fractured.

Li Bi said it was a small matter, and told him to calm down. He then took a few steps away, drew the long sword from his waist, and cut off two pieces slightly thinner than his wrist.

He took a willow branch more than two feet long, then took out a hemp garment from his bag and tore it into long strips. After returning, he first straightened Li Ji's leg bones, then used the willow branch to hold them in place on both sides, and repeatedly wrapped them with hemp strips.

He kept saying, "It's alright. Changwei, you're still young, your bones and flesh heal quickly, and you've always had thick skin and flesh, so you're not afraid of any injuries. I feel your leg bone; although it's broken, there are no fragments, which makes it easy to piece it back together. Once it's healed, it won't hinder your movement. Otherwise, with your strength and martial arts skills, if you become a cripple, how will you protect your brother?"

Taking this opportunity, Li Ji slightly shook his head to observe the surrounding environment.

This was in a valley, with cliffs not far behind and lush vegetation in front of him—it should be July or August in the lunar calendar, not much different from before he transmigrated.

Looking up, it seemed as if I had just fallen from a cliff—a steep, towering cliff, the top of which was nowhere in sight, at least seven or eight stories high. Falling from such a height, and only dislocated my left arm and broke my right leg? I was far too lucky.

Or is it that "I" was actually killed by the fall long ago, so that a soul from later generations or even another world was able to travel here and attach itself to this broken body?

So where is my physical body? That building at work is eighteen stories high; it's probably already pulverized to pieces…

Li Bi helped Li Ji fix his injured leg, then tore off several more strips of burlap and bound both of Li Ji's arms to his body. Li Ji was filled with doubt, but unable to struggle, he simply asked, "Brother, why do this... Besides, now that my left arm has been reattached, I should be fine..."

Li Bi ignored him and continued to bind him until Li Ji was tied up like a dumpling, sitting on the ground, almost unable to move. Only then did he take two steps back and draw his long sword again.

His expression suddenly turned serious, his eyes flashed with cold light, and with a flick of his wrist, he held the longsword to Li Ji's neck. Li Ji was taken aback: "Brother, why is this?"

Li Bi sneered, "I am not your brother, and you are not my brother Li Changwei!" He stared into Li Ji's eyes and asked, word by word, "Tell me the truth, what kind of ghost has possessed my brother's body!"

Li Ji had just transmigrated and was in a state of confusion. Upon hearing this, he blurted out, "How did you figure that out?!" As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew he was in trouble—wasn't this just admitting his mistake?

Li Bi sneered, "Changwei came to serve me when he was fourteen. We brothers have been together for four whole years. How could I not tell what accent and tone he has when he speaks?"

Language and pronunciation both evolve over time. The official language of the Tang Dynasty (or perhaps what these two brothers spoke wasn't even official language) was naturally quite different from the standard Mandarin of later generations—the initial consonants were similar, but the finals were closer to the southern Min and Yue dialects, and the tones were completely different. Li Ji was only able to understand Li Mi and converse with him because he had absorbed the remnants of consciousness from this body. But he was ultimately not the "real" Li Ji of this era, and there were bound to be some discrepancies in his accent and word choice.

Li Bi is really perceptive; he can even hear such a subtle difference.

Then Li Bi pressed on, "And your gaze is nothing like my brother's—tell me the truth, what kind of monster are you?"

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Li Ji was like someone who had just been awakened from a terrible dream, and for a few seconds he couldn't remember who he was or where he was; but then, as if a floodgate had been opened, countless memories rushed into his mind. In an instant, he felt the original Li Ji's feelings and understanding of Li Bi.

Li Bi, also known as Li Changyuan, seems to be a pretty powerful character.

This child was exceptionally intelligent from a young age, able to write at seven and well-versed in the works of Huang-Lao (the founder of Taoism), earning him the reputation of a child prodigy in his village. Coincidentally, the emperor summoned those well-versed in the classics of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism to a debate within the palace. Yuan Chu, the grandson of the late Duke of Pingyuan, only nine years old, displayed remarkable eloquence, overwhelming all present, leaving the emperor and his officials astonished. The emperor then asked Yuan Chu, "Among children, is there anyone who can compare to you?"

