The darkness that had surrounded Chen Wei for seven long years finally began to fade away, but not in the way he had expected. The cold stone floor of his prison cell, which had become as familiar to him as his own heartbeat, seemed to dissolve beneath his broken body. His fingers, which had been clutching the small hourglass pendant that his grandmother had given him decades ago, suddenly felt nothing at all. The pain that had been his constant companion for so many years was disappearing, melting away.
Chen Wei had been a soldier once, full of pride and determination to serve his country. That seemed like another lifetime now, because it had been another lifetime, before the enemy forces had captured him during a covert operation. Seven years in that underground prison had changed everything about him. The confident military man who had once led missions without hesitation had been replaced by someone who flinched at shadows and counted every breath as a small victory against death.
The hourglass pendant had been his only comfort during those endless days and nights. His captors had somehow overlooked it, perhaps thinking it was worthless because it was so small and appeared to be made of simple glass and cheap metal. They had taken everything else from him, including his dignity and his courage, but they had left him this one small reminder of home. He had held it during the beatings, pressed it against his chest during the long periods of starvation, and whispered prayers to it when the pain became too much to bear.
Now, as consciousness slipped away from him after his final torture session, Chen Wei felt the pendant growing warm against his chest. The warmth spread through his body like gentle waves, so different from the burning pain he had grown accustomed to. His last thought as Chen Wei was that perhaps his grandmother had been right when she said the old family heirloom had special properties, though she had probably never imagined it would activate like this.
The transition between death and rebirth was not instant, despite what many stories might suggest. Instead, Chen Wei found himself floating in a space that was neither dark nor light, neither warm nor cold. It was simply existence without form, and for someone who had spent seven years wishing for death to end his suffering, it was surprisingly peaceful. Time had no meaning in this place, and Chen Wei could not say whether he floated there for seconds or centuries.
Eventually, sensations began to return, but they were all wrong. The first thing he noticed was the absence of pain, which after seven years of constant agony felt more disturbing than relieving. The second thing was the feeling of silk against skin, so different from the rough prison clothes he had worn for so long. The third sensation made him freeze in confusion because the body he was becoming aware of was completely different from the one he had known for sixty-three years.
When Chen Wei finally managed to open his eyes, he found himself staring at an unfamiliar wooden ceiling. The room was simple but clean, with white walls decorated with what appeared to be Chinese landscape paintings. Sunlight filtered through paper windows, creating patterns of light and shadow that danced across the floor. Everything about the room suggested a different time period, perhaps ancient China based on the architectural style.
The real shock came when Chen Wei tried to sit up and caught sight of his hands. These were not the gnarled, scarred hands of an old soldier who had endured years of torture. These hands were smooth and delicate, with long fingers that had never held a weapon or been broken by interrogators. The skin was pale as fresh snow, almost luminescent in the morning light.
Moving purely on instinct, Chen Wei reached up to touch his face and encountered features that were completely foreign to him. The jaw was smaller and more refined, the cheekbones higher and more delicate. Long hair, white as moonlight, cascaded down past shoulders that were narrower than they should be. When his hands moved lower, encountering a chest that was definitely not flat and definitely not male, Chen Wei's mind finally processed what had happened.
He had been reborn as a woman.
The mental shock of this realization was so profound that Chen Wei fell back onto the bed, hands trembling as they clutched at the silk sheets. In his past life, he had been traditionally masculine, a career soldier who had never questioned his identity or role in society. Now he found himself in a body that was the complete opposite of everything he had known about himself.
As if responding to his distress, memories that were not his own began to flow into his consciousness. The body he now inhabited belonged to someone named Liu Mei, a twenty-five-year-old woman who had been attempting to become a cultivator despite her limited talent. The cultivation world was harsh and unforgiving, especially for those without strong backing or exceptional abilities. Liu Mei had been what they called a rogue cultivator, someone without a sect or master to guide them.
The memories revealed that Liu Mei had possessed three spiritual roots, which in the cultivation world was considered below average. Most successful cultivators had one or two spiritual roots, allowing them to focus their energy more efficiently. Her spiritual roots were aligned with water, wood, and ice, a combination that made her cultivation speed frustratingly slow compared to her peers.
