The Bitter Life of a Transmigrator

Time had indeed given him the best answer. As an ordinary transmigrator from the modern world, without any assistance, he truly could not move an inch in a life where he was constantly restrained and could never fill his stomach.

They lived like that in this cramped storage room for three whole years.

Three years was neither long nor short-so short that he still had not learned his way around the entire White Tiger Mansion, yet so long that he had lost count of how many times the cold had woken him, how many contemptuous looks and mocking remarks he had endured.

He had originally thought that, as someone who had read the original novel, he could do reasonably well even without a system. But only after actually landing in this man-eating place did he realize that the so-called plot, those few simple strokes of the pen, was utterly worthless in reality.

The original novel had brushed past Huo Yuhao's misery in a few simple lines, never describing how he had survived. Even he had considered it nothing more than a minor episode before the protagonist soared to success. Only when it actually happened to him did he truly understand what it meant to struggle to stay alive.

But he knew that everything was slowly improving. Since the night he regained his memories, he had noticed that he seemed able to slowly absorb the mysterious energy the moon radiated and convert it into his own soul power.

Once he had truly mastered converting this lunar energy into his own soul power, he began guiding Huo Yuyao to do the same, although he had not known how to teach her at first.

He simply had her join him whenever he meditated at night, sitting with her eyes closed to feel the moonlight, the cool breeze blowing through the window, and that indescribable energy.

During the first year, she had sensed practically nothing. In the second year, she had finally sensed a special power. In the third, she too had learned to slowly draw that power into herself through a special method.

Throughout those three years, he spent every day either working as a servant to earn money for food or cultivating.

He had also considered escaping. Toward the end of the second year, he had identified several weak points along the outskirts of the Duke's Mansion and saved up some dry provisions stolen from the kitchen, intending to escape with the two of them.

But they had not even managed to approach the outermost wall.

The duchess guarded against Huo Yun'er more strictly than she guarded against thieves.

Every gate in the mansion was guarded, as were even the walls and woods. Private soldiers patrolled the grounds, and stewards and serving women frequently passed along the inside of the walls.

Lin Mo hid with Huo Yuyao behind a nearby clump of low shrubs, watching the final shift of guards finish changing posts, yet he could not find a single opening.

In the end, they still failed.

On their way back, Huo Yuyao simply held his hand and comforted him in a quiet voice.

"It's all right, big brother. We'll leave next time."

Lin Mo gave a soft murmur of acknowledgment and said nothing more.

When they returned home, Huo Yun'er merely stroked his head gently and placed a bowl of freshly cooked wild vegetable soup in front of him.

"It's all right. Once Yuyao's father returns, everything will get better."

It was still the same sentence. Over those three years, he had heard it countless times, and so had Huo Yuyao. At first, the girl had still looked forward to her father's return, but as a transmigrator, he knew perfectly well that the man would never appear.

The girl's initial anticipation had also turned to indifference, then to loathing.

Next time.

When would next time be?

For the first time, he felt how powerless a transmigrator could be. Yet he had never imagined that this was only the beginning.

Finally, when the two of them reached the age of nine, on a winter day three years later, Ye Shubai gazed at the gloomy sky outside the window, troubled.

"Brother Xiao Mo, you're already at level ten! That's wonderful! Does that mean you can get a soul ring and become a Soul Master?"

"Yes, but finding a soul ring will probably be difficult right now. After all, we can't even get out."

He stroked the excited little girl's head and sighed. This was another thing troubling him.

He summoned the ancient-looking Mystic Sword.

In his previous life, he had been an orphan. The only person who had treated him well was the elderly director of the orphanage, who had taught him to read and write. Because he had always loved swords, the old director had also taught him some simple swordsmanship, though it was all intended merely to strengthen his body.

Since his awakening, he had not neglected his practice either. Although those exercises were only meant to keep him fit, having something was better than having nothing.

Feeling that bottleneck, Lin Mo sighed.

As long as he became a Soul Master, he would definitely be able to take mother and daughter out of this cage. But to become a Soul Master, he had to hunt for a soul ring. To hunt for a soul ring, he had to get outside.

This path seemed trapped in a dead loop.

"Ah, why can't I just break through like an immortal cultivator?"

