Eucas_Rarlin

Yan Rui was a famous actor — rich, proud, and used to being in control.
One night, after filming a scene as a royal offering, he dies in a sudden accident… and wakes up in another world.

Now, he’s kneeling in a real temple, tied up in red silk, surrounded by chanting priests — and facing Mo Jue, a powerful and dangerous snake demon.

Mo Jue calls him “the offering.”
But Yan Rui refuses to be anyone’s sacrifice.

Trapped in a strange world of ancient empires, monsters, and deadly politics, Yan Rui must survive — and deal with the cold demon lord who watches him too closely.

But the more they clash… the more something dangerous begins to grow between them.

His Venom My Oath

Yan Rui saw himself — but not the person in this palace.

But the man he had been… in another world.

Standing beneath stage lights. Fake blood on his face. Cameras flashing. And loneliness thicker than fame.

> "That man in the reflection," he said softly, "he isn't just a memory."

> "That's you — moments before the world let you go."

Yan Rui's fingers trembled near the basin.

"I remember this scene," he whispered. "It was my last film. The one they called cursed."

> "You were supposed to die in that world."

> "But something — or someone — refused to let you go."

Now, Yan Rui saw himself lying in a hospital bed — tubes in his arms, monitors blinking red. He was unconscious. Pale. Breathing shallowly.

Doctors stood outside, shaking their heads.

Fans lit candles online. News tickers scrolled headlines of an accident — "ACTOR YAN RUI IN CRITICAL CONDITION."

And then… the light above his bed flickered.

A shadow appeared at the corner of the frame — tall, coiled in smoke, with eyes like gold fire.

> "You came for me?" Yan Rui whispered.

> "I didn't mean to," he said. "But you called out. In your dying breath. Not to your family. Not to your world. To me."

Flashes of a storm. A temple between timelines.

Yan Rui's soul, drifting, torn between the veil of death and something ancient that remembered his name.

And at the heart of it all… a contract.

Yan Rui reached out. Signed with his own blood. Unconscious. Dreaming. Willing.

Sweat clung to his spine. His pulse thundered in his ears.

> "You pulled me here," Yan Rui said. "But only because I asked. Because I—"

> "Because you couldn't die with regrets," Mo Jue murmured. "And because I was the only one who listened."

Silence wrapped around them like silk.

The flames in the room dimmed, flickering between this world and something older — something almost tender.

> "So I'm not here because of fate," Yan Rui said quietly.

> "No," Mo Jue replied. "You're here because you chose to live. And I chose to answer."

> "But why here?" Yan Rui asked. "Why not… a normal life? Why this palace, this body, this memory?"

Mo Jue looked away, voice almost broken.

> "Because the only door I knew… led to me."

That night, Yan Rui sat alone by the balcony, staring at the stars — no longer sure which sky they belonged to.

He didn't remember choosing Mo Jue.

He didn't remember loving him in another life.

But he remembered feeling seen, finally, when he opened his eyes in this strange world.

He wasn't sure if that feeling was love.

Or a trap he'd willingly walked into.

ch : 11 The One Who Crossed Time