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Cold, so cold!
It was a cold that felt like an ice blade slicing through flesh, like ice picks stabbing into her fingers. Little by little, it cut and pierced. The wounds weren’t large, nor were they fatal, but they were unforgettable enough to last a lifetime.
Sui An’s body trembled. She was dead.
She had died in the water prison.
It was her Shizun1—the one who had always doted on her and protected her—who had personally locked her away. The prison was forged from thousand-year-old cold iron, with mountains for walls. The thousand-year-old frigid water within had frozen the mountain walls to ice. As piercingly cold as the water was, so was her Shizun’s heart ruthless, and so was she utterly helpless.
She was so helpless that she had cried until her tears ran dry in the water prison, her voice hoarse from sobbing, yet her Shizun’s cold brow never even furrowed. She just watched as her clothes soaked in the frigid water, as frost formed on her temples, as even the tears on her face became translucent beads that fell into the cold water, creating ripples that were barely noticeable.
In that moment, her heart had frozen over too.
Sui An felt herself drifting in the darkness, pulled into a world she had never seen before. It contained everything: people drifting just like her, shattered mountains, dazzling worlds twisted together like fried dough twists2. They were dense and varied, too numerous to count.
All these objects drifting in the darkness were flying in one direction. No, to be precise, they were all being sucked in one direction. Sui An couldn’t control her body, nor did she know where she was going.
Suddenly.
Sui An’s body came to a halt.
A powerful pulling force dragged her back. The objects flew past her eyes at great speed until her vision went completely dark. Her icy body felt a trace of warmth, a trace of pain.
She heard a familiar voice.
A voice she would never forget.
“Continue.”
“Sect Master, if we keep hitting her…”
“Continue!”
Sui An forced her eyes open and looked toward the sound.
The first thing that met her eyes was the tall back of a figure standing in the center of the grand hall. Dressed in a purple silk robe, her three thousand ink-black hairs3 were tied up with a jade hairpin. The mix of purple and black was a striking clash of colors, yet the person’s character was so monotonous and heartless.
She turned her head slightly to the side.
Sui An saw those thin lips, and her thoughts were instantly pulled back to the water prison. She didn’t know how long it had been, but her Senior Martial Brother had brought her a meal and placed it at the entrance of the prison. She had thought it was her Shizun showing a moment of softness, ordering a disciple to bring her favorite dishes.
She let her guard down. After just one bite, she felt a sharp pain in her lungs. A mouthful of fresh blood splattered onto the food, dotting the white rice. It was a desolate and lonely scene, with no one to call for help. She had no time to force the poison out of her body before her last breath left her.
In the sect, she had never made an enemy with such a deep-seated hatred as to use such a potent poison to murder her. To this day, she still couldn’t understand it.
Smack!
A whip with barbed hooks lashed down.
It struck Sui An’s back. She lay limply on the ground, the pain like a sharp knife carving her bones, shocking her back to full awareness. She looked around. Yuan Nuannuan was holding the whip, which was covered in blood, while Senior Martial Brother Xufu knelt to the side, kowtowing and begging.
This scene was so familiar.
“Sect Master, we can’t hit her anymore! Junior Sister An is only at the ninth level of Qi Refinement. She won’t be able to withstand Junior Sister Nuan’s sixth lash.”
What?
Ninth level of Qi Refinement?
Had her cultivation level regressed?
[Beep, System rebooting…]
What was that sound?
It sounded like an emotionless mechanical puppet.
Sui An pushed herself up and looked around, trying to find the source of the voice, but instead, she saw Yuan Nuannuan raising her hand. Their gazes met. Yuan Nuannuan froze, her hand suspended in mid-air.
“Continue hitting her.”
Sui An’s mind cleared in an instant. She had been reborn!
Reborn back to when she was at the ninth level of Qi Refinement, on the very day she was captured after her first attempt to escape!
Sui An had never left the sect since she was a child. Her Shizun forbade it, and she never knew why. She could only listen to Huaiyang describe the vibrant world outside. Whenever he spoke of it, Huaiyang’s eyes would dance with joy, revealing a hint of rebellious spirit, yet he remained polite and courteous to others. Sui An liked that he could be as free as a bird.
Gradually, she began to yearn for that world.
But now she had been caught and brought back. She was defiant, and more than that, she didn’t understand why her Shizun’s attitude had changed so suddenly.
She just wanted an explanation.
But back then, her Shizun had only ordered her to be whipped. Sui An clearly remembered being struck seven times. She had spent months in bed recuperating, her cultivation stagnating, which caused her to miss the Inner Sect Grand Competition.
