novelsite Chapter 2: The Change at Age 6
Chapter 2: The Change at Age 6
On her sixth birthday, Lin Yun woke up very early.
Before dawn, he climbed out of his hard little bed and tiptoed to the window. Outside was the typical scene of Yangzhou's working-class district—dilapidated houses, narrow alleyways, and the faint outline of a massive city wall in the distance. The morning mist hadn't yet dissipated, and a faint smell of rust lingered in the air, drifting from the wilderness outside the city, supposedly from the blood of monsters.
Lin Yun touched his chest; the small bronze cauldron was resting quietly against his skin, showing no abnormalities.
Six years.
Six years ago, he went from being a graduate student who died in a plane crash to an infant in this apocalyptic world. In those six years, he learned one lesson: some things can't be rushed.
"Yun'er, are you up?" Grandpa Lin Guodong's voice came from the outer room, old but full of energy.
"I'm up, Grandpa," Lin Yun replied and quickly walked out.
On the table in the outer room was a glass of milk and a few steamed buns, which was his birthday breakfast. Lin Guodong sat opposite him, with only a bowl of thin porridge in front of him. The old man had saved all the food he could for his grandson, but he couldn't bear to eat a bite himself.
"Grandpa, you should eat too." Lin Yun handed the steamed bun to the old man.
"Grandpa has already eaten. You're growing, so eat more." Lin Guodong pushed the steamed bun back, his cloudy old eyes full of love.
Lin Yun didn't refuse any longer. He knew that his grandfather had a temper harder than a city wall, and that he was a man of his word.
After finishing his meal, Lin Yun went out to find Luo Feng. This was his best friend in the world, and the only person he had truly confided in over the past six years.
Luo Feng's house was right next door, separated only by a corridor. Before Lin Yun even entered, he heard the sounds of practicing boxing coming from inside. Peeking out, he saw Luo Feng practicing his horse stance in the living room, his face tense, his fists pounding away.
"Luo Feng, so early again?" Lin Yun walked into the living room.
Luo Feng stopped what he was doing, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and grinned: "My dad said that martial arts training should start from childhood. Why are you here so early today? Wasn't it supposed to be your birthday?"
"I can't sleep." Lin Yun sat down beside him. "I'm six years old now, and I feel like I've gotten another year older."
Luo Feng rolled his eyes: "If six-year-olds are considered old, then wouldn't I be an old man too?"
Lin Yun couldn't help but laugh.
Luo Feng appeared more mature than his actual age, likely due to his family background. His father, Luo Hongguo, was an honest and hardworking factory worker, his mother was in poor health, and he had a younger brother to care for. The saying "poor children mature early" applies to any world.
"Come on, I'll take you to a great place," Luo Feng suddenly said mysteriously.
"Where?"
"Just come with me."
Luo Feng led Lin Yun through several alleys, winding and turning, until they finally arrived at an abandoned factory. The factory gate was rusty, and the slogans on the walls were blurred and illegible, but the inside was quite spacious.
"This is my secret base." Luo Feng pushed open a crooked iron door, pointed inside, and said, "Look, this used to be a machine shop, but it was abandoned after the monster attack."
He walked to the corner of the factory, moved aside a pile of debris, revealing a hole underneath.
"There's a basement here. I've cleaned it; it's very clean. We can practice our skills there from now on, and no one will bother us."
Lin Yun peeked into the cave and found that it was neatly organized, with even two simple beds made of wooden planks.
"You did all of this by yourself?" Lin Yun asked, somewhat surprised.
Luo Feng nodded, a hint of smugness on his face: "It took me two months."
Lin Yun suddenly felt a pang of emotion.
In the original work, Luo Feng is a precocious, resilient, and loyal person. He works hard silently in the ruins and strives to become stronger in the corners where no one pays attention, and then soars to the sky, making everyone look at him with new eyes.
And now, Lin Yun has become the person closest to him.
"Luo Feng," Lin Yun looked at him earnestly, "we'll train together from now on."
Luo Feng paused for a moment, then laughed: "Of course, otherwise why would I bring you here?"
The two children exchanged a glance, both seeing a tacit understanding in each other's eyes.
On the night of the third day after my birthday, something unexpected happened.
Lin Yun woke up from his sleep and felt a familiar warmth in his chest—exactly the same as the day of the plane crash six years ago.
He suddenly opened his eyes and looked down.
The small bronze cauldron, which had remained unresponsive for six years, was now emitting a faint blue light, the light flickering like a signal or a call.
"Finally..." Lin Yun murmured to himself, his heart suddenly racing.
The frequency of the blue light increased, and the light emanating from the surface of the small cauldron began to spread outwards, enveloping the entire room in a blue halo. Lin Yun felt a huge suction force coming from his chest, and his consciousness began to blur, as if his soul was being pulled out of his body by an invisible hand.
