“My name is Xiaoyu.”
Still staring intently at his abstract, chaotic draft, Li Jingsheng bluted out, “I am thinking about how I can possibly survive this.”
It was only after answering that it finally hit him.
Wait, was he not the only person in this room?
He swallowed hard, desperately trying to calm himself down.
Stay calm. Stay calm. Stay calm.
This was an immortal cultivation world; anything could happen.
Slowly, he turned his head—no one there. He turned his head the other way—still no one.
“What are you looking at? I am down here.”
Li Jingsheng looked down and saw a red-and-white feather standing upright on the table. It was quite long, a full thirty centimeters, and it even had facial features growing on it.
Startled out of his wits, Li Jingsheng leaped backward.
In an immortal cultivation world, anything can happen… My ass!
“Mommy! Help! A feather has turned into a demon!”
Without even bothering with the piece of abstract paper that held his fate, he bolted for the door in a single bound, finding a random bodhi tree to hide behind.
He took a couple of deep breaths to steady his nerves.
Oh mom, that scared me to death. An immortal cultivation world really is different; even feathers can talk.
Holding his breath and trying not to make a sound, Li Jingsheng waited for a long while. When he heard no further movement, he cautiously poked his head out.
The house was still there. The wind chimes hanging from the eaves swayed gently in the breeze, emitting crisp, clear sounds, while the phoenix tree beside the house stood quietly and steadfastly.
In the small pond in front of the house, red lotuses floated quietly on the water, painting the landscape with a brilliant, picturesque beauty.
No one was there. Correction: no feather was there.
He patted his chest and let out a sigh of relief.
“What are you looking at?”
The moment he raised his head, that exact feather was floating right in front of his eyes, looking down at him with a condescending gaze.
His legs went weak, and he dropped straight to his knees.
Forget it, I am not running anymore. I cannot outrun it anyway. Whatever happens, happens, since we are all going to die sooner or later.
The feather drifted down right in front of his face. Its crimson fine down was faintly visible in the mottled light, and the tip of the feather even displayed a brilliant array of multicolored hues.
Hovering over Li Jingsheng, it spoke in a casual tone: “Stop running. You cannot shake me off. I am your exclusive lingshang… your System.”
Li Jingsheng had already prepared himself to meet his maker, but upon hearing this, he asked with a bewildered expression, “A System?” He pointed first at the feather, then at himself, voicing his confusion: “You are my… System?”
The feather nodded—or rather, its tip swayed up and down—and said, “That is right. You probably already guessed it: you have transmigrated into the book Emergence, and you are even the main villain. I noticed that everyone in transmigration novels has a System, so you get one too.”
It happily floated a bit closer to Li Jingsheng’s face and continued, “I am your System, and I am here to help you complete your missions.”
By this time, Li Jingsheng had already stood back up. Kneeling in front of a feather was, after all, far too humiliating.
He dusted off the knees of his trousers and rubbed his kneecaps.
Damn it, that actually hurts. I probably scraped the skin.
He pointed at the spot where he had just knelt and asked the feather, “Look at this ground. Is it clean?”
Although the feather felt this was completely unrelated and made no sense given what it had just said, it still played along and answered, “Clean.”
With a humorless grin, Li Jingsheng pointed at his own face and said, “That is because my dignity swept it clean.”
The feather looked at his face, then looked back at the ground, and offered a sincere compliment: “Then your dignity did a very thorough job of sweeping.”
Upon hearing this answer, Li Jingsheng’s native language at that moment was absolute speechlessness.
Whatever, I should not expect a feather to get my jokes.
He went back to straightening the hem of his robes, adjusted his white-jade-and-vine pendant back into place, and casually asked, “What kind of System are you? Can you make me an almighty overlord of the cultivation world? The kind of powerhouse who can wipe out a crowd with a single wave of his hand?”
“No.”
Li Jingsheng smoothed down his hair and lowered his standards: “Then can you give me a martial arts cheat sheet? The kind that lets me become invincible under heaven after practicing it? Even if I have to practice it myself.”
“No.”
After receiving two consecutive negative answers, Li Jingsheng stopped fixing his clothes. He crossed his arms, stared at the feather, and asked, “Then can you just give me money? The kind I can never spend all of?”
“Um… still no.”
Li Jingsheng completely lost his patience. “Wait a minute, what can you actually do then? Aren’t Systems supposed to come with golden fingers? What kind of abilities do you even have?”
