Chapter 260: This Life—The Beginning (I)

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Chapter 260: This Life—The Beginning (I)

【All return journeys are complete. The mission is over. The Host will return to the real world in five minutes.】

Shang Ke had just finished a happy life with Wen Jingrong. Before he had time to dwell on the sadness of parting or reminisce, the System’s notification sounded.

“Wait—return to the real world?” Shang Ke hurriedly said. “What about the worlds with Juanjuan and Saya?”

【Any world where the mission failed will disappear forever, with no chance of returning. As for the world of the gods, it has touched the laws of reality and cannot be restarted a second time.】

“Disappear?” Shang Ke’s heart tightened. “What does that mean?”

【A successful mission archives its world; a failed mission deletes it. In other words, that world has broken free of the System’s control. Only if the Host is someday born into it can the System merge with its laws of time once more.】

Shang Ke thought for a moment before asking, “So you mean the world where Feng Juan is hasn’t truly disappeared—it has simply become independent?”

【That is one way to understand it.】

“If I find that world, I’ll have a chance to return?”

【In theory, yes.】

Shang Ke calmed down slightly. The hope was faint, but it was not nonexistent. As long as the imprint of space and time remained, the day would come when they met again.

But the mission was over…

“Will I… still be able to see him?”

【As long as the System exists.】

Shang Ke’s eyes flickered. He seemed about to say something, but in the end, he kept it to himself.

【Dear Host, the transfer is about to begin. Are you ready to return to this life?】

Shang Ke took a deep breath. “Begin.”

……

…

A City Central Hospital, Country Z.

A patient who had been unconscious for more than nine months suddenly woke as if by a miracle. After a series of examinations confirmed that all his physiological functions were normal, he would be discharged once he completed rehabilitation.

“My Ke, you’re finally awake!” A young man entered the ward carrying an absurdly enormous bouquet of red roses and smiled at Shang Ke, who was propped against his pillows reading a book.

Shang Ke looked up. Light shimmered in his eyes, and the sight made the young man’s heart skip. Wasn’t someone who had spent more than nine months in a coma supposed to have a sallow complexion, lifeless eyes, a thin body, and a listless expression? Why did he look even more radiant than before?!

“…Qi Chen?” Shang Ke stared at him without blinking.

“Of course it’s me. Who else but your best friend would come see you at the first opportunity?” Qi Chen set the roses on the bedside table.

Shang Ke studied him for a moment, then suddenly said, “You… look familiar.”

Qi Chen: “Don’t tell me you only got my name right by guessing…”

No. Shang Ke was simply more interested in his name than in the man himself. Before he began cultivating, Chen Xiao had been called Qi Chen. Too much time had passed, and Shang Ke had always addressed him as Chen Xiao, so he had forgotten his original name. It was only after seeing Qi Chen that he suddenly remembered.

Still, Shang Ke was certain that the Qi Chen before him was not his Chen Xiao. Qi Chen did feel somewhat familiar, but not with the kind of familiarity that made his heart stir.

“All right, I’ve seen you now. You can leave.” Shang Ke waved him away with disdain.

Qi Chen was deeply wounded. “I came all this way to see you, and you’re sending me away before I can even sit down?”

“You have the nerve to say that? It’s already generous of me not to beat you up!” Shang Ke glared at him. “If you hadn’t used me as your breakup excuse every time, how would one of your ex-girlfriends have cornered me at an intersection, cursed me out, and sent me into this unlucky accident?”

“What? That happened?” Qi Chen’s expression changed. He asked coldly, “Who was it?”

“Who was what?”

“My ‘ex’-girlfriend who caused your accident!”

“You have so many ‘ex’-girlfriends. How am I supposed to know which one?” Shang Ke stared at him in bewilderment. “I’ve always wondered: I wasn’t even there when you broke up with many of them, so why does every one of your ‘ex’-girlfriends seem to know me?”

Qi Chen elegantly plucked a rose from the bouquet and began snapping off its petals one by one, trying to evade the question.

“Tell me.” Shang Ke snatched the rose from his hand before he could continue abusing the poor flower.

“Ahem… it’s like this.” Qi Chen answered haltingly. “I turned photos of you from childhood to adulthood into QQ emoji stickers. Every time I broke up with someone, I bombarded her with them…”

Daggers seemed to flash in Shang Ke’s eyes. A flood of profanity scrolled through his mind, eventually condensing into a single word: “Scum!”

Qi Chen was completely unfazed by the verdict. He even put on an air of someone who had seen through the ways of the world. “Feelings aren’t something you can force. Isn’t it better for everyone to part on good terms? I never treated them badly while we were together. My feelings faded, so naturally we broke up.”

Shang Ke: “Heh.”

Other people don’t date as many women in their entire lives as you do in a single month, and you still have the nerve to talk about love?

“Let’s not talk about that anymore. The doctor says you can be discharged next month. I’ll come pick you up.” Joy was impossible to conceal in Qi Chen’s eyes. His character might be questionable, but his concern for Shang Ke was genuine.

