Three months passed.
Ji Xing appeared punctually, looking like a dark-faced Yama. With frost on his face and fury in his eyes, he grabbed Zhang Nianxiang’s wrist. Nianxiang simply blinked, smiled at him, and even enthusiastically threw himself into the man’s embrace.
Holding the youth’s lean body, Ji Xing’s eyes looked as if they were about to spit fire. This time, however, he didn’t immediately engage in his usual torment. Instead, he forced the old physician from Zhuifeng Town to first treat the venereal disease Nianxiang had contracted.
As for the quarterly Hunt, Ji Xing a Yellow Jade selected Nianxiang’s squad, killed one random person to fulfill the requirement, and promptly left. In the Massacre faction, a high-ranking member challenging a lower-ranking one was considered a mark of shame, earning the ridicule of everyone. Both Massacre and Hero factions would sneer at such a person. Thus, unless there was a personal vendetta, those power-hungry lunatics in Massacre would never stoop to a low-level challenge. Ji Xing, however, was a reckless man; he had discarded his pride and focused entirely on his obsessive “love.”
The illness wasn’t difficult to treat. With the old physician’s expert care, Nianxiang was cured in a single month. But the healthy Zhang Nianxiang was soon in trouble: for the following month, he was tormented ruthlessly more severely than ever before. The screams echoing from Ji Xing’s room were increasingly harrowing. Had the old physician not been stationed nearby to provide constant care, Nianxiang would have likely bled to death in that bed.
In torturing Nianxiang, Ji Xing was also torturing himself. He couldn’t leave the Eastern Wasteland, so he had to use the only available channel the flower market merchants to send messages to his external forces, ordering them to deliver “Purple衿 Jade Ointment,” a priceless healing medicine.
He was only a Yellow Jade, although his true strength was far beyond that. Without a complex network of connections within the sect, he was at the mercy of the flower market merchants, who overcharged him for everything. Between Min Shanshan’s fingers and the latest medicines, the gold Ji Xing had brought with him from the outside was quickly depleted.
To get new medicine, he had to pay the merchants; to get more gold from his outside forces, he had to pay the merchants again. While his initial supply of medicine and gold had been substantial, it couldn’t withstand the daily, brutal toll he took on Nianxiang.
When the money and medicine ran out, Ji Xing applied to become a “drug human” (guinea pig) for the sect’s Poison Immortal. Thanks to his extraordinary constitution and natural talent, he fought his way through dozens of other candidates to become one of the immortal’s primary test subjects. Although it meant daily agony, his life wouldn’t be easily lost. Still, he suffered the pain of venomous insects biting his flesh, internal organs eroding, and skin being sliced away.
The Poison Immortal was highly skilled; after every experiment, he would heal the monstrous-looking man back to his original state. It was a perfect system of sustainable recycling. Thus, every time Ji Xing returned with his “test subject” bounty, he could comfortably and arrogantly continue to punish Zhang Nianxiang.
He didn’t lock Nianxiang in the house or restrict his freedom. But every time the youth dared to go out behind his back and sleep with someone else, contracting a disease, Ji Xing would beat him within an inch of his life.
The more Ji Xing acted this way, the more self-destructive Nianxiang became. He even expanded his “business” to the neighboring towns. One day, he finally contracted an incurable disease from a dying man. Nianxiang was overjoyed; returning to Ji Xing’s residence, he scratched at the rashes on his face while smiling at the dark-faced man like a blooming flower.
By this time, Ji Xing himself had become a walking vessel of poison, kept alive only by the Poison Immortal’s toxins. Thus, he had no fear of infection. He simply dragged Nianxiang to the usual spot. Even though he loved him to his core, his movements were so violent they felt as if he wanted to impale him. After every session, even with the divine medicine, Nianxiang would be bedridden for ten to fifteen days.
Ji Xing used those recovery days to serve as a drug human and earn his massive wages. During the days when Ji Xing was gone and Nianxiang was too paralyzed to cause trouble, the youth used red paper and a brush to draw “Double Happiness” characters. Every day, he would cut one out and stick it to the wall. When the wall was full, he would tear down the old ones and replace them with new ones.
You might think he did this to miss Min Shanshan. No, he was thinking of Ji Xing. He wanted to be bound to this madman for all eternity, torturing each other until death. He wanted to ensure the man could never again harm his Shanshan, his brothers, or any other innocent person.
‘In this life, it was I who harmed you all. If there is a next life, I only hope you never meet Zhang Nianxiang…’
As I reached this point, I closed the book, shut down the system panel, and let out a long sigh.
‘This is so frustrating, system. Truly frustrating.’ I rubbed my brow and sighed tiredly in a low voice. ‘Brother A, B, and C, Min Shanshan, and all those other tragically killed extras I truly feel for them.’ They had done nothing, knew nothing, yet they were struck by disaster dying or being maimed simply because they were connected to Zhang Nianxiang. If Meng Jiangnü saw this, she’d cry down ten Great Walls for them.
The system was shocked: 【Isn’t Zhang Nianxiang tragic too?!!】
I gave a small smile. ‘Tragic, yes, but not as wronged as they were!’ Personally, I can’t relate to a tragedy protagonist; I view things more from the perspective of a bystander.
System: 【How so?】
I rested my hands on the back of the chair, my fingers tapping rhythmically on the wood as I analyzed.
‘First, he committed the ultimate sin of a tragedy protagonist: having too much external charm.’ In our peaceful modern world, we say “beauty is justice.” Good-looking people have advantages in hiring, promotion, socializing, and dating. That’s why the plastic surgery industry is so developed everyone wants a beautiful face. With a strong country and stable security, they can safely and willfully project their hormones, showing their beauty to family, friends, and strangers across the world.
