The Pendant

I had always been a peculiar child to the eyes of the people around me and even to myself. As a child, I preferred reading books in my family's huge library than to play outside under the heat of the sun with other children my age.

I was one of those children branded as weird at school.

All of those were probably because I remembered my past life. Perfect details of it... Even my death.

It was a life where I had the power to heal, a life where I had friends and comrades whom I fight side by side. It was a life where I found the love of my life that I sacrificed myself just to protect.

I didn't regret sacrificing my life though. Especially when I gave it up for the people I love. What I regretted was not being able to fulfill my promise to the girl I loved.

I never told anyone about it, because I knew nobody would believe me and people would think I was crazy. I grew up hiding it and I got used to it. I missed my powers though.

My current life wasn't bad. Or so I thought.

When I was seven, my twin brother, Chen, and I were told of our ancestry and our family's underground job, quite literally.

My family – the Zhang Family – was a family of grave-robbers since ancient times. We were basically thieves, except we steal from tombs and graves. That family business served as our foundation and gave us what we enjoy in the present.

At first, I thought it was pretty cool and did everything my father asked me to, to be a great grave-robber just like him and our ancestors. It was a great learning experience.

I was taught how to dodge and create traps, identify antiques and artifacts, read and understand different languages both modern and ancient, etc. I was even taught how to fight, but as I grew up, I realized it was wrong.

'Stealing from a dead man's grave is just so wrong.' was what I realized.

Back in my past life, the ancestor that established our family also descended from grave-robbers, but the great house of the Archduke Zhang flourished not by it, but by becoming a loyal subject to the emperor of our country. We were a family of generals and healers back there.

I immediately stopped my training. I was fifteen that time. I spent my time and attention on other things; studies for one, as well as music.

I began to teach myself how to play various musical instruments, as well as how to dance and sing. I worked hard, harder and harder to divert my attention from our family business, but everything I learned from way back then became a habit and I couldn't help myself. So I just learned to let it be. As time passed by, a few members of my family started to understand my intention of not being a grave-robber, but since I still lived with them, it was a bit hard to dodge questions about it. I decided that I needed to leave...