(Dear godfathers, please store your brains here first!)
~~~~Minors prohibited from entering. Adults may watch at their discretion. College students, do as you please!
Alright, esteemed godfathers, please board the ride... Some stretches may be rather fast, so hold onto someone else's... steady yourselves... and don't let your hands or heads slide out the windows.
Ning Family Village.
Bleak and dilapidated, with broken walls and ruins everywhere.
Not even crows were willing to roost here!
At the village entrance stood an old tree, and beneath it, a thatched hut.
On the broken bed inside, a straw mat riddled with a hundred and eighty holes covered a sallow-faced youth!
"Caw... caw... caw..."
The harsh, clamorous cries of the dusk crows woke the youth inside.
"Hungry!"
"So hungry!"
Ning Chuan woke in extreme hunger, feeling as though his chest were pressed against his back as waves of dizziness crashed into his mind.
He wanted to shout, but his lips were like two pieces of dry firewood, and his throat was about to smoke.
No matter how hard he tried, he could not make a sound. Instead, he kept dry-heaving.
"Why am I so hungry? I clearly slurped down a huge bowl of luosifen last night!"
Wave after wave of familiar yet unfamiliar memories surged into his mind like a tide, leaving his thoughts in utter chaos.
Who was I?
"Ning Chuan? A Chinese man, unemployed, dumped by his wife, delivering takeout, car accident?
Could it be... I'm in a hospital?"
"Ning Chuan? Ning Family Village, no father or mother, raised on food from every household?"
Great Ming Dynasty? Bandits, government offices, martial arts... had I transmigrated...
Strange. Why did he have absolutely no impression of his parents in this world?
Could it be that Ning Chuan of this world had simply appeared out of thin air?
Ning Chuan's consciousness gradually cleared, and he slowly opened his eyes.
There were several holes in the roof. The refracted light shining down was somewhat dazzling.
Spiderwebs on the rafters held pouch after pouch of dust, swaying in the wind as though they might fall at any moment.
"Find food! If I don't eat, I'll starve to death!"
He wanted to climb up, and his brain gave the command several times, but his limbs simply would not obey.
Another rush of memories flooded his mind.
This year's great famine had seen Three Tiger Mountain plunder Ning Family Village's last life-saving grain.
The nearby tree bark and grass roots had all been eaten. Some villagers had fled the famine, while others had gone to seek refuge with relatives.
Ning Chuan had always been weak and sickly, with neither family nor friends outside. After finishing his last handful of bran, he lay on the bed and waited desperately for death.
Within three days, he had breathed his last.
The Ning Chuan of this world had just starved to death when Ning Chuan from Blue Star took over this body.
"Wait, was my luck really this bad?!"
"This body hadn't touched a drop of water or eaten a grain of rice for three days and had just starved to death once?"
"Then if I transmigrated into this body now, wouldn't I kick the bucket immediately?"
Ning Chuan's heart pounded wildly. Cold sweat broke out across his back as he quickly searched his memories for information about food.
Grain? Tree bark? Grass roots? Water?
There was none left in Ning Family Village!
Rats, insects, earthworms, fish, shrimp?
They had gone extinct in Ning Family Village too!
"Since I transmigrated, there should be some kind of cheat, right?
Cheat, where are you? Come out quickly! I'm about to die!"
Ning Chuan's silent call was answered only by the howling northwest wind outside.
Rumble...
"What was that sound?"
"Hoofbeats? And the sound of people talking?"
"Huh, several of those voices sounded familiar too!
"It's the bandits from Three Tiger Mountain. Why had these bastards come again?"
Could it be?
Ning Chuan remembered his elder uncle often saying that when bandits lacked food, they would capture people to eat!
"Eating people!"
Ning Chuan was horrified. The hoofbeats drew nearer and nearer before stopping outside the hut.
"Third Boss, this is already the last household in Ning Family Village."
A voice sounded outside the door, old and gloomy.
At the sound of that voice, the image of a sinister-faced old man immediately surfaced in Ning Chuan's mind.
"Village Chief, Ning the Flayer!"
"Why was he mixed up with the bandits? Had he colluded with them?"
Sure enough, the conversation that followed completely confirmed Ning Chuan's suspicions.
"Haha... Village Chief Ning, a pleasant partnership. Congratulations on your promotion to Deputy Captain of the town's Joint Defense Camp. We'll have to grow closer in the future, won't we?"
This was the voice of Three Tiger Mountain's Third Boss. Last time, it had been this bastard who led the men to strip Ning Family Village clean.
Could the Joint Defense Camp also be in cahoots with the bandits? What kind of world was this?!
"Haha, easy to say, easy to say. I hope Third Boss will look after me in the future!"
After the two exchanged a round of mutual flattery, Ning the Flayer took his leave.
"Tear down every damned house and search carefully! Take anything worth money. Don't leave behind a single coin!"
Third Boss's low voice was like the whisper of a demon.
The moment Ning Chuan heard it,
the legs that had refused to react despite all his efforts earlier began trembling on their own, shamelessly!
"Fuck your mother! I just transmigrated, and I'm about to die already!
Where's the system? Where's the cheat? Come out!"
"Yes!"
The bandits answered in unison, pulling out ropes fitted with iron hooks and hurling them at Ning Chuan's earthen hut. Some hooked onto the beams, while others caught the tops of the walls.
"Pull!"
The bandits shouted together.
With a thunderous crash, the earthen hut collapsed.