Right now, survival was the top priority.
Yuan Nuannuan raised the whip again.
“Wait!” Sui An called out weakly.
Tan Yun’s hand, hidden within her sleeve, suddenly clenched. She slowly turned around. “Do you admit your mistake?”
It was that familiar face. If her Shizun truly doted on her, how could she order Yuan Nuannuan, her sworn rival, to whip her seven times with such a calm expression? It was as if nothing in the world could shake the Dao in Tan Yun’s heart.
“An’er4… admits her mistake. From now on, without Shizun’s permission, I will not take a single step out of the sect.” As soon as Sui An finished speaking, her strength gave out, and she collapsed back onto the floor.
Never leaving was absolutely impossible.
Sui An already knew that Tan Yun was heartless and disloyal by nature. She had no desire to stay. If she made another mistake, she might be thrown into the water prison again. Moreover, she didn’t want to see it—see the person she liked looking at Tan Yun with such deep affection. Her heart couldn’t take it; she would be unable to stop herself from doing something reckless again.
Tan Yun’s willow-leaf eyes5 narrowed.
Her eyes always seemed to carry a faint sorrow, as if every lash that struck Sui An’s body was also striking Tan Yun’s own heart.
Sui An closed her eyelids. She wouldn’t be fooled again, deceived by those eyes. The pain of the water prison was enough to keep her wide awake.
Sui An let her head hang low. “Shizun, An’er truly knows her mistake. Shizun, please don’t let your anger harm your health.”
Tan Yun sighed lightly, it was hard to tell if it was out of relief or gratification that she had repented.
“Forget it. I will not pursue this matter further.”
Sui An smiled bitterly. She thought she understood now. She was probably just a doll in Tan Yun’s eyes. As long as she was obedient, she could have whatever she wanted. But once she stepped out of line, the water prison would be her fate.
“Thank you, Sect Master.”
Hearing this, Xufu was even happier than Sui An. He stood up, reaching out to help her up.
Tan Yun watched him silently.
Xufu felt the oppressive gaze and hesitantly withdrew his hand. “Junior Sister Nuan, take Junior Sister An back to her room first. I’ll go get a physician.”
Yuan Nuannuan rolled her eyes.
Tan Yun turned, glanced at Sui An one last time before leaving, and tossed a small bottle to Yuan Nuannuan.
“Take her back. Keep a close eye on her.”
“Oh,” Yuan Nuannuan replied reluctantly.
Once the Sect Master was gone, she let out a sneer. “Aiya, it felt so good whipping you today.”
Sui An gave her a pained smile.
She tried to push herself up, but the pain made it nearly impossible to move her whole body. Seeing Yuan Nuannuan just standing there enjoying the show, Sui An, long accustomed to it, said, “Aren’t you going to help me?”
“Didn’t you say that whoever touches the other first has to be their dog?” Yuan Nuannuan put the whip away in her storage ring and squatted in front of her, holding out a hand. “You want me to help you? Then you have to grab my hand first.”
Had she said that? It had been too long; she couldn’t quite remember such a trivial matter.
Sui An reached out her hand.
Yuan Nuannuan smiled. Before she could savor the moment of making Sui An act like a dog, the porcelain bottle was snatched from her hand. “You… I see you took my five lashes and are perfectly fine. You can crawl back yourself!”
Yuan Nuannuan stood up, stomped her foot, and left the grand hall.
Sui An tipped the pill out and swallowed it.
Fortunately, it was only five lashes. With the help of the Origin Recovery Pill in her hand, she should be fine after a few days of recuperation.
Sui An sat cross-legged on the spot, meditating to absorb the pill’s medicinal power.
[Beep, System reboot successful. Analyzing… Analysis complete. System 003 welcomes you.]
Sui An’s eyes snapped open. She shouted, “What manner of demon are you? Show yourself!”
[The System is not a demon. The System is here to help the book’s cannon fodder6 defy the heavens and change their fate7. This System is designated 003, an auxiliary alchemy system.]
Sui An only understood one sentence. Her eyes widened. “Help the book’s cannon fodder defy the heavens and change their fate… you mean… I’m the cannon fodder?”
Sui An waited for a moment, her mind filled with confusion.
[The world the Host currently inhabits was constructed by people from the real world. The Host’s unnatural death became the key to activating the System. In order to resurrect the Host, the System has consumed a vast amount of energy. Therefore, the Host needs to accumulate karmic luck to repair the System.]
Sui An was stunned. “You helped me get reborn?”
