Chapter 1: Transmigration

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At this moment, Zhuang Yue felt a little panicked.

His last memory before this was a muddled, deep green, cold lake water. He remembered having this heavy and dizzy feeling, and felt as if his legs and feet were bound and powerless to move.

Unable to tell east from west, he looked upward. Zhuang Yue watched as the light above dimmed more and more until, finally, darkness swallowed him and he lost consciousness.

When he woke up, Zhuang Yue thought he was dead. But when he finally came to his senses, he realized that he wasn't dead just yet. 

Filled with confusion and doubt, he struggled to sit up. The soaked clothes on his body dripped with water. When he got to his feet, he took two steps with difficulty and felt something was off—

He raised his arms. The wet, long sleeves clung tightly to his body. He gave them a shake, but they didn’t loosen.

His lower body was even worse. The waterlogged ruqun (襦裙 is a traditional Chinese women's hanfu consisting of a short blouse and a long skirt)stuck to his skin like pickled vegetables marinated for half a year, wrinkled and uncomfortable. But that wasn't what startled him.

Long sleeves???

Ruqun???

Calm down, calm down. Zhuang Yue, you have to calm down!

While screaming internally, he felt his rationality break into pieces as he thought of something horrifying. He quickly shoved his hands inside his clothes, rummaging with difficulty.

Fortunately, it was still there.

He let out a sigh of relief.

With his crumbling sanity slowly returning, Zhuang Yue began to think.

He had transmigrated, at least his soul had, because this wasn’t his original body that was 1.83 meters tall, strong, and masculine.

From what little he had just explored, this body was thin, dry, and flat. Forget about a broad chest or ribs, even the arms felt thin and frail.

Judging from what he saw around him—the clear pond, the lush greenery, and the distant eaves of palace-like structure—this kind of scenery only existed in tourist attractions or film sets in his past world.

Yet in his original world, places like this would have been crowded with people.

Having barely survived, Zhuang Yue didn’t care which world he had arrived in, he only cared about one thing:

Why was he wearing a ruqun when this body was clearly male?!

He reached up and touched his hair. Though wet and disheveled, he could still feel hairpins and a mostly intact hair bun.

The temperature was warm, yet the wet clothes clung to his body, sapping what little heat remained, making Zhuang Yue shiver.

With his mind in a mess, he absentmindedly wrung the water from his sleeves when, suddenly, a figure emerged from behind the artificial rockery that startled Zhuang Yue. Especially when he saw his appearance.

That person was also dressed in a robe and skirt, styled similarly to Zhuang Yue’s current attire. However, his face was gaunt and dark, his sparse goatee speckled with white strands. With a face full of exaggerated expressions, he motioned to Zhuang Yue, making a “shhh” sound like a rat.

Zhuang Yue: “…”

How blinding. (好辣眼 is a Chinese internet slang term that literally means "very spicy to the eyes.")

He calmly continued wringing out his sleeves.

Seeing that Zhuang Yue refused to come over, the old man stomped over, huffing in frustration. Raising his hand, he pressed two fingers together and traced a series of elaborate gestures in the air.

Zhuang Yue felt as if his entire body, from head to toe, inside and out, had been sucked dry by a vacuum cleaner. His clothes instantly lightened. Bewildered, he reached up to touch his hair, finding it completely dry. Aside from looking a bit disheveled, there was no trace of the earlier fall into the water.

The strange and wretched old man lowered his voice and scolded, “That damn stubborn temper of yours! Jumping into the water just like that. Who were you trying to scare? In the end, you still couldn’t bear to die.”

Zhuang Yue didn’t respond, still reeling from the shock of his clothes drying in an instant with a mere wave of a hand.

Clearing his throat, the old man attempted to coax him. “I know, you’re afraid that tomorrow, when the female attendants of the inner sect examine your body, they’ll discover the truth. But haven’t I promised you? There won’t be a single flaw exposed.”

