"Pockmarked, is the water boiling?"
"Almost, almost."
"Be nimble with your movements. It was hard enough for us to find two Prey Persons; don't let anyone else snatch them first!"
"Eldest Brother, I understand."
Lu Ye woke up from his coma and heard two people whispering.
His heart skipped a beat, and he wanted to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt as heavy as if they were nailed to his eye sockets; the simple act of opening them was incredibly difficult.
His entire body felt limp, so weak that he couldn't even move a finger.
His stomach felt as if it were on fire, burning with pain.
"What happened to me? Was I kidnapped? What did they do to me?"
He was just an ordinary citizen from Blue Star, who had been self-studying for the legal professional exam at home.
As everyone knows, studying helps with sleep.
Who would have thought that when he woke up, he would be in a different place.
Lu Ye was burning with anxiety. He used all his strength, and his eyelids finally lifted a narrow slit. Since he couldn't move his neck yet, he could only slowly rotate his eyeballs.
Above his head, the roof on the wooden beams had several large holes, and light spilled down.
In the center of the room was a Stone Platform, on which was enshrined a clay divine statue of unknown origin.
The gold-painted divine statue was missing more than half of its body, and only half of its solemn face remained, revealing the clay core inside, with the corner of its mouth curled into a strange smile.
The clay core of the divine statue was covered in tooth marks left by people gnawing on it.
On the ground, a large bell was inverted, with firewood stacked underneath. There were some white bones among the firewood, the flames danced happily, and the surroundings were covered in thick piles of ash.
Inside the ash piles, several skulls were half-buried, their empty, black eye sockets filled with ashes.
Water vapor rose above the bell-pot.
This bell was clearly being used as a pot.
Beside the bell-pot sat two people, so thin that their facial features were sunken, their skin stretched over their bones, and their clothes hung loosely on their bodies. At a glance, they looked like two skeletons that had become spirits and put on human clothes.
They were randomly adding firewood and bones to the pile, hoping to make the fire burn brighter.
The clothes on these two were so dirty that their original color was unrecognizable. On their heads were equally filthy headscarves. One of them even had a Hairpin stuck in his headscarf. As he added fire, he drooled, his eyes fixed straight on the pot.
Lu Ye saw the strange surroundings and his heart turned cold.
"Are those human skulls in the ash pile?"
"This is definitely not my small apartment with the huge common area ratio..."
"And those two aren't kidnappers either. What kind of kidnappers dress so retro?"
Just then, a cold wind blew, and he felt a chill all over his body. He reluctantly lifted his head and looked down with his eyes, only to see that his own body was bare, his loose, sagging skin stretched into a human form by his bones.
It was completely different from the body of a modern youth with excess nutrition and a beer belly.
Lu Ye began to tremble all over, his heart turning completely cold.
What kind of hellish place is this!
Why am I in such a ghostly state!
The two people beside the bell-pot were still talking to themselves.
"Eldest Brother, which of these two Prey Persons should we eat first?"
"Eat the one with more meat first, and keep the other one for tomorrow."
"Eldest Brother is right."
Lu Ye listened, burning with anxiety, wishing he could escape immediately. Although he hadn't figured out the situation, those two clearly weren't good people.
It was just that this body was extremely weak; the mere act of lifting his head and opening his eyes seemed to have exhausted all his strength, and he couldn't move at all.
Suddenly, a large segment of life memories that did not belong to him rushed into his mind.
This land was the Otherworld Jin State.
There were emperors, government authorities, scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, literati, and women in pleasure houses.
There were also Martial Arts Masters who could leap high and break metal, as well as legends of Immortals whose truth was unknown.
"He" was originally an ordinary villager in a remote small village in Fushui County, Dong Sai Prefecture, Jin State. He had parents and a brother, farmed honestly, and lived an ordinary life.
Who knew that a Natural Disaster would sweep through, coupled with the human disaster caused by corrupt officials.
The people in the village ate all the seeds, gnawed on all the tree bark, and in the end, even licked a layer off the ground.
In desperation, the villagers accompanied each other on the road, abandoning their homes and businesses, forced to flee as Refugees.
On the road, his parents starved to death, his brother fell down one by one, and the long line of villagers became sparse.
"He" walked on the road tirelessly, his mind filled only with his parents' instructions.
"Son, you must go to the Prefecture City. There are Martial Arts Masters guarding it, and there are disaster relief congee stalls..."
"He" was finally left all alone. After walking in the Wilderness for who knows how long, he collapsed and lost consciousness. When he opened his eyes again, his Soul had been replaced.
Lu Ye realized in an instant that he had truly transmigrated, and into the body of a Refugee about to be put into a pot. He complained bitterly in his heart; this was a terrible time to transmigrate!
He was so anxious that his breathing became rapid, and he broke out in a sweat.
