Zhutian: Start from Devouring the Stars and Becoming a God

Chapter 237 New Members

(Li Yunlong from "Bright Sword" and Gao Yao from "Myth" are welcome to join the group; those who don't like them can skip this part.)

In the Xia state, in the Jin region, in a dilapidated farmhouse courtyard.

At this moment, a middle-aged man with a dark complexion, shrapnel marks on his face, and wearing a wrinkled gray military uniform was walking back and forth in the courtyard.

He was holding a cheap cigarette in his hand, but he treated it like a treasure, enjoying it immensely.

Just then, a middle-aged man dressed in a gray military uniform walked into the courtyard. His fingers were straight and long, but his thumb and forefinger were calloused from holding a gun for a long time.

However, unlike the man smoking, the newly appeared middle-aged man's military uniform, though also worn, was clean and tidy, making him look like a scholar who had abandoned his pen for the sword.

If Lu Qingshan were here, he would surely recognize these two as characters from a TV series he knew very well in his previous life—a pair of tacit partners who went from strangers to acquaintances, Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang.

However, Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang had only recently met, so their relationship was naturally not harmonious. Therefore, when Li Yunlong sent his troops to "do side jobs," he certainly couldn't have informed Zhao Gang in advance.

As one of the leaders of this team, Zhao Gang was able to find out even though Li Yunlong deliberately kept it from him, given the team's prolonged absence.

That's why Zhao Gang came to confront Li Yunlong: "I want to ask the regimental commander, is there any combat mission in the unit?"

"Combat mission?"

After hearing Zhao Gang's words, Li Yunlong said very naturally, "No! If I had, would I not tell you?"

After saying this, Li Yunlong walked to the side while smoking, trying to avoid Zhao Gang.

But Zhao Gang had no intention of letting Li Yunlong off so easily. He quickly caught up and blocked Li Yunlong's path, then demanded to know where the missing team had gone!

Under Zhao Gang's persistent questioning, Li Yunlong finally had to reveal that he had sent Kong Jie and his troops to Wanjia Town to "engage in side businesses".

Upon learning this news, Zhao Gang became extremely serious and even said that Li Yunlong had mobilized the troops without authorization.

When Li Yunlong saw that his partner, whom he already looked down upon, had taken the matter to a whole new level, his anger quickly rose, and he started arguing with Zhao Gang.

Fortunately, Zhao Gang has a mild temper, and he has only been with the team for a short time, so he is not yet very familiar with the situation within the team.

So after Li Yunlong got angry, he managed to control his emotions well and then started to discuss things properly with Li Yunlong.

Although Li Yunlong still didn't think much of his partner Zhao Gang, his attitude softened immediately when he saw that Zhao Gang wasn't going to keep pressing him.

As the two continued their conversation, the team Li Yunlong had sent out to "do a side job" soon returned to their base with the spoils of this "side job"—equipment for a cavalry battalion.

Upon hearing the commotion, Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang naturally rushed out to greet them. Seeing the equipment of an entire cavalry battalion, the minor conflict between the two instantly vanished.

After all, Zhao Gang's previous argument with Li Yunlong was because the enemy situation in Wanjia Town was quite complicated, and he was worried that the troops would achieve nothing or even suffer heavy losses.

Li Yunlong was naturally very happy to have received a battalion's worth of horses and equipment.

But just as he was planning to form a new team, the old-fashioned telephone in the room suddenly rang.

Upon hearing the phone ring, Li Yunlong quickly went over and answered it.

And at this time...

"Li Yunlong, congratulations on your fortune!" A deep voice came from the other end of the phone.

Upon hearing the congratulatory voice, Li Yunlong showed no joy; instead, his heart skipped a beat.

Because the person on the other end of the phone was his immediate supervisor, and also his former boss.

The old leader called after he had just received a battalion's worth of horse equipment, and his first words were to congratulate him, which meant he was sure he would be given some of the equipment.

However, since the leader hadn't explicitly said anything, Li Yunlong naturally wouldn't admit it, so he quickly replied, "What wealth? We're so poor we're practically begging for food!"

"You think you can hide this from me? Let me tell you, I'll find out the very next day!"

The former boss on the other end of the phone laughed and said, "Tell me honestly, how much did you get this time?"

"not much!"

