Chapter 2: The Rotten Wooden Plank

Chapter 2: The Rotten Wooden Plank

After school, Chen Shouyi barely managed to shake off his two troublemaking friends’ suggestion to hit up an internet café, riding his bike home alone instead.

"Dad, Mom, I'm back."

It was still early for dinner, not yet the busiest time, and the restaurant was empty. His mother sat behind the cash register, punching numbers into the calculator without looking up.

"Hungry? If you are, your dad can whip up a rice bowl for you first."

Running a restaurant meant early dinners—by the time regular folks sat down to eat, the place would be swamped.

"I’ll wait for little sis to eat together," Chen Shouyi said listlessly, dropping his backpack.

"Then don’t just stand there. Go to your room and do your homework!" His mother, Jiang Fen, shot him a disdainful glance.

"Not much homework today. I already finished it."

"Then go help your dad gut the fish. With grades like yours, I’ve given up hope anyway."

Chen Shouyi was used to the criticism. He took it without complaint and obediently headed to the kitchen.

Chen Dawei, busy prepping ingredients, chuckled. "Don’t listen to your mom. Go back to your room and study. You’ve only got a year left before the college entrance exams. A second-tier university might be a stretch, but third-tier? You can still fight for that!"

"Blame your son for being dumb. It’s not like I’m not trying, but if the results don’t show, what can I do?" Chen Shouyi muttered under his breath. He hadn’t taken a single day off all summer, cramming in tutoring classes, yet his scores barely budged.

He’d always been terrified of his mother, so these complaints were reserved for his dad. With her, he wouldn’t dare.

As he spoke, he grabbed a fish, knocked it out, and began scaling it with practiced ease.

"Ask your mom about that. When she was pregnant, she wouldn’t stay put—had to go running around the fields, took a tumble, and popped you out early," Chen Dawei said cheerfully, his tone lighthearted.

Compared to their sharp-witted younger daughter, he preferred this simple-minded son. The boy took after him.

"Oh, so it’s my fault now?" Jiang Fen’s voice rose from the front, where she was tallying the books. "Don’t forget, I was pregnant during harvest season. If I hadn’t brought you water, you’d have died of thirst!"

"Who’s blaming you?" Chen Dawei’s knife paused mid-chop as he hurriedly backtracked.

Chen Shouyi smirked, relishing the moment.

This household was a matriarchy through and through. His mother reigned supreme, his dad ranked third—behind his sister—and he, of course, was dead last.

"Ow!"

As if karma had caught up with him, Chen Shouyi pressed too hard with the scaling knife and sliced his finger. Blood welled up instantly.

"I told you not to do it. Go wash up—there are band-aids under the coffee table in the living room upstairs," Chen Dawei said quickly, glancing over.

With his hand injured, Chen Shouyi had no choice but to wash up and trudge upstairs.

Their home was a self-built property with the restaurant on the ground floor and living quarters above. When it was first constructed, the area had been rural outskirts, but with the city’s expansion, the place had skyrocketed in value.

Upstairs, he found the band-aids and had just applied one when he heard his little sister’s saccharine voice drift up from below.

Hearing the stark difference in his mother's attitude toward her daughter compared to him, Chen Shouyi secretly curled his lip.

What a suck-up!

Outwardly, he might seem protective of his younger sister, but in reality, their relationship had never been good. From fighting over toys, snacks, and affection as kids to competing over grades and awards as they grew up, his sister’s very existence made him feel utterly worthless—like walking trash.

The most depressing part? Back when they were little, he could at least make her cry by beating her up. Now, he didn’t even have that option.

She was already a Quasi-Martial Apprentice. Even if she fought him with one hand tied behind her back, she’d crush him effortlessly.

"Bro, Mom said you cut yourself while gutting the fish!" Soon, his sister Chen Xingyue came upstairs, grinning.

Chen Xingyue wore her hair in a ponytail, her fair skin giving her a delicate, lively charm.

But only Chen Shouyi knew just how devious she really was.

"It’s nothing, just a scratch," Chen Shouyi said, trying to maintain his older brother’s dignity with a calm tone. Yet, he could practically see the smug amusement in her expression.

Chen Xingyue didn’t press further, grabbing the remote and turning on the TV.

"As we all know, the Otherworld is a realm ruled by deities, its societal structure still in an uncivilized state, akin to humanity’s early Stone and Bronze Ages. However, recent explorations by pioneers indicate that the Otherworld is undergoing drastic epochal changes. Now, let’s hear detailed commentary from renowned sociologist Professor Luo..."

