The Beginning of a Story

Cold!

Why is it so cold here? Did I forget to turn off the fan?

Just as he was pondering, he heard a girl's voice trying to wake him up.

"Su Chen wake up! You'll be late to the awakening ceremony if you keep sleeping like that."

Huh.. It seems that my hallucination flares up again. How could someone who's already dead a long time ago spoke to me? What's the matter with the ceremony anyway, that had happened years ago. I guess I'll just continue sleeping.

"Hey! You lazy bones, don't you know how important the awakening ceremony is? Su Lin has worked herself half to death just to send you to participate!"

"Uhm.. Stop it you ghost! Let me sleep peacefully."

"You ungrateful bastard! How could you be so apathetic with our family? Don't you know that you're our only hope?" The voice said, seemingly enraged and disappointed at the same time. Soon she cried and quickly went away.

Su Chen who still closed his eyes suddenly felt his heart ache. He remembered about this event in the past. Just when he began his journey. He remembered how he slept so soundly when his sisters urged him to participate in the awakening ceremony. How could he forget that, when that was the beginning of his story. The story of how his family gave a chance for him, in which he then forgets to return. Which ended as one of his most regretted actions.

Maybe.. I should open my eyes? Well, it might not be a bad thing if I could redempt my past action even though it's all a dream.

Su Chen thought as he decided to open his eyes.

Soon he could see a familiar yet strange room. With wooden walls and cracked ceilings, with a curtain as a door. In which he could smell a scent of a weathered wood. And where he found himself laid in a hard and freezing wooden bed.

How familiar.. How realistic this dream felt. Maybe.. It's real? No, how could that be! Even Heaven can't bring me back in time when I begged it.

Su Chen then tried to get up. He crawled to the side of the bed across from a mirror in which he could see his own reflection.

How young! I wonder how old I am at this time? 20? 25? No no no it must be 2500 years old. Ah.. what a handsome young man.

Su Chen thought as he amused himself looking at the ordinary looking young man in the mirror. He had shoulder length black hair. A bit tanned complexion and short build. His body seemed a bit malnourished but he's fine to look at.

As Su Chen tried to tie his unkempt hair he found that it's not long enough to be tied. So he could only give up and tried his best to tidy it up.

As he finished his little personal amusement he felt satisfied. Soon he decided to go out and continue to explore this dream of his. He looked around and found himself in an empty courtyard.

At that moment he remembered yet another piece about his past. He remembered that he once had been a member of a certain influential Su Family. The family of a general who paved his way through the battlefield, one at a time amassing merits and building his influence. Yet one day he fallen to his illness, accompanied by his wife who also died by accident not long after. His name is Su Lingchang. He is Su Chen's father. And his hard earned achievement soon got destroyed by his own son, who foolishly tried to molest a daughter of a certain official. Which in turn destroyed the whole family. Now, there's no more Su Family, and Su Chen is the one who orchestrated its destruction.

Su Chen felt complicated when he recalled his memories. He sighed, "Even this courtyard would be gone soon. No wonder Sister Lin would try her best to make me participate in the awakening ceremony back then."

He's going to go back inside when he notices a little girl crying quietly in a corner. Which shocked him, since he never remembered seeing that scene.

How? Isn't it a dream? How do I never remember this scene?

Perplexed, he decided to approach the girl. She's Su Hua, his little sister whom he never takes care of. One yet another regret of his, when he realized that he never acted like an elder brother once the girl was gone from this world. So even though it's just a dream, he tried to make up for it. And decided to comfort the crying girl.

"Su Hua, wha.." he tried to ask her when,

"You fool! Don't you know that we are doomed! How could you be so carefree when our last chance had gone away just because of your lazy ass attitude?"

At that moment he remembered that not too long ago Su Hua had urged him to get up and go to the awakening ceremony.

Huh.. that's right. Around this time in the past, I should just woke up and hurriedly went to the town square. What a memory, that ceremony is also the one who would change my life from a dandy, to become a peerless genius respected by many.

Ah yeah.. I remembered that the ceremony would be delayed because of certain matter. And that's also why I could participate even though I came late. Maybe I should go to the square and check it? Maybe I should bring Su Hua along? Well after all, it's my dream, it wouldn't be wrong to use it to redeem myself.

Having decided his course of actions. Su Chen said, "Su Hua, let's go to the town square."

"What! Don't you know that it's already afternoon? The ceremony will soon be over. What use could we get by going there? Enough, no more regret, what's happened has been a thing of the past. You go if you want to while I gather some herbs to sell." She replied while wiping her tears.

Su Chen felt miserable when he noticed her disappointment in him.

Sigh.. I couldn't even have a chance to redeem myself even in a dream. Well I deserved it though. Even in the past when I finally had a chance to change their life, I still made them suffer by ignoring them so I could pursue immortality. Now, as she said. It's too late to regret. Well let's see the town square first then I'll try to wake myself up.

And with that, he slowly walked away from the courtyard and to the town square, leaving Su Hua behind.

While Su Hua, who had noticed her brother's strange behavior, could only watch him silently with her eyes still red..

"What happened to that guy? Why does it seem like he's out of his mind?"