Chương 1: Azure Stream

Winter has arrived, and the wind blowing from the Shengjiang River is like countless ice knives, stinging people's faces.

The sky was overcast, yet the snow that had been longed for all winter still refused to fall, but the bone-chilling cold grew heavier day by day.

On days like this, the streets and alleys of ordinary cities would already be dark, with every household locking their doors early in the morning, and only the sound of the wind howling in the alleys.

But Sheng Hai is different.

Shenghai is a city that never sleeps, operating all night long.

The bare branches of the sycamore tree cast menacing shadows under the dim streetlights.

In the dance hall on the street, the decadent sounds of jazz music mingled with women's giggles and men's smell of alcohol, seeping out bit by bit from behind the heavy velvet curtains.

The rickshaw puller, his neck hunched and his breath steaming in the air, skillfully weaved between Westerners in suits and gentlemen and ladies in long gowns.

The air was filled with a complex mix of soot, cosmetics, and cheap perfume.

Night Sheng Hai, Night Sheng Hai.

Only when the sun sinks below the horizon does this coastal metropolis shed its daytime facade, revealing its most authentic, prosperous, and decadent side to the world without reservation.

It was precisely this extravagant and decadent prosperity that attracted various foreign powers like flies drawn to blood, vying to carve out concessions and erect their own flags.

This led to warlords with guns fighting tooth and nail for a piece of territory.

This attracted even more deeply entrenched gangs, who, like leeches, clung tightly to its lifeline in the shadows of the city.

The Cang family, a martial arts family with over a hundred members deeply rooted in Haikou District, is one of the more robust vines in this shadow.

Inside the Cang Mansion, Western-style chandeliers cast a cold yet bright light.

Sixteen-year-old Cang Lian sat at her desk, a crumpled piece of Xuan paper clutched in her fingers.

There were once words written in tears on it—"Survive, find a chance to leave the Cang family!"

Now, his tears have long since dried, and the writing has long since faded. This is the only keepsake his mother, Han Yu, left him before she died.

A year ago, on a winter day like this, his mother, the woman who always looked at him gently and smelled faintly of soap, breathed her last on her sickbed.

On her deathbed, she revealed the truth.

He was not Cang Hong's biological son.

When she married into the Cang family, she was already pregnant.

Cang Hong, the seemingly respectable and imposing patriarch of the Cang family, forced his mother Han Yu into marriage not because of love at first sight, but because he somehow learned that she was a core member of the "Sun and Moon Society," an organization dedicated to the revival of the Hong Dynasty, and that she possessed a treasure map that would determine the rise and fall of the dynasty.

It was an astonishing fortune left over from the end of the Hong Dynasty, rumored to be enough to buy half of the Celestial Empire, and the foundation for patriots to rise up and restore the country.

Ironically, Han Yu only learned all this when Cang Hong pressed him for details about the whereabouts of the treasure map.

She thought she could live a peaceful life with her child, but she only realized on her deathbed that from the moment she stepped into the Cang family's gate, she had already been part of Cang Hong's scheme.

Even his death now was part of the plan!

Han Yu is dead, and the treasure map remains missing.

Thus, all the suspicion and pressure, like an invisible mountain, crashed down on the sixteen-year-old Cang Lian.

The entire Cang family stared at him with the eyes of someone scrutinizing prey. They were certain that Han Yu must have told his son this enormous secret before he died.

A year of de facto house arrest and several veiled interrogations in a dark room.

The sixteen-year-old boy's soul was being torn apart by this invisible torture, and he had already completely collapsed.

Yang Lian had no idea how he had transmigrated.

All he remembered was that he was clearly in the 21st century, but after taking a nap, he opened his eyes and became this unlucky guy named "Cang Lian".

He painstakingly sorted through the sixteen years of memories belonging to "Canglian" that had merged into his mind.

That deep-seated despair and fear seemed to still linger in the nerve endings.

He frowned deeply. His current situation was far from that of a rich young master; it was clearly a den of dragons and tigers. One wrong step and he would be shattered to pieces.

He walked to the window and pushed it open forcefully.

A gust of cold wind, carrying coal smoke and moisture, blew in, clearing his muddled mind somewhat.

Outside the window, there was a cluster of Shikumen buildings, their layered roofs resembling silent behemoths in the night. In the distance, the faint sound of a steam horn drifted by; it all felt like a scene from a TV drama.

It's been three days.

From initial shock and disbelief, he has now finally had to accept this absurd fact.

He crossed!

"In my memory, this world... besides guns and cannons, also had martial arts, demonic practices, cults, and even the worship of Western gods... I wonder if that's true?"

Cang Lian muttered to herself, her brows furrowed into a knot.

However, since we've already traveled through time, what in this world can't we believe?

He would believe in demon gods if they were to exist!

Moreover, it also comes with its own control panel.

[Destiny]: Visible Progress [Technique]: None He doesn't know what "visible progress" means? It means that every improvement can be clearly seen?

