“I am Lan Bradkans, wife of David Bradkans.”

  “No. I am Xu-Xun, daughter of the Xun Clan and leader of the greatest sect in the Cultivation World, the Thundering Titanic Clouds. And I am the wife of David Bradkans.”

  “It is my body! I am the original!”

  “I am the improved version, the one ready to protect our family! Leave control to me!”

  Who… who am I?

  Lan’s mind had never been in such a state. She was in her bed, squeezing her head as she felt hundreds of years of memories slamming into her brain; it became close to two thousand years' worth of memories with all kinds of secrets, techniques and body refinement scriptures.

  But one word was able to unite both contradicting minds. David. David was what linked them. The man they had stayed loyal to in both their lifetime and whom they would never stop loving. He was the one to make them laugh, to make them forget… forget what? Lan was an architect; she earned plenty of money, so why would David need to work… this didn’t make sense.

  Xu-Xun starred into Lan’s eyes, both girls looked almost identical if we forgot the fact that Xu-Xun was taller looking than Lan while Lan looked more tough and fit.

  “They tempered our memories. Give me control, and I can help heal us.”

  “Fuck off! I know your memories! I’ve seen them… we might love the same man, but you’re not me. I… I would not do such… crimes and monstrosity.”

  “I DID IT TO FIND OUR FAMILY AGAIN! And do not mock yourself, your hands, arms, the very instincts in your body are those of a killer. Not a simple architect.”

  Both girls gritted their teeth, some girls fought to win “their” man… Lan was literally fighting herself, another version of herself at least. Xu-Xun lifted her hand, trying to use her mastery over soul techniques to crush Lan’s… however, nothing happened.

  “You’re kidding me?”

  “There’s no spirit Qi in my body… dumbass.”

  SMACK

  A harsh punch landed on Lan’s face, sending her to her butt, making her frown and scream in anger, with fighting skills she didn’t even know she had, her arms wrapped around Xu-Xun’s legs, lifted her off, and slammed her into the floor.

  It wasn’t one of those organized catfight you’d see on TV; this was a real fight, one where each punch broke a bone, each choke threatened to tear off the opponent’s head. In the end… Lan put herself behind Xu-Xun and held tight to her throat, choking her, using her greater strength.

  Killing felt familiar to her. Xu-Xun didn’t lie. An architect didn’t have those fighting skills or such familiarity with death. The cultivator’s soul started to lose, slowly dissipating and staring at Lan with tears in her eyes.

  “T…take care of them… d… don’t lose them again….”

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  This made Lan slightly soften her choke until she fully let go. Resting, sat down in front of Xu-Xun’s collapsed body.

  “What are we even doing? We’re the same person… no matter what you did, I would have done the same to see David, Jacob, and Rose once more. We both failed. I couldn’t stop my husband’s suicide, I couldn’t stop my children's coma.”

  “And no matter how much death or Qi I stole and absorbed… I was never strong enough to come back. But maybe…”

  “If we work together. If we become one once more…”

  Both finished her sentence at the same time.

  “This time we will not fail. We will bring back David, even if we must slay the very gods, even if we must sacrifice this world… he will be brought back.”

  Lan opened her eyes, once they had been pained, lost, and confused, yet now, they held the wisdom of a thousand years of war and conflict of Xu-Xun, yet kept the warmth and family love of Lan. She was both Lan and Xu-Xun; they had never been anything but two sides of the same coin. Two sides now united with a single goal. To bring David back.

  Xu-Xun’s experience gave many possibilities on how to do that. Lan stood up, realising she was as tall as Xu-Xun, maybe even taller, around 6’2” ft tall. She felt powerful Qi being naturally absorbed by her body cultivation technique, something Xu-Xun had once done without even realising it. Now Lan could do it too. However, she had to do it on purpose, unlike Xu-Xun.

  “We have a lot of cultivation to do once more. I guess the height is pretty lovely? David always liked tall girls.”

  She smiled, the first time in days. She. She still didn’t know who and what had blocked her memories, but she would find out one day. She was able to easily break through the first few levels. Earth had far, far less Qi than the Cultivation World, but enough for her to break through the first few levels and reach an acceptable level. Pathetic for Xu-Xun’s tastes but enough for Lan to know she should be safe.

  “Let’s hope this works.”

  She jumped out of her room, her speed familiar. For some reason, she felt like this kind of speed wasn’t strange to her. Evading the eyes of passersby and reaching the construction site of Vermillion Corp had been easy.

  This location felt familiar, but she wasn’t here to investigate her memories; her husband mattered more. Using her own inner Qi and the one softly floating around her, she started a ritual allowing her to harvest and safely keep her husband’s soul.

  Souls remained at the place of their death. Yet… the crystal she had made from Qi was empty when the ritual ended. This made Lan furious. So furious. Because this meant only one thing.

  “Some fucker took him. Someone stole HIS SOUL!”

  She wanted to scream in anger that her husband had killed himself, losing any will to live “at her death” was the greatest proof of love, the fact someone had stolen his soul… despoiling his death.

  Lan had never wanted to kill more than right now. She stared at the place her husband died, screamed in anger, and slammed her fist in the building behind her, causing huge cracks to spread through the punched wall.

  “A cultivator? With Earth having such a small amount of Qi, it must mean they can’t be stronger than the first transcendence. I’ll find those fuckers. I’ll slaughter them all. If they dared harm you, David… no… let’s not think of the worst outcome. I can bring him back now.”

  “Just wait, David, just wait a bit more.”

  Lan walked back calmly through the streets, staring at the numerous holographic ads floating around or appearing in the street in front of your face, which were commonplace now. The world wasn’t some dystopian cyberpunk world; it was getting there, but needed a few more years.

  However, it seemed Vermillion Corp alone controlled everything; almost every single ad was about this new game Jacob had convinced the family to play. Project Rebirth, every child, teen, and young adult was talking about getting into it right at launch. It would be free for everyone after all.

  They were showing the wonders of the VR-Tech Implant, the time dilation, the possibility to even earn a real salary playing this game by transferring game currency into real-life money…

  “This sounds too good to be true. But I did promise Jacob. And maybe it will… help the children. Yes. We’ll play it… “

  She went to a chinese food shop and bought some food for herself and the children, and went back home. Just as she left the shop, it was getting very late, the lone woman soon got stopped by a hooded man, a knife in his hand.

  “G…give me your fucking money and food! Now! You don’t want me to empty your guts in this alley, right?”

  Lan did not bother to look at him; her hand slammed around his throat, and before he could react, a glowing golden vein lit up in her wrist and the choked man’s neck. Instantly, the man went from relatively well built to empty, a sack of skin and bones, empty of any life force.

  Lan dropped the empty skin filled with bones and stared at it as she would stare at a piece of trash.

  “Trash like you is allowed to live? While my David died? This world indeed deserves no mercy.”

  Lan opened the door leading to her home and smiled, seeing her daughter, Rose. Rose was a mix of David and her. Having inherited her black hair but gotten David’s eyes. Her eyes seemed pensive yet collected. Lan had to admit that Rose took her father’s death the best out of them. She cried, of course, didn’t even eat for a few days, but she soon recovered and started to take care of David’s garden.

  Jacob was… he had taken the news the hardest, even harder than her. They were extremely close.

  “I got chinese take out everyone! Let’s go eat. Mind going to get your brother, please? I have an announcement to make. It’s important.”

  Lan smiled at Rose, kissing her daughter’s forehead. Rose looked at her with strange eyes, most likely confused by Lan’s sudden height increase. She would do her best not just to bring back her husband, but also to make sure her children healed from their pain.

  How would she face David once more if he discovered she had neglected their children?