Hu Cheng stayed in the medical ward for a while longer. He asked Hao Ming a few questions about how he was feeling and, after confirming that the young man had truly regained consciousness, finally rose from his chair.
"All right. Since you've woken up and seem to be feeling fine, I need to step out for a while."
Hao Ming looked at him.
"Where?"
"To see Xie Ruyan. Quite a few matters have piled up over the past month. Besides, I need to inform him personally that you've woken up."
Hu Cheng paused before adding, "If you start feeling unwell, notify the medical staff immediately. And don't go doing anything stupid right after waking up."
His voice had its usual gruffness, but Hao Ming could easily discern the concern behind it.
"Okay."
"Get some rest."
Hu Cheng headed for the exit. When the door closed behind him, silence once again filled the room.
Hao Ming stared at the door for a while before slowly turning his head toward the window. Clouds drifted past outside.
He lowered his gaze to his hands and clenched his fingers. Then he closed his eyes.
During the month he had spent unconscious, he had remembered everything. Not gradually, not in fragments, but all at once. Everything that had happened before the Rocky Mountains, everything that had happened in the Rocky Mountains, everything that had taken place in the Cave. Everything the Heavenly Crow had taken from him.
He no longer needed to search for answers in hazy images of the past. All his memories had returned. He knew what had been taken from him. He knew who he had been.
And he knew who he had become.
Hao Ming slowly exhaled.
His first feeling was neither rage nor even hatred. It was a quiet, aching pain, almost physical in nature. It rose from somewhere deep in his chest and gradually spread throughout his entire being.
"She took it… She took everything…"
The image of the Heavenly Crow wearing Shrek Academy's green uniform appeared before his eyes. She had been living his life. By his parents' side. Among his friends. Possessing his power, his bloodline, and his name.
And he… he had been in hell. For ten years, he had killed monsters, eaten raw meat, drunk blood, and fought to survive. Ten years during which he had been forced to cling to life, gradually losing himself in the process.
Hao Ming clenched his teeth. His jaw ached from the tension.
"I…"
He wanted to say, *I'll kill her.* The words were already poised to leave his lips, sharp and merciless. He truly wanted to tear the Heavenly Crow apart and make her pay for everything she had done.
But the words remained unspoken.
Not because he doubted his desire. He simply had no idea how to accomplish it.
Hao Ming looked at his hands. Twelve chains still bound his body, completely suppressing his power. He himself did not fully understand the nature of his own strength, although he already had some idea of its origins.
The Heavenly Crow was at Shrek Academy. She possessed the Phoenix bloodline, the Three Luminaries Dragon, Spiritual Power, and everything that had once belonged to him. The gap between them was enormous.
How was he supposed to fight her?
And even if he won, would he be able to reclaim what he had lost?
Hao Ming slowly exhaled. Everything he was feeling could be summed up in a single word.
Helplessness.
He had neither the strength nor a plan. He did not even know whether it was possible to reclaim what had been taken from him. And most importantly, he could not restore his family's true memories of him.
"What am I supposed to do?" he whispered.
His father's face appeared in his mind.
Hao Ming clearly remembered his smile from the dream—a smile of such happiness that he had never seen before. Fan Huobin had been happy. Truly happy. Lan Yue had returned to him. He had his family back. Moreover, they had welcomed a daughter into the world.
Everything was fine for them.
"Even if I kill that Crow…" he muttered. "It won't give me my life back."
He hated her. The mere thought of her taking his place was enough to make rage surge within him. But he could not simply barge into their lives and destroy everything they had gained. Especially not his father's life.
He could not go to his parents and tell them the truth.
Who would believe him?
To them, he was a complete stranger. The Heavenly Crow, on the other hand, was their daughter, Fan Yue, whom they knew and loved.
Hao Ming lowered his head.
It was then that the words spoken just before his consciousness sank into darkness echoed through his memory once again.
*"Son of Fate… I placed too much hope in you."*
The green-haired woman with emerald eyes had looked at him with pity.
*"In this world, there is no longer a son of Fan Huobin and Lan Yue. There is only their daughter, Fan Yue. That is what everyone will believe and remember. Even I will remember it that way."*
Hao Ming froze. Suddenly, he remembered Hu Cheng.
He frowned. In his previous life, Hu Cheng had never existed. He was certain he would have remembered the Federation's Hero if the man had truly been part of his past.
"She didn't just replace me…" he murmured. "Could she have changed the past itself?"
The thought seemed so absurd that Hao Ming let out a short laugh.
