Vampire's Slice Of Life

1114  About The Loop n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Darkness. Lith found himself in absolute darkness once again. His mind had slowed, and everything seemed to be hazy and blurry. After who knows how long, a sense of self returned to him. He could feel that his eyes were closed and his body wasn't moving. Slowly, he regained control of his body, and could feel himself moving his fingers. Lith's eyes fluttered as he opened them. Bright light filled his vision momentarily and got replaced with the sight of a well lit room. The morning sun rays seeped in from a window, and before he looked around, a sweet voice greeted him.

"You're finally up." Turning his head to the source, Lith saw a woman in white and pink robes. He had seen her before. "You are…"

"Wang Wei of the Qing Mei sect." The lady introduced herself. 'The blind lady…' Lith remembered her. Her eyes were slashed when he had seen her, and looking at her complete self now, he almost didn't recognize her. "The sect… are we at the sect?" "Yes," the lady helped Lith get up. She got up and walked towards the table to brew some tea. "We are the core of the sect. The sect master will visit you soon."

Wang Wei added a few tea leaves into the teapot and let it brew over a fire magic circle. "What happened back at the shrine?" Lith sat upright by the window and asked. He looked at his body and found himself bandaged everywhere. Wang Wei stared the boiling tea and and replied, "Benefactor fought the spirits and exorcized them, saving this lowly one and putting himself in that condition."

"Elaborate. And spare the formalities." Lith was in no mood to hear the words 'this lowly one' and wanted to know what had happened properly. Wang Wei poured tea in traditional porcelain cups and brought the tray over to Lith, serving him a cup. She sat down on a bamboo stool by the bedside and answered, "Benefactor did not seem to be in the right state after the spirits came really close. I was blinded so I couldn't see what was happening, but I could feel the benefactor's aura exploding. You then chanted some holy spell, and in response, the spirits attacked with their own black magic. It did not work, and once the benefactor casted his holy spell, the spirits were immediately exorcized."

Lith took a sip of tea and continued to listen.  Wang Wei looked down at the cherry red-colored tea and continued, "Though the exorcism worked, it was not the end of it. Benefactor had sadly collapsed by then, but thankfully, we weren't too far from the outer perimeter. I took the benefactor outside, and the loop was broken. The shrine collapsed shortly after due to this."

"It collapsed?" Lith asked calmly and took a sip of tea. Wang Wei took a sip as well and looked at Lith. "Yes. There had been multiple attempts at removing the shrine, but every expert lacked the god-like exorcism technique the benefactor portrayed."

'What was so god-like? What did I use?' Lith couldn't recall what had happened. It was as if a certain part of his memory was erased. Wang Wei took a sip of tea and answered, "They are in the sect, undergoing training to become a part of it. The priestess is strong and can become an elder if her mind is proper."

"Hm?" Lith lowered the teacup. "The two weren't spirits?"

Wang Wei shook her head. "They had been trapped in the loop since the beginning of the Lifan Dynasty. It was said that the emperor's life was coming to an end, so he asked for his last day to be repeated for eternity. Through god's grace, he got what he asked for, and this was when the loop began."

Wang Wei took a sip of tea to wet her parched throat. "The loop kept repeating, but the problem was, they were repeating the same actions everyday. They had memories of it, and eventually, they began going mad. Members that were with the emperor killed themselves as they couldn't bear it anymore, and the emperor quickly realized the problem and prayed that everyone would forget what had happened by the day's end and repeat the same things the next day's morning."

The emperor's loved ones eventually paid him a visit and "got stuck in the loop as well."

"The new emperor of the Lifan Dynasty realized this abnormal situation and ordered a trusted warrior to kill them all to put them out of their misery."

"Killing the emperor wasn't easy, and the warrior died along with the emperor. He succeeded in killing everyone that met the emperor, but during this time, the shrine maiden and the priestess were saved as they hid themselves during the fight."

"The watchers found the emperor dead and had left to notify the then emperor. No one came to check on the shrine again, and eventually, the priestess and the shrine maiden were left alone."

"The killed people became spirits and haunted the shrine maiden and the priestess. However, the priestess was skilled and put a warding talisman on the shrine's rooms. It kept these spirits away. The talismans were not bound to the loop and continued to stay there."

"Eventually, the priestess and the shrine maiden repeated the same set of actions everyday, unless someone intruded. Their interaction would change and repeat continuously until the person died in the hands of the spirits or someone new entered."

"Till this day, nobody has any idea on how many had been killed by the spirits. They only know that the number of resentment spirits increased. They clubbed together and became stronger, devouring others who visited easily."

Wang Wei took a sip of tea once again. She felt really thirsty after that long explanation. The time Lith got made him piece the information properly and ponder upon it.

"Later down the line…" Wang Wei lowered the teacup. "The last emperor of the Lifan Dynasty visited to pay respects to the first emperor's tomb. Despite being asked to not venture inside, he ventured inside the loop. Needless to say, he got devoured, and the Lifan Dynasty finally came to an end."

If this happened back in his world, Lith had a feeling that it would definitely be featured in the Dumb Ways To Die magazine. "The place was then turned into a forbidden sanctuary to protect the people, but there were still some that kept visiting that place, becoming food of the spirits."

"People had tried to destroy it from the outside by sending mighty attacks, but none worked. Thus, everyone gave up and lived their life without caring for this place."

Lith nodded thoughtfully. "So then… after how many years did someone like me enter that place and destroy it?"

Wang thought about it and was about to answer, when a soft voice from behind her chimed in and replied,

"Roughly 3,000 years later…"