The Fall

'Where am I ? It better be some place good. I need to get my powers back and kick this bastard's ass.'

Huang opened his eyes with some difficulty. He could see the pitch-black sky above but a multitude of blurry lights of different colors assaulted his sight from the side.

'It's night. It looks like there are artificial lights. Good. At least I'm not in a barbaric world. Let's see the people here.'

Huang tried to move but realised that none of his muscles would follow his lead. He couldn't even feel his limbs.

'Mmh ? I can hear something.'

His sense of hearing seemed to gradually recover but he still could only distinguish some very disturbing sounds. He failed to identify them as he had never heard anything like that.

Then, a voice, like in slow motion. He couldn't understand what it was saying. Then, another. He was slowly surrounded by voices.

As he was trying to understand what the commotion was about, he felt a strong headache. It seemed like a fire was burning and cleansing all that was there. He tried to fight it but because the body and mind were new to him, he slowly drifted in a weird state where only pain and darkness remained.

'I must bear the pain ! Or the process won't be completed !'

After an eternity in a state of pain worst than death and as Huang thought that he could not resist anymore, what felt like a bolt of lightning passed through him and made him lose consciousness.

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Bip... Bip... Bip...

When his eyes opened for the second time, instead of the black sky there was a white ceiling.

'Looks like I made it.'

Huang also realised that he had control over his body ! Even if it was weak, he felt his body lying in a bed and tried to move it.

'First things first. Let's see where I am.'

With caution, he turned his head to the side and focused his sight on the surroundings.

'What a weird place. Looks like they have technology. They use some kind of power to run it.'

All around, he saw screens, tubes, lights. He moved his hand in front of his face and noticed a needle linked to an apparatus that was dripping some kind of fluid in his veins. Nothing that he knew of but enough to guess that he was in a healing center. His body hurt and felt heavy. Even lifting his hand was hard.

'This body seems weak. Too weak. I can't feel any power. I hope it's not broken.'

Huang touched his face with shaky fingers, hoping that nothing was wrong with it.

'A mirror. I need to see my new face.'

It took him a very long time to get up. His legs couldn't support his weight so he had to grasp everything he could to walk step by step to the mirror above the sink in the corner of the room.

He hated being this way. Weak. He was a god ! And a powerful one ! He had never felt that vulnerable before. He had fought world-eating beasts and ruled over superior planes but now he could not even walk on his own. He had to rely on something ! Him !

Finally, he arrived in front of the mirror and took a deep breath before he faced his reflection. What he saw was the face of a youth, maybe 18 years old. He had long black hair that fell on his shoulders, sticky and messy. His skin was pale like a ghost, his bloodshot eyes had big deep dark pupils that made him look more ghostly. His pupils constricted and what appeared were ice blue irises.

He was so skinny that he looked like he had not eaten in a long time. His cheeks were sunken, his shoulders and arms looked like he never did any exercise and his ribs were apparent.

'Dammit ! No wonder I could take control over this body, it's so weak it looks like it could collapse anytime.'

Huang swore while contemplating his new body and sighed thinking about all the work he would have to accomplish to improve it. He was washing his face when the door opened.

Meng Kun was a nurse at the ***** Hospital. She worked long hours for small money but she was used to it. Besides, she could flirt with the doctors and one of them was cute. She hoped he would ask her out someday. She could picture her life after that. They would marry, have kids, she would not have to work anymore and would live carefree after that.

But for now, she had to work and it was time for the midnight check-up. She had to visit every patient and verify that everything was fine. With her, Mo Xun was another member of the staff who just graduated from the nursing school and the talkative kind.

"Who's the next one ?"

"A young man brought here last night. He's in a coma. The doctors said that he probably won't wake up anytime soon so you go take care of him. I'll be checking the next one."

"Yes, Sister Meng."

Meng Kun was glad she could get rid of this junior, even for a short break. She was tired and hearing her constantly talking was a trial. She was about to open the next door when she heard Mo Xun calling her with a funny voice.

"Sister Meng ?"

"What ?"

"The patient."

"What about him ?"

"He's up."

"What are you talking about ?"

Huang watched the young woman through the mirror call for someone else. He noticed that he could understand every word she said. It would be easier this way. He escaped from the trouble of learning the language.

'I guess I obtained some of the previous owner's knowledge.'

Another woman arrived while scolding the first one.

"Stop daydreaming, Mo Xun. There is no way this patient could wake up or move in his condition. So quit this nonsense and..."

She stopped when she saw Huang standing in front of the sink and calmly drying his face with a towel.

