Part to the power of the universe

CHAPTER 2

THE DEBT COLLECTORS AT THE DOOR

The William family home stood at the end of a narrow street on the poorer side of the city.

It was a modest two-storey building with peeling paint, a leaking roof, and a rusted gate. The surrounding houses were old, and the streetlights flickered whenever the wind grew strong.Xuan Tian studied the building as Lily led him inside.

The structure was weak, but it had been maintained with care. Flowerpots lined the windows,a small wooden bench stood beside the entrance,someone had recently repaired the broken fence using mismatched pieces of wood.Despite their poverty, the family had tried to preserve a home.

Inside, he found a woman standing beside the dining table, arguing with three men in black jackets.Margaret William looked exhausted. Her hair was loosely tied, and her work uniform was stained from a long day at a restaurant.

Beside her stood Daniel William, a man whose once-strong frame had been diminished by illness and financial stress,a walking stick rested against his leg.

The three strangers looked entirely comfortable in the house.The largest one, a man with a scar across his chin,tapped a folder against the table.

"Mrs William, we have been patient enough. Mr Vane wants his money tonight."

Margaret clasped her hands."We have already paid you more than we borrowed. Please, give us another month,My husband is still recovering, and our son is in school."

The scared man laughed."Your son's education is not our problem."

Daniel stepped forward."Watch your mouth. You are standing in my house."

The man turned and shoved him.Daniel stumbled against the table.

"Dad!" Lily cried.

Margaret rushed to support her husband.Xuan Tian stood motionless at the doorway,He had expected fear. He had expected poverty. He had even expected that the original owner of this body might have been a coward.

But seeing grown men use their strength against an injured father and a frightened woman irritated him more than he cared to admit.

The scarred man opened his folder."The outstanding balance is twenty-eight million. You have until midnight. If the money isn't ready, the boy comes with us."

Margaret went pale."Please. Don't involve our children."

"Then pay."

"We don't have that kind of money!"

"That sounds like your problem."

Xuan Tian stepped into the room."Who gave you permission to threaten my family?"

All three men turned,for a moment, they seemed confused.Then the scarred man burst into laughter.

"Look who finally came home. The little schoolboy."He approached Cooper and poked his chest.

"Your father owes money,your mother has nothing and you look like you can barely stand. What exactly are you going to do about it?"

Xuan Tian looked at the finger against his chest."Remove your hand."

The man's smile faded."What?"

"Your hand. Remove it."

The man slapped him,Margaret screamed,Daniel attempted to rise, but his injured leg gave way."Leave my son alone”

The scared man grabbed Cooper by the collar."You think you're brave because your family is watching?"

Xuan Tian's eyes narrowed.He felt the man's grip tighten against his throat.

His new body was weak, but the situation was now clear. These men had entered a private home, threatened a family, and physically attacked its members.They believed that poverty had stripped the Williams of their right to resist.

Xuan Tian had spent centuries dealing with arrogant people.He had no patience for them,He moved his right hand and touched two fingers against the man's wrist.

A faint pulse of spiritual energy travelled through the contact.The scarred man suddenly lost strength in his arm.

He staggered backwards, staring at his fingers,"What did you do?"

"Nothing you need to understand."

The second man lunged forward,Xuan Tian stepped aside and pushed him into the dining table. Plates shattered against the floor.

The third man reached inside his jacket.Before he could pull anything out, Xuan Tian struck a pressure point beneath his shoulder. The man collapsed to his knees, gasping as his arm went numb.

The scarred man recovered and charged.

Xuan Tian caught his forearm, turned his body, and used the man's own momentum to throw him onto the floor.

Three men.Three seconds.

Silence filled the room.

Xuan Tian looked down at them."I will say this once. Leave."

The scarred man struggled to stand."You have no idea who you're dealing with! Mr Vane will bury you!"

Xuan Tian walked toward him."Then tell him to come himself."

The man's face twisted with hatred, but he retreated with his companions.At the doorway, he pointed a trembling finger at Cooper.

"This isn't over."

Xuan Tian watched them disappear into the street.Then he turned around.

Margaret had one hand over her mouth. Daniel stared at him as if his son had become a stranger. Lily stood behind her mother, too frightened to speak.

Xuan Tian understood their reaction.The original Cooper had never fought back. He had apologised even when he was innocent.

Now the same boy had defeated three adult debt collectors."Son," Daniel said cautiously, "where did you learn to fight like that?"

Xuan Tian considered the question."I learned that people who rely on intimidation are usually weaker than they pretend."

It was not an answer, but it was the closest he could offer.Margaret rushed forward and examined his face.

"Your cheek is swollen. Does your head hurt? We should take you to the hospital."

He gently lowered her hand."I'm fine, Mother."

The word escaped his mouth before he could stop it.For an instant, something unfamiliar tightened inside his chest.

The original Cooper's memories were still there. He remembered Margaret staying awake beside his bed when he was ill. He remembered Daniel carrying him on his shoulders as a child. He remembered Lily saving the last piece of cake for him.

These people were not his biological family.

But they had treated him as their own.

Daniel sat down heavily frightened."We have to leave this house tonight," he said. "Those men will return."

"No," Xuan Tian replied.

His father stared at him."No?"

"We will not run."

"Son, this is not a matter of pride. These men are criminals. They have people everywhere."

"Then we will deal with their leader."

Margaret shook her head in alarm."Cooper, please. Don't do anything foolish."

He looked at the fear in her eyes."I won't let anyone hurt you."

He spoke quietly, without anger or hesitation."I promise."

That night, after his family finally went to bed, Xuan Tian sat cross-legged on the floor of his small bedroom.He closed his eyes and searched for spiritual energy.

The air was almost empty In his former world, a single breath could draw enough energy from the atmosphere to shatter mountains. Here, he had to search for tiny traces hidden between the particles of dust.

Still, he found something.A faint thread of energy flowed into his body.His damaged meridians trembled.A golden symbol appeared briefly beneath his skin.

Xuan Tian's eyes opened.It was the mark of the Celestial Origin Scripture, a cultivation technique he had created thousands of years ago.

He had brought it with him.

But beneath the symbol lay something else.

A black mark.

The same mark he had seen on the star that destroyed his universe.He stared at it in silence,Perhaps his reincarnation had not been an accident.Earth held a secret far more dangerous than he had imagined.