Sister

Yi Yun found it difficult to describe how he felt the first time he saw this girl. There seemed to be a faint, indescribable sense of familiarity.

She looked fourteen or fifteen years old. She wore a patched cyan shirt and dark trousers that had been washed so many times their color was almost impossible to make out. Her trouser legs were rolled high, revealing a section of calves as fair as lotus root, with fresh flecks of mud still clinging to her ankles.

Her figure was slender and nimble, her narrow waist supple yet powerful. Her face resembled a crabapple in spring sunlight, fair skin flushed with an intoxicating rosy hue.

She walked along the muddy country path just like a fresh breeze and gentle rain sweeping in from the countryside, giving Yi Yun the feeling that he had just washed his face with a mountain spring.

Who was this girl?

Yi Yun looked at the girl, and the girl saw him as well. She froze, her little hand instinctively releasing its grip. The basket on her shoulder tilted, and one of its ropes slipped loose.

Yi Yun suddenly felt something strange. The girl before him clearly looked only fourteen or fifteen, like a budding flower about to bloom, but why did he feel... that she seemed taller than him? And not just a little taller—probably half a head taller. If they moved any closer, he would likely have to tilt his head up slightly to meet her eyes!

It must have been an illusion caused by his exhaustion...

Before Yi Yun could figure it out, he heard the girl's clear voice, like a skylark in the mountains.

"Yun'er!"

The girl suddenly covered her mouth, threw down her basket, and ran toward Yi Yun.

Her beautiful, large eyes were already brimming with tears.

"W-Wait..."

Yi Yun was dumbfounded. He looked around and instantly confirmed that there was no one else within several miles. This girl was running toward him!

She had called out "Yun'er." Could she have been calling him?

Yi Yun's given name was Yun, but no one had ever called him Yun'er. People in modern society did not address others that way, so it was no wonder he failed to react.

In fact, he did not even have time to react. The girl ran up to him like a gust of wind and suddenly pulled him into her arms!

The girl's delicate fragrance filled his nose, accompanied by her soft figure, creating a hazy, enchanting feeling. Yet Yi Yun did not react at all. He was utterly dumbfounded. He had gone mountain climbing and been buried alive, dug a tunnel and crawled out of a grave, and after finally making it out, he had been embraced by a Little Loli—while he did not even know who she was!

Yi Yun had never imagined that he, a fine young man in his prime, would be forcibly hugged by a loli. What kind of situation was this?

"Yun'er, you scared Sister to death. As long as you're all right, as long as you're all right..."

Little Loli hugged Yi Yun tightly, her pointed chin pressed against his shoulder as she sobbed uncontrollably. Her arms were very strong, seemingly using every bit of her strength, as though she wanted to knead Yi Yun into her own body. She was afraid—afraid that this was all a dream, afraid that she would lose Yi Yun the moment she let go.

Yi Yun was held by Little Loli like a stone statue, his body completely rigid and his expression indescribably bizarre.

Sister?

After being hit by one inexplicable event after another, Yi Yun finally understood something. This Little Loli was the sister who had erected a gravestone for "him"!

The words "Grave of Beloved Younger Brother Yi Yun" had obviously been written by this Little Loli!

So this Little Loli had mistaken him for her younger brother. Perhaps she had missed her brother so desperately that she had mistaken the wrong person...

Yi Yun tried to explain it to himself, but the more he thought about it, the more wrong it seemed. This Little Loli should only be in middle school, right? Her younger brother could be at most twelve or thirteen. How could she mistake someone as big as him for her younger brother?

Wait...

Someone as big as me?

Yi Yun suddenly realized something. He compared the girl's height with his own again. Looking at her slender, tender shoulder, which nearly reached his mouth, he felt a terrible premonition.

He slipped both hands beneath Little Loli's armpits and raised them before his eyes. What appeared before him was clearly a pair of children's hands—tender and slender...

Are these my hands?

Have I returned to youth?

I...

Yi Yun's mind was completely scrambled.

Returning to youth, a suddenly appearing sister, an inexplicable identity, an ancient-looking grave, an unfamiliar wilderness plain, writing he had never seen, language he had never heard—and yet he could understand both the writing and the language...

Everything pointed toward one possibility. Yi Yun vaguely realized what might have happened, but he simply could not believe it.

The girl's body continued trembling faintly, perhaps from excitement, perhaps from fear... Yi Yun's mind contained no trace of memories about this girl, yet he seemed able to sense her emotions. They felt incredibly familiar. It was a strange sensation.

Just then, the girl wiped away her tears. She pulled Yi Yun by the hand, picked up the basket, and prepared to head home.

But when she tugged on him, Yi Yun stumbled and felt a wave of dizziness.

Yi Yun clutched his stomach. The only way to describe what he felt was... hunger. Somehow, he had suddenly become so hungry that his front and back nearly touched.

Thinking about it carefully, he had not eaten a single grain or drunk a drop of water since being buried alive. If not for that strange Purple Crystal Card, he would have died long ago.

It was only natural that he was starving now.

Seeing how weak Yi Yun was, the girl crouched down with her back to him. Her soft, warm back, faintly glistening with sweat, appeared before Yi Yun's eyes.

"Yun'er, Sister will carry you. We're going home. We'll never part again."

"..."

Yi Yun did not know how to describe his feelings. A Little Loli was going to carry him!

"Yun'er, hurry and climb on. You've only just recovered, and your body is still weak..."

As she spoke, the girl glanced at the tunnel Yi Yun had crawled out of. Her heart immediately felt as if it had been cut by a thousand knives. Her younger brother had not died at all.

