A fierce sense of falling swept through his entire body, accompanied by an equally intense panic, bewilderment, and a sharp pain in the back of his head.
In 0.001 seconds, Lin Wang understood two things:
First, he had transmigrated, replacing some unlucky soul in this world.
Second, that unlucky soul seemed to have been "thrown from a building."
Lin Wang was currently plummeting from a great height!
The reason he suspected he was "thrown" was the heavy blow he felt to the back of his head—but none of that mattered now, because in another two or three seconds, his brief journey as a transmigrator would come to a rapid end...
The background and consequences of the incident were meaningless, unless he could miraculously survive a fall from dozens of meters up.
His body tumbled uncontrollably through the air, and he could see the ground rushing up to meet him. Perhaps it wouldn't even take two or three seconds; with just one more blink, everything would be over...
He wondered if this was the fabled "life flashing before your eyes" phenomenon. Time seemed to slow down, giving him ample space for chaotic thoughts.
Yet, it was still pointless. All it did was prolong the agony of waiting for death; it offered no help in solving his immediate crisis.
Unless a miracle occurred, and he suddenly awakened some self-rescue ability—like, say, the power of flight.
Impossible, right? Even if there was a transmigration gift package, there wasn't enough time to use it!
Suddenly, as if answering his inner plea, a "power" surged within him. An "Inner Force" emerged from his Dantian and flowed through his limbs and veins. Lin Wang instantly felt light as a swallow, immensely strong, like his Ren and Du meridians had been opened, and he had achieved mastery of a divine skill.
He felt invincible—was this the result of grasping some divine martial art in the face of death? So... had he transmigrated into a Wuxia world?
Since he had been reading a Wuxia novel before he "transmigrated," this development seemed rather logical...
Unfortunately, Lin Wang searched the memories of this body and found no trace of learning Qinggong; but no matter, with such a formidable Inner Force, he surely wouldn't be smashed to death, right?
He refused to believe he could acquire a transmigrator's golden finger only to die so easily!
Anyone who's read Wuxia knows that "Inner Force" can be projected outward, meaning he now had a source of backward thrust for self-rescue.
Perhaps it was the potential unlocked by facing imminent death, but Lin Wang instinctively mastered the technique of "Inner Force Projection."
The powerful Inner Force surged through him, finally gathering in his hands and feet.
Staring at the rapidly approaching ground, he forced himself to remain calm, imagining his limbs as "cannons" or "thrusters," and blasted the Inner Force towards the ground.
It worked!
Lin Wang's body seemed to be briefly lifted by an unseen force, or to have hit an invisible wall, and his descent abruptly slowed.
But the danger was not completely over. One deceleration was not nearly enough; the remaining speed was still enough to kill him, though perhaps he'd be left with a recognizable corpse instead of being reduced to a pulp.
It's okay, I'm still about ten meters from the ground, enough for two more "reverse-thrust decelerations!"
He was certain he could land safely.
But just then, with safety assured, Lin Wang finally had the presence of mind to notice something else...
Right below his trajectory, directly underneath him, a pedestrian happened to be passing by.
His brain instantly calculated: if he proceeded with the original plan of two decelerations, he would land squarely on that unfortunate person, using them as a cushion!
—And it was just a child, who looked barely ten years old. If he crashed down on them, even at a "safe" speed, the outcome would likely be fatal for the child.
Worse, in his total focus on self-rescue during the fall, he hadn't thought to scream, so the person below hadn't noticed him.
What should I do?
He didn't hesitate for a moment—since he had the power to change his situation, he absolutely would not involve an innocent person!
Thus, Lin Wang adjusted the direction of his Inner Force projection twice in quick succession, shifting his trajectory just enough to miss the innocent young passerby.
But the price was...
Crack, crack, crack...
The crisp sound of bones breaking was exceptionally clear. Is this what they call "bone conduction"?
This slightly absurd thought was the first one that popped into Lin Wang's head.
His four limbs, which had struck the ground first to act as a buffer, were completely broken, and his internal organs were likely ruptured and hemorrhaging.
The only good news was that he hadn't dragged an innocent person down with him.
The other good news was that, at this very moment, he was still alive!
Finally, I made it!
"You..." A voice came from above; it must be the boy he nearly crushed. But from the tone, the boy didn't sound particularly panicked. "You... are you an idiot?"
"Huh?" Lin Wang didn't understand what the child was saying, but due to his severe injuries, he couldn't lift his head to see his face.
"Why did you try to avoid me?" The boy didn't conceal the contempt in his voice. "If you hadn't suddenly changed your trajectory, you wouldn't have ended up like this, would you?"
Lin Wang tried to make an effort but failed. His cheek, pressed against the ground, felt warm—it was his own blood. He was lying in a pool of blood.
From his current angle, he could only see the boy's feet. A puddle of blood flowed across the pavement but somehow curved around the boy's unusually clean shoes.
That's not normal—Perhaps he hadn't fully emerged from the "near-death life-flashback" state. His mind was unusually calm, and he hadn't yet felt the terrible pain from his body. He even had the leisure to focus on these irrelevant details.
—Come to think of it, the boy's hair is pure white, too. Is he a foreigner?
Because his thoughts were accelerated, countless ideas flashed through his mind in an instant. However, his response in reality was not slow.
"Because... this is my own business. I can't injure innocent people," he stated his reason plainly.
"Heh, are you looking down on me?" The boy's tone was incredibly arrogant. "Why would I care about a mere forty-something kilograms of matter? I was originally planning to casually save you, but then you tried to be clever..."
—Young but with a big mouth. But considering this is a Wuxia world, it's not impossible. A child's physique with a full head of white hair fits the profile of a martial arts master.
Lin Wang didn't have time to dwell on that: "Forget... forget about that for now. If you can, please call an ambulance for me?"
The tension was gradually receding, and the adrenaline's effect seemed to be wearing off. The horrific pain was setting in. Honestly, he really didn't want to face this torment!
Perhaps due to the Inner Force he had just awakened, his mind was abnormally alert, and there was no sign of him losing consciousness!
"Someone is already making the call," the boy replied. "Don't worry, it looks like you won't die."
"Then, could you please knock me out?" he quickly asked. "This feeling is honestly worse than death."
A cold, unreadable chuckle came from above, and then Lin Wang mercifully lost consciousness.