Shen sat on the riverbed with a sigh, eyes closing as he tried to process everything and curse his luck.
This wasn't his first time being reincarnated.
This was the second!
In his first life, he had been a hero, a knight who ventured across kingdoms, slayed the demon king, and saved his homeland. He returned victorious, the love of his life by his side...
Only to be betrayed by the very kingdom he saved. The officials and four pillars of the kingdom and protectors of the region deemed his companion and the love of his life as a threat to their continent and killed her while he was watching.
All for what?
Just because her affinity with magic was darkness, which resembled the demon king.
Given the protector's strength and some ancient means they used against him to suppress him inside the castle, he was unable to save his lover and watched her die tragically.
From that day onwards, he disregarded all thoughts of heroism and went on a killing rampage till he was murdered ruthlessly by the protectors.
Shen didn't regret any of it, but what he found absurd was the fact that he didn't really die and found himself reincarnated.
This time...well, you know what happened.
Shen chuckled, "That old geezer… did he find out I knew something about his identity and get scared?"
He threw a stone across the river. It skipped several meters before stopping. Another sigh slipped from his lips.
Indeed.
He'd known from day one that his grandfather was a magician, thanks to his keen sense of magic and elemental flow. But the strange part was... the old man never said a word about it.
Instead, he sent his wife to murder him.
"Whatever," Shen muttered, "I don't know his reason. No point thinking about it anymore."
Though…
If Shen had known the truth, that his grandfather killed him simply because he was "dangerous,"—he might've nodded in agreement.
Even he would fear someone with a brain that memorized everything.
And the whole "body can't support it" excuse?
Bullshit.
With magic, that problem's gone. His body would've adapted, maybe even surpassed the limits of mortals.
Sigh…
"So what now?" he muttered, staring up at the sky, "Third time's the charm? Or strike three?"
Thinking up to that point, Shen tried to recall these new body memories.
'Hmm?' Shen frowned, a serious expression on his face.
"Unlike his second life, where memories rushed in instantly, this time there was only emptiness. No trace of the previous soul."
'This body, memories, and remnant soul, is it gone?' Shen didn't like the sound of that as he deduced the reason behind it.
It wasn't hard to understand given his experience.
The memories, for example, that he received at the age of 20 when he reincarnated into the kid's body, were followed by a sense of mission, like he needed to fulfill some dream or desire for the kid.
Shen linked that to the soul's last dying wish or something along those lines; hence, the moment he found no memories this time around, he knew that this kid's last dying wish was non-existent cause his soul is gone.
As he was about to stand up and look for some clues about his identity, like his belonging or something, a voice sounded from inside of him.
"Ding! Danger Alert! Danger Alert! The host's body is bleeding from the back of the skull."
"Ding! The host is required to take immediate medicine or he would lose his life...Estimation time... calculating... 15 minutes before death."
'This...what is this?!' Shen was dumbfounded after hearing the voice and the continuous warning. He subconsciously placed his right hand on the back of his head and found it wet. As he brought it back, he saw a large amount of blood sticking to it.
"That voice… no way. It followed me here?"
Shen could more or less recognize that robotic indifferent voice that sounded, but given his urgent situation, he decided to ignore that point for now as he reached out for the river and grabbed a large amount of water with his hands and poured it on his head.
'Cold water can keep me awake for a bit more time,' He thought,' I think...'
Even he wasn't sure, as he didn't know how to proceed. But suddenly, as he was about to wash the wound, a voice sounded behind him.
"Young master Shen, is that you?" The voice was shaky, fearful, and unsure.
Turning around, Shen spotted a young girl of his age, and the moment his eyes met hers, the girl's eyes brightened and she instantly jumped to hug him, crying non-stop.
"Young...young master, I was told you were dead by your elder sister and came running here to check on your body with some bodyguards, yet here..." The girl couldn't control herself before she ducked her head even deeper into his chest and cried, her eyes turned red in an instant.
'I...I think I'm in a bit of trouble,' Shen bitterly laughed, looking at this scene and the guards coming his way with a coffin. With a gentle touch, he pulled the girl away and spoke.
"Let's first treat my injury, as for the death part, I should have indeed been dead, but I was lucky. My sister didn't lie to you," Shen tilted his head forward and displayed the injury on the back of his skull to the girl and guards so they could be put at ease.
In a second, the atmosphere turned serious, and the girl, with the help of guards, quickly carried Shen inside the coffin to their family's mansion.
Lying inside the coffin like a corpse carried by four guards, Shen didn't know whether to laugh or cry,' Still, this situation.'
His lips curled into a smile as he didn't know how everything would have gone if that girl hadn't had a big mouth and let out everything.
'This body, why do I feel that my situation is worse than my grandfather, who abandoned me in my past life?'
Shen didn't know what to think of the situation as of yet, but he didn't need to, since just in a matter of ten minutes, they reached the town and hurried inside the mansion to heal his wounds.