I Faked My Death After Failing to Assassinate the Beautiful, Strong, and Miserable Protagonist

Shen Zhili is a woman trapped inside a novel world, bound by a system that demands she assassinate the Demon Lord He Chengyuan within seven days or face erasure. For over a decade, she has endured his cruelty, serving as a captive in his palace while secretly planning his murder. Her final attempt ends in failure when she accidentally falls into a lake and is rescued two days later, only to be dragged into a confrontation with Xie Gubai, a blind and crippled young master she does not recognize. He Chengyuan discovers their meeting, kills Xie Gubai’s accomplice, and forces Shen Zhili into a wedding ceremony. During the ritual, she attempts to stab him with a hidden hairpin, but he anticipates the move, impales her with the dagger, and triggers a system reset that sends her back in time.

Shen Zhili awakens five years in the past, before He Chengyuan becomes the Demon Lord. The system informs her that he is currently a slave in an underground fighting arena, destined to suffer torture by the Heretical Sect if she does not intervene. She rushes to the gambling den, where she witnesses He Chengyuan, now a blind and chained Slayer, fighting for his life. Despite his severe injuries and blindness, he defeats his opponent and bets his own life on a single copper coin. When the Heretical Sect attempts to assassinate him from the shadows, Shen Zhili intervenes, paying eight hundred and eighty-eight taels to buy his freedom. She drags him away as chaos erupts, but they are pursued by masked attackers and forced into a carriage that crashes off a cliff.

Shen Zhili survives the crash and wakes up in the care of Xie Gubai, who reveals that he and his family rescued them. He is deeply concerned for Shen Zhili, referring to her with an intimate nickname, but she remains distant due to her lack of memories from her previous timeline. He Chengyuan, meanwhile, recovers in a separate room. He has also retained memories of his past life as the Demon Lord and realizes that his current weakness is a deviation from his original fate. He pretends to remain unconscious while secretly plotting his escape and revenge against those who wronged him. When Shen Zhili discovers him missing, she realizes he has fled the estate.

Tracking him to an abandoned clinic, Shen Zhili finds the physician unconscious and He Chengyuan gone. The system guides her to the western outskirts, where she finds He Chengyuan confronting the poison master responsible for his blindness and suffering. He kills the poison master and retrieves the antidote, but his condition remains precarious. Shen Zhili confronts him, revealing her knowledge of his future and her intent to change his path. He Chengyuan, distrustful and vengeful, threatens her but ultimately agrees to let her accompany him, recognizing that she is the only variable that has altered his destiny. The story concludes with the two bound together by a forced alliance, navigating a world where He Chengyuan’s path to becoming a demon is no longer certain.