Jing Rui woke up once again with a painful headache.
Everything felt like a blur for a second, but as time went on, he could remember what happened.
He lost his head yet again to the same person.
The same cold general who gave him deadly stares before he cut off Rui's head.
Again.
Again.
And again.
His hand automatically ran through his neck, feeling his skin on his finger.
"How many times has it happened again?" he asked, and no one answered.
Of course, no one would, because he was the only one who knew—one who felt it. He needed some time to remember and count, hissing as his memory replayed the various ways he had died.
Death by poison? Already done. Many variations.
Death by sword? Sickle? Beheaded? Oh, many times.
Hunted like a deer and his chest pierced by arrows? Check.
Despite all those variations, there was one that remained the same: the one who did that.
Zhao Jueyan. The general of Tianxiao.
That man would always label Rui a traitor, find any evidence that Rui himself couldn't explain, and before he knew it, he had to face execution.
Every time he was about to be sent to death, the last thing he saw was that strong jaw, cold obsidian eyes, and also with a sharp stare that went through his heart.
It was always Zhao Jueyan who became his cause of death. Like it was his only purpose: to kill Jing Rui.
And this time, it was the 100th time. Until now, he couldn't really say if he was transported to a new world or if he was trapped over and over, flashing back in time.
But it didn't really matter, did it? In the end, he would always die.
So what should I do to stay alive?
This time, he had to survive.
And he would.
A knock on the door interrupted his self-motivating session, but he answered either way, "Yes?"
Someone opened the door, a man with a familiar white robe lined with blue embroidery, just like the one he wore now.
He squinted his eyes, trying to get a picture of that man's face, and he recognized him.
Ju Xuanyi.
His best friend.
Also, the one who got killed over and over for protecting him.
You're alive too.
He wanted to say. But he played this 99 times now, and every time he said it, Xuanyi would only say he was a madman.
No one remembered like he did. It was either that, or Rui was the only one who experienced this.
"You're awake already?" he asked. "Now get your ass off the bed because Laoshi came here by himself. You need to go now. Start preparing."
"Where to?"
"Dear Dao, Rui. Are you going to play dumb? Don't act surprised again. It won't work twice."
Rui was still confused. "Seriously, what do you mean by preparing?"
His friend rolled his eyes, uninterested. "Stop finding excuses and start moving. You are the selected student for our sect to go to Tianxiao Imperial Study."
"Oh, you mean I have to… WHAT???!"