Chapter 20: Master (XII)

“Su. Tan.”

Qin Tan’s voice could only be described as spoken through gritted teeth. “What exactly have you done inside my body?!!”

Fu Fengyan was so frightened he hugged He Tingdong. “Aiya, so fierce.”

Perhaps the killing intent was too terrifying—even the small cloud in mid-air trembled.

Su Tan seemed to have been startled awake, his confused tone clearing a bit. His voice was puzzled. “Huh? How did I wake up? Can we now communicate directly?”

He Tingdong held his forehead, reminding quietly, “Right now, not only can you two chat, the rest of us can hear you too.”

Does that mean I won’t be able to secretly badmouth Qin Tan anymore?

Qin Tan’s fury intensified. “So you’ve been badmouthing me all along.”

Su Tan’s tone was composed: “No? I didn’t say anything.”

“Ahhhhh! How did my inner thoughts fly out?!”

Both sentences came out simultaneously.

Silence fell over the small cloud.

Qin Tan: “Hehe.”

Su Tan: “…”

A moment later, Su Tan’s distraught voice rang out on the small cloud. “Sys-tem, what exactly have you done to me?!!”

“Like this, I’ll completely socially die. How am I supposed to live, ahhhhh!”

After a very, very long silence, crackling electrical sounds stuttered intermittently. The system stubbornly said, “Host, it must be that my activation method was wrong. Allow me to shut down for repairs.”

“Demon creature, don’t think you can escape!” Qin Tan’s voice was cold as the depths of winter. “You possessed me and can even expose people’s inner thoughts—what exactly is your conspiracy!”

“And what you just said—what do you mean by ‘transmigration,’ ‘conquest,’ ‘blackening value’?” Qin Tan’s tone suppressed infinite raging fire. “Demon creature, explain yourself clearly!”

The system ignored him, its voice vanishing as if it had never existed.

“Good. Very good.”

Qin Tan stood up, looking at the unconscious youth lying nearby. He reached out and lifted him up. His lips pressed into a tight line, expressionless. Those eyes beneath his ink-black hair were cold as frost. “What I despise most in life is being toyed with. Since you don’t want to talk, then I’ll do as I please.”

Su Tan’s trembling voice sounded. “Big brother, what are you doing?”

The wind howled fiercely. Qin Tan’s robes fluttered. Eyes half-lowered, he simply let go. Yue Qianxun’s limp body immediately fell from the small cloud. The young man’s voice was as cold as a blade’s edge, cutting through the wind in mid-air and piercing into everyone’s ears: “Kill. The. Protagonist.”

He Tingdong’s eyebrows lifted slightly. He exchanged a glance with Fu Fengyan, and the two transmitted their voices. “Did you do this?”

Fu Fengyan: “Seems like it?”

Judging by this aura, the system should be that thing that descended from the sky with thunder and fire that day. It was shattered a bit by the Dao principles he struck out. Now it probably has some damage.

They watched Yue Qianxun’s figure plummet down, splashing into Dream Marsh with a plop, spreading ripples not very large.

“Warning! Warning! Host has committed a serious violation!”

“If the protagonist dies, you will also be erased!”

“Warning! Warning! Protagonist’s vital signs are decreasing.”

“Host, hurry and save him!”

“Warning! Warning! Protagonist’s vital signs have stopped.”

“Host! If you die here, you’re really dead! Don’t you want to go home?!”

Sharp, chaotic warning sounds rang out incessantly. The system’s voice was half-mechanical, half-crying, extremely noisy.

Su Tan’s lifeless voice subsequently emerged. “Why are you threatening me? Look, can I even move?”

“If I could move, I would have jumped in long ago.”

“System, why don’t you kowtow three times and call this person ‘Dad’ a few times, then reconsider whether he’ll go save him.”

Qin Tan remained unmoved.

He Tingdong and Fu Fengyan beside him also didn’t move.

The tiny cloud floated in mid-air. Only the system’s urgent and panicked warning sounds could be heard.

After countless beeping sounds, the system’s voice suddenly became serious: “The protagonist has received fatal harm from the host. Mandatory measures will now be taken against the host!”

The next second, a violent electrical current shot out. Amid crackling sounds, several cries of alarm were issued, and even the small cloud was scattered by the electricity.

He Tingdong and Fu Fengyan fell down, then moments later flew back up on their swords, angrily accusing, “Your system not only leaks sound but also electricity!”

System: “…”

Qin Tan’s whole body trembled from the shock, but he still gritted his teeth without making a sound.

Su Tan, afraid of pain, screamed and cried incoherently, then began making strange sounds, as if wailing like ghosts and howling like wolves while singing.

Finally, Yue Qianxun sank to the bottom. The system gave in. Its voice carried a sob. “Crazy, crazy, crazy! You’re all lunatics!”

“The protagonist is really going to die! Once he falls into death, without the support of the Child of Destiny, this world will collapse!”

“Please, save him! What exactly do you want to do?”

“Get out.” Qin Tan’s voice was coldly haunting. “Otherwise, wait to perish together.”

“Can’t get out!” The system broke down: “We’re already bound to you! I’m having some problems right now. I don’t have enough energy to unbind. Otherwise, I would have run away long ago!”

“Besides, I’m just a cluster of data. Even if you dig out your own brain, you can’t touch me.”

Fu Fengyan, who was riding his sword nearby, suddenly spoke: “Really?”

