Chapter 3

Before returning home with Jiang Xiaorou, Yi Yun found it hard to imagine that this "home" would be in such a state.

Yi Yun had seen the swordsman riding a giant beast and guessed that in this strange world, there might be many experts who could fly and teleport. In such a world, there should be powerful families and numerous sects, with talented individuals emerging one after another.

He had mysteriously traveled through time and space. If he could establish a connection with some powerful families or sects, even if he had never practiced martial arts, had poor talent, or was just a distant relative, he could at least manage to get by, without worrying about food and clothing.

But...

Seeing the dilapidated house, Yi Yun was truly stunned.

Yi Yun had been to remote rural areas before and seen the houses there, but compared to the few rooms in front of him, those were far from comparable.

The house was built with stones and yellow mud, and the family was extremely poor. Apart from a table, two stools, two old beds, and a stove, there was nothing else.

Jiang Xiaorou carried Yi Yun into the house. On the way, Yi Yun, who was not used to being carried by a little girl, struggled to get down several times. However, his body was too weak, and after walking for a while, he was exhausted and out of breath. Reluctantly, he was carried by Jiang Xiaorou again.

Thinking about being carried by a little girl, Yi Yun felt somewhat embarrassed.

"Yun'er, are you hungry...?" Jiang Xiaorou placed Yi Yun on a small wooden bed, wiped the sweat from her face, and her face was full of joy. She was naturally happy that her brother had come back to life.

Yi Yun looked at Jiang Xiaorou's back, her clothes soaked with sweat. Although he was thin and light, they had walked for about three to five miles. Jiang Xiaorou, who was only fourteen or fifteen years old, had to carry him from time to time, which couldn't have been easy.

If it were a fifteen-year-old girl on Earth, she would be exhausted just walking three to five miles, let alone carrying someone.

"Um... a... a little."

Yi Yun opened his dry lips. This was the first time he had spoken since he arrived in this world. He thought speaking in a language that wasn't his own would be difficult, but surprisingly, it felt as natural as speaking Mandarin, as if it were his mother tongue.

"I'll go make some food." Jiang Xiaorou smiled sweetly, carefully wiped the dirt from Yi Yun's face with her sleeve, and gave him a pillow to lean on. She then pulled over a thin blanket and carefully covered him. Her movements were quick and gentle, making Yi Yun feel a bit dazed.

This girl was not his sister, but she had carried him all the way and taken care of him with great attention, which made him feel a warm affection.

Jiang Xiaorou was about to start a fire and cook, and Yi Yun wanted to help, but she pressed him back onto the bed.

"You just recovered from a serious illness. Don't catch a cold. Lie down and rest. I'll be right back."

Jiang Xiaorou said, picking up a light grain bag.

Fifteen minutes later, Jiang Xiaorou placed the old wooden table in front of the bed. On the table was a large bowl of rice porridge, two unknown wild fruits, and a bowl of boiled wild vegetables.

Yi Yun had been hungry for several days, and his stomach was already touching his back. Seeing this meal, he felt his stomach churning.

At this moment, Yi Yun really wanted to eat a bowl of braised pork, or any dish like braised chicken, duck, or fish. Just thinking about the taste made his stomach cramp.

How could he feel full with such a meager meal?

He opened his mouth and took a sip of the rice porridge. The porridge wasn't too thin, but with his empty stomach, the warm porridge stimulated his intestines, making him feel even hungrier.

After a few sips, he had drunk about half of the porridge and ate some boiled wild vegetables, which were bitter and astringent. Even though he was very hungry, he found them hard to swallow.

This meal was so unpalatable that Yi Yun felt he couldn't eat it. He noticed that Jiang Xiaorou was just watching him and hadn't eaten anything. He asked, puzzled, "Why aren't you eating?"

"I've already eaten. I ate when I went to look for you." Jiang Xiaorou's face was slightly pale, and she bit her lip lightly as she spoke.

Yi Yun's heart sank. He remembered that Jiang Xiaorou had come to the cemetery around three in the afternoon. Had she eaten then?

He suddenly realized that even such a meager meal was not always available.

What kind of world was this? How could there be powerful warriors riding beasts and yet such impoverished people who were on the brink of starvation?

Yi Yun pushed the bowl of porridge away and stood up to look at the grain bag in the corner of the room. Sure enough, the bag was empty.

Yi Yun immediately understood. The porridge Jiang Xiaorou usually made must have been much thinner. Today, because he had just come back to life and felt very weak, she had made a thicker porridge to "nourish his body."

"I'm full. You eat it." Yi Yun pushed the porridge to Jiang Xiaorou. For one, he couldn't eat much more, and for another, he couldn't let a girl save food for him.

He felt a bit melancholic. He had been thinking about whether he could return to his world, and if not, he would find an opportunity to practice and become a powerful warrior who could fly and teleport.

But now, it seemed that even surviving was a problem. He might starve to death before he could achieve anything.

"I'm not hungry." Jiang Xiaorou stubbornly pushed the bowl back. "Tomorrow is the day when we get our grain. We'll get a piece of meat. I'll stew it for you, brother."

Mentioning the grain distribution, Jiang Xiaorou's face turned slightly rosy, clearly very much looking forward to it.

Yi Yun fell silent. On Earth, he thought everyone's life was hard, including his own. But compared to this strange world, the life pressure on Earth was nothing. Not being able to eat enough and facing the danger of starvation was truly a hard life.

The feeling of hunger was truly painful.

...

Deep into the night, a gentle breeze blew, and the pond and grass were filled with the croaking of frogs and the chirping of crickets.

