The Red Lands

[ForestRage]

Survival here means cheating death

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A Journey begins with a single step… or does it?
Bai Feng lived the life of a business graduate. He toiled his way up the corporate ladder, only to be cast aside by those with connections. Broken and demoted to a company branch in the country, he made an oath one night to live an average life--and then he woke up.
In a fantasy world where the rich prey on the poor, capitulation leads to death, and creatures and demons of legends become real, Bai Feng must navigate through dangers from man and beast alike. But first, he must come to terms with his new identity-- A starving twelve-year-old boy, residing in the village slums.
Now called Chu, Bai Feng finds himself living alone in a rickety shack on the frontiers of an infant Empire. Malnourished and without a copper coin to his name, he realizes he has transmigrated to face a torturous demise. Stifling his hunger, Bai Feng must climb out of poverty, while treating each step as his last.

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PROLOGUE​

Bai Feng burped again, as he stumbled towards his apartment. Crossing over the small stone and mud courtyard, he slipped on the narrow step and landed on his rear. The effects of the alcohol permeated into this infrequent drinker.
"Damn them. Is this all I'm worth?"
He wiped the perspiration dripping from his heated face.
The villagers in this rural village treated him kindly, inviting him on their weekly foraging trip in the mountains, as part of their social bonding. Holding a title of supervisor for a known Company helped open this path.
The young man, however, was not satisfied.
Not satisfied at all.
The people were great.
The mushroom and beer feast, excellent.
But he should not have to be here.
He looked up at the moon and stars, visible with clarity in the night sky and snorted. The smog-free smell tickled his nose and needed some time for acclimatization.
"Never, never will Bai Feng slave over in this world, especially for an ungrateful company."
He slurred.
Floundering up the steps, and scuffling at the unwilling lock, Bai Feng achieved victory and slammed into his apartment.
His harsh life had just begun...

Chapter 1- A Transfer​

"Huh? Where... what?" The ten seconds of being in a frozen stupor were understandable. What followed next for Bai Feng was also within reason. First came a scream, but a small hand quickly stifled it. As the eyes scanned the room, clearing away the fog of darkness, a scream did not seem like a good idea.

"What the hell?" He whispered. Before he could investigate further, a splitting headache assaulted him. The pain felt as if someone cleaved his head with an ax. Never in his twenty-eight years of life had he experienced such agony. He screamed. Like a neglected dam that cracked under a lifelong of wear, his voice first trickled out, and then gradually burst out in a sonorous scream.

The agony disappeared as quickly as it began, causing him to choke in mid-chorus. Like a young girl confronting her first cockroach, Bai Feng ended the note on a spluttering squeak. He rolled onto his back, panting with beads of sweat trickling from his many pores.

His senses returned, after that blast that turned everything white. He closed his eyes while raising his hand to massage his drenched temple. The dream seemed so real. "Is it because I'm poor? Why don't scheming rich kids have this kind of dream!"

Bai Feng had recently transferred to a rural branch from the bustling metropolis. He had come from a family that cycled along the invisible line separating the middle class from the poor. Working his way through University, he then climbed the ladder from a salesman to middle-management.

With average skills and a passing educational grade, he relied on his drive and ambition to climb the corporate ladder. Unfortunately, that drive and ambition were crushed, when Bai Feng encountered his first taste of favoritism. Steamrolled by a young master with connections, his colleagues betrayed him, breaking his spirit and leaving him with only one option— a transfer out of the city.

Jumbled memories, fragments of a past unfamiliar, bobbed along the river of his life. His mind operated as efficient as that of a drunkard. He found it hard to maintain some instance of clarity. "What is all this? Is it a side effect of my first time eating mushrooms while drinking beer?"

His last personal memory consisted of a venture into the forest with the locals. There he had learned to harvest mushrooms while learning about the poisonous ones. He participated in a village feast, before heading off to bed.

Strange thoughts surfaced--as a play unlike that which he had ever seen, acted out in his mind. A tragic tale of a boy struggling to survive in a harsh land. It ended with the last gasps as the curtain fell on the final scene. As the eyelids closed on that first-person outlook on a brief life, Bai Feng opened his eyes again.

