The Fake Uncle

He killed the person who raised him with his own hands.

On that rainy night, Luo Tang pinned Shen Xinzhi beneath him, driven by hatred and misunderstanding. As he vented more than a decade's worth of twisted dependence and resentment, he pressed hard on the man's already fragile stomach. When Shen Xinzhi stopped breathing, Luo Tang fled in terror and hid in the shadows like a rat, waking from the same nightmare day after day.

Later, he saw Shen Xinzhi again at a banquet. The man stood among the crowd, chatting and laughing. He gave Luo Tang a casual glance, as if he were a stranger, then never looked at him again.

The same night Shen Xinzhi was killed, Jiang Shi, leader of the Operations Team at the Department for Anomalous Incident Management, died saving his partner, He Guiyuan. Through a twist of fate, his soul entered Shen Xinzhi's battered body.

That night, He Guiyuan sat holding Jiang Shi's corpse until dawn. Several months later, he met Shen Xinzhi, head of the Shen family and forty years old. The He and Shen families were old acquaintances, but not close, so He Guiyuan merely greeted him politely and distantly as Uncle Shen.

But the more time he spent with Shen Xinzhi, the more something felt off. The man's fighting habits, the way he protected people, the look in his eyes when he fought for his life: they all resembled Jiang Shi too much. He told himself not to be ridiculous. The dead were dead. But he couldn't help watching him, getting closer to him.

Until one day, the man was in so much pain that he fell to his knees, cold sweat soaking through his back. Half-conscious, he grabbed He Guiyuan by the arm and said, "Young Master He, this pain is killing me."

One hates the wrong person, kills the wrong person, mistakes one person for another, and doesn't want to let go;

The other cannot forget, cannot bear to forget, cannot bring himself to forget, and in the end never does.

Jiang Shi: Thanks a lot, you guys.

Looks like younger men really are a debt that has to be repaid with your life.

CP: He Guiyuan x Jiang Shi

[Reading Guide | Content Warnings]

1. The setting is wildly unrealistic and has no medical accuracy. Don't expect historical research.

2. After the shou's soul transmigrates, his body is in extremely, extremely, extremely poor condition.

3. Attention! Younger gong (the shou is older than the gong in both soul and body). Don't read if that's not your thing!

4. No pairing changes or reversals. Not suitable for fans devoted to either character.

About the template character design on the cover: The cover's character designs are licensed commercial-use assets purchased from an artist, but not exclusive. The cover is fully licensed, and the design itself is unique.

Blurb written on March 1, 2026, and archived.

Theme: Memory has weight.