It took two days before I finally manage to accept my situation, although I'll miss everyone that I knew on Earth and I'm still missing them—even that nasty professor, I know I have to get myself together and not stay here getting depressed and doing nothing but rotting.
After that headache, I recovered Duan Yanyan's memory that's probably causing me headaches. I wasn't dreaming. I wasn't hallucinating, and definitely I wasn't recovering in some hospital bed after a burnout-induced coma.
I had transmigrated. Into a world where people tamed beasts for power, survival, and apparently, societal clout. Fantastic.
How ironic that I was named Chen Kangle when I literally died in my sleep. Hehe.
(A/N: Chen Kangle means health and happiness.)
And in this new world, I was Duan Yanyan—a 17 years old girl who shared her name with the sound of someone choking on their emotions, lived in a shack that barely stood upright, and had a younger brother with big eyes and a heart too soft for this unforgiving world.
"So... what happened to me?" I asked Duan Yu one evening as we gnawed on some dry root stew that tasted like poverty.
"I also don't know, it was uncle Ma who brought you here, he said he found you unconscious in the outer ring of Wuhen Forest. You don't remember?"
"Luckily uncle Ma found you before you got eaten by some wild beast. You really should take care of your health sis, and stop fainting outside randomly." He grumbled.
My spoon froze mid-air. Right. Of course. I forced a nod, though my chest ached. It wasn't just sympathy—it was guilt. Whoever this body belonged to, she had a life, a family—now only a younger brother. And now I had to carry all of it.
Duan Yanyan did have a fever when picking herb that day, even when she knew she was sick, she still went to pick herb. I chuckled bitterly.
"Why did you laugh?" he said, bewildered. "Nothing." I quipped, funny how both of us died while sleeping. Well, she died after fainting.
It was all for her younger brother. Duan Yanyan plan on sending her brother to the village school and it cost money. Money in this world is monopolized by the strong and powerful, and with their dead parents leaving nothing but debt. It was hard saving money when half of what she earns is use to pay their debt.
Although Duan Yu looked to be 7 years old, he's actually already 10 and is in the prime age to learn beast taming. Duan Yanyan must really love her brother.
Duan Yu didn't press the issue. He just ate his flavorless stew like a champ.
Later that night, after he fell asleep, I sat by the bed and looked around our glorified hut. It's cold here and we can't even afford to light a fire at night. The roof leaked, the floor creaked, and the only beast in sight was a mouse judging me from the corner.
So, this was it. No parents. No money. An unstable job. And I was back to square one—overworked, underfed, and deeply, profoundly exhausted.
I found a small notebook among our few possessions. Inside were notes about herbs, low-level beast taming techniques, and a list of things we owed to the village. Debt. Of course there was debt. And a huge amount at that. I sighed.
How am I going to pay back all this debt, just seeing those numbers make me dizzy.
Apparently, Duan Yanyan used to make a living by picking medicinal herbs in the forest vicinity and helping take care of the tamed beasts owned by wealthier villagers. It wasn't glamorous work, but it kept her and Duan Yu alive. Barely.
"God," I muttered to the ceiling, "did I die just to get reincarnated into financial ruin again?"
The ceiling responded with a drip of water landing directly on my forehead.
I wiped it away and sighed. If nothing else, I was consistent: always tired, always broke, and now with the added bonus of being hunted by magical beasts if I dared step outside the village boundary.
But when I looked over at Duan Yu—his face peaceful for once, despite the constant fear in our lives—I knew I had to keep going. If not for me, then for him.
I might not be the real Duan Yanyan, but I was all he had. And I can sympathize with him because we both grew up without a parents. I went to the orphanage at 6 after my parents got into an accident, and because I don't know any living relative, I was given to the orphanage to add to their expenses.
After having Duan Yanyan's memory, I discovered that she lacked talent in beast taming and haven't had a tamed beast in her possession yet, even when she attended school for a year when her parents are still alive. But I am different, I came from another world.
So, I tied up my hair, picked up that notebook, and muttered, "Alright, let's do this, Beast Tamer Style."
Because if fate wasn't going to cut me a break, I was going to choke it into submission with sheer willpower.
New life? Check. Same struggle? Absolutely. But I wasn't going down without a fight.