His eyes focused in the darkness while he turned his head to the side. A heap of rags, on the barren earth, a small battered pot, resting on some stones. He wrinkled his nose as he inhaled a breath of chill, musty air. The rags seem to have a serious case of mold infection. The landlord will have to answer for this, maybe by cutting the monthly rent.

"Wait… Holy Crud!" Bai Feng sprang up as if bitten by an ant. The sudden action blurred his vision and slowed the blood to his brain. He collapsed in a heap, fainting from the exertion. A few minutes later, his eyes flickered open.

This time he used his thin arms to help prop himself into a sitting position. The previous pitch-black darkness, slowly retreated, revealing the present abode. He had seen this place before, in fact he had just witnessed the death of a person in this very room. Bai Feng trembled as his head dropped allowing his eyes to peer at his body.

"No, no, NO!" He turned and scrambled to raise himself, only to experience his vision clouding. This time he halted his abrupt movements, remembering to suck in some smelly air. He finally stood up, patting himself down, as he scanned his body. "A dream... has to be a dream." He paced a short distance, to and fro, trying to think of some logical explanation. His toes caught on the rag heap that served as his bedding, causing him to stumble and fall. His weak, atrophied legs barely supported his malnourished figure.

His hands brushed over the pot belly, bloated with air. 'Should he run out?' No, he decided. At least this place provided safety, and time to think. Between the branches that made up the wall, and roof, he could glimpse the twinkling stars. Through the moonlight that doubled as a nightlight, this shack constructed of branches and held together by vines became his fortress.

He pinched himself, slapped his face and flung his frail body onto the ground. Aside from the aching and the welts that would generate tomorrow, he remained grounded in this reality. The dream refused to dissipate.

Twice he walked towards the branches tied together to form a movable door. Each time he hesitated with his fingers trailing over the weather-beaten wood and unfurling vines. Each time he returned to sit on the rags.

"This is not a prank; my mind tells me it is very familiar with this place. I know what is in here, and what is out there… is this a past life from a reincarnation? Calm yourself, Bai Feng. Let's search our mind first."

Bai Feng spent the night searching through his memories. By arranging his thoughts and classifying the new memory fragments, he created a timeline. He filtered this according to the life story that now became more than just a simple dream.

The young man tried to match any knowledge gleaned from the boy to any known historical sites, place or time. "This place… this place does not seem like it belongs on earth. There are too many strange things. Maybe it's part of European history? But why am I here? My ancestors have lived in China. Is this dream related to some movie I watched?"

Bai Feng still left an option open in that this might be a dream. He twisted his body since the prolonged sitting birthed cramps and soreness of his muscles. Reclining on the rags to ward off the noticeable chill, he tried to grasp his predicament. Cramps from sitting… wait. Bai Feng unconsciously moved his hand to the front of his tattered nightgown.

Whew! If he had to live another life as a girl, the stress might be too great. No matter the sex, changing after nearly thirty years of living would pose a problem. He focused his mind after that useless diversion. Presently he had bigger problems than wondering how to use a washroom.

First, his mind controlled the body of a child—a twelve-year-old child if the new memories bore any merit, twelve years, give or take a year. Children; poor children did not have the means to celebrate birthdays. Bai Feng settled on the average, currently, age played no importance because he was as malnourished and weak as they come.

Secondly, this place—he scanned the meager surroundings again as if expecting it to change. This single room, dilapidated shack did not belong to him. He lived in it because when he moved to the slums, it had been vacant. The previous owner most likely had died, and the predecessor who owned this body had also followed. If current conditions continued, then during the oncoming winter, he would help to create a hattrick for this primitive hut.

"To sum it up, I am weak, living in the slums and more broke than an addict on payday." He wrinkled his nose as a light breeze seeped through the roof and walls, wafting in the fragrance of the Slums. Memories of the past owner, squatting near the entrance while depositing a load surfaced. The stench of urine permeated through with the wind.

"Damn, I am back in the stone age?" Bai Feng forced a laugh. This thing had to be a joke. He bolted up again and ran to the door, but his hands trembled, as he dare not push the barricade.

