Is This How It Starts? I Choose To Fake My Death [Transmigration Novel] - Chapter 10

Opening his eyes the next morning to the golden light permeating his vision, Shen Ji instantly snapped awake.

Flipping off the bed, he watched Xie Feng sit motionless in the golden light before putting his gun back into his inventory and asking the system, “What was the situation last night?”

The system replied oddly, “The main villain forced the host last night. As I am bound by system sprite guidelines, scenes of this nature are automatically filtered.”

Shen Ji said, “What was the situation after the dual cultivation last night?”

“Oh!” The system recalled the host’s instruction to keep a close eye on Xie Feng. “The main villain has been meditating continuously from last night until now.”

Shen Ji looked at Xie Feng’s face, which remained cold even during cultivation. “Nothing else happened during that time?”

“During that time…” The system carefully retraced its digital memories. “Ah, wait!”

Shen Ji asked, “What?”

The system said, “At 2:23 AM, the host kicked the main villain once while turning over. The main villain paused his cultivation and stared at you for two seconds. Nothing else.”

Shen Ji: “…”

He knew the system was completely unreliable.

The system piped up, “By the way, Host, how did you fall asleep last night?”

Shen Ji had pondered this question as well. “It should be related to the mental cultivation method.”

After dual-cultivating with Xie Feng yesterday, dusk had already fallen. As he prepared to enter meditation to refine his energy, he hadn’t anticipated that the residual spiritual energy left in his Dantian from when Xie Feng helped him reshape his foundation earlier, combined with the spiritual energy generated from the dual cultivation, would merge and forcefully surge into his meridians.

Knowing nothing about cultivation, he could only deduce from the limited memories of the original body that this wasn’t a sign of deviation, so he let it crash and run on its own.

Within five minutes after that, he lost consciousness amidst a wave of pleasant warmth spreading through his limbs and bones.

Given his willpower, he wouldn’t have fallen into a mindless, deep sleep unless it was tied to a cultivation method far exceeding his comprehension.

Perhaps sensing movement, Xie Feng opened his eyes as well.

Shen Ji sat on the edge of the bed, finishing lacing his boots. Seeing Xie Feng look over as he stood up, he retrieved a set of clothes from his Qiankun pouch and handed them over.

“Don’t waste your spiritual energy. Wear this instead; it is quite similar to the one I am wearing.”

Xie Feng frowned as he took it.

Shen Ji continued, “It belonged to an Azure Phoenix Guard in Minghuang City.”

No sooner had the words fallen than the pristine dark blue combat uniform ripped apart with a sharp crack.

Shen Ji: “…”

From the fluttering scraps of fabric, he saw the familiar golden robes settle back onto Xie Feng.

Fine.

He clearly wasn’t short on spiritual energy; he was just exceptionally picky about clothes.

Still, only destroying a single set of clothes after dual cultivation already counted as immense progress.

Shen Ji said, “Carry on.”

With that, he turned and walked out the door to draw some well water for washing up.

Looking back up at the sky, the distant anomalies had long since vanished.

Shen Ji set down his wooden basin and tapped the dagger at his waist.

Both the immortal and demon realms were scouring the area for Xie Feng, and he believed that manpower from the ghost and demon realms would arrive in the near future as well.

The Snow Domain heavily suppressed divine sense and spiritual energy. Even if one served as a living target, it remained the most suitable hiding spot for now.

Yet since the traps were completed, he couldn’t afford to keep standing still.

The entire mountain range was too vast; he needed to map out the nearby terrain at the least to handle incoming attacks.

Shen Ji planned to return and inform Xie Feng, but before he could turn back, he saw Xie Feng step across the threshold and state in a deep voice, “Hold.”

Xie Feng lifted his gaze to look at him.

Shen Ji bypassed the traps and walked to the left side of the doorway. “Walk this way.”

Scanning the seemingly uniform snow, Xie Feng turned his steps accordingly.

