Ye Zhou Has Died

Ye Zhou had died.

Somehow…twice?

At least that's what it seemed like in his head.

He tried to recall. 

The hospital bed. White lights. The last operation.

His sickness hadn't reached such a critical point to necessitate such a risky operation yet. Yet his family had still opted for it. Why? He wasn't sure. The reasons could be plenty, but he was pretty sure they just wanted to finally get rid of him. After all, the constant hospital bills weren't doing them any good.

He didn't fault them for it. He realized he had been quite a burden. He had given his consent for the operation. Not just to relieve his family, but also himself. Nineteen years of a constant bed-ridden life can have a serious impact on one's mental health.

And just as expected— the surgery operation failed. He had died.

Or did he? What were these other memories? Memories he seemed to have lived in another life?

Another boy named Ye Zhou. He was sick too. Not the same way as him, but the threads of their fate were similarly entwined with lifelong suffering. 

In the second Ye Zhou's world, people were able to able to wield powers beyond the first Ye Zhou's imagination and perform feats that could only be labeled as godly. But of course, not all were afforded with the potential to wield such powers. 

However, the second wasn't one one of the unlucky ones. He remembered. He had been born with a spirit potential of A- grade. Such a grade could easily help him become a core disciple of many great sects.

But then something happened. He didn't remember much of that time. His memories of that period were blurry and muddled up. But he did remember something. 

His mother had done something to him. He had started changing after that. His body changed. His potential changed. Even his personality changed.

Reduced to mere C- grade potential after that horrific incident, his personality started becoming more and more twisted. There was a lot of hate in him. Hate for his mother, for doing what she did to him. Hate for himself for being so weak and disgusting. Hate for the world, for being so damn unfair.

Surprisingly Ye Zhou didn't find any hate inside him for the boy who ultimately brought the his demise. The boy that had killed him. The innocent, quite boy that seemed to be easily bullied but was actually a hidden tiger.

Why do you not hate him?

Similar to you. You do not hate your parents for giving up on you. Similarly, I do not hate him for relieving me of my burden.

That's…different.

It's really not, Ye Zhou. You and I…we are both so similar. Maybe that's why we ended up in this situation. That boy…I had it coming after all for what I did to him. After all, I did indeed try to kill him first.

You seem to be at peace.

I am at peace. I am at more peace than I ever was. I am so glad to have met you. Regardless of whatever universal anomaly brought us here, our fates are now irrevocably intertwined. I am you, and you are me. Even this internal dialogue is just a figment of our imagination, where we try to make sense of this new existence of ours.

I...do not understand how this could even be possible. But I do know one thing. I know you— knew you before this even happened.

Oh?

Yes. I read a novel. In that novel, the boy who killed you was the protagonist. You… were also there in that novel. However, your role could be described more as that of a 'cannon fodder'. You were there to bully the protagonist in the early phase of his life. You were everything a reader could hate. Weak, jealous, arrogant, and detestable. You were not even a minor villain for the story. Rather, just a lackey for the first villain character the protagonist faces, motivating him to grow stronger faster. You only contribution to the story was…being the first kill of the protagonist.

Heh heh. I guess I did used to be an absolute scumbag. Do you know what happened next?

I...don't. Though the novel had a lot more chapters, I had only picked it up recently. By the time I reached the part where the protagonist finally killed you…us…me, the time of the operation had already neared. After that, we know what happened. I am here now.

Ha. Fate is a fickle thing. Not for us to worry about. We have a lot of regrets to fix in this new life, Ye Zhou. I hope we can live a much better new life. Much better than our last ones.

Yes…

Ye Zhou slowly woke up. His eyes opened to a world that was familiar yet strange at the same time. He got up from his comfortable bed and walked over to the corner of the room where a small mirror hung.

The boy that stared back at him was him. It didn't used to be him. But now he was him. Somehow, he had crossed the stars, time and space and ended up transmigrating in the popular xianxia novel he had been reading before his surgery operation.

The boy in the reflection had grey almond-shaped eyes. Waist-high dark raven-black hair fell from his head. Spoiled fair skin. He weighed around 300 pounds. Excessive vices and poor mental health had led to an unhealthy physique. His face was a bit twisted as if used to carrying a perpetual angry frown. Even now he was wearing that expression.

Ye Zhou fixed it. As the frown went away and a small smile bloomed on the face, instead, it was like an instant change happened. The face seemed to light up like a flower. It was as if a single rare expression had changed the entire face's outlook.

Ye Zhou remembered that his old soul used to hate his face. To him, it didn't seem so bad. Lightly caressing his reflection, Ye Zhou muttered under his breath, "I…am quite handsome." Blushing red at the self-praise, his face seemed to become even more beautiful.

