Black Light

Li Wei wrapped Li Cheng snugly in a blanket.

The ten-year-old looked more like a six or seven-year-old.

His small head drooped, his neck was terrifyingly thin, and dark blue veins could be seen faintly beneath his skin, making Li Wei's chest feel tight.

Just then, a doctor's voice called from the emergency treatment room.

"Is Li Cheng's family here? Please come in."

"Ah, coming." Li Wei responded quickly, not forgetting to instruct Li Cheng, "Don't run around, okay?"

Li Cheng stirred in the blanket and looked up at Li Wei:

"Wrapped up like this, how could I run?"

"Uh~" Li Wei stammered, raising her fair, small hand to scratch her pretty, aquiline nose.

She, or rather, "he," was originally named Ling Wei.

Three days ago, Ling Wei was just an ordinary young man in the 21st century.

Then, he woke up to find the world had turned upside down.

Not only had he transmigrated to this High Martial parallel world where martial arts reigned supreme and danger lurked everywhere, but he had also been sex-changed into a girl who had just barely gotten into a third-rate Martial Arts University.

However, she didn't even have time to dwell on the gender change.

The pressures of life, like a massive mountain, instantly crushed her to the ground.

Li Wei's father was a peacekeeper.

Two and a half years ago, he sacrificed himself during an Abyss monster attack.

Her mother couldn't bear the blow and followed him within a month.

Her younger brother, Li Cheng, suffered from congenital Abyss erosion syndrome and required medication every month.

Her father's pension, along with donations from the uncles and aunts at the Peacekeeper Bureau, had barely lasted until now.

Medication costs, tuition fees, and rent were all without a source.

A father who died early, a mother who died of heartbreak, a brother with a terminal illness, and a shattered her.

This starting situation was tough to handle…

The critical point was that she had completely inherited the original body's memories and emotions.

This burden, this familial love, couldn't be shaken off or run away from.

Of course, even without all this, having taken over someone else's body, she couldn't just abandon her only brother, could she?

"Hoo…"

Li Wei took a breath and walked into the nearby treatment room.

Behind the desk, a middle-aged male doctor with a receding hairline was looking at a medical record. He only looked up after she sat down.

As if momentarily dazzled by Li Wei's stunning beauty, the doctor paused before asking, "Where are the adults in the family?"

"…They're not here anymore." Li Wei's voice was a little muffled.

"Ah?" The doctor was taken aback. When he looked at her again, his eyes held a touch of pity. "Li Cheng is yours?"

"My brother."

The doctor was silent for a moment before saying:

"We just gave him the Stage Three booster shot. You know what that means, right?"

Li Wei's mind buzzed. Her fingers unconsciously clenched, pulling wrinkles into the washed-out, pale school uniform pants. Below the excessively worn pant legs, a section of her fair, slender calf was exposed.

Congenital Abyss erosion syndrome was also known as "black blood disease."

It couldn't be cured, only managed with targeted medication.

Stage One medication cost over two thousand yuan a month. Li Cheng had been taking it from age one to five.

Stage Two medication cost over ten thousand yuan a month, and he took it for another three years.

Less than a year after their parents passed, Stage Two medication stopped working. They switched to Stage Three medication, costing over fifty thousand yuan a month, which completely emptied their savings.

As a result, Li Wei, despite being a martial arts student, couldn't even afford a single, low-grade Blood Nourishing pill during the crucial Qi and Blood nourishing stage for a Quasi-Martial Artist.

During the Martial Arts College Entrance Examination, her Vitality Value was only 53. She barely passed the minimum admission standard for national Martial Arts Universities, getting into Anhe Martial University, a third-rate institution in the province.

After burning through a family's entire fortune, she had still ended up in this situation.

The emotions left behind by the original body were unacceptable, and Li Wei herself found it difficult to come to terms with it.

The Stage Three booster shot was the last injection before the Stage Three targeted medication would become ineffective.

After its administration, the patient could only last for another seven days at most, effectively pronouncing Li Cheng's death sentence.

Seeing her pale face, the doctor felt a bit sympathetic, but having seen so many similar cases at the hospital, he quickly adjusted his demeanor, his tone as gentle as possible.

"If… I mean, if you could find a Master to intervene, there might still be hope. As for the hospital…" He paused, "There's no need for hospitalization. You should go home and think of a solution."

Li Wei slumped back down next to Li Cheng, looking at the emergency hall at 1:30 AM with a bit of a daze.

A few scattered patients were receiving IV drips in the corner. Some were alone, others had family with them.

One young woman in pink pajamas was the most lively, playing on her phone while being fed by the guy next to her, giggling occasionally.

Their world was vibrant, yet it isolated the siblings in their corner.

