Two hours after meeting alone with Huo Zaiyuan, esteemed grandmother Zhang passed away. Amongst her last words, she asks for Huo Zaiyuan to take an important item from her home and requests of him to escort the survivors of this village to X City's established safe zone.
Huo Zaiyuan naturally agrees.
Before esteemed grandmother Zhang's death, she was the most respected and prestigious elderly in this village. From the start of the apocalypse until this day, the villagers have always been protected by her and are deeply saddened by her passing. That very day, they held a small but solemn and dignified funeral for the old woman.
In the late grandmother Zhang's house, Huo Zaiyuan adheres to her final words and searches for the item she wants him to take. Beneath the small altar dedicated to the Taoist God Zhang Tianshi1], he discovers an ancient wooden chest. The item itself isn't very big, about the size of a desktop's CPU, small enough for Huo Zaiyuan to carry in both hands.
Tap.
A sudden small noise sounds, causing Huo Zaiyuan to raise his head towards the direction of the noise. At the doorway of the house stands a slim silhouette belonging to the young woman who was kneeling next to the late shaman when they were in the ancestral shrine.
Noticing Huo Zaiyuan's eyes on her, a trace of nervousness seeps onto her face, her eyes darting to and fro.
"ThatI apologise. I - I only wished to take a look at esteemed grandmother's home. Wuwu[2]" Saying this, tears appear in her eyes as her face morphs into a crying expression. She looks so pitiful that even a stone-hearted male can't help but take pity on her. "Ever since those monsters appearedesteemed grandmother Zhang used her abilities to protect the villagers who hadn't been turnednow she - she's deadwu wuI'm so sad"
"Don't cry anymore." Huo Zaiyuan bluntly tells the young woman, then opens the ancient chest.
He doesn't know how to comfort people, especially females, even if her pitiful appearance does niggle his heart. In the apocalypse, he will not spare a sliver of thought to ponder over anything he cannot make sense of. His goal is very simple, to continue living.
Within the box are stacks of blank yellow papers, as well as ten over pottery jars about the size of one's palm. Two brushes, one big and one small, lies at the edge, and in a corner is a piece of white jade with the Eight Trigrams carved onto its surface.
Lifting the jade up for a closer look, Huo Zaiyuan realises that this Eight Trigrams jade pendant is actually a very elaborate compass. The carvings on its surface are very meticulous and intricate, each character is about the size of a mung bean and perfectly spaced around the Yin-Yang circle in the middle[3].
In this current world, things like gemstones, precious metals and jade are considered junks, but this item the late grandmother Zhang left for him is not about value. Rather, it is something that might just save a life. For rescuing the villagers from a horde of zombies, his reward is that ancient text. For escorting the villagers to the nearest safe zone, his reward is this wooden chest and the items inside.
"Is this the reward esteemed grandmother Zhang gave you?" The gentle voice of a curious girl sounds from beside him. Originally still standing at the doorway, who knows when she walked over while he had been busy examining the contents of the box.
Jerking slightly as he is brought out of his musings, Huo Zaiyuan shuts the lid and calmly looks at the woman. "Why are you still here?"
Her face flushes slightly and she shifts awkwardly. "I - it's nothing. I recalled esteemed grandmother Zhang asking you to escort us to the safe zone before she passed. I just wanted to say thank you personally."
"No need to thank me. After all, she did give me an honorarium already. This is but a business transaction." Due to the woman's presence, he cannot store this chest away in his space and can only carry it in his arms. Fortunately, the chest is not too heavy.
"I still must." Looking at him, she smiles faintly. "Thatmy name is Shen Yueran. What's yours?"
Meeting Shen Yueran's eyes evenly, he purses his lips and remains silent for a while before answering. "Zi Yuan."
"Eh? Wasn't it Huo Zaiyuan?"
Footnotes:
[1] A deity in charge of overseeing Taoism and Taoists:
[2] Crying sounds
[3] Imagine this, except the jade is white, and the circle is a Yin-Yang symbol