But the fact that it comes with its own panel further confirms that this world has different divine attributes from his world!

Cang Lian's gaze shifted from the glittering night view outside the window to the door of his own room.

After experiencing these changes, the original owner became increasingly withdrawn, locking herself in her room for nine months.

"It's time to change my way of life. Cang Lian has already died once, I can't die again! A tree dies when transplanted, but a person thrives. In my current situation, if I want to leave the Cang family, I need to find a way to break free!"

He murmured to himself and reached out to push open the door.

Before he could take a step, a figure turned around from the doorway.

That was the maid in charge of looking after him, a woman in her thirties with high cheekbones, who was staring at him coldly with the look of someone looking at trash.

"It's so late, where are you going, young master?"

Her voice was drawn out, filled with undisguised contempt and impatience.

Since the death of Ninth Concubine Han Yu, Cang Lian has gone from being a young master to an outcast in this mansion.

The first wife's attitude changed, and the servants naturally followed suit.

Cold rice and cold dishes are commonplace, and sarcastic remarks are even more so.

Over the past year, they have been riding roughshod over him.

"Snapped!"

A crisp slap rang out in the quiet corridor, sounding particularly abrupt.

Cang Lian slapped the maid across the face with all her might.

Five bright red finger marks instantly appeared on her sallow face.

"Who's the master here, you or me? How dare a servant speak to his master like that?"

Canglian's voice wasn't loud, but it was as cold as iron.

It is tolerable and unbearable.

He also wanted to try and see what the Cang family's current attitude was like.

If you have to be questioned even to go out, then it's better not to start over at all.

"You... you dare to hit me?" The maid covered her face, completely stunned.

The boy before her had a sharpness and coldness in his eyes that she had never seen before. Where was the coward who never dared to lift his head in ordinary times?

No matter how much they insulted him, he would always keep his head down and remain silent.

"Hit you?" Cang Lian's lips curled into a mocking sneer.

"In this world, even if I kill you, you're nothing more than a piece of flesh rotting in the Shengjiang River. Who would even glance at you? You're just a servant; do you think you can fight back?"

"You..." The maid trembled with anger, her raised hand shaking violently in mid-air, yet she dared not bring it down.

Cang Lian's harsh words were like a bucket of ice water, completely extinguishing the anger she felt from bullying others, leaving only a chilling cold and fear.

"..." She gritted her teeth, her face turning a deep purplish-red, but she couldn't utter a single word.

Sure enough, petty people are just like dogs.

The more you retreat, the fiercer they become; if you bare your fangs, they tuck their tails between their legs.

One cannot afford to be weak in terms of momentum.

"What happened?"

Just then, a deep and steady voice came from the other end of the corridor.

A middle-aged man appeared there at some unknown time. He was as slender as a pine tree and walked with a steady gait, without making a sound as he walked on the wooden-floored corridor.

This scene caused Cang Lian, who had just regained her composure, to suddenly shrink her pupils.

It landed silently.

This person landed without making a sound, which is something no ordinary person could do.

Is this the way of martial arts?

Gu Guolong—in the fused memories, there were only a few brief impressions of this person—one of Cang Hong's eight protectors.

"I'm feeling bored staying indoors, so I'd like to go for a stroll in the garden to clear my head," Cang Lian replied quickly, calmly, as if the conflict had never happened.

"Want to stroll in the garden?" Gu Guolong frowned almost imperceptibly, his gaze sweeping over Cang Lian and the maid before he nodded.

"Alright, it's cold, young master, don't catch a cold. I'll accompany you for a walk."

"Yes." Cang Lian nodded, her mind perfectly clear.

This isn't accompaniment; it's clearly surveillance.

He started walking towards the stairs, but after taking only two steps, he suddenly stopped and turned to look at Gu Guolong.

He asked tentatively, "Are you skilled enough to protect me? Do you have a gun?"

Gu Guolong was clearly taken aback by the sudden question, and for the first time, a look of surprise appeared on his usually calm face.

He paused for two seconds before replying in a deep voice, "Young Master, rest assured, with me here, ordinary scoundrels will not be able to get close to you."

As he spoke, he slowly lifted a corner of his long robe.

Good guy!

At his waist was a gleaming Colt M1911, its black barrel gleaming with a cold metallic sheen under the light, its grip wrapped with a non-slip leather strap—clearly a weapon ready to be used at any moment.

If you try to escape right under his nose, you'll probably get riddled with bullets!

"The equipment is all there."

Cang Lian felt a chill run down his spine, becoming even more certain that leaving the Cang family wouldn't be so easy. Even the Cang family's protectors had guns, indicating that the Cang family had considerable power behind them.

After saying that, he walked straight down the stairs.

Gu Guolong frowned as he watched his retreating figure.

In the past, Cang Lian would avoid eye contact and fear him like a tiger.

But today, he stood ramrod straight, and his eyes no longer held fear, but instead possessed an indescribable, heart-stopping composure.

This young master seems different.