A Man in the Snow: Starting with a Sword Challenge to the Northern Liang Prince's Palace

dark.

Endless darkness.

Ye Yun felt himself falling, falling endlessly. His body no longer existed; he had no hands, no feet, no torso, only a wisp of consciousness drifting in the void.

There was nothing around—no light, no sound, no warmth. Only a deathly silence, like being buried alive deep underground, unable to even hear one's own heartbeat.

No, his heart stopped beating.

He is dead.

At least, he thought he was dead.

Suddenly, a point of light appeared ahead.

The point of light was tiny, like a distant lamp, appearing and disappearing in the darkness. Ye Yun's consciousness involuntarily drifted towards the point of light, getting closer and closer until it grew larger and larger, transforming into a portal of light.

He passed through the portal of light.

Everything before my eyes has changed.

He stood on a street bustling with traffic and people. High-rise buildings, neon lights, the sound of car horns, and the air thick with the smells of barbecue and gasoline.

He recognized the place.

This is the city where he lived in his first life.

Ye Yun stood on the street corner, looking down at his hands. His hands were transparent, like a wisp of mist, without any substance. People walked past him, and no one noticed him.

He was like a ghost, standing in his own memory.

He saw his younger self. In his early twenties, wearing an inexpensive shirt and jeans, carrying a backpack, hurrying across the zebra crossing. His expression was ordinary, neither particularly happy nor sad, just like that of an average young person.

Ye Yun followed her younger self into an office building. She watched him sit at his desk, typing on the computer, occasionally exchanging a few words with a colleague, and sometimes answering a phone call.

After get off work, he went back to his rented room alone, cooked a bowl of noodles, ate it, scrolled through his phone for a while, and then turned off the lights and went to sleep.

Day after day, year after year.

To live an ordinary life, to grow old in an ordinary way, and to die an ordinary death.

There were no dramatic events, no legendary moments, and hardly anything worth remembering.

Ye Yun watched as his reflection closed its eyes on the hospital bed, its heart stopped beating, and it became a cold corpse. Someone was crying in the ward, but he could no longer hear it.

The screen shattered, and darkness descended once more.

Then another gate of light appeared.

Ye Yun passed through.

This time, he stood on a mountain.

The mountain was high, shrouded in mist, and atop it stood a thatched hut. In front of the hut, a young man was practicing swordsmanship. The young man wore a white robe, had a handsome face, and focused eyes.

That is himself.

My second incarnation.

In this life, he obtained the Sword Immortal System and spent thirty years cultivating in the mountains. Thirty years of solitude, thirty years of monotony, repeating the same things every day—practicing swordsmanship, meditating, reading, and then practicing swordsmanship again.

He had no companions, no friends, only himself and the mountain.

The scene shifts, and he is descending the mountain.

The world below the mountain was vast, with towns, villages, cultivators, and mortals. He walked through the mortal realm, slaying demons and monsters, upholding justice, doing many things, and meeting many people.

One of the women, dressed in a blue dress, stood on the city wall and turned back to smile at him.

Nangong Pushe.

Ye Yun's consciousness jolted violently.

The image froze at that moment; her smile, her eyebrows, the two shallow dimples at the corners of her mouth—everything was so clear, as if it had just happened yesterday.

The scene continues.

He and Park She traveled the world together, slaying demons and monsters, drinking under the moon, and watching the sunrise from the mountaintop. She was talkative, always chattering away, while he was quiet and always listened attentively.

She said, "Brother Yun, you're a good person in every way, except you're too boring."

He said, "You've already said everything, what am I supposed to say?"

She laughed, laughing so hard she almost fell over.

The scene then changes.

That battle.

Their opponents were incredibly strong, beyond their capabilities. He and Park She fought side-by-side, both severely wounded. In the final moment, their opponent's sword came at him, and he had no time to dodge.

Park She stood in front of him.

The sword pierced her chest, its tip protruding from her back, dripping blood.

She fell into his arms, a smile on her lips, tears streaming down her face.

"Brother Yun, don't be sad. I will wait for you in reincarnation."

Her eyes closed, and her hand slipped from his palm.

