The Second Life!

"Dad."

"Dad!"

"Dad, don't die!"

Meng Nan was groggy, hearing someone shouting, someone crying, someone shaking him.

He opened his eyes.

He saw Meng Santan holding his head and wailing nonstop, Meng Xingzhe and Meng Jian were also crying. Zhao Xiaoshuang, still young, held Meng Santan's hand, holding back tears, and whispered, "Don't shake your dad."

As soon as she finished speaking.

On this side—

"Huh?"

"Dad?!"

The youngest, Meng Santan, seeing Meng Nan actually open his eyes, jumped back in fright, his face pale with terror.

The second son, Meng Jian, was also greatly startled, shuffling backward quite a bit.

The eldest, Meng Xingzhe, who was holding Meng Nan, froze for a moment. He didn't know whether to let go or not, and gave an awkward, sheepish smile.

Zhao Xiaoshuang reacted fastest, rushing forward and hugging Meng Nan tightly, "It's good that you're awake! It's good that you're awake!"

Crying and laughing.

Laughing and crying.

Her tears wet Meng Nan's shoulders, feeling cool.

Everything was so familiar.

"I died again?"

"How did I die?"

Meng Nan's thoughts stirred. He reached out, familiarly putting an arm around Zhao Xiaoshuang's shoulders, and silently summoned the panel to open the [Death Log].

[Name: Meng Nan]
[Age: 30]
[Cause of Death: Critically wounded in combat, heart and lungs destroyed]
[Cultivation before death: Inner Qi Stage, Qi Circulation Realm]
[Rewind: Two months]

"I died again!"

Meng Nan glanced at the [Death Log], his gaze falling on the newly added item. Then, a scene appeared—

He was still in this room.

Head bowed.

No longer breathing.

Zhao Xiaoshuang was beside him, her face pale and lost.

Meng Santan was leaning close, slumped on the ground, wailing to the sky.

Meng Xingzhe and Meng Jian knelt on the ground, each crying.

The scene ended abruptly.

"I died two months later from severe injuries, but I arrived in this timeline and appeared directly two months before my actual death."

Meng Nan touched the [Death Log], gradually clarifying.

This was because his cultivation in reality was different; he was already at the 'Fetal Breath Contemplation' stage, which gave him two months of grace period.

"This is quite good."

With this time, even if it was only two months, as a buffer, he wouldn't face immediate death upon arrival.

Regular deaths, such as 'Qi Deviation,' 'Natural Death,' or 'Critically Wounded,' were manageable.

But he feared being instantly killed by someone. If he arrived then and revived, he would surely die again.

One month, two months, at least it was a buffer.

"Does each minor realm add a month?"

Meng Nan wasn't sure and would have to verify it later.

But the immediate priority was to figure out what had happened in these twelve years.

And why he had been so severely injured.

"I'm fine."

"Just a bit of a gasp, I'll be fine once I recover."

After organizing his thoughts, Meng Nan smiled at Zhao Xiaoshuang, this time with more ease and familiarity.

Months spent together day and night in reality.

Eight years of mutual support in the previous life.

Meng Nan was already very familiar with and understood Zhao Xiaoshuang well.

Including these three children.

He just hadn't expected—

"Second and third were born after all."

Meng Nan glanced at his second son, Meng Jian, who had a delicate appearance, and then at his third son, Meng Santan, who was robust and spirited. He guessed that he must not have managed to advance to the Inner Qi Stage before the end of the year.

"Couldn't break through even with a 'Suoluo Seed'?"

Meng Nan shook his head inwardly. Was the Visualization Realm really that difficult?

But there was no need to guess this time.

"I'll know once I look."

Meng Nan sat up.

"Dad!"

"You scared us all! You weren't breathing just now!"

Meng Santan, who was seven years old this year, crowded forward again when she saw her dad wasn't a zombie.

Meng Nan patted her head, then smiled at the three siblings: "You guys go play outside first. Xiaoshuang, you stay."

"Okay, okay!"

"Then Dad, you get well soon!"

Meng Santan was well-behaved and sensible. She followed her elder brother, Meng Xingzhe, and second brother, Meng Jian, leaving with reluctant backward glances.

In the small hut.

Meng Nan looked around at the room's furnishings.

It was certainly better than in reality, and better than when he first arrived in his first life, and also better than when he left.

Recalling the Death Log again.

"I advanced to the Inner Qi Stage, Qi Circulation Realm, gaining some strength. I have a certain status in Yinlian Village, so the household furnishings and specifications could be upgraded."

Meng Nan was a cautious person. He acted according to his strength, not ahead of himself, but also not overly mistreating himself and his family.

Actually, without even looking at the Death Log, just by looking at the specifications of the house, Meng Nan could guess his approximate cultivation level before he died.

In the entire Yinlian Village, there were no more than two hundred people who reached the Inner Qi Stage, and that was calculated based on twelve years later, now.

Twelve years ago, there were only a little over a hundred at most.

With Inner Qi protecting the body and a certain level of cultivation, one could be considered decent in the village.

Going further up.

Like Qian Yu, who was in the True Qi Stage, the number was even smaller. And in Yinlian Village, such people had a certain say, almost considered high-level.

