Wu Heng sipped his cola as he watched the surveillance feed, sitting quietly and waiting for his enemy to return.
About twenty minutes later.
He saw a black business van pull into the courtyard.
A sprightly old man of around sixty walked into the house, carrying an apple the size of a basketball in his left hand and a black briefcase in his right.
When he heard the elevator, the old man stepped out of it on the second floor.
Wu Heng dragged the young man's right leg and slowly walked out of the room.
The old man had just cheerfully climbed the stairs when he saw Wu Heng, covered in blood, and his son lying on the floor.
His kind, gentle expression changed in an instant.
The apple fell from his hand.
"My son! My son! Doctor, what have you done?"
The old man wailed, glaring at the black-market doctor he had hired to find a heart donor for his child.
"I'm not a doctor."
Wu Heng spoke in his own voice.
"You—"
The old man's face twisted with hatred and fear. He recognized that voice—the voice of the donor in the basement.
"I understand."
"How much you loved him!"
Wu Heng gripped the corpse of the old man's son and walked toward him, one step at a time.
"You made plans for him, gave him hope and dreams."
"He would have had a healthy body and a future you'd planned out for him."
"You would have cared for him and watched him grow. He would have had a wonderful life ahead of him."
Wu Heng slowly came to a stop in front of the old man, watching the light fade from his eyes.
"And I..."
"Erased his past;"
"Robbed him of his future!"
As he spoke, he dropped the corpse at the old man's feet with a thud.
"Here he is!"
"This is all that's left of him... blood and flesh, soon to rot!"
The old man stared numbly at his dead son.
Yes, his dream had been shattered completely.
He no longer had the strength to glare at Wu Heng with hatred.
He thought of a lifetime spent alone, of finally having a son in his old age, and now having to bury him. He was all alone again.
"Ahhh!"
The old man let out a desperate roar.
Then he lunged at the table in the living room, grabbed a fruit knife, and slashed his own throat.
He stumbled a few steps and fell beside the young man's corpse. He worried his son would be cold alone, so he wanted to keep him company.
Wu Heng stood still, watching the old man.
People only understood how much pain they had caused when they felt it themselves.
Every parent had a child. No parent wanted to watch their child die.
The old man hadn't been right, but he hadn't been wrong, either. Still, he deserved to die.
After all, Wu Heng had a mother of his own in this world.
Though he had no memories of growing up, he had lived in this body for twenty years. His soul had slowly healed as the body grew, ever since he was in the womb.
The thought made Wu Heng long to go home.
He opened the large briefcase the old man had brought and looked inside. It was packed with stacks of cash. A rough estimate put it at around a million.
This must have been the payoff the old man had given those people.
With a thought, Wu Heng transferred the money from the briefcase into his own storage space.
He got up and walked to the elevator. He paused and glanced down at the two corpses.
"Old man, thanks for the money. And thanks for showing me just how dark this world is."
The old man, drained of blood, lay motionless on the floor in an awkward pose.
Wu Heng made sure he was dead.
Then he went down to the first floor and searched the middle-aged man's room again.
In a black plastic bag in a drawer, he found his phone and keys. He pressed the phone's buttons, but nothing happened. It must have run out of battery.
It was a solid-black, full-screen phone. Its battered casing had several spots where the silver-gray metal showed through. "FARE" was engraved on the back, presumably the brand.
The screen had been smashed into seven or eight cracks. His previous self had dropped it.
The broken glass reflected the refined doctor's face. His fragmented reflection looked like the doctor staring up at him from hell.
Heh.
Wu Heng gave a cold laugh, then picked out a gray trench coat from the room and changed into it.
Not bad. I like trench coats.
Wu Heng looked at himself in the bathroom mirror and washed his face.
He went out into the courtyard and smiled at the camera above the entrance with the doctor's face, curling his lips just slightly. Then he climbed into the old man's black business van.
He checked his location. He was already in the northern suburbs. After confirming his route, he set the navigation for the quickest way back to the city, started the engine, and hit the road.
In the distance, flames were already consuming the villa.
"Nice cut!"
Wu Heng admired his slicked-back hair in the Plum Blossom Cut barbershop. His strong build filled out the well-fitted trench coat, making him look handsome and sharp.
"That's because you've got good features to work with."
Tony flattered him from the side.
With an ample blood supply, Wu Heng's muscles had adjusted themselves to their optimal condition. His streamlined physique was strong without sacrificing agility.
His eyes were deep and bright, his nose straight, and his smooth, fair face was sharply handsome. He'd also grown five centimeters, putting him at around 183 centimeters tall.
Earlier, he'd left the car on a deserted stretch of road, walked for a while, and stored the refined doctor's bodysuit in his space.
After avoiding passersby on his way to the bus stop, he'd found a tap and washed up. He bought a new trench coat and pants, then took a bus back into the city and came to this barbershop. He'd had enough of his previous self's disheveled hairstyle.
It's time to go home.
Wu Heng murmured to himself, feeling a little nervous. He hadn't felt this nervous even when facing the Hell Priest of Ice.
In Beiquan City, Wu Heng followed the route he remembered to Sunshine Residential Complex, where his home was.
Three girls stood near the entrance, apparently waiting for a ride.
"Hey, he's so handsome! Look, Lili's completely starstruck."
The girl in the white dress on the left laughed as she spoke to the girl in the middle.
"If you like him, go talk to him. You can have him wrapped around your finger by tonight." The girl in the middle nudged the girl on the right, Lili.
"What are you talking about? Besides, what would I even say to him?" Lili asked.
"Say anything. He's a man, and men are simple creatures. Watch me."
"Hey, handsome!"
As she spoke, the girl in the middle waved her pale hand at Wu Heng, who was walking past them.
Wu Heng was desperate to get home. All he could think about was seeing his family, and he couldn't be bothered with them.
Ignoring the women and the security guard, he swiped his card at the electronic gate and walked straight to Room 402.
"Hahaha, Xiao Yuan, he didn't even notice you!" the girl in the white dress laughed.
"He just didn't hear me!"
The girl in the middle pulled out her phone and began typing, hiding her embarrassment.
Wu Heng stood at his front door, took a deep breath, and knocked softly.
No one answered. Then he remembered: his mother would still be at work at this hour, and his younger sister was a first-year university student. No one was home.
In this life, Wu Heng had also grown up in a single-parent family. His father had died in an accident when Wu Heng was three. His younger sister, Wu Duoduo, had been only two months old at the time.
His mother, Yang Huifen, had raised two little ones on her own. The compensation from her husband's death had carried them through the hardest few years. Then, unwilling to live off their savings, she had ventured out to find a job, despite having been a full-time housewife. It had been a struggle to raise both children.
Wu Heng took out his key and opened the door.
The living room had a simple beige decor, and the eighty-square-meter apartment was divided into three bedrooms.
On the wall above the TV hung awards Wu Heng and his sister had won as children, including "Outstanding Student" and "Best Child," along with his mother's "Excellent Factory Employee" award and others.
On the wall to the right hung a family portrait of the three of them. Wu Heng felt his heart, pounding like an engine in his chest, slowly settle. At last, he felt at ease.
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