What had happened to the original Liu Mei was unclear from the fragmented memories, but Chen Wei got the impression that she had died during a failed attempt to break through to the next cultivation level. Such deaths were apparently common among rogue cultivators who lacked proper guidance and resources. Her body had been lying in this rented room in a small town on the outskirts of the Jade Phoenix Empire when Chen Wei's soul had somehow entered it.
The hourglass pendant, Chen Wei realized with a start, was still with him. It hung around his neck on a simple silver chain, looking exactly as it had in his previous life. When he touched it, he felt a faint warmth and a strange connection, as if the artifact had bound itself to his soul rather than his physical form. This small piece of his past life brought both comfort and confusion.
Outside the room, Chen Wei could hear the sounds of daily life in what seemed to be a busy town. Merchants hawked their wares in the street below, their calls mixing with the clip-clop of horse hooves and the chatter of pedestrians. Occasionally, he heard terms he didn't fully understand from Liu Mei's memories - people discussing spirit stones, magical treasures, and cultivation techniques as casually as people in his old world might discuss the weather.
The urge to explore this new world warred with Chen Wei's hard-learned caution. Seven years of torture had taught him that drawing attention to himself led only to pain and suffering. In prison, he had learned to become invisible, to avoid the guards' notice whenever possible, to never volunteer information or show any sign of resistance. These survival instincts, carved into his very soul by years of trauma, screamed at him to stay hidden and assess the situation carefully.
Moving slowly and deliberately, Chen Wei stood up from the bed. The body moved differently than he expected, with a lower center of gravity and a natural grace that his old body had never possessed. Liu Mei had apparently been quite beautiful, with an hourglass figure that would draw attention wherever she went. This concerned Chen Wei greatly because attention was the last thing he wanted.
A bronze mirror on the wall showed him his new appearance in full detail. The woman staring back at him had an otherworldly beauty, with white hair that seemed to shimmer in the light and green eyes the color of deep jade. The combination was striking and memorable, exactly the opposite of what someone trying to lay low would want. Chen Wei made a mental note to find ways to disguise these distinctive features as soon as possible.
The room contained Liu Mei's few possessions, which Chen Wei began to catalog with military precision. There were three sets of robes in muted colors, a small pouch containing what the memories identified as spirit stones - the currency of the cultivation world, several books on basic cultivation techniques, and a simple spatial ring that could store items in a pocket dimension. The ring contained more clothes, some dried food, basic healing pills, and writing materials.
As Chen Wei examined these items, he heard a commotion from the street below. Curious despite himself, he moved to the window and carefully peered out. A group of cultivators in matching blue robes was passing through the town, their bearing proud and their expressions arrogant. The common people scrambled to get out of their way, bowing deeply as they passed.
"Clear the road for the disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect!" one of the cultivators shouted, his voice enhanced with spiritual energy so that it boomed across the entire street. "We are on urgent sect business!"
From Liu Mei's memories, Chen Wei understood that the Azure Cloud Sect was one of the major powers in this region. Their disciples were known for being domineering and quick to take offense at perceived slights. As he watched, one of the disciples kicked over a merchant's stall because the elderly man hadn't moved out of the way fast enough.
The casual cruelty of the action made Chen Wei's hands clench involuntarily. In his past life, before his capture, he might have intervened to help the old merchant. But seven years of torture had beaten that impulse out of him. He had learned through painful experience that standing up for others only led to more suffering for everyone involved. The guards in his prison had made sure he understood that lesson thoroughly.
Still, watching the old merchant scramble to collect his scattered goods while the cultivators laughed struck a chord deep within Chen Wei. He found himself memorizing the faces of the Azure Cloud Sect disciples, not for revenge - he was far too weak and cautious for that - but so he could avoid them in the future. Knowledge was survival, and knowing who the dangerous people were was the first step to staying safe.
As the sect disciples continued on their way, Chen Wei noticed other cultivators in the crowd. They were easier to spot once you knew what to look for - they moved with more confidence than normal people, their clothes were of better quality, and there was an almost imperceptible aura of power around them. Most ignored the scene with the merchant, while a few watched with expressions of disgust but did nothing to help.
