“I give up.”
Tuan Anyu couldn’t believe the scene before his eyes. Why on earth was he in a pile of garbage?!
He let out a long sigh facing the heavens, roaring in his heart as he neared the brink of exasperation.
“Little system! Don’t hide and stay silent; I know you can hear me!”
It wasn’t a bustling main street, and there were barely a few people around after all, which normal person would ever come over to the garbage dump side?
Unless they were coming to throw away trash.
Wrapped in tattered clothes, Tuan Anyu suddenly felt a gust of cold wind sweep past, piercing straight through his sleeve openings into his body. Goosebumps quickly rose all over his arms.
Pulling his sleeves tighter around his wrists, he moved quite a distance away from the trash pile and squatted down in a corner of open space that seemed relatively clean.
It smelled terrible, and he wanted to throw up.
An unfamiliar place, unacquainted pedestrians, a backstabbing system, and a chaotic, cruel wind howling mercilessly just like his heart.
He murmured once more:
“I really give up.”
[Host, your newbie starter gift pack has arrived~]
[It contains one hundred points plus two Marrow-Cleansing Pills.]
The long-awaited voice rang out, giving his suspended heart a momentary sense of landing. At least he wasn’t entirely alone, even if the other party was just a system.
“What are Marrow-Cleansing Pills used for?”
[Marrow-Cleansing Pills can assist you in breaking through cultivation bottlenecks. In this world of cultivation, they help ensure the Host doesn’t get bullied easily.]
“I see.”
“Now, there’s a matter that is very important.”
[Please speak, Host; the System is listening.]
“Let me ask you! Why! Why am I a kid?! And a dirty kid sleeping in a garbage dump at that. What kind of lousy identity did you arrange for me?”
Because it was too hard to accept, Tuan Anyu’s voice even cracked out of pitch.
[Of course I arranged the identity that makes it easiest for the Host to get close to Bai Chen!]
[The male lead’s sole disciple, Tu Xiao.]
[Quickly praise me, quickly praise me.]
Tuan Anyu instantly froze. If the plot hadn’t changed, wouldn’t he end up being killed and having his ashes scattered to the wind?
“Praise your head! Did you not read the ending? The disciple’s spiritual core was shattered into fine dust!”
[Well, the System isn’t too clear on that]
[The System only knew that the only character related to Bai Chen was his disciple, Tu Xiao.]
“Of course he’s related you even dare to go with a forced relationship! Oh dear me, I’m going to die.”
[Cheer up, Host. You can do it.]
[Of course, giving up is an option too; worst case scenario is just going back to become a wild ghost]
Thinking of the consequences of becoming a wild ghost, he decided against it after all. What he had transmigrated into was the period before the violation of Bai Chen, meaning everything could still be remedied through after-the-fact diligence. The only problem was that it was way too early why hadn’t he been dropped in right at the time of apprenticeship?
Being this young now, he couldn’t even see the person. In a world of cultivation where immortals existed alongside ghosts, how on earth was he supposed to survive?
In the book, the vicious disciple had lost his parents from a young age and treated Shizun as his only ray of dawn. Upon learning that Shizun was going to ascend and leave him behind, he ruined the man’s Dao and committed such beastly, unfilial acts.
The story of the farmer and the snake taught the world a lesson: things found by the roadside should never be picked up at random.
He had read books by skimming across lines at a glance, swallowing information whole without digesting it. The vicious disciple should have been fifteen years old when he mistakenly wandered into Wonderland Mountain, where he was hunted down by demons and fled in miserable panic, on his the verge of death when Bai Chen, who was out and about, picked him up.
The vicious disciple possessed extraordinary natural talent, and wanting to catch Bai Chen’s special attention, he practiced cultivation with even greater diligence. In a mere half-year, he achieved success through his training, standing out among a thousand competitors to successfully enter Bai Chen’s sect as a disciple.
“How old is this body I’m in right now?”
[Host is nine years old this year!]
Only nine years old if little arms and legs like these didn’t get eaten by monsters, it’d be a miracle. Tuan Anyu pondered for a moment and asked: “How far is it from Wonderland Mountain now?”
[Not far, not far]
[Thirteen thousand miles; sword flight will get you there in a few days]
Tuan Anyu rolled his eyes from hunger; this system was somewhat asking for a beating.
He sighed: “Look at my current appearance do I look like an airplane or a cannon? Sword flight, my foot. I’m practically half-dead right now.”
Right now, his only hope lay in this system; he couldn’t possibly be expected to beg along the roadside all the way to Wonderland Mountain, could he?
