"Eye of Truth…well, the name sounds good enough. From passive, it must mean that the ability is always active, but why isn't it working…"
Yi Chen squinted his eyes to check his surroundings, but was unable to see any changes in his vision.
"Whatever, I'll figure it out later. First, I must do something which is more important…" Yi Chen muttered while pressing his stomach. It was time to take the dump.
He looked for the toilet only to realise something.
'…Fuck!'
A couple of seconds later, he rushed out of the hut with a bucket in his hand. Frustration was clearly written on his face.
He was now in the cultivation world, and there were no faucets or tap water here. He needed to rely on the well for that.
By the time he had collected enough water, he was almost on the verge of giving out.
'Why the hell did I have to transmigrate in the morning!' Yi Chen cursed to himself as he rushed to the community toilet.
The community toilet was just a pit that was dug in the ground.
'Damn! This is scary,' Yi Chen thought as he balanced himself carefully into a suitable position. Any slight slip would result in him falling into a pool of crap.
The smell was horrendous, and so were the mosquitoes that kept biting his exposed butt. Yi Chen could only endure this torturous experience until his bowels were fully empty.
Later, he pulled two buckets of water out of the well and thoroughly cleaned himself. If not for that, he would have felt disgusted with himself throughout the day.
'God, I miss my cosy western commode so much…' Yi Chen thought in a dispirited manner as he made his way back.
"Oye, Yi Chen! You're up early today, huh?" a man in his early twenties greeted Yi Chen. He still had drowsiness in his eyes.
However, Yi Chen didn't respond back. His attention was distracted by something visible on top of the man's head.
'So that's what it does…'
Yi Chen's gaze was directed above the man's head.
+++++++++++++++
Name: Tai Hu
Age: 24 years
Cultivation: None
Strength: 14
Extra: An average man
++++++++++++++
"What's there over my head?" Tai Hu asked while looking up in confusion.
"It's nothing. I was just distracted by a bird. Good morning, Brother Hu," Yi Chen changed the topic and greeted.
"You didn't answer. How are you awake so earl…Huh? You cut down your hair?" Brother Hu noticed what was off with Yi Chen's appearance and looked at him with a questioning look.
"O-Oh that… I've made up my mind to wake up early from now on, so I cut down my hair as a declaration to myself not to go against my words," Yi Chen blabbered whatever came to his mind.
"Silly boy, you could have done that without cutting your hair as well. It will take years until your hair recovers its past glory," Brother Hu sighed.
"Don't you think I look more handsome without long hair, though? Girls are sure to flock around me," Yi Chen joked.
"Handsome, my ass! All women long for men with long hair and a handsome face. At least before you had one of them, now I doubt you will ever get married, haha!" Brother Hu replied.
"I don't believe that," Yi Chen replied defiantly.
Brother Hu just shrugged his shoulders and replied with a "Time will tell" attitude as he walked towards the community toilet.
His pace looked a bit hurried, making it obvious that he had been holding it in for a while.
'While it's not a very overpowered ability…if I use my mind correctly, I can definitely benefit greatly from it. There's also that 'Lv1' written beside the ability, so what I'm getting now is only the basic function.'
Yi Chen thought as he made his way back to his small house.
After giving his thoughts a rest, he started dressing up for work.
In this world, he was a mere commoner who worked as one of the sweepers in this small town. The town's name was Murut.
With a decent population size of three thousand citizens, it was a convenient place to live.
"But why isn't there anything about cultivators in my memory? Do they live a reclusive lifestyle, or is this place too far away from the major cities?"
Yi Chen muttered to himself and soon changed into a loosely cut-out shirt made of plant fibres before complementing it with a pair of pants similarly made.
An hour later.
Yi Chen, along with the other sweepers, made his way towards the designated spots and started their cleaning activity.
The intense rays of the sun covered them in sweat, forcing them to take breaks from time to time in the shade.
By noon, they were finished with their work and, with the little money they had earned, were eating their lunch at a cheap restaurant.
By now, Yi Chen had grown used to status panels on top of people's heads. Most people have their strength stat in the range of eleven to fifteen.
Some who looked fitter even reached 16 or 17. Only young teens had single digits above their heads. Realising this, Yi Chen was quite disheartened. Having a weak physique in a martial arts world was similar to a curse.
'This body is so weak!' He exclaimed in his mind while munching his lunch in frustration.
Cough! Cough!
"Eat slowly or you'll choke to death," Brother Hu, who was sitting beside him, patted Yi Chen's back a few times.
"Y-yeah, sorry," Wiping the leftover off his face, Yi Chen thanked him in an embarrassed manner.
After they finished eating, everyone started chatting with each other.
Among all the workers, Yi Chen was the youngest. Therefore, his action of shortening his hair attracted a lot of criticism from others.
"You looked way better before, kid." A man in his forties said.
"Haha! He's going to regret it." Someone in his thirties tagged along.
"You've postponed your marriage by a decade," Another one sighed.
Yi Chen grinned at their criticism. All these years, the original body owner had been treated like a family by these people.
In this period, there were no child labour laws. He had come to this town when he was just 10 years old. Since then, he's been working as a sweeper in this town for seven years.
He remembered nothing about his parents in this life. It seemed as if he was abandoned.
'Maybe the trauma was too much, and the previous owner forced himself to forget about these things?' Yi Chen came up with a theory in his mind.
Ting! Ting! Ting!
At that moment, the sound of a bell ringing echoed all around the town and attracted everyone's attention.
A while later, several men gathered outside the Town office.
A man with a slip of yellow paper in his hand patiently waited for the people to gather up. When he found the number adequate, he began reading from the sheet of paper.
"Master Ru, the town head, will be conducting a groom hunt for his eldest daughter, Miss Yu. All males of marriageable age must assemble outside the Great Blue Residence an hour after sunrise tomorrow. If one fails to attend, then he would be dealt with 100 lashings and imprisonment for 6 months."
Hearing the man's words, everyone's mood dulled before whispers began among the group.
"That girl is finally of age? I'm glad I'm already married!"
"I know, right? With an appearance like hers, what gives her the impression that a normal man could ever love her...just thinking about it disgusts me,"
"I pity the young man who would get selected."
"But to become the son-in-law of the Town Head sure is an enticing offer. Greed can make any sane person go crazy."
Several discussions started among the group of people, and hearing them, Yi Chen's memory was also refreshed.
A face half burnt on one side and filled with red burnt patches entered his mind.
He immediately shook his head to forget that soul-shuddering sight.
'I'm finally glad that I'm not handsome…' Yi Chen thought to himself as he turned around.