Lian Yu woke up to the smell of mildew. In his past life, he also lived with this scent whenever it rained, as the state of the welfare home allowed water to leak in.
Right now, he was already in a new world…
He wasn’t sure what kind of this was…
Opening his eyes slowly, Lian Yu realized he was lying on a flat, broken wood bed. A drop of foul-smelling water fell from above and hit him on the face.
Looking at the ceiling with its peeling paint and leaking water, a tearing pain suddenly hit his head; he wasn’t expecting that integrating his spiritual power with this body would be so painful. Lian Yu couldn’t help a muffled groan before once more losing consciousness.
He wasn’t sure long had passed when he woke up again.
The scenes of walking horses and watching lanterns flashed in his mind. After finally learning all the memories from this body, the pain still lingered in his head. Lian Yu sniffed, taking in the musty smell, listening to the pitter-patter rain outside the window, and sighed.
This world seemed to be similar to his original one.
This frail body he was in had also just turned eighteen, the face bearing the same birthmark he did in his previous life; the only difference was that it was much lighter and was placed differently.
This young man’s name was Lian Yu1連玉, using a different character for the family name.
He, whose name was so similar to his own, lived in a world that shared many similarities with his own.
For example, the planet was called Earth, and the world’s history was also just as long. The dynasties that have passed were also similar.
However, living on this parallel world, there was one fundamental difference —
This was Lian Yu’s2Original owner of the body world which only had two sexes, male and female, and the male omegas in Lian Yu’s3The host/MC/Transmigrator life were like the males in this world.
The original Lian Yu was a male teenager.
Like him, this Lian Yu was abandoned at birth due to congenital heart disease and the birthmark on his face. He was picked up and raised by an elderly scavenger from a mountain town.
Because of his physical condition, he wasn’t able to study rigorously, and because he was shy and introverted, he simply stayed at home to study while helping his adoptive father with household tasks within his capabilities.
This way, constantly sick and bedridden and simply studying on his own what he could, Lian Yu grew up and reached adulthood.
However, something unexpected happened a week ago — his only living relative suddenly passed away, and the already-weak young man instantly lost his only source of spiritual strength.
The original was barely able to push himself to bury his old man. Shortly after returning home under cover of the heavy rain, he covered his heart and closed his eyes forever amidst the loud sound of the storm.
Lian Yu couldn’t help but feel sympathy for this young man. He struggled to sit up, supporting himself on the floor through the wave of dizziness, reaching out towards the broken mirror he’d seen on the floor beside the bed.
After finally taking the mirror, he laid on his side and stared at the mirror, seeing a fair face with light red marks on one cheek. It looked similar to how he used to look in his previous life.
Tears welled up in his eyes, and Lian Yu reached up to touch the marks on his cheek.
After a long time, he put the mirror down and took a deep breath. He laid on his back once more, staring at the leaking water on the ceiling, before finally moving to a relatively drier area.
No matter what the future held, what he had to do now was to improve his mental strength, take care of his body, and slowly rise from this powerless state.
Lian Yu closed his eyes and, following the system’s guide, began to clear his mind on his first trial of meditation.
His hearing suddenly went quiet, and all thoughts seemed to vanish from his mind; he concentrated his energy and, in no time, felt his consciousness lighten, all distractions disappearing from his attention.
It seemed that a long time had passed when he finally awakened from the silence of all his thoughts. Lian Yu, feeling highly conscious of his surroundings, opened his eyes to look out the window, able to hear the din of conversation between people walking outside the courtyard.
Perhaps it was due to the improvement of his spiritual power but his senses of sight and hearing had sharpened. As long as he focused, he could hear even the most subtle sounds.
The rain had stopped.
There were hurried footsteps approaching, surprising Lian Yu when he realized that whoever it was was walking towards the house. He was about to force himself to stand when he heard the door open, a middle-aged woman entering as she cried —
“Lian Yu? Lian Yu!”
Snapping out of his daze, Lian Yu responded, “I’m here.”
“This kid! You scared me to death!”
The door to the living room was pushed open, and an aunt in her fifties came in, wiping the sweat from her brows. When she saw the young man halfway sitting up on the bed, she released a sigh of relief, saying, “I heard you haven’t stepped out in so many days.”
The aunt’s entrance caused a chill wind to enter from the door, making Lian Yu shiver. When the aunt noticed, she quickly closed it to keep the cold, wet wind from seeping in.
“It’s good that you’re alright,” she said, not moving any closer because she knew that this boy had a fear of people. She stood at the door, looking at the boy’s pale face and white lips, sighing. “I just had to come, because your lease has expired. Would you like to continue renting the house?”
Oh, Lian Yu thought, slightly surprised before recalling that, indeed, this small house rented by the original body’s family.
Seeing the young man confused, the aunt sighed, unable to help but give advise: “Lian Yu, please don’t blame aunt for worrying about you. Even your uncle went to work; it’s time for you to come out. Aunt’s advice is, you should go to the city, find easy work, experience a change in environment. It’s better than lying down like this all day.”