This world, Chen Wei realized, operated on the law of the jungle. The strong could do whatever they wanted to the weak, and the weak could only endure or die. It was not so different from the prison he had escaped from, just with different rules and more elegant trappings. The thought was both depressing and oddly comforting. At least he understood how to survive in such a world - keep your head down, avoid the attention of the powerful, and never show weakness.
A knock at the door interrupted his observations and sent Chen Wei's heart racing. His body tensed, ready to flee or hide, even though he logically knew that whoever was outside probably meant no harm. The trauma responses that had kept him alive in prison were not so easily dismissed, even in a new body and a new world.
"Miss Liu, are you awake?" a woman's voice called through the door. "I've brought your breakfast as requested."
Chen Wei forced himself to take deep breaths, using a calming technique he had developed during his imprisonment. From Liu Mei's memories, he recognized the voice as belonging to Madam Wang, the proprietress of this boarding house. She was a mortal woman who rented rooms to traveling cultivators and treated them with professional courtesy mixed with appropriate fear.
"Please leave it outside the door," Chen Wei called back, disturbed by the musical quality of his new voice. It was higher and softer than his old voice, another reminder of how much had changed. "I am in the middle of morning meditation and cannot be disturbed."
"Of course, Miss Liu," Madam Wang replied, and Chen Wei heard the soft sound of a tray being placed on the floor. "I'll collect the dishes later."
Only after the footsteps had faded away did Chen Wei open the door and retrieve the tray. It contained simple fare - rice porridge, pickled vegetables, and tea - but after years of prison slop, it looked like a feast. He ate slowly and carefully, both savoring the flavors and giving his mind time to process everything that had happened.
The hourglass pendant grew warm against his chest as he finished eating, and suddenly Chen Wei's vision blurred. For a moment, he was no longer in the boarding house room but standing in a forest clearing. His body - Liu Mei's body - was running desperately through the trees while shadowy figures pursued. He could see himself tripping over a root and falling, could see the figures catching up, could see...
The vision ended as abruptly as it had begun, leaving Chen Wei gasping and clutching the edge of the table. The pendant had shown him a possible future, he realized, one where he had left the safety of the town and been pursued by unknown enemies. The vision had lasted perhaps five seconds, but the warning was clear - leaving the town right now would be dangerous.
This was a new development, something that hadn't been part of Liu Mei's memories. The hourglass pendant had somehow given him the ability to see glimpses of potential futures. It was a powerful ability, but also a dangerous one. If others learned about it, they would either try to steal the pendant or force him to use the ability for their benefit. Either way led to the kind of attention Chen Wei desperately wanted to avoid.
As the morning progressed, Chen Wei began to plan his next moves with the careful deliberation of someone who had learned that one wrong decision could lead to years of suffering. He would need to maintain Liu Mei's identity while gradually changing her behavior to match his cautious nature. He would need to learn more about cultivation without drawing attention to his ignorance. Most importantly, he would need to find ways to survive in this world without becoming anyone's target or pawn.
The cultivation world was vast and full of opportunities for those bold enough to seize them. But Chen Wei had no interest in being bold. He had been bold once, and it had led to seven years of hell. Now, in this new life, he would be cautious, careful, and above all, forgettable. Let others chase after power and glory. He would chase after something far more precious - a life free from pain and fear.
As he settled down to study Liu Mei's cultivation manuals, Chen Wei made a promise to himself. He would not waste this second chance at life by repeating the mistakes of his first one. He would cultivate slowly and steadily, avoid conflicts whenever possible, and use his newfound ability to see the future to steer clear of danger. It might not be the most exciting path, but for someone who had spent seven years wishing for death, simply being alive and free from pain was excitement enough.
The hourglass pendant pulsed gently against his chest, as if agreeing with his decision. Whatever power had brought him to this world and given him this ability, Chen Wei would not squander it on foolish heroics or grand ambitions. He had learned his lessons well in that dark prison cell, and he would apply them to this new life with religious devotion.
Survival first, everything else second. It was not a heroic motto, but it was his, carved into his soul by pain and suffering. And in a world where the strong preyed upon the weak, it might just be enough to keep him alive.
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