Don't underestimate the high-level members in a village of two to three thousand people.

This was a backward, wild mountain stronghold, where power was far greater than that of any village official.

"Inner Qi Stage."

"It can be considered a minor achievement."

After a general look around.

Meng Nan looked at Zhao Xiaoshuang again.

He had to explain it to her.

However, the excuse was the same old one. Although more than eight years had passed, it still came to him effortlessly: "My heart and lungs were probably injured, burning my brain. I can't remember many things from these past ten-plus years. It seems, it seems I can only remember things from childhood up to two or three months after marriage. I don't remember anything beyond that."

Meng Nan said this, tapping his temples lightly with his hand in distress, feigning amnesia.

The act had to be performed, lest Zhao Xiaoshuang find him too calm and harbor doubts, leading to unnecessary thoughts that would disrupt family harmony and marital relations.

"Amnesia?"

Zhao Xiaoshuang hadn't expected that heart and lung damage could lead to such a situation. But given his condition, with at most one or two months left, what difference did it make whether he remembered or not?

She held Meng Nan's hand, a smile pulling at her lips: "If you can't remember, you can't remember. I'll tell you."

"Okay."

"Are my diaries still here? I can listen to you while looking at them, so I can recall."

Meng Nan always felt Zhao Xiaoshuang's smile at this moment was a bit strange. As he agreed, he suddenly remembered something amusing: "You don't think I'm dying, do you?!"

He knew he wouldn't die. His physical condition had recovered from the near-death state of severe heart and lung damage, matching his real-world self—

Eighteen years old.

Full of vigor.

Only his cultivation had regressed again, just like in the real world. It was merely 'Fetal Breath Contemplation' now, no longer 'Inner Qi Circulation'.

But Zhao Xiaoshuang didn't know that!

Meng Nan smiled, opening his hand with his wrist facing up. "Take my pulse."

"You—"

Zhao Xiaoshuang, dazed and confused, placed her fingers on his wrist.

Thump!

Thump!

Thump!

She immediately felt his pulse, strong and vigorous. It was nowhere near the state of someone with severe heart and lung damage, on the verge of death. He was healthier than healthy.

"This—"

Zhao Xiaoshuang's eyes widened, stunned into silence.

Meng Nan knew this would be hard for ordinary people to accept immediately, but it shouldn't be difficult for Zhao Xiaoshuang. He thought of the groundwork he had laid in the real world and immediately asked, "You didn't tell anyone I was severely injured and dying, did you?"

"No."

"You told me before, both years ago and this time: don't tell anyone until they're buried in the ground."

Zhao Xiaoshuang recalled Meng Nan's strange words not long after they got married, then thought of what he had told her this time about being critically injured and facing death. Connecting it with Meng Nan's current transformation, she suddenly realized, "You knew all along?!"

Why hadn't he let her tell anyone?

The answer was obvious!

Take this time, for example. With Meng Nan's injuries, he would have at most lingered for one or two months before kicking the bucket.

If the news had gotten out, and then he reappeared alive and well now, it would inevitably arouse suspicion.

But if no one knew, then of course they, as husband and wife, could say whatever they pleased.

Thinking of this.

At this thought.

The worry on Zhao Xiaoshuang's face and the concern in her eyes vanished instantly. She tightly gripped Meng Nan's hand, disregarding her curiosity, her heart filled with surprise. She complained verbally, "You weren't going to die, why didn't you say so earlier! You deliberately scared me! You scared me!"

Zhao Xiaoshuang hit Meng Nan, putting a lot of force into it.

This time, she had been truly terrified, thinking Meng Nan was really going to leave her. Enduring her grief and fear, she had brought Meng Nan back from Wild Goose Valley merely so he could see their children one last time before he died and return to Yinlian Village.

She never expected the surprise that followed, arriving so suddenly.

"This is wonderful!"

After hitting him twice and complaining a few times, Zhao Xiaoshuang cried and laughed, her emotions completely released.

Meng Nan, now with no reservations, pointed to under the bed for Zhao Xiaoshuang. "Get the box out. I want to see the diary."

"Diary!"

"The price of recovery is amnesia?"

"So that's why you write a diary every day?!"

Zhao Xiaoshuang understood everything now.

Indeed.

What normal person writes a diary!

Her husband was different. Every night after cultivating, before soaking his feet, he would take out a notebook and roughly record the day's events.

At the time, she had just thought it was Meng Nan's habit and hadn't thought too deeply about it.

Until today.

Connecting it with Meng Nan's earlier reminders and instructions, and this episode of amnesia, everything became clear.

Meng Nan clearly knew he could be resurrected from the brink of death, but would lose his memory. That's why he didn't want her to tell anyone and insisted on writing a diary every day.

Now, it all made sense!

"This ability is strange. I wasn't even sure if it would work."

"And it can only be used once."

Meng Nan explained to Zhao Xiaoshuang, whose anger faded from her face. "I know your nature. It's good that you're alive! It's wonderful!"

Meng Nan had been resurrected from death.

Zhao Xiaoshuang had regained what she thought was lost.

The surprise, joy, and relief she felt were no less than Meng Nan's, perhaps even stronger and more intense.

Everything else was a minor detail; she didn't care about it.