Chapter 2: Transmigration into Another World

  "Ow, ow, ow......" After an unknown period of time, Zhang Ping slowly came to after being knocked out by the intense pain. His first reaction was to cry out in pain, the kind that left a lasting impression on him. As soon as he regained consciousness, his first instinct was to let out a loud wail. However, after shouting twice, he realized that it didn't hurt anymore. At this point, he instinctively opened his eyes, only to find that he couldn't see anything, as if he were in a world without light.

  It took Zhang Ping a considerable amount of time to roughly understand his current situation. He shouldn't be dreaming, because when people dream, their logic isn't clear. Moreover, he seemed to have no physical body, or rather, his body had lost its substance. At present, he should be in a state similar to that of a wandering soul, with his hands and feet seeming both real and unreal at the same time. He could feel every part of his body, but only as an outline, as if it were composed of something like mist. And on his forehead, there seemed to be a point of light, which was where his thoughts and soul resided.

  In this world without TV, computers, books, or companions. Zhang Ping's only way to pass the time is to recall his past messy things. Without a physical body, Zhang Ping imagines his own body as a substitute for reality. In this world without sight, sound, taste, and only with feelings towards himself. Zhang Ping doesn't have any normal physiological activities, practicing what he used to do seems to be his only option.

  So much time has passed, maybe a day, maybe a week, maybe a month, maybe a year, or maybe many years... Zhang Ping has already forgotten many things, including his own language and the knowledge he learned back then. Now, the only things he remembers are that his name is Zhang Ping, his parents and family, as well as the few basic internal martial arts, internal alchemy, and magical skills that have become second nature to him over the years.

  When time had passed to a certain point, Zhang Ping, who had been muddled for countless times, suddenly felt a dizzying spin. Then he saw the light, just like a traveler in the desert seeing an oasis. He wanted to move towards the source of the light regardless of everything, and then he felt pain. According to Zhang Ping's remaining memory, this pain was as if he had been burned by fire, and the intense pain drove him to continue fleeing instinctively. Suddenly, he seemed to have rushed into something like a inflatable cushion.

  Zhang Ping slowly opened his eyes, the burning sensation on his body gradually fading away. It was only then that Zhang Ping discovered in shock that he had turned into a baby. No, to be precise, he was residing inside this baby's body, but he could leave at any time. For some reason, he felt an instinctual fear of sunlight. It seemed that the culprit behind the burning pain was indeed this sunlight. His current state apparently had a special name, but after many years of erosion, Zhang Ping had lost most of his memories. He only felt that he should know about this state, yet couldn't recall it. Driven by instinct, he let out a loud wail. As a result, the sound of an infant's cries echoed from a wooden basin on a small riverbank.

  He cried for about a minute, and Zhang Ping felt a bit tired. When you haven't felt tired in decades, it's hard to imagine the excitement and joy of suddenly feeling tired again. Zhang Ping lay quietly in the wooden basin, starting to carefully feel his body. Over the years, his sense of bodily awareness had become second nature. Although he couldn't remember what his body was like before, he knew that his current body wasn't as strong as it used to be (no kidding, have you ever seen a baby stronger than an adult?). So, he began to control the blood flow in his body according to his instincts over the years, improving his physique.

  The sun fell to the foot of the western mountain. Zhang Ping had another instinctive feeling, that was hunger. However, he was in a wooden basin, and there was no food around him. Nevertheless, Zhang Ping had a feeling that after sunset, he would be able to leave his body freely. There was no reason for this, just like fish born knowing how to swim.

  When the last ray of sunset disappeared at the end of the great mountain, Zhang Ping rushed out of his body. The moonlight in the mountains was exceptionally bright, shining on Zhang Ping's soul body, giving him a slightly cool and comfortable feeling. The scorching pain he suffered during the day seemed to be repaired by this gentle moonlight. His soul body floated freely in the mountains, trying to find something that could solve his physical hunger problem. Before long, he discovered a litter of leopard cubs drinking milk, so he instinctively flew over to try and get some leopard milk to supplement his bodily needs. However, after rushing over, he discovered a serious problem - apart from his own infant body, he seemed to have no effect on reality.

  Watching several small leopards eating with relish, while his own body was still hungry, Zhang Ping anxiously spun around in circles. Helpless, Zhang Ping could only head towards his own body first. Along the way, he experimented on himself and found that he could pass through physical objects, but of course, he could only pass through them. His soul state self seemed to be in a holographic movie world. Before long, he returned inside his own body.