The system suddenly shuddered. Across a soul, through Qin Tan’s eyes, it looked across and saw the youth’s pitch-black pupils, and behind them, those deep purple eyes. This aura… was exactly the same as the aura it sensed when it was attacked that day.

It was this person who attacked it when it descended into this world!

Wait, when did the book have such a character?

The data stream flowed quietly. The system suddenly felt a very chilling sensation, like… the feeling of being targeted by a monster.

Then those cold eyes were blocked by a figure, and a slightly gentler voice sounded. “System sir, since everyone has common needs, why don’t we all sit down and talk things through properly? Why make it so ugly?”

“This person…” The system trembled. It had wanted to secretly check their identities using its privileges, only to discover with horror that these two people before it had ridiculously heavy karma.

It seemed… to have been targeted.

“Those not of my kind must have different hearts.” Qin Tan said. “What is your purpose in possessing me?”

“Because the book wrote that you’re Qianxun’s master, so I chose you as the target to approach for the mission. As long as Su Tan can influence the protagonist and clear Yue Qianxun’s blackening value to zero, he can go home, and I can disappear back to the main system too!”

Qin Tan frowned: “Go. Home?”

Su Tan’s voice was light and airy, clearly having suffered greatly from that bout of electricity. “Yeah, I told you from the start, I didn’t want to come here. I was living quite happily. Do you think I’m enjoying myself inside your body?”

Qin Tan: “…”

“He’s really about to stop breathing!” The system’s voice was shrill. If it had a physical form, it would probably be kneeling before them now. “Everything can be discussed! The collapse of this world is bad for everyone! Please! Please, Father Qin! You’re my real dad!”

Qin Tan’s expression was solemn. He finally spoke. “Fish him out.”

He Tingdong: “Got it.”

He and Fu Fengyan went into the water, pulled up Yue Qianxun who was half-sunk in the water, and the four of them, soaking wet, returned to the spirit boat, receiving an enthusiastic welcome from the spirit boat’s owner.

Although they could only see vast white fog on the spirit boat, all those water ghosts were seen crystal clear. Any discerning person could tell how perilous this trip had been.

But in just one day and night, they successfully eliminated the evil spirits and even saved a mortal to shore.

The Sword Sect’s Chief Disciple—his reputation was well-deserved.

However, Qin Tan was clearly not in high spirits. He didn’t acknowledge anyone at all. Carrying a body full of swelling rage, he gave the Xiangli clan’s captain a cold glance before murderously returning to his room.

“Everything has been resolved. The spirit boat can continue forward.”

The two sidekicks behind him were more cordial. However, after just a greeting, they also hurriedly left. Three figures, dragging an unconscious mortal, disappeared from the deck like a gust of wind.

Too fierce—no one dared to stop them.

Throwing Yue Qianxun on the floor, Qin Tan closed the door and turned to ask his two juniors behind him.

“When we speak, how much can you hear?”

So He Tingdong tested it. He had Su Tan and Qin Tan talk while he moved far away. After circling around, he finally confirmed: “The sound of the system and your conversations is about the same as normal people chatting. At one zhang¹ away it’s blurry and unclear, and at two zhang away, you can’t hear it without raising your voice.”

Su Tan: “What do we do now?”

Qin Tan: “What do you think we should do?”

System: “…Of course, you should try your best to conquer him and reduce his blackening value. That way, I can absorb the fortune of the Child of Heavenly Dao, repair my damage, and leave as soon as possible.”

Qin Tan: “Heh.”

System: “Dad, please stop with the ‘heh.’ I’m so scared…”

Qin Tan: “How do I conquer him?”

System, cautiously: “Use love to influence him? Take him as a disciple, cook for him personally, send cotton clothes in winter, fan him in summer, become a little sun, warm his whole life, smooth over his childhood shadows and psychological trauma?”

He Tingdong’s eyebrows lifted. He finally understood why Su Tan had busied himself around his own disciple in every lifetime before. So it really was you.

Qin Tan sneered coldly. “Raise him so preciously? Then what’s the point of cultivating immortality? Just find him a good family and stuff him in there as a young master.”

System: “…”

Su Tan clicked his tongue. “Being a master these days isn’t easy.”

He Tingdong couldn’t help but sigh. “Indeed quite difficult.”

Fu Fengyan: “Master? Are you taking him as a disciple?”

All their gazes fell on the unconscious Yue Qianxun at their feet.

Qin Tan sat in the main seat, frowning. “I never accept waste. If you want to be my disciple, you at least have to pass through the Azure Cloud Trial first.”

“And you two.” Qin Tan’s voice was very cold. His gaze swept toward He Tingdong and Fu Fengyan across from him. “I haven’t forgotten about you two ambushing me.”

Suddenly called out, He Tingdong sat up straight. “Then, Immortal Lord… should you hit back now?”

Fu Fengyan quickly moved in front of He Tingdong to shield him, resolute and decisive. “Hit me!”

Qin Tan: “…” Quite united.

Su Tan: So cute, so cute…

In a secluded corner, Yue Qianxun opened his eyes dizzily. He had a long, sorrowful dream. Eyes misty with tears, he looked up and saw that snow-white, upright figure in profile. His eyes brightened, and he said softly, “This Immortal Lord…”

Qin Tan was most annoyed when people disturbed him while doing things. Without turning his head: “Get lost.”

Spiritual pressure fell on him, slapping him back into his dream.

An electrical current crackled. The system cautiously reported, “Protagonist’s blackening degree is 99%. Please continue working hard, host.”

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1. Zhang (丈): A traditional unit of length, approximately 3.33 meters ↩︎