Chapter 1: Shen Gong

'Aiii, my head hurts so much... Eh, what the f#@k is going on here?!'

Jason slowly opened his sore eyes, only to be greeted by the sensation of a load of dirt hitting his face. More than eighty percent of his body had already been buried under the earth.

'Is this me getting buried? It looks like I died back then and this is someone performing my last rites.'

'Ah, why did I have to be so unlucky to have met that old geezer. My wondrous life has now come to an end. Bo ho, now I can only drift around aimlessly as a spirit...'

'Wait a minute... Why is it that I can feel sensations? Are spirits able to feel what is going on with their body? No, that is not possible. And somehow, I don't feel like I am dead. What does this mea...'

'SOMEONE IS BURYING ME ALIVE!!'

"Wait, pleas... ulgh.." Jason wanted to scream, but was unable to due to another load of dirt falling on his face and entering his mouth and nose.

'I AM GOING TO DIE AGAIN!!'

But just before Jason could go on to curse his luck, the person currently burying him stopped and called out slowly,

"Jason? Are you alive?"

Hearing these words, Jason wanted to scream out, 'YES, I AM ALIVE'. But unfortunately, his mouth was not in a position to say anything.

"Sigh, it seems that I was hearing things... How can a dead person speak?" The person shook his head and picked up his shovel once again.

"Ummn, Ummn, I aamlive, smhp, smhp"

In fact, Jason had his eyes half open for a long time and had been twitching vigorously as well. But the person who was burying him had paid no attention to this and continued throwing dirt into the grave.

But when Jason had tried to say something, that person finally reacted. So, Jason tried his best to say whatever he could, hoping that the person would hear.

Sure enough, the person dropped his shovel. This time, he bent down as he hard to look inside the grave.

"No, I am one hundred percent sure that I heard something calling out to me. Wait... his face is twitching!! Jason, Jason, is that you? Are you still alive?!!"

Jason still gave out his stifled response. But this time, the person clearly heard the voice and immediately cried out,

"Ah, you are alive!! Thank heavens!!! Wait let me get you out."

Soon, Jason was finally able to come out of the grave. Though his mouth still had the bad taste of dirt and his eyes were still burning, at least he was safe!

"Jason, You are alive. That is so great!! The god has finally heard my prayers!!!" said the person jovially as he made a short prayer.

"Water," Jason called out slowly.

"Here, take this," The person said as he gave Jason a metal container.

Jason immediately snatched the bottle and washed his face and mouth thoroughly.

"Thank you, but why were you burying me?" Jason asked after he had finished washing.

"You ask me? You were completely dead, you know. No matter how much I sprinkled water on your face or pumped your heart, you did not show any signs of life!!"

"Eh, did you not take me to a doctor?"

"Who is Doctor?"

"Doctor is... I mean someone to whom people go when they are sick."

"Ah, you mean a priest? Jason you sure jest. How could we have the qualifications to meet a priest? Even if we meet him, do you think we would be able to pay the fees for his services?"

"What...." Jason wanted to say something, but he stopped. He finally took a good look at the person in front of him.

'About 25 years in age, skinny, dressed in extremely worn-out clothes; Yes, this person looks to be among the poorest strata of the society.' Jason judged as he kept observing the person.

Suddenly a thought struck Jason as he looked down at his own self. Sure enough, he was also very skinny and was wearing extremely worn-out clothes. A little more and these clothes could only be used as rags for cleaning.

Jason's head started racing with many thoughts. What was this place? Why were he and this person in front of him in such a dire state? How did he get here in the first place?!

"Ahem. This brother, listen to me. I know this may come to you as a shock, but I need to tell you something. I feel like after waking up from the grave, I have lost all my memories!!"

"What? You don't remember anything?"

"Nope,"

"You don't remember Clauss who did this to you?"

"I said no,"

"Surely you remember Karen,"

"Man I am sorry. I don't even remember you, my best buddy properly. How can I remember some other random people..."

"What you don't even remember me? Then how do you know that we were close?"

"I just felt like it. After all, true brothers can recognize each other even after seven lives have passed. And I am not even dead,"

In fact, Jason was not completely bullshitting. He did sense an odd familiarity with this person in front of him. And along with this familiarity came a sense of trust and brotherhood, something which he had never experienced before.

"I see. Well, in that case, it is the duty of this Aaron to take care of his brother. Don't worry, I will take care of you," Aaron said as he puffed his non-existent chest.

"Thank you,"

"Stop that, what is there to thank in this? Come with me to our house. Don't worry, no one would be able to see us at such an early time of the day,"

Aaron took Jason's hand and started walking. But he had not taken even 3 steps before he stumbled on a rock.

"Careful!" Jason hurriedly caught him before he fell down.

"Thanks," Aaron said, but there was a slight trace of sadness in his voice.

"Aaron, could it be that you cannot see properly? Since when do you have this problem?" Jason asked as he helped Aaron stand again.

"Ah, you don't remember, right? I could see pretty well previously. But due to some reasons, my eyesight has continuously deteriorated. Leave it, enough about me. Let's get going..."

"All right, let's go slowly. Don't worry I am looking out for you."

As Jason and Aaron started walking, Jason could not help but rethink the words that Aaron had just spoken.

"Some reasons? Clearly he is hiding something. He must have met with an unfortunate incident. Could it be he is afraid of the person or thing that did this?"

Jason could feel the tight grip of Aaron on his hands, as if that person was afraid of losing him again. He could clearly remember the joy Aaron had on his face when he found out that Jason was still alive.

A strong feeling gradually rose as his heart burnt in fury.

'If there was any way I could help your eyes, I will definitely find it. As for the person who did this to you, we shall definitely have our revenge.

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Soon, Aaron and Jason arrived in a thatched house. Even though Jason was expecting something similar, the condition of the house left him stupefied. The roof was made up of metal sheets that were somehow barely kept connected to the walls.

There was only one room without any bed. Towards the corner lay a couple of rolled carpets. There was a worn-out trunk as well, which seemed to be the only durable in the entire house.

"This is our home, Jason. We have lived here for almost all of our lives. Sigh," Aaron said spread the carpets on the floor. Even though he could feel Jason's astonishment, there was nothing he could do other than offer whatever little there was.

"Come and sit, I am sure you have a lot of questions. I will surely answer all of them."

"Aaron, there are a lot of things that I wish to know. But first, tell me one thing. Does our home have a name?" Suddenly, Jason asked in a serious voice.

"Name? No, it doesn't. Why do you ask?" Aaron replied, puzzled by the abrupt question.

"Then mark my words. From today onwards, our home shall be called Shen Gong."