Death is just the Beginning Part II

“What is a ‘novel’? …And what is a…See…rise?” Bai Hu asked.

“Oh, right. Let’s say a novel is a kind of literature, and a TV series is like a stage play, but they have certain types of equipment to record it. You can watch it over and over again without having the actors re-perform it,” Bai Zhe explained.

“I see. It is similar to the art of retrocognition,” said Bai Hu

“I don’t know about that. Anyway, where did you die?” asked the boy.

“At the Demon God Valley in the great land of Da Xian.”

“At the Demon God Valley in Da Xian? There is no place like that in my world. There is not even a record of it. Could you please draw me a map of this place?”

“Certainly. Bai Hu nodded. He started drawing the great land of Da Xian by using a little bit of his power. Bai Zhe’s eyes widened with amazement when he found out an astonishing truth.

“This is not my world, sir. I think you came from a place that we call a parallel universe. In simple terms, your world is completely different from my world.”

“How does it differ?”

“In my world, we have five continents. I lived in a country called the Golden Dragon on the Blue Dragon continent. There is no such place as the Demon God Valley or the great land of Da Xian. We also have science, a knowledge of the use of logic. Martial arts, internal forces, and martial artists are just fantastical stories.”

‘This is bad. If there is a world like this boy described and I am born in another universe, will my body have the Dantian and energy channel?’ Bai Hu started to feel anxious.

“Oh!” cried Bai Zhe. His body was starting to dissolve into a golden dust and float toward heaven.

“Do not worry. If I am able to meet your parents, I will take care of them for you,” Bai Hu promised.

“Thank you. Thank you so much,” said the boy before his dust disappeared on the path toward heaven.

“Huh.” Bai Hu noticed that his spirit was starting to dissolve the same way that Bai Zhe’s had.

Not long after that, his spirit turned into sparkling dust and flew toward the living world, and he lost consciousness again.

“…Zhe.” Bai Hu heard a voice.

‘Who is that? And for whom is that voice calling?’ Bai Hu thought to himself. He tried to concentrate.

“Ba..Zhe.” The voice kept calling out.

“Bai Zhe.” The voice was loud and clear this time.

‘Ouch. My head’s hurt. Everything is hurt, and some parts hurt more than others. Did someone harm me after I was born?’ Bai Hu thought to himself, slowly opening his eyes.

“Bai Zhe. You’re finally awake, my child. I thought something bad had happened to you.” A thirty-something-year-old woman cried when she saw the boy finally open his eyes. She carefully helped him sit up and hugged him, tears streaming down her face. Bai Hu started to connect all the puzzle pieces.

‘Wait, what the bloody hell happened here? Why didn’t I reincarnate but get transmigrated into that boy’s body instead?’ he thought, really wanting to scream his questions out loud.

While he was still confused, his head started to ache again, making him lift both of his hands to hold it. Bai Lian Hua let go of him when she heard his groan, only to take note of her son’s pain-filled face.

“Are you all right, son? Do you want to go to the hospital? I have some savings. I could take you there,” said Bai Lian Hua.

“N…No. It’s fine. I just…I got a little headache when I came back,” Bai Hu answered immediately.

“I will bring you some moist towels. If you are not okay, tell me, all right?” the woman said before getting up to go to the kitchen.

Bai Hu was sorting through all of the memories, thoughts, and knowledge in his head, which belonged to Bai Zhe’s body. He discovered that Bai Zhe was very poor. His parents did not have steady jobs. The boy dreamed of being an actor because he saw on TV that they got paid very well. They were all rich and famous, and people respected them. It was all the boy's heart ever desired. He wanted his parents to live comfortably and wanted no one to look down on him and his family.

‘As repayment for your body, I promise to take care of your parents. They will live a long and happy life. And I will make your dream come true,’ he thought, wishing Bai Zhe could hear him.

“Lay down now. Let me put this moist towel on your head so you’ll feel better. Look at you. Who did this to you? Do you want to go to the police?” Lian Hua said while making her spaced-out son lay down before pressing the moist towel to his forehead.

“Thank you, Mo-…Mum. I am better now. You should get some rest. Besides, the one who did this is the son of the local politician. We better not get in trouble with him.”

“If you say so. I will make you some congee,” said the mother.

“Thank you, Mum,” Bai Hu said before closing his eyes.

Bai Lian Hua was worried about her son. When she came back and found an empty house, she thought the boy was out at work. Not long after that, Mr. Wang, her neighbor, had carried her unconscious son to her. He had gotten bruises all over his body, but luckily, his face was not swollen. At that moment, she thought she would lose him.

Though his eyes were closed, Bai Hu mentally explored Bai Zhe’s body. The first thing he wanted to know was whether humans in this world had the Dantian. From what Bai Zhe had told him, it seemed like they did not have it, so they could not practice qi-based arts.

‘Well, seems like they have the Dantian. Why did not they practice their qi? Is this some damn god’s stupid joke? If so, I will burn all of that god’s shrines down,’ he thought to himself.

Bai Hu scanned the body. There were many components that needed treatment. According to Bai Zhe’s memories, it would take days to recover if they were treated using the medical procedures of this world. But for a material artist like Bai Hu, all this pain would be healed in no time.

‘First, I need to direct qi to the Dantian.’ He took a deep breath and directed it to his Dantian, but something stopped him.

‘The air in this world is so dirty. If I take it in directly, it will be harder for me to reach a higher level of qi in the future. I need to purify it first.’ He purified the air before taking it into his body. Later, he exhaled the dirty air and inhaled only the pure air into the Dantian.

‘Great. Now this body has reached the first level of qi production.’ But Bai Hu did not stop there. Bai Hu drew the qi character which meant “pure” on his nose so he could only inhale the purified air. He changed the air inside his body to match that around him so he could absorb the energy better.

Bang!

It was not long until Bai Hu reached the second level of qi production. Though he was living in this world, it did not trouble him. The qi that was required to succeed at these basic levels was not much.

‘Now, I have enough life force. I need to heal the outside first, so his mum stops worrying. I will take care of the inside tonight.’ Bai Hu used his force to heal all the bruises and cuts. He then hurriedly drew the qi character meant ‘heal’ in the middle of the boy’s skinny chest because it looked like Bai Zhe’s mum was done cooking the congee.

“Bai Zhe, get up and eat this,” she said, holding the congee. It was only rice without meat. Luckily, it had an egg in it.

Bai Hu slowly opened his eyes and got up. He took the bowl and started to dig in while Lian Hua sat there, looking at him with concern.

“Blech...” Bai Hu quickly took an empty glass that was close by and placed it under his mouth.