After that battle, the Transparent Girl became a laughingstock. She died before avenging her great wrong, her mission unfulfilled. She'd thought her story would end in regret, yet she never expected to open her eyes again.
Strictly speaking, she was now nothing more than an undispelled wisp of spiritual consciousness, accidentally trapped inside the pouch. Who knew how many ages had passed before Ren Yi set her free.
In this place, she existed as a solid form. With a single stretch of her hand, she seemed able to touch the floating stars above and step into another great world.
In truth, an invisible bond tugged at her in the dark, keeping her tied to the ragged beggar before her.
Strangely enough, the stinking beggar's spiritual consciousness here was but a shadowy form. She guessed his true body must be slumbering inside the other pouch.
And was her own body there as well?
She still remembered when she'd been by her master's side, she'd loved wearing delicate, cute trinkets. They looked useless, but they were all spirit treasures of immortal rank. If this mortal got his hands on them, would he not waste heaven's gifts?
At the thought, the Transparent Girl's mind swirled with a storm of emotions, her heart boiling.
She missed her master, the ache sharp and bitter in her chest. She longed to break free, to escape the bonds of this world.
She had to find her master's trail. A faint intuition told her he was still alive, waiting for her.
She raised her hand and slammed it hard against her chest, intending to shatter her heart veins and break the mysterious pull.
As expected, she felt nothing at all. She was no longer a living being—how could she feel pain?
Ren Yi froze for a moment, then said nervously, "Uh… little girl, we're both stuck here. Can't you just calm down? Why hurt yourself? Don't be so desperate!"
"Mind your own business! Get lost!"
The Transparent Girl waved her hand, and somehow, Ren Yi's figure twisted like wispy smoke and vanished before her.
Before she could react, she herself dissolved into nothingness.
When she opened her eyes again, the world before her was nothing like the blue starry sky before. This world was earthy yellow, bare and desolate, not a single blade of grass in sight.
Clearly, this was no ordinary mortal world, unfit for human habitation.
Suddenly, grunting sounds came from a pit not far away. Bold and skilled, the Transparent Girl sprinted over to check.
It was Ren Yi, with someone tied to his back, struggling to climb up.
But the soil here was fragile, crumbling under his weight. He climbed only a little before sliding back down, trying again and again, utterly wretched.
"Heh, useless trash."
The Transparent Girl curled her lip in disdain and leaped down into the pit. She reached out and grabbed Ren Yi—and this time, she could touch him.
A flash of surprise crossed her eyes. She lifted Ren Yi by the neck and hauled both him and the person on his back out of the pit.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!" Ren Yi was truly grateful.
He wasn't the type to be overwhelmed with sympathy, nor was he afraid of a body-like corpse.
But in this strange place, to suddenly see someone who looked exactly like him lying there—it was an uncanny feeling.
He forgot his fear, his only thought to investigate.
"Little girl, is this me? What's wrong with me? Do you know?"
"Hmph! You ask me, who do I ask?"
The Transparent Girl ignored him, strode to another pit, and soon leaped out carrying a girl slung over her shoulder.
"Uh… this person…"
Ren Yi stared at the two identical Transparent Girls, utterly flabbergasted.
He'd only stolen a bit of pork from a butcher, only gotten beaten up, only been a little unlucky. But ever since he'd met this Transparent Girl, one bizarre thing after another had happened.
He pinched his thigh hard, and the pain told him he was alive—this wasn't a dream.
Unfortunately, the Transparent Girl had no time for him, her full attention fixed on the sleeping girl on the ground.
She was delicate and cute, looking young, like a fifteen-year-old maiden. She wore a gorgeous pink spiral-patterned dress that made her skin glow white as jade, with a red silk sash tied around her waist.
The Transparent Girl reached out and tugged at the sash. Ren Yi's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"Little girl, you… you… you're actually stripping someone! What are you doing?!"
"Nag! This is my stuff—what business is it of yours?"
The Transparent Girl stood up, flicked her wrist, and the long silk sash slithered like a slippery snake into her sleeve.
"Uh… you're a cultivator, right?" Even Ren Yi, slow as he was, could see that though the girl was young, she was powerful.
She hadn't hurt him before only because they couldn't touch each other, a fluke of fate.
The Transparent Girl looked at him with amusement. "Wipe your drool. A useless trash like you will never become a cultivator in this lifetime."
Back in Lingbo City, she'd already seen it clearly: Ren Yi's body looked fairly strong, but it was actually like a sieve. Any spiritual energy he absorbed leaked away before it could reach his dantian.
All his efforts were for nothing—he was exactly that kind of person. Let alone becoming a cultivator, even the body-refining techniques of a physical cultivator were unsuitable for him.
Yet he possessed a rare set of soft bones, which was why he'd survived so many hardships, no matter how badly he was beaten.
Softness overcoming hardness—many injuries were dissipated invisibly.
Hearing her words, Ren Yi's shoulders slumped. He dragged himself back to his own body, kicked it, and muttered, "You useless trash, living is just wasting air. Why don't you just die?!"
That single kick somehow triggered something. Ren Yi felt the world spin and blacked out.
He wasn't woken by his rumbling stomach or the mysterious Transparent Girl, but by a stray dog no bigger than the palm of his hand.
It was covered in scabs, skin and bones, filthy beyond measure. Shivering from the cold, it had burrowed into Ren Yi's sleeve, looking utterly pitiful.
"Poor thing. Were you abandoned too?" Ren Yi carefully lifted the dog, giving it the only warmth he had.
Back in his familiar world, he felt both relieved and empty. Deep down, he'd still hoped for some kind of adventure—that the mysterious Transparent Girl might lead him to a different life.
Like the many fantasy stories told in the streets: a fallen young master meets a great power, and from then on, his life is rewritten—he gets wind when he wants wind, rain when he wants rain.
In truth, the adventures he'd had that day were more than he'd had in the past eighteen years. But in the Transparent Girl's eyes, he was trash, she looked down on him, and there would be no future between them.
He didn't see her again, wondering if she was still trapped in that strange yellow world.
With a sigh, he stroked the dog's head dejectedly. "Sigh… I'll give you a name. From now on, you're… **Ren Xiong**. You'll grow big and fierce, so no one can bully you, got it?"
"Only then will people look up to you, earn respect, and live like a real person!"
These words were less for the dog than for himself.
Man and dog, braving wind and snow, trudged forward. The road ahead was uncertain, with no way back. Except to walk numbly onward, he didn't know what else he could do to turn his miserable life around.