"Ha…"
The laughter stopped almost immediately. There was nothing funny about what had happened.
Everything was far more complicated than he could have imagined. The longer he tried to make sense of it, the more confused he became. Too many questions stood before him, and he had answers to none of them.
But he could not simply leave everything as it was, either.
"I can't just accept this…"
Hao Ming drew a slow breath and forced himself to calm down. He could not afford to give in to his rage now. If he allowed his emotions to get the better of him, he would be unable to assess the situation rationally.
"First, I need to remain calm and keep a clear head," he said quietly, as though trying to convince himself. "The first thing I need to do is figure out how to regain my power. And if that's impossible… then I'll have to find another way to grow stronger."
For now, that was the only thing he could hold on to.
Hao Ming did not know how to reclaim his life or whether he would ever manage to reveal the truth to his loved ones.
But he could not allow himself to stop. As long as he kept moving forward, he would retain the will to fight for his future. Even if every step was difficult and no clear path lay ahead, only continuing onward could preserve that will within him and keep him from breaking completely.
He did not know where this path would lead him. But he had no intention of stopping.
By evening, Xie Ruyan and Hu Cheng came to visit Hao Ming.
"Already sitting up?" Xie Ruyan remarked as he stopped beside the bed. "Looks like your body is recovering normally."
Hao Ming nodded silently.
Xie Ruyan chatted with him casually for a while, asking about his condition and recovery. Then he got down to business.
"As for the Federation's project… a decision has been made to remove you from it."
Hao Ming merely nodded.
There was no surprise, no anger, not even a question about the reasons. The last thing on his mind right now was whether he would remain part of the Federation's project.
"Don't worry about that," Hu Cheng interjected. "From now on, you'll be under my supervision. As long as I'm here, those bookworms won't dare lay a finger on you. So don't worry."
"I'm not worried."
"Ha-ha-ha! That's the spirit!" Hu Cheng burst into loud laughter, clearly pleased with the answer.
Xie Ruyan shook his head but did not argue. Instead, he continued explaining.
"Hu Cheng will remain here for about another three months. Until we find someone suitable to replace him in training the 2A Corps, he'll continue carrying out his duties."
He paused briefly before adding, "You can stay with the 2A Corps during that time. And don't worry about food or other everyday expenses, either."
Hao Ming listened calmly. Three months. An opportunity to stay with the 2A Corps. Time he could use to understand his own situation and try to find a way to regain the power he had lost.
For now, that was enough.
"Understood. Thank you, Director Xie."
Xie Ruyan studied him closely. Hao Ming seemed more open and less reserved than before.
*"It seems this mission affected him more deeply than he lets on."*
"For now, just rest and recover. We can discuss everything else later."
"All right," Hao Ming replied.
Hu Cheng patted him on the shoulder.
"That settles it, kid. Get better soon."
Having finished their conversation, the two headed for the exit. Soon, the door closed, and Hao Ming was alone once again.
He leaned back against the pillows and closed his eyes.
By this point, he had already considered several ways to regain his power.
The first was to learn his father's method and create a Battle Soul. However, he did not know whether this method would work in his current condition or whether the twelve chains would even allow him to do so.
The second option was to try to destroy the chains themselves. But he had no idea how to accomplish that.
The third option was Blood Breathing. This technique cultivated the bloodline itself. He could try this approach, although he was not certain whether he would be able to create a bloodline vortex.
Finally, there was one more path: developing his own cultivation method.
This was the most difficult and uncertain direction. He had no existing model to follow, and he did not know whether he would succeed. But Hao Ming had no intention of ruling out the possibility.
Each of these paths presented its own difficulties. None guaranteed success, and for now, Hao Ming could not say with any certainty which one would lead him to his goal. Perhaps some of the options would prove useless. Perhaps achieving results would take a considerable amount of time. But at present, he had no choice but to try.
Besides, there was no need for him to focus on just one approach. He could explore all four paths gradually, testing each possibility and evaluating the results. Even if none of them could restore his lost power on its own, that did not mean they could not prove effective when combined.
At the very least, he now had several options to start with.
Hao Ming spent some more time considering his next steps, trying to put his thoughts in order. However, after a long month of unconsciousness, his body still needed rest. Besides, he could not resolve everything in a single evening anyway.
Finally, he leaned back against the pillows, settled into a more comfortable position, and slowly closed his eyes. Setting his thoughts aside until the following day, Hao Ming gradually drifted off to sleep.
End of Volume Two: The Rewritten World