Thirteen thousand miles he wasn’t Tripitaka, and he didn’t have a white horse.
“System, hurry up and think of something!”
[Er… I’ll do my best. Host, why don’t you try taking a Marrow-Cleansing Pill? It provides a bit of a feeling of satiety.]
“Give it to me quick~”
A black pill quickly materialized in his palm; it tasted sweet upon entry—wasn’t this just chocolate? Tuan Anyu demanded more.
“Give me another one. It’s too small, I’m not full.”
[Alright then, Marrow-Cleansing Pills taste good, but don’t be greedy and pop them like candy, oh.]
Could two pieces of chocolate even give you diarrhea?
Tuan Anyu felt doubtful inside, completely treating the system’s words as blowing hot air.
The second pill went down, and sure enough, his stomach wasn’t hungry anymore. His entire body felt much lighter, the coldness vanished, and he had an endless surge of energy he felt refreshed in both body and mind, except why was his nose feeling so hot?
Bright red blood dripped down into the mud one drop, two drops, three drops…
[Host…]
[Help, SOS…]
The system’s voice grew more and more distant. Tuan Anyu pinched his nose as his body continuously broke out in a sweat. Clearly it was the dead of winter, yet he felt as though ten suns were taking turns roasting him in the sky.
Misfortune comes from the mouth; he didn’t want to turn into a lonely ghost.
What was that dead-body smell? Tuan Anyu unsurprisingly began retching. With nothing in his stomach, he ended up throwing up some bitter stomach acid.
After vomiting, he felt somewhat better, his consciousness gradually clearing. Propping his eyelids open to look up, he saw an endless expanse of blackness. Had he returned to the space?
Tuan Anyu: System? Are you there? Are you there, are you there, are you there?
[Stop being there; even if you die, I’ll still be here.]
Such a chilling joke. With a dark expression, Tuan Anyu asked: “Where is this? Why am I here?”
[You took too much medicine and passed out on the ground, leaving a puddle of blood there.]
[Passersby thought you were dead, so they wrapped you in a straw mat and threw you into the pauper’s graveyard.]
The system said it so lightly, but it made whoever heard it boil with anger.
“There were only two pills in total! How could that be too much? The poison you gave me must be it!”
[The System issued a friendly warning, but Host you didn’t listen.]
Well, that’s true too… Forget it, blame him for not asking!
Tuan Anyu felt somewhat furious, but his temper was ultimately suppressed by the ghostly aura.
What kind of place was a pauper’s graveyard? Wasn’t that the modern-day morgue! It was gloomy all around, and although he was a materialist, it didn’t mean he wasn’t afraid of ghosts.
[Host, there’s still a corpse underneath you]
[You just threw up all over its face]
Hearing the system’s words, Tuan Anyu stiffened, not daring to move, while continuously apologizing in his mouth.
However, pitch-black as pitch with zero visibility, he hadn’t taken a few steps before tripping over something, even touching an icy-cold arm and thigh, which scared him so much that he didn’t dare walk around haphazardly, waiting until dawn before taking action.
To protect himself, he muttered under his hand: “Evil spirits and ghosts, hurry away; evil spirits and ghosts, hurry away…”
The system got a headache from listening to him, but had no choice, so its speech speed remained brisk: [Host, I sense the male lead nearby!]
“What! Bai Chen?!” Tears of joy welled up in Tuan Anyu’s eyes as two streams of crystalline sorrow fell.
[That’s right, that’s right.]
Hearing the confirmation, he plucked up his courage, stepped out of the pile of corpses with a heart pounding like a drum, and muttered one apologetic phrase after another under his breath:
Sorry, I didn’t mean to step on you.
Apologies, apologies…
Sorry, please don’t follow me; my courage isn’t very big.
I beg all you ghost lords to forgive my offense.
Excuse me, excuse me…
“Coward! Since you’re so full of apologies, why don’t you just go down there and keep them company!”
Suddenly, a shadow hoisted Tuan Anyu up into the air. The sensation of weightlessness felt thoroughly insecure, and the feeling of suffocation choking his throat was on a heavyweight scale.
He felt like he was going to die, Tuan Anyu pleaded for help from the system:
“System, save my little life.”
[Host, I don’t have a physical body]
[Hold on tight, the male lead is still a thousand miles away.]
“Still a thousand miles away?! Great, the male lead will be able to collect a fresh, warm corpse.”
Tuan Anyu was already cursing up a storm in his heart; he didn’t want to get struck by lightning.