Seeing this, Li Yunlong could only tell the truth: "I only have the equipment for one cavalry battalion. I plan to form a cavalry battalion!"

"Look how capable you are!"

Upon hearing Li Yunlong's words, the old leader on the other end of the phone burst into laughter: "You want to form a cavalry battalion with just your regiment? Then should I form a cavalry regiment with my entire brigade?"

"Should! Should!"

Although the conversation was over the phone, Li Yunlong still bowed and scraped, saying, "With your reputation as a leader, you'd be more than qualified to be assigned a cavalry division!"

Unfortunately, his gesture went unnoticed by his superior on the other end of the phone.

Of course, even if he saw it, this old leader would not let him off easily.

After a struggle, and with the old leader threatening to 'move the troops without authorization,' Li Yunlong finally had no choice but to compromise.

"Sigh! A higher rank can really crush you!"

Li Yunlong sighed, then exclaimed, "Fine, fine! Leader, I accept it!"

"If you want to rob me, just say so. Why make up these excuses!"

"Hahaha!"

Upon hearing Li Yunlong's words, the old leader on the other end of the phone quickly laughed: "If I didn't make up an excuse, would you give it to me?"

Actually, this old leader wasn't asking Li Yunlong for the spoils for his own benefit.

First of all, Li Yunlong's troops did not have abundant resources, and it would be difficult for them to support a battalion of horses, since the daily fodder for warhorses was an astonishing expense.
In addition, as Li Yunlong's leader, he would certainly consider things more comprehensively, and it would be impossible for him to place an entire battalion of horses and equipment in Li Yunlong's army alone, even if these horses and equipment were captured by Li Yunlong.

After promising his old leader, Li Yunlong quickly sent people to prepare the horses and equipment he had promised and then began sending them to his old leader.

After the convoy delivering the horses and equipment had gone far away, Li Yunlong was heartbroken and secretly pondered who should lead the cavalry company next.

But just as a suitable person flashed through his mind, his expression changed slightly, because a very strange voice suddenly rang in his mind.

"Ding! Welcome to the All-Heavens Chat Group!"

……

Inside a magnificent hall in the Qin Palace in Xianyang, the capital of the Qin Dynasty.

The hall was filled with bamboo tubes, and a middle-aged man dressed as a eunuch was searching through them.

This person was Gao Yao in the ancient Qin Dynasty, who traveled back from more than two thousand years in the future with his friend due to an accident.

After traveling back to the Qin Dynasty, Gao Yao initially found it difficult to adapt and suffered some hardships.

However, he was optimistic by nature and possessed culinary skills that were considered very advanced by ancient standards. So after the initial discomfort, he quickly became the head chef of a restaurant.

If nothing unexpected happens, Gao Yao, with his superb culinary skills, will definitely be able to thrive in the Qin Dynasty.

But while he was working as a chef in the restaurant, he encountered his companion who had traveled back to the Qin Dynasty with him again because of a dish of 'scrambled eggs with tomatoes' from more than two thousand years later.

After sharing their experiences with Yi Xiaochuan, Gao Yao, led by Yi Xiaochuan, soon headed to a mysterious place that offered them a chance to return to their original timeline.

Unfortunately, the owner of that mysterious place did not receive them, but instead sent a young boy to entertain them and told them to come back after sixty years.

A cycle of sixty years is a long time, which Gao Yao and Yi Xiaochuan naturally found hard to accept. However, no matter how hard they tried, the boy who received them never revealed any useful information.

Left with no other choice, they had to leave.

Being unable to return to the original timeline is naturally a very distressing thing for Gao Yao.

But he was optimistic by nature and quickly adapted.

Just as he was about to show off his skills and make a name for himself as a "God of Cookery" in the Qin Dynasty, he encountered Liu Bang, who was then just a rogue but would one day establish a dynasty.

In fact, given Gao Yao's limited knowledge, he was completely unaware of the events surrounding Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang.

However, his friend Yi Xiaochuan told him that Liu Bang would become emperor in the future, so Gao Yao was very humble after meeting Liu Bang and even warmly entertained him.

But Gao Yao didn't expect that Liu Bang was indeed a ruthless and cunning man, even though he hadn't yet achieved the success he would in the future.

Under Liu Bang's scheme, Gao Yao and his friend Yi Xiaochuan quickly became sacrifices, replacing two escaped men under Liu Bang's command as forced laborers. After becoming forced laborers, Gao Yao was soon escorted to Xianyang City, where he eventually became a eunuch by chance.