Since he had come out, Shen Ji led him through the correct path once. When they returned to the starting point, he emphasized, “Do not walk the wrong way.”

Xie Feng nodded. “Mhm.”

Shen Ji asked casually, “Why aren’t you cultivating?”

Xie Feng replied concisely, “Minimal returns.”

Consulting the map pulled up by the system, Shen Ji gave a casual invitation upon hearing this, “I am heading out today, and my return time is uncertain. Care to join?”

Xie Feng answered indifferently, “Very well.”

Cultivating in the mortal realm yielded meager results; if Xie Feng wished to recover his cultivation, besides dual cultivation, hunting to earn a meager stash of spiritual stones was his only other option, providing a sufficient reason for his agreement.

Yet hearing him agree so readily still caused Shen Ji to glance at him twice more.

Xie Feng turned to look at him as well. “What.”

Shen Ji chuckled softly.

He was merely reminded of his past relationship with Xie Feng.

They had once fought to the death, yet now they could calmly head out together. It had to be considered a miracle.

This only heightened his suspicion regarding Xie Feng’s intentions.

After all, based on the book’s portrayal, Xie Feng was certainly not a man of such high tolerance.

Naturally, he kept these thoughts to himself.

“Nothing.” Shen Ji selected a route and motioned to Xie Feng, “Let us go.”

To avoid drawing trouble to Shouluo Village, Shen Ji deliberately chose a different direction.

The Gale Leopard sprinted across the snow carrying both him and Xie Feng. Reaching a stretch of terrain with a relatively broad view, he circled several times before dropping below a slope, recalling his mount to proceed on foot.

The endless expanse of snowy peaks stretched out in blinding white; any foreign color stood out with absolute clarity. It was exceptionally ideal for scouting.

Walking shoulder to shoulder with Xie Feng, Shen Ji pulled out his binoculars to scan the distant mountains.

Anyone bold enough to hunt down the Phoenix Emperor undoubtedly possessed mounts. Calculated by normal marching paces, they should be capable of reaching this vicinity.

Yet it also depended on whether they had the courage to charge blindly and disregard the prospect of running into Xie Feng at any moment.

Spotting no anomalies in his field of view, Shen Ji was about to shift his angle when his peripheral vision caught Xie Feng examining the binoculars in his hand. He smiled and asked, “Interested?”

Before Xie Feng could speak, he added, “This is calibrated to my habits. You use this one.”

Xie Feng accepted the monocular tossed to him, paused for a moment, and held it to his eye in his own fashion.

“How is it?”

Xie Feng replied, “Acceptable.”

Looking through it at the distance multiplied his visual clarity manifold. While still far inferior to his own divine sight, it could be operated without cultivation, rendering it a rare treasure in the hands of a mortal.

Shen Ji waved a hand. “If you like it, keep it.”

Xie Feng harbored no special attachment to such items, but since Shen Ji had already turned away, returning it now would appear overly deliberate. He simply deposited it into Minghuang Palace and stepped forward at a steady pace.

Circling nearly halfway along the mountain slope, the two finally encountered an anomaly.

Catching sight of the scene ahead, Shen Ji raised a hand to block Xie Feng instantly. Pulling back a step together, they pressed tightly against the rock face.

Xie Feng furrowed his brow.

Holding a forefinger lightly against his lips to signal silence, Shen Ji canted his body slightly to peer toward the front-left.

In the snow, glaring streaks of blood crisscrossed the ground.

Of the seven figures lying there, six were corpses, and the final one was having its skull crushed by a red-haired woman’s boot just as Shen Ji looked over.

Red and white debris seeped from beneath the sole, which the woman ground down with a sneer before pulling out the long spear impaling a corpse, hoisting it over her shoulder, and walking toward her teammates.

They were a squad of five as well.

Shen Ji retreated along his original path. “Follow.”

Recalling his combat style, Xie Feng lowered his gaze for a moment, following him on a detour to a higher vantage point.

