Chapter 1: A Life of Misfortune
Cold wind howled through the narrow streets of the city, rattling loose signboards and sending discarded papers fluttering across the pavement. Wuyao Shengjun tightened his thin jacket around his shivering frame, his breath coming out in faint white wisps under the flickering glow of a broken streetlamp. The weight of the pizza bag over his shoulder was nothing compared to the burden pressing against his chest, regret, frustration, and the suffocating realization that his life would never amount to anything.
He was twenty-four. An orphan. A college dropout. A nameless nobody struggling to pay rent in a world that never once showed him kindness.
He turned a corner and jogged toward a towering apartment complex, the glow of its windows casting long shadows against the cracked pavement. Third floor. Apartment 307. Wuyao had walked this path countless times, yet tonight, his legs felt heavier than ever. A deep ache spread through his bones, and his chest tightened painfully.
Just a little more, he told himself, swallowing back the nausea rising in his throat.
Reaching the door, he raised a trembling hand and knocked twice. Muffled footsteps approached, followed by the sound of locks clicking open.
A middle-aged man in a robe cracked the door open, his face twisted in impatience. "Took you long enough. Do you know how long I've been waiting?"
Wuyao forced a smile, bowing slightly. "Sorry, sir. Traffic was"
"Whatever." The man snatched the pizza from his hands, tossing a few crumpled bills onto the floor. "Next time, be faster."
The door slammed shut.
For a long moment, Wuyao simply stood there, staring at the money scattered at his feet. He let out a breathless chuckle, though there was no humor in it. Bending down, he picked up the bills, stuffing them into his pocket before turning away.
Next time, be faster.
A bitter smile tugged at his lips as he descended the stairs, stepping back into the freezing night. There wouldn't be a next time.
His sickness had made sure of that.
The doctor's words echoed in his mind as he trudged back to his cramped apartment. "Stage four. It's too late for treatment. I'm sorry."
Sorry. What an empty word.
Collapsing onto his old, sagging mattress, Wuyao exhaled shakily. There was no one to call. No one to cry to. No family. No friends. No one who would care if he was gone.
His gaze drifted to the single cracked window, where the moon hung like a distant, unreachable dream.
"I wonder…" he whispered, his voice barely audible in the silent room. "…will I finally find peace in death?"
He never got his answer.
The pain struck suddenly, like a burning spear piercing through his chest. His body convulsed, his vision blurred, and the world around him spiraled into darkness.
The last thing he heard was the sound of his own shallow breathing before it stopped altogether.
Heat.
Blinding heat.
Wuyao gasped as his eyes snapped open. But he was no longer in his apartment.
The sky above him burned with golden sunlight, casting long shadows over the endless mountains stretching in every direction. Towering trees swayed in the breeze, their leaves rustling like whispers from another world. The air smelled of earth, grass, and something foreign yet strangely familiar.
He sat up abruptly, his heart pounding in his chest. The body he now possessed felt different stronger, healthier, younger.
A sudden burst of memories flooded his mind.
A different life. A different name. A different world.
He was Wuyao Shengjun, son of a sect leader.
And fate had given him a second chance.