Chapter 15.1 - Reincarnation? Rebirth?

When Li XinWen heard of the word 'second chance', he frowned at Li JingHua. He believes in it more than anyone else does since he himself was experiencing a second chance at life. Xue Rui nodded his head as he also believed in second chances but it was different from the second chance that Li JingHua meant. Sun Xiao was confused, so he just looked around to see everyone else's reaction.

"According to our school of thought, second chances come in different forms. There are cases where souls who are unable to cross over to the spirit realm possess a living person. That, in a way, is their attempt at getting a second chance," Min XiaoYu answered. "Reincarnation is also a form of second chance, and also rebirth. Some people think that reincarnation and rebirth are the same thing, but they are different. Reincarnation is when you begin anew in a new life. This is what typically happens in after death. At the moment of death, the soul enters the cycle of reincarnation. Rebirth, on the other hand, happens when you have a strong karmic relation with the essence of the world. Due to that relation, you were sent back to experience the fruits of what you have sown," Min XiaoYu explained.

Li XinWen could only agree with Min XiaoYu's explanation. It seems that Min XiaoYu was indeed practicing the path towards immortality. "Then there is transmigration," Min XiaoYu continued. "Transmigration is when the soul is transferred into another body. They would retain their memories, and they are also able to look into the memories of the body they have taken over. Usually, for this to happen, the two souls share the same karmic fate. But the probability of that happening is close to nil."

"Thank you for your explanation, Mr. Min. With that, I believe I won't appear to be a lunatic in your eyes," as she let out a quiet laugh. Li JingHua felt relieved when she heard the explanation, which also meant that Min XiaoYu believed her at least. She just hoped it was enough to make the rest, especially her two brothers, believe her.

"Basically, every living being in the world will have their own form of a second chance. It is what the heavens dictates," Li XinWen who had been silent for a while finally voiced out his thoughts. 'Which is why, cultivators who walk the path of immortality would sometimes be punished by the heavens. We are simply going against the heaven's will forcefully. And the reason why they send lightning tribulation every time we surpass the threshold of what is allowed...' he added in his thoughts. 'But his explanation about rebirth, it is only half correct. Another reason why someone is reborn at a certain time is due to his or her strong grievance with the world. They feel that the world treated them unfairly and thus, their soul returned at the time where they wished to return, defying the will of the world.'

Min XiaoYu and Li JingHua looked at him with surprise, and Xue Rui had an astonished look on his face. But Li XinWen seemed oblivious to everyone's reaction. He was deep in his thoughts, as if he had just blurted out the sentence as a matter of fact, not expecting anyone to either agree or disagree with him.

"Well, in Taoism, when someone dies their souls simply return to nature and maintains the balance until they find a suitable body. Only then will it move to another body which is to reborn as a different person or if the soul is strong enough, they can even travel through space and time to obtain a suitable body, for example, returning to the past. This cycle of rebirth and reincarnation will be repeated until one obtains Tao," Min XiaoYu explained further.

When there was still no response from Li XinWen, Li JingHua hesitated before she finally decided to bite the bullet. "I also believe in second chances. In fact… I have experienced the rebirth that Mr. Min told us earlier."

It was Li XinWen's turn to be surprised as he heard Li JingHua say this. 'Rebirth?' Li XinWen thought, his expression pensive.

Li JingHua saw the expression of the people around her change the moment the last sentence got past her lips. Xue Rui looked at her with a mixed expression of disbelief and impatience, as if he was starting to have a headache, but was trying hard to keep his thoughts to himself. Sun Xiao on the other hand furrowed his brow and looked at her, confused, as if the idea of rebirth would only exist in a work of fiction.

However, she couldn't gauge how Li XinWen was taking the news. The change she saw on his face was only momentary. Only for a split second, almost like a flicker and was too subtle for anyone to notice unless someone gave it their entire concentration.

Li XinWen's eyes looked straight at Li JingHua as if examining her intently, analyzing her every word and her breathing. As if he can see through her every movement and would be able to call her out if she ever attempted to fabricate a story. It was the first time she had seen Li XinWen this way, as if her brother had become an entirely different person, a different kind of human being, almost unrecognizable. But it didn't frighten her. If anything it made her feel a sense of ease, a reassuring presence which urged her to continue her story.

'Who is this person?' she thought to herself.

As if sensing Li JingHua's thoughts, Li XinWen softened his gaze at Li JingHua and managed a smile before encouraging her to continue.

"Hua-jie… please continue…"

"Uh.. yes… thank you Ah'Wen…" she cleared her throat and straightened her back thinking 'This is going to be a long night. I'd better do a good job at convincing everyone…especially XinWen…'

"I know you don't believe me so I'll just prove it to you slowly, but first, listen to me carefully. In five years, our world will experience a crisis that would lead to the extinction of humanity. It begins with the news of a huge meteor coming towards earth and military powerhouses from all over the world will come together to create a weapon that can destroy the meteor before it hit the earth. Although they managed to create the weapon, it was not enough to destroy the meteor. It broke into smaller pieces and their trajectory changed slightly, scattering across the earth. And the various governments of the respective countries where the meteorites landed quickly sealed any Information regarding the location of these scattered pieces. Then... a few months later, a world-wide epidemic happened..."