CCWAD – Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Volume 1: Wanderer Becomes a Delicate Beauty, Liangshan Survival Record

Foreword:

One moment I wake up, and the world is turned upside down. Muscles have become soft jade, brothers have become “obstacles,” and the former wanderer is now a “newbie.” In this Liangshan Marsh filled with the scent of sweat and brotherhood, my survival journey begins with how not to have my ribs broken by a good brother’s embrace.

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Chapter 1: I’ve Become Cold, Enchanting, Arrogant, and Useless?

Introduction:

“Others transmigrate to become kings and generals, but I transmigrate and even lose my gender! What’s worse, all the heroes of Liangshan think I’ve just… become a bit effeminate?”

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My head was splitting, as if an entire construction crew was hammering inside.

Before Yan Qing (Modern Version) could even open her eyes, she was almost choked by a strong aroma, a mix of alcohol, sweat, and something… well, possibly the smell of stale meat from the night before. The air was filled with deafening clamor: rough laughter, the clinking of bowls and plates, and people shouting while playing drinking games.

She painstakingly lifted her heavy eyelids, her vision gradually clearing from blurry to sharp.

The first thing she saw was a thick wooden beam. A dim oil lamp flickered, illuminating a… very spacious but crudely furnished great hall. She was slumped on a greasy, long wooden table, with a hard wooden bench beneath her. Around her were… a room full of ancient-looking, burly men.

Each one was broad-shouldered and stout, with full beards and faces, dressed in coarse, short tunics, with their gear tucked into their belts. They were shouting orders, drinking from large bowls, and eating meat heartily. The atmosphere of bravado was almost palpable, threatening to knock her, a newly awakened “weak woman,” off her feet.

Weak woman?

Yan Qing jolted and quickly looked down.

The first thing that met her gaze was a pair of hands. The bones were distinct, slender and strong, the fingertips calloused – the hands of someone who practiced martial arts. Thankfully, they looked normal enough. She breathed a sigh of relief and instinctively reached to pat her chest to calm her nerves.

Then, her hand landed on a… remarkably flat chest, even with a slight hint of muscle definition.

Wait, flat?

She froze, a sense of foreboding washing over her like icy water from head to toe. Trembling, she cautiously, with a sense of impending doom, began to explore downwards.

A lean waist… firm abdomen… and further down…

“Boom—!”

Her mind went completely blank.

Gone! It was truly gone! The female characteristics that had accompanied her for over twenty years had vanished! Replaced by a strange, empty structure!

She snatched her hand back as if electrocuted, her heart pounding as if it wanted to escape her chest. She frantically raised her hand to her face – the touch was smooth, and her jawline seemed tougher than she remembered. She then fumbled with her hair – it was tied back, reaching her shoulders.

Finally, her gaze fell upon her clothing: a dark blue, narrow-sleeved, fitted tunic. The fabric was rough but sturdy, typical ancient male attire.

“I… I’ve turned into… a man?” An utterly absurd thought exploded in her mind.

“Little Yi! You’re awake? Stop pretending to sleep, come on, have three more bowls!”

A thunderous voice boomed in her ear, accompanied by a palm as large as a cattail fan hitting her back heavily.

“Pfft—!” Yan Qing almost had her soul knocked out by that slap, choking and coughing. She twisted her head and saw a hulking brute, with bulging eyes and a full beard, grinning at her, holding two bowls large enough to bury her face in.

Little Yi? Is he calling me?

Yan Qing (Modern)’s brain spun rapidly. This scene, this nickname… Little Yi, the wanderer Yan Qing?!

She, an ordinary office worker from the 21st century, whose hobbies were staying home reading novels and complaining, had actually transmigrated into “Water Margin”? And become that skilled in singing, playing, and fighting, a master of wrestling and archery, with exceptionally high emotional intelligence, known as the “Star of Heavenly Ingenuity,” the wanderer Yan Qing?!

But the problem was… the Yan Qing in the book was a man! Her current body… although her female characteristics were gone, there was a subtle softness in her chest, and an indescribable strangeness deep within her body, all screaming one fact – this wasn’t a simple sex change, it was more like… a genderbend? The soul was female, but the body had been forcibly altered into… not a complete male? Or rather, a subtly feminized Yan Qing?

Chaos! Utter chaos!

“Iron Bull, stop fooling around. Little Yi looks unwell, he’s probably truly drunk,” a gentle, mellow voice said. Yan Qing followed the sound and saw a middle-aged man of dignified appearance and extraordinary bearing looking at her with concern. This was none other than the Jade Qilin of Daming Prefecture, her (the original host’s) master and sworn brother – Lu Junyi.