Pulling paper and pen from his inventory, Shen Ji jotted down and calculated figures along the way, crept down to optimal shooting range, and went prone on the ground. Seeing Xie Feng standing idly by, he reached out to pull him behind a nearby tree to sit.

“Do not expose your head.”

With that, he raised his binoculars to look.

The five opponents across the way were still chatting happily amidst the pool of blood. One of them held two different portraits of Xie Feng, appearing to compare them before tossing a blood-stained one onto the corpse beneath his feet.

It seemed those they had killed weren’t mortals, but immortal realm personnel sharing the same objective.

Just as Shen Ji was about to lower his binoculars, he saw the man toss Xie Feng’s portrait aside and pull another one out from his Qiankun pouch.

It clearly depicted his own face.

The Scarlet Phoenix again.

With Xie Feng absent, the Scarlet Phoenix Spiritual Venerable, one of the five great elders of the Phoenix clan, acted without restraint. The current orders had likely escalated from assassination to execution in broad daylight.

Shen Ji glanced at Xie Feng.

Ordinarily, this situation would place him at a severe disadvantage, but with this Phoenix Emperor hunted by all four realms present, the pursuit by the Scarlet Phoenix lineage felt remarkably trivial.

Withdrawing his binoculars, he retrieved his sniper rifle from the inventory, set it up, and aimed downward at the targets.

Xie Feng observed the mortal switching weapons once more.

Unlike when he was held in Shen Ji’s arms, observing from an equal perspective this time allowed him to clearly see Shen Ji’s profile: his expression was stern and deeply focused, differing vastly from his usual demeanor.

His breathing was light and shallow, his hands steady as bedrock, and he even lowered his voice several notches.

“I will count to three. Follow me the moment you hear a gunshot.”

Without waiting for Xie Feng’s response, Shen Ji counted down in a low murmur.

“Three, two, one.”

Bang!

A supersonic bullet blasted out of the barrel!

Without hesitation, Shen Ji immediately retrieved his rifle, stood up, and retreated down the slope first.

Before going far, his gaze narrowed slightly.

Hearing the piercing sound rushing toward them from behind at breakneck speed, he didn’t have time to look back. Grabbing Xie Feng by the arm, he pulled him into his embrace and leaped outward.

The long spear hurled from the mountain smashed heavily into the ground at that exact second!

The crimson and black flames igniting along the spear shaft surged wildly against the wind, exploding instantly!

Still airborne, Shen Ji was caught by the brutal shockwave. Along with Xie Feng, he was violently blown backward through the air!

As they crashed into the snow, driven by the instinct to save someone, he instinctively shielded the back of Xie Feng’s head, rolling down the slope together.

Locked tightly by a single arm, Xie Feng was practically rendered immobile, burying his face in Shen Ji’s neck. Not a speck of ice touched him, save for the steady, warm pulse throbbing beside his ear.

Not until they came to a halt in a safe zone did Shen Ji remember the person in his arms wasn’t an ordinary civilian needing rescue.

Yet in the heat of the moment, there was no time to care. Pulling Xie Feng up with him, he glanced up at the raging flames still wreaking havoc on the mountaintop and summoned the Gale Leopard.

“Move.”

This opposing squad possessed greater strength than the five encountered four days prior, and their reaction speed surpassed his expectations. A head-on clash was out of the question.

Tracing his path back, Shen Ji deviated halfway toward a pine forest perched on a high ridge on the other side.

Xie Feng observed the chaotic footprints scattered across the ground.

Shen Ji meandering about here earlier must have been preparation for this exact moment.

Shen Ji had already claimed the highest vantage point in the shortest possible time.

Before the enemy arrived, he sat down with his back against the cover, unzipped his medical kit, and tended to the burns on the back of his right wrist.

Fortunately, his defensive gear had blocked the worst of the impact; only a trace of Phoenix fire had caught him when protecting Xie Feng. He hadn’t paid it mind initially, but within a short span, the burn had expanded by a circle, throbbing with a dense, searing pain.

