CHAPTER 1: Prologue Twilight
It was twilight which is light after sunset. The Twilight sky over the Eastern Spirit Plains was calm, but the air still carried a heavy chill and cold atmosphere that pressed against the skin like cold water. Somewhere far away, horses made sounds while pulling a carriage forward. The wind brushed past the ancient trees and made the dry branches crackle softly, leaves blowing in the wind and fluttering.
Inside the small shaking wooden carriage, a young boy lay down on his back. He looked unconscious and his head throbbing. His breath felt weak and rough.
" hmmm… uhhh.."
His eyes fluttered open slowly. At first everything looked like blurry shadows, looking around there were wooden bars, his hair looked very messy and unkept, the carriage had a strange smell of dirt and sweat.
thud!!!
The carriage wheel had hit against a rock which made the whole carriage shake. The sudden bump made him winced hard. He held the side of his head due to the pain.
"ouch… my head… what's this…?"
The boy's name was Yin Zhe. Yin Zhe was the youngest master of the Yin Clan. But at this moment, he didn't look like any noble young master. His face was dirty and his robe looked torn, dirty and rough. His entire being felt cold from head to teo. Yin Zhe's mind felt empty and void until a rush of memories hit him all at once.
Buzz!!!.
It felt like a heavy drum had exploded right in his skull. He was already holding his head but now his grip had gotten tighter. Then he let out a painful groan.
"hmmm… what… what is this…?"
He felt confused.
Images and memories flashed through his mind. The memories of a different world with Tall buildings, Cars, Phones, School, Streets filled with noise, The smell of smoke and The taste of food he had long forgotten.
It was Earth. His previous world before his reincarnation. Memories he had forgotten from his birth in this world till now.
His memories of Earth came back all at once.
He sat up straight his breath was fast and ragged, Yin Zhe felt like he was choking on air. The wooden bars of his cell shook as the carriage rolled forward.
"So… I… I really lived a whole life here without remembering anything from earth…?" he whispered. His voice cracked like he wasn't sure if the words were even real. "Damn… tsk… I messed everything up. I've been without my memories from earth right from birth"
He pressed his palm against his forehead and closed his eyes. The pain he felt inside wasn't just physical, it felt more like regret pressing down on his chest.
He started remembering his entire life in this new world without his memories from earth.
The life he lived in this world for years. He had taken actions that he regretted. And how he had treated the people around him.
And right now all he could possibly think was: "damnit.. tsk... I lived the life of a villain."
He swallowed hard.
He had been in this world for years. Yin Zhe was Born as the renowned youngest master of the Yin Clan. The Yin Clan was one of the strongest clans in the Northern Spirit plain. People respected the Yin Clan everywhere. They had a very long history, deep roots, and powerful cultivators who once shook the lands.
And he… Yin Zhe… had lived in the estate of that powerful clan as if the whole world belonged to him.
He remembered the looks people gave him anytime he walked by. The faces of the people was filled with fear and disgust. Some look at him with anger whenever he walked past.
People talked bad about him in the Yin estate.
"That useless young master again. He has a very low cultivation but he's very arrogant"
"He bullied the guards this morning. They can't retaliate because they didn't want to lose their jobs"
"That boy is bad luck. His more useless in cultivation than some of the servants in the estate…"
"He's too arrogant and unfitted to be the hair of the Yin clan…"
Even the maids always trembled around him, they spoke with shaky voices whenever he's around. Because they were afraid he might snap at them again.
Zhe rubbed his face with both hands.
"ahh… how could I be so stupid… how could I live like that? How was I even acting like that…? How was I so blind?"
He thought about the rumors about him that had gone through the Yin Clan.
Evil Young Master.
Spoiled Brat.
Villain With No Future.
He clenched his jaws tightly. His hands were shaking as he remembered every moment of his regretful Life.
His mother had pampered him a lot. She had always given him everything he wanted. She had always protected him from every trouble he caused. She has never punished him not even once. She loved him.
His father the patriarch of the Yin clan. was always too busy to care about the troubles he cursed. He had never punished him or reprimanded him. He believed his son had the right to do anything as the heir of the Yin clan. He left everything to his wife and the guards. They took care of the troubles caused by young master Yin Zhe.
He also thought about his older sister: Yin Lan.
His breath became slow as he started thinking of his elder sister Yin lan.
Yin Zhe's big sister was named Yin lan a pride of the Yin clan Born with a rare spiritual physique. A cultivation genius. She was someone that people across the region admired. Her cultivation was fast. She climbed realms like she was walking up a simple staircase. Yin lan was already a high-level cultivator. while he Yin Zhe was stuck at Root Awakening Realm, 4th Stage.
And even that level… wasn't really his achievement.
His voice dropped low.
"Because… mother stole one of my cousin's divine eye… just to give me a chance to cultivate…"
He felt his stomach twist as if someone punched him from inside. "This feeling of guilt" he thought.
Yin Zhe was someone with no talent for cultivation. His only savings grace was the stolen divine eye.
His cousin Yin Hao was one the most talented male amongst the youngest generations of the Yin clan.
But Yin Hao lost one of his divine Eyes to him, a rare spiritual eye type that only appeared in legends. A gift that should have led him to greatness. Even the genius of the Yin clan and other weaker clans were all suppressed by him as the youngest Master of the power Yin clan the most powerful clan in the region.
