At the age of five years old, Mei Hua caught a terrible fever that threatened his life. In the throes of illness, he suddenly remembered everything. Memories from his past life bubbled to the surface like a bloated corpse in a lake. One by one the skeletons fell out of a very dusty closet. Even more painful than the fever were the images in his head.
When Little Mei Hua woke up from the fever, he was changed. Gone was the bubbly, extroverted child that his doting parents knew, replaced with a withdrawn, introverted little thing. They had no idea how an illness could change their precious child so much, but from that day on, Mei Hua was no longer the same.
Mei Hua wouldn’t talk that much and he would get nervous whenever his parents or others approached him. He would look between them with suspicion as they tried to shower their love unto their child. Whenever his father would raise his hand to pat the boy on the head, Mei Hua would flinch and retreat as though he were about to be beaten. Whenever his mother tried to pull him to her chest to cuddle, he would gag at the smell of her perfume and wriggle viciously out of her arms before running away.
In little Mei Hua’s mind, he was no five-year-old. He was already mentally 17, and his past experiences were deeply engraved in his soul. He didn’t understand what a loving family was. He didn’t know that fathers pat their sons on their heads to show affection, or that mothers hug and cuddle their children as a sign of their love. It was simply something he hadn’t experienced before. He believed that parents equaled monsters, and since these people were now his parents they, too, must be monsters.
One thing the boy did understand, though, was the fact that he had been reborn into a cultivator’s world. That mere fact had Mei Hua bursting with excitement. He had loved reading cultivation novels in his first life, especially the one with his favorite villain, Qing Xin.
Mei Hua had obsessively read everything and anything that contained Qing Xin. He loved the villain’s personality and reasoning because he felt that it matched his own quite well. A villain that had been abused and betrayed all of his life sought revenge and wanted to change the world.
Mei Hua was hoping against all odds that he was reborn into the very novel that he had obsessed over. He desperately wanted to meet the villain who was so much like him. He wanted to protect him and stay by his side so that he didn’t have to experience the cruelness of the world, or that he at least had someone to lean on. Just like how he had wished someone would do the same for him.
In his mind, Mei Hua thought that there was no reason to live unless he did it for the villain at this point. He had already lived a life and it was terrible. He didn’t see the need to live another one (any life would be terrible to him), but if he could use it to dedicate himself to his favorite villain, then he wouldn’t mind.
So, thinking like that, Mei Hua decided that he was going to be a cultivator. If he wanted to be able to stand by the villain’s side, then he would need to be able to defend himself and protect the other at the same time. It was a good idea to start now while he was still so young-- the sooner the better. Unlike the villain, he was just some random person who had no halo over his head that guaranteed he was going to be able to succeed.
With his newfound desire to be a cultivator, Mei Hua’s parents had an opportunity to get close to him. His father would train him while his mother would teach him theory and meditation. Through this method, the family grew closer. Mei Hua was no longer suspicious of his parents who never tried to hurt him. If anything, they were too kind.
Candies, cultivation pills, books, tools. Anything that Mei Hua desired, his parents would buy for him. His parents spoiled him rotten. Mei Hua who saw they were trying so hard, let his father pat his head and his mother hug him, and he didn’t hate it or run away anymore. He learned from watching the other families in his sect that it was normal for a parent to do this. His past parents were the abnormal ones.
Before he could develop a deeper connection with his parents, Mei Hua was reminded how shitty humans were. He had almost forgotten, growing up in a secure bubble for the last five years.
At the age of ten, his sect was razed to the ground. The men were killed mercilessly, the women were raped and then killed, and the children were taken as slaves to be sold. Mei Hua was surprised that humanity could sink even lower than he had thought. His heart that was slowly being reforged was doused with cold water. All that remained was a lump of melted iron that was cold as ice.
Mei Hua was thrown into a cage full of other children all huddled together. Their expensive sect robes had been confiscated and replaced with coarse burlap sacks that had head and arm holes cut out. The material was rough against Mei Hua’s sensitive skin and instantly began to chafe.
Was this in the story? Mei Hua wondered absently himself, staring down at his bare feet. I remember sects being burned down in the book, but I didn’t think it would happen to mine. I thought it was just a minor, no-name sect since I don’t remember the name appearing in the book.
The image of his parent’s smiling faces flitted through his mind. That gentle image was slowly being stained with blood as he remembered his father’s dismembered corpse and his mother’s heart-wrenching screams as she was raped before they slit her throat. All of this happened before Mei Hua’s eyes as he was forced to watch. His mother’s blood felt warm when it splattered against his face, the stains were still there.
Large golden eyes stared blankly, devoid of any light. All the kindness and love he had received these last couple of years seemed to be fading from his mind like a bleeding wound. If anything, the little hope that he was shown felt like a cruel joke now that it had been ripped away from him.
Mei Hua smirked and giggled under his breath. He should have known better. Humans will always and forever be disgusting, terrible creatures. Even in this world, things did not change. That fact felt almost comfortable to Mei Hua, it was something familiar. Now he knew for sure that he couldn’t trust anyone. He could not make friends or have a family. He would not have a lover. Because if he did, they would either betray him or leave him. That was not something he could tolerate.
A guard who was watching over the children in the cage scowled when he heard Mei Hua’s giggling. It was both frustrating and bone-chillingly creepy. The man wanted it to stop. He banged the hilt of his sword against the bars, causing a loud clanging sound. The children in the cage jumped except for Mei Hua who was still laughing to himself.
The children in the cage all scooted away from the creepy child in fear. They knew that the kid was about to be beaten so they didn’t want to be associated with him and suffer the consequences.
“Shut the fuck up, kid!” The guard demanded, clanging his sword against the cage bars once again.
Slowly, Mei Hua looked up at the guard, his empty eyes staring dazedly at the man. His golden eyes blinked languidly. The corners of his lips were curled up and he continued to giggle behind a blood-stained hand.
All the guard’s hairs stood on end as he looked at the child. Those dead eyes that were a deep golden color and his blood-splattered face made the child look like a demon. The guard swallowed nervously before his stomach boiled with anger and embarrassment. What was there to fear about a child?
Out of fury, he opened the cage and pulled out the child by his hair. He threw the small frame against the rough ground. The child continued giggling incessantly.
“You must have gone insane,” The guard said aloud. He cracked his knuckles as he prepared to teach the child a lesson.
Mei Hua stared up at the guard. The looming figure reminded him of his past. He felt a fist sink into his gut and smiled at the blooming pain. It was so familiar. This is how it should be! Everything before was a lie. Mei Hua just giggled more as he was beaten into a pulp until he lost consciousness after spitting out blood.
The other children and guards watched the scene in horror. Not a few kids had wet themselves as they watched the child be beaten up yet still giggling like some kind of monster, even worse was the glint in the guard’s eyes as he mercilessly pounded on a small child. All the children were afraid that they would be next if they made any sound whatsoever.
Mei Hua was thrown back into the cage without any medical treatment, his fate left to the gods. With everything settled, the carriage began to move, dragging the cage full of slave-children behind it. The guards followed closely on horseback.
I normally like to give feedback on books that haven't received any rating, I usually don't even look at the tags or read the synopsis. I would include [BL] in your title to discourage people like me, this will also help your true reader base find you easier when you update! Everything looks good though, great job!
Thank you for the advice