1 Not... the beloved child.

"Young Master, please be alright." A soft feminine voice with an edge of anxiety landed on his ears and gently pulled him out of unconsciousness. A soft lavender fragrance entered his nose. He became conscious of the softness underneath his head.

After he opened his eyes, a bright light blinded him. He scrunched his eyes immediately. After a second, with a couple of blinks, he managed to get his eyes accustomed to the exterior. A long time after, his eyes finally managed to focus.

When he shifted his gaze, the first thing that came to his vision was a maiden's beautiful face. A relieved look washing over her face.

"Thank heaven, Young Master is awake."

"You..." He tried to get up from her lap but the maiden restricted him.

"Young Master Lang, please do not move so fast. We will get a doctor to see you once we arrive at Nothern Qin." Her eyes were slightly red with some leftover tears.

He wanted to say something but found his throat too dry for that.

The maiden put a white handkerchief against his face, very gentle with her actions.

Looking into his confused eyes, she said.

"Young Master Chen said that this nosebleed might be a result of the high altitude. Nothing to worry about. He also said you should try to practice some breathing techniques to calm your mind."

'Young Master... what?! What's with her way of addressing people?! Woman, are you role-playing with me?'

"The carriages have to proceed now. They said we must reach the Northern Qin within the time limit of a week. If there isn't anything else, I will leave. Call me if you feel unwell." Holding concern in her eyes, the maiden hesitantly parted the burgundy thick velvet curtains.

"Please take care." After giving him a last glance, she finally climbed down from the carriage, leaving Lang Wei alone in his dilemma.

'If this is an act, it surely is well executed.'

Not soon after, he heard the 'neighs' of the horses followed by vibrations. The carriages had set into motion.

"Where the fuck I am?" Lang Wei paused, surprised at how unfamiliar his own voice sounded.

When he pulled down the white cloth from his nose, he discovered it was drenched in dark red blood.

However, it wasn't the blood that startled him.

"These are not my hands." Lang Wei threw away the handkerchief and was on his feet faster than lightning.

He looked at his hands, then arms, then his legs.

He looked twice.

Then thrice.

"My body has shrunken in size....? No, that's not possible. Then... this is not my body! That's even more absurd! Last I remember I had just walked into my classroom. How come... fuck!"

A sharp pain assaulted his head.

A sudden flush of broken memories entered his brain accompanied by an agonizing headache. Overwhelmed, placing his hands against the smooth rosewood of carriage walls, he guided himself down. He closed his eyes and fully focused on them.

At that point, from outside voices flowed into the carriage.

"A gathering of young Gentry of the Southern Liang for their Conduct evaluation? What a joke. Who in the Seven Sects of Southern Liang doesn't know that these children are taken as hostages? Northern Qin could have come up with a better excuse."

From his newly gained memory, Lang Wei tried to recall the identity of this person

'Jiang Chen; a disciple of Nie Sect. One of the geniuses of the sect with a limitless future and blah blah. Earlier Lang Wei even believed this? In reality, he is just a vain person with a couple of accomplishments. Youngest of the pair of siblings that treat Lang Wei like trash. This is strange... If I have transmigrated, my feelings should be neutral as an outsider.'

'But I feel a rush of hostility towards this Jiang Chen. It feels like the feelings of the original Lang Wei are still here.'

Within his memory, Lang Wei recalled several kicks and verbal attacks from that particular person.

"Now he is forced to accompany me all the way to Nothern Qin? Haha! Serves him right."

"With the situation of war between the two states right now, they don't need to provide you with a better excuse. Besides, you sound particularly ill-tempered about this issue all of sudden. What's the matter?" Another voice flowed in from outside.

'The person is... Chen Ping? The personal disciple of Clan Master Nie, another genius who had actually earned great merits at such a young age. At least he treated Lang Wei fairly. But the question is... why Nie Sect Volunteered to send its geniuses to accompany a bastard, Lang Wei?'

"What do you know? At this time, we could have been practicing for the Annual Duels between the seven Sects. But we have to escort some bastard safely to Northern Qin. What a waste of time. Are you happy about this arrangement? Why did Sect Leader Nie have to send us when other Young Masters of sects didn't have anyone to escort them."

"You shouldn't be the one to question Sect Master's Decisions." Chen Ping said.

After that, they both fell silent.

"So it really is the case of transmigration. Huh?" He opened his eyes and glanced around the interior of the lavish carriage.

Lang Wei wasn't foreign to this idea.

But until today, he firmly believed that transmigration was a phenomenon purely out of fantasy and away from reality. He took a deep breath to calm his hammering heart and tried to rearrange his memories.

"This world is not like the previous one. And I am... the son of the Sect Leader Lang of Southern Liang?"

"But a Bastard..."

Lang Wei felt a gloom taking over his heart.

"That's why that Jiang siblings pair were able to treat me like that."

"Looking at the bright side, it is at least better than being born in a peasant family with no assurance to even feed me."

He sighed and instead focused on the latest memories of the owner of this body.

