Rebirth of the thief who roamed around the world (BOOK 1)

Chapter 1 - Rebirth

「Born into suffering. Suffering leads to death.

   Parting with one’s desire leads to bitterness.

   Bitterness leads into what one does not desire,

   Being unable to obtain one’s desires leads into Suffering.」

In Buddhism, there are the Eight Sufferings; our protagonist had experienced no fewer than five of these sufferings. His whole life since birth had basically been a chronicle of tragedies. Fortunately, it was a short chronicle, because he only lived to the age of twenty-eight before facing his mortality.

Perhaps his life ought to have ended at that point. However, at that moment, fate conceived a single turning point.

Nie Yan turned over. A feeling of wetness arose from his back as his clothing clung closely to his skin. It was an uncomfortable sensation. He vaguely recalled having been shot in the back and collapsing onto the ground. His blood flowed out, seeping into the earth.

Isn’t it just death? He lay there calmly where he collapsed. To silently pass away like this… Couldn’t this also be considered a peaceful death of sorts?

He had lain in ambush for five whole days at the gates of the Cao Xu Mansion. There, he waited with great anticipation for his target to emerge. In the moment when Cao Xu nearly disappeared into his vehicle, Nie Yan pulled the trigger. Employing his sniper rifle, he delivered a bullet straight through Cao Xu’s skull.「Bang!」Blood dyed the ground. Gazing through the scope from a distance, he noticed a hole in Cao Xu’s head with blood flowing out smoothly.

Cao Xu’s eyes stared vacantly before finally becoming blank as the light in them gradually faded away.

Replaying the event in his mind, Nie Yan felt incomparable pleasure in his heart as he recalled the scene of the bullet piercing through Cao Xu’s head. Naturally, it was because he had been unburdened of his hatred.

Cao Xu possessed a lifetime of glory and splendor, yet he died at the hands of a nobody like Nie Yan. Even if he became a ghost, Nie Yan wouldn’t be too particularly bitter. In the face of death, everyone was at an equal standing. Even if he had the wealth to rival nations, it still hadn’t been able to save his life.

Cao Xu had committed too many evils… It would be hard for him to escape retribution in the afterlife.

At the same moment when Cao Xu’s brains were blown out, Nie Yan came to a realization. His perspective on life underwent a complete transformation. So everything in life could be determined by no more than a single shot of a sniper rifle. Perhaps tomorrow his picture would appear plastered on the front page of the morning newspaper. The headline would read “Millionaire Cao Xu Assassinated!” Below, a giant mug shot would lay on the page for the common people to revere and worship.

Immediately after Nie Yan had assassinated Cao Xu, Cao Xu’s personal bodyguards discovered his location and went in pursuit. They shot at Nie Yan, and a single bullet managed to hit him in the back.

He felt a burst of sharp pain. So this is how it feels to get shot… His heart gradually grew colder as his life force rapidly escaped his body.

Am I about to die? he thought, and let out a faint laugh. He laughed at the bitter shortness of life. He laughed at his life of confusion and hesitation. Only when he was about to die did he finally awaken to reality.

Shortly after this realization, tears began to streak down his cheeks.

The deep animosity he felt towards his parents had already ceased to exist. The events of the past were now replaying within his mind as if they were some kind of film. The only thing he longed for now in his fading time on this Earth was her faint, unblemished smile.