The Author Is Speechless - Chapter 6: Guilt

It begins on the mountain.

With the glint of a knife, a flash of steel in the hands of a sworn brother. A betrayal.

Stabbed and pushed down the mountain, Zi Chen lied within the red-stained snow, left to die.

This is where it begins; he is given life by lightning,
baptized by thunder.

Those who had once betrayed him should all suffer in his cruel revenge.

- Description from Novelupdates

This is a ‘rebirth’ story where Chen Rong, the heroine, finds her second chance at life after burning herself to death. Set in the Eastern Jin era when bureaucrats and their lofty yet equally hypocritical and oppressive ideas once ruled the empire, Chen Rong is made to use her past life’s experience to survive and hopefully find happiness this time around.

- Description from Novelupdates

At 79, Adom is an old mage who has known nothing but illness and regret. When the world finally burns and all hope turns to ash, at the last beat of his fading heart, a mysterious being appears in the dimming light with a simple question:“If you could try again, would you?”What's left to lose when you've already lost everything?A handshake seals the deal, and Adom wakes up on his old school grounds, sixty-seven years in the past. When everything is still possible. A second chance with all his knowledge intact, his memories preserved, and his youth restored.This time, Adom wants it all: to feast on food he's never had, to travel a world still full of wonder, to finally live the life he dreamed of. There's just, as always, one small catch—he needs to prevent the end of the world first.But as Adom will soon discover, changing history might demand sacrifices even greater than watching it burn...

He was once the most feared villain in the empire, a master of manipulation who wove chaos from the shadows. Ruthless, untouchable—until the day he was betrayed and executed by the very man he sought to control.But death is not the end.He awakens in the body of Lady Elara Valcrest, a fragile noble girl doomed to be a pawn in political games. Stripped of her former power, she is forced into an arranged marriage with none other than Cairon Everhart—the man who once killed her. He does not recognize her, but she knows him. And she will never forget.To survive, Elara must play a new game. One where deception is her only weapon, and trust is a dangerous illusion. She must outmaneuver her enemies, uncover the truth behind her execution, and reclaim the power she lost. But as she navigates the treacherous world of court intrigue, one question lingers—Was Cairon truly her greatest enemy? Or had she been blind to an even greater threat?Time is running out. The villain has been given one last chance. And this time, she refuses to lose.