The feather swayed its tip as if in deep thought. After pondering for a moment, it pronounced with crisp, clear articulation: “I can let you do bad things!”
This answer completely knocked the wind out of Li Jingsheng’s sails.
Wait a second, big brother, is doing bad things supposed to be something to be proud of?
Ignoring the feather entirely, Li Jingsheng turned and walked back toward the house.
Sure enough, relying on others is never as good as relying on yourself, and a feather is even less reliable.
If he went around doing bad things, he would genuinely be a dead man.
Seeing him walk away, the feather immediately gave chase.
“Hey, wait! Your character is supposed to be the villain anyway; we get rewards for doing bad things.”
“Oh.”
Without breaking his stride, Li Jingsheng continued forward.
As if! What kind of rewards could this piece-of-trash system possibly have? It cannot give me anything, and it will probably end up costing me his life.
Seeing that he did not believe it in the slightest, the feather started to panic.
“I am serious! I really can give you rewards—very generous ones.”
“Oh.”
Li Jingsheng lifted the bamboo curtain, preparing to step inside.
In a flash of inspiration, the feather mimicked the lines of Systems it had read about in books and shouted at the top of its lungs:
“I can send you back!”
The foot Li Jingsheng was about to lift stopped mid-air and pulled back.
He lowered the bamboo curtain. A gentle breeze stirred the wind chimes under the eaves, creating a crisp sound and fluttering the hem of his robes, where the embroidered golden-threaded white feathers looked lifelike. Crossing his arms, he looked at the feather and asked suspiciously, “Are you for real?”
If the feather had a physical body, it would probably be breaking out in a cold sweat right about now. Putting on a brave face, it insisted, “Real! Of course it is real! Would I lie to you?”
Li Jingsheng stared at it for about a minute. Right as the feather was considering coming clean, he suddenly reached out, stroked the tip of the feather, and smiled. “You should have said so earlier! If you had said that from the start, we could have easily made a deal.”
Perhaps finding the touch quite pleasant, the feather actually took the initiative to rub against his fingertips. Surprised, Li Jingsheng stroked it a couple more times.
He had to admit, the texture really was amazing—just like petting a cat.
Returning to business—he could not lose sight of the main objective. He grabbed the base of the feather and dragged it back into the house without another word.
Suddenly losing its balance, the feather shrieked, “Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing? Sexual assault! Sexual assault! Humans and feathers keep their distance!”
After sitting down, Li Jingsheng let go of it, poured himself a cup of water, took a sip, and rolled his eyes at it. “Was your brain kicked by a donkey? You are a feather, and I am sexually assaulting you? Say that outside and you will become the laughingstock of the entire profession.”
Though the little feather did not fully understand what he meant, it could tell it was not a compliment. Angrily, it poked Li Jingsheng on the head with the base of its spine.
“Big bad guy, actually talking trash about me.”
Its attack felt like nothing more than a tickle. Li Jingsheng grabbed its tip, pulled it right in front of his eyes, and said earnestly, adapting to the situation with practiced flexibility: “I am sorry, I was wrong. Now, hurry up and tell me how to send me back.”
Seeing him apologize, the feather stopped acting up (mostly because it realized it probably could not beat him anyway). It parroted what it had seen in books: “Um… you have to complete missions first. First of all, as a villain, you are supposed to…” The feather paused to think, then continued, “Collect the protagonist’s hatred.” Seeming quite satisfied with its own logic, it repeated, “Yes, hatred. Once the hatred meter is full and you complete the plot, you can go back.”
After saying this, the little feather felt immensely proud of its own cleverness and brilliance. It looked triumphantly toward Li Jingsheng, only to find him wearing a deeply solemn expression of profound thought.
The little feather hovered right in front of his face, swaying back and forth.
“Hey, what are you even thinking about? Did I not explain it clearly enough?”
Its red down was flashing annoyingly right in front of his eyes, so he swatted it aside. “You are blocking my train of thought.” He paused, then looked up at it again: “You are saying I have to finish doing bad things, and then let the protagonist kill me so I can go back, right?”
The little feather’s brain spun at breakneck speed. Even though it did not quite grasp the implications, it forced itself to stammer, “Um… yes.”
Li Jingsheng pressed further: “So do I have to finish dying to go back, or can I go back the moment I am about to die?”
The little feather stammered again, “Um… probably… after you are completely dead?”
Hearing this, Li Jingsheng saw stars and flatly refused on the spot: “Then forget it. I am not doing it.”
