It felt like his sanity fell off its axis.
Zhang Shuyu's hands trembled as he took in the sight before him.
Gone was the tanned and calloused hands that were normally found in adult men. Instead, in its place were jade-like soft hands that seemed to belong to a person who hadn't worked a single day in his life.
Worse still, was the diminutive size of it.
Ignoring the pain, or better yet, he was too numb to pay attention to it, he rapidly shifted his gaze left and right before he finally noticed a simple oval-shaped hand mirror on top of a rickety wooden table.
Without much thought, Zhang Shuyu swung his body to get off the bed but his legs got tangled with the sheets and his weakened state just helped in sending him crashing down the ground. His body ached from the severe pain, he was still too weak to move about.
However, his mind was too strained with this impossible scenario that he found himself in.
Gritting his teeth, Zhang Shuyu slowly stumbled towards the mirror. He clenched his trembling hands around it before he steeled his determination and gazed at this body's reflection.
Staring back was a pair of phoenix-shaped silver eyes that was slightly covered by silky raven-colored hair, which then delicately framed the pale cheeks of this childish body that he was currently inhabiting in.
He weakly touched this foreign face with his free hand as he marveled the enormity of this situation he found himself in.
"Tsk!" Zhang Shuyu winced as his fingers touched a slight bruise at the corner of his lips.
He heaved a sigh as he placed down the mirror, before examining his surroundings yet again. His sight noticed the shabby interior of the room, from the cracks on the ceilings, the worn and broken furniture, towards the inch-long dust that coated and hovered around. He could hazard a guess that the original owner of this body was not only neglected but also abused.
A wave of pity and righteous anger rushed through him as he thought about all the suffering that the original owner must've gone through. The owner shouldn't have been a day over four years of age if he wasn't mistaken. However, now that he thought about it, this body was clearly malnourished. A faded tattered robe dispiritedly hung from this boy's thin and delicate frame.
Wait.
I am a boy, right?!
Zhang Shuyu hurriedly bundled up the hems and lifted. His shoulders sagged in relief as no more surprises came his way. His manhood was still intact, fortunately.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, he tried to organize his scattered thoughts.
He clearly died from that head-on collision with that goddamn truck, no doubt about that part. However, instead of proceeding to the afterlife, getting his memories erased by Lady Meng, and generally getting settled into a new rebirth, he...
Hold that thought.
Is this my rebirth?
But... no, he was supposed to have his memories erased... right?
Aside from that, wasn't the cycle of rebirth supposed to happen in the future? And not getting transported back into the past?
This setting was definitely way back into the past.
But, what if it was indeed my rebirth?
What if the cycle of rebirth can happen both forwards, or backward?
Who's to say I'm even in the same world?
If so, then doesn't that mean that I'm the original owner of this body?
Doubts crept in his mind. He tried to search for this body's memories, but he came up blank. If this was indeed his rebirth self then wouldn't he be able to retain his memories?
He was starting to get a headache with all these thoughts whirling rapidly in his mind. Suddenly, the rattling of the sliding door distracted him. A second later, a gangly teen with washed-off pale blue robes came sauntering arrogantly inside the room whilst carrying a tray with a bowl of porridge on top of it. The newcomer stepped forward a couple of times before he finally noticed Zhang Shuyu's small form. His eyes showed a flicker of surprise before it was quickly buried under an overt show of disdain.
"Ahh, you're awake." The teen gave a sneer before carelessly tossing the bowl of porridge on the ground just before the smaller boy's feet. The bowl upturned causing the porridge to spill all over the floor, some of it had even splashed on Zhang Shuyu's bare feet. Thankfully, it was already cold, lest he got scalded and add more injuries to his already worn body.
"What are you waiting for? Eat!" The guy gave a malicious smirk as he stepped forward and squished his boot on the spilled porridge, successfully dirtying and disgracing the food even further.
Contrary to his clear provocation, Zhang Shuyu simply looked at his actions before throwing him an expressionless look. These types of bullies were pretty common in his last life. He had learned to just ignore the petty taunts that these people made.
The teen was startled as Zhang Shuyu's blank, empty gaze unnerved him. He wasn't used to receiving such a blank and direct stare from this boy, it greatly unsettled him for some reason. He hesitated for a moment before he threw another sneer in the smaller boy's direction again.
"You better finish this up!" With that last threat, the guy turned tail and left.
Zhang Shuyu tilted his head at the teen's retreating back, very much amused.
What a spineless child.
This cleared up the notion that this teen was the one who abused the body he was now the owner of. Such a person wouldn't have the guts to lay a hand against this body. If Zhang Shuyu wasn't mistaken, the identity of the original owner must've been that guy's master, or young master to term it better.
A neglected young master.
It was a common trope in Chinese light novels that dealt specifically with transmigration, rebirth, and other novels with an ancient setting. He knew of this because he was a fan of transmigration or second chance novels. He often read light novels whenever he had the time because it was his form of relaxation.
Surprisingly enough, this happened to him. It's a common idea that fans of such novels would also like to experience said novels in real life. Unfortunately, Zhang Shuyu was in the minority of that idea, he definitely didn't want it to happen to him.
It was one thing to read about a protagonist going through exciting life-threatening adventures and defeating bosses here and there. It was another thing if he was placed in the same situation. He sure as hell valued his life.
Yes, he died, but that didn't mean that his life-preservation skills scurried off along with his previous life.
Suddenly, his stomach grumbled from intense hunger. He placed a hand on it as he was harshly reminded of the state of his current body.
It wasn't the time to deliberate about whether Zhang Shuyu was the real owner of this body or not, or if this was a transmigration thing, or even a transported-into-the-novel thing. Right now, he needed to nourish this body as soon as possible and stabilize it.
Zhang Shuyu may be average in the majority of the things he did, but what he was proud of was how well he could take care of himself. The only reason he died was that of a freak accident caused by that damn truck.
His gaze flickered sideways on the wasted porridge before he let out a tired sigh.
Such a waste.
Don't these kids know how precious food is?
With that last thought, Zhang Shuyu, with the body of an arguably four-year-old malnourished boy, went towards the door to greet his new - yet already exhausting - life.