Cui Len'an

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Cui Len'an laid lifeless on the hospital bed, taking each breath in his oxygen mask with much difficulty, his face was ghastly pale and his lips lost their colors. He felt a numbing pain coming from every part of his body, paralyzed.

'I'm...alive...'

He attempted to open his eyes, but the lights from above him gleamed into his struggling eyes, causing him to close them again. He adjusted his eyes a couple of times before fulling opening them and looking at the place.

The smell of medicine and alcohol wafted into his nose and the sight of a syringe and other medical belongings confirmed his whereabouts.

'I ended up in the hospital...but how am I still alive?'

"You're awake!"

Cui Len'an expected to see a nurse or a doctor enter the room, but an elderly man entered the room instead. He was pushed in by a young lady, in his wheelchair.

The elderly man had an extremely scholarly feeling to him, much more than Wei Yi, indicating his hardened experiences with life. He had a long white beard and wrinkles, he looked to be a grandfather in his 80s. His soft eyes held curiosity and intrigue as he glanced at him.

The young lady behind him looked to be a girl in her teenage years, wearing glasses and an unusual suit with strange symbols and patterns embedded into it.

He smiled softly at Cui Len'an, "I'm glad to see you're still alive, Len'an."

'Len'an? Who's that?'

Cui Len'an was taken aback and was about to tell the elderly man he has mistaken him for another person. Before he could open his mouth, the elderly man made a silencing gesture to him, signaling him to keep quiet. He waved his hand casually and the young lady behind him took out a mirror from her bag, he extended it to Cui Len'an.

Cui Len'an took it with struggle and showed his reflection, his eyes immediately shook.

"You're Len'an for now, Wei Yi. Your soul was transferred into his body after we confirmed your body would be unusable if we kept you in it." The elderly man glanced at his expression with meaningful eyes, taking in his shocked expression.

Looking at his reflection in a daze, he saw an unfamiliar man with refined features but was badly damaged and covered with gauze. He didn't see a tint of familiarity or himself in those dark glossy eyes.

'How could this be? What magic is this?'

"How is it possible to transfer souls?" Wei Yi, in Cui Len'an, asked him with an aggrieved expression.

In my history of studying from a young age and having read every document I placed my hands on, I have never come across the success of soul transferring.

There are a few results I have found on the internet regarding soul transferring, the results would be a failed experiment where both of the test subjects ended up dying, and soul transferring doesn't exist in science.

And also, a popular trope in modern novels, transmigration.

"Simple! A remnant of your soul laid dormant in your corpse, I simply took hold of it and did a couple of rituals on it, and laid it upon the body of Cui Len'an who was on the edge of death."

Wei Yi shook slightly and stared into his eyes with confusion and suspicion, "You said my corpse? That means I was already dead while Cui Len'an was still alive. You exchanged my death with someone's life?"

The elderly man let out laughter as he struggled to keep his composure together and stared at him with a sarcastic look, "You were joining Wei Yi's slumber party as well. I looked for your remnants first but you didn't leave any remnants behind or your body didn't consist of one then I looked for Wei Yi's ones."

"Why would you do that?"

"Did you think I would let both of you die when one could be saved? Of course not, Wei Yi was fortunate to have remnants but his body was mauled to pieces. Len'an's was dead but his body remained assessable, "The elderly man said with a strange expression.

"No, that's not what I meant. Why would go out of your way to do this?" Wei Yi asked solemnly and lowered his eyes with suspicion, "Who exactly are you?"

There's no reason for him to do this and I don't even know who he is, and what kind of person this grandpa is. It's questionable enough he barged into my room without any nurse or doctor coming in advance. Shouldn't the doctor and nurse come in first and do a checkup before guests could come in?

I couldn't help but be very cautious of his intentions as if there was a tense presence surrounding him, telling me to watch and observe.

Besides, nothing can be more strange than a strange old man telling you that you have some magical remains on your corpse whilst living in a modern and technological society.

"You kid, do not have the authority to demand any answers from me," The elderly man smiled indifferently, wrinkling his aged face, "The answers will be revealed depending on how much progress you would make."

"Progress?" Cui Len'an was shocked and expressed his confusion.

"From today onwards, you are no longer part of the Cui family and you will have to resolve the messes your predecessor left behind. That is the price of living," The elderly man continued, "I forgot to introduce myself, how rude was I. You can call me Old Lao and can contact me through Wang Ling."

Wang Ling, one of the bartenders, Cui Len'an was familiar with due to him having met the man multiple times when Len'an was out and about and he was also a close companion of his father.

"Don't worry, you'll get to it."

Old Lao coughed and gestured to the young lady behind him, "I believe I'm done here."

No, you're not!

At that moment, Len'an's head was filled with questions and the urge to demand answers. Before he could speak, he remembered Old Lao's words and felt the urge to vomit.

'I do not have the right to demand answers.'

Old Lao was pushed outside and before he left, he gave a bit of advice to the young man who was in a daze.

"Remember, you are not Wei Yi but Cui Len'an. Act according to what he is as a person and resume life as if nothing had changed for your own safety."

How am I going to resume life if I don't have any of his memories, plus you didn't even tell me how and what magic this is. Do you think I would pretend nothing had happened? Stinky Old Man!

Cui Len'an's features twitched.

"After this conversation, his memories will automatically return to his body and merge with yours. Embrace your new life and be careful."

As he stepped foot out of the room, Cui Len'an felt shivers and an electric shock traveled all the way from his spine into his head.

Immediately, a sharp pain spread from his body to his head, causing him to become dizzy. His head became numb as he saw a flash of colorful lights after closing his eyes.

A couple of minutes later, he opened his eyes. There, his usual dark eyes lit up with a metallic silver glow.

"Cui...Len'an"