The Dead Is Alive. And The Alive Is Dead.

"This... really doesn't make sense," Yang Huo muttered under his breath.

For over an hour, he had been poring over the story given by that still-missing owl. The narrative supposedly chronicled the interactions between the original Yang Huo and Su Meiying. But while their contact had dwindled in their later years, there should still be plenty of material for him to use.

'But the more I read this, the less sense it makes,' Yang Huo concluded as his brows furrowed with frustration towards the screen in front of him.

Nothing, truly nothing, could explain the Su Meiying he had just encountered.

In the story, Su Meiying was exactly as he had expected. A lonely girl unjustly persecuted by her own family. Though there were moments that showcased her resilience and unwavering perseverance, they fell far short of explaining the massive personality shift he observed.

Even if she had undergone a significant transformation over the long period since the original Yang Huo last saw her...

"Why doesn't she hate me?"

Even he had to admit that the original Yang Huo was a bastard through and through. Though he wasn't one to sling dirty words as insults, his sharp tongue was akin to pouring salty pepper into a wound.

He might not have inflicted the wound, but he made damn sure it stung like hell.

And even if Su Meiying was a living saint and had forgiven him, it made little sense for her to act so... positively like this.

"No way... it's not because of the face, right?" Yang Huo said half-jokingly, half in disbelief, as he turned towards the bronze mirror hanging on the wall.

Drawing closer, Yang Huo studied his reflection.

His long, dark purple hair flowed down his back, held in place by an ornate crown that lent a regal touch to his appearance. His eyes, a striking gold, glimmered with an intense, almost otherworldly brilliance, a sharp contrast to the cold, untouchable aura he exuded.

His skin was flawless, smooth, and.... and.... dammit! Wasn't this body a little too handsome?!!?

'Tsk, this face looks even better than my original one..... but only slightly though.'

...Yeah, you wished.

With a weary sigh, the man collapsed onto the soft bed with a thud. Opening his eyes, his gaze went directly to the screen in front of him, honing in on a passage where a name was written.

[Yang Huo]

He hated it.

Every time he was called by the foreign name of this original body, it felt like he was being coerced into playing a role in some grand theater.

But after seeing his appearance in the bronze mirror, he couldn't deny it any longer. From now on, this was his body. His name. His reputation. His backstory. And his true identity.

He was Yang Huo.

"Oi, System, come out," Yang Huo called to the screen in front of him. But just like his earlier attempts, no one answered. Only the cold, emotionless screen stared back at him.

However, as though ensnared by the abyss, Yang Huo kept his gaze fixed on the motionless screen. It was unclear what occupied his thoughts at that moment. But after a long silence, he suddenly muttered in a low voice, "System, open the inventory."

Instantly, a new screen materialized, displaying a completely empty inventory.

When he saw what happened, Yang Huo exhaled a long sigh.

It seemed his hunch was right... or maybe not? Well, it really didn't matter. He would be testing it out sooner or later. For now, it was more important to focus on his original plan.

Staring at the ceiling, Yang Huo retrieved a crystal necklace from his storage ring. It featured a small, eight-sided gem emitting a dark glow reminiscent of the bottomless depth of the vast blue ocean.

'Su Meiying's necklace... there must be something special about it.' as he pondered this, Yang Huo began twirling the small gem around his fingers, searching for anything noteworthy.

Here's a question. Why would the System purposefully give him a book that specifically documented the story of the original Yang Huo and his fiancée?

The System didn't seem to be the type that appreciated romance. So who was this so-called fiancée to be so important that the System deemed it necessary to record?

And now that he had met the actual Su Meiying, Yang Huo was even more convinced of his conjecture.

'That girl is special. She has to be.'

So whatever this girl considered important... it would be reasonable to think that there's real value within this necklace, right?

And as though favored by Lady Luck herself, when he infused his Qi energies into the blue necklace... although most of it swirled around the gem, a tiny fraction got absorbed for an extremely brief moment before being expelled.

Yang Huo smiled. It always felt good to be right.

But the excitement was only short-lived. After a few more minutes of trying everything he could think of, there was no further breakthrough, unfortunately.

"Hmm... since it at least reacts with Qi energies, does it help in cultivation?"

Coincidentally, he also wanted to try out this so-called 'cultivation'. In his original world, there were no such things as magical energies permeating the world. So he had no prior experience in utilizing these energies within him.

In fact, everything he had done before relied purely on the body's memory. Using his storage ring, identifying a medicinal pill, activating the spider spy puppet, and even sensing another's presence were all possible because the body remembered; because the original Yang Huo had performed all of those actions thousands of times.

Raising his body, Yang Huo closed his eyes and settled into a comfortable lotus position. With the necklace in hand, he slowly circulate the energies throughout his body.

From stomach to chest, chest to head, head to limbs, limbs to the tips of his fingers, and finally, to the necklace in his hand.

But it was to no avail. No matter how much energy he poured in, no matter its purity or intensity, most of it simply dispersed around the gem, while the rest got expelled from the necklace.

'This is a big failure...'

Now stuck in his progress, Yang Huo halted his cultivation and opened his ey—

Darkness. Everywhere he looked, only the void greeted him. Yang Huo had somehow been transpoted to an unknown realm.

And no matter where Yang Huo turned his head, whether to the sky, the ground, the far or the near, only darkness surrounded him.

'Is this the necklace doing?' Yang Huo wondered, noticing that the necklace had disappeared from his hand.

In this very bizarre situation, Yang Huo calmed himself and tried to stand—only for a sharp pain to erupt in his chest.

*Sqwelp!*

It was so sudden, so excruciating, that he couldn't comprehend what had happened. His body froze mid-motion as a warm wetness spread across his robe.

Instinctively, Yang Huo reached for his chest, his fingers encountering something excruciatingly sharp. It was in that moment he realized the truth—he had been stabbed. A sword had pierced straight through his heart.

"W-who...?!"

Slowly, he turned his head, eyes widening in horror as he saw a dark silhouette.

As strength left his body, Yang Huo collapsed to the ground. But his eyes remained locked onto the figure looming over him.

Struggling to keep himself conscious, Yang Huo couldn't believe what he was seeing.

It was a familiar face, one he had seen very recently.

One he could not, would not, and should not forget.

But... this man wasn't supposed to be here. He... was supposed to be dead.

"Y.... Yang Huo...?" Yang Huo muttered in disbelief.

The dark silhouette responded with an uncanny resemblance in voice. "And hello to you Yang Huo... or... should I call you a fraud instead?"

Crouching down before the dying Yang Huo, the figure revealed a sinister smile, eyes brimming with malice. "How's my body? Do you enjoy using it?"

As that voice entered his ears, Yang Huo's consciousness slowly dispersed. His eyes blurred and his body became motionless.

Yang Huo... had died.