When Lu Junyi spoke, the Black Whirlwind Li Kui sulkily retracted his hand, grumbling, “Little Yi’s alcohol tolerance wasn’t this poor in the past…”

Yan Qing forced herself to calm down. She had inherited some fragmented memories from the original host, knew who these people were, knew this was the Hall of Righteous Gathering at Liangshan Marsh, and that they were celebrating the victory of their last operation. But more details were hazy, especially regarding the specifics of this body.

She tried to clear her throat, wanting to say something. The sound that emerged was clear, with a barely perceptible softness, unlike the rough voices of the men around her, but not the delicate charm of a woman. The voice… was quite pleasant, but it made her own skin crawl.

“Brother… it’s nothing, just a bit of a headache,” she said, cupping her hands towards Lu Junyi as she remembered, her movements slightly stiff.

Lu Junyi nodded slightly, but a flicker of imperceptible doubt crossed his eyes. He felt that Yan Qing was somewhat different today, but he couldn’t pinpoint exactly where. The handsome face was the same, but the usual carefree and unrestrained air was gone, replaced by… a hint of reserve? Perhaps even… awkwardness?

“If that’s the case, you should go back and rest early,” Lu Junyi said gently.

Yan Qing felt as if she had been granted amnesty and quickly got up. As she stood, dizziness washed over her again, and her steps were unsteady. Only then did she truly understand the meaning of “useless” in “cold, enchanting, arrogant, and useless” – this body wasn’t just gender-ambiguous, it was also in a state of extreme hangover! How much had the original host drunk?

She persevered, trying her best to maintain the demeanor expected of “Little Yi” (though she had no idea what that demeanor should be), and walked out of the hall. As she passed, the brothers greeted her.

“Little Yi, leaving already?”

“Brother Yan Qing, are you coming to spar in wrestling at the training ground tomorrow!”

“Little Yi, brother just got a good bamboo flute, I’ll let you appreciate it later!”

Yan Qing could only nod stiffly, forcing a smile that was more like a grimace. She felt like a dwarf who had stumbled into a land of giants, surrounded by men bursting with hormones. Their strong body odor and boisterous movements kept her nerves on edge.

Especially a man named Shi Yong, who enthusiastically came over to put an arm around her shoulder. She instinctively dodged, almost in panic.

Shi Yong’s hand froze in mid-air. He paused for a moment, then scratched his head and laughed, “Hey, Little Yi, why are you so distant today? Scared of people touching you like a woman?”

A wave of good-natured laughter erupted around them.

“He must be really drunk!”

“Look at that pale little face, hurry back and lie down!”

Yan Qing’s face flushed and paled, and she mentally cursed all the gods and Buddhas. Woman? I *am* a woman! In soul, at least! And this body is also messed up!

She practically fled the Hall of Righteous Gathering.

The early summer night breeze was cool, brushing against her face and slightly dispelling the nauseating smell of alcohol and body odor. The night scenery of Liangshan Marsh was actually quite beautiful, with stars scattered across the vast plain and scattered lights. But Yan Qing had no mood to appreciate it.

Relying on her hazy memories, she found the independent room belonging to “Yan Qing.” She pushed the door open, bolted it from the inside, and leaned against the door, finally daring to take a deep breath, as if she had just escaped from a dragon’s den.

The room was simply furnished: a bed, a table, a chair. Bows and arrows hung on the wall, and on the table were brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, along with several musical instruments. In a corner were stone locks and staffs. Everything indicated the original host’s talent and martial prowess.

Yan Qing stumbled to the only blurry bronze mirror in the room.

A face was reflected in the mirror.

Eyebrows like painted ink, eyes like bright stars, a high-bridged nose, red lips and white teeth. It was indeed the handsome young man described in the book as having “flesh as white as snow.” But… upon closer inspection, the eyes seemed a bit too delicate, the skin impossibly good, with almost no visible pores even in the dim lamplight. The originally masculine, sharp lines were subtly softened by a gentle aura. Coupled with her current frightened expression and darting eyes…

“This… this isn’t the wanderer Yan Qing at all! This is clearly a fake, a woman disguised as a man who hasn’t even done a good job!” Yan Qing looked at herself in the mirror, wanting to cry but having no tears.

She untied her hair, letting it fall down, and leaned closer to the mirror for a detailed look. Without the framing of her hairstyle, the facial features in the mirror appeared even softer. She tried to lower her eyebrows and glare, attempting to look “fierce,” but the person in the mirror only looked… playfully fierce.