When Gao Yao first became a eunuch, he was constantly bullied by the other eunuchs around him because he was inexperienced and seemed easy to bully.

Thus, Gao Yao could only do menial tasks in the imperial kitchen, such as washing vegetables and chopping firewood, and he would be beaten by the other eunuchs around him from time to time.

Fortunately, there is always a way out. The violent Prince Huhai had already killed several chefs because of their poor cooking skills, so the head of the Prince's residence quickly went to the imperial kitchen to select new chefs.

The other chefs, fearing that Prince Huhai would beat them to death again for cooking poorly, bribed the officials who came to select them in an attempt to evade the task. In the end, they recommended Gao Yao, who was the easiest to bully.

Fortunately, Gao Yao was a highly skilled cook, and his culinary skills, far surpassing those of his time, earned him the appreciation of Prince Hu Hai, which greatly improved his living conditions, and he was finally no longer bullied.

Later, Gao Yao served as the head chef in Prince Hu Hai's household until Princess Yu Shu from Tu'an arrived in Da Qin for a marriage alliance!
Princess Yu Shu already had a sweetheart before her marriage alliance, so after arriving in the Qin capital, she lost her appetite and couldn't eat or drink, which worried the Qin Emperor, who was unaware of the truth.

It was for this reason that Prince Huhai recommended Gao Yao, a member of his household, to the Qin Emperor.

After careful investigation, Gao Yao finally determined that Princess Yu Shu's loss of appetite was because she already had someone she loved.

However, he did not tell the Emperor Qin directly about this. Instead, he used his culinary skills to hint to Princess Yu Shu that only by surviving could he wait for his beloved.

Later, Princess Yu Shu finally began to enjoy the food because of his hints, and Gao Yao also gained the appreciation of the Qin Emperor and became the chief eunuch of the imperial kitchen.

Not long ago, Gao Yao reunited with his good friend Yi Xiaochuan, which naturally made him very happy.

Not long ago, Yi Xiaochuan broke into the palace to steal the luminous pearl, leaving behind a pulley.

The Emperor Qin was furious because of the loss of the precious luminous pearl, and the chief steward of the inner palace committed suicide out of fear of punishment.

It was only at Princess Yu Shu's recommendation that Emperor Qin appointed Gao Yao as the Grand Steward of the Inner Palace, tasked with investigating the thief who stole the luminous pearl.

Although Gao Yao was physically disabled, he was a grateful person, so he was extremely grateful to Princess Yu Shu for recommending him. Therefore, he never thought of telling the Emperor Qin that Princess Yu Shu already had someone she loved.

Later, during the investigation of the thief, Gao Yao also quickly discovered the pulley left behind by his friend Yi Xiaochuan.

However, since Yi Xiaochuan was his good friend, he naturally wouldn't expose him.

Therefore, Gao Yao quickly covered up the matter for his friend Yi Xiaochuan by claiming that the eunuchs guarding the luminous pearl had stolen it.

Now, Gao Yao is preparing for the future.

Because his friend Yi Xiaochuan told him, who didn't know much about history, that the Qin Emperor would be finished in a few years, and then a man named Zhao Gao would hold immense power.

Therefore, he wanted to use his current power to find this person named Zhao Gao and then defect to him in advance.

As for what his friend Yi Xiaochuan said—that the Qin state would be destroyed by Zhao Gao in the future—Gao Yao didn't care at all.

After all, he didn't have any thoughts about the nation or the world; all he wanted was for himself and his close friends to live a good life.

If I could find the people who bullied me in the past and take revenge, that would be even better.

That is why Gao Yao came to this palace, which contains information about everyone in the Qin Palace, to search for information about Zhao Gao.

Just as he was searching for information about Zhao Gao, a series of shouts and curses suddenly came from outside.

Affected by the shouting and cursing, Gao Yao felt a surge of irritation, so he quickly stopped the other party and also rescued the rather pitiful-looking palace maid.

But just as the palace maid was about to leave, Gao Yao suddenly froze, because he suddenly realized that the palace maid was actually his sister, Gao Lan.

What he didn't know was that the person in front of him was just a palace maid from the Qin Dynasty who looked very much like his sister.