Whatever lay on the other side might destroy any semblance of hope and drive him insane.

His bloated stomach growled, reminding him of his position in the hierarchy of this world. With no snacks to feed on, nor any solid food, Bai Feng used his hands to massage and appease the growling demon. He burped out a mouthful of stale smelling air, wanting to retch at the foul scent originating from his stomach.

"Dammit! Who the hell ever heard of a reincarnation where the soul ended up near dead on arrival? Have a little consideration, man!" Bai Feng cursed while pulling the moldy rags towards and over him for warmth. He ignored his groaning hunger and huddled up to sleep in a fetal position.

This dream had to end, and maybe he just needed to fall asleep. Whatever happened tomorrow, would happen. Dying here would be a compassionate gesture—continued living like this would be hell. He woke up at dawn, cursing at the vision that entered his eyes. The dream did not end, forcing him to take the next step.

Even though he had the memories of the past body's owner, it would be his first time venturing into this world. Just the thought of this made his mind falter between fear and excitement. Rubbing his limbs and shaking his arms to ward of the numbness and cold, he sat up while covering himself like a cloak under the rag bedding.

The sunlight came streaming in through numerous cracks between the boards and the thatched roof. Bai Feng now had an ample view of his future home. His dwelling consisted of a simple six by six-foot square hut supported by rough cut branches and reject boards. A roof constructed of smaller branches that supported some straw and twigs helped keep out the sun.

Judging from the numerous rays and beam of light, piercing through, it seems that during rain one needed to find an optimal place to rest between leaks. Besides the rags on the bare ground, one corner had an old patched cloak hanging along with a shirt and pants. A rough staff used for support stood beside a pair of worn boots.

Another end had some stones with a blackened pot resting on them. That was the kitchen area, complete with a small knife spoon and a copper-colored mug. "What the heck is this thing patched with? What the hell, is this a strip of a vine?" Bai Feng muttered as his fingers poked their way out from a couple of holes in the cloak.

The door construed of some board and branches tied together with vines that shifted to one side unlocking the entrance. "Not like I have anything worth robbing." As he looked around, the entire structure was flimsily held together by strips of bark and vines. Under a hard breeze, this thing had one hundred percent chance of collapsing.

Scanning his memories, it seems that such a thing actually happened a couple of times in the past. Worse yet, a blistering winter loomed over the horizon, waiting to descend upon him. "Haha! OH, my freaking god!" This became one of the few times Bai Feng ever felt like raining curses in his life.

He did not come from a rich family, but they were not this poor either. If anyone looked at the scene they would find a malnourished thin child partly covered in rags; laughing with tears streaming down his face, while pummeling the ground with his little fist. "Wow!" Bai Feng finally settled down taking some deep breaths. "Damn, this is freaking unbelievable." Anything less and he may just sit down and wait to die.

Maybe he might really undergo a transfer out from this nightmare. He got up and stepped across to the kitchen, the little pot had some cold water mixed in with some roots. This supposed gruel turned out to be nothing more than flavored water. It served also as his everyday breakfast. One cup in the morning, and another healthy dose in the evening.

The taste fitted his plight, cutting down his raw throat like a cup of vinegar. He fumbled with the tin cup, downing the sour-smelling liquid in a rush to quell the early morning growls emanating from his bowels. With that bitter liquid warming him up by burning the life out of his digestive system, it was time to get ready for work.

This morning, however, he doubled dressed in the only two pairs of clothes he owned, ensuring he would at least be kept warm. The simple task of dressing himself proved to be a task. Bai Feng soon understood the problem. His basic hand and feet coordination sucked. Having a grown man control the body of a child only created chaos.

Luckily the fragments of consciousness from the previous owner remained. As the minutes of familiarity ticked by, the short periods of instability and fumbling decreased. By the time he dressed himself someone banged on his door, making him jump and fearful the shack would fall over.

The loud voice and banging continued until he yelled an answer. Grabbing his staff, he pushed the makeshift door out and slid it to the side. 'Oh crap, have a little pity for my little shack man!' "I'm coming!"