"Huh? What's an immortal cultivator?"

Lin Mo had accidentally spoken his thoughts aloud, leaving the adorable little girl before him brimming with curiosity.

"Take a guess."

He extended a finger, gently tapped her forehead, and chuckled.

Suddenly, he sensed a surge of power-or rather, something like an informational prompt sounding in his mind.

His soft chuckle turned into somewhat absurd laughter, startling Huo Yuyao so badly that she thought her big brother had come down with a fever.

"What's happened, Little Mo? Why are you so happy?"

The door slowly opened. Huo Yun'er's steps were unsteady, and her body had wasted away to nothing but skin and bones, yet she still wore a kind smile. She carried several coarse steamed buns and potatoes in her arms.

"Mom, you're finally back! I was worried sick."

Seeing her mother return, Huo Yuyao rushed forward and hugged her. Then, together with Lin Mo, who had finished laughing, she helped the desperately frail Huo Yun'er onto the bed.

"I don't know why Brother Xiao Mo suddenly started laughing either."

At the mention of this, Lin Mo set the food in his hands aside and said excitedly.

"Little Yao, Auntie, I've found a way to break through and become a Soul Master! Once I do, we'll definitely be able to escape. Today, very soon! Wait for me in the room."

Before either of them could reply, he dashed outside with a bang, looking just as he had that night when he first awakened his martial soul.

Lin Mo did not go far. In fact, he was quite close, standing in a clearing beside the little wooden hut, on the side facing the woods.

He could even be seen through the hut's crude window.

"Brother Xiao Mo, it's going to rain! What are you doing? Come back!"

Standing in the clearing, Lin Mo looked toward Huo Yuyao calling to him from the distant window, his excitement beyond words.

"I knew this martial soul of mine couldn't be some ordinary Mystic Sword. Even the way it grows is completely different from an ordinary Soul Master's. It's really like immortal cultivation."

The message he had just received in his mind seemed to have come from his martial soul, telling him that he did not need to obtain a soul ring to break through and become a Soul Master. He merely needed to withstand ten bolts of heavenly lightning.

Upon receiving this information, he had not considered how much the heavenly lightning would hurt or whether it would leave him tingling and numb when it struck. All he could think of was that once he became a Soul Master, he could take the two of them away from this damned place. Once they were outside, there would surely be a way to treat Huo Yun'er's illness.

Whether in his previous life or this one, the only people who had ever given him the affection of family and elders were the old orphanage director, who had long since passed away, and Huo Yun'er. He absolutely would not allow someone who cared about him to leave this world before his eyes.

"I, Lin Mo, commence the heavenly tribulation for my breakthrough!"

With a thought, the Mystic Sword burst out of his body and shot straight into the clouds. The already gloomy sky grew even darker and more oppressive.

Inside the room, Huo Yuyao and Huo Yun'er both looked outside anxiously. Huo Yuyao wanted to run out and call him back, but just before leaving, Lin Mo had told her to stay in the room without worrying and not come outside.

Lin Mo abruptly opened his eyes and looked up at the sky.

"So this is what the ancients meant: 'In an instant, the wind stills and the clouds turn ink-black; the autumn sky spreads into gathering darkness.'"

Only now did he begin wondering whether being struck by heavenly lightning would leave him pleasantly tingling or writhing in agony.

Meanwhile, as he pondered, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled in the dark clouds directly overhead, and a light seemed to gather at their center.

He swallowed and looked up at the sky nervously.

The next second.

BOOM!

A thick bolt of tribulation lightning, seemingly formed from thousands upon thousands of lightning bolts, slammed straight into Lin Mo.

"Aaaagh!!!"

The lightning did not strike him like a solid object, nor did it feel like something pressing down on him. It felt more like a real electric current passing through his entire body, making him shudder all over.

And that was not all. When the brief shudder ended, it left not only throbbing pain in his limbs and meridians, but also a stinging pain as the electricity continuously tempered his body.

"It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!"

If there had not been more strikes to come, he would already have jumped up and started rolling on the ground.

The mother and daughter watching from afar were even more startled.

Huo Yuyao first shrank back at the sudden lightning strike. But when she saw that terrifying bolt of furious lightning slam into Lin Mo, she burst into tears.