Suddenly, Li Cheng lifted his small face and nudged Li Wei. "Hey, am I dying?"

Li Wei snapped back to attention, pursed her lips, took several deep breaths, and then waved her hand forcefully, feigning bravado.

"Don't be ridiculous! Your condition isn't just 'a little better'! It's fantastic!"

"Tch!" Li Cheng rolled his eyes, his expression far too mature for a child. "Do you think I'm an idiot?"

"Hoo..." Li Wei's mouth drooped, like a deflated balloon. "Let's go home and sleep."

She scooped up Li Cheng and walked out of the hospital, head down.

Under the flickering lamplight, Li Wei's mind raced, sifting through the memories of the original body.

She knew about the doctor's mention of finding a Master.

A Master's intervention, cleansing meridians and marrow, could clear the Abyss erosion from the body. It was the only way to cure black blood disease.

Last year, the news reported a six-year-old child in Hangcheng whose family spent thirty million to hire a Master, saving their critically ill child.

The original body had seemed excited about it at the time, but upon seeing the thirty million figure, her heart had immediately turned cold.

But she was Li Wei, and also Li Wei!

She had lived nearly thirty years in her previous life, an orphan who had faced countless hardships.

As long as there was a sliver of hope, she wouldn't give up.

Wait, I look really good right now... Li Wei suddenly had a bold idea.

"Li Cheng, what if I sold myself?"

Li Cheng's small head was buried in the crook of Li Wei's neck. Hearing her, he turned his head. "You, sell yourself to whom?"

A sweet smile spread across Li Wei's bright face.

"I'm practically the school beauty at Fifth High, right? The people who chase me could form a line from here to there!" She pointed towards the distant skyscrapers. "Take Cheng Hao from our class, his family is in real estate, right? Do you think he'd be willing to spend thirty million to buy me?"

Li Cheng continued with his deadpan expression. "Thirty million? Are you encrusted with diamonds?"

"What the heck! Who taught you to say that?"

"I saw it on short videos."

"..."

"Alright, alright!"

Li Cheng grew a bit impatient.

"Stop thinking about these crooked paths... You know, I miss Mom and Dad, especially Mom's pastries, they're so sweet and fragrant..."

His voice trailed off.

"Li Wei, please let me go... I'm in so much pain every day, I can't sleep. When I do sleep, I have nightmares. I really can't take it anymore."

Li Wei's footsteps halted, her arms instinctively tightening, holding Li Cheng even closer.

As she walked, her nose grew more sore, her eyes more stinging.

She felt a jumble in her mind, a feeling she'd never experienced in her two lives.

After an unknown amount of time...

BOOM—!

A muffled thunderclap exploded, and a downpour began as if on cue, rain pouring down like a waterfall.

Li Wei jolted, looking up to see a bus stop about ten meters away. She quickly urged her Vitality and rushed over in a few steps.

But when she reached the shelter, she realized the wind was too strong, and the rain was blowing in diagonally, like bullets.

She quickly turned around, sat on the waiting bench with her back to the wind and rain, using her body to shield the little person in her arms.

RUMBLE—! SPLASH—!

The rain intensified, striking her back painfully, but her memories surged forward at this moment.

Li Wei's, Li Cheng's; past, recent... a dense jumble, all mixed together.

Somehow, she remembered a saying.

"A frayed rope breaks at its thinnest point; misfortune only finds the unfortunate."

Truly...

Lost in melancholy, raindrops from her hair mixed into her eye sockets, stinging and making her feel choked.

Fortunately, the rain came and went as quickly as it arrived. It stopped in less than twenty minutes.

The dark clouds parted, the moon peeked through, and its cool, clear light shone down once more.

Li Wei wiped the water from her hair. Just as she was about to get up, she heard the wail of sirens from the end of the street.

She turned her head and saw a black SUV leading the way, followed by an ambulance, both speeding towards her.

She hadn't paid much attention at first; it wasn't her business.

But as the two vehicles passed the bus stop, a wisp of black light shot out from the ambulance and, with a whoosh, penetrated Li Wei's forehead.

Her eyes widened, and she stared blankly at the string of information that suddenly appeared before her.

[Detected Abyss Essence, absorbed.]

[High Martial Minor Assistant activated.]

[Name: Li Wei/Li Wei]

[Realm: Quasi-Martial Artist]

[Vitality: 53 (+)]

[Combat Method: None]

[Mind Method: "National Middle Schooler Qi and Blood Guiding Technique (Ninth Revised Edition)" (Cannot be upgraded)]

[Abyss Essence: 357]

Li Wei's gloomy mood instantly brightened, and the corner of her mouth quirked upwards.

"I knew it! How could a transmigrator not have a cheat system!"