Hearing his refusal, the little feather panicked and darted back and forth in front of him. “Why not? You get to go back!”
Ignoring its frantic movements, Li Jingsheng bent down, picked up the discarded abstract draft of his, and continued reading.
As expected, you still have to rely on yourself for everything.
Having worked up quite an appetite after all this commotion, he casually picked up a pastry from the table to fill his stomach.
The moment he took a bite, his eyes lit up.
Oh wow, how is this pastry made? It is so delicious!
It melted in the mouth, leaving behind a faint, lingering fragrance of peach blossoms.
Seeing him stay silent for so long, the little feather hopped around anxiously. “Say something! Why won’t you do it?”
Annoyed by the fuss, Li Jingsheng explained to it, “Do you know how this villain dies in the end?”
The little feather: “I know! Killed by the protagonist.”
Li Jingsheng: “And do you know how he is killed?”
The little feather wagged its tip, purity and innocence radiating from its tone: “I do not know.”
Exhausted, Li Jingsheng replied, “He is executed by slow slicing. Do you know what slow slicing is? They slice your flesh off piece by piece until you die of pain.” He waved a hand dismissively and continued, “Besides, I do not really have any attachments left in the real world anyway. If I do not go back, so be it. If I skip the missions and just go into hiding, I still have a fighting chance at survival.” He bit into another pastry, as if comforting himself. “If I actually do this mission, I am guaranteed to die a miserable death.”
He looked at the little feather and concluded, “I am not an idiot; why would I go looking for unnecessary torture?”
Hearing him put it that way, the little feather actually thought it sounded quite reasonable.
It gave its tip a little shake.
Wait! No, I cannot let him sway me.
Continuing to hustle him with lines from books, it urged, “It is fine! I have props. When the time comes, I can help you bypass the pain of the execution.”
Li Jingsheng looked at it suspiciously. “Really?”
By now, the little feather could tell a lie without blinking an eye. With false confidence and righteous indignation, it answered, “Really! I really do have props!”
Still skeptical, Li Jingsheng decided to test it out: “Do you have medicine to treat injuries?”
The little feather shook its tip. As luck would have it, it actually knew where the medicine was! Having the upper hand made all the difference, so it shouted loudly, “I do! Of course I do!”
Li Jingsheng held out his hand. “Where is the medicine? Give me a portion.”
The little feather led him over to a lavishly decorated chest in the corner, tapped against it, and said, “Right here. The red bottle inside is Blood-Stopping Dew to stop bleeding, and the white one is Jade Frost Ointment to clear away scars.”
The chest appeared to be made of dark wood, with a pure color, exquisite carvings, and jade inlaid across its surface, making it quite luxurious.
Half-doubtful, Li Jingsheng opened the chest and took a look—sure enough, the items were right inside.
He pulled out the medicine bottles to inspect them. True to the immortal cultivation world, the items looked stunning; the medicine bottles had golden-threaded bases, exquisite bodies, and the names of the medicines clearly inscribed on them.
Seeing him take out the medicine, the little feather asked proudly, “Well? Am I not awesome? I really do have props.”
Li Jingsheng pondered for a moment while holding the medicine. Even if the feather had not conjured them out of thin air, perhaps different books had different settings. Who knows, maybe his System acquired props this way.
He tucked the medicine into his robe, finished off the remaining pastry, dusted off his hands, and agreed: “Fine! Since you put it that way, I suppose I will reluctantly accept!”
In truth, his reasoning was simple: no matter how hard he hid, he might not be able to evade trouble forever. Besides, people were constantly fighting around here; what if a grand immortal-demonic war broke out and he got wiped out instantly without even knowing how he died? At least a law-abiding society was much more suitable for him.
Seeing that he had agreed, the little feather happily fluttered around in front of him.
Li Jingsheng asked, “By the way, after chatting for so long, I still do not know your name.”
The little feather hovered right up to his face. “My name is Xiaoyu.”
Li Jingsheng repeated it, “Xiaoyu… pretty easy to remember. Alright, Xiaoyu, do you know where the protagonist lives?”
Xiaoyu rubbed against his cheek with its tip. Finding it ticklish, Li Jingsheng grabbed it by the base and pulled it back at arm’s length.
Looking slightly displeased, Xiaoyu nonetheless answered, “I know. Right at the foot of the mountain.”
Li Jingsheng grabbed another pastry, bit down on it, pointed toward the doorway, and said, “Alright, let us move out! You lead the way.”