1 Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The city was covered with a white powdery-like snow. This time of the year will always be the loneliest time for a young man who was living alone. He stared out of his rundown apartment's window as the little snows made their ways down, falling one by one to the ground.

"*Sigh*", Xiao Bai let out a frustrated sigh as he thought about the things going on in his life. Xiao Bai was a 21 year old guy who lives on his own, he stopped going to school at the age of 15 and was forced to do hard work in order to support himself .

His parents owned a business that was not too big nor too small but unluckily both of his parents died in a car accident leaving the 10 year old Xiao Bai in his maternal aunt's care.

At first his untie and her family was nice to him and cared for him but that was until all the assets of his parents were transferred to Xiao Bai then his untie, as his guardian, managed to get her hands on the money then showed their true colors and abused the poor boy.

Xiao Bai endured all of it for 5 years, until he grew tired of being a white lotus and decided to run away from home, no it isn't even a home, it's a house full of monsters that hurt him and used him to get all their money.

It was hard for him at first but he strived to get a job and somehow managed to get his self a rundown apartment to take shelter and enough money to buy food and other basic necessities.

Finally, Xiao Bai decided to go out and buy something to at least reward his self for making it into another year. He pulled his old coat from the rusty rack and go out on the cold night.

"Woah! I didn't know that snows could be this beautiful!" he said amazed as he started to play at the pile of snows with his feet.

He was somewhat annoyed for being always ignorant about this things for the sole reason that he just wanted to survive in this scary world and forget to appreciate the beautiful things around him.

But one thing is for sure, his heart was surely slowly turning cold the moment he faced his reality. Cold just like this winter season.

....

After a while of buying some snacks and two bottles of liquor from a nearby convenient store, he walked out and saw an old beggar who was silently walking on the cold streets alone and was only wearing a thin layer of clothes.

He eyed the old beggar who began laying a cardboard on a waiting shed then afterwards he decided to go and talk to him. Well he may be starting to harden and protect his heart but he is still a human being and just wanted to help those who are more unfortunate.

He couldn't help but feel a little pity to the poor man. He then decided to have a little chat with the beggar since he doesn't really feel like going back on that empty apartment yet.

"Mister. Do you have it hard too? I mean are you having a hard time in life?", he asked as soon as he sat on one of the concrete bench and the old man looked at him devoid of any feelings as if he was looking at nothingness.

Xiao Bai also looked at the man and handed him a bottle of liquor and some snacks. The old man saw this and his eyes sparkled at the offer then took it a lightning speed making Xiao Bai startled.

The old man suddenly started talking with a hoarse voice due to the temperature, "You know I don't really have it hard. I get to live and breathe everyday, I think it's good enough." He spoke while chugging the liquor and Xiao Bai also decided to drink his share.

Xiao Bai replied enviously, "Must be nice!"

"Hey mister, do you have a family? How about a special someone?" he continued after a short pause while blankly stared at the snow outside of the shed's roof.

" I don't. But I knew in my heart that my family is always there, and that I will always cherish them no matter how many lifetimes have gone." The old man replied and also looked solemnly at the snow.

The old man gave such an abstract answer but Xiao Bai could feel that he was really serious. After a while of Xiao Bai's silence, came a series of soft sobs and the old man looked at him questioningly.

"I wish I could feel that with my family as well.", he laughed languidly then continued,

" All my life I yearned for that feeling but all they gave me was pain, all they wanted was wealth, and my bastard ex dumped me a month ago after I caught him cheating with my bestfriend.", he laughed again but this time he was laughing at how an idiot he was.

All this time he should have guessed that her aunt is aiming at their money and that his so-called "B.F.F." only got close to him to hook up with his boyfriend, no scratch that, ex-boyfriend.

Xiao Bai knew in himself that crying for this reason was obviously pointless but those two slags have been his support along the way, they made a huge impact in his life only to be betrayed.

"You know if someone took something away from you then you should just steal it back if not then force them to give it back to you. Well, you should just let go of your ex-boyfriend though. I believe someone is there just waiting for you." the old man advised then chugged the remaining alcohol, lied down on his cardboard then slept like a log.

When Xiao Bai saw this, he also laughed and thanked the old man for the short acquaintance then got himself up to go home.

" If someone took something away from you then you should just steal it from them if not then force them to give it back to you."

This sentence has been chanting in his head for a while now, and his heart, for some unknown reason, became uneasy.

He got too immersed at what the old man told him that he forgot that he was walking at the middle of the road and suddenly came a light approaching her at full speed. Then-

*...*beep...beep...beep...*

*BANG!!!*

Xiao Bai stared at the incoming car and smiled to himself.

'Does the world think that I'm very pitiable and wants me to rest already?', he thought.

He held his chin up as he waited for the impact to happen and finally closed his eyes with an accepting smile on his face..

..............

Xiao Bai fluttered his eyes trying to open them. And after a few more attempts he finally managed to take a clear look at his surroundings.

The land he saw was very vast and was covered with a thick layer of snow that slightly emitted a light due to the moonlight.

'Am I in heaven?', he thought and then let out a giggle as if ridiculing himself.

