A Desperate Awakening and a Fading Immortal

A wave of dizziness washed over Xia Yi, plunging him into darkness as he lost consciousness.

When Xia Yi’s eyes fluttered open once more, he found himself amidst a vibrant, verdant forest.

He lay in a small clearing within this forest, enveloped by the sweet scent of grass and blooming flowers, the lively symphony of chirping insects and singing birds painting a picture of vibrant life.

This place was a stark contrast to the arena where he had previously sparred with Bing Yingying.

‘Ugh, my head throbs, and I’m parched,’ Xia Yi groaned.

Before he could even survey his surroundings, sharp, insistent pains pierced his mind, a profound weariness akin to having endured a ten-day journey on a green-skinned hard seat (TL Note: A type of basic, often uncomfortable, train seat in China, known for long, arduous journeys) without a moment of restful sleep.

Immediately, a parched, bitter ache gripped Xia Yi’s throat, as though he had swallowed an entire pouch of salt.

With no time for contemplation, Xia Yi frantically scanned his surroundings, desperate for anything that might alleviate his searing thirst.

Fortunately, his upbringing, steeped in wilderness survival, allowed Xia Yi to instantly recognize a particular tree. In his memories, it bore a striking resemblance to the banana trees he knew from before his transmigration.

As a child, he had often used its bounty to quench his thirst.

Approaching the banana tree, Xia Yi exerted himself, hammering open its sturdy trunk. Within the cleaved wood, a surprising amount of clear liquid pooled, which Xia Yi, without a moment’s hesitation, gulped down greedily.

Only after he had completely drained the life-giving sap from an entire banana tree did his profound thirst finally begin to subside.

‘Ah!… I’m finally alive again,’ he exhaled, a sigh of profound relief.

Wiping the faint green residue from the corners of his mouth, Xia Yi at last found the presence of mind to properly observe his new environment.

‘What is this?’

As Xia Yi continued to puzzle over his location, his gaze fell upon a thin white string conspicuously tied around his wrist.

Stranger still, the delicate cord seemed impervious to touch and utterly impossible to untie.

‘Is this meant to guide me somewhere?’

Having no other recourse, Xia Yi resignedly followed the direction indicated by the string’s leading end, which led him to the tranquil edge of a lake.

‘Is that… Bing Yingying?!’

Guided by the mysterious string, Xia Yi quickly discovered Bing Yingying, utterly drenched and lying unconscious by the lakeside.

‘Has she drowned?’

Hurrying to Bing Yingying’s side, Xia Yi’s heart sank upon realizing that this usually aloof beauty had indeed succumbed to drowning and lay unconscious.

Just as he reached for his storage ring, intending to retrieve a life-saving pill, Xia Yi was abruptly struck by a horrifying realization: his storage ring refused to open!

‘My cultivation… it’s gone?!’

No wonder Bing Yingying, a cultivator at the late stage of Foundation Establishment, had somehow drowned in such an ordinary-looking lake.

Bereft of his cultivation, and with his storage ring sealed, Xia Yi’s only recourse was to employ the emergency medical knowledge he possessed from his previous world, attempting to revive the fallen immortal maiden who now lay devoid of vital signs.

He swiftly unfastened all the clothing around Bing Yingying’s chest to ensure unobstructed breathing. After clearing any foreign matter from her mouth, Xia Yi, without a moment’s hesitation, commenced a standard regimen of cardiopulmonary resuscitation combined with artificial respiration.

Whether such a mundane first-aid technique would prove effective on someone from the cultivation world was a question Xia Yi had no answer to.

‘Cough, cough… cough, cough… cough, cough, cough,’

Miraculously, after five arduous cycles of resuscitation, Bing Yingying stirred, coughing herself back to consciousness.

Bing Yingying’s eyes, bloodshot yet still disturbingly vacant, slowly fluttered open. Only after she had thoroughly expelled all the lake water and foreign matter from her stomach did she finally speak, her voice a raw, hoarse whisper.

”Water… water…”

”Wait, don’t drink that water!”

Witnessing Bing Yingying’s attempt to lunge towards the lake, intent on drinking the raw water, Xia Yi swiftly intervened, pulling her back.

While he wasn’t certain of the exact repercussions raw water might have on a cultivator stripped of their powers, it was unequivocally better to avoid it if at all possible.

”Wait for me here,” Xia Yi instructed.

The sheer emptiness in Bing Yingying’s eyes, as Xia Yi restrained her, sent an unnerving chill down his spine.

Xia Yi chose to return to the clearing where he had first awakened. There, he skillfully fashioned a makeshift cup from a banana leaf, collecting the life-giving sap for Bing Yingying.

