The afternoon sun filtered through the window as the students occupying the room hurriedly pack their belongings, all in high hopes for the extended weekend that was starting the following day. Mu Qing could only smile in a knowing manner, after all, he was once young like them too. He continued to sift through the essays turned in by his students as they filed past his desk with good byes and wishes for the weekend. He sighed and went back to his work.
The moon had begun to rise when Mu Qing finally left the campus to return to his apartment. Being the man that he preferred to be off of school grounds, mainly due to the fact that he didn't want any unwanted rumors to spread. He's never done anything wrong since he began his career at the university and he hoped that nothing would change that. For now, he shoved his hands into he pockets and breathed in the crisp air.
Nights like these were the best and he couldn't argue with that. A rustle behind him went unnoticed as he passively walked past dark alleys dotted with the glowing eyes of snarling felines and rodents.
Suddenly loud footsteps caught his attention, he reacted a bit too late as pain blossomed in the small of his back. The momentum pushed his forward and he fell face first into the gravel, adding to the injury he already sustained.
Cold hands made their away up his body, rummaging his pockets and removing his wallet and phone as well as his keys. With a final burst of energy, Mu Qing righted himself against the redbrick wall, finally catching a glimpse at the face of his attacker.
He stiffed as the stranger rammed the knife into his chest this time, he was sure that one of his lungs were punctured, as he began to breathe erratically. The man continued to stab him multiple times, surely he was trying to kill him. As he coughed up mouthfuls of blood, Mu Qing watched as the man take whatever valuables he had and quickly shuffle away, leaving him to die in a cold and dark alley.
As his bodily functions begin to slow, Mu Qing reminisced on all the bad decisions he made in life. If he had confessed earlier, Jess might have been with him today. He regretted choosing to save his bastard brothers sorry ass from jail, making his miss the entrance exams to university. He lost his scholarship and resorted to taking crash courses to get his certificates i order to make ends meet.
Even after all those sacrifices, here he was now. Slowly bleeding to death, body wracked with pain and small seizures. His voice was lost, he couldn't call for help. The cold seeped into his flesh, as the lights grew dim. He let out one last shaky breath and closed his eyes, hoping that he would go peacefully. He had no intentions of haunting anyone.
Soon the silence came, and this was when he knew that he finally left the plane of Earth. At first he floated in what seemed to be unending darkness.
A sharp pain at the back of his head made him gasp and open his eyes. His vision was slightly disoriented but soon enough he was fine.
Being a someone who was fast to process things, he realized that he was alive, and... was most likely in a coffin at the moment. What a cliche moment indeed, in all his years he never imagined that he would one day wake up to this particular scenario. The sound of traditional mandarin music resounded from outside. He gathered his bearings and took notice of his confinement. Surely this wasn't real, however, raised as the son of a goldsmith he knew he was seeing right.
The internal design consisted of gold filigree and a silky brown cloth consisted of the rest. Flowers laid around him, many of which he recognized as extinct or rare.
The rush of air alerted him as the coffin began to open. His gremlin side took play, immediately his eyes shut and he waited for the cover to be fully taken off. A mans' voice rang clear as he announced the funeral of empress Shen Liu.
Oh shit, he knew where he was, damn. Death and about to die again. This was a scene from Imperial Dragon, in fact it was from the sixth chapter. Shen Liu was a male empress, a quiet and submissive person, who was trampled over by his husband the emperor for a concubine. This was indeed his funeral, he died from poisoning, his own husband was off frolicking with the newly proclaimed empress. But they did come to the funeral, he remembered how the novel vividly recounted the details, of how the emperor did not feel any remorse. Basically both the protagonist and the author were bitches, damned to hell. The author wrote the story to make the protagonist the good guy and did everything to correct his wrongdoings Truly detestable, in Mu Qing's eyes.
Now he was here in Liu's body, when he was supposed to be dead. No worries, as a man who could quickly adapt, he realized that there was no going back now. He was here, maybe it was karma. For someone like him to awaken in the body of Shen Liu, a man who had no one. That was right, he Mu Qing was now here to help this man.
His devious side was now turning up, if he remembered correctly, the emperor Lan Tian, odd name. He came to see his 'beloved' wife off, barely a month later, he crowns a new empress. The fucker had the audacity.
All that was left now was to scare the living shit out of the entire royal court. The coffin began to move, most likely the emperor was levitating the coffin to have him face the court as a final viewing. This world possessed cultivators, one of the main reasons why he was attracted to reading the book. The empress had the capabilities to surpass the emperor but unfortunately he was restricted by said man. His cultivation was halted and he was left levels lower than the concubines, making him a laughing stock. Not anymore. Now this was the time to make a grand entrance.
Taking a deep breath, Mu no Shen theatrically opened his eyes and scanned the noisy room. A woman screamed and pointed to him. Soon all attention was on him, but he was already gone from the casket. The entire hall fell quiet, utilizing the small amount of spiritual energy he had, Shen stayed behind the throne of the empress.
He quietly laughed at the horrified faces of the ministers and generals, the panicked faces of the concubines and servants almost had him cackling, and the best part. He turned and peeked from the outer side of the throne and made eye contact with the emperor, a demonic smile growing on his flawless face. Combined with the atrocious makeup an hairstyle, he definitely had the guy shitting his pants.
The man could only stare at him, his face contorting to one of disbelief and horror. "Boo". The man immediately flew off of the throne and into the middle of the hallway. Taking the chance to put his final scene, Shen sat on the emperors' throne, kicking his feet other arm. A look of boredom on his face.
He turned to them, "Well, what are you all standing there for?". One of the generals took the initiative, "Your I-Imperial H-Highness?"
"Yes?" Shen Liu looked at him impassively.
"W-welcome back" the man stuttered. Shen Liu's face morphed into a bone chilling visage, a smile that was cold and his eyes no better.
"Never felt better"