Chương 199: Chapter 198: Into a New World

Shouting and crying echoed in the distance as Yang attempted to turn around and go back to sleep, ignoring the rather rude racket that seemed to be going on around him. What was Li San doing? As the thought surfaced, his mind snapped to attention as he realized Li San and he had been parted for more than a year, with Li San in the Azure Sword Sect and Yang himself in the White Cloud Sect. Who the hell was making this clamor then? Yang sat up coughing as he felt a deep ache throughout his body.

He felt someone pat his back hard as he coughed out water from his mouth and nose. He was reminded of Senior Brother Qing An doing this for him in the human caterpillar's chamber as he threw his guts out. He wondered which one of his Senior Brothers was taking care of him this time. Ugh. This nausea was awful. He must have hurt his head real bad to get a concussion even as a cultivator.

Once he was comfortable enough to be able to breathe easily, he looked around, realizing he was supported up on wet muddy ground by a tall young teenage girl instead of one of his Senior Brothers. She appeared to be wearing a light blue cotton tunic along with a pair of loose, rough-spun beige pants and had her hair pulled back in a simple ponytail, but what actually caught the attention of his currently sluggish mind were her eyes.

They were an unnatural shade of electric blue, though they seemed to be losing the bright hue, making Yang wonder if he had been hallucinating. Where were his Senior Brothers? The phantoms that were attacking them? He turned towards the noise that seemed to be surrounding him, realizing that a cluster of children and some teenagers stood in a loose circle surrounding him. As his gaze shifted up, he realized he was outdoors, under clear skies, and apparently next to a river, he thought as his gaze moved sideways.

The sky shone so bright over his head that he had to squint his eyes to look up. He could feel the heat of the sun's rays on his face as well as the cool wind. Where was he? He was no longer in the underground chamber. He groaned. His head felt like it was going to split open. There was a searing pain in his chest, and he was feeling a burning sensation in his throat. He was distracted from the perusal of his surroundings and his own condition when he felt the girl shake his shoulder.

"Nahar. Are you okay? Are you injured?" Yang tried to say he was okay but was only able to utter a bunch of slurred gibberish. He shook his head and tried to use his hands to sit up straight, but there seemed to be a lag between his intentions and his body's movement. His eyes widened as he was reminded of a previous experience and realized what was wrong. He was no longer in his own world. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Or rather, it was his soul that was no longer home. He immediately peered within him to look at his Sea of Consciousness and saw that there was no stray dark energy remaining free. His Sea of Consciousness was filled with over a hundred cocoons suspended on the golden webbing like some kind of harmless fruit sprouting from a vine. Further ahead, he found that his soul was now free again and seemed to be performing its usual artistic rendition of his mood and thoughts.

At least this seemed to relieve some of his panic. Finally, he gazed towards the second world bud only to realize its surface seemed to have become reflective, almost like a mirror. His mind went back to the initial stages of the bud when he went into the Cardwright World first. Instead of a bud, there was silvery reflective threading mixed among the webbing that had initially attracted his attention. Now this bud had a similar sheen, and it looked to have come alive more than before.

Yang saw it pulse and noticed that the webbing connected to it was pulsing as he saw energy extending from it further along the web and most likely towards the bead. He let out a sigh as his mind relaxed and panic fully abated. He was safe for now. The bead seemed to have pushed him into another world. Yang wanted to be angry but knew that he was in danger and injured. And worse than that, the bead itself was greatly weakened. They both needed time away from their reality to gather their strengths.

And having the bead recover was essential if he wanted to survive in his real life. He made to look towards the bud intending to see if it— He lost concentration and was yanked out of his Sea of Consciousness as a result of being shaken violently. Apparently he had been ignoring the girl who seemed to be trying to drag Yang up, all the while shaking him to get him to respond. He really wanted to ask if she actually thought shaking him like a maraca would jolt him back to his senses?

He fought off the hand and tried to assure her he was alright, but was only able to make incoherent sounds. Realizing he was only making it worse for himself, he wanted to slam his head against the wall and curse fate, the bead, and his life before he thought better of it. Better not to. He had already been meeting too many walls face-first recently. Cultivators are strong physically, but if things kept going like this, he was literally going to lose a few screws and maybe even his teeth.

It wasn't helped by the fact that all his Senior Brothers' idea of protecting him included tossing him like a tennis ball whenever they feared for his safety. At this rate, it won't be an enemy that offed him, but one of them. He glared at the girl and let his body go limp, closing his eyes, pretending to have lost consciousness. Immediately, he heard wailing from the kids around him and resisted the urge to clamp his hands over his ears. The last few days had been less torturous than all this shrieking.

He felt the girl pick him up bridal style, making his eyes fly open. He tried to struggle, but his body refused to cooperate, resulting in him just giving up as he realized the girl was running with him towards what seemed like a rustic wooden house. He wondered at the ease she was carrying him with and looked down at his new body, only to realize it was not the girl who was too big or strong but rather he who was too small. He seemed to have transmigrated into the body of a child.

He felt a pang of discomfort as he realized the implication of his presence in this body. Someone's child had died, and now an alien was invading their child's body. He felt deeply uncomfortable, but this was the card he was dealt, and he needed to work with it. The girl's panicked sprint, or rather, the wailing children following behind them, seemed to have drawn the villagers out of their homes, and by the time he was carried through the door of the wooden house, a small crowd had gathered.

He was taken out of her arms and laid on a small bed. Yang just lay motionless, keeping his expression vacant. He didn't have any memories or even basic motor control of this body. Playing dazed and confused would be the best idea; it was even mostly true. He saw a bearded, middle-aged, heavy-set man in blue floor-length robes rush inside and take a seat on the edge of the mattress.

He placed a hand on Yang's forehead as he examined him, looking into his eyes and examining his head before placing his hand in the center of his chest. As a jolt of energy surged into his body, Yang's back practically arched off the bed.