[Yes, Host.]
Sui An reached out and touched the wound on her side. Her fingertips came away with a bit of sticky blood. The throbbing pain was so clear. How could she be just a character?
Doubt lingered in Sui An’s heart. She asked probingly, “Then how will you help me defy the heavens and change my fate?”
[System functions are now being listed…]
Frames of light appeared before Sui An’s eyes. This system could appraise spirit artifacts, detect abnormalities in the surroundings… it listed many medicinal herbs, though all the slots were empty, and many pills, but they required collecting herbs to be refined.
She had never seen any of these things before.
[As long as the Host follows the plot arranged by the System, competes for karmic luck, and repairs the System, you can also unlock a small world within the System.]
“A small world?”
It was said that only those who ascended to godhood could create their own pocket dimension. The temptation was there, but Sui An didn’t trust this thing that had suddenly appeared.
“This isn’t enough to make me defy the heavens and change my fate,” Sui An said, standing up unsteadily. “You should get out of my body. I don’t need you.”
The greatest taboo for a cultivator was having a strange entity invade their body. A single misstep could lead to losing control of one’s body and becoming a puppet.
[Once bound, the System cannot be removed!]
Sui An took a moment to catch her breath. She was only at the ninth level of Qi Refinement and couldn’t perform a spiritual inspection of her own body.
Did this mean she had to ask Tan Yun for help?
No, she didn’t want to, and she absolutely wouldn’t.
[Please trust the System, Host.]
Sui An ignored the voice in her head and limped towards Tan Yun’s residence.
[The male lead is Huaiyang.]
“What?” She stopped in her tracks.
[The male lead is Huaiyang, and the female lead is Tan Yun!]
Sui An’s mind buzzed, and a chill ran through her body.
She staggered, finding it hard to accept.
If she was really just cannon fodder written by someone else, then what did her love for Huaiyang mean? What difference did it make whether she lived or died?
In the end, she was just a character.
Sui An collapsed at the doorway. She looked up at the vast blue sky. The sunlight shone on her face. She could clearly feel its warmth, she could clearly feel pain, and she could clearly shed blood and tears. How could she just be ink on the white pages of someone else’s book?
No. She was definitely not that ink.
********
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Reika’s Notes:
- A strong first chapter! I hope you like it. 😀
- This text was translated by RudeGirl, and given to BC Novels to publish.
- I helped with the footnotes, formatting, grammar, etc., the usual stuff that is needed to post this on the website.
- Please let me know if there are any errors. Thanks for reading!
Table of Contents Next Chapter
- Shizun (师尊, shīzūn): A formal and deeply respectful term for one’s master or teacher, often used in cultivation or martial arts settings. It implies a relationship much deeper than a simple teacher, often akin to that of a parent. The gender is not specified by the term itself (in this case, Shizun is female).
- Twisted together like fried dough twists (打成麻花一样, dǎ chéng máhuā yíyàng): A mahua (麻花) is a traditional Chinese snack made by twisting dough into a braided shape and deep-frying it. The idiom describes something being tangled or twisted together in a complex, inseparable mess.
- Three thousand ink-black hairs (三千墨发, sānqiān mòfà): A common poetic phrase in Chinese literature to describe a full, beautiful head of long, black hair. The number “three thousand” is not literal but is used to signify “a great many” or “abundance.”
- An’er (安儿, Ān’er): A diminutive or term of endearment. The suffix “er” (儿) is often added to a person’s name by someone older or of a higher status (like a parent or master) to show affection and intimacy.
- Willow-leaf eyes (柳叶般的眼眸, liǔyè bān de yǎnmóu): A classic descriptor for a type of eye shape considered beautiful in East Asian cultures. The eyes are long and slender, shaped like a willow leaf, often seen as elegant and gentle.
- Cannon fodder (炮灰, pàohuī): A popular term in Chinese web fiction. It refers to a minor character whose sole purpose in the story is to be a stepping stone for the protagonist, often by challenging them and being swiftly and humiliatingly defeated. They exist to highlight the main character’s power or to move the plot forward before being discarded. The System is telling Sui An that she was originally written as such a disposable character.
- Defy the heavens and change one’s fate (逆天改命, nìtiān gǎimìng): A core theme in many Xianxia (immortal hero) and Xuanhuan (mysterious fantasy) novels. It embodies the spirit of refusing to accept a predetermined destiny, fighting against the will of the heavens or the constraints of the world to forge one’s own path and achieve greater power or a better outcome.
Okay, so I like the MC, but the FL is trash so far.
As a love interesst and as a teacher