Maybe in another life

Chapter 1

When Yue Qingyuan died, he hadn't died too quickly. It was remarkable just how skilled those archers had been. Shooting arrows at him that shredded his flesh and bones everywhere but his head and chest. He only received mercy at the very last, right before blood loss and pain made it impossible to keep his consciousness.

Back then the shock had at least somewhat taken his pain, so the pain he felt when he awakened in what can only be called afterlife was more than enough to make him want to scream and vomit at the same time. Not like that would have been possible, even if his throat hadn't been in the state it was right now. Not even groaning in pain was granted to him.

One would think that after your death you could finally have some piece, but apparently that's not an option for that. Maybe this was a punishment for something he had done when alive. That would make sense after all.

Yue Qingyuan had neglected his sect, he had not protected the sect's disciples and had failed his old friend more than once. Pain like this most certainly served him right.

He tried to move somewhat, but it wasn't possible. His bones cracked yet he couldn't raise an arm or a leg. Yue Qingyuan resigned to keep laying on the floor in darkness. If not for the pain, maybe his deafness and blindness could be enjoyable. He was starting to wonder if he was meant to spend the rest of eternity like this, as a sentient mingled mass of flesh on the ground of who knows where.

If at least he were able to get used to the pain it might be only half bad. Yue Qingyuan thought himself to be able to get used to any situation. The only issue was that most of the time it was his own thoughts that bothered him the most. Right now the pain distracted quite well from those.

Yue Qingyuan had never really thought about his own death. At least not really. He had thought about dying a lot. When he was younger, he was sure he would either starve or be beaten to death, later, when he had his qi-deviation, he thought that that would be the time he died, afterwards he was sure he would die in battle, either being killed by an enemy or his own sword. In the end he died in an ambush, but at least he had seen it coming. He had just been stupid enough to think that he might be able to get through it alive.

How much did he want to say it right now…

'You were so right. I am impulsive. Way too impulsive.'

But he was dead now and no matter how many times he accepted this, agreed and apologized in his head, things wouldn't change and the person he had wanted to save would face a fate even worse than what he had been and was going through. Understanding that, he realized that he very much deserved this fate.

At least he thought that this would be his fate. He was highly confused when suddenly something warm graced his body, soothing his pain in the areas it touched. His face and chest felt like they were merging back to how they were supposed to be, making it more and more easy to feel what was going on.

After a small while he started being able to hear again. He heard how someone shifted their position right next to his head, muttering something quietly.

"Damn, you got quite an amount of wounds there, buddy. I wonder what you are supposed to look like."

Yue Qingyuan felt the warmth hover over his eyes and moments later he was able to open them. He saw a person in a black cloak, kneeling beside him. The person was currently working on his upper body after making him able to see again. Yue Qingyuan opened his mouth, trying to say something, but all that came out was a bone chilling gurgle. The person in the black cloak looked up, not at all startled by the sound. Out of the shadows of his hood pierced two bright orange eyes.

"Wait a moment we have that fixed right away," they said and brought their hand to Yue Qingyuan's throat, healing its insides so he could speak at last.