Chapter 1: The Living Dead in the Coffin

Chapter 1: The Living Dead in the Coffin

"Li Feng is a quack! Li Feng has no medical ethics! The surgery was successful, so how could the patient still die?"

"Beat this quack to death! Make him pay with his life!"

Outside the hospital, large banners were raised as the patient's family picked up stones from the ground and hurled them into the building, cursing the doctor who had "killed" their loved one—Li Feng!

Li Feng pressed his lips tightly together. After an internal struggle, he finally stepped out of the hospital, his face etched with bitterness. He spoke apologetically, "I'm sorry, everyone. Please, calm down first. I did my best—I truly did my best. This surgery... uh..."

"Thud!"

A sharp pain pierced Li Feng's chest, cutting off his words. He touched his chest—his hand came away covered in blood.

Someone had stabbed him from behind. The icy blade plunged straight into his heart, robbing him of even the chance to turn around and see his killer. Darkness swallowed his vision as he tumbled down the stairs.

"Call the police! Doctor Li has been murdered!"

Those were the last words he heard before his consciousness plunged into utter darkness and cold.

……

Yulan Empire, Eastern Suburb Graveyard.

A massive gilded coffin, pulled by two Dragon Elephants, creaked and groaned as it slowly entered the graveyard filled with towering tombstones.

Hundreds of mourners followed the procession.

Li Feng's consciousness stirred within the thousand-kilogram coffin, awakening inside the corpse of a fourth-generation descendant of the Jian Pavilion Marquis House.

Surrounded by darkness, his entire body felt numb and icy. The pain in his chest was unbearable—so intense that he couldn't even open his eyelids.

"My heart was stabbed... yet I didn't die? Whose medical skills are this advanced? There’s no one like that in the country... or even abroad."

Li Feng himself was a top-tier cardiovascular specialist, unparalleled domestically and among the best internationally.

Given current medical knowledge, a pierced heart meant certain death. The moment the blade had pierced him from behind, he knew it was over.

He had died in that medical dispute!

But now... what was happening? His body was numb and frozen, his fingers wouldn’t move, and his eyelids refused to open. Only his thoughts remained active.

From the darkness, unfamiliar voices reached him.

"We’ve reached the gravesite. Lower it and bury him. What a pity—Third Master’s last descendant is gone."

"Don’t you dare pretend to care! My brother isn’t dead! He can’t be dead... he can’t!" A young girl’s voice, beautiful yet choked with grief and anger, broke into sobs.

Even from inside the coffin, Li Feng could tell the girl’s voice was youthful—she couldn’t have been very old.

"Your brother couldn’t cultivate Martial Arts Profound Qi, and his body was weak. Yet he insisted on imitating those spoiled nobles, competing for the Courtesan at the Brothel—and he lost! He couldn’t catch his breath, triggered his congenital illness, and died right there in the Brothel. His heart stopped beating four hours ago."

The surrounding voices were harsh and mocking.

"What a disgrace. A descendant of the Jian Pavilion Marquis House, dying in a Brothel because he lost a fight over a Courtesan. His corpse had to be carried back to the manor by a Brothel girl. If his father were still alive, he’d probably die of shame too."

"The Jian Pavilion Marquis House has truly lost face this time. Just wait and see! Who knows how the other nobles will mock us."

"It's better that this cripple is dead. The old marquis wasted so much Earth Martial Essence every month just to keep him alive. What a waste! If that Earth Martial Essence had been given to me, I’d already be a peerless master capable of splitting mountains and cleaving rivers."

...

Ning Qianwu stared coldly at the green-robed girl blocking the coffin and said, "Xin'er, the weather is hot. A corpse cannot be left overnight—it will start to rot."

Ning Xin'er knelt beside the coffin, clutching it tightly to prevent anyone from taking it away. "Fourth Uncle, are you in such a hurry to bury my brother? Are you afraid that once the old marquis emerges from seclusion and examines his body, the truth will come out? Was my brother really killed by rage?"

Her voice, filled with sobs and despair, reached Li Feng’s ears through the thick coffin wood. "You all killed him! My brother couldn’t even cultivate Martial Arts Profound Qi—he was never a threat to inherit the title of the Jian Pavilion Marquis House. Yet you still weren’t satisfied. You had to murder him!"

The crowd around them fell into silence.