Ye Zhou went back and sat on the bed, taking some time to ponder to himself. 

His life had changed. Somehow, the Ye Zhou from Earth and the Ye Zhou from the novel <<Trials of the Boundless Realms>> had ended up melding into each other, receiving a second chance at life. 

"Regardless of whatever anomaly or mechanism has led to me being given this second chance at life, I don't intend to waste it. I am going to live this life to the fullest and not let any regrets stop me."

To do that, he needed to correct his current situation. The first and foremost of which was to address the event that led to the death of Ye Zhou from <<Trials of Boundless Realms>>. 

In the novel <<Trials of Boundless Realms>>, Ye Zhou could be best described as a cannon fodder. Not even a Young Master, but rather just the lackey of a Young Master. His early sacrifice to the plot line was merely to fuel the protagonist's growth, by giving him his first kill. 

The reason Ye Zhou got entangled with the protagonist was due to the young master he followed. Like in every cultivation story, there was a cold jade beauty and there was an insufferably arrogant young master. The young master liked the jade beauty, but the beauty was not interested in paying him any heed.

In this story, Shen Minghao, Ye Zhou's 'boss' was one such character. Having been gifted with an A spirit potential, a talent one small step higher than even what Ye Zhou used to possess, it was all but guaranteed that he would one day become a core disciple of the sect. Moreover, his father being an Inner Sect Disciple gave him considerable backing. 

Shen Minghao had always gotten whatever he wanted in his life. But what he did not get, he wanted even more. Qin Meifen, the sect head's daughter, also known as the sect princess wasn't interested in Shen Minghao's advances.

As Shen Minghao more and more obsessed with the girl, the more irrational he became. Finally, when the protagonist entered the picture, he chose to vent his anger on someone. 

Qin Meifen had visited the protagonist's living hut once when he entered the sect. No one knew the true reason why. How come this little country bumpkin even know the heaven-blessed sect princess? 

All sorts of wild theories and rumours quickly spread about the 'secret relationship' between the sect princess and the newbie who just entered the sect.

Of course, Shen Minghao was quick to become red. However, aside from humiliating the protagonist once or twice, he couldn't do much. As a top disciple with a future of becoming not just an inner disciple, but also a core disciple, he was highly valued by the chest. But that was also the reason why he was under constant scrutiny. He had a certain level of dignity to maintain, and as a senior brother, he couldn't just casually make a move against a junior brother much weaker than him.

That's where Ye Zhou entered the picture. While he hated everyone and everything in life, the one person he respected was Shen Minghao. He was the boy who had taken him in as a follower back when he had been at his lowest. While his mother's support had always been there, Shen Minghao's backing had made him 'someone not to be messed with'.

Eager to please the person he respected the most, Ye Zhou took it upon himself to commit his dirty deeds. Thus began a period of absolute torture for the protagonist Ye Zhou became his worst tormentor.

He would steal his harmony pearls. He would beat him up randomly and brutally. He would bully and humiliate him in front of others at every opportunity.

Finally, after a period of constant stalking, Ye Zhou accidentally ended up discovering the protagonist's secret. That was when the protagonist finally retaliated.

Aware of the life tablet that would immediately shatter and trace the crime back to him if he ended up recklessly killing Ye Zhou, the protagonist instead chose to take his time. Using mysterious wonder pills, he kept Ye Zhou unconscious and hid him in a secluded place. For seven whole days, he fed him a chilling but subtle and slow-acting poison.

Ye Zhou's absence wasn't paid much attention as he frequently disappeared for days together, wasting away at brothels or gambling dens. However, seven days was a long time. After a long search, a group of disciples found his body in the nearby Qi Ming River.

In the original story, Ye Zhou was supposed to be found dead. His death wasn't traced back to the protagonist, though the sect had suddenly become very tension-filled after his death.

However, in this world, when his previous soul had died, his soul from Earth had arrived in this body and melded with the previous soul. Thus, when the group of disciples found him, although he seemed a bit sick, he was otherwise determined to be just fine. Thus, they simply thought of him as a clumsy fool who ended up falling into the river without knowing how to swim.

Laughing to himself, Ye Zhou got up from the bed. "Will that silly fool scare himself to death when he will see me all alive and breathing despite his masterful plan?"

Then he sighed. He had a lot to do. Everything was a big mess. The future seemed bleak. If he didn't fix his life trajectory, he might quickly end up losing this second chance at life too.

"But first, a morning run wouldn't hurt!"

Ye Zhou grinned and got dressed in comfortable running attire. In his previous life, his body had been too frail to experience the joy of a relaxing morning run. He supposed his messy life problems could take a small pause while he allowed himself to finally experience this joy.