Zhuang Yue snapped back to reality. Since he had no clue what the old man was talking about, he remained silent.

“Sigh.” The old man scratched his head, feeling guilty. “I held off using it before because we hadn’t reached this point yet. After all, it's a precious treasure of our sect and not something to be used lightly.”

Saying this, he carefully retrieved a small ornate box from beneath his skirt. “You can take a look, but this treasure stays with me. You’ve only just entered Mingguang Palace, and you have no spiritual energy at all. It’s safer with me.”

The old man cracked the box open just enough for Zhuang Yue to glimpse something vaguely human-shaped inside before he quickly shut the lid with a protective air.

“Now you can rest easy, right?” The old man spoke with certainty. “All it takes is a drop of your blood, and this treasure will ensure you pass the examination without a hitch.”

“Come.” The old man reached out, gesturing for Zhuang Yue’s blood.

Zhuang Yue, utterly lost, refused without hesitation. He placed his hands behind his back, making his rejection clear.

The old man’s already narrow eyes squinted further. “Zhuang Yue, don’t forget, why did I go through so much trouble to get you in here? Until you retrieve the item, you’re stuck in this place. Or do you actually enjoy living in constant fear, knowing that the moment they discover you’re a man, you’ll be executed on the spot?”

Zhuang Yue was stunned.

His original body’s name was also Zhuang Yue?!

That was unexpected.

At this point, staying silent was no longer an option. “I don’t have it.”

His voice was hoarse and rough, likely because the original body had just drowned, swallowing a good amount of water. His throat ached terribly, which conveniently explained why he had refrained from speaking until now.

“Cough, cough.” Zhuang Yue swallowed a few times, trying to ease the pain in his throat with saliva.

The old man’s expression relaxed. He spoke slowly, “In the end, you are my disciple. I wouldn’t harm you. As long as you complete this task, I promise that I’ll get you out of here.”

The old man was actually the original body's master? ! Are these master and disciple a pair of thieves?! (basically means they're tied in the same boat, but in a negative light.)

Zhuang Yue covered his mouth and nose, disguising his shock with a cough. But what started as a fake cough turned real, aggravating his throat further.

Seeing his pained expression, the old man hesitated, then reluctantly took out a small bottle from his robes and poured out a pea-sized honey-brown pill.

“Eat this, and your illness will be cured immediately.”

The pill emitted a pleasant medicinal fragrance. Judging that the old man had no reason to harm him right now, Zhuang Yue swallowed it in one go.

Astonishingly, the pill melted in his mouth, turning into a sweet liquid that instantly soothed his throat. As it flowed down, a wave of warmth spread through his body. The deep-seated chill that had seeped into him from the lake—threatening to turn into a fever—was completely dispelled in mere moments.

Zhuang Yue’s eyes lit up in surprise. He stared straight at the old man’s medicine bottle. “Master, why don’t you give me a few more? Just in case.”

Without hesitation, the old man stuffed the bottle back into his robes. “These Revitalization Pills are hard to come by! I only have a handful. As good as they are, they only treat common ailments. Once you enter the inner sect of Mingguang Palace, any illness will be treated with far better medicine. There’s no need to waste these on you.”

Stingy.

Zhuang Yue inwardly scoffed. He wanted the horse to run but didn't give it grass to eat. ("又要馬兒跑，又不給馬吃草 metaphor that means to demand results but refuse to provide proper resources.) This cheap master was a miser.

“Give me your hand. It’s just a drop of blood from your fingertip; it won’t harm you in any way.” Perhaps sensing Zhuang Yue’s resistance, the old man patiently explained, “Mingguang Palace is an all-female sect with strict rules. Whether mortal or cultivator, any man who dares set foot here faces only one outcome, and that is death.”

He continued, earnestly persuading Zhuang Yue, “We’ve come this far, there’s no turning back for is master and disciple. Our only option is to push forward. If you obtain the target, all our sacrifices will be worth it.”

