Huí Guāng Fǎn Zhào - 回光返照

Chapter 4 - Wu Wencheng's Story

Two months passed without much fanfare as Gao Guiren and Jiang Yuming traveled across the small southeastern province of Yangguang. The province was dense with mountainous forest and the lands were fertile, it was the main source of food for the royals that owned these lands. However it was not without its difficulties, as it was hard to traverse and was located directly between two warring nations.

Gao Guiren had managed to glean information from the many towns they passed and one day had stated that he knew where to take them. Jiang Yuming's eyes had been open to how amazing his family's little wife was. Guiren had bartered and talked his way through these towns and made sure they did not go hungry. He began to believe that perhaps there was some truth in Gao Guiren's words that he had truly transmigrated multiple times before.

The afternoon sun was beating down when they had been circling a mountain when Jiang Yuming asked, "What are we looking for?"

"A tomb."

Not knowing if Gao Guiren was joking or not he continued to ask, "...we...we aren't going to become tomb robbers are we?"

A smile spread on Gao Guiren's face as he replied, "Since it's my tomb, I won't say we were robbing, more like reclaiming lost goods."

Dazzled by his smile, Jiang Yuming was slow on the uptake. Originally he had thought his family did not take his taste into consideration when looking for a wife. Jiang Yuming had always believed he would marry a great beauty, someone who stood heads and shoulders above the rest. At first glance, Gao Guiren was not particularly hard to look at, an oval face with dark brown peach blossom eyes accompanied by willow brows.

Furthermore, there was nothing outstanding with his face and at best could only be considered a generic beauty, someone with all the right traits but nothing that would make you remember distinctly. However, lately Jiang Yuming had found that when Gao Guiren truly smiled his entire face seemed to glow. It was full of life and even carried a hint of youthfulness, and it had captivated Jiang Yuming.

Before he could say any more, Gao Guiren had brought them to an entrance into the mountain. What once must have been a grand tomb entrance had been worn away by time. The gateway had been originally carved out from locally sourced stone, so over the years it did not stand out against the mountain as its defining features were lost. Perhaps the only thing that stood out unnaturally was the carved Ying (颖) character against a worn stone pillar beside the gateway. It looked freshly carved as if only done yesterday.

Moving past the pillar Jiang Yuming headed into the tomb with Gao Guiren, "Ren-ge, why does that carving look so new compared to everything else?"

"I do believe the prince I was serving had been given a special sword that could have done that." Guiren stated. "But it has been so long I don't remember exactly."

Following Guiren's path as he headed further into the tomb, Jiang Yuming continued his questioning. "What is with the Ying character, was that your name?"

"I don't really recall much from about that lifetime, they called me so many different names and was the custom at the time."

"Ren-ge, is there perhaps a hole in your head, how could you forget something so important as your name?"

Gao Guiren felt his eyelid twitch and restrained himself from smacking Jiang Yuming's head. "You stinky kid, your mother has holes in her head, your entire family has---"

The ground beneath them beneath them could no longer take the combined weight of two grown men and had given way. The distance was not overly far, however it was enough to cause some damage to Gao Guiren. He felt a pain radiate from his ankle as he landed oddly on the floor beneath the hallway above. Jiang Yuming, the lucky bastard, managed to land gracefully like falling two stories was something he did every morning.