A silent dawn.

I woke up to the sound of rain.

The ceiling was covered in yellowed wallpaper, and the room reeked of damp mold, yet the headache that had tormented me my entire life was gone. It felt strange.

What was even stranger was how familiar this smell was, how familiar this sight before me was.

The atmosphere of a house drowning in poverty was something I knew all too well, and no matter how I looked at it, this place was unmistakably my old home.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that this was the cramped backroom of the guesthouse my grandfather had left me.

The name Yi Zaha was given to me because of this place.

“Why am I here?”

I had never once confused this guesthouse with another after it burned down.

A sudden memory resurfaced—words spoken by that unidentified man.

"This is the last lifeline. Never swallow the Heavenly Pearl again."

How could I have swallowed the Heavenly Pearl twice?

That would only be possible if I had returned to the past.

“Wait… the past?”

Now that I thought about it, my body felt better than ever.

The disappearance of my headache was shocking enough, but even the injuries I had sustained while breaking through the Celestial Web were completely gone. Only my face felt slightly sore, as if someone had punched me.

I opened the door to get a better grasp of my situation, revealing the shabby interior of the guesthouse.

If I pieced together the man’s words with my current circumstances, he was likely telling me that even if I returned to the past, I should never swallow the Heavenly Pearl again under the same conditions.

Which meant this moment was undeniably my past.

Shocked, I failed to realize that this situation was nothing short of a blessing.

“What the hell is this mess?”

I had always thought of this guesthouse as a dirty, miserable place, yet now, looking at it after so long, it felt tranquil, serene.

Beyond the entrance, the rain had just stopped, and the ridgeline of the mountains was bathed in the first light of dawn.

“…Hmm.”

I stood there for a long time, staring at the scenery.

Until the soft morning sunlight gradually filled the silent guesthouse.

It had been a long time since I felt such peace.

But I couldn’t help feeling a tinge of regret.

Why this point in time?

My grandfather was nowhere to be seen.

If I had been sent further back, perhaps I could have seen my parents one last time. The thought crossed my mind.

But my grandfather had always said they passed away due to poor health, so maybe seeing them again would have only made me feel worse.

A wave of sadness welled up inside me.

As I continued staring outside, a throbbing pain spread through my right eye.

It was bruised.

Since I had no mirror, I had no choice but to step outside.

I figured wandering around the guesthouse might jog my memory, but that was nonsense.

I sprinted straight to the stream to check my face.

“…”

I never thought I’d be this shocked by my own reflection.

All the scars were gone.

My face was so much softer than I remembered that even I was surprised. However, a deep purple bruise surrounded my right eye as if I had been struck recently, and my lip was cracked.

"When the hell did I get hit like this?"

Regardless, this was my face in my early twenties.

I had been beaten so many times back then that it was hard to pinpoint exactly when this happened.

Staring at my reflection in the rippling water, I was lost in old memories.

***

At the very least, this was definitely my hometown, located on the southern outskirts of Ilyang County.

Wherever people lived, a version of Jianghu naturally took shape.

There were no prestigious sects or noble families here, but the lines between black and white were blurred, creating a chaotic mess of groups.

To put it simply, from the perspective of my Crazy Demon days, this place was crawling with idiots.

Ilyang County, in particular, was full of them.

That was because brothels flourished here.

Ever since my childhood, the town’s thugs had gathered in groups, causing trouble in ways that even third-rate gangs would find disgraceful.

And their grand dream?

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

To join the criminal organizations outside Ilyang County.

As I gazed at the familiar landscape, something surged within me, and before I knew it, I was shouting.

“You bastards! I’m back!”

A man, half-asleep nearby, groggily responded.

“Shut the hell up, you crazy bastard! If you’re drunk, go home and sleep it off. Goddamn it.”

“Oh, I will, you bastard.”

Another man, who had only just managed to fall asleep, shouted from his house, swearing.

And in that moment, I was certain.

I had really returned to the past.

Had this blessing come because of my fight against the Demon Cult?

Or was it because of that mysterious man?

One way or another, my battle against the Demon Cult and this unexpected twist of fate were intertwined.

***

At this time, I deliberately pretended to be a mere errand boy.

If people knew a child was the owner of Zaha Inn, it could put me at a disadvantage. So I often avoided trouble by lying, saying that a relative had entrusted the inn to me.

Of course, the townspeople who were close to my grandfather knew I wasn’t just an errand boy but the actual owner of Zaha Inn. Still, they kept their mouths shut. People called me Yi Zaha because I worked at Zaha Inn and bore the surname Yi. But in truth, that was my real name.

Memories of those days, when I couldn’t even claim my own wealth as mine, flashed before my eyes.

And then, I grinned.

“It’s good to be back.”

The thought of living again made my body itch with excitement.

