CHAPTER 119: 119- THE PAST [1] (BONUS)

The final system notification blinked away.

Fang Yuan stretched, the tension in his shoulders easing as the last of the day’s assigned quests vanished.

"Finally," he breathed, the word heavy with relief. He rubbed his temples.

"I definitely need something to automate this. This manual grind is unsustainable."

As if summoned, a golden screen materialized before his eyes:

[Automated Quest Generator: 345,678 System Points]

Fang Yuan stumbled backward, catching himself on his desk.

"Scam!" he choked out, the astronomical number stealing his breath.

"Absolute daylight robbery!"

The door burst open.

Felicia rushed in, eyes wide with alarm. "Clan Head! Are you alright? I heard a thud—"

"I am fine, Felicia," Fang Yuan interrupted, his voice sharper than intended as the lingering shock mixed with irritation.

He forced a measure of calm. "But next time, knock. Respect boundaries."

A visible chill ran down Felicia’s spine. "Of course, Clan Head! Apologies!"

She backed out swiftly, closing the door with a soft click.

Fang Yuan sighed, the brief flare of anger replaced by weariness.

He pushed away from the desk and stepped out of his study, finding Felicia hovering nervously just outside.

"Felicia," he said, his tone softer now. "Take the rest of the day off. Return tomorrow."

Her face fell. "Am... am I being punished, Clan Head?"

Her voice held a fragile sadness.

Fang Yuan shook his head gently.

"No punishment. I want you to go out. Enjoy yourself. See the markets, visit a teahouse... don’t be shackled to this place every hour."

"But..." Her voice dropped to a whisper, vulnerability raw in her eyes. "I don’t know if I can enjoy the day while being alone."

Fang Yuan stopped, truly looking at her, the loneliness etched into her posture. "You haven’t made any other friends? In all this time?"

A mute shake of her head was his answer.

A profound sigh escaped him, heavy with an unexpected echo.

He leaned against the cool stone wall, the question triggering a floodgate he usually kept bolted shut.

***

Ten years ago.

The memory struck him like a physical blow:

He stood at the edge of a jagged, smoking wound in the earth, the collapsed Spirit Mine.

Not as the powerful Clan Head, but as a man drowning in the raw, screaming grief of others.

The air vibrated with it.

"Fang Yuan!" A woman’s voice, shredded by tears, cut through the cacophony.

"Do you know what you’ve DONE?! Those lives... they’re on YOUR HANDS!"

"Fang Yuan! Give me back my husband!" Another wail, filled with bottomless despair.

A child’s voice, high and broken: "My dad! Dad, why?! You said you’d come back for my birthday!"

The accusations rained down, a hailstorm of pain:

"Fang Clan is cursed!"

"Murderers!"

"Worst of the worst!"

Mortals, consumed by loss, past caring for their own safety, their faces masks of agony and fury.

Fang Yuan stood amidst them, not cloaked in authority, but bowed low, repeating the only words that felt remotely adequate, yet utterly insufficient:

"I’m sorry. I am so sorry. I’m sorry..."

Over and over, a desperate litany against the tide of their anguish.

The weight of their grief pressed down, crushing. For a terrifying moment, he believed them.

He felt like the murderer.

The disaster had a single cause: one person’s selfish negligence.

An Elder, tasked with maintaining the protective arrays within the spirit mine, had only one duty, to ensure the formations remained pristine and stable, checked and reinforced every week.

Some had once grumbled to Fang Yuan that this was excessive, a waste of precious resources.

But he had silenced their objections with quiet finality:

"It doesn’t hurt to be careful. When lives are at stake, carelessness is not an option."

Miners, whether in this world or the one he had once lived in were never adventurers chasing glory.

They were people with families, mouths to feed, debt to pay.

In the Eastern Ravine Spirit Mine, every pickaxe swing was born out of necessity, not luxury.

But the Elder in charge had seen only opportunity.

Seeking to "conserve resources," she gradually stretched her inspections to once a month.

After all, many clans did the same, and the mines hadn’t collapsed yet.

It was foolproof, they said.

Until greed took the reins.

For three months, she stopped maintaining the arrays entirely.

And then, without warning, the mountain roared.

The mine collapsed.

Dozens were buried alive beneath crumbling tunnels and spirit ore veins.

Dust and screams filled the ravine.

When the news reached the clan, the Elder didn’t come forward.

She didn’t take responsibility.

Instead she fled.

Not only did she abandon her duty, she even stole clan resources on her way out, vanishing into the night as families wept.

When Fang Yuan arrived, he was too late at the scene.

He saw the desperate, futile clawing at the rubble.

He smelled the dust and despair.

And he saw himself.

Not the Clan Head, but the furious, grieving child from another life, another world.

His father. Crushed in a collapsing mine shaft back on Earth.

The company brass, smooth-talking serpents, blaming "unforeseen geological shifts" when the reports had screamed negligence.

The helpless rage. The betrayal. The life forever altered.

Now, reborn into this new world, Fang Yuan had something he never thought he had experience again, a loving family.

His parents were well-off enough that his father never had to step into the mines.

His mother, gentle and wise, taught him how to read and write.

He grew up enjoying a warm, peaceful childhood, even if, deep down, he was a grown man who had once died from overwork on Earth.

There was something disarming about receiving unconditional parental love. It softened even the hardest hearts.

When his younger brother was born, Fang Yuan was already ten.

And by then, he had become a boy unlike any other his age, brilliant, quick-witted, and well-mannered.

He loved his younger brother dearly.

He taught him, guided him, and cared for him with a devotion no one had asked for but everyone respected.

They were a happy family. A perfect family.

And then, almost as if fate wanted to deny that perfection, tragedy struck.

Fang Yuan could never forget the moment his uncle returned, carrying the lifeless bodies of his father and mother.

They had died during a trip to visit the Gu family. That morning, they had left with smiles.

His father had ruffled his hair and laughed, saying, "Nothing will happen. Gu Jian is my sworn brother and he’s already at the Nascent Soul realm. He’s very strong."

But now, they were gone.

(3/9 BONUS)