"What the... ?! Mo Xun ?"

"Hum ?" Both nurses couldn't take their eyes off the man who shouldn't be there.

"Call for Dr. Sun immadiately."

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The doctor Sun Liang was happy the way things were. His job at the hospital was well paid, he had a nice apartment, great car, his looks were fine and attracted the attention of women, and he had interns to work whenever he didn't feel like it.

So when he was called in the middle of the night for an emergency, he was prepared to scream at the dumb nurses who disturbed him for nothing. But all his plans to make them cry were extinguished as soon as he witnessed the impossible.

The patient of Room n°374 was there, sitting at the edge of his bed like he had just woke up from a good sleep. Although his body looked weak, there was no trace of the past injuries that lead him at the hospital 24 hours earlier.

Now, Dr. Sun was sitting in front of him, disbelief written on his face, examining every inch of the patient's body. What he found difficult to endure during the examination was the way the patient was looking at him, like he was probing his soul.

He didn't react when Dr. Sun took his stethoscope nor when he listened to his breathing, his ear against his back. He never spoke once. 'Maybe he has brain damage. I should try to communicate with him.'

"Hi ! I'm Dr. Sun. You're in ****** Hospital. Do you remember what happened ? What brought you here ? Can you hear me ?"

The Dr. Sun kept asking questions but he didn't seem to understand him. Just when he thought that it was pointless, he saw the patient open his mouth and articulated a few words with a voice so rough that he couldn't help but wonder if he had ever spoken before.

"I... hear... you."

"Good. Do you remember anything from before the hospital ?"

"... No."

"You had an accident. You were hit by a car. You're a lucky guy, you know. You should be in a worst state than that right now. Try to relax, now. We'll take care of you."

The Dr. Sun stood up and gestured for the nurses to accompany him outside the room. The followed him while staring at the patient like he was a monster.

"You're sure you saw nothing weird before he woke up ? It's impossible that he just healed so fast. All his bones were broken and he had internal damage for **** sake."

"Sure, Doctor. What do we do now ?" asked Meng Kun.

"I don't know. He has nothing left whatsoever from the accident and it looks like his brain is fine too. But we can't just let him leave like that ! I want answers ! Register for a full body MRI first thing tomorrow. No sign from his family yet ?"

"No. We never found any contact number in his pockets. Only his wallet."

"Try to ask him then. And keep an eye on him at all time."

"Yes, Doctor."

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Huang didn't like how things worked out so far. He felt now like he was being kept prisoner in his room. There was always a nurse with him and everytime he tried to walk and explore a bit, they would tell him to rest some more.

Besides, they were obviously scared and they didn't seem like they would answer his questions.

'I bet that the process was a bit too much for them. The method said that death was inevitable. If death waits for someone, death must take someone. So this means that the previous owner died for me to live. And the only way was that he should have been weak enough for me to take control.

He he... To them, it must look like I resurrected. I guess they're quite shocked.

But it also means that I'm not safe here. They will try to discover what happened. I need to get out and disappear.. Then I will find a way to train this body. Let's hope they have good cultivation methods on this plane.

But how can I escape ? I can't even run and there could be guards anywhere. I need to find clothes too. Let's see if I can bribe this nurse. Well... I can always try that... Yeah, maybe it can work.'

"Miss ?"

"Heh ?" The poor woman looked scared and her voice was shaky. "Yes ? What can I do for you ?"

"Could you please get me some clothes. I would naturally reward you generously."

Now the nurse had a questionning look. She found his way of talking funny. "Sorry, but you must wait for the doctors approval before you can leave."

"I know," said Huang. He then stood up and walked in her direction one step at a time, staring into her eyes. "But it would truly help me. Please, miss. You can't believe how much I need you to do it. I'm sure you agree with me. In fact, you can't wait to go and look for some clothes."

His speech was absurd but there was something in his words and the way he was staring at her that made her unable to resist. Somehow, she wanted to obey him. After a few seconds, he was standing right in front of her and holding her hands while whispering to her ears words that made no sense.

"Go now."

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'That went well.'

Huang was exploring the building, wearing the clothes that the nurse found for him in the staff locker room. A white shirt, blue jeans and a nice leather jacket. The nurse had even given him his wallet.and'She should emerge soon. As I thought, the Way of Persuasion can work, as it only depends on the mind. But in this state, I won't be able to do much. I should only be able to do basic stuff and only with weak minds.

There are no guards. Great. I just need to find the exit.'

Huang carefully exited the building and took adavantage of the night to disappear in the streets.