Qian Jue had crossed over.
For any veteran bookworm, transmigration was the ultimate fantasy. Everyone had dreamed of one day waking up in another world.
But when it truly happened to him, the first thought that flashed through his mind wasn't about rising to power, ruling kingdoms, or lying in the arms of beautiful women.
No. His very first thought was fear—fear of leaving behind everything familiar and being thrown into an foreign world he knew nothing about.
Especially in his situation.
Some people got to be reborn inside a mother's womb, starting life fresh.
Some woke up as princes, fighting in palace intrigues.
Even those who reincarnated into a so-called "good-for-nothing" body at least got the chance to prove the old saying, *"every dog has its day."*
Compared to them, Qian Jue had really drawn the short straw.
Because he had never once imagined transmigration would throw him into something like this:
Men. Women. The elderly. Children.
Over a hundred people lay neatly lined up on a wide patch of open ground. And he was lying among them.
At first, Qian Jue didn't even realize he had transmigrated. He thought he'd been kidnapped, maybe dragged into some creepy cult ritual or a human trafficking ring. The eerie scene in front of him only seemed to confirm that idea.
So he didn't dare to move. He tilted his head slightly, cautiously observing. Strangely enough, there were no guards watching over them. Stranger still, none of the people lying nearby stirred—not even the sound of breathing reached his ears.
Suspicion gnawed at him until he finally forced himself to check the nearest bodies.
Corpses.
Every single one of them was dead.
And him… he was now a child. A child's body that was supposed to be dead.
The realization hit him like lightning—he had transmigrated!
For several stunned seconds, he just froze. Then instinct kicked in. Qian Jue scrambled up and darted toward a nearby haystack, diving headfirst and burying himself deep inside.
Only when hidden did his nerves begin to unravel. His small body trembled uncontrollably.
Thank heavens the dead hadn't died in grotesque ways. Their faces were calm, almost peaceful, no blood in sight. Otherwise, the trauma might have broken him. Even so, it took him a long time to calm down.
He stayed hidden in that haystack for what felt like forever. When he was sure no one else was around, he finally dared to crawl back out, trembling but determined.
Checking again, he confirmed it: they were all dead. Each had only a tiny wound at the chest. No other injuries, no signs of struggle.
He couldn't figure out what killed them—he wasn't a detective or a doctor. And frankly, he didn't want to know. Instead, he scavenged what little coin he could from the bodies, dragged a child's corpse to where he had been lying to cover his absence, and fled that horrific place.
Fear.
Anxiety.
Relief.
Qian Jue collapsed in a field, gasping for breath. He had been running wild through the hills and countryside, avoiding the dirt paths that counted as "roads" here. He didn't dare risk bumping into whoever slaughtered that village.
Most likely, the killers were long gone. After all, this child's body had already been dead before his soul took over. Which meant, technically, his very existence now was a rebirth.
Telling himself this made him feel just a little safer.
Somewhere along the way, terror gave way to exhilaration. He found himself sprinting across the fields with wild abandon, almost like when he was a kid playing in the countryside back home.
It had been so long since he'd felt that kind of freedom.
He had been reborn!
Yes, the world was unknown. Yes, his first sight here had been a field of corpses.
But it was still a new life. A second chance.
And yet… what about Mom and Dad?
The joy in his heart faltered. He fell silent, unable to put into words the knot of guilt and longing inside him.
He had left behind his family, his friends, his entire world. And even if he wanted to return, he had no idea whether it was possible. Deep down, though… part of him didn't want to go back.
Transmigration was the dream of countless readers. And now, it was his reality.
So—please forgive me.
Qian Jue whispered a prayer for his loved ones, burying his sorrow deep within. Then he forced himself to focus on the present.
He had crossed into another world. Why or how didn't matter now.
The bigger question was—where was his "cheat"?
Wasn't transmigration supposed to come with a golden finger? A system? A blessing? Something?
"System, system?" he muttered under his breath.
He even pictured a robotic voice answering:
*Ding. Transmigration system activated.*
But minutes passed. Nothing.
"Did I do it wrong?"
He patted himself down, searching for any mysterious items. All he found was a small pouch of coins.
So… no cheat?
Maybe it just hadn't triggered yet. In some novels, the system didn't activate until the protagonist reached the throne or grew old. Maybe that was the case here too.
That thought was his only comfort.
Pushing aside the fantasy for now, he turned his attention to his body. It really was that of a child, maybe five or six years old. Healthy, lean, and—he was delighted to realize—his nearsightedness was gone! No more glasses. That alone made him giddy.
His clothes were rough linen, like something peasants wore in ancient times.
The coins he'd collected were mostly copper, with only a handful of silver ones the size of a nickel. Strange markings covered them, along with a symbol that looked like the word "Soul." Not Chinese, but somehow he instinctively knew that's what it meant.
Biting one, he left a faint tooth mark. Genuine.
When he looked around, the landscape was endless green, not a single electric pole or signal tower in sight.
He sighed.
This was definitely an ancient world.
Troublesome.
He just hoped it wasn't one of those bloody martial worlds, where assassins could kill ten men in ten steps and vanish without a trace. Those were fun to read about in *The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber* or *The Legend of the Condor Heroes,* but to actually live in one? Terrifying.
Swallowing hard, he glanced at the westward-tilting sun.
After a long moment of self-encouragement, he finally gathered the courage to step forward and see what kind of world awaited him.