…
I feel tired and my eyes fought just to stay open. I didn't sleep a wink last night trying to comprehend beast taming and discovering that I had zero talent in it. I was excited that night thinking I might have a golden finger and talent for cultivation just like what those fantasy novels wrote about. Only to end up disappointed.
I shouldn't have keep my hopes up when I don't even know how I ended up here. Its all a mystery and it's making me scared. A little.
Why did I have to transmigrate here and end up not having something to rely on?
How was I supposed to survive here? In this new, foreign world? I'm just an average college student, living in a peaceful world and with no experience. And now I was thrown here where the strong rules, and if I were to accidentally offend someone powerful, I'll be dead.
I can only rely on picking medicinal herbs for now and try to figure out something later after I manage to improve our living condition. Because I'm not going to sleep in that rag of a bed for life.
And I definitely need to change my habit of not sleeping, otherwise I might die in my sleep again, that would be hilarious.
Picking up my tired sleepless body, I grabbed my basket and put it in my back, ready to go start my day picking herbs.
Looking towards Duan Yu who was still sleeping soundly in our bed filled with straws to make it a little more comfortable, I tuck him carefully under the blanket, which is just a couple of guzhuang that is clumsily stitched together.
(A/N: Guzhuang - This is a more general term for traditional Chinese clothing, encompassing various styles throughout history, including those seen in Xianxia stories.).
Walking towards the village boundary, I met a few fellow villagers going in and out the village just like me picking herbs for a living nodding towards me, I nod back.
Qinglin village is situated at the edge of Wuhen Forest, while being near Wuhen Forest is dangerous, it also gave us livelihood, as long as one stays out and doesn't go beyond the outer ring of Wuhen Forest then everything is fine.
While walking I skim through the book about herbs and familiarizing myself with common herbs seen around in the vicinity of Wuhen Forest. What to pick and how to pick them, especially the poisonous ones as I don't have the confidence to pick them while keeping myself alive. Even though I inherited Duan Yanyan's memory, it's better to read it again to familiarize myself in picking herbs and avoid mistakes.
After walking for half an hour, I found some scattered low-mid level herbs. While picking herbs I catch a glimpse of a cluster of white leaf herbs. Walking towards it and crouching down to harvest them, "I might earn quite a lot of money today hehe." I thought.
I carefully dug around its roots to prevent the plant from being damage and place it in my basket. Slowly and steadily, I manage to harvest them all.
As the sun climbed higher, the forest around me grew warmer, the light filtering through the leaves in golden streaks. Sweat clung to my back, and my arms ached from the repetitive motion of harvesting. My basket was already half full, and I'd only been out for an hour. Maybe today really was going to be a good haul.
I took a short break near a rock shaded by a crooked tree, chewing on a dried fruit I'd packed. It was hard and sour, but it kept the hunger at bay.
Glancing at my surroundings, I couldn't help but marvel at how different this world was. The colors felt deeper somehow, the sounds sharper, like everything here was alive and watching. Or maybe that was just the paranoia settling in—because, as much as I hated to admit it, this forest gave me the creeps.
Still, I needed the herbs. If I could sell a few bundles of white leaf and some wild qi mushrooms, I might be able to buy rice and maybe even a slice of dried meat. Luxury, I thought bitterly.
My fingers brushed against another herb, this one a dark violet flower with translucent petals that shimmer like shadows. I trembled. I check the notebook and match it with a sketch—Soulshade Bloom, it calms soul injuries and enhances inner resonance. A rare herb!
"Nice! I've struck it rich." I exclaimed.
"Such a rare herb it will definitely reach a substantial price, I can use the money earned from this to finally send Duan Yu to the Village School, maybe I can even buy a guide book for taming beasts and still can buy a rice and some dried meat." I thought.
My hands trembled slightly as I dug it out carefully, feeling a flicker of satisfaction. Maybe I wasn't completely useless after all.
Then, the wind shifted. A scent wafted through the trees—something musky and metallic, sharp enough to cut through the earthy smell of moss and bark. At the same time, the forest fell quiet. No chirping. No rustling. Just a blanket of unnatural silence.
But then came the crack of a twig—loud, deliberate, and close.
I straightened slowly, my instinct screaming. Something was here.
A low growl rumbled through the air.
And then I saw it.