"The water is boiling!"
"Bring the Prey Person!"
The two people guarding the firewood pile cheered and helped each other up from the ground.
Lu Ye hastily closed his eyes. He had just seen his own skeleton-like body and felt that he couldn't be the one with more meat. As long as he didn't die, there would be a chance.
Who knew that heavy footsteps would sound in his ears, slowly approaching him.
Lu Ye's heart sank, cold and slow. Something bad has happened; he was so thin, yet he was unexpectedly the one with more meat!
Just by hearing their voices, he knew that the two cannibalistic Refugees were also in poor physical condition, but suppressing him was not a problem.
What should he do?
Lu Ye's body couldn't help but tremble slightly.
The heavy footsteps stopped beside him. Although his eyes were closed, he felt as if two hot gazes were scanning his bare body with malicious intent.
He became even more anxious, his chest heaving rapidly.
Then he heard the Second Brother, Pockmarked, exclaim.
"Eldest Brother, he's awake."
Eldest Brother laughed with a hoarse voice.
"It's good that he's awake, so he won't be a confused ghost."
"Husband, don't blame our brothers for being heartless. You're going to die soon anyway, so it's better to find a home in our stomachs. Saving our lives can be considered a good deed!"
"If you want to blame someone, blame this world!"
"Don't worry, our brothers are particular people."
"Unlike others who eat people raw, we'll at least send you on your way first!"
"Take action!"
Eldest Brother gave a sharp drink, and Lu Ye felt his body sink as someone sat heavily on his chest. His neck tightened, two ice cold palms clamped down, and ten fingers exerted force suddenly!
Lu Ye was choked until his face turned red, making gasping sounds.
"Ah..."
He opened his eyes wide in anger, and there was no more luck in his heart.
His entire line of sight was occupied by Pockmarked, who was pressing down on him!
The other's eyes were wide open, full of malice. There was almost no meat on his shriveled face, and his two eyeballs were particularly prominent, as if they would pop out of their sockets at any moment!
Between life and death, Lu Ye's body, which had been completely out of control, finally moved.
His chest and abdomen pushed up subconsciously, trying to flip Pockmarked over. His two feet kicked wildly on the ground for leverage, kicking up a large amount of dust.
His two arms also lifted, weakly slapping the other person.
Fortunately, the other person didn't have much strength either, and couldn't choke Lu Ye to death for the time being.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but Lu Ye was already rolling his eyes and about to suffocate from being choked.
Eldest Brother, who was standing nearby, kicked over and knocked Pockmarked to the side.
"Eldest Brother..." Pockmarked was dumbfounded.
"Save your strength, let's go eat the other one first!" Eldest Brother's gloomy gaze swept over Lu Ye, and he laughed coldly, "Looking at him, he might live for another two days. It's better to keep him; he'll be fresh and delicious when we eat him."
"Anyway, with our brothers watching, he can't run away!"
"Eldest Brother is brilliant."
Pockmarked climbed up, not forgetting to flatter him, and spat at Lu Ye.
The two shuffled their feet and turned to walk toward the corner of the wall, where another unlucky ghost was lying, his clothes half-open, his ribs protruding from being so thin.
Lu Ye escaped death. His desperate struggle had exhausted his strength, and now he was limp all over, only able to gasp for air.
What should he do?
He had already been targeted. Even if he didn't die for now, he couldn't avoid ending up in that bell-pot eventually.
His eyes couldn't help but glance at the bell-pot.
The fire under the pot was burning vigorously, and the skull half-buried in the ash pile was looking at him with its black, empty eye sockets.
Lu Ye shuddered all over!
No!
He didn't want to die yet!
But this body was nearing its end, and he couldn't even stand up. Where was the path to survival?
Just as Lu Ye was anxious, a golden light flashed in his mind.
A Scroll Painting slowly unfolded.
In the lower left corner, countless Carp of various colors were riding the waves, appearing to be leaping.
Close to his line of sight was a Golden-Tail Carp. It had a beautiful curve, leaping high, its tail swinging powerfully.
In the middle of the picture, there were many steep barriers, and countless Carp were crashing into them, their heads broken and bleeding.
In the upper right corner of the sky, a Red Dragon was spiraling and soaring in the clouds, its Dragon Head lowered, its majestic Dragon Eye looking at the Carp below, its expression subtle.
Lu Ye was dumbfounded.
Wasn't this the casual mini-game he downloaded while slacking off and self-studying—Fish Dragon Transformation?
How did it transmigrate with him?
Could this be his life-saving golden finger?
The Scroll Painting flashed, revealing a few lines of text.
"Lu Ye—Cultivation Level, none.
Condition—a person about to die.
Lifespan: 10 breaths.
Vitality—negligible.
Controlled account—Carp, condition—dying and sinking in the river."
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