Time Travel: The Survival of Li Zhi

Chapter 1 Time Travel

"Hey... boy, wake up... wake up..."

A pair of rough, calloused hands slapped and rubbed Li Zhi's face vigorously.

The burning pain on his face made Li Zhi unable to bear it and he opened his eyes.

What caught my eye was a haggard old man with wrinkles all over his face.

When the old man saw Li Zhi opened his eyes, he grinned, revealing a few sparse yellow teeth missing, and said, "You are finally awake, young man."

Li Zhi looked at the old man, still a little confused. He remembered that he was stabbed to death by a psychopath with a knife in the park. How come he was here again?

Could this be the underworld?

But there are still bursts of pain on his face. Can ghosts feel pain?

Li Zhi reached out and gently touched his face. As soon as his hand touched his face, Li Zhi hissed in pain.

The old man felt embarrassed when he saw you like this. He scratched his head and said, "I was in a hurry just now. Seeing that you were unconscious until now, I didn't use enough force when hitting you. I must have hurt you, young man."

Although still in a state of confusion, as a Chinese who has never been in trouble, Li Zhi subconsciously waved his hands and said, "It's okay, it's okay, sir, don't worry about it."

The old man also chuckled and said, "I'll go get you something to eat first. I guess you fainted from hunger just now."

The old man left after he finished speaking, and Li Zhi took this opportunity to take a good look at the environment he was in.

There was no light. It was night and there was no sunlight. Li Zhi could only rely on the faint moonlight to look around.

This is an old adobe house. Its walls are dilapidated and covered with traces of time and gullies left by wind and rain erosion.

It is somewhat similar to the adobe house in Li Zhi’s rural hometown, but this one is more dilapidated and looks more retro.

The space inside the house was small and cramped, the light was dim, and the ground was bumpy and covered with thick dust.

The only furniture in the room was a worn-out table and a bench. The only thing left was the straw mat he was lying on, with some straw underneath, which looked like a simple bed.

Li Zhi moved his body and tried to sit up, but his limbs were weak and his whole body was powerless, so he couldn't stand up at all. Moreover, when he exerted force, he felt a tingling sensation at the back of his head, which made him feel a little dizzy.

There was no choice, Li Zhi could only give up the idea of getting up and let himself lie on the straw mat, reaching out to touch his heart. He remembered that he was stabbed in the heart by that lunatic and died on the spot.

But it was strange that there didn't seem to be any pain in the heart area.

Huh?

Li Zhi found that the cloth his hand touched was very rough. He glanced at himself and realized that his clothes had changed. They looked like they were made of coarse linen.

Moreover, this style looks a bit like the ancient clothes he has seen in movies and TV dramas.

He reached out and touched the bun on his head.

Even the hair has changed?

Did I travel through time?

A bold idea that was exciting yet a little scary came into Li Zhi's mind.

"Have I traveled through time to ancient times? I don't know what dynasty this is... I hope it's not the chaotic Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, or the late Tang and Song dynasties..." Li Zhi muttered. After all, he didn't want to worry about his future every day after traveling through time.

Just when Li Zhi was daydreaming, the old man who had just left came back. This time, his rough hands were holding a bowl of something that looked like soup.

"Young man, come and eat something first." The old man put the soup in his hand aside, helped Li Zhi up, and was about to feed him.

Li Zhi quickly took the soup from the old man. Although he had no strength in his body, Li Zhi didn't need others to feed him even for a bite to eat.

After thanking the old man, Li Zhi started to drink the soup. There were eggs, a few vegetable leaves, and even two thin slices of meat in the soup. Although there were no modern Hextech seasonings, maybe it was because Li Zhi had been hungry for too long, he just felt that the soup was extremely fragrant, especially the two seemingly thin slices of meat. He couldn't tell what kind of meat it was, but it was stewed until it was soft and smooth.

In a short while, he ate it all up.

The old man couldn't help but laugh when he saw Li Zhi licking the bowl.

Li Zhi then realized his embarrassing situation and smiled at the old man sheepishly.

The old man didn't care and just waved his hand to indicate that it was okay.

Li Zhi ate something and finally regained some strength and energy. He asked the old man, "Uncle, do you know what dynasty it is now?"

"Dynasty? What is that?" the old man asked puzzledly.

"Um...what is the name of the current emperor?" Li Zhi continued to ask in a different way.

"Hey, the emperor is called the emperor. What else can he be called?" said the old man.

Li Zhi stretched out his hand and pinched his eyebrows, thinking about how to communicate with the old man.

Seeing this, the old man thought that Li Zhi still had a headache or something, and asked with concern: "Young man, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, uncle. Where is this place? How did I get here?" Li Zhi asked.

"Oh, this is Pingtian Village. I saw you on the road. You fainted on the road. I saw that there was no one around, so I brought you back to prevent you from being harmed by wild beasts." said the old man.

Upon hearing this, Li Zhi immediately bowed to the old man and said gratefully: "Thank you for saving my life..."

The old man hurriedly helped Li Zhi up and said, "No, no, it's a pity if a young man like you gets harmed by the big beasts and wolves in the mountains."

Li Zhi listened to the old man's words. Although there was nothing wrong with it, for some reason, he had a strange feeling in his heart, but he didn't think much about it.

I chatted with the old man for a while and learned that he had lived in this small village all his life and the farthest place he had been to was another village not too far from here.

The old man had never been to school and had never traveled far. He just rushed around to make ends meet. He paid no attention to anything else, so he didn't even know the name of the current emperor.

However, Li Zhi still learned from his communication with the old man that there was a wealthy man named He in the village. He used to be an official. After retiring, he returned to the village and settled down there and became a wealthy man.

In the eyes of the old people, this retired master is a great man with profound knowledge and extensive experience.

Li Zhi had an idea. Since he was a former official, could he ask him? He would definitely know which dynasty this was from?

Li Zhi clenched his fists slightly and felt some strength.

Then, just as I was about to speak to the old man, there was a sudden noise outside the house.

The old man hurried out to check.

After a while, the old man came back with a happy face, took the bowl from Li Zhi's hand, and said, "Mr. Li from the next village has started distributing meat again. I have to go first, otherwise I will be too late and miss out on my share. Young man, you just lie down in the house and rest first."

After the old man finished speaking, he ran out in a hurry.

This anxious look made Li Zhi feel a little amused and helpless.

However, Li Zhi was also a little curious. Most people would give porridge as gifts when doing charity work, but there were actually people who gave meat directly?

And why is it so strange that they come to distribute meat and do charity in the middle of the night?

Then he remembered that the soup the old man had just given him actually contained eggs and meat, but looking at the old man's house, it was obvious that he was not a wealthy person.

Li Zhi had also watched many TV dramas and read many novels. He knew that in ancient times, eggs and meat were not something that poor people could afford, but this old man actually gave them to a stranger.

This made Li Zhi feel even more grateful to the old man.

Unfortunately, he has nothing now, so even if he wants to repay the favor, he is powerless to do so.

We can only hope that it will be like the plot in novels, where the time traveler makes a fortune with the help of modern knowledge, reaches the peak of his life, and then comes back to repay the old man.

After all, that's what's written in novels!

Maybe it was because he had been lying down for too long, Li Zhi felt uncomfortable all over. It happened that he had recovered some strength now, so he got out of bed.

There was nothing in the old man's room, so Li Zhi opened the door and went out to take a look.