Yuan Chu replied, "My uncle's son, Li Bi, is superior to me."

The emperor immediately issued an edict, dispatching an imperial carriage to summon Li Bi to the emperor for a questioning session. When Li Bi arrived, the emperor was watching a game of chess with the prime minister Zhang Yue, and casually asked Zhang to compose a question to test the child, who was not yet eight years old. Zhang's question was "Square and Round, Movement and Stillness." Li Bi did not understand and asked for an example. Zhang Yue then said: "Square is like a chessboard, round is like a chess piece, movement is like a chess piece being alive, stillness is like a chess piece being dead."

Without hesitation, Li Bi replied immediately: "Square is like acting righteously, round is like using wisdom, movement is like displaying talent, stillness is like being content."

Zhang immediately rose and congratulated the emperor, saying that he had gained another child prodigy. The emperor then bestowed money and silk upon the Li family, instructing them to raise Li Bi well, for he would surely become a pillar of the state in the future.

The succeeding prime minister, Zhang Jiuling, also admired Li Mi's talent and often summoned him to his inner chambers for discussions, addressing him as "young friend." When Li Mi grew up and reached adulthood, at the tender age of twenty, he presented his essay, "On the Restoration of the Mingtang and the Nine Tripods," to the emperor. The emperor, recalling past events, summoned him to the palace to expound on Laozi and Zhuangzi. Li Mi was most versed in Huang-Lao philosophy and sought the elixir of immortality. Therefore, he delivered a eloquent and insightful discourse before the emperor, always hitting the nail on the head. He was thus appointed a Hanlin scholar and served as a court attendant to the crown prince—who also greatly valued him.

However, Li Bi later had nothing to do, so he wrote poems satirizing the powerful ministers Yang Guozhong and An Lushan. Yang Guozhong slandered him to the emperor, saying that the poems were actually satirizing His Majesty. As a result, he was dismissed from his post and escorted to Qichun County for resettlement.

However, it is also

Chapter Two: I am an Ancient Person

Li Bi held a sword to Li Ji's neck and repeatedly questioned him. Li Ji was puzzled, wondering how he should answer.

He resolutely refused to tell the truth, still insisting that he was indeed your brother Li Ji, and that he had only been confused by the fall, which was why he had misspoke and why his eyes looked different than usual… This wouldn't fool him. Since Li Bi had become suspicious, he would surely interrogate him repeatedly. Although most of Li Ji's memories had been absorbed by the transmigrator, no one could guarantee that there were no omissions. With Li Bi's shrewdness, he would definitely find more flaws.

So, to be honest? Putting aside the issue of "time travel" and whether ancient people could even understand it, it probably involves different timelines, parallel worlds, and even multiple universes and other worlds—situations that even they themselves couldn't understand...

According to Li Ji's rough assessment, he had likely returned to an ancient parallel timeline—the exact year was yet to be determined—this world probably began to diverge during the reign of Emperor Hui of Jin, followed by the "Five Barbarian Invasions," the coexistence of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and then the Sui and Tang dynasties, embarking on a completely different path. These questions were simply impossible for Li Bi to answer!

Li Ji was in a terrible predicament. He stared at Li Bi, who was also staring back at him, and threatened, "If you refuse to confess, I will cut off your head with my sword!"

Upon hearing this, Li Ji was stunned for a moment, then suddenly asked, "This is your brother Li Ji's body, can you really bring yourself to do it?"

Li Bi frowned: "What did you say?"

Seeing this, Li Ji felt a little calmer and said, "You guessed right, this is possession. Although the soul does not belong to your brother, the body does. If the sword falls and the head is severed, your brother will really die and will be difficult to bring back to life."