Zhuang Yue gathered his thoughts and looked at the old man. Slowly, he asked, “As long as I retrieve the item, Master guarantees I can leave safely?”

The old man felt quite guilty and said with evasive eyes: "I promise, as long as you get it, I will definitely get you out."

The promise he made was not real at all, and Zhuang Yue didn't believe it at all!

But if the old man was feeling guilty, Zhuang Yue was feeling even more nervous.

This old man seemed to have some unfathomable abilities. Zhuang Yue was afraid that he would discover that the soul inside this body had changed. If the old man casually waved his finger, his second life would be over.

If he rashly turned against the old man and attracted the people from Mingguang Palace, they would discover he was a man. Whether he could explain it or not, it would be a dead-end either way.

The situation was extremely unfavorable at the start, but Zhuang Yue could only grit his teeth and move forward. He had to first get past this hurdle before thinking of a solution.

The old man took a drop of blood from his fingertip.

This so-called "essence blood" was truly mysterious. As soon as the blood was drawn, Zhuang Yue immediately felt a wave of weakness wash over his body. The warm flow brought by the Revitalization Pill he had just swallowed seemed to flow away with that drop of fresh blood.

Zhuang Yue held his finger to stop the bleeding, while the old man turned sideways to block his view and dripped his blood onto the so-called treasure. 

"It's done!" The old man's spirit lifted, and his small eyes gleamed. "With this treasured artifact, you are sure to pass safely!"

After carefully storing the small box again, the old man spoke in a tone as if Zhuang Yue had gained a great fortune. "Our sect’s treasured artifact is extremely rare. In the future, you must remember to be grateful to your master for granting you this opportunity."

Zhuang Yue sneered inwardly. No matter how many nice words the old man said now, it was just an empty promise. If he were truly just a boy under fifteen, as his original body was, he might have been completely fooled.

"You should go now. Speak less, observe more, and don't reveal any flaws," the old man instructed. "Although the female attendants managing this place each watch over ten to twenty people, and may not be able to pay close attention to every one, but you still need to be cautious and not let your guard down."

Since he was tied to the old man like thieves in the same boat, even without the reminder, Zhuang Yue knew he had to be extremely careful.

On the way back to the residential area, he cautiously spoke with people along the road and finally made it back without issue.

The original body's residence was a communal sleeping area, a large barrack-style house with two long platforms on the north and south sides, enough to sleep about twenty people.

At the moment, the room was empty. Zhuang Yue had no idea which spot belonged to the original body, so he had no choice but to sit by the bed, lost in thought.

Everything had happened too fast. Even now, Zhuang Yue still felt a sense of unreality. Just half a day ago, he had been in the modern world, living a carefree and indulgent life. But after closing and opening his eyes once, he was in a completely different world, with an uncertain future and life hanging by a thread.

After indulging in some self-pity, he noticed a few dressing tables along the wall, and in the corner, there was a full-length bronze mirror. He got up and walked over.

He wanted to see what this body's appearance was like.

The bronze mirror was very smooth, and the reflection looked no different from a modern mirror, except for its yellowish tint.

The person in the mirror was as thin as a stick, with a sharp chin, large eyes, a straight nose, and full lips, though they were pale. The features were decent, but the complexion was sallow and sickly, completely lacking vitality.

His appearance was above Zhuang Yue's expectations, giving him a small sense of relief.

Zhuang Yue had always been a bit of a face-connoisseur and was even somewhat narcissistic. Even after dying once, that bad habit hadn’t changed.

The person in the mirror had disheveled hair. No wonder people had been looking at him strangely earlier. He had only managed to cover up his discomfort by pretending to be calm.

He shut the door, planning to take this chance to study how to wear the clothes properly.

After struggling to untie the silk skirt, a luoqun(罗裙 luo qun is traditional pleated skirt), he held the fabric in his hands, then blankly stared at his lower body.

A terrified scream, as if his vocal cords had been torn apart, came out of his throat.