3 Chapter 2: Reincarnation (2/2)

”Whoa! Calm down, young man. You'll wake the other patients.” The old guy gestured to the other three patients in the room. Fortunately, they were all sound asleep, snoring as loudly as ever. I had since learned to sleep through noise a few days ago, or maybe I was just too exhausted that I could sleep through the din of a battle. ”It's me.”

”Huh? Who are you?”

Blinking, I stared at the old man standing by my bedside, baffled by his sudden appearance. I didn't recognize him at all.

”Have you forgotten who I am already?”

…ah. Those sunglasses and old-fashioned clothes that looked right at home in a historical drama. He was the old man I saved from the truck the other day. Why the hell was he wearing sunglasses inside a dark hospital room that had its lights off, though? And it was night too!

Those shades made him seem really shady.

”Glad to see you weren't hurt.”

”Yes, thanks to you.” the old man bowed deeply. ”I'm very sorry for all the trouble I caused you. And I'm very grateful to you for saving my life.”

I waved his thanks away. ”As long as you're all right.”

The old man smiled, shaking his wrinkled head. ”I see you're not just a brave person, but also a very kind person as well. In a world as cruel as this, it's very rare to find nice young people such as you, young lad.”

”Nah, I'm sure there's a lot of other people who would have done the same thing.” I truly believed what I was saying. It was impossible that I was the only nice guy in this world.

”Actually, there's a lot of people who would push me in front of the truck to deliberately murder me.”

I found that hard to believe, but I wasn't in a mood to argue. Being stuck in bed with your arm and legs suspended in the air and completely unable to move would do that to you. So I decided to humor the guy.

”Who? Sounds like you're being chased by a bunch of killers.”

The old man grinned ironically. ”Oh, you have no idea how right you are.”

…okay…I wasn't sure what he was trying to get at, but maybe he was one of those paranoid conspiracy theorists who thought the world was out to get him or something. Even though he was in good physical health, I wondered if he was somewhat mentally ill. It was normal for someone of his age to suffer from dementia.

”But since it's my fault that you've ended up in such a condition, I've come to take responsibility.”

”…take responsibility? How?”

”Well…” the old man scratched his head. ”By giving you a reward, I suppose.”

I immediately tensed at that. The last time someone offered to give me compensation for mistakenly dragging me to the underworld, I ended up being reverted to my thirteen-year-old self. Even if this was supposed to be my second chance at correcting my life, I didn't like it.

Honestly, I wasn't looking forward to reliving my entire life and going through all the trials I did before reaching thirty for the second time. All that cramming and studying again. The annoying obstacles that life threw at me. Bureaucratic bullshit and administrative nightmares that plagued me when I was a student. One might think it would be great because I probably already knew what would come out for the exams, but no. Unlike a certain Nie Li, I didn't have a perfect memory. I couldn't remember every single event, moment or instant in my life. I couldn't remember every single question on every single exam. I couldn't recall every disaster or misfortune I had been through in order to avoid it, but I did recall vividly a few – falling sick to dengue fever was something I was not looking forward to suffering through again, as was other diseases here and there.

The worst thing was that I couldn't remember when I fell sick or how to avoid those. Damn it.

”So what kind of reward are we talking about here?” I asked with a sigh. ”Are you going to help my parents pay for my hospital fees?”

The old man merely smiled mysteriously

”No. I'm afraid I do not possess the money necessary for that.”

”Right.”

Resisting the temptation to roll my eyes, I maintained a polite tone despite thinking that there was nothing the old man could offer that would serve as an adequate reward. Probably another token of appreciation, but…

”Hey, wait a second…”

I suddenly frowned. Something wasn't right here.

”This can't be possible. I saved you when I was thirty…I saved you seventeen years in the future. I'm thirteen right now, right? So how did you…did you travel back in time or something?”

”Very astute. Something like that.” the old man reared to his full height as he smiled, impressed. ”To be more precise, I merely followed the alternate timeline to which you were sent back from the underworld, and traced you here.”

My jaw dropped as I stared at him, not believing what I had just heard. ”You can do that?”

”Indeed.” The old man nodded. I continued to scrutinize him, not knowing if he was insane. Then again, even if he was some crazy old man, it wouldn't explain how I got sent back in time and reverted to my thirteen-year-old self.

I had no choice but to believe him for now.

”I'm an immortal, after all.” (The word he uses here is xian, which is usually translated as immortal, but as most Chinese speakers would tell you, has a completely different connotation and meaning from the Anglo or Western conception of immortal)

”Uh, right.” Sure, that explained a lot. Not.

”Still…I didn't expect you to be pulled into our world in such a manner. Such a pity. Such a pity.”

The old man was shaking his head. He then straightened up and then took something out of his pocket, placing it on my bedside table.

”I'm sorry, but this is the only thing I have of value. I hope you'll be satisfied with it.”

”That's…?”

It was a golden medallion with the emblem of a dragon carved into its surface. He slid it across the tabletop and positioned it as close to me as possible.

”I hope you like it.”

”Well, it's shiny…”

Not to mention, there was a lot of yellow currents of energy billowing out from it. I had no idea what that was supposed to be. Initially I wondered if the old man was performing some sort of special effects, but why the heck would be bother to trick me? It wasn't as if he was selling the medallion to me.

No, wait…it's not a trick.

Frowning, I noticed that there was something beyond natural about the energy. I could detect a vitality that surpassed normal human understanding, a kind of energy that throbbed with all sorts of arcane potential. It wasn't something I could tap into, but it maintained a mysterious signature that set it apart from any other sort of energies that I normally sensed.

I was about to open my mouth and ask about the mystical energy, but as if he sensed my question, he quickly shook his head.

”I'm sorry. It was never my intention to drag you into this world. To protect you, it's best that I keep you ignorant.”

”This world? Keep me ignorant?”

There was nothing I hated more than being ignorant. And I was sure there was nothing more frustrating for readers than being kept in the dark because of some dubious plotline later or whatever. I wanted to know, and I wanted to know now.

But the old man was having none of it. He didn't pay me any attention and was stepping away. He then bowed deeply.

”Once again, I thank you for saving my life. I'm very sorry that I wasn't able to offer up a more appropriate reward, but this will do.”

He patted the medallion on my bedside table.

”Keep this close to you. It's a lot more valuable than you think it is.”

I suspected I knew just how valuable this shiny little trinket was. After all, I was planning to pawn it off at the nearest pawnshop the moment I was discharged and make a lot of money off it. Right now my family needed money more than any sentimental items.

As if he had read my mind, the old man's expression turned severe.

”Please promise me that you'll never sell it.”

Damn. Busted.

”Fine, fine. Then what am I supposed to do with it?”

”You'll know when the time comes.”

Fuck. I absolutely hate it when someone gets all cryptic and vague with me. 90% of stories could be resolved if the characters actually manned up and communicated clearly and properly instead of going through this roundabout bullshit.

”Well then…this is farewell. I doubt we'll meet again.” the old man's expression turned sad. ”It's probably rude to say this to someone who just risked his life to save mine, but I don't have much time left. Please take care.”

The hell?! Did he just raise a death flag? Right after I rescued his life at the cost of breaking three of my limbs? Fuck you!

Or at least that was what I wanted to shout, but the old man was gone as suddenly as he appeared, the only evidence that he was present being the gold, shiny medallion on my tabletop.