2 Chapter 2: Long Tian!

In a desolate world of mortal mortals, the land was divided into several portions, dividing them into major continents of this world.

Among them was the Red Fire continent, ruled over by a mighty empire named Tian Ren.

The Tian Ren empire had numerous cities and mountains within its territory, sprawling over areas that were covered by mountains not any less than what was covered by the numerous cities within the great empire.

Nestled within the backwaters of the empire lay a small city called the Primal Dawn City.

The Primal Dawn City was governed under the rule of three dominant clans; the Long, Wang and the Xiao.

Despite the general festive atmosphere within the city, within one of these three major clans, the situation was quite the opposite.

On this particular day, there lay an air of gloominess that filled the atmosphere of the Long Clan manor, due to the recent events.

In the deserted corner of the clan's territory stood a courtyard, filled with the scent of dew-kissed grass which mingled with the distant whisper of ancient trees. 

Yet, amidst this serene and vibrant atmosphere, there prevailed a gloomy aura, giving one a sense of palpitation.

A young teen abruptly sat up on his bed, as if after having woken up from the worst nightmare he might have ever had.

The teen's face was drenched in sweat and contorted with horror.

After taking a look and scanning the small cottage-like room he was in and finally taking a look at himself, the teen realized his current predicament and slammed his tightened fists on the bed.

"I ended up in the body of a child! All of my efforts went in vain."

The boy cursed aloud in anger, but as he tried to move himself up, a sharp pain coursed through his body, assaulting him, forcing him to lie with his back on the bed.

This youth was none other than Noah, whose fate had taken an unexpected turn in the final moments.

With his eyes filled with frustration, Noah aimed his curses at everyone he thought was responsible for his current state. 

After letting out a series of unrestrained curses and venting his anger, Noah finally calmed down and began to check what was the state of his body. 

While he was inspecting the unfamiliar body, a set of memories suddenly flashed through his mind. After looking through the memories, a complicated look appeared on his face.

Those were the remnant memories of the previous owner of this body, however, they were like broken shards and he would need some time to go through each and every one of them.

Nonetheless, after sorting through some of these memory fragments, Noah gained some insight into the kind of world he was in and what had happened to the previous owner of this body which resulted in his demise.

With cautious moves, he tried to rise from the bed once again before trying to lean against the bedpost and took a good look around to survey the room.

The memories related to the room started to flood inside his mind, providing more context.

While he was lost in the torrent of memories, Noah was interrupted by the creaking of the door while it was being opened, indicating that someone had entered the room.

As soon as the door was opened, a figure dashed towards him while calling out a name.

"LONG TIAN!" 

This name was like a whisper in his subconscious, and he soon understood that this was the name of the original owner of the body he was currently possessing.

After comprehending that, he turned to look at the blurry figure that had suddenly tackled him on the bed once again. 

A moment after he got a good look at the face of the figure, Noah suddenly froze.

In front of him was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen in both of his lives and Noah could feel her mature body that was clinging to his. 

Her worrisome face caused several memories to flash in his mind, causing her identity to become clearer to him.

This woman was Xin Yan, the mother of the body of the person he was currently in. 

However, Noah would sense that there was something off about her but he could not pinpoint it and could only ignore it for now and looked at her with careful eyes.

Xin Yan looked at Long Tian with worry, her eyes brimming with tears, threatening to roll down the very instant. She blurted, as her lips quivered, "Tian are you alright? Do you feel any pain?"

She kept asking one question after the other, not even waiting for an answer.

While Xin Yan was asking with a relieved smile on her face, a sudden memory flooded Noah's mind where he saw that a small playful boy was running on the ground while a woman chased after him, shouting in worry–'Tian slow down, you will fall and get yourself hurt. Come back with me, you need to study.'

However, the boy paid no heed to the woman's pleas and continued his frantic run before stumbling over a stone falling over his face and getting himself injured

The woman rushed at him in a hurry and scooped him up in her arms, her eyes filled with worry as she examined his injuries.

"Tian are you alright? Does it hurt? Let's go and see a doctor. What if it causes an infection, let's go."

She urged, not even waiting for the boy to respond before she hurried him to the doctor. There was a look of helplessness and warmth on the boy's face as she had very little allowance and she could only use her jewelry as a payment for the medical expenses.

As he looked through the memory, Noah's heart shook, resulting in turmoil within his heart along with numerous questions which he couldn't help but ask himself.

'What do I tell her? That her son is dead. The fact that the person she is hugging and showering her love to is not her real son? Or should I deceive her into making her accept that I am her son, shamelessly accepting her love for someone else as my own? Even though I have done so many bad things, this is just…'

Amidst Noah's internal conflict, Long Tian's mother gazed at his face in worry as if sensing his complicated emotions. 

She had a feeling that her son was somewhat different than usual. If it was before, he would have pushed her away and the aura around him also seemed to have changed to a more mature one as if all of his childish nature had suddenly been overshadowed.

But before she could ask anymore or even get an answer to any of her previous questions, the door of the room was opened once again and a woman wearing maids' clothes barged into the room without asking for permission and delivered in an emotionless voice as she looked at the duo, "The clan head has summoned both of you."

As soon as she finished speaking, she left the room without even closing the door behind her. 

Noah also snapped out of his reverie as he looked at the maid's leaving figure with no particular emotions, however, there was a certain sense of fear and shock that was hidden in her eyes, something that only someone experienced would be able to notice.

Turning back to the woman who was embracing him, Noah assured her, "Let's talk about this after we come back from the meeting." 

After hearing his calm and determined voice, although Xin Yan nodded her head in agreement, she had a foreboding feeling in the corner of her heart which she had ignored. This was a feeling that had been gripping her heart for a long time, almost suffocating her.

As they made their way to the family hall, Noah noticed that the servants were either ignoring them or were whispering something while looking in their direction.

The father of the owner of this body was the son of the clan head and his mother was a wife whom his father had chosen by himself, disregarding the fiancé the family had arranged for him. 

Initially, it didn't cause any dissatisfaction among the family members, but when Long Tian's father left due to some work and never came back, that was when the lives of the mother and son took a turn for the worse.

The Long family never gave them much importance and their allowance was also significantly reduced and now they were barely surviving.

Their diminished status within the family was also the reason why Long Tian trained rigorously to be powerful, hoping to change their fate. And for some reason his disregard for his mother started to increase, making her think that he blamed her for their current struggles. 

The reason for Long Tian's death was also tied to a recent event that took place in the city, an event that was attended by everyone from the city.

Soon, they reached the main hall, meanwhile, Noah had also made his decision but there was something he needed to see one thing by himself. 

How far this so-called family was willing to go to solve their current problem?

Moments later, he entered the hall with staggering steps, showing that he was still injured. 

As soon as he entered the hall, a booming voice called out, summoning him, "You have finally arrived, Long Tian. Now it's time for us to talk."