Lian Yu looked at the worried aunt standing in front of him, looking at him with soft eyes.
He had always been sensitive about others, able to quickly discern people’s emotions by the look in their eyes. Seeing this woman, who was genuinely worried about him, Lian Yu nodded and said, “I understand. Thank you, auntie.”
Finally hearing a response, the woman was overjoyed, smiling as she said, “Yes, that’s good. We always have to keep looking forward! In the future, you must take care of yourself and eat well. Auntie will post a rental advertisement now?”
“En,” Lian Yu responded, finally sitting up all the way and thanking the aunt. They discussed all the details before she left.
The rain had stopped, and the room had also quieted down. Only then did Lian Yu touch his stomach. If he recalled correctly, he hadn’t had a bite to eat for the days he’s been here, but he had yet to feel any hunger.
Was it because his spiritual power was still weak, so the body remained in its state right before death?
Lian Yu moved his legs and arms, judging the strength of his limbs.
Fortunately, the body was still strong enough to move.
Finally getting up from his position, Lian Yu didn’t delay any longer. He found all his documents and some money based on the body’s memories, packed up the thin quilt and a change of clothes in a big bag, before picking up his umbrella and opening the door to leave.
The small town was bustling with people, the faint sunshine after the rain warming everything under the sky. Lian Yu walked on the wet road towards the mountain path that would take him out of the town.
Auntie said that there was a shuttle bus to the nearby city every morning, and people from the town going to the city could wait on the main road for it. But because of the continuous and heavy rain for the past few days, the bus hadn’t been coming, and it was still uncertain whether the bus would arrive after the rain stopped today.
Using his umbrella as a crutch, he stumbled his way down the mountain path, pale forehead already soaked with cold sweat. He stood on tiptoe but couldn’t see or hear a car coming.
There were no others waiting when he finally arrived at the road, wiping his sweat with a small hand. He waited for his heart to calm before continuing to walk north.
The aunt said there were roads to other villages up ahead; perhaps if he walked further, he could meet some of the villagers who sold grain in the city.
Maybe it was bad luck, but even after walking until he was busy, he saw no signs of the bus. He sighed, planning on looking for a place to rest, when he noticed a landslide on a nearby path.
He concentrated, watching the mud flow into lumps on the road, with more coming down from the collapsed mountain. He looked around, searching for an alternative route to avoid the danger when he suddenly froze —
Wait, did that sound come from under the mud hill?
Lian Yu lifted his head and ran towards the landslide.
The wind rushed past his ears, heart pounding in his head like thunder. He almost fell flat on the mud but he quickly recovered and continued to run.
Mud and water continued to flow, and as soon as Lian Yu reached the area he threw his bag on the ground, desperately digging with his umbrella. Soon, he heard a thump as the umbrella hit something unknown under the mud.
The cold sweat on his face fell like rain, and Lian Yu threw his umbrella to the side to start digging at the mud with his hands.
His fingers touched smooth glass and Lian Yu soon realized what was buried under the mud —
It was a car.
Taking a deep breath, Lian Yu wiped the glass as well as he could, following the shape until he finally found the door.
There was a man lying on the steering wheel inside, groaning slightly. Lian Yu tapped at the window but he didn’t receive a response. He scrambled about until he found the door handle, pulling it with his hand.
However, it was locked and he couldn’t open it from the outside. His heart continued to pound uncontrollably, feeling like it was climbing up his throat. As he listened to the driver’s voice slowly weaken, his clear, sharp consciousness ticked, and his spiritual power reached his fingers. With a click, the door lock opened —
It felt like infinite power was surging through his body. He yanked the door open and called out to the unconscious driver.
Roars began to sound from overhead, startling Lian Yu. He couldn’t wait any longer; he used spiritual power to unlock the seatbelt, forcefully dragging the driver out of the car.
However, before he could breathe in relief, he finally understood what the driver was muttering: “In the back…”
What? Lian Yu was hit by a wave of dizziness, having used his mental power twice in a short period of time, so strong he almost fainted. He persisted through it, gritting his teeth as he rushed back to the car to continue digging.
The roar of falling soil and rocks rang in his ear. When he finally saw a cold, stern-looking man with a bleeding forehead in the backseat through the window, Lian Yu’s heart began beating harder —
He’s here! Is he still alive?!!!
The sounds grew louder, and Lian Yu had no more time left to waste. He pried the door open once more using his power, and then pushed the front seat that was pinning the man’s legs down off of him. Then, using what was left of his strength and power, pulled the man up and out amidst the sounds of the landslide.
Just as he finally collapsed not too far away, he heard a loud sound from behind him. He looked back and saw a giant boulder rolling down the mountainside, accompanied by mud and water, and fell straight on the car —
The car was flattened as Lian Yu stared blankly, feeling like his heart had stopped beating. He lowered his head in confusion, wanting to at least see if the man he’d rescued was still alive, meeting a pair of deep, sharp eyes.
He’s alive!
