Chapter 884: Tian Chenyu's Awakening
"How is my son, doctor?" Tian Aowei asked after the doctor they hired to check on Tian Chenyu.
"Although there is nothing wrong with him physically, I am afraid that his mind is… lost…"
"W-What is that supposed to mean?! What will happen to my son?!" His mother immediately began crying again.
"He must have experienced something extremely traumatic very recently. That event has stressed his mind to its limits, putting him into a coma. I don't know when he'll wake up… if he'll even wake up… We can only hope for a miracle from the heavens at this moment." The doctor sighed.
"How can that be?!" His mother began crying even harder.
Even though Tian Chenyu was in a coma, his mind was actually conscious, so he was able to hear the doctor's words and his mother crying.
'What's the point of waking up if Ai Rong won't be there when I wake up…' Tian Chenyu sighed inwardly as he fell deeper into his consciousness.
Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, but there were still no signs of Tian Chenyu waking up from his coma.
Eventually, a whole year would pass without Tian Chenyu waking up even once. However, despite that, his family never gave up on him and took care of him daily.
One year turned into two years, and within the blink of an eye, three years have passed since Ai Rong's death.
"How long do you plan on sleeping?"
One day, an unfamiliar voice resounded inside Tian Chenyu's head, waking his consciousness a little.
'Who's there?'
"My identity isn't important. What's truly important here is you… Your future. Do you really plan on rotting away in your room as a nobody?" The voice returned.
"So what if I rot away? It's not like I have anything to live for anymore." Tian Chenyu sighed.
"How pathetic. You lose a woman and you give up life?"
"Shut up! Ai Rong wasn't just any woman! She was my woman! My childhood friend! My fiancee! My love!"
"Is that why you merely stood there when your love was slowly being consumed by that demon?"
"Is that really why you couldn't even utter a single word?"
"Is that why you didn't even try to help her?"
"There was nothing I could've done in that situation! I am a mortal! I am powerless! If I had the power…"
"So you're telling me that if you had the power that you would have saved her? I don't believe it. You may have been powerless, but you didn't even attempt to help her. You weren't just powerless. You were also spineless— a coward— and utterly useless."
Tian Chenyu couldn't refute the voice's ridicule and could only silently accept the mockery.
The voice would continue to mock Tian Chenyu for the next few minutes before disappearing.
However, the voice would return shortly after.
"I will ask you again. If you truly had the power to defeat demons… What would you do then?"
"If I had the power to defeat demons…?" Tian Chenyu repeated.
After a moment of silence, he would respond in a furious voice, "If I had the power, I would erase all demons from existence! I would become their worst nightmare! I would make them regret ever being born!"
"Is that so? I still don't believe you, but I will give you a chance to prove it."
"Wake up, Tian Chenyu!"
The voice disappeared after saying such words, and Tian Chenyu could suddenly feel a warm sensation coming from somewhere deep within his body, quickly enveloping his entire entity.
And before he was aware, his eyes that had been closed shut for over three years would suddenly open, revealing the world to him once again.
Tian Chenyu sat up on his bed and turned to look at the sword that was still hanging on his door.
He then got off the bed and walked to the sword, picking it up.
Despite having not moved his body for over three years, Tian Chenyu did not feel any fatigue in his body at all. In fact, he's never felt any better, even stronger than ever.
After staring at the sword for a moment, he walked to the center of the room and started swinging it around.
At first, his movements were completely amateurish, and his swings had no experience behind them. However, he would quickly improve.
His family eventually realized that their son had woken up from his coma when the servants passing through his room would hear noises coming from within.
"Chenyu! I have been so worried! Thank the heavens that you finally woke up! You have been in a coma for three years!" His mother was the first to barge into his room, and she cried for many minutes while hugging him.
"Anyways, why are you swinging that sword around when you just woke up? You should rest some more… I will immediately call for a doctor."
"Rest? I have rested enough." Tian Chenyu said in a nonchalant voice.
"Please leave me alone."
He then forced everyone out of his room before continuing to swing his sword.
"Chenyu?! What's the matter?!"
"Give him some time. He may have woken, but his heart and mind is still…" Tian Aowei sighed.
"Alright…"
However, neither Tian Chenyu's father or mother could have anticipated that 'some time' would actually last much longer than his coma.
Days turned into months, and months turned into years.
Within the blink of an eye, 20 years have passed since Tian Chenyu's awakening.
During this time, Tian Chenyu would remain inside his room doing heaven-knows-what for the majority of the time, and the only times he could be seen outside his room are during times when he needed to clean his body because the stench from his body became too unbearable.
As for his parents, they would continue to support him however they could even when they barely saw or spoke to each other. When Tian Chenyu began requesting for information on demons, they went out of their way to collect books and scrolls about demons from other cities.
They would gather so many books and scrolls that they had to build multiple storage units around their house just to keep the books from cluttering the house.