Reincarnation

Li Zian no longer felt in control of his body. The darkness had returned, but this time it was different. This darkness wasn't empty and harsh, but instead warm and comfortable.

Then he felt his body being pushed forwards, and then his world was filled with light.

Strange, giant figures appeared, towering above him and observing him with eyes filled with curiosity.

He felt his body lifting up, and his eyes adjusted to the scenery around him.

He looked at his body. Small… Slightly chubby and covered in blood and bodily fluids. He could barely move his arms and legs, and his head felt heavy. He immediately knew what this was.

'I've really been reborn!'

He felt excited and tried to make a noise. All that came out was a small cry, and then he felt a strong… Hunger.

This hunger was so strong that it made his eyes well up, and he began to cry uncontrollably. He didn't understand what was going on, only that he needed food.

His tiny new-born body was brought into the arms of a beautiful woman who held him against her chest. He felt his hunger vanish for a moment as he observed this woman.

'This is my mother?' He looked into her dazzling golden eyes and felt peace in his heart.

His tears stopped flowing and he looked around at the others in the room. A man donning a long black robe with golden dragons woven into it with silk, a woman in a white robe who was covered in blood- a nurse, it seemed, and a boy -maybe five years old- who was observing him with great curiosity by the side of the bed.

'So this is my family…'

In his past life, he had always been distant with his family. As the youngest child, they never paid any attention to him and always focused on his older siblings. He never felt motherly or fatherly love. Li Zian was always alone.

'Perhaps it will be different this time,' He thought. His new family looked at him with such kind and excited eyes, and despite only being a minute old he immediately felt like he had found a new home.

His mother hugged him close to her chest, and as his skin touched hers, he felt familiarity and comfort. It was not long after that he, despite his hunger, drifted off into a deep sleep. He felt like he could rest for the first time in forever.

--

"Patriarch Zixin, you son seems very healthy. I've checked him over for any abnormalities that might hinder his future, but there aren't any," A man draped in a black and red robe with a golden dragon eating its own body sewn into the back- a golden ouroboros.

"What about his talent? What do you think his future will be like?" Li Zixin asked. The man didn't respond for a few seconds, and Li Zixin felt a terrible pressure, ready to receive bad news.

"It'll be smooth sailing, it seems."

He breathed a sigh of relief, and chuckled, holding his wife's hand. "That's good," She nodded her head and looked down at her new-born son who was fast asleep on her.

"Although it's impossible to foretell the true talent of a person when they're still an infant, I can tell you this: I'm confident he'll grow up to be a great figure in the future. Normally the children of cultivators have some impurities inside of them- residual, murky qi- but this child has none. He's completely pure," The man told him.

"This is really good news. Thank you, Doctor Chao. You may leave," Li Zixin told the doctor.

The doctor left, leaving the family of three- now four- alone.

The young boy spoke up. "Father, what will you name him?" He asked, clearly excited about having a brother.

"Hmm… How about 'Li Zian'," he said after a bit of thought.

"I think that's a wonderful name," His wife responded with a bright smile.

"Hello, Li Zian. I'm your big brother, Li Shen!"

--

A month passed since Li Zian reincarnated, and he had discovered several things. The people around him called him Li Zian, which meant that he had the same name as before.

Was this the doing of that mysterious being from before? He didn't know, but he didn't question it just yet. What surprised him even more was that the others seemed to have Chinese names, despite this clearly not being China or any other Asian country.

His mother also often carried him in her arms around the massive villa they lived in. It was in a traditional Chinese architectural style, which surprised him too.

That led to him questioning several things. The mysterious being seemed to mention that his world was safe, and from his memories there was no outside influence on Earth. So why did China share the same architecture and naming system?

He didn't understand how everything worked just yet, so he held those thoughts off for a while and instead focused on attempting to learn the language in this world.

His father was named Li Zixin. He was tall, always wearing his signature black robe with golden dragons sewn into it. He had black hair that fall down his back and seemed to only be in his early twenties.

His mother was named Luo Mei and was incredibly beautiful. She had long brown hair, golden eyes that he had inherited, and she wore elegant dresses.

Then there was his older brother, Li Shen. He was five and seemed to always be getting up to no good. He had shoulder-length black messy hair and brown eyes. Li Zian witnessed him being chased by maids and men in black robes multiple time.

One time he snatched Li Zian away to try and show him a cool cave he found. Li Shen was promptly caught, and they were taken back to the villa.

But Li Zian had to admit, it was a cool cave.

There were three types of people in their villa: his family, who were of great importance, seven maids, and twenty men and women dressed in long black robes with golden ouroboros symbols sewn onto the back of their robes. These twenty mysterious individuals always seemed to be roaming the outskirts of the villa and followed the orders of his parents.

He also witnessed the ouroboros symbol carved onto some of the walls in the villa, sewn into some of his mother's outfits, and painted upon one of the walls in the massive garden out back.

He was gradually learning new things as time passed, and it was not long before he had learnt several words for objects. However his infant body was still unprepared to say such words, so he simply memorised them for later use.

And just like that, three years passed. And he witnessed something he could never imagine.