Chapter 1 — The Last Breath and the New Dawn
Beep… beep… beep.
The sound of the heart monitor was fading, each tone weaker than the last. I could feel my grip on the world slipping away. I died.
—
In the middle of darkness, there is a warmth feeling that I feel. I opened my eyes and saw an unfamiliar ceiling. The sterile scent of antiseptic was gone. The air was warm and thick with the smell of wood smoke and boiled herbs. My head pounded, and a fever burned through my body.
Someone gasped. "You're awake!"
A girl was sitting by my bed, clutching a damp cloth. Her face was soft, round with youth, but her eyes held a forced maturity that didn't quite fit.
I stared at her, blinking through the haze. "Who… are you?"
Her smile faltered. "Gege…? It's me, Mei. Don't you remember?"
My head throbbed harder. The name was like a spark in the dark — familiar, but far away. "I… don't…"
She pressed the cloth to my forehead. "Don't try to talk too much. You've been sick for days." Her voice trembled, like she was trying very hard to sound calm.
The room spun, and I let my eyes close again.
—
Morning came; I finally regained the memory of this body. I am Wei Ge. I lived in a small hut with Mei, my younger stepsister. As I looked around, she was at the table, grinding herbs. "Is your body all right now, brother?" she said, relief softening her face.
"I am fine. Thanks, Mei."
Her smile brightened, and in that moment, I felt something warm anchor me to this strange new world.
—
Afternoon came and I just sat outside the hut and blackly staring at the sky. "Why am I alive? Why am I transported here? It is not even the earth that I know."
From the looks of the location of our house, we lived in the squatter's area of the town. The Town was called Qinghe town – a town bustling with lot of business. Our parents are gone and there is only me and Mei.
--
I saw Mei coming out the hut with a paper in hand. "Are you going somewhere?"
"Ah yes brother, I was supposed to send this letter but Mr. Feng asked me to help him on his yard.
Brother, can you please deliver this message to the mail man in the city.
"Sure. I also want to stretch my legs for a while." I replied.
"Thanks brother. "
I use this chance to view the Qinghe town. The moment I stepped past the outskirts, the air grew busier. Street hawkers shouted over one another, selling everything from roasted chestnuts to cheap talismans. The clanging of blacksmith hammers rang out from open forges, each strike echoing down the narrow lanes. Boots and wooden clogs tapped against the uneven cobblestone, weaving between carriages drawn by sturdy, sweat-slick horses. The smell of grilled meat mixed with the tang of molten metal, wrapping the town in a chaotic, living rhythm.
After delivering a package for Mei, I came across a narrow, musty shop wedged between two tea houses. The sign read: Inkstone Pavilion. With a recruitment sign pasted on the wall that says help needed.
Inside, shelves groaned under the weight of books, scrolls, and yellowed ledgers. The owner, Old Man Shen, squinted at me from behind a desk. "You here to buy or gawk?"
"Looking for work," I said.
He snorted. "You look like you'd break if I had you carry a stack of books."
"I can do work; I can clean your store and organize the shelves." I replied.
He scanned me from head to toe. "Hmph. Fine. Sweep the floor first, don't touch anything expensive, and if you can read, you can sort the back shelves."
It was more than I could have hoped for. Between errands and sorting, I read whatever I could get my hands on — travel notes, herbal compendiums, farming manuals, and even old cultivation treatises, though most were incomplete or damaged.
Bit by bit, I pieced together the truth: this was Earth, but not the one I knew. Carriages rolled where buses should be. Villages were protected by small cultivation clans. And beyond those, vast sects held power I couldn't yet comprehend.
Every night, I returned to Mei and cooked simple meals from my old world's recipes. She'd wrinkle her nose at first, then devour everything, claiming she was "just being polite."
I didn't know what the future held — but this time, I had a chance to learn before the world tried to kill me again.
And I wouldn't waste it.