"B-Brother Xiao Mo!"

She scrambled clumsily off the bed, ready to rush outside, only to remember what Lin Mo had told her before leaving: no matter what she saw, she must not come out. She was immediately torn.

She looked anxiously left and right, wanting to go out but not daring to, so frantic that she nearly began hopping on the spot.

Huo Yun'er was shocked as well and wanted to get out of bed, but just as she braced her hands against the mattress, she suddenly slumped against the headboard.

"I'm going to die! I'm going to die! It hurts so much!!!"

"Why didn't anyone tell me a single strike would hurt this badly?"

Three successive bolts of heavenly tribulation not only split open his fragile meridians, but also cracked open the heart that had gradually sunk into despair over the past three years.

Now, rather than the dispirited laborer he had been a few days earlier, he looked more like a lively young boy.

Though that might have been because he was being struck by lightning.

He looked toward the girl at the distant window. Seeing the tears in her eyes as she watched him, his heart, which had still been fooling around a little, instantly grew resolute once more.

That's right. No, I have to withstand all ten bolts of heavenly tribulation. Then I'll break through to one ring, and I'll be able to take Little Yao and Auntie away from this damned place. Then I can change our circumstances.

He did not utter a sound through the next six bolts of heavenly tribulation that struck him. He simply gritted his teeth and endured, until only the final bolt remained.

Panting heavily, he could not stop himself from collapsing to his knees. The first nine bolts of heavenly tribulation had not only left faint cracks in his body, but also robbed him of the strength to stand. Under the tremendous impact of that energy, even his gaze was gradually losing focus.

In his daze, he could even hear Huo Yuyao crying more than twenty meters away.

He clenched his fists tightly and struggled to raise his head toward the sky.

The tenth bolt of tribulation lightning was even more terrifying than the previous nine. With his constantly trembling hands, he tore a strip of cloth from his clothes and stuffed it into his mouth.

Now this is more like it. This is what a transmigrator should experience, not being a laborer. Since I've transmigrated here, I ought to get a turn as the male lead, at least.

Golden light shone in his eyes as he supported his trembling body and stood up. His heavy breathing sounded especially clear in this oppressively foul weather.

Inside the room, Huo Yuyao's tears kept tumbling down, her gaze darting back and forth between the two sides.

Her soul power had now reached level ten as well, so naturally, she could tell that the lightning in the sky was even more terrifying than the previous nine strikes.

An inexplicable panic swept through her whole body, making her hands begin to tremble too.

The tenth bolt of heavenly tribulation arrived as expected. With a sound louder than the previous nine, it pierced straight through Lin Mo's entire body.

"Mmmph! Mmmph!"

Feeling that tyrannical energy dart through his meridians, he could only make muffled whimpers as he bit down hard on the strip of cloth. Fine red veins filled his eyes.

As the lightning faded, Lin Mo stood quietly on the ground, his head slightly lowered.

The Suspended Sword that had flown high into the sky returned to his side, and at that moment, a soul ring as black as ink appeared beneath his feet.

It did not resemble the black Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring that should have existed in this world.

Its color was deeper, and the aura it radiated was more ancient.

Looking at the soul ring beneath his feet and the information about his new soul skill and other matters that had appeared in his mind, Lin Mo first steadied his head with a hand.

He shifted his body. The pain and exhaustion that should have been there had all vanished like smoke and clouds. Instead, all he could feel was a strength within him that he had never possessed before.

"I never expected that, although the final bolt of heavenly lightning hurt badly, it could cancel out all the damage caused by the first nine, heal me, and make me stronger."

He could clearly feel that the power within him was now far beyond anything his level-ten self could have matched.

But at that moment, he did not dwell on it. He simply ran quickly toward the hut.

Pushing open the door, he shouted excitedly to Huo Yuyao and Huo Yun'er.

"Little Yao, Auntie, did you see? I broke through! I'm a One-Ring Soul Master now! Tonight-tonight the weather is awful too, so we can take this opportunity to leave... this place."

His excitement slowly faded, and his waving hands drooped slightly. Only his feet continued moving mechanically toward the two of them.

"B-Brother Mo... Brother Mo..."

But the only one who answered him was the tearful Huo Yuyao.