Reborn in Tianling

"Ugh, my head hurts. My whole body hurts... Why is it so noisy?" Half-conscious, Huo Hai seemed to hear countless voices clamoring by his ears, like a swarm of flies buzzing. Yet for some reason, he could never grasp them.

After a while, the voices by Huo Hai's ears gradually faded. No, rather, Huo Hai had fallen unconscious again.

Inside a grand residence, in the largest and most luxurious room at its center, a youth lay on a silk-draped bed with his eyes tightly shut. Even in his sleep, his brows occasionally furrowed, as though he were enduring some sort of pain. Such an expression on that delicate, handsome face made one's heart clench.

"What happened to Xiao Hai? He only went out once, so how did he come back like this?" In the room, a dignified middle-aged man paced back and forth, his face filled with anxiety.

The servants in the room all kept their heads lowered, not daring to say a word. Only the woman attending to the youth bustled about as diligently as a little bee. From time to time, she wiped the youth's sweat away or replaced the cold towel on his face.

Directly opposite the bed, two guards stood with their heads lowered, their faces full of shame. "Speak. What exactly happened?" The middle-aged man had wanted to roar at them, but considering the youth on the bed, he forcibly lowered his voice.

The two guards exchanged a glance before finally saying helplessly, "Reporting to the Lineage Head, the young master... the young master said earlier that he wanted to personally capture a Spirit Beast as a birthday gift for the old madam. But in the woods, we encountered a Thunderbolt Rat that had reached the Blood Spirit Realm. The young master refused our help and charged forward himself. Then... then..."

The matter was already clear. That brat had overestimated himself and gone to deal with a Spirit Beast of the Blood Spirit Realm when he himself was only at the Spirit Body Realm—no, he had not even fully entered the Spirit Body Realm yet. Was that not simply courting death?

Having been struck down by a bolt of lightning from the Thunderbolt Rat, it was already fortunate that he had returned alive. As the head of the Huo Family, the middle-aged man had a breath lodged in his chest that would neither rise nor fall, leaving him suffocated with frustration. With a wave of his hand, he roared, "Get out, all of you! Seeing you here is making me sick!" As though granted a pardon, the two guards did not even dare raise their heads before hurriedly fleeing.

Outside the door, the servants whispered among themselves, but not one dared approach. Let alone servants like them, throughout the entire Huo Family estate, no one dared provoke the Lineage Head when he was in a foul mood.

No, that was not entirely true. Wasn't one coming out right now? An elderly woman with a head full of white hair leaned on a dragon-headed cane, her face filled with displeasure. "What are you yelling for? If you frighten my grandson, can you afford to compensate for it? Oh, Xiao Hai, how did you get hurt so badly?"

The old woman looked ready to start wiping away tears. She was the Lineage Head's own mother; if Mother began to cry, even the Lineage Head could not bear it. Huo Kai hurriedly stepped forward to comfort her. "Mother, don't worry. We already invited a Medical Spirit Master to examine him. Xiao Hai is fine. He has already been treated once. He should wake up shortly."

Hearing this, the old woman finally stopped crying. She opened her eyes wide and glared fiercely at Huo Kai. "You bastard! How did I raise such a useless son? Now that you're the Lineage Head, you no longer care about my grandson..."

When the old woman started scolding someone, it was enough to shake heaven and make ghosts weep. The servants in the room hurriedly lowered their heads, pretending they had heard nothing. Those outside moved even farther away. The drama of a mother chastising her son played out in the household every few days, and this time was especially severe. After all, Huo Hai was the only heir in the Lineage.

Who knew how long he had been lectured, but Huo Kai could only lower his head and listen. He had long known his mother's ability to nag. She could go on for several hours without a single repetition or pause, more fluent than reciting a text.

Suddenly, delight appeared on Huo Kai's face. He hurriedly interrupted his mother's scolding. "Mother, Mother, wait a moment. Xiao Hai seems to be awake." In his heart, Huo Kai thanked heaven and earth, thanking Xiao Hai for waking up at such a crucial moment.

With a sway of her steps, she arrived beside the bed. Knowing that her precious grandson had awakened, the old woman no longer bothered scolding her useless son. Her grandson was better; he had known to prepare a birthday gift for her, and now he had been hurt so badly. A wave of grief rose in the old woman's heart.

"Mm, why is it still so noisy? Wait, this isn't a hospital. Didn't I die?" Huo Hai slowly opened his eyes, but what was before him? One middle-aged face and one truly elderly face. But why were they looking at him with such affection and concern? This feeling... Huo Hai recalled that it seemed to have appeared only in his parents.

The surroundings were strange as well. Huo Hai clearly remembered being sent flying by a car in the end. Even if he had awakened, shouldn't he have been in a hospital? What was going on? Why was the architecture around him so old-fashioned?

