183 Reincarnation

Bizarre didn’t even begin to describe my situation… and that was saying something, considering the number of strange, questionable, and outright metaphysical things I’d stumbled into over the years. At first, there was only darkness, thick and pulsing, like being wrapped in velvet soaked in ink. Then pain. Sharp, visceral pain! My entire skull felt like it was being crushed through a wine bottle’s neck, slow and unrelenting. Pressure came from all sides, squeezing me forward, demanding I move, I exit, I be born!

And then came the light.

Blinding at first, sterile and harsh, it pierced my eyelids like needles. Slowly, shapes began to take form. The blurry silhouette of a middle-aged woman, her sleeves rolled up and hands steady, carried me like a parcel she’d just signed for. Her mouth moved, but I couldn’t hear much more than a dull ringing. I wanted to speak, to ask what was going on, but the only thing that left my lips was a horrid, squalling wail.

“WAAAAAH!”

The cry echoed out of me with such raw intensity I might have scared myself, had I been capable of anything beyond flailing my stubby limbs and howling. There was no controlling it, no silencing the scream once it started. It was pure instinct as if my very soul demanded the world know I had arrived, miserable and confused.

“He’s beautiful,” the woman said to someone just out of my vision.

A man’s voice, warm but uncertain, answered, “A boy.”

Then another voice, calm and professional, probably the midwife, asked, “What shall be the boy’s name?”

That question yanked my attention with sudden clarity. I summoned every bit of strength in my floppy newborn neck to look downward, an awkward maneuver that took more effort than any martial technique I knew. Sure enough, there it was. Dangling. A willy. I really was a boy. Again. Thank you for not screwing with me, fate…

I stared at it for a moment, curious and a bit amused. I tried to twitch it, just to confirm I still had full dominion over my body, but alas, it seemed even my most basic motor functions had yet to fully come online. My arms felt like noodles left out in the sun, floppy and uncooperative. Everything I attempted, from turning, shifting, and even blinking with purpose, required more focus than casting a basic spell.

“Da Wei,” the mother murmured, breathless but serene. “Let’s name him Da Wei.”

The father repeated, voice firmer this time, “His name will be Da Wei.”

That stopped me cold. My thoughts, which had been tumbling like clothes in a drying barrel, came to a screeching halt. Of all the names in the world, they picked Da Wei. That wasn’t my real name, at least not the one I’d been born with in my previous life, but it was the name I had used most recently. The odds of it being chosen randomly? Laughable.

I tried to laugh, and once again, only more crying came out.

Still, it meant something. Either the fates were playing one hell of a prank, or this was some kind of cosmic nod, a breadcrumb trail in the void telling me I hadn’t vanished completely when I’d burned out my Divine Soul and scattered the rest into motes of light. So this was reincarnation? Or possession? No, reincarnation made the most sense. I definitely wasn’t piggybacking inside someone else’s head. Then again… if I were now Da Wei again, reborn with memories intact, didn’t that make me a transmigrator too? That checked almost every starter protagonist box. Reincarnated? Check. Transmigrated? Apparently. Possibly possessed something once? Maybe. My memory was a bit spotty… Weird…

Fate was clearly having a field day with me.

Inhaling deeply, or rather, attempting to through my tiny nostrils, I closed my eyes and tried to focus. I reached inward, searching for the golden wellspring of my mana, the divine warmth of my Paladin Legacy. I had once been able to wield mystical powers with but a thought, manifest holy light with a whisper. Maybe I still had access to some lingering power. I wanted to at least sense the power of this new world.

But there was… nothing.

It was empty and hollow, like reaching into a familiar drawer and finding it bare. My Divine Sense didn’t respond, nor did I feel the comforting pulse of ambient power in the air. That confirmed it. My Paladin Legacy was gone and spent, just as I’d suspected in those final, fading moments. I wasn’t starting at level one. I was starting at zero.

A shadow fell across my face, and I looked up… or rather, tilted my eyes since my neck was still no help. Mother was weeping softly now, not with sorrow, but something far more primal. Joy, maybe? Relief? She pressed me gently to her chest and, without waiting for my permission, guided me to nurse. There was a brief flash of mortification, but I buried it swiftly. It wasn’t embarrassing if I didn’t think too hard about it. This was normal. I was hungry. I needed milk. Let’s not be dramatic about it.

Then suddenly, her arms trembled. She clutched me tighter, almost too tight, as a sharp cry escaped her lips.

“There’s… there’s a second coming!” she cried out.

Wait… what?

Without warning, my father plucked me from her arms, panic thick in his eyes. “What do you mean, another? What’s happening?” he asked the midwife, who was already springing into action.

The room spun slightly as he held me, cradled against his chest. I watched, blinking slowly, as chaos unfolded behind me. My mother groaned, her voice rising into a full scream as she braced herself again. The midwife’s voice rang out like a bell in a storm.

“It’s a girl! There are twins!”

I blinked again, slower this time, watching from the crook of my father’s elbow with a mixture of awe and bewildered detachment. I had been reborn. That much was already unbelievable. But now… I had a sister?

“What shall be the girl’s name?” the midwife asked, her voice gentle but firm as she cradled the newborn swaddled in linen.

