Chapter 487: Gao Zhijian's Background

Chapter 487: Gao Zhijian's Origins

Within the village of Niuxin, Gao Zhijian’s fingers, like iron cast, moved effortlessly across the compacted earth, slicing through it as if with a plow, leaving behind a series of marks.

“What are you drawing?” Chun Xiaoman frowned, watching Gao Zhijian crouch on the ground. “If you’re going to draw, maybe you should just write instead. I’ve been learning some characters from the private school lately.”

Gao Zhijian glanced at her and shook his head, then continued sketching.

“Hey! What do you mean? Are you looking down on me?” Chun Xiaoman reached out and pushed him roughly.

Feeling the weight of her hand upon him, Gao Zhijian pursed his lips and stifled a smile, shaking his head before returning to his work.

“Is that a snake? Were you selling snake medicine in the past?”

“Dragon!” Gao Zhijian growled.

As his finger glided along the dirt, a massive coiled dragon appeared before Chun Xiaoman. Then, with rapid strokes, he added a figure seated beneath it.

“Emperor!” Gao Zhijian pointed at the figure and immediately began drawing piles of golden ingots beside him.

He then drew several small figures aligned beside the man. When Gao Zhijian finished drawing one more at the end, he slapped his palm against his own chest. “Me!”

“You’re the son of this emperor?!” Chun Xiaoman’s eyes widened in shock.

But in response to her question, Gao Zhijian nodded once, then shook his head vigorously. “No… no… no… don’t know!”

“Why not know now? What’s going on here?”

“C-c-could be f-fake!”

“So isn’t this your past? Why is it fake now? Have you told Brother Li about these things? What does he think?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

After hesitating for a moment, Gao Zhijian looked at Chun Xiaoman and drew a large adult figure next to the small person representing himself.

The face of the adult was obscured by something, making it impossible to see clearly, and behind him, three swords were slung.

When Gao Zhijian bit his finger and used blood to stain the clothing of the figure, Chun Xiaoman instantly understood what he meant.

“Is that Brother Li?” There weren’t many people in the world wearing red robes—she recognized him at once.

Gao Zhijian nodded firmly, then wrote a big “Wu” on his forehead with his finger.

“I recognize that character—it’s the fifth numeral among one-two-three-four-five. That means you were five years old that year?”

Gao Zhijian nodded hard, pointing at the sword on Li Huowang’s back, then slashed through the figure representing himself.

“Uh, Brother Li killed you? Killed the five-year-old you?” When Chun Xiaoman said this, even she started to hesitate.

“Mm.” Seeing Gao Zhijian nod, Chun Xiaoman felt dizzy.

“If Brother Li killed you, how come you're still alive? And especially, how did you die when you were a child?”

“C-c-could be f-fake!” He redrawn the little figure, this time adding armor and a carriage beneath it.

Then Gao Zhijian drew a group of people surrounding him, spears raised and thrusting toward him.

“You died again? I can’t follow this anymore.”

“Cha—” Gao Zhijian smacked his head hard. “Chaos!”

His movements became increasingly rough.

He went on to draw various ways he could have died—drowned, burned, hanged.

Eventually, he stopped drawing people altogether and picked up a piece of charcoal to draw black shapes. As circles of black appeared on the ground, fear slowly crept into Gao Zhijian’s eyes. The more black circles there were, the deeper his terror grew.

Finally, when a thick, strong arm traced a large black circle around everything, completely covering it all, Gao Zhijian seemed terrified by what he had drawn. He jumped up suddenly and took several steps backward.

“Gao Zhijian, are you alright? Should we call a doctor to examine you?”

As Gao Zhijian wiped away the sweat from his brow, a streak of black also marked his face.

He lightly shook his head and walked carefully over, scooping up some soil and stepping on it with his foot, pressing the black marks into the earth.

Then he drew a small figure of himself on his palm with the charcoal, and using that hand, dug up the compacted earth, pushing aside the black, finally revealing the pile of golden ingots he had drawn earlier. “Money!”

From under those ingots, he drew a line directly downward to Chun Xiaoman’s feet. “Take!”

“No, no, no. Wait a minute. This isn't just about money anymore. Draw more carefully—I feel confused,” Chun Xiaoman said, feeling her mind scrambled by Gao Zhijian’s drawings.

“The meaning is clear enough,” came a voice from the doorway. Turning, they saw Zhao Wu leaning on a cane.

It seemed he had witnessed everything Gao Zhijian had drawn.

Zhao Wu approached them, staring at the transformed scene before him. After a moment of thought, he spoke:

“According to what he’s drawn, Gao Zhijian must have been a nobleman or official in the past—he definitely had wealth.”

“The different deaths represent the risks tied to that identity. But if forced into desperate circumstances, he would risk everything, using his former status to find us a way out.”

Zhao Wu turned to look at Gao Zhijian, his expression grave. “I think that’s exactly what you want to say, right?”

Gao Zhijian paused, then shook his head decisively without giving him any credit. “I… I’m the e-e-emperor!”

Zhao Wu wore an expression of resignation. “You’re the emperor? Then Brother Li killed you at five? Then you lived again? Died again? Finally captured by Dan Yangzi?”

“There’s no five-year-old emperor in the Great Li Dynasty. Even make up lies, at least make them believable.”

“And since you didn’t tell Brother Li about your past, doesn’t that contradict your story? If you were five, how old was Brother Li? He couldn’t have been older than you.”

Zhao Wu’s words brought pain to Gao Zhijian’s face. He beat his head repeatedly, until his hand became a fist. “Chaos! Chaos!!”

“Hey, Gao Zhijian, don’t do that!” Chun Xiaoman quickly grabbed his arm. “Once this disaster passes, the Lu Family Band can go out and earn money again. You don’t need to worry about money!”

Gradually calming down, Gao Zhijian looked at the two who didn’t trust his story, clenched his fists, and turned away.

“Should we tell Brother Li about his nonsense when he returns?” Zhao Wu, still leaning on his cane, asked.

Watching Gao Zhijian walk off, Chun Xiaoman gave a complicated nod.

“I think it’s better to tell him. He sees more than we do. Maybe he’ll know something about Gao Zhijian’s background.”

(End of Chapter)