"If these memories are real, it has been three days since we departed from Southern Liang. Since the start, Lang Wei had been feeling unwell. All the time, during the journey, his condition had been worsening. Until a day earlier he had started bleeding from his qiqiao(1). Right before I transmigrated in this body, Lang Wei had suddenly started bleeding profusely. Before he could even call for help, he fell into a coma... Appears to be a case of Poison? Or what else I can conclude from my limited knowledge."

After this, he silently parted the lavish red curtains. He glanced outside at the verdant and thick coniferous forests.

"This carriage is heading to the neighboring State, Northern Qin. And... two States had been at war for the last three years. Does that put me in a difficult position?"

"..."

"Of course that fucking does."

"Annual Duels between the Seven Sects." Lang Wei mumbled. The words triggered another chain of memories in Lang Wei.

Southern Liang was actually a union of Seven Major Sects, surrounded and protected by the mythical mountain ranges.

Every year, they would hold competitions between their disciples. The result of the competition would dictate the Sect's rank. Those competitions held particular importance in young disciples. They were a means for them to make their debut in the cultivation world.

When he thought further back, he learned that it had been long since the war between Southern Liang and Northern Qin ended.

However...

After suffering deaths and losses on both sides, both countries deemed fit to sign a peace treaty and put an end to the bloodshed. Southern Liang, being on the losing end, had humbly agreed to give up its treasures and lands to Northern Qin as compensation for its failure.

However, three months ago, Northern Qin sent an embassy with a non-negotiable condition. It would pull back its armies only if Southern Liang agreed to hand over some extraordinary treasure.

Unfortunately, that treasure was very important and was guarded so meticulously by the Seven Sects that even its name or properties were unknown to general masses.

Southern Liang declined immediately. Stating that if left in the hands of evil, the treasure could bring great disaster to humanity and other bullshit.

Northern Qin was enraged. The war could erupt at any moment. Both sides were preparing.

But suddenly, something unexpected happened.

Northern Qin agreed to resign on a new condition.

It had asked Southern Liang to send the biological sons of the Seven Major Sects for their conduct evaluation for a period of three months.

Those were, of course, all fancy words and the real motive was to keep them as hostages.

Nevertheless, the embassy said Northern Qin would neither harm the children nor pursue the war if Southern Liang obliged.

People were suspicious of Northern Qin intentions at first. They thought that after taking the children in, Northern Qin would reinitiate the war and force Southern Liang to yield.

However, not sending their children meant an absolute war.

And everyone wanted the war to just end.

After many debates and arguments, Southern Liang top authorities slowly started to believe that since Northern Qin suffered war casualties too, it genuinely wanted to avoid the war and didn't have ulterior motives.

That the Northern Qin just wanted to keep their sons as hostages to have a sense of security. And if Southern Liang didn't breach the terms of the peace treaty, the children would be returned unharmed after a certain period of time.

With the slick words of the Northern Qin embassy, they were able to ease the Seven Sect Leaders' qualms.

Under the pressure of several minor Sects and countless disciples, the top authorities, the seven sect masters, had no choice anyway.

Thus a month later, seven entourages departed.

"This is not good. I am among the unlucky few who were chosen to be sent as hostages. Just how important is that treasure that Southern Liang Sects agreed to hand over their sons but not the treasure?

No that's not important...

No one would send their most beloved children to a hostile place."

Lang Wei searched for his memories. His lips curled up into a slow smirk.

"Of course I am not the beloved child. I am a bastard. And I bet it would be the same for other sects!"

Lang Wei sighed. Slightly parted the carriage covers, he glanced outside once again. On both sides of the mud road, deep green forests covered his sight. The passage that led to the Northern Qin passed through the Evergreen Forests. The Forests was known to host many of the world's most ferocious spiritual Beasts.

Lang Wei noticed a piece of paper hanging outside. He pulled it out and observed it. "Sure enough, Evergreen Forest is one of the most dangerous places in the world. If not for the special talisman of Nei Sect protecting us, ferocious Spiritual Beasts would have long detected our presence and sucked out of souls."

The carriages had already traveled to the other side of the Mountain Ridge. The Mountain Ridge parted Northern Qin and Southern Liang.

"Fuck you, Lang Wei.

Could you no have died a few days ago?

Going to Northern Qin means constant danger. If only we were still in Southern Liang territory, I could have planned out an escape.

I have not even formed a core yet. If I try to escape into the forest now, a spiritual beasts of the lowest level could kill me."

The previous Lang Wei was a child of no more than ten years. He had no profound understanding of the surrounding world.

But after reanalyzing the preexisting memories of the previous Lang Wei, the present Lang Wei could tell that the political situation between the two countries was very delicate.

In fact, it was a bit confusing.

A war could break out at any moment. If that was the case, those hostages would have their life in constant danger.

After just suffering from one death, Lang Wei would naturally want to avoid a second one.

"But who exactly had poisoned the previous Lang Wei?"

Before he could think any further, a loud explosion ranged outside.

...

(1) qiqiao: Seven pores on the face including two noses, two ears, two eyes, and one mouth.