As I breathed, a lovely smell brought me clarity. I tried to get up but was assaulted by pain in my chest. Thanks to the very fever dream-like scenario I was in, it took me a while to remember who I was, where I was and why I was here.

My grunt of pain must have alerted someone because a man with a rough looking face came in and told me to stay put. He said it in a way that implied he was not worried for me but rather wary of me.

I nodded in understanding and watched as he left the room. I tried to take in my surroundings as best I could whilst lying down. The room was wooden, a dark brown kind that looked like it came from a kind of evergreen. The bed was big enough for only me which I assumed meant it was usually occupied by a child. There was a small table next to me with a burned out candle on it. The man re-entered the room with a cup of water that I drank after temporarily perching myself up.

“Stay still, rest, then go.” said the man. I only nodded so that he could leave and I could finally get a chance to discover who I am this time.

He closed the door and I closed my eyes. My first port of call was to check my soul root’s quality. Finding out that this body had a useless soul root after all that I had done to stay alive would be truly tragic but nevertheless I delved into my cultivation base and examined my body. I sputtered a little as I found exactly what I was hoping for. Chaotic rose soul root, a rare and powerful soul root that catered perfectly to the cultivation method I created.

Thanks to the pain all over my body I was unable to celebrate physically but my consciousness was doing flips inside my dantian. I then inspected the rest of my body which was extremely underwhelming in comparison.

I was without muscle and sickeningly skinny. Whoever handled the body before me had wildly mistreated it. I shrugged off the disappointment quickly as it was nothing a bit of training couldn’t fix. As was normal with a starting cultivator I had impurities throughout my body, which was all expected and left me similarly unworried.

Finally, it was time to have a look at my previous hosts' memories. Judging by the situation I found myself in upon reincarnation I had to admit I was not looking forward to what I would find.

I meditated on it and eventually, after becoming one with the body, the memories left behind began to integrate with my own.

I watched as I grew up in a relatively normal household. I watched as my life changed when I showed my talent for cultivation. Then I watched as my talent got to my head and I started acting up. I watched as I disrespected my parents, I would leave the house cursing the family. I bullied and mistreated fellow cultivators and martial artists.

I watched as others hostility bred hatred within me. I watched as I was cast out by my family, told never to show myself in front of them again. I watched as I stole. I watched as I fought. I watched as I raped a woman in a purple dress, she cried as I left the room. I watched as I insulted a young master of a household far larger than my own. I watched as I was surrounded by high ranking cultivators and flayed until the pain and blood loss was enough for me to finally pass out.

I lay still. I wished for a minute that I had not fought so hard to stay alive and had instead allowed this piece of shit to die the death he deserved. I wished I did not have to keep this face that people would be reminded of what I have done.

I stopped wishing and started thinking. The body I have inherited, that I have fought for and now contains the soul root that I have been looking so desperately for; I will not give up on it. The people that I have done wrong, that I have harmed or hindered, I will do right by them in ways only a multiple time reincarnator can.

Rather than dismay, I felt anticipation. I rubbed my eyes now red from holding back tears. My rocky reincarnation had become far more treacherous than before.

I began to circulate my qi. My aim was to heal myself as quickly as possible so that I did not bring any trouble to the household that had saved my life and so I could find the woman in the purple dress as quickly as possible. As the victim of my most egregious sin she was my first priority.

As the qi revitalised my body I entered a sleep-like state that I knew would be conducive to my recovery, the less activity the better. I heard the gruff man enter the room a couple more times seemingly to check up on me. I wondered if his wariness of me was because he knew my identity. In which case I am surprised he has not shared my location with the people that wanted to kill me.

It was another day till I got up, my body almost fully healed and enough to leave the haggard man to his business.

I opened the door slowly so as not to alarm anyone. I saw the man who had taken care of me sitting at the table, his wife sitting opposite. They were talking quietly so I interrupted them quickly before they thought I was trying to listen-in.

“Excuse me, I’d like to thank you for saving me.” I said, bowing my head deeply to convince them of my gratitude.

“You are Lai Sen’o, aren’t you?”