But in a tragedy novel, the more outstanding your appearance, the more ill-fated your life. There’s a reason for the saying “a beautiful face has a thin life.” Especially for those “vases” who have beauty but no strength or power to protect themselves their ends are truly wretched.
The system added: 【Zhang Nianxiang isn’t exactly a “vase,” is he?】
‘He’s not a vase, but his martial power isn’t high enough.’ There’s a reason the Hongguang Pavilion declined: their spear technique belonged to external styles, while the current martial world was dominated by internal power. Times had changed; if you don’t evolve, being weeded out is a certainty.
The system was unconvinced: 【But there’s also the “beautiful, strong, and tragic” trope. Even the strong ones are… very tragic?】
I suppressed a laugh. ‘See, they still all have the “beauty” part. The book says Ji Xing fell for him at first sight…’ Hah. People call it “love at first sight,” but everyone knows it’s just “lust at first sight.”
System: 【Alright. What about the second reason?】
‘Second,’ I mused for a moment, ‘he was a poor judge of character. Ji Xing showed his ruthlessness back in Wangfeng Woods. Why would you still make friends with such a person? If you don’t get tormented, who will!’
System: 【Nianxiang thought he had met a talented martial artist; he just thought the man had a bit of an extreme personality.】
‘Exactly. An extreme personality.’ I opened the system panel and highlighted the key point: ‘Class is in session! This is a major “no-no” in tragedy novels. If you meet someone like this, catch the first train out of town immediately!!!’
The system muttered: 【Ah… and the third?】
‘Third, he revealed his background to someone he didn’t truly know.’ I clicked my tongue, stretched my legs, and returned to an old point. ‘Min Shanshan is truly wronged. If Nianxiang hadn’t mentioned having a beloved fiancée, how could Ji Xing have known in the information-isolated Eastern Wasteland?’ This Jianghu is dangerous; where was his basic adult vigilance?!
The system whispered: 【He could have sent his outside forces to investigate.】
‘If Nianxiang had been wary of him from the start, then with only a name the world is large, and Ji Xing’s power doesn’t seem to cover the whole sky. Where would he even start?’ In modern times, there’s a popular artistic phrase: “In the past, carriages were slow and letters were far…” It’s about how poor communication was in ancient times.
System: 【Yinchen, it’s not right to use logic in a novel world. For an important character, a single word to their subordinates and they’ll dig up an ant’s eighteen generations of ancestors.】
I sneered. ‘So, “The sky is cold and the Wang family should go bankrupt,” huh!’ At this point, my thoughts paused, and I let out another long sigh. ‘Actually, we’re evaluating with a god’s-eye view now. From Nianxiang’s perspective, nothing he did was actually wrong. Is it a crime to be yourself? Is it his fault he’s charming?’ A fallacy!!
The system joined me in my disdain: 【It’s all the fault of this wretched tragedy world!】
I patted my head and suddenly had a thought that made me shudder. ‘Are there “ordinary bystander” protagonists in tragedy novels too?’
The system was hesitant: 【There seems to be such a category…】
I immediately opened my system notes and typed away, recording today’s points and every precaution I could think of. Finally, I took the book The Ill-Fated Soul and placed it in the center of the top shelf, patting off some non-existent dust. I whispered to myself: ‘Let this be a warning! A warning!’
Seeing me busy, the system comforted me: 【Those “bystander” protagonists in the tragedy world only start out ordinary; their performance is never ordinary. There’s no need for you to be so paranoid, Yinchen.】
I closed the interface and returned to my room with my hands behind my back, laughing as I scolded: ‘You know nothing!’ In a tragedy novel, if you aren’t careful, you won’t even know how you died. Think of Brothers A, B, and C. Think of Min Shanshan. Think of those disemboweled extras. Tragic? Wronged?!
The system felt helpless: 【Yinchen, your empathy for the extras is greater than your empathy for the protagonists…】
I squatted down by the bed and dragged out one of the jars of wine, saying indifferently: ‘To me, they’re all just paper characters. No difference.’ Right now, I only want to survive. Once my ninety years are up, I’m packing my bags for the modern world. All this killing and loving is just “viewing flowers through a fog” to me. I don’t need to understand it, and I certainly must not participate.
I unsealed the jar, and the thick, pungent scent of alcohol hit my head. I squinted, using a finger to wipe away a stray tear from the sting, and rubbed my nose. I nodded in praise: “This wine is truly strong.” Perfect for disinfection.
I looked at the tightly closed door across the hall, then opened my own door a bit wider to ensure the other person would see what I was doing the moment they came out. With all my preparations complete, I rolled up my sleeves, squatted back down by the wine jar, and soaked a clean cloth in the liquid. I began wiping down everything in sight.
The room was soon filled with the intoxicating scent of alcohol. Just as I was working hard, I heard a creak from the door behind me. I stopped my movements, tossed the cloth back into the jar, turned around, and stood up. After a pause, I gave the wine jar a “guilty” kick back under the bed.
“You… you’re out?” The question sounded a bit weak.
Zhang Nianxiang was scratching at the rash on his arm, looking at me expressionlessly. “If you’re afraid, I’ll move out tomorrow.”
“Ah, no need. I’m just… doing some casual wiping,” I explained hypocritically, though in my heart, I wished he would leave immediately. I couldn’t have any connection with Zhang Nianxiang; a mad dog like Ji Xing would kill anyone he was jealous of.
I didn’t know before, but now that I knew he was a protagonist naturally, the further away I stayed, the better.