As Bing Yingying eagerly gulped down the banana tree’s sap, Xia Yi’s gaze inadvertently fell upon her chest, where two delicate pink plum blossoms, unlike the vibrant crimson of Fei Miaoyun or Pei Yunxiang, tantalizingly revealed themselves, ‘like a pipa player half-concealing their face’ (TL Note: A classical Chinese idiom describing something alluringly half-hidden).

‘…………’

Maintaining a semblance of propriety, Xia Yi averted his gaze.

With her desperate thirst finally sated, a faint glimmer of life slowly returned to Bing Yingying’s bloodshot eyes.

Casting a quick glance at Xia Yi, who had turned his head, Bing Yingying belatedly realized the revealing state of her attire.

After expressionlessly tidying her disheveled clothing, Bing Yingying finally spoke, her voice still a little raw, uttering a hesitant ‘thank you’ to Xia Yi.

”Tha… thanks…”

”It’s no problem,” Xia Yi replied.

Unbeknownst to Xia Yi, as Bing Yingying uttered her thanks, the thin white string encircling his wrist briefly shimmered with a faint pink hue before swiftly reverting to its original pristine white.

”…………”

”…………”

Once the brief exchange of thanks concluded, a heavy silence descended upon them once more, an awkward tension filling the air around Xia Yi.

‘Well then… perhaps we should find a place to rest first?’

After a few moments of lingering quiet, Xia Yi was the first to break the silence, suggesting they find a suitable spot to rest and collect their thoughts before attempting to formulate a plan.

Bing Yingying remained silent, merely offering a vacant nod. She presented an image of stunning, yet utterly expressionless, beauty—like a magnificent block of ice.

”Then let’s set off,” Xia Yi declared.

With those words, Xia Yi rose to his feet, and Bing Yingying, with a slow, deliberate movement, followed suit, matching his pace.

The two of them moved a short distance away from the lake, beginning to circle its perimeter in search of a suitable spot to rest.

They walked for the better part of the day, yet a truly suitable resting spot remained elusive.

With no other option presenting itself, Xia Yi decided they would venture deeper into the dense jungle to continue their search.

It was only as dusk began to settle that Xia Yi finally managed to locate a suitable spot: a dry, secluded clearing offering a broad view, yet not too distant from the lake.

Its only minor drawback was its somewhat exposed nature; otherwise, it was perfect.

”Shall we make camp here then?”

Xia Yi turned, about to solicit Bing Yingying’s opinion, when, without the slightest warning, she suddenly crumpled to the ground. Fortunately, Xia Yi’s reflexes were swift, and he managed to steady her before she fell completely.

”Hey, are you alright?”

Catching Bing Yingying, Xia Yi frowned deeply. The immortal maiden’s touch was distinctly unsettling; drawing upon his numerous interactions with Fei Miaoyun and Pei Yunxiang, he knew this was not right.

Bing Yingying’s body temperature was alarmingly low, giving Xia Yi the sensation of stepping into a frigid room chilled to a mere 16 degrees Celsius.

When he had first performed emergency aid on Bing Yingying, he had dismissed her low temperature as mere hypothermia from the lake water.

Yet, after the better part of a day, Bing Yingying’s body temperature had not only failed to rise but had, in fact, plummeted even further.

To make matters worse, Bing Yingying, now devoid of her cultivation, lay completely unconscious, and the encroaching darkness of night was fast approaching.

Despite his repeated calls, Bing Yingying remained unresponsive, having slipped into a deep, unresponsive coma.

With no other option available, Xia Yi’s immediate priority was to find a way to preserve Bing Yingying’s body temperature.

He stripped off his own clothes, which had long since dried, and draped them over Bing Yingying. Now, Xia Yi, stranded in this cultivation world, desperately needed to ignite a fire before the full onset of night.

Had his cultivation remained intact, Xia Yi would have had no cause for concern regarding starting a fire.

However, stripped of his cultivation, he was, apart from being ‘slightly‘ more robust physically, essentially no different from a mere mortal.

Embracing the desperate philosophy of ‘treating a dead horse as if it’s still alive’ (TL Note: A Chinese idiom meaning to try every possible means, even if the situation seems hopeless), Xia Yi resolved to employ the most primitive method of friction fire-starting.

Yet, the twilight hours were far from ideal for fire-starting. Xia Yi attempted the method repeatedly, but could only coax forth a meager wisp of smoke, never a proper flame.

In his desperation, and seizing the last vestiges of twilight before complete darkness descended, Xia Yi could only hastily construct a rudimentary shelter, hoping to endure the night and strategize further in the morning.

Xia Yi, now clad in nothing but his briefs (TL Note: A slang term for underwear), finally managed to complete the crude shelter just before nightfall. The small refuge, capable of accommodating only one person, was, of course, allocated to Bing Yingying, who lay unconscious from the biting cold.

Xia Yi could only huddle by the entrance, braving the biting cold wind, simultaneously keeping vigil over Bing Yingying and desperately pondering their next course of action.