Thus, he struggled desperately, but alas, with his short arms and short legs, it was nothing more than an ant making futile struggles.
Abruptly! A sword wind swept in from behind—fast, precise, and ruthless as it pierced straight into the shadow’s face. The overwhelming kinetic force pinned the shadow against the muddy ground, and the entity taking the form of a withered old man vanished instantly without a trace.
Tuan Anyu tumbled to the ground, unable to get up for a moment as he coughed violently. His vision brightened as a super cool, icy sword stood rooted directly ahead.
Purity-white luminous halos rippled around the sword’s body, which was crystal-clear and snowy-white, radiating a chilling intent oppressive enough to freeze others.
Tuan Anyu felt a cold draft even from ten miles away.
The Sword of Unemotional Severing sensed something, returned to its master’s hand, and vanished, awaiting its next summoning.
When Tuan Anyu turned his head back, the celestial demeanor seemed to have materialized into reality.
The original novel’s description of Bai Chen’s appearance was precisely this: an immortal-like skin, beauty untainted by the mortal world and pure, resembling a lotus unblemished by mud, clean enough to make people retreat in awe, daring only to view from afar without daring to profane him.
He was a man, and liked women.
Yet at this very moment, for this single moment, gender ceased to matter.
Tuan Anyu slapped himself across the face; he finally understood why the disciple in the original book had turned bad.
Beauty befuddles the mind.
“Are you alright? What is your name?”
A gentle voice drifted over, sounding even more melodious than wind chimes.
So gentle, just like Mom. Ever since coming to this ghost of a place, no one had spoken to him with such gentleness.
Grievance and bitterness could no longer remain calm. Before his tears breached the dam, Tuan Anyu bolted toward that immortal, mist-shrouded figure, grabbed onto him, and prayed to him.
Kind-hearted god, will you hear me? Please send me home; this place is so terrifying, it’s full of dead people. I want to go home, and I’ll definitely go to sleep early and wake up early from now on, and never play with electronic devices again.
An invisible sense of oppression brought his steps to a halt. Tuan Anyu desperately wanted to grasp that flash of white, but ended up tumbling right at Bai Chen’s feet.
Looking up through tear-blurred eyes, he clasped his hands together, gripping them tightly into fists, hoping the deity’s heart would soften.
“Not at all alright; I was just getting my neck choked out a second ago.” Crying to the point of breathlessness, he sobbed as he continued pouring out his story: “My name is Tu Xiao, wuwuwu…”
Frowning in forbearance, Bai Chen squatted down and leveled his gaze: “Don’t rush, take your time. Tell me where your home is, alright?”
“Okay.” He nodded and continued sobbing: “My name is Tu Xiao. I don’t have a home anymore; our village was hit by a flood, and none of the villagers are left. My parents are gone too.”
Tuan Anyu thought to himself: Bai Chen’s persona was eliminating demons and defending the Dao, protecting all living beings, and possessing a boundless heart of love. With him being this pitiful, there was no way he’d be cast aside.
“This seat will take you to find new parents; stop crying, alright?”
“No, Er-ya’s new parents in the village bullied him every single day, pricking him with pinpricks. I don’t want that.”
“Then what do you want?”
“I want you.”
“What I mean is, I want to be like you eliminating demons and defending the Dao, killing the bad guys who bullied me with a single sword stroke.”
“To be able to protect myself and protect the people I want to protect…”
“I-If I can do it too, I wouldn’t have to just watch helplessly as my parents were swept away by the flood to protect me, suffering life-and-death parting…”
Tuan Anyu bit his lower lip fiercely, tears bursting forth once more as he begged through muffled sobs:
“I’m begging you, Shizun, I’ll be very obedient don’t throw me away.”
“Shizun…” Tuan Anyu called out sheepishly, daring only to clutch the edge of Bai Chen’s robe.
With tear-filled eyes and a pitiful expression, he pleaded: “Shizun, touch me, see if I’m cut out to be your disciple.”
In his peripheral vision, Bai Chen was still hesitating, so he whimpered in a low voice: “There’s danger everywhere outside; only by Shizun’s side is it safe. Please don’t cast me aside, I’ll be very, very good… Please… don’t cast me aside…”
“Get up first.” Bai Chen watched with cold eyes, his tone level.
“I agree will Shizun agree too?”
Since he had already called out to him, he might as well take him along.
“Alright.”
A wave of joy bloomed in Tu Xiao’s heart; among elders of advanced years, none disliked well-behaved babies.