Ye Yun stood there, holding her body in his arms, motionless.

He stood there for three days and three nights without drinking water, eating, or closing his eyes. He just stood there, like a stone statue.

On the fourth day, he buried her on the mountain where they first met.

He sat in front of the grave for a month, then got up and went down the mountain.

He didn't seek a way to resurrect her, because he knew that the sword she took for him had shattered her soul, leaving her unable even to enter the cycle of reincarnation. She had lied to him.

The image is shattered.

Darkness descends, then light returns.

This time, he stood on the Great Wall of Sword Qi.

The city wall was very high and very long, stretching as far as the eye could see. It was covered in sword marks, each one left by a defender. The wind was strong, making his robes flutter loudly.

He stood on the city wall, looking at the distant wilderness.

He didn't know why he came here; he only remembered that he was searching for something. He searched for a long time, searched far and wide, traversing the river of time, and finally stopped here.

He opened a tavern at the Sword Qi Great Wall.

It was small and run-down, with only a few tables and chairs. The wine was homemade, and the dishes were simply stir-fried. Business was neither good nor bad.

He was waiting for someone.

He didn't know what the person looked like or what their name was, but he knew that person would definitely come.

waited for so long.

One year, two years, ten years, fifty years, one hundred years.

He's still waiting.

In the 123rd year, a young man walked into his tavern.

The young man carried two swords on his back, his eyes as clear as a pool of water. He sat by the window and said, "Boss, a pot of wine, please."

Ye Yun looked at him and suddenly smiled.

He got what he was waiting for.

The young man's name was Chen Ping'an.

The image is shattered.

Ye Yun's consciousness was pulled away from his memories, and he fell back into darkness.

But this time, darkness is no longer nothingness.

In the darkness, countless points of light, densely packed like stars in the sky, appeared. Each point of light represented a memory, a cycle of reincarnation. He saw his first, second, third, and fourth lives.

In his first life, he was an ordinary person, living an ordinary life and dying an ordinary one.

In his second life, he was a sword cultivator who cultivated diligently for thirty years before encountering Pu She.

In his third life, he lost Park She and traversed the river of time.

In his fourth life, he waited for Chen Ping'an, opened a tavern, and guarded it for a hundred years.

There is no fifth generation.

Because he is not dead yet.

Ye Yun's consciousness floated in the darkness, looking at the points of light, and suddenly he understood something.

Reincarnation is not the end.

Reincarnation is the starting point.

The end of each life is the beginning of the next. Every death is for a better rebirth. Reincarnation is not about going back to the past, but about moving towards the future.

He had been waiting for Park She for over three hundred years. He believed that reincarnation could bring people together again and resurrect the dead. But that's not how reincarnation is used. The meaning of reincarnation lies not in resurrection, but in seeing oneself clearly and then transcending reincarnation.

Park Seok-ho is not coming back.

he knows.

He always knew.

He just doesn't want to admit it.

Ye Yun's consciousness remained silent in the darkness for a long time.

Then, a light appeared in the darkness.

It wasn't those fleeting memories, but a warm light, like sunlight, like candlelight, like someone lighting a lamp in the darkness.

In the light, there was a figure.

A light blue dress, a gentle smile, and two dimples at the corners of her mouth.

Nangong Pushe.

She stood in the light, reached out her hand, and smiled at him.

"Brother Yun, I'll take you back."

Ye Yun looked at her without saying a word.

He knew this wasn't the real Pu She. The real Pu She was dead, his soul scattered, unable even to enter the cycle of reincarnation. This was merely his memory, his obsession, the thing he most longed to see deep within his heart.

But he still smiled.

"it is good."

He reached out and took her hand.

Her hands were warm, just like when she was alive.

The light shone brightly.

Ye Yun's consciousness was pulled by a force, rising from the darkness, faster and faster, like a shooting star streaking across the night sky.

The points of light flashed past him, and those memories, those cycles of reincarnation, everything he had once possessed and lost, were all drifting away from him.

He didn't turn around.

He gripped that warm hand tightly and looked at the light ahead.

The light grew brighter and closer.

He heard a sound.

Someone was calling his name.