" Xiao Bai!!", a distant voice called his name and his ears perked up to see who was calling. Could it be the god of death?

" Xiao Bai!!", the voice called out again and this time it was nearer and came insight a lady in cloak and was holding an oil lamp on her right hand.

Xiao Bai stared at the silhouette of the lady wandering in the wide until she saw Xiao Bai's lying figure and rushed to his side.

" Xiao Bai, a-are you alright?", the old lady asked him but he didn't respond and stared at the lady's face instead.

The lady seemed to know him and she is obviously not a god of death.

"Who are you?", after he finished his sentence the lady looked into his eyes with disbelief.

"This little kid, you already made me worried sick when you ran away from home!... I'm sorry for keeping it a secret until now..", the lady replied like she really knew Xiao Bai then it hit him- HE UNDENIABLY DIED ALRIGHT!!!

He knew for sure that he would certainly die from being hit by a car that fast, if he was still in his original body and he survived the accident then he should be at the hospital but judging from the old lady's words it seems that he was looking for Xiao Bai the whole time.

It was rational to think of this.

'Oh No!', Xiao Bai mentally slapped his self and thought of the one and only thing that was happening to him- Did I just transmigrate?!

The old lady mentioned that the original ran away into the cold night and maybe froze himself to death letting the modern Xiao Bai's soul to enter.

Thinking of this made Xiao Bai's head to throb and a severe headache hit him as images and unfamiliar scenes played in his head. Scenes that are obviously not his and he was not familiar with.

..............

[Xiao Bai's POV: the original host]

I grew up only with my mother on my side. We live in an isolated place so there are no neighbors nearby and I don't have anyone to be friends with.

In short, I have spent a lonely childhood and all I did for entertainment was playing on the mountain and hunt some animals for food, I also did the heavy works because my mother is not getting any younger and I have to give a helping hand.

My mom taught me how to read and write and when I was younger she would always tell me stories about the capital. Yes, the capital where the royalties, nobles, and rich merchants live.

I always wished to visit the capital with my mom but we are not fortunate enough to be able to enter.

She said that the capital is well-protected by a tall gate and no one can enter if they are not a noble or a royal, and even those rich merchants need a proper invitation before they could enter.

But she would always boast that she once worked at the palace and she would always tell me many stories about the lady she served.

But unluckily her lady was gone and she wouldn't tell me the reason. Its okay though, I knew that she missed the lady that treated her like a sister despite their position in the empire, not to mention that this lady is the one that insisted my mom to learn how to read and write.

...

I am currently at the mountain near our house. The whole mountain was covered in white and the trees with no leaves on them gave it an additional touch.

I am planning to hunt for some food in the mountain's forest and stock a lot of meat before the snow gets harder, because I can't imagine myself eating only vegetables for the whole winter.

Finally, I went back home holding three rabbits and a deer and smiled at my success.

I was planning to surprise my mother so I entered the house through the window in the back of the house and sneakily went to the kitchen but mother was nowhere to be found, so I tried to look in the living room and saw her standing at the door and talking to someone I don't know.

I was about to call her when I heard my name from the stranger and decided to listen a little bit more.

"Xiao Bai is turning 15 tomorrow. You should tell him already, I know that he'll understand.", an unfamiliar male voice said.

" I know that he deserves to know the truth but I couldn't bring myself to tell him." mother replied with a shaky voice and I couldn't help myself but to feel nervous.

"But the palace needs him. The people are waiting and he is the only hope."nthe stranger persuaded my mom then she started to sob.

"I raised Xiao Bai alone and I've already seen him as my own son. That's why...That's why I can't just go and tell him that I'm not his real mother." after my mother finished her sentence, she immediately cried harder and I was unable to process the situation.

'What? I'm not my mother's son?' I thought, my tears falling down as I cry quietly and all of the food that I hunted slipped from my hands causing a sound that caught their attention.

My mom, whom I thought to be my real mom, saw me and I could see that she was petrified. Maybe it was due to my frustration but I shouted at her.

" You lied to me?!"

She tried to talk but her cries drowned her voice. Honestly, even though my mom lied to me I'm not mad at her I was just frustrated at the thought that all those years I actually was living in a lie. So I ran pass them at full speed and ran without knowing where I was headed to.

All I wanted now was a peaceful place to help me clear my mind.

And when I regained my sanity I scolded myself for shouting at her.

I was exhausted physically and mentally but I tried to find my way home since the sky was getting darker, but as the night took over the day the cold also reigned at the entire platform.

The chill was getting its way to my body and I fell on the ground covered with snow, numb. I tried to stand up but my legs were weak and I slumped helplessly in the cold snow. I stared into the dark blue and cloudy sky as a teardrop escaped and slid on my cheek.

"I'm sorry mom." I whispered into the cool wind wishing that it could deliver my message.

..............

Author's note: Hi,everyone! Precious here!*smiley face*. I'm very happy to finally start uploading my story here. If you have any thoughts and opinions, I would delitedly read it so please do leave a comment or review. It would deifinitely mean a lot to me.

Finally, enjoy reading!~