"Young Master, My Name Is Quehou"

A searing pain burst from the depths of his soul, and freezing air stung his lungs. When he opened his eyes, what met his gaze was neither the stark white ceiling of a hospital nor the chaotic crowd in the aftermath of a car crash, but an endless, deathly expanse of dull grayish-brown! A murky sky hung above cracked earth. Scattered withered black weeds twisted toward the sky in contorted poses. Howling winds swept across the wasteland, kicking up dry dust and carrying a wilderness stench of death mixed with rust. "Wh-where is this?" Staring at the unfamiliar scene before him, Chen Fan struggled to sit up from the ground. Instinctively reaching into his pocket for a cigarette, he discovered his old clothes were gone, replaced by a rough, coarse gray tunic. Naturally, there were no cigarettes in its pockets. Transmigration? The possibility slowly surfaced in his mind. He could feel how terribly weak his body was, aching with prickles of pain, but before blacking out, he had been run over by an eight-wheeled truck running a red light. There was no way his injuries could be this light. Right then— A trembling voice choked with sobs reached his ears: "Young Master... You're finally awake!" Hearing the voice beside him, he instinctively turned his head. Only then did he realize that in this boundless wasteland, besides himself, there was an emaciated servant boy also dressed in coarse cloth, along with a crude wooden cabin and a blazing bonfire. In the next instant! A sharp, violent pain struck. Countless fragmented memories were forcibly crammed into his head, plunging him into unconsciousness once more. ... When he came to again, he had already been carried onto a wooden plank bed inside the crude cabin by the servant boy, and he now understood his current situation. He had transmigrated. The original owner of this body was also named Chen Fan. Even his appearance and physique were identical, as if this were another incarnation in a parallel world. In this world, once night fell, countless bizarre and terrifying monsters would emerge to reap human lives. This state of affairs had persisted for hundreds of years, and people called it the "Eternal Night." Only by staying near "ghost fire" could one's safety be guaranteed. Ghost fire was a specially crafted bonfire. To travel safely across the wasteland, one had to find an "outpost" before dark, for only outposts possessed ghost fire. Forging ghost fire was no simple task. The base was extremely heavy and impossible to carry around, and once extinguished, it would automatically break down. To keep the ghost fire burning continuously, one had to keep feeding it "ghost stones." Therefore— Outside the cities, various families established numerous outposts across the wasteland to ensure the safety of passing merchant caravans and travelers, charging corresponding fees in return. Where he was right now was an outpost under the Chen family. Only... He had been persecuted into coming here. Despite being a young master of the Chen family, he had been assigned the extremely perilous duty of guarding an outpost in the wilderness, and before his departure, not a single ghost stone had been given to him. This meant! The moment this ghost fire went out would be the day he died. Unable to endure such crushing pressure, the body's previous owner had collapsed and died on the spot from sheer fury and despair, giving him the chance to live a second life. And the servant boy at his side was his attendant. "Young Master." Kneeling by the bed with tear streaks on his face, the scrawny servant boy rasped, "After traveling all this way, you must be exhausted, Young Master. I'll go keep watch. Please rest easy and sleep." "..." Struggling to sit up from the bed, Chen Fan pushed open the cabin door and looked at the bonfire outside. According to his memories, three ghost stones were currently buried at the base of this ghost fire, meaning it could burn for three days at most. Three days later, the ghost fire would go out. It was a countdown on his life. Under such circumstances, how could he possibly sleep? In the wilderness, the only way to obtain ghost stones was by slaying ghost creatures and carving the stones out from their bodies. Only... He was weak and barehanded. How could he possibly kill a ghost creature? After a long daze, he finally said softly, "You didn't have to come with me." Before those villains persecuted him into coming here, they had offered this attendant a handsome reward to abandon him, all so Chen Fan would experience the despair of dying alone in terror during the wilderness's Eternal Night. Yet this fellow had still come. Without the slightest hesitation. "Wherever Young Master goes, I go." "Wherever Young Master dies, I die." Though terrified, the scrawny young man behind him gritted his teeth firmly. "If not for Young Master, I would have turned into a pile of white bones long ago." "..." Chen Fan was silent for a moment. "All this time, I've forgotten to ask your name." There was no record of this fellow's name in his memories. Back when the core members of the Chen family were picking subordinates, the others had claimed all the strong, robust ones, leaving behind only this scrawny boy. The body's original owner had always seen him as a humiliation, refusing to say more than a few words to him, much less ask his name. To receive such treatment and yet remain so fiercely loyal—the original owner's luck had truly been extraordinary. "Quehou." "Young Master, my name is Quehou." Quehou lowered his head, speaking in a timid, mosquito-soft voice. "I'm an orphan and have no name. Steward Zhou said I was lame and skinny as a monkey, so he called me Quehou." Chen Fan glanced at Quehou's right leg. It indeed seemed to have a limp. "Alright." He nodded and glanced around the cabin. "Now that we're here, our first priority is to survive. Go outside and see if any travelers are passing by. It's almost dark, and those travelers will need an outpost to take shelter. If you spot any, call out loudly to bring them over." "The ghost fire will only last three days at most." "We need to earn some ghost stones." "And—" He walked up to Quehou, patted his shoulder, and said softly in a calm voice, "If I manage to stage a comeback someday, I will certainly not mistreat you. But if I die, then this is our fate, and we must accept it." Quehou froze for a moment, an unusual gleam flashing in his eyes. Much of the fear brought on by being sent to this outpost vanished, and he straightened his back as best he could, roaring, "Understood!" With that, he dashed out of the cabin to look for any passersby. ... Outside the cabin. Quehou looked around. The wasteland stretched endlessly, with not a traveler in sight. Not far away stood a small earthen mound; standing atop it would give him a higher vantage point, except... He hesitated slightly. Night was fast approaching. If he failed to make it back before darkness fell, he would likely lose his life. Yet soon, he cast all hesitation aside and ran toward the small earthen mound with all his might. Though crippled and of humble birth, he could keenly sense that the Young Master's current demeanor was completely different from how he had been in the family—a difference like night and day. He had a bold guess. The Young Master knew he was being targeted at every turn in the family, with no room to stretch his wings, so he had deliberately allowed himself to be assigned to a place beyond the family's reach. Here, he could display his full strength until the day he fought his way back into the family to seize everything that rightfully belonged to him! The Young Master's foresight invigorated him as if he had drunk sweet nectar. And he, Quehou, had only one duty: to assist the Young Master with all his might in returning to the Chen family! So those people would never look down on the Young Master again! How fast could a cripple run? Yet at this moment, a flame seemed to burn within his heart, driving him faster and faster. He even ignored the growing throb of pain in his right leg, consumed by a single desire—to reach that mound ahead as quickly as humanly possible!