After a long while, someone stepped forward to console her, and eventually, Ning Xin'er was pulled away.

The coffin was lifted, ready to be buried.

Li Feng finally understood his situation—he was inside a coffin. If he were buried deep in the earth, he would die a second time today.

How the hell did I end up in this mess?

He tried to open his mouth, but his throat was parched, unable to make a sound. He couldn’t even utter the words "I'm not dead."

"Lower the coffin," Ning Qianwu commanded coldly.

Ning Xin'er wept helplessly as she watched her only brother being placed into the grave and slowly covered with shovelfuls of dirt.

Li Feng panicked. Gritting his teeth, he raised his stiff hand and knocked against the coffin wall.

Thud! Thud!

The sound of knocking echoed from inside the coffin.

Though the coffin was thick and the noise faint, it couldn’t escape the ears of martial experts. Ning Xin'er, already at the Divine Body Realm, had keen hearing. "Stop! There’s a sound coming from the coffin!"

"Xin'er, you’re mistaken. Interrupting a burial is the worst taboo—it disturbs the peace of the deceased’s soul. Keep shoveling," Ning Qianwu ordered.

Thud! Thud!

The knocking grew louder.

This time, even the two servants shoveling dirt heard it clearly. They froze, taking a step back in shock. Could it be a corpse coming back to life?

Ning Xin'er didn’t hesitate. She leaped into the grave, her fingers gripping the bottom of the coffin. Her blood surged, and Martial Arts Profound Qi coursed through her veins.

Crack!

Her slender arms lifted the thousand-jin gold-wrapped coffin and placed it at the edge of the grave, sinking slightly into the soft earth.

Bang!

Her palm struck the coffin lid with a force of over ten thousand jin, blasting it open.

Who would have thought such a delicate girl could unleash such terrifying strength?

Ning Xin'er was a prodigy of the Jian Pavilion Marquis House. At just fourteen years old, she had already reached the first level of the Divine Body Realm, standing out among the fourth-generation descendants.

The power she had just displayed slightly startled the uncles of the Jian Pavilion Marquis House.

So impressive!

She has cultivated the Divine Martial Body!

Fortunately, she is a girl. If she were a boy, she would undoubtedly be a strong contender for the title of heir.

"Bang!"

The coffin lid flew off, knocking over a tombstone.

The coffin was opened!

Sunlight streamed into the coffin, illuminating a young, pale face.

Ning Qianwu, whose cultivation was unfathomable, strode forward with a domineering aura, his gaze sharp as lightning.

He reached the coffin and saw the corpse inside with its eyes closed. Only then did he let out a sigh of relief and scolded, "Xin'er, are you satisfied now? Your brother is already dead. He could have been peacefully laid to rest, but you forcibly interrupted the burial. What you’ve done will disturb his soul!"

"I’ve heard that if the burial is interrupted and the coffin is disturbed at the wrong hour, the soul will be cut in half in hell!"

Another wave of accusations followed, causing Ning Xin'er to lower her head, biting her lip tightly. Brother… is already dead. I disturbed his soul’s journey. Brother, I’m sorry! Brother won’t be cut in half! He won’t!

From inside the coffin came an extremely hoarse voice, "Cough… cough! S-sorry, everyone… I… I’m not dead yet…"

Li Feng was also anxious, afraid of being buried alive again.

At the same time, he slowly opened his eyes.

The reason Li Feng had kept his eyes closed was that he knew staying in darkness for too long and suddenly being exposed to strong sunlight could blind him!

When Ning Qianwu saw the young man in the coffin open his eyes, his expression changed drastically, his eyeballs nearly popping out of their sockets. He barely held back from roaring, "You’re actually not dead?!"

This worthless cripple had actually come back to life.

How could his life be so stubborn?

What a disappointment to many!

Ning Xin'er, however, burst into tears of joy. She helped the young man out of the coffin, pressing his face against her chest as she hugged him tightly. "Brother, I knew you weren’t dead! I was so scared you’d really left me…"

"Water… water…" Li Feng’s voice was hoarse. He didn’t know who this rather beautiful girl was—all he wanted right now was water.

After drinking, Li Feng’s complexion gradually recovered.

Ning Xin'er personally helped Li Feng into a luxurious ancient carriage. However, instead of horses, the carriage was pulled by a green mystical beast with the body of a horse and the head of a deer, covered in metallic scales!

