In a worn-out single-room house, with most of the walls and roof damaged and covered with moss, a few scattered rays of sunlight poured through the half-broken window.
Inside, the room was covered with shabby old blankets, on which many dirty-looking figures wearing tattered clothes with stitches or holes in them were lying, or to be precise, sleeping, with loud snoring sounds coming out of their mouths. If anyone came from outside, they would immediately smell the mixture of mold, sweat, and other foul odors.
In another corner, there was a boy lying down, about 12–13 years old, dressed in the same clothing as the others in the room. However, on a closer look, he was much cleaner than the others, with far less dirt on his skin, showing he often cleaned himself.
But suddenly, that boy jolted up from his lying position and started breathing heavily.
His forehead was covered with sweat as if he had just encountered a terrible nightmare.
Huff huff "I-It's the same nightmare again," he mumbled while breathing heavily.
He tried to recall the details of that nightmare, but what came to his head was only a headache and a mocking, laughing sound.
"Hahhh," he sighed, shaking his head, trying to forget that nightmare.
This nightmare had followed him from the time he transmigrated into this world. Yes, he is a transmigrator, as in other anime or novels. A normal guy who, for no reason, inexplicably transmigrated to another world.
He was just your random college student, who had just decided to take a nap after studying, and the next second he was in another world, in his own body but many years younger, from someone who was 18 years old to a small boy of around 6–7 years.
He was not one of those protagonists who get new identities like nouveau riche second generation, with a wealthy family, or those with many cheats like this or that system, or whatever.
He was just thrown into this ancient background world, with a white blank background and nothing else, just a plain old cheap white robe on his body. Oh, and basic language skills for the new world.
And to make things worse, the place he was thrown to was the dark part of Blackwood City, where most of the poor bunch of the city lived, mixed amongst various criminals and desperados.
So, from the initial panic and depression to the current calmness, he somehow survived in this hell of a place. Living amongst the local beggars, visiting other areas of the city to beg for a living.
Well, it wasn't like he didn't try anything other than begging, but he couldn't. From being rejected by various shopkeepers for an accountant role, with disgust evident in their eyes, to trying to join local gangs, what he got was rejection.
As for copying things from his previous life like perfume, soap, etc., those were out of his choice as they needed money, materials, and knowledge to make, and connections to sell, and he unluckily had none of that. And even if he did make something, it would not be his turn to make money, as those nobles and gangs weren't for show. As they say, if you want to see evil in humans, divide them into low and high classes, and those high-class people would really let him, a beggar, experience this.
Shaking his head, he quickly got out of those old memories.
"Qingxiao, don't sleep if you don't want to, but let me sleep," complained the beggar who was lying just next to him, half-awake due to his mumbling.
"Oh," Ye Qingxiao replied as he quickly got up.
Looking at the sunlight pouring out of the windows, he got up and quickly took out his personal begging bowl, which he had snatched from an old dying beggar, and went out of the house.
He stretched out as he made his way toward the main market of the city.
The surrounding dark and damp alleys passed. Constant sounds of fighting and shouting, the crying of children, or bickering between people could be heard, but he paid them no heed, as interfering between others in this place was mostly a pure kicking on the axe act.
Although there might be good people here, the chances of encountering criminals from traffickers to murderers were also equally good. When he was new here, he had almost gotten between the fight of two gang members. So he followed his own safety-first approach now.
After walking for quite a time, the dark alleys and paths slowly disappeared as he approached the main market area.
Looking at the bustling street, filled with more people than most days, Ye Qingxiao was a little curious.
Following the people from some distance, he saw them making a queue around the shops selling grains and other foods.
And it seemed that he was not the only one curious about them queuing.
"Old Bao, why are you all queuing so early in the morning?"
"Shen Li, don't you know? News came today that a plague had spread in the neighboring Lei Province. Most of the cities there have been devastated, and hundreds of thousands have died."
"What??!! Are you serious? How can a plague suddenly spread without any warning?"
"Shuuush, calm down." Looking at both sides "I heard that it was due to the governor of Lei Province. He didn't take the plague seriously at first, but when it rose up, he chose to quickly hide it and figure it out himself so as to protect his position. But it quickly escalated out of hand just a few days ago."
"Even the emperor's guards were dispatched after the news got to the capital," Old Bao added in a very low voice.
"You all, stop gossiping on the road! DON'T CROWD HERE!" A loud shout came as a middle-aged man wearing a black constable uniform with a sheathed sword hanging at his waist came toward this area. Behind him were four young-looking people in green constable uniforms with swords at their waists.
"Heeiii, yes, yes, Captain Xiao," replied those gossiping people, scared, as they quickly stopped gossiping and distanced themselves from each other.
Looking at the imposing Captain Xiao, with a robust and intimidating air about him, Ye Qingxiao quickly lowered his head and hurried away from this place.
"Haah." After walking away for a while, he sighed, amazed as he recalled the majesty and danger he felt from Captain Xiao. It was as if they were different species altogether.
'If only I can become strong like him,' Ye Qingxiao daydreamed while making his way toward his usual begging place. He recalled the first time he saw Captain Xiao, only a few days after he came to this world. At that time, he saw with his own eyes how a simple punch from Captain Xiao sent a criminal flying, bleeding from his whole face, and dying mid-air.
After that shock, he enquired for a time and got to know that Captain Xiao was what they called an immortal, and a newly made one at that. But even such a new immortal was promoted to captain and was spoken of by the city people as if they were talking about a god.
'Alas...' he sighed, as all his thoughts came to a halt and a sad smile appeared on his face. Yes, even if there were immortals in this world, what did it have to do with him? The path to obtain resources for cultivation in the city was in the hands of nobles or court officials, but both paths were a dead end for him.
For getting resources from nobles, he would have to sell himself to them and sign some contract to become their life-and-death slave. Although a lot of people signed them, the chances of actually receiving resources were dim. Adding to the pile of corpses carried out of nobles' residences many times a month, it would only be a life-and-death gamble.
And as for the court path, haha, why would he ever get the chance to obtain those positions in place of people with connections? Adding to the fact that he was a beggar, it would already be good if those officials didn't beat him just for showing up in front of them.
After a quick walk, he finally arrived at his usual begging place, in front of a road junction, where one path led to the entertainment area while the other led to the inner city. He took out his bowl, placed it in front of him, smeared a bit of mud on his face and hair to convey a look of poverty, and sat down, waiting to earn something.