Lightning bolts flashed across the sky as the rain continued to pour down in torrents. Jian stood in the middle of the road, his hands wrapped tightly around the white umbrella he held above his head.
Even with the sound of thunder and the angry roar of the rain, Jian could hear his heart beating rapidly as he waited for a sign, anything that would prove that he wasn't worthless and didn't deserve to die. He had lost everything, everything he had worked so hard for fifteen years to achieve, and now he had nothing other than the clothes he was wearing.
The traffic lights above his head flashed green as a truck sped down the road towards him. The driver kept flashing his headlights, but Jian wouldn't budge. He had made up his mind, and this time, there was no turning back.
The driver didn't see Jian because of the heavy downpour, and by the time he did, it was already too late. His truck slammed into Jian.
He felt the impact break his legs as his body was thrown into the sky. He landed a few meters away from the truck, his head smashing onto the road.
Jian gasped for air as the pain shot up his body. Never in his life had he ever felt such pain. Even though he had been hit by a truck, he still held on to the umbrella that Wei Wei had given him. It was all he had left, and he wasn't going to let it go.
Not now! Not ever!
With his life flashing before his eyes, he realized that he had made a mistake. It wasn't worth it. How could he have given up so easily? But it was too late already. He wouldn't make it out alive, he thought as raindrops hit his face and body.
The truck driver didn't wait at all. The moment he realized that he had hit someone, he ran off without a second thought. Jian lay in his own pool of blood, his legs and arms broken. He couldn't help but wish that he had thought this through before stepping in front of a truck.
Now, he wished he had a second chance. A second chance at this, then maybe, just maybe, he could fix things and make them right.
At that moment, lightning flashed, and thunder rumbled as the rain increased its downpour.
"Jian." A voice called out to him beside him. Jian struggled to turn his head to find a stranger in a white cloak and long hair that covered his face standing beside him. Even though the stranger was standing directly under a streetlight, Jian still couldn't see his face because he was shrouded in darkness as if it was following him around.
"Jian," the stranger's voice was a whisper that seemed to echo in the very core of his being. "Do you truly wish to be free from this pain?" His eyes glowed with an eerie intensity, like two orbs of molten gold.
"Who are you?" Jian managed to whisper. He was afraid and confused.
"Think of me as a friend, offering you a way out," the stranger replied. Jian noticed the strangest thing at that moment. Even though the rain was literally pouring, it didn't touch the stranger. His cloak wasn't wet.
"Help me," Jian pleaded as the pain became unbearable. "End my misery." He cried out, but his words hadn't even left his mouth, and yet the stranger had heard him.
"That is why I am offering you my hand now, take it, Jian."
"What do you mean?" The cold, the fear, and the pain all mingled together and sent a shiver down his spine.
"I can grant you a new beginning, a chance to shed your old skin and emerge anew. But there is a price." The stranger's voice sounded so soothing and believable that Jian knew he had to be careful.
"What price?" He asked, his heart racing. "Are you a demon?" He added quickly, and a cold and empty laughter poured out from the stranger.
"Your life in exchange for rebirth," the stranger's smile widened, revealing gleaming teeth that seemed almost too sharp.
Jian's breath caught, his mind racing to comprehend the gravity of the offer. Raindrops splashed around him, each one a silent reminder of the time slipping through his fingers.
"Death?" Jian's voice was barely a whisper, barely audible over the thunder's rumbling across the sky. It felt like he was drowning, and he didn't know how to breathe.
"A necessary sacrifice for a new life. Time is running out, Jian. This offer cannot stand for long. Take it now or lose everything," the stranger sounded desperate, too desperate for a deal like this. But Jian was blinded by pain and desperately needed the offer.
But even he knew that offers like this don't drop from the sky so easily, so he was wary.
"And what will become of my memories? My past? My life?" He asked, his heart clenching at the fact that he was about to shake hands with someone who just might be the devil.
"They will remain with me."
"So I won't remember anything?" Jian asked. The stranger seemed to be losing his patience, and for a split second, Jian thought he would turn around and leave, but he didn't.
"You would only remember them in broken fractions. It would take a while to piece them together, and in most cases, you might never piece them together."
He could hear his own heartbeat as the reality of what the stranger said sank in. "What guarantee do I have that this is not a trick?"
"You have none. But remember this, Jian: your soul longs for release. The choice is yours, and yours alone."
What do I have to lose? He asked himself as he thought about it. The pain would disappear, and he would get a second chance to start over. Who wouldn't call this a blessing? After all, this was what he had wished for right before the stranger appeared.
He had longed for death earlier, but now that he had felt the cold hands of death, he knew he wouldn't make such hasty decisions ever again. Now, he had to stay alive. He needed to, and if striking a deal with a potential demon would give him that opportunity, then he would gladly take it.
"Very well," Jian's voice was a mix of resolve and desperation. "Do it."
As the stranger extended a hand, an electric pulse coursed through Jian's veins. He felt his very essence seeping out of him, towards the stranger. Memories began to slip away like sand through his fingers.
And then, in a flash of blinding light, Jian's existence was extinguished, and the stranger disappeared into the air without a single trace.