Chapter 4 — Waking Up in a Fine Mess
Blade of Dawn · Page 3 of 3
His life was extremely brief yet incomparably glorious: setting out at fifteen as the youngest pioneer knight of his day; hacking through obstacles alongside other pioneer knights and the first King of Ansu, spending ten years establishing a new nation in the north of the continent and pulling humanity back into civilization and order; after Ansu's founding, becoming one of the kingdom's seven generals, guarding the southern frontier and repelling more than a dozen counterattacks—large and small—from the dark magic tide, never once defeated...
But such a glorious life was like a candle burning too fiercely. This legendary figure ultimately lived only to thirty-five, dying of exhaustion in the final battle against the dark magic tide.
The inherited memories ended there.
That was the life of this badass.
Gao Yang felt his temple twitching.
He had possessed one hell of a person!
There was no smug satisfaction, no trembling awe—after the brief shock, his biggest reaction was actually... a lack of confidence.
Rebecca was looking at him hopefully. Amber wore the same expression. Even Lady Heidi, who seemed the most mature and steady of them all, now looked at him with eyes full of expectation and trust.
But what they saw was Gao Yang Cecil, not Gao Yang.
Gao Yang looked down at his hands. They were a warrior's hands—broad, thick, covered in heavy calluses—but he had no idea how much power he could draw from this body when he controlled it.
Yet this lack of confidence didn't last long, because Gao Yang's own memories stirred to life—memories spanning tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of years. Though their substantive content was probably not much, they were enough to quickly steady his mindset and fill him with confidence.
He admitted he was somewhat shaken by Gao Yang Cecil's legendary life, but in this situation what he needed was not shock and wavering, but firmness in himself.
The source of this confidence was simple.
Back when the intelligent beings of this continent still couldn't walk upright, he had already been watching this world!
He knew these memories wouldn't offer much practical help, but at this moment, all he needed was to cheer himself on.
And then, riding that momentum, find a way to survive.
And once he calmed down, solutions would naturally present themselves.
He soon found some useful things in the memories belonging to Gao Yang Cecil.
"Fighting our way out isn't realistic," Gao Yang stroked his chin and said sternly. "I've slept too long—I may not be able to exert much strength, and we can't be sure just how powerful those monsters outside really are. So the best plan is to find a route around them and get to a safe place."
Rebecca: "But the drawbridge has been destroyed, and the other roads are blocked too..."
Gao Yang waved his hand, cutting off this great-great-whatever-granddaughter: "Underground. Cecil Territory was once part of the kingdom's southern defense line. There's a secret tunnel system beneath this land—its main structure was blessed by earth elementals, so even a thousand years won't make it collapse. And the entrance to this secret tunnel is right beneath the castle."
"There's something like that?!" Rebecca's face lit up with delight. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's hurry and find the tunnel! Ancestor, you lead the way!"
"But there's one problem," Gao Yang spread his hands. "I only know how to get there starting from the castle. I don't know the route from this crypt."
Rebecca looked surprised: "You lived here so long and you don't know the way?"
Gao Yang: "..."
Sir Byron and the soldiers: "..."
Heidi's face went pale, and she felt that the Xuanmai Sect's founder would most likely be angered to death by this disappointing descendant...