Yi Yun couldn't sleep. He leaned against the bed, facing the moonlight, and repeatedly examined the mysterious purple crystal in his hand.

He had managed to crawl out of the collapsed mountain thanks to the purple crystal. This small crystal card was undoubtedly a treasure.

If he could figure out its secrets, he might gain some benefits.

This strange world was extremely dangerous, but only for ordinary people. Thinking about the middle-aged man riding the giant beast he had seen in the wilderness, he was so full of vigor and spirit. Compared to the suffering people, his status and position were like heaven and earth.

"If I can become a powerful expert, I'll be free and easy. At least I won't have to go hungry..."

Yi Yun touched his stomach. He had given some of the porridge to Jiang Xiaorou, and being in the growing stage, the porridge didn't last long. He was already hungry again.

Just as Yi Yun felt his stomach empty, the smooth and cool purple crystal in his hand emitted a faint coolness, as if...

Huh?

A flash of inspiration crossed Yi Yun's mind. He sprang up from the bed, his eyes fixed on the purple crystal, a look of surprise on his face.

Yi Yun noticed that after looking at the purple crystal for a long time, some extremely fine, almost invisible purple light points appeared around it.

These light points appeared out of nowhere, slowly flying into the purple crystal and disappearing, as if being absorbed by it. This process continued for a while, and the purple crystal's glow became noticeably brighter.

What was happening?

This discovery made Yi Yun's breathing quicken.

As the purple crystal's glow grew brighter, Yi Yun clearly felt it becoming cooler. This unique coolness spread through his body, as if he had been washed by a spiritual spring, making him feel extremely comfortable.

Yi Yun remembered this feeling. When he was digging the tunnel, every time he was exhausted and out of breath, he would feel this faint coolness, which would help him regain some strength.

Yi Yun knew that people could live and work because the body's metabolism provided the energy needed for life.

Without food, there would be no nutrition, and thus no energy, leading to starvation.

He had survived several days and nights without food or water, working intensively, and completed a long tunnel. There must have been an energy source. This cool feeling was likely the life energy provided by the purple crystal.

Thinking back, when he first found the purple crystal in the cave, it was emitting a faint glow like a night pearl.

After he traveled to this strange world, the crystal's glow had weakened, probably due to energy consumption.

But now, the crystal's glow was slowly replenishing and strengthening. What was providing energy to the crystal?

Yi Yun observed carefully and found that these faint, extremely fine light points extended to the window, seemingly coming from the stars in the sky.

Could the stars provide energy to the crystal?

Yi Yun thought for a moment and then jumped out of bed. He went to the stove, took a burning piece of charcoal, and used it to light some dry grass, causing a yellow flame to rise.

Yi Yun carefully placed the purple crystal in the fire.

His idea was simple. If the crystal could absorb energy from the stars, could it also absorb energy from the environment?

Fire was a form of energy. In Yi Yun's understanding, it should be more intense than starlight. If the crystal could absorb energy from the fire, it might do so faster.

As for whether the fire would damage the crystal, Yi Yun had never considered it.

However...

No matter how much Yi Yun burned the crystal, it showed no change, and he couldn't feel any heat from it.

The crystal seemed to be an unmeltable ice, always cool to the touch. Even after the charcoal and grass burned out, it remained the same.

Yi Yun shook his head and gave up on the experiment.

He decided to go outside to see if the stars were more vibrant and could provide more energy to the crystal.

If the crystal absorbed enough energy, what changes would it undergo?

Yi Yun was very excited about this!

Yi Yun quietly pushed open the door and the gate, then carefully closed them. He was afraid of waking his sister in the next room. However, when Yi Yun stepped out of the yard, he was slightly stunned.

He saw a girl in a green robe sitting on a small stool under a tree, carefully polishing an arrow.

The cold arrowhead, reflecting the moonlight, cast a silver glow on the girl's delicate face, as if covered by a silver veil. Around her, dozens of fireflies danced, their light like the beautiful spirits surrounding a goddess.

Jiang Xiaorou?

Yi Yun saw that next to Jiang Xiaorou, a bundle of arrows was neatly arranged. Each arrow was finely crafted, with sharp arrowheads and shiny shafts.

"This is..."

Yi Yun, though not familiar with cold weapons, could sense that these arrows were not ordinary.

"Yun'er, why are you out? The dew is heavy at night. You just recovered, go back to bed quickly." Jiang Xiaorou quickly stood up and tried to push Yi Yun back into the house.

"Sister, why are there so many arrows?" Yi Yun was puzzled. From the look of it, Jiang Xiaorou didn't seem to be the type who could shoot a bow.

"These are for tomorrow's grain exchange. It's always been like this..."

Jiang Xiaorou gave Yi Yun a strange look.

"Uh..." Yi Yun had no idea about this. Strangely, although he understood the language and writing, he knew nothing about Yi Yun's life. All his memories were his own, no more, no less.

This was similar to amnesia after a head injury, where a person forgets everything but retains their language and writing skills.

Yi Yun had already thought of what to say. "Sister, after I died this time, I forgot some things..."

"You forgot?" Jiang Xiaorou was stunned. Yi Yun had fallen off a cliff while gathering herbs, breaking his bones, and died in bed after a while. Now, thinking about it, he might have hit his head.

Thinking of this, Jiang Xiaorou felt both heartache and worry.

"Yun'er, you..."

"I'm fine." Yi Yun quickly interrupted Jiang Xiaorou to prevent her from worrying unnecessarily. "Sister, tell me about this world. And that middle-aged man riding the giant beast, what's going on? I don't remember many things..."

...