Ning Chuan was shocked. His old paralysis instantly cured itself as he summoned his last ounce of strength and painfully curled into the bedding.
"Patriarchs of the Three Pure Ones, Amitabha, please bless me!"
He was terrified and helpless!
Rustling sounded without end as sand and gravel mixed with thatch fell from the roof, pressing down on Ning Chuan's straw mat and making it hard for him to breathe.
Fortunately, this was a thatched house. The crossbeams were merely a few pieces of deadwood that had long rotted away. When they fell, they shattered into clouds of dust, so Ning Chuan was not hurt.
Once the house fell, the bandits gathered their ropes and rushed into the ruins, searching everywhere.
"Third Boss, there's a body here. Huh, it seems to still be alive!"
A bald bandit spotted Ning Chuan and viciously jabbed the large saber in his hand toward the bed.
Pain made Ning Chuan roll his eyes wildly, but his throat was dry. He barely managed a few hoarse sounds before nearly passing out.
Fortunately, the straw mat was torn but quite thick. Otherwise, his body would definitely have gained several holes.
Vaguely, it seemed as though a ding sounded in his mind.
"Ding. Because both your past and present lives have been too miserable, you meet the conditions for a comeback. System awakening in progress!"
"Ding. Scanning the universe where the host is located and matching the host with the strongest system!"
"Ding. You have awakened the Supreme Body Cultivation System!
When the universe perishes and heaven and earth decay, only body cultivation remains invincible, eternal and indestructible!"
Listening to the repeated dings, Ning Chuan went numb.
This shitty system. Invincible my ass, it talked such a big game!
I'm about to die already. What fucking use is it?!
Who knew whether it was still in time!
Forget it. Even if I died,
I had to kick my legs a few more times first!
In the blink of an eye, Ning Chuan had already been dragged before Third Boss by the bald bandit.
The bald bandit raised his saber and was about to stab Ning Chuan again.
Ning Chuan's heart pounded wildly. He opened his mouth but could not make a sound, hurriedly shifting his body to dodge while glaring at the bandit.
If looks could kill, the bald bandit would likely have been covered in holes!
"Stop! Don't stab him to death!"
At the crucial moment, Third Boss frowned and stopped him.
The instant Ning Chuan heard Third Boss say that, his heart relaxed. His back was already soaked with cold sweat.
"Thank goodness, thank goodness. I almost died!" Ning Chuan thought, his tension easing slightly.
Third Boss walked over, pinched Ning Chuan a few times, and said,
"Not bad, not bad. He's still tender young meat. If you stab him to death, he won't be fresh anymore. Give him some water first and keep his little life hanging by a thread.
When we get back to the stronghold, invite First Boss over for fresh-sliced hotpot!"
Third Boss looked at Ning Chuan as though he were looking at a plate of delicacies, a gentle smile appearing on his face.
Eating live monkey brains, taking sashimi from living flesh!
Ning Chuan's heart shook violently as a series of unfriendly images appeared in his mind.
Fuck your mother!
This bastard was even more vicious!
He actually wanted to eat me, and fresh-slice me for hotpot!
"Yes!"
The bald bandit helped Ning Chuan up, fed him some water, and stuffed a few mouthfuls of dry rations into him.
The bandits nearby also gathered around. One came over to feel his arms and pinch his thighs.
"These little arms and legs are tender enough, but there isn't much meat on him. Better fatten him up before eating him!"
"I haven't had meat for months. My mouth is so bland I could taste a bird!"
"Aiyo, stir-fry the lean meat, boil the bones for soup, braise the hands and feet, make a cold dish from the skin..."
They were actually discussing how to eat Ning Chuan, making his scalp tingle.
"Gulp... gulp..."
The bandits stared at Ning Chuan with green light in their eyes, swallowing their saliva.
After drinking some water and eating a little dry ration, Ning Chuan slowly recovered some strength.
For the time being, he would not die. Next, he needed to study the system and seek a chance of survival.
Host: Ning Chuan Realm: Weakling (An adult could slap you to death!) Age: 16/16 (Warning: Host has insufficient lifespan and is about to kick the bucket!) Physique: 0.3/1 (Warning: Host is extremely weak and is about to kick the bucket!) Cultivation Method: None Attribute Points: 0 Remaining Sign In Attempts: 1. Fuck, "Current location cannot be used to Sign In!"
The moment he opened the system, a string of red warnings made Ning Chuan's heart race again.
A realization also arose in his heart. The system panel was very clear.
"Age 16/16 meant I was sixteen this year, and my lifespan was also only sixteen years. I could die at any moment!"
"Physique 0.3/1 meant 0.3 was my current physique, while 1 represented the physique of a normal adult!"
Remaining Sign In Attempts: 1.
He could Sign In once per day.
His chance of survival lay here!
If he found somewhere he could Sign In, perhaps he could turn the tide against the wind!
Ning Chuan gradually calmed down, and a sharp gleam slowly appeared in his eyes.
Just as Ning Chuan was studying the system, the bandits returned one after another to report.
"Reporting to Third Boss, we dug three feet into the ground and didn't find anything valuable!"
Third Boss's expression darkened. "This poor-ass Ning Family Village is really bad luck. Go, back to the stronghold!" With that, he mounted his horse first.
"Ride!" Several dozen mounted bandits kicked up dust that filled the sky.
One man grabbed Ning Chuan and laid him sideways across a horse's back.
Before you continue