Shang Ke’s parents had both died when he was in middle school, and none of his other relatives had been willing to take him in. In the end, Qi Chen had persuaded his father to support Shang Ke through university. That was why Shang Ke was so lenient with him.

Qi Chen and Shang Ke were complete opposites: one was a carefree, womanizing rebel, while the other kept himself clean and studied hard. Qi Chen’s father had agreed to support Shang Ke because he valued his character and hoped he would have a positive influence on his son. Aside from his incurable womanizing, Qi Chen really had changed a great deal. At least on the surface, he now looked every inch the polished young gentleman.

“How much did my hospitalization cost?” Shang Ke asked. He remembered every bit of the Qi family’s financial support over the years. It wasn’t that he feared they would hold it over him—the Qi family had always treated him well. Precisely because of that, he did not want their relationship to be burdened by debt.

Qi Chen’s face twisted into an expression that was neither quite angry nor quite annoyed. He said vaguely, “You don’t need to worry about the hospital bills. The person responsible paid them.”

“They kept paying for more than nine months?” The hospital where Shang Ke was staying was the best in the city, and he was in a VIP ward. Even the daily nutritional infusions were a substantial expense, far beyond what an ordinary family could afford. Strictly speaking, the other party was not primarily responsible for the accident, either. If Qi Chen’s ex-girlfriend had not accidentally shoved him into the road, none of this would have happened.

“Mm.” Qi Chen clearly did not want to discuss it and answered with studied indifference.

What a kind and generous culprit. Shang Ke began believing in life again.

Qi Chen lingered in the ward for two hours before finally leaving, reluctant to go.

Shang Ke looked at the bouquet occupying the entire bedside table. It happened to be Valentine’s Day, so he raised an eyebrow, climbed into his wheelchair, picked up the roses, and went downstairs to give them away one by one.

At a five-star hotel downtown, Wei Xun emerged from the bathroom naked. He had not bothered to wipe away the water, letting droplets slide one by one over his solid muscles. The sharp planes of his face looked especially cold beneath the light.

Just then, a phone rang in the room.

Wei Xun answered the phone while drying his hair. “What is it?”

“Master Xun, the man in the hospital has regained consciousness.”

The image of that young man immediately surfaced in Wei Xun’s mind. Several months had passed, and he could no longer clearly remember the man’s appearance, but a strange feeling continued to linger in his heart. He had only caught a fleeting glimpse of him, yet the impression had been profound. That might not have been unusual with anyone else, but Wei Xun had prosopagnosia. He was certain that he had remembered this man’s face the very first time he saw him.

After a moment’s thought, Wei Xun changed clothes and had his driver take him to the city hospital.

Wei Xun got out of the car and followed his memory toward the inpatient building. As he passed the garden, a flash of brilliant red caught the corner of his eye. When he turned, he saw a young man in a wheelchair holding a large bouquet of roses and chatting with someone beside him with a smile.

Against the garden’s cool, muted colors, he alone was as vivid as fire. Even from dozens of meters away, he easily drew everyone’s gaze.

Wei Xun walked toward him without realizing it. As the distance closed, the young man’s features gradually sharpened in his sight: brows, eyes, nose, lips… handsome, delicate, and alive with easy warmth beneath his faint smile.

For years, Wei Xun had been able to identify the people around him only by their voices, scents, silhouettes, clothing, footsteps, habits, and other details. Yet now, he was seeing someone clearly with his own eyes—and remembering him.

It was him.

The young man his driver had struck nine months ago, the one who had remained unconscious until yesterday.

Wei Xun was utterly certain.

Shang Ke lifted his head, and the man’s figure was reflected clearly in his dark eyes.

No matter how much the man’s appearance changed, Shang Ke could recognize him at a glance.

Shang Ke’s eyes curved into a smile as he held out a vivid red rose. “Here. I hope you find the person meant for you.”

Wei Xun accepted the rose. “My name is Wei Xun.”

“Hello, Wei Xun. I’m Shang Ke.”

“I know.” Wei Xun stared fixedly at him.

“I know you too.” Shang Ke smiled. “You’re the boss of the driver who put me in a vegetative state.”

Wei Xun, who had never apologized before: “…”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Shang Ke continued. “You weren’t responsible for the accident, and you covered all my medical expenses. Strictly speaking, I should be thanking you for taking care of me.”

“No need.” In front of Shang Ke, Wei Xun instinctively reined in his sharpness. He looked every bit like a refined young man, which made the bodyguard and assistant beside him break into a cold sweat.

“I’ll be discharged next Wednesday, Wei Xun. Would you like to come to my place for dinner?” The first step in abducting a lover was to build a good relationship: hook him with unbeatable food, then capture his heart with his devastating beauty, and after that, they could happily get up to this and that.

“All right.” Wei Xun agreed without hesitation.

Master Xun, did you really have to agree so readily? Had you forgotten that you were supposed to attend the family’s annual gathering on Wednesday? The assistant cried out inwardly.

“Then it’s settled.” Shang Ke gave him a flawless, 360-degree smile, blinding the facially blind man without the slightest surprise…

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