Chen Shouyi had always been deeply interested in programs about the Otherworld, so he settled onto the couch, watching with fascination. After a while, he turned to his sister in confusion. "Why aren’t you doing homework today?"

Chen Xingyue kept her eyes fixed on the screen, her face blank. "I’ve already been recommended for early admission to the Beijing Martial Arts Institute."

"What?!" Chen Shouyi whipped his head around, stammering. "Y-you… you passed the Martial Apprentice Examination?"

"Not yet. But soon. My teacher estimates I’ll pass in another month of training."

"But—"

"This year, the school has thirty early admission slots. Three were allocated to first-year students—I’m one of them." Chen Xingyue cut him off before he could even finish.

Her casual, matter-of-fact tone nearly made Chen Shouyi choke on his own breath.

The Martial Arts Institute’s enrollment was separate from the national college entrance exams—it was a spring admission. That meant his sister, two years younger than him, would graduate high school half a year earlier than him.

"You haven’t told Mom and Dad yet?"

"Of course I’ll tell them—tonight," Chen Xingyue said.

Chen Shouyi scowled. "Then why tell me first?"

She finally cracked, a huge grin spreading across her face. "Well, you are my dear older brother. Good news should be shared with you first, right?"

What an insufferable little sister. Her heart’s probably pitch-black.

Utterly crushed, Chen Shouyi struggled to keep his face from twisting in frustration. He shut his mouth. If he listened to her any longer, he might just develop internal injuries from sheer exasperation.

He stared intently at the TV, but the show he had been enjoying just moments ago now felt utterly dull. Thinking about his bleak future, he could no longer sit still. Grabbing his backpack, he said, "I'm going to study."

"Dinner’s almost ready!"

"I’m not eating... uh, just bring it to my room later."

Once inside his bedroom and closing the door, Chen Shouyi immediately slumped into dejection. Why were the girls in his class so adorable, while his younger sister was so insufferable?

This was blatant showing off, rubbing salt in his wounds!

He pulled out his math textbook from his backpack, but his mind was too restless to focus. Pushing the book aside, he walked over to the display cabinet in his room to clear his head.

The cabinet served as both his bookshelf and his personal collection room. Alongside various reference books and literary works, it housed numerous items with an Otherworldly aesthetic—his most treasured possessions.

A bronze axe, a leather shield, several stone slabs carved with mysterious totems, and a few eerie wooden plaques exuded a primal aura.

However, these were all replicas bought from craft stores—so obvious even an amateur like Chen Shouyi could tell at a glance.

The bronze axe was clearly made from industrially smelted metal, the shield’s leather was just aged cowhide, and the totems on the stone slabs lacked any trace of antiquity, the material itself being common granite found everywhere on Earth.

But not everything was fake. Among them, Chen Shouyi suspected one item might be the genuine article—an authentic relic from the Otherworld.

It was a rotten wooden plank.

Dark and weathered, it was in terrible condition, nearly decomposed and riddled with holes as if eaten away by termites. This suggested it might have once been a supernatural artifact of extraordinary origin and priceless value.

But upon arriving on Earth, its supernatural properties had dissipated, and the material rapidly deteriorated.

Now, it was truly just a rotten plank—so worthless that even if discarded on the ground, no one would bother picking it up.

In fact, that was exactly how Chen Shouyi had found it—lying abandoned at a demolition site. He had snatched it up like a priceless treasure.

Opening the cabinet, he carefully took out the rotten plank.

Though corroded by the laws of this universe, its interior was still riddled with holes. Yet, he could sense that the material remained incredibly hard, faintly hinting at its former glory.

On its mottled surface, vague traces of mysterious patterns could still be seen.

He had studied them before—they were narrative paintings, similar in style to ancient murals found on Earth. They seemed to depict significant milestones in the development of an Otherworldly civilization.

The first time humans in that world used fire.

The first time they employed written language.

...

In the upper-left corner of each painting was an intricate and mysterious emblem, each one unique. As someone who frequently watched documentaries about the Otherworld, Chen Shouyi knew these were the symbols of deities from that realm—and not just one, but many.

Unfortunately, none of this mattered. No matter how mystical an artifact was, once it reached Earth, it would inevitably become mundane.

Gently stroking the plank, he let out a sigh—one of countless he had heaved over it. If only this thing still held supernatural power.

Imagining himself holding the plank aloft, radiant light bursting forth to illuminate the land, he couldn’t help but chuckle foolishly to himself.