In the mirror, Shao Mingzhu's eyes locked directly on the giant gapping hole in his chest. Once was the warm beating of a heart, now a hole that didn't even trickle down blood appeared before his eyes.
N-N-No heart? But then how am I alive?
Shao Mingzhu's "heart" was in turmoil. He couldn't comprehend how a being could live without a heart.
Wait, what about the blood? If someone ripped out my heart, blood would be splattered everywhere, but now even my white shirt isn't stained let alone torn.
Shao Mingzhu's body turned cold, and his hand fumbled around the buttons on his shirt as his hands tried to put his shirt back on to cover the gaping hole in his chest.
His chest heaved and countless thoughts rumbled through his head and made incomprehensible sounds.
This time it took him a while to calm down and come back to his senses, and he got up from his chair only to stumble and fall back into it.
Sigh, well I think I know how I died at least.
Shao Mingzhu sighed to himself and stared at the ceiling.
Who would've thought this transmigration would have such a wonderful 'surprise' waiting for me, but since I am not dead, let's just go with the flow.
Shaking his head, he pushed forward his chair and approached his desk. Although many memories have come back to him, it was like he became Shao Mingzhu himself.
Therefore some memories that Shao Mingzhu couldn't remember like his early years of childhood and the last two weeks of existence.
That's strange, I happened to enter the secret realm called "Boons." But my memories of it are quite hazy and blank.
Shao Mingzhu's eyes narrowed as he tried to unravel the secrets in his head, but he was blocked by some weird white mist.
I should scan the papers here and hope to find some clues.
With that thought in mind, Shao Mingzhu hurried over to the scatter papers on the table and started shifting through them.
He didn't read them, but tried to put them back into order by the clues given on the desk and his hazy memories, but it was like he just woke up from a dream. He had everything at his fingertips and felt like he knew where they went, but once he thought of it, that feeling disappeared.
Ah screw it. If I can't remember, just go off of instinct.
Thinking this, his hands sped up, and in roughly thirty seconds, all the papers were neatly stacked on the desk.
Once everything was arranged, Shao Mingzhu finally began to read the papers.
The papers were written in runes, therefore had Qi running through it. With each word he read, it would be imprinted into his mind. This was a basic skill of a rune master, and this has been used to pass down knowledge for thousands of years. It was now etched into the education system, meaning students only needed to work hard to comprehend everything.
As he read, he had a better understanding of the secret realm and the knowledge within it, but as he read further, his brows frowned.
This… this language isn't the language used in this world. This is- Ancient Greek?
Shao Mingzhu was slightly shocked, and his mind ran rapidly.
This world can only have one language, and a being can only understand one language. This is the rule of the runes in the mind according to my university professor. But I'm different. In my previous life, I studied many languages and have learned many, even if it's just the basics.
Shao Mingzhu's breath became rapid, and his eyes burned with fire as he looked at the paper.
Could this be my gift? Although somewhat lacking, it's better than nothing.
Shao Mingzhu hasn't lived long in this world, and naturally didn't know if he had some sort of cheat. Well, besides the fact he's living without a heart. He still needs to explore what would happen if he used his ancestral meditation technique here, and if he could return home with it.
With the runes in his mind, Shao Mingzhu closed his eyes and began comprehending them. His main focus was on the Ancient Greek letters, as they held the most significant secrets since no one in this universe could read them but him.
Let's see, the Ancient Greek runes seemed to be a story or diary? Divine King Zeus… Lightning by hand… control the heavenly thunder with a thought?
Shao Mingzhu felt the runes in his body tremble in excitement, but the runes on this page were little and scattered.
He knew that it was this body trying to comprehend these words by breaking them down, which he did a good job at as could understand which letters made what word, but he simply couldn't understand what these words mean.
Could this be the reason for my death? Could one of the pages contain a full page of runes?
A bold speculation appeared in his mind, but he didn't think further and kept scanning the other pages for runes. To his disappointment, there were no other runes on the pages, but one sentence caught him off guard.
Those who dive into forbidden knowledge of the universe shall have their heart severed.
Wait, my body couldn't have..?
A chill swept through his body for the third time today, and the information he has gained was a bit much.
Strange, why do I have strangulation marks?
A doubt appeared in Shao Mingzhu's mind. He had read some novels, and most made it so when you go against heaven, you face a thunder tribulation, but him? Let's just take your heart away instead.
The heavens are truly cruel here.
No wait, there aren't any heavens in this world.
Shao Mingzhu mused to himself. This was common knowledge that the universe has collapsed but has been held up by the gods.
The heavens died the same day the universe collapsed, though the punishment of the heavens still exists.
Shao Mingzhu doesn't understand how, but it does.
Perhaps the law lingers around in the universe?
Understanding the power of gods and heaven is still too far away from him.
I definitely should have died by someone or something. The text only states that one would die with their heart severed, not strangulation. Though I also feel that the strangulation wasn't done by a person, but what about the mess? That had to be done by someone.
Shao Mingzhu felt his head aching and rubbed his temples slightly.
Sigh, this is going to take a while. He thought and shook his head bitterly.
This body has left him a myriad of problems to solve, but he didn't mind it. In fact, the world of cultivation is a lot more interesting than studying different languages back on earth. At least he gets some sort of reward by doing so, which is power.
The organization I joined was the Church of Light. According to knowledge passed down by this body, they're trying to solve the secret realms runes in hopes to find a way to rebuild the universe.
Rebuild the universe? Ha, what a fool's dream.
But they might not be entirely wrong. These secret realms only appeared after the collapse of the universe, meaning they probably hold some great secrets. Though what does Zeus have to do with any of it?
Shao Mingzhu pondered in his chair. He no longer seemed to care about his missing heart.
Well, I don't work today. This world actually gives weekends off? Tch, might as well try my ancestral Meditation technique.
With that thought in mind, he got up from his chair and made his way to his bed. Cleaning up the scattered bed sheets, he also made sure to close all the curtains in the room to plunge the room into darkness.
Alright, let's try it.
With everything done, Shao Mingzhu sat on his bed cross legged and was about to start, but a quiet knocking noise sounded on the door.
Knock- Knock- Knock-