Yin Zhe touched his left eye gently.
"…and all I do is waste it. Tsk. Damnit… how can I live like this?"
He remembered the look on people's faces when they saw him. They looked at him with hatred. He was weak and arrogant. Yin Zhe was a weak bully who suppressed those who are higher in cultivation then him with the status of the Yin clan.
Everyone has this silent hatred for him. They all pray that something bad will happen to him to "teach him a lesson."
He slowly breathes out, his breath was shaky and slow.
Suddenly Yin Zhe realized something painful.
"Without guards… without my mother… without the clan protecting me… I'm dead. Anyone who I've offended will take any opportunity to end me"
Deep inside he knew the kind of life he had lived. He had lived like the exact kind of villain the hero kills. The final boss. The kind of villain that the readers cheer for when he dies. He was the "Young Master" people hated in stories "the stepping stone of the protagonist".
"No wonder… no wonder I'm here now," he said quietly, while looking around the wooden cage he was locked in. He lifted his shackled hands and let them fall lightly against his lap. "Clang…"
The sound of the shackles made him shiver.
His memory dug deeper as He tried to remember how he ended up here.
He looked to the side.
That was when he noticed another prisoner in the next cell/cage. It was a bald muscular looking guy with a scar across his eye. The guy was staring at him silently, he could see his eye they looked like cold stones. Yin Zhe blinked twice.
Blink...
Blink...
"Tsk… who is this guy?"
The bald guy didn't say a word. He just continued staring and breathing through his nose with a soft and heavy sound.
"Hmmm… hmmm…"
Yin Zhe licked his dry lips. His throat also felt dry.
He decided to ignore the guy for now and he turned away and forced himself to recall what had happened and how he had ended up here.
He thought hard… "damnit… think, think…"
Then it hit him.
He had furiously stormed out of the Yin Estate that afternoon. after his big sister Yin Lan had beat him up. She had beaten him in front of her visitors: senior disciples from the Heavenly Sword Sect.
He had tried to harass and bully them. Like a foolish villain. Something he always did.
He could still hear his sister's voice in his memory, it was loud and filled with both anger and disappointment:
"Yin Zhe, stop embarrassing our family!" Yin lan said.
His cheek could almost feel the phantom sting of the slap she had given him.
Thud.
The carriage wheel hit a rock as it kept rolling through the bumpy road.
"tsk… she beat me so badly," he muttered.
He remembered running out the gate with anger. He did take any guards or escorts with him as he stormed out. He had even forbidden any guards from following him. back then only thing guiding his steps was Just pure anger. He hated the fact that he was weak and couldn't fight back without the power of the Yin clan. He walked straight into the woods outside Yin Town like he had something to prove.
He had gotten to a forest while still overwhelmed by anger. Suddenly he felt a strong hit to his head.
Thud!!!.
He had felt a sharp and heavy pain at the back of his head. The hit was stronger than anything he had taken before. The only thing he saw next was pure darkness.
He woke up in this carriage.
"Hmm.. the shock of that insane hit must have truly knocked some sense into me." Yin Zhe said. Then he paused.
"Maybe that's why my memories of earth have returned." Yin Zhe felt stupid at the moment.
"Nah... I'm not sure if these kinds of things actually work like that".
Yin Zhe thought for a while.
"I think there's more to it" he said while using two fingers to rub his chin.
He shook his head slowly. Looking disappointed.
"…so this is how I'll die? Kidnapped? Sold? Executed? Or used for alchemy and experiments Tsk… all because of one stupid anger and the stupid life I lived."
He looked down.
There was dirt all over him. Then he stared at his fingers. His fingers were bruised. His knees had cuts. And the robe he wore… wasn't even his robe.
He pinched and pulled at the cloth. It tore a little.
"Crkk…"
The cloth was thin, Rough and Old. The color had faded. He had never worn anything as trashy like this before. Not even as a joke.
"My clothes… someone took them," he whispered. "My storage pouch must be gone too… everything was stolen…"
He sighed.
"What a pity…"
His voice broke softly.
Throughout His whole life, he had only worn silk or jade, and expensive fabrics. Even his casual robes were worth more than a guard's yearly salary. Yet now he looked like a street beggar who had crawled out of a ditch.
A low laugh came from his throat.
"Hmph… look at me now. Even beggars are looking better than me"
He tried moving his legs but winced when he felt pain shot through them.
"Ow… hisss… my whole body hurts like crap."
He leaned his head back against the wooden wall. The carriage wheels rolled over another few bumps once again.
Thud… thud… thud…
The sound echoed in his ears like a slow heartbeat.
His memories of Earth which he had just retrieved a while ago was now mixed with his new life in this world. His thoughts twisted between regret, confusion, and fear.
He could die at any moment since he was someone who had a lot of enemies despite his low cultivation. He had no idea where the carriage was headed. Neither did He have any power to break free. He was alone without the Yin Clan's power. He had guards or his family to protect him. And No clan member to hide behind.
It was Just him.
A boy who only had a stolen divine eye and a ruined reputation.
He let out a tiny breath.
"…What a pity…" he said again, quieter this time.
He looked around at the ragged robe on his body.
He could tell that this wasn't his robe… his must have been taken by his abductor or kidnapper and was sold or something. Cuz he had such nice clothes… . What a pity…