“It’s over…” She slumped onto the chair, feeling her life was utterly bleak.

Transmigrating into a book is one thing, but at least give me a normal identity! If I had transmigrated into Pan Jinlian, I could have figured out how to poison Wu Dalang and run away quickly. If I had transmigrated into Li Kui, I could have wielded my axe and carved out a path to survival. But transmigrating into this ambiguous Yan Qing, who was supposed to be a “wanderer,” what was that supposed to mean?

No martial arts skills (the original host’s muscle memory seemed completely uninherited), no understanding of customs, surrounded by sharp-eyed heroic figures… Wouldn’t my true identity be exposed in an instant? How would I explain it then? Say Yan Qing practiced martial arts and went mad, changing sex?

She remembered Li Kui’s blow, capable of killing an ox, and Shi Yong’s vice-like arms, and shuddered. On Liangshan, without combat power, you were just a dish! And she, right now, was that dish, looking “cold, enchanting, arrogant, and useless,” but in reality, fragile and easily shattered!

“No, I can’t just wait to die!” The instinct for survival forced her to pull herself together.

First, she needed to figure out the true condition of this body. She took a deep breath and began to examine herself carefully.

Her skin was indeed extremely delicate and smooth, so much so that it made her blush. Muscle definition was still present, but it seemed to have softened, with greatly reduced strength. Her voice was controllable; as long as she deliberately lowered it, she could still fool people. The most critical part… she looked down at her chest and then touched her throat.

No obvious secondary female characteristics, but also no prominent Adam’s apple! This was a Schrödinger’s state of gender!

“No wonder those rough-minded guys didn’t see it immediately…” Yan Qing gave a wry smile. “They’d at most think I’m ‘girly,’ they’d never think of something as ridiculous as ‘sex change’!”

Was this a blessing in disguise?

While lost in thought, she heard footsteps and Lu Junyi’s voice from outside the door: “Little Yi, have you gone to bed?”

Yan Qing was so startled she almost jumped out of her chair! Lu Junyi! Why was he here?! Did he see through something?

She frantically re-tied her hair, took a deep breath, and tried to calm her pounding heart before going to open the door.

“Brother, why have you come?” she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

Lu Junyi stood at the door, holding a bowl of hangover soup, and looked at her with gentle eyes: “I’ve brought you some hangover soup. You didn’t look well today, is something wrong with your health?”

His gaze was like a physical presence, sweeping over Yan Qing’s face, neck, and tied hair. Yan Qing felt as if every pore on her body was exposed under his scrutiny, and a cold sweat broke out on her back.

“No, no,” she replied, taking the bowl, her fingers trembling slightly. “I just didn’t sleep well last night, and I drank too quickly. I’ve worried brother.”

Lu Junyi nodded but didn’t leave immediately. He was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, “Little Yi, we are sworn brothers, and I treat you like a father. If you have any difficulties, you must tell me.”

His tone was filled with sincere concern, but to Yan Qing, it sounded like a death knell. Had she slipped up somewhere? Was it her actions? Her demeanor? Or… this increasingly feminine appearance?

“Brother, rest assured, Little Yi understands,” she said, lowering her head, afraid to meet Lu Junyi’s gaze, lest he see the soul of a modern woman in her eyes.

Lu Junyi looked at her deeply once more, then turned and left.

Closing the door, Yan Qing leaned against it, sliding to the floor. The hangover soup in her hand almost spilled. This brief conversation with Lu Junyi was more exhausting than her interactions with the entire room of people in the Hall of Righteous Gathering.

This life was simply unbearable!

She looked at the bowl of murky soup in her hand, then recalled the suffocating smell in the Hall of Righteous Gathering, the overly enthusiastic physical contact from the brothers, and the “sparring session” that might await her tomorrow…

A terrifying thought arose in her mind.

What if… she ran away?

Before she was completely exposed, find an opportunity to slip away from Liangshan, and fly free like a bird in the sky? After all, the original host was clever and resourceful, her wilderness survival skills should be decent… right?

But Liangshan was heavily guarded. Could she escape easily? And after escaping? In this unfamiliar chaotic world, could she, a “gender-ambiguous” modern person, survive?

Countless thoughts tumbled through her mind, eventually coalescing into the handsome but bewildered face in the mirror.

“Cold, enchanting, arrogant, and useless…” She gave a smile that was more like a grimace at her reflection. “Uselessness is the original sin…”

The long night stretched ahead, and the nightmare-like prelude to Yan Qing’s (female version’s) Liangshan survival record had just begun.

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(End of Chapter 1)