“Yin-sha has invaded the body; no amount of mortal medicine will avail.”

Shen Ji lifted his eyes to look at Xie Feng. “Can you cure it?”

Xie Feng noticed fine scratches marring his face as well, presumably scraped by branches during their tumble down the mountain.

“Why save me?”

From afar came the sound of unmasked, thundering charges.

“What?”

Distracted by the approaching threat, Shen Ji didn’t catch his words, hastily bandaging his wrist before re-mounting his rifle. “Never mind, we will talk when we get back.”

Hearing this, Xie Feng suppressed the hand he had half-raised, the golden light at his fingertips dissolving as he closed his mouth.

Shen Ji focused on the distance.

The pursuing squad numbered four in total.

The red-haired woman leading the charge was the primary target of his failed sniper shot earlier.

The one who took the bullet intended for her must have been the second person in his line of sight, either dead or severely wounded, otherwise the four wouldn’t have abandoned him.

As he aimed, the four mounts came to a halt.

The crisscrossing footprints temporarily disrupted their judgment, making it the optimal moment to strike.

Shifting his target to the burly man farthest from the red-haired woman, Shen Ji squeezed the trigger.

Bang!

Having gained experience, the moment he fired, he hoisted Xie Feng onto the Gale Leopard and sprinted full speed down the mountain.

True to expectation, a blanket of searing heat waves came crashing down heavily behind them once more!

Having lost two teammates consecutively, the opponents’ wrath burned far more fiercely than the previous time.

Shen Ji made a wide detour around behind the remaining three. When he raised his gun to fire again, he discovered that all three were encased in spiritual shields from head to toe, leaving him not a single blind spot to exploit.

He couldn’t help letting out an inward sigh.

When it came to raw spiritual energy, he couldn’t possibly outmatch them.

With the enemy fully guarded, lingering in a stalemate was simply a waste of time.

Putting away his rifle and spinning around, he returned briefly to the initial skirmish site, collected the eight unclaimed Qiankun pouches left on the ground into his inventory, and took a long detour back to their dwelling.

Before stepping into the courtyard, Xie Feng suddenly spoke. “Spiritual stones.”

Shen Ji paused his steps. “How many?”

Without asking why, Xie Feng replied, “All of them.”

Seeing it often enough, the system had grown brazen and increasingly outspoken: “The main villain is too heartless! These are spiritual stones you risked your life to earn!”

Risked his life?

Hearing this description, Shen Ji let out a chuckle and casually tossed the Qiankun pouches to Xie Feng.

His and Xie Feng’s consumption rates differed; a single spiritual stone lasted him several days.

His inventory still held a hundred-odd stones, which was plenty for now.

Besides, given Xie Feng’s personality, he wouldn’t make such a request without reason.

Catching the pouches, Xie Feng channeled spiritual energy with two fingers, drawing the stones out and arranging them in a circular outline just outside the courtyard.

The system came to a sudden realization: “The main villain is setting up an array!”

Shen Ji asked, “What kind of array?”

The system reported: “Appraisal complete: a concealment array capable of completely hiding this courtyard so passing outsiders won’t see a thing.”

Shen Ji turned to Xie Feng. “Why didn’t you set this up three days ago?”

Xie Feng offered no reply.

Channeling spiritual energy to activate the array, he retrieved the Qiankun pouches and told Shen Ji, “Come.”

The system rubbed its metaphorical hands together: “Is it dual cultivation?! Host, the main villain must have acquired a taste for it, craving your body and growing increasingly fond of you to win your favor for a repeat!”

Shen Ji stated, “Read more normal books.”

“What is abnormal about this…”

Amidst the system’s muttered complaints, Shen Ji turned and stepped into the inner room.

Just as he crossed the threshold, Xie Feng concluded his hand seals.

On the ground, two adjacent arrays emitted a soft, glowing radiance brimming with dense spiritual energy.

The system provided timely commentary: “This is a Spirