To dream within a dream, to exist outside oneself.
After much deliberation, Lin Shi finally selected eight relatively better reincarnation life stories from a pile of utterly ridiculous and melodramatic tales. She handed her choices directly to Lian Zheng, who was sitting cross-legged opposite her. After giving them to him, she lay down next to him and waited quietly for him to finish reading.
Lian Zheng took the reincarnation scripts and began to read them carefully. He saw that Lin Shi's first six incarnations were as mortals, her seventh in the demon realm, and her eighth in the demonic cultivation world. In her eighth life, Lin Shi was reincarnated as a demonic woman with few relatives, no parents, no spouse, no children, destined to die alone, and who had only adopted one granddaughter. She had limited talent and low cultivation, but she dedicated her life to breaking the curse so that her adopted granddaughter wouldn't commit suicide at a young age in every life. Apart from this, her other seven incarnations were filled with various loves, hates, and grudges.
Lian Zheng carefully read Lin Shi's first life script, only to discover that she would be reincarnated as a woman from a declining family in a city. Upon reaching adulthood, she would marry a man from a fallen noble family exiled near her home, and the two would have a daughter and a son. However, her husband later took his childhood sweetheart and former fiancée, who had eloped, as a concubine, causing a rift between the couple, making them estranged. During the chaos of war, Lin Shi's reincarnation, unwilling to abandon her sick aunt and daughter, severed ties with her husband's family and remained on the escape route. Later, she remarried a general and had another son. Unfortunately, her second husband later died in battle. Many years later, while strolling through the streets with her daughter and second son, she unexpectedly encountered her first husband and eldest son. Her first husband had later distinguished himself in battle and petitioned the city lord to grant them marriage, but Lin Shi refused, vomiting blood on the spot, unable to refuse. In the end, the two became husband and wife again, but remained lifelong enemies.
After reading Lin Shi's first reincarnation, Lian Zheng turned his attention to her second. He discovered that Lin Shi's second reincarnation was very similar to her first, but this time, after her husband took a concubine, she voluntarily chose to become a female official in the city lord's mansion, bringing her daughter and elderly mother with her, and never leaving the mansion for a month. When her city was attacked by other cities, she even joined the city lord's men in fighting back against the invading enemies, sacrificing herself for her city, which ultimately survived.
Lian Zheng then continued reading about Lin Shi's life scripts in her other lifetimes, but they were all similar life trajectories.
Lian Zheng finished reading through Lin Shi's eight lifetimes of reincarnation before turning to check on her reaction. Lin Shi was lying beside him with her back to him. Her slender body was curled up like a shrimp, looking both pitiful and lonely.
"Lin Shi!" Lian Zheng called Lin Shi's name gently as he touched her shoulder.
Lin Shi turned around from where she had her back to him. She lay flat on the bed, looking up into Lian Zheng's eyes. Her eyes held a numb and indifferent expression.
Lian Zheng looked into Lin Shi's eyes and asked earnestly, "Lin Shi, don't you like the cycle of reincarnation in your life?"
Lin Shi answered weakly, "Yes!"
Lian Zheng: "Why?"
Lin Shi: "Boring!"
Lian Zheng: "What aspect is uninteresting?"
Lin Shi: "They're all so boring."
Lian Zheng: "Then what aspects are the most boring?"
Lin Shi: "Those romantic entanglements between men and women are so annoying!"
Lian Zheng: "Do you hate that your reincarnated husband is fickle?"
Lin Shi: "Yes."
Lian Zheng: "Then should we look for some other, better life scripts?"
Lin Shi: "There's no better life script than this. They're all so disgusting. In the scripts of reincarnation, as long as there's love, hate, and grudges, it only gets more melodramatic, never the most melodramatic. I only have one life like the eighth life script. Sigh! I really don't want to reincarnate!" As Lin Shi spoke, she covered her face with Lian Zheng's wide sleeve.
Lian Zheng let Lin Shi use his sleeve to cover her face. After a while, he gently removed his sleeve and met Lin Shi's clear eyes again.
A complex mix of emotions flickered in Lian Zheng's eyes. He gently touched Lin Shi's face, sighing inwardly before speaking seriously to her, "Lin Shi, these are the last eight lifetimes. I will accompany you. After these eight lifetimes are complete, you will no longer need to undergo reincarnation. Please endure these eight lifetimes, okay? After your eight incarnations are complete, we can ascend to the Central Heaven Realm together!"
Lin Shi remained silent for a long time. She was tempted to give up, but ultimately succumbed to the conflicted look in Lian Zheng's eyes—a look that was both expectant and fearful of her rejection. In the end, she could only helplessly say, "I'll try one last time!"
A few days later, Lin Shi and Lian Zheng went into seclusion separately. This time, they didn't stay in the same cave, but after communicating through telepathy, Lin Shi's physical body and soul remained in her cave in a meditative state. Eight avatars appeared on her body one after another, and then entered the channel of reincarnation. Following closely behind her avatars, Lian Zheng's avatars also entered the cycle of reincarnation.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