Li Bi hurriedly asked, "Is my brother still alive? You must leave immediately and release my brother's soul!"

Li Ji dared not shake his head, but rolled his eyes left and right and said, "If I move a little more, your sword seems very sharp. Even if I don't lose my head, I might cut your brother's neck. You wouldn't be happy, would you? Let's move the sword away first. Anyway, I'm tied up and can't move, so I can't run away—at least my body can't run away."

Li Bi hesitated for a moment, then finally withdrew his longsword, but still refused to return it to its sheath, while questioning, "So you're finally going to tell the truth? What exactly are you?"

Li Ji knew that Li Bi was a follower of Huang-Lao philosophy, believed in ghosts and gods, and sought immortality. Moreover, his opening line just now was, "Tell me the truth, what kind of ghost has possessed my brother's body?" He thought to himself, "I might as well use this line of thought and make up a lie to fool them." But he had to declare first: "Li Ji, Li Changwei, is dead, his soul fragmented, and now belongs to me. In other words, the Li Changwei you knew cannot come back to life, but his memories and thoughts have been inherited by me."

"So in a sense, I am Li Changwei, your cousin who has been by your side for four years—at least half of my soul is. Do you think that what makes a person human, and who I am, is determined by memory? If not, what exactly is a person? What exactly am I? If so, then by killing me, you have completely killed your brother Li Changwei!"

This rambling explanation completely baffled Li Bi. It took him a while to process it before he could roughly understand what Li Ji meant. He couldn't help but turn his questioning gaze to Li Ji again: "Let's leave these things aside for now, and I won't kill you for the time being. But you must answer clearly what exactly it is and why it has taken over my brother's body?"

Li Ji sighed softly and began to weave a story—

"My name is also Li Ji, but I am not of this world. I was born in the third year of the Taikang era of Emperor Wu of Jin, and I enlisted as a military general. In the second year of the Jianxing era, the Hu invaders approached Chang'an. I was defeated and fled westward in panic. I was finally caught up by the Hu soldiers here and died from a hail of arrows..."

He had already remembered that the place where this body was located was near Weinan City in later generations, probably in the Tanshan Mountains northwest of Fuping County—that is, the location of the mausoleum of Emperor Hua Taizu Pei Gai in his timeline.

"Bearing the hatred of national and personal vendettas, his soul drifted aimlessly, unwilling to dissipate. He wandered aimlessly, not knowing how many years had passed, nor which dynasty or era he lived in. Suddenly, inexplicably, he opened his eyes and found himself in this body..."

At this point, he gave a slight, bitter smile: "Perhaps it's because we share the same name. The mysteries of the world are not for ordinary people to fully comprehend. I can't explain the reason either. I only know that your brother Li Ji is dead, his soul shattered, and now it's merged with mine. I don't have the ability to leave this body unless I die again, but then your brother's soul will also dissipate, and he will be completely dead. As for me, if I can survive, you could say your brother is still half alive..."

Li Bi's eyes widened, his face full of confusion—he naturally believed in ghosts and had long been convinced that his brother's body must have been possessed by some ghost or monster, but the other party claimed to be from the Jin Dynasty and an old ghost from four or five hundred years ago... This, this, could there be such an absurd thing in the world?

"So, you are an ancient person, and not... a spirit of birds, beasts, trees, or stones?"

Li Ji casually denied it, saying, "That's absurd. Humans are the most intelligent of all beings. Only humans can die with their souls intact. Birds, beasts, and even trees and stones are ignorant and mindless. How could they possibly become spirits and cause trouble?"

Li Bi seemed to be carefully considering and repeatedly pondering every word Li Ji said, trying to find a flaw in it. After thinking for a while, he suddenly asked, "You said you were a Jin general, but I wonder who you were under?"

Li Ji had already prepared his answer, so he replied without hesitation, "Under the command of Grand Commander and General of the Cavalry Qu Yun, I serve as the Protector-General."

. "