In my previous life, I had started learning martial arts seriously much later. Now, I had years ahead of me—seven or eight years more, at least. There was no telling how much stronger I could become this time.

If there was a profession in Jianghu that invited humiliation, scorn, and suffering, then being an inn errand boy was at the very top.

But this «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» time, I wouldn’t be anyone’s punching bag.

The errand boy from back then had survived, clashed with the Martial Alliance, and eventually grew into a man who stood against the Demon Cult.

***

To jog my memory, I wandered around Ilyang County.

As my gaze swept over the town, hidden memories surfaced one by one.

Filthy alleys, the stench of fish from the marketplace, the large pot lid in front of the dumpling shop, the makeshift windbreaks covering the street stalls, and even the peculiar soup shop I used to frequent.

The familiar sights and smells of this town kept pulling fragments of my past into focus.

And with those memories, long-forgotten emotions resurfaced.

It was funny.

The town had plenty of shops, yet aside from the occasional visit to Chunyang Restaurant, there wasn’t a single place I had particularly favored.

As I strolled through the alleys, my lips twisted unconsciously.

The bitter sting of having to pinch every last coin.

The humiliation of having my protection money stolen.

With every alley I passed, memories emerged—but they weren’t fond ones.

Even though I had owned an inn at a young age, my life had been no better than that of a beggar from the Beggars’ Sect. I had been too busy scraping by to afford luxuries, and because of that, customers often mocked me, calling me a miser.

The bruise on my face right now? It was from something similar.

Once, a customer sneered at me, asking what I planned to do with all the money I hoarded like a miser.

Honestly, the question had caught me off guard.

Of course, I was saving money. I was an orphan. Unlike you, who could blow your earnings working as a brothel guard, I didn’t have the luxury of spending freely.

Back then, in an attempt to be funny, I had jokingly said—

"I’m saving up so I can hear a song from Chae-hyang at Plum Blossom Pavilion."

It was, I swear, just a joke.

As expected, people burst out laughing.

But somehow, the joke part got lost along the way.

I learned then that once words passed from mouth to mouth, their meaning could warp into something completely different.

Because soon enough, the story had changed.

My innocent remark about wanting to hear a song had become—

"That errand boy from Zaha Inn is hoarding money so he can sleep with Chae-hyang."

Wasn’t it ridiculous?

That rumor spread like wildfire across the entire county.

Not a single person mentioned that it had started as a joke.

"That brat from Zaha Inn is saving up every penny just to sleep with Chae-hyang?"

"What a lunatic. I always wondered why he was so stingy."

"Pathetic bastard."

"As if Chae-hyang would ever lower herself to sleep with him. She’s not some common courtesan. And he’s not the only one after her."

Even now, just recalling it made my stomach churn.

“That was a joke, you bastards. Damn it…”

Every time that rumor reached my ears, I had wanted to tear my hair out.

But honestly, wasn’t it the perfect mix of stupidity and hilarity?

A single joke had turned into the very reason people believed I was saving money. The story had spread across Ilyang County like some kind of legendary tale. Some idiots even joked that it might reach the Martial Alliance.

***

I came to a stop in front of Plum Blossom Pavilion, where a green lantern hung outside.

A green lantern meant the place had courtesans.

A red lantern meant not to ask for them.

Of course, meanings varied by region, and over time, they had become muddled, but in this town, that’s how it was.

Memories flickered by.

The rumor about me wanting to sleep with Chae-hyang had reached the guards at Plum Blossom Pavilion, and they had come to my inn just to mock me.

The moment they saw my expression harden, they started by punching me in the face.

And they didn’t stop there.

Maybe they were pissed that someone was treating Chae-hyang like a common courtesan.

Maybe they were just trying to look good in front of her.

Looking at the bruises on my face now, this must have happened just a few days ago.

I hadn’t really dwelled on it before. But now, after returning to the past, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Back then, my face had stiffened because they had brought Chae-hyang with them on purpose, just to humiliate me.

How could I even begin to describe the frustration and disgrace I had felt?

In the end, whether my words had been a joke or not didn’t matter.

To them, the real insult was that a mere errand boy had dared to covet the most beautiful woman at Plum Blossom Pavilion.

That was the first time I had seen Chae-hyang.

She was beautiful.

But there’s nothing more humiliating than looking into a woman’s face and seeing only contempt and fury.

As those emotions returned in full force, a smile crept onto my lips.

They had humiliated me in front of a crowd, so I would return the favor—when the most people were watching.

I would visit Plum Blossom Pavilion in the evening, when the place was packed.

It was time to turn the rumor back into a joke.

Just as I was about to leave, a man from the fabric shop across the street spoke up.

“Thinking about burning the place down? You’ve been glaring at it like a madman. What a pathetic bastard.”

His voice oozed with condescension.

Of course, I had been pathetic at this point in my past life.

But the real issue was—

I was still pathetic now.