17. Doppelganger?

Johan didn't have a clue what happened after he lost consciousness. But when he opened his eyes, he saw a familiar scene around him.

Being in an endless bare space with a view that depicts a clear night sky. Unmistakably, Johan sank deep into his subconscious.

However, it felt different this time. The first time he came into his subconscious, he didn't even have his head and just a bulb of light. But he had a full-body appearance now.

"I'm still alive, am I?" Johan murmured while looking around.

He wondered how he could be pulled into his subconscious at a time like this. And even though this might be the last moment before he died, he still remembered when a cold iron bar pierced his hip earlier.

He didn't know what to do at this moment. Just then, he saw a shadow from afar. Or rather someone standing with his back facing Johan.

He frowned.

Johan still remembered that the will of his predecessor had already dissipated. How could there still be someone except him in his subconscious?

Johan shouted at that person.

"Who are you?"

"Hmm, "who are you", huh? That kinda weird and stupid question you have!"

When Johan heard that voice, he stiffened. He was familiar with that voice, or rather he was too familiar. That was his voice, but someone used it.

That person turned around and looked in Johan's direction.

He has eyes with a deep-set shape, medium straight brown hair, beige skin color, a sharp nose, and fairly thin lips. And more importantly, that person's eye pattern was the same as the surrounding space, which depicted the clear night sky.

"Eh, you are…me?"

"Tsk. You're not worthy of comparing yourself to me!"

That person had Johan's appearance, and his Empyreal Eyes were no different than Johan's. However, his expression was so cold. His tone and his attitude looked so prideful and arrogant. He even looked down on Johan with what he said earlier.

Johan was confused as to why the other him had that attitude. So, he tried to bait the other him to talk.

"Is there something wrong with that? You're my shadow, right?"

When Johan asked with a smile, the other him was furious. It was as if Johan told the other him to admit that he was Johan's shadow.

"Are you frickin' kidding me? You're the prick who couldn't defeat an inexperienced cultivator and still dare to look down on me? Know your place!"

Johan narrowed his eyes. As he expected, his other self was also aware of the outside world. He could only conclude that his other self was an incarnation of the negative emotions that had accumulated since he was a child. He couldn't think of any other reason but his negative emotions presently.

Well, at least his negative emotions didn't affect his daily life.

However, Johan didn't agree that his other self said Johan couldn't defeat an inexperienced cultivator. How could his other self say that the old man who tried to kill him was inexperienced after considering how old he was?

"Fool! I'm not saying the old man is inexperienced in terms of age. What I mean is his lack of fighting experience. And you!! Just because he's one rank above you, you're too scared to move which ended with being stabbed. You couldn't even dodge his attacks that should have been visible with your eyes!"

Johan wanted to refute his scolding but didn't know what to say.

As a cultivator, Johan admitted that he was still a coward. Moreover, he was also inexperienced in fighting. He still needed to struggle against his fear and overcome it. It was just, that what his other self said somehow irked him.

Before Johan could talk back, his other self said it first.

"What? Can't accept my words? Why don't you accept the fact that you're an idiot? What use are your Empyreal Eyes for? A decoration?"

"You yourself also know that if I use that ability, my Qi will be drastically drained. There's no guarantee he could die if I attacked him since he is at the peak of the second rank. Furthermore, I dare not to kill someone yet!"

"Your life is at stake! And you're still saying nonsense? In a situation like that, you should only think about, "do or die", don't you understand? That old man isn't an ordinary person. He is a cultivator! You know! A CULTIVATOR!"

Johan could only sit still while feeling guilty after the other him was enraged by what Johan had done. However, he felt odd being scolded by his other self. It might sound silly and incredible at the same time when he quarreled with the other him. At first, Johan thought that the other him was formed from his negative emotions. Strangely, the more Johan thought, the more he felt the other him was not an incarnation of his negative emotions. The words he said with a sigh, the scolding with rage, and the insulting words to mock Johan. Those were the words that someone spat out when he was annoyed with another person.

"If he's not from my negative emotions, then what? What is he?" Johan held his chin while tilting his head. Thinking about the one in front of him.

"Get lost! You're an eyesore!"

The other him performed a kick when Johan was in deep thought. Johan didn't understand what was going on. He should be in his subconscious with his spiritual body. However, that kick could injure him and send him flying just like when he was still using his physical body.

— — — —

— — — —

At night when the rain fell a thousand times and the blow of winds made everyone couldn't feel the warmth, the young man inside a certain hospital jumped out of the bed all of a sudden while cursing.

"The fu*k!!! Ouch, ouch, ouch. This d*mn pain is killing me."

Of course, that young man was Johan. As for why he ended up in the hospital and not dead, who knows.

"Where is this?"

His sight was like shrouded by the mist. He couldn't see anything clearly. But, once he activated his Empyreal Eyes, his sight returned to normal and he knew where he was.

He could see his body covered in bandages from the previous incident. The lingering pain from the stab was still clearly felt by him.

It's just that he was quite confused as to why he was in hospital after he encountered a second-rank cultivator. He should have died since he was too weak. Moreover, that cultivator was intended to finish him off before he lost consciousness.

"Don't tell me, the person in my subconscious is the one who controlled my body after I fainted? Did he want to take over my body? If that's the case, I'm sure I won't wake up if my body is taken over by him. Who is he? What is he planning to do with my body? What I'm sure of is that he is not me."

Johan cast aside the scientific knowledge he knew. Someone that could enter someone else's subconscious wasn't something that could be explained scientifically.

He looked for similarities that happened to him in some of the novels he had read in the past month. But all he knew was that the MC had a lucky encounter after obtaining an artifact that sealed the soul of a wise cultivator who died hundreds or thousands of years ago. On the one hand, when a soul entered the MC's subconscious, that soul had the spiritual form, the same as its previous appearance when still alive. It was different from what happened to Johan.

"Hmmm, probably, it was my Evil Mode as something similar happened in the game. Yeah. Cold, prideful, arrogant. Those traits describe a character's Evil Mode just like in the game. There may be hidden traits that I don't know yet."

Something interesting in Johan's mind. But then, he shook his head. It might be funny at first, but it was very dangerous once he thought that this "Evil Mode" could take over his body.

Then, he thought about the old man who attacked him. If Johan was still alive, how about that old man?

"I should contact Qitian Dasheng or old man Wu Tian and ask them what I should do."

Johan tried to get out of bed, but something was interfering with his movement. That was a drip that was injected into his arm.

"Never thought I'd be hospitalized." Johan muttered.

As soon as Johan stood up, he heard the footsteps of someone heading into his room. He immediately deactivated his Empyreal Eyes.

When the door was opened, a woman in her 30s was seen standing, surprised when her eyes fell on Johan. Her long black hair was tied in a ponytail. Her brown eyes were round-shaped. Even though there were slight wrinkles near her nose when she wasn't wearing makeup, her skin was still clean and smooth with her warm ivory skin tone.

"Johan."

Hana, Johan's mother covered her mouth with her palm in surprise, while tears also started to roll down her cheeks.

Slowly, she approached Johan, then hugged him gently.

Accompanied by the sound of raindrops in the background, Hana couldn't contain her emotions and wept in relief to see that her son had woken up.