No, wait. Why were the people beside him, and even their clothes, so old-fashioned too? Who was playing a joke on him? Setting up a scene like this must have cost quite a bit. Who would go to such lengths to amuse themselves at the expense of a poor boy like him? Wait, could it be that old man? Had he stolen his girlfriend and come to mock him too?

At that thought, a surge of resentment rose in Huo Hai's heart. He did not know what that resentment had stirred, but suddenly, a burst of pain struck his head, and he fainted again. The moment he fell unconscious, he terrified the two of them.

"What is going on? Didn't you say Xiao Hai was already fine? You unfilial son, are you trying to anger me to death?"

Huo Kai grew anxious as well and shouted, "Quick! Go invite the Medical Spirit Master back, quickly!" With the Lineage Head's order, how could the servants dare delay? Several figures immediately ran outside. It seemed the Medical Spirit Master who had just left would have to make another trip back.

At this moment, however, Huo Hai was undergoing something incredibly miraculous. He knew that he had come from Earth, and that this place was no longer Earth. Memories that had appeared from nowhere told Huo Hai that the place he was in was the Spirit Realm Continent. Or rather, it should be some extremely remote corner of the Spirit Realm Continent.

The country he was in was the Southern Cloud Kingdom, one of the Nanling Thirteen Nations, located in the south of the Spirit Realm Continent. As for exactly where, he did not know. Moreover, this person actually had the same name as him: Huo Hai.

He just did not know whether, when this name had been chosen, the family had been thinking the same thing his own grandfather had once thought. In a few days, it would be Huo Hai's grandmother's ninetieth birthday. Huo Hai had left home intending to personally capture a Spirit Beast.

Unfortunately, his eyesight had not been very good. He had actually provoked a Thunderbolt Rat of the Blood Spirit Realm, and as a result, his soul had been shattered. These two brothers in misfortune—one had lost his body, the other his soul. No one knew what had happened, but his soul had somehow entered this Huo Hai's body and completely taken his place. What was this, returning the soul to a borrowed corpse?

And this seemed to be soul transmigration. Did transmigration really exist in this world? Waves of doubt filled Huo Hai's heart.

The only thing he could be certain of was that this fellow named Huo Hai, like himself, had read the books of sages and was a genuine good person. He had never had the chance to do any great good deeds, but small good deeds had never been lacking.

In the eyes of the servants, Huo Hai had been a very good young master, greatly respected by them. Having been injured so badly this time, the two guards who had gone with him felt terrible as well. They were currently punishing themselves to apologize to Huo Hai.

"Ah, do good people really not live long? The two of us truly are birds of a feather. Fine, I already swore that if I had another life, I absolutely would not be a good person. Let me be the bad guy for both your share and mine." Huo Hai made up his mind to become a villain. As for how exactly to do that, he would have to study it slowly in the future; he had no experience in that regard.

No one knew how much time passed before Huo Hai of the Spirit Realm Continent finally fused all the soul fragments into his soul.

Perhaps because his soul had previously been shattered by lightning, the memories Huo Hai received were fragmented and intermittent, leaving only scattered pieces. All memories from before the age of ten had vanished, and only those from the past few years remained.

Even so, the more recent the memories were, the clearer they became; much else had already disappeared. What he remembered most clearly was probably the cause of his own death. "Hmph, Thunderbolt Rat, I will avenge you."

Huo Hai said loudly in his heart, "From now on, I am Huo Hai of the Huo Family. Rest assured, I will live your share of life as well, and I will take care of your family for you." After saying this, Huo Hai felt a burst of relief in his heart. Whether it had resonated with the dead Huo Hai or he was truly at ease, even his body felt much better.

When Huo Hai opened his eyes again, two familiar yet unfamiliar faces appeared before him once more. There was also an old man he did not recognize, holding one hand toward him as faint green light flickered unsteadily.

Under that light, Huo Hai felt warmth spread through his body, and the pain from before seemed to have vanished entirely. Seeing Huo Hai awaken, the old man also let out a sigh of relief, withdrew his spiritual power, and wiped away his sweat.

"Fortunately, I did not fail my mission. Your son has awakened." The old man cupped his hands and bowed to the Huo Family's Lineage Head. He was the Huo Family's Medical Spirit Master.

Huo Kai nodded. "Thank you for your trouble. Go rest first. Xiao Cui, take the old gentleman to collect ten Spirit Stones." At Huo Kai's call, a servant led the Medical Spirit Master away. Huo Kai himself, along with the old woman, watched Huo Hai anxiously, afraid that he might feel unwell again. Huo Hai had truly frightened them both.

Looking at the two people gazing at him with such concern, warmth filled Huo Hai's heart. But what should he say? The memories left behind by the previous owner were too few. Huo Hai organized his words, considering what he ought to say.