“Da Ji,” my father replied without hesitation, the certainty in his tone suggesting that he had already chosen it long before she was born.

Mother, still catching her breath, gave a small nod. “Da Ji,” she echoed, her voice soft as a whisper. “It’s a good name.”

And just like that, our family of four was complete.

Time moved quickly after that, as it always does when you’re watching it from the limited vantage point of a child. In the blink of an eye or perhaps a thousand blinks, it had been four years since I opened my eyes into this strange new world, wailing like a banshee and struggling to come to terms with my rebirth.

In that time, I’d learned much more than anyone expected of a toddler, though I took great care to appear only slightly above average. Drawing too much attention could be dangerous, especially in a place where the unusual was not always welcomed or even tolerated.

Our home was a modest hut near the edge of a sleepy village nestled between forested ridges. The people here lived simple, grounded lives. They were hunters, foragers, and herbalists. My father, Da Jin, was a competent tracker and bowman, known for returning with game even when others came back empty-handed. He had a quiet kind of pride in his skill, the kind that didn’t need to be shouted to be understood. My mother, Lin Wei, was just as capable, tending to the village’s sick with her keen knowledge of roots, leaves, and powders that looked like colored dust but could soothe a fever or stop a bleeding wound.

Among the villagers, we were middle of the pack… not poor, not particularly wealthy, but comfortable. We had dried meat hung over the hearth, fresh herbs in the basket every few days, and warm blankets that didn’t smell of mildew. That was more than many could boast, and I was content with it, for now.

Culturally, this place bore an uncanny resemblance to the Hollowed World I’d known in one of my past lives, particularly in its reverence for nature, the respect for elders, and its belief in omens. However, it lacked the sophistication, the technology, and most importantly the artifacts of the Grand Ascension Empire. In the Hollowed World, even commoners might have a lamp powered by low-tier spirit stones or a broom that swept itself if they lived in a decent province. Here, I hadn't seen so much as a talisman with a flicker of energy. If this world possessed cultivation, it was buried deep, perhaps hidden from the eyes of common folk.

One afternoon, while my mother was grinding dried lotus petals into powder for a poultice, I decided to risk another round of subtle probing.

“Mom,” I asked, watching the mortar and pestle work in her strong hands, “ever heard of the Grand Ascension Empire?”

She glanced at me, brow furrowing slightly. “You mean the Empire?”

“I mean a different one,” I clarified, trying to sound as innocently curious as a four-year-old could. “There is just one Empire, right? It’s called the Grand Ascension Empire, right?”

The shift in her expression was almost immediate, her mouth tightened, and she set down the pestle with just a little more force than necessary. “Be careful what you say, Wei. I know you’re smart, but if you don’t want the Empire to mark you as seditious, you should keep such thoughts to yourself. You know what seditious means, right?”

I nodded, lowering my eyes respectfully. “Yes, I know.”

That should’ve been enough, but my curiosity wouldn’t let me rest. I needed to know how much of my old world bled into this one. “How about the Martial Alliance? Or the Heavenly Temple? Or the Union?” I paused for effect, then added, “Are there places like that, Mom?”

She didn’t answer at first, only stared at me in silence while I sat beside her and started helping by ripping the leaves from stalks and placing them into the clay bowl, trying to look as harmless and helpful as possible. Her gaze lingered on me, as if trying to peer into the very thoughts behind my skull.

“What’s gotten into you lately, Wei?” she finally asked, voice laced with suspicion. “You keep asking about strange things. Immortals, cultivators, qi... and now the Martial Alliance? What even is a Heavenly Temple? What’s the Union? You reading dreams now?”

I schooled my expression into something between confusion and guilt, lowering my shoulders just slightly. I hadn’t meant to distress her. But it confirmed what I suspected… this world lacked the foundational concepts that governed my previous reality. Or if they existed, they were hidden so deeply that even someone like my mother, practical and knowledgeable, hadn’t heard of them.

“You’re not going to be a martial artist,” she said, with a finality that brooked no argument. The firmness in her tone made it clear this wasn’t simply a warning.

“Yes, Mom,” I replied, dragging the words out just enough to sound like a reluctant agreement while secretly filing the conversation away for later dissection.

Satisfied, she picked up the pestle again and resumed grinding. “Now go find your sister and play. I have work to do.”

I slipped off the seat and started to head out, but before I reached the doorway, her voice stopped me again.

“Little Wei,” she called, using that specific tone that let me know a proclamation was about to be delivered, “you’re going to become either a hunter or an herbalist. Do you understand?”

I turned halfway, weighing my options. I could nod and comply, or I could push just a little, enough to stay in character without going too far.

Summoning all the mischievous energy I could muster, I grinned widely and shouted, “I’m going to learn music, do painting, and become an all-around rock and roller in the future!”

Then I bolted.

“What even is a rock and roller? A miner?”

Her exasperated sigh followed me like an invisible gust of wind as I ran out laughing, my footsteps light on the packed earth path. Da Ji was probably by the creek again, catching frogs or tormenting ants with twigs. I’d find her, eventually.

But even as I played the part of a carefree village child, the questions in my mind never stopped swirling. If this wasn’t the Hollowed World, if there were no sects, no divine cultivators, no artifacts humming with spirit energy... then what was this world?

And why had I been reborn into it?

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