He was all too familiar with this feeling.
He experienced something similar six years ago on that crashed plane.
But this time was different. This time, he felt no fear, only anticipation.
The azure light grew stronger and stronger. The small cauldron detached from Lin Yun's chest and floated in mid-air, slowly rotating. The ancient patterns began to flow, as if they had come to life, outlining an extremely complex magic array in the air.
Then, a crack appeared in the void.
On the other side of the crack, there is another sky, another world.
The small cauldron, carrying Lin Yun's soul, plunged headlong into the crack.
When Lin Yun regained consciousness, he found himself lying on a soft bed.
The air was filled with a completely different smell—not the rusty smell of Yangzhou, but the fragrance of grass and soil, and a faint scent of incense.
He slowly opened his eyes, and what came into view was a completely unfamiliar room.
The room was small, but very tidy. The walls were made of bluestone, and the windows were fitted with stained glass, which allowed sunlight to stream in and cast dappled shadows on the floor. Beside the bed was a wooden table with several books and some parchment covered in writing on it. In the corner stood a wardrobe with heraldic patterns on its doors that he couldn't quite understand.
This is where?
Lin Yun sat up and found that his body had shrunk—about five or six years old, similar to his appearance in the Swallowed Star world. He looked down at his chest, where the bronze cauldron lay quietly, the lingering blue light just fading away.
Just then, a flood of chaotic memories rushed into his mind.
He saw a woman—gentle, beautiful, with long chestnut hair. She was holding a baby and softly humming a lullaby.
He saw a man—tall and strong, with a heroic air about him. He was holding a child in each arm, standing in front of an ancient manor, his gaze firm and deep.
He saw two children chasing and playing in the manor yard. One was a cute boy, and the other, born a few minutes later, was the younger of twins.
That younger brother, that's him.
Six years of memories flooded Lin Yun's consciousness in a matter of seconds. He learned that this body's name was Lin Yun Baruch, the young master of the Baruch family. He learned that the other boy was his twin brother, Linley Baruch. He learned that the man was his father, Hogg Baruch, and the woman was his mother, who "died" shortly after the birth of his other brother, Wharton.
He also knew that the Baruch family had once been glorious, with the blood of dragon warriors flowing through their veins, and was one of the most powerful warrior families on the Yulan Continent. But now, the family had long since declined, leaving only this dilapidated manor and a few loyal servants.
Lin Yun sat on the bed and spent a long time processing these memories.
The Baruch family, the Dragonblood Warrior, Linley, the twin brother...
He was all too familiar with these names and these settings.
Isn't this the novel he once read?
The story about magic, martial arts, divine planes, and the supreme god—Panlong.
Linley Baruch, the protagonist of the Panlong world, and the future controller of Hongmeng.
In this world, he is Lin Lei's twin brother.
Lin Yun took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.
Six years ago, he traveled to the world of Swallowed Star and became Luo Feng's neighbor.
Six years later, Xiao Ding brought him here again, and he became Lin Lei's younger brother.
What secret does this small bronze cauldron hold?
Just then, the door was pushed open.
A boy who looked almost exactly like Lin Yun peeked in. He saw Lin Yun sitting on the bed, paused for a moment, and then gave a big smile.
"Lin Yun, you're awake? That's great! You've been sleeping all day. I thought you were sick."
This is Linley Baruch, his twin brother.
Looking at this familiar yet unfamiliar face, Lin Yun felt a strange sensation welling up inside him.
"I'm fine," he said, his voice calmer than he had expected. "I just had a very long dream."
"What dream?" Lin Lei asked curiously as he walked in and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"I dreamt about..." Lin Yun paused, "to a place very, very far away."
Lin Lei nodded, seemingly understanding, then took his hand: "Get up quickly, Father said today is the start of our warrior training with the other kids in town! Uncle Hillman is already waiting in the yard!"
Lin Yun let Lin Lei pull him out of the room, but his mind was racing.
He trained with Luo Feng in the Swallowed Star World, but his progress was slow due to the lack of guidance. In addition, he was too young and dared not train too hard. Now, with Hillman, a level 6 warrior who is a master in the early stages, guiding his training, his progress will surely be much faster!
At six years old, two worlds coexist, and everything is just beginning.
He touched the small bronze cauldron on his chest, a slight smile playing on his lips.
From this moment on, the fates of the two worlds became inextricably intertwined.
In Swallowing the Stars, he is Lin Yun, Luo Feng's neighbor and childhood friend, an orphan struggling to survive in the apocalypse.
In the world of Panlong, he is Lin Yun Baruch, the second son of the Dragonblood Warrior family and Lin Lei's twin brother.
One soul, two bodies, two completely different worlds.
After completing this journey through time, the small bronze cauldron fell silent once more, hovering quietly between Lin Yun's two souls, waiting to be awakened again.