  After returning to his body, Zhang Ping was surprised to find that although he was still very hungry, his spirit had improved a lot and his fatigue had disappeared. "Could it be that I brought something back with me when I went out? But I didn't take anything. This situation seems familiar, let me think..." Perhaps the heavens finally opened their eyes, our protagonist Zhang Ping finally remembered something about this state. "This state seems to be absorbing the power of Taiyin Moon Flower, so I should be a ghost, but aren't ghosts supposed to be dead people? I still have my body and haven't died yet, so did I return to my body on the seventh day after death? It doesn't seem right either, I remember that dead people shouldn't feel hungry, and the seventh day is for old people, I should be a child..." Zhang Ping became more and more annoyed as he thought, and began to shout and cry out in frustration, causing another wave of infantile wailing sounds to echo from the small river.

  After shouting for a while, Zhang Ping felt extremely tired, so he didn't care about anything and left his body first. As soon as he left his body, all the fatigue disappeared instantly, but deep down in his soul, he was reminded that his body was very hungry and seemed to be thirsty now. At this point, Zhang Ping, who was at a loss, took out his calm attitude that had been cultivated for decades, sat on top of his own body, and began to practice the Taoist meditation technique "Wu Xin Chao Tian", observing his nose with his eyes, his heart with his nose, and cultivating the birth of all things.

  It's strange to say, Zhang Ping's soul body was sitting on his own body, that is to say, his own body should have a supporting force for his own soul body. However, the soul body can only enter, exit or stay on the body, and cannot exert any external force on the body. The soul body sat on the body, seemingly without adding any weight.

  As the night wore on, his soul suddenly felt a pang of anxiety. He jolted back to life and returned to his body. As soon as he did, the first rays of sunlight illuminated the river's surface, casting a golden glow over the water. The world seemed to be infused with infinite vitality, and in the distance, a mountain rooster let out a loud crow. If Zhang Ping still had all his memories from before, he would have cursed out loud: "Damn it...!" because the hunger and thirst he felt after returning to his body were hundreds of times stronger than when he was in soul form. For an instant, he even considered letting his soul leave his body again, but its instinctual fear of sunlight made him let out a loud "Ah..." instead.

  The scene cuts to the other side, where a young Taoist is practicing his morning exercises on a large green rock by the river. His even and slow breathing was interrupted by the first rays of sunlight in the morning, followed by a long inhalation like a whale taking water, and then a long exhalation of turbid air. Suddenly, he heard the sound of an infant crying. Opening his eyes, he saw a wooden basin floating downstream from upstream. Before he could react, he jumped into the air, flying nearly two zhang (about 6 meters) in distance. After falling into the water, he quickly surfaced and accurately caught the wooden basin, pushing it back to the riverbank.

  After landing, he roughly wrung out the clothes on his body and carefully observed the wooden basin. Inside, a small, plump baby lay wrapped in several layers of tattered rags. The child's lips were pale and frightening, but its big eyes were very spirited and stared straight at him. Hurriedly, the little Taoist priest scooped up the child and ran towards the Taoist temple.

  As for the little Taoist's footwork, it can be said to be fast. In about half a stick of incense time, the little Taoist ran back to the front of a Taoist temple. On the plaque above the temple gate, three large characters were written in a dragon and phoenix dance style: "Shang Qing Guan" (Upper Clearness Temple).

  "Heavenly Void Master Brother, Heavenly Void Master Brother..." The little Taoist priest shouted loudly while running.

  "What's all the commotion about? Why did you rush back to the temple instead of doing your morning lessons by the Qingjian River?" Just then, a middle-aged Daoist priest in his thirties with a stern expression walked out of the temple. He asked this question while walking towards the young Daoist priest named Chongxu.

  "Huh, Chong Xu, why are you holding a wooden basin in your hands? And you're all wet."

  "Heavenly Void, brother, listen to me." Perhaps fearing Heavenly Void a bit, Chong Xu hastily explained the cause and effect of how he had heard an infant crying during his morning lesson, rescued the infant, felt that the infant's condition was not good, and then hurried back.

  The sky was empty, and he took the wooden basin to examine Zhang Ping again. After feeling his pulse, he said, "Alright, I understand. Although your impatient temper hasn't changed, you've done a great thing this time. This child probably hasn't eaten or drunk for too long and has caught a chill from the wind on the river. But the child's body should be very good. I think he's over a year old. I'll take him to eat some porridge and brew some medicine for him. You go back, wash up, change your clothes, and don't catch a cold. Follow me later to see Master."

  "Alright, I understand, senior brother. Then I'll take my leave first."

  "Alright, go."

  He rushed back to his room like a great amnesty, while Tian Xū took Zhang Ping to the kitchen.