"Gao Lan!"

Once Gao Yao came to his senses, he quickly stepped forward and helped the Qin palace maid up, then asked with great concern, "What are you doing?"

"grown ups!"

The palace maids of Qin were extremely flustered after seeing Gao Yao's unusual behavior.

"Who are you? I'm your older brother!" Gao Yao continued to greet the Qin palace maids warmly.

Unfortunately, Gao Yao's enthusiasm was a very inappropriate behavior for this Qin palace maid.

So the Qin palace maids were in a great panic and revealed that they were originally from the state of Chu and that they only had older sisters and no older brothers.

Seeing that the palace maid's expression seemed genuine, Gao Yao quickly calmed down as well. Then, with the palace maid's prompting, he soon found the bamboo tube containing the other party's information in the main hall.

After reading these messages, Gao Yao finally believed that the person in front of him was just a Qin Dynasty palace maid who looked very much like his sister.

However, having traveled back to the Qin Dynasty from over two thousand years ago, he was already very lonely, so he quickly decided to recognize this palace maid named 'Xiaoyue' as his younger sister.

Gao Yao's heart melted the moment he heard Xiao Yue call him "Brother".

Then Gao Yao quickly helped Xiao Yue up and said happily, "That's right, you are Gao Lan, the sister I've been looking for. I've finally found you!"

Although he knew very well that Xiaoyue in front of him was not his sister Gao Lan, he had already regarded Xiaoyue as his sister.

At this moment, the palace maid Xiaoyue was still very panicked, but Gao Yao was the chief steward of the Qin Palace, and she dared not resist.

Gao Yao then took her directly to the imperial kitchen and personally prepared many delicious dishes for her.

After feeling Gao Yao's deep care and love, the palace maid Xiaoyue finally let down her guard.

After all, she entered the Qin Palace as a maid at a very young age, and over the years, she suffered endless humiliation and beatings. No one had ever cared for or cherished her.

So the palace maid Xiaoyue quickly knelt on the ground and said very sincerely, "I am fortunate to have met you today, sir. I swear that I will serve you as I would my own brother!"

"Today is the happiest day I've had since I came here!"

Gao Yao quickly stepped forward to help Xiaoyue up, then patted her arm and said, "Good sister, don't be afraid!"

"From today onwards, with your older brother to care for you, cherish you, and support you, no one will dare to bully you anymore!"

For Gao Yao, his luck has been absolutely fantastic lately.

Although he became a eunuch in the Qin Palace due to various unexpected events, he reunited with his old friend Yi Xiaochuan and also met his younger sister.

From then on, even though he was in a foreign land, he was surrounded by friends and family and no longer felt lonely.

Looking at Gao Lan in front of him, Gao Yao quickly came up with an idea.

You should know that before he traveled through time, his friend Yi Xiaochuan was his sister Gao Lan's boyfriend.

Although Gao Lan is no longer in Qin, she now has Xiao Yue.

He is physically disabled now, but if Xiaoyue can get together with Yi Xiaochuan and have a few more children in the future, his life will be more complete.

"I want this place," Gao Yao thought to himself, "Xiao Chuan, you've really gotten a good deal this time!"

You should know that he knew everything about what happened between Yi Xiaochuan and Lü Su back then.

If this were in modern times, Yi Xiaochuan would definitely be a second-time divorcee and a widow, and he certainly wouldn't easily marry his sister to that other person.

But now he is in the Qin Kingdom, and he only has Yi Xiaochuan as a friend and Xiaoyue as a sister, so naturally he doesn't care about these things!

Just as Gao Yao was planning to tailor a set of modern clothes for Xiao Yue to wear and tease Yi Xiaochuan, a strange voice suddenly rang in his mind.

"Ding! Welcome to the All-Heavens Chat Group!"

……

　I saw a comment from a fellow reader saying that even the author himself didn't know what to write, so he kept asking around.

　　I suddenly realized that since I was just writing about the world in a brief way anyway, I could just choose the world that I was familiar with and that I felt uneasy about.

　　While helping the protagonist accumulate points, you can also take the opportunity to make up for your own grievances and inequalities...

　　I haven't thought of any other worlds yet, so the number of people joining the group this time has been reduced to three.

　　I'm working hard to write now. There will definitely be a second chapter before I go to bed tonight, but it might be a little late.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)