Fortunately, her family had been too poor to afford a coffin. Otherwise, he would have been buried alive! If that had happened, it would have hurt her even more than being sliced to pieces.

Fortunately, her younger brother had awakened. Fortunately, they had buried him shallowly.

This time, she would never part from her younger brother again.

Seeing that Yi Yun stubbornly refused to climb onto her back, the girl assumed he was embarrassed. She shifted the basket to hang against her chest, stubbornly wrapped her arms around Yi Yun's thighs, squatted down without giving him a chance to refuse, and pressed his legs against either side of her waist.

Yi Yun was dumbfounded. He had no idea how he ended up sprawled across the girl's back. He felt his body grow light, and those tender shoulders and slender legs actually managed to support his weight.

The girl held the backs of Yi Yun's knees with both hands and heaved him upward, adjusting him into a more comfortable position before beginning to walk back along the path.

Lying on the girl's back, Yi Yun could smell her scent. It was unlike the perfume or shampoo of an urban beauty. It was the fresh fragrance of grass mixed with wildflowers and earth, crisp and pure.

He became increasingly certain of what had happened...

He did not want the girl to carry him, but he did not know how to ask her to put him down.

Speaking in a language that was not his own to a sister who was not his own was simply too awkward.

Just then, Yi Yun suddenly heard a rumbling sound coming from the distance. He could not help turning around, and the girl turned around as well.

He saw billowing dust rising in the distance.

The girl's little face changed slightly. She hurriedly carried Yi Yun behind a large tree.

The dust kept approaching at an astonishing speed. Yi Yun saw it clearly now—it was a Giant Beast running across the fields!

When he got a clear look at the Giant Beast, Yi Yun drew in a cold breath.

Heavens, was this a beast?

It was seven or eight meters tall and more than ten meters long, with sharp fangs and four limbs as thick as iron pillars. Its razor-sharp claws were like swords, and every swipe gouged a terrifying pit in the ground.

Compared with this monster, the Fierce Beasts of Earth—tigers and lions—were as weak as kittens.

What shocked Yi Yun most was that a middle-aged man sat on the monster's back. The man carried a sword and sat cross-legged, his aura sharp and fierce. Because of the angle, Yi Yun could not see his face, but for some inexplicable reason, he felt as if all the blood in his body had frozen. It seemed that this man was ten times more terrifying than the beast beneath him!

At that moment, Yi Yun finally confirmed that although he had crawled out from underground, this was no longer Earth.

He had arrived in a mysterious and unfathomable otherworld. In this world, his name was also Yi Yun. He had risen from the dead and gained an adorable, beautiful sister who doted on her younger brother. Her name was probably—Jiang Xiaorou.

The gravestone had said—"Eldest Sister Jiang Xiaorou." That was not a signature or inscription. It was the customary way of writing the deceased's relatives on a gravestone.

It seemed that Yi Yun's entire family consisted of only one sister named Jiang Xiaorou.

None of this was a dream. It was truly happening...

He had transmigrated.

Heavens, are you messing with me?

Yi Yun wanted to cry. Could anyone be this unlucky? He had only gone mountain climbing, and he had transmigrated!

Although transmigrating was still better than dying, he had crossed into a completely unfamiliar world that did not belong to him. There were Fierce Beasts as large as hills and powerful figures who seemed to be experts. Judging from the sword carried by that powerful man, this might be an age of cold weapons.

With his small, powerless body—probably only eleven or twelve years old—he would not even be enough to fill the gaps between a Fierce Beast's teeth!

Yi Yun knew this had definitely happened because he had touched that mysterious Purple Crystal Card. Perhaps he had already left Earth the instant the cave collapsed. His appearance might even have already changed into that of the Yi Yun from this otherworld. It was only because the cave had been so dark that he had not realized he had changed...

Since he had come to this otherworld because of the Purple Crystal Card, could he use the Purple Crystal Card to return?

That was Yi Yun's first thought. As a modern person who had lived in an era of peace, he found it difficult to accept being transported to what appeared to be an otherworld of cold weapons. He knew nothing about this world. He had lost everything he once possessed, and all he had gained was a sea of confusion.

At the thought of the Purple Crystal Card, Yi Yun's heart gave a sudden lurch. Where was the Purple Crystal Card?

The thought flashed through his mind, and Yi Yun felt a trace of coolness against his chest. He reached out and touched it. The Purple Crystal Card was safely tucked inside his clothes, leaving Yi Yun somewhat bewildered. He did not remember putting it there, but it was indeed there.

What exactly is this thing...?

Yi Yun could not understand it, but without a doubt, it was absolutely extraordinary!

If he could figure out its function, then whether he chose to remain in this world or tried every possible means to return to Earth, it would probably be of tremendous use.

He had to hurry and study this card thoroughly.

For some inexplicable reason, a name flashed through Yi Yun's mind—Origin Purple Crystal.

Purple Crystal... Origin Purple Crystal...

Why did this name flash through my mind? Yi Yun was startled. When he had wanted to name the Purple Crystal Card, the four words "Origin Purple Crystal" had strangely appeared in his mind.

Origin Purple Crystal... Then I'll call it Purple Crystal, or perhaps... it was originally called Purple Crystal?

(...Martial World finished a month and a half ago, and the new book has finally been uploaded. The new book has no essence chapters, so I can't mark everyone's comments as excellent. During the early new-book period, there will probably be two updates a day. Please vote, bookmark, and continue supporting me. Thank you.)