The Green Deer Horse pulled the carriage away from the graveyard, returning to the Jian Pavilion Marquis House.

Li Feng’s body was still weak as he sat in the carriage.

Ning Xin'er held him in her arms, supporting his head against her small chest, murmuring strange words: "Brother, you were born with blocked heart meridians, so you could never cultivate Martial Arts Profound Qi. If anyone bullies you, tell me! I’ll teach them a lesson."

Li Feng had no idea what she was talking about, so he could only remain silent.

In Ning Xin'er's eyes, she believed this was the reason her brother had been timid since childhood, which led to his current withdrawn and silent demeanor. She sighed and said, "I absolutely refuse to believe you died from anger. It must have been Fourth Uncle and Eldest Uncle scheming behind the scenes again. I truly don’t understand why they’re so cruel. After all, we’re family—why must they be so ruthless? To strike at you while Grandfather is in secluded cultivation is utterly despicable!"

Li Feng remained silent. He wanted to say, "Little sister, you’ve got the wrong person."

But he was currently far too weak, and the pain in his chest was unbearable. Without someone to care for him, he would likely starve to death in the wilderness soon.

For now, he had no choice but to accept this unexpected sisterly bond and repay her kindness in the future.

Through Ning Xin'er’s fragmented words, he had pieced together some understanding of the situation.

The original owner of this body was named Ning Xiaochuan, a sixteen-year-old direct descendant of the Jian Pavilion Marquis House’s fourth generation. Ten years ago, his parents passed away, leaving the young siblings to rely on each other.

Ning Xin'er possessed extraordinary talent. At just fourteen, she had already cultivated a Divine Martial Body, promising a limitless future. She was the most outstanding among the fourth-generation descendants of the Jian Pavilion Marquis House.

But Ning Xiaochuan was unable to practice martial arts, seemingly due to a congenital condition—his heart and blood vessels were blocked, disrupting his qi and blood flow. Even slightly strenuous activity would cause his heart to race, difficulty breathing, severe headaches, and even fainting spells. As a result, among the fourth-generation descendants, he had earned the nickname "Ning the Sickly."

"I must have undergone a soul transmigration," Li Feng thought reluctantly. He had never been superstitious, nor did he want to acknowledge the existence of supernatural phenomena. But now, he had no choice but to accept this reality—he had arrived in a new world.

"Racing heartbeat, difficulty breathing… Could this be Heart and Blood Vessel Blockage?"

Li Feng had originally been one of the most outstanding cardiovascular specialists in the country. Before his death, he had treated a patient with severe Heart and Blood Vessel Blockage.

For other doctors, this condition might have been extremely challenging, inevitably requiring major surgery with a low success rate.

But for someone of his medical skill, it was a trivial matter. He had even claimed a ninety percent certainty of success for the operation.

The surgery itself went smoothly, but the patient died anyway!

Later, he discovered the reason—the nurse responsible for administering anesthesia had made a dosage error. The patient’s body had already been chronically weak, and even the slightest mistake was unacceptable. In the end, the patient died on the operating table.

Surgery always carried risks, and fatalities were not uncommon. But the patient’s family refused to accept it. They stormed the hospital, cursing Li Feng as a quack and demanding his life in return.

Li Feng understood the consequences of medical disputes all too well. If he had revealed the truth, he could have absolved himself of blame, but the nurse would undoubtedly have suffered severe beatings—perhaps even death at the hands of the enraged family.

He couldn’t allow that.

The patient had died on his operating table, and Li Feng was filled with remorse. Instead of hiding like a coward, he bravely stepped forward to apologize to the family and took full responsibility upon himself.

But the patient's family was furious at the time. Seeing him walk out of the hospital, they rushed forward and beat him mercilessly—some grabbing his clothes, others punching his head. Before Li Feng could even utter an apology, someone stabbed him in the heart from behind. His consciousness faded, and then he found himself in this world.

"Since I’ve come to this world and ended up in this body, from now on, I’ll go by Ning Xiaochuan. Consider it repayment for the girl’s life-saving kindness," Li Feng thought to himself.

Since he was here, he might as well settle in.

From this day forward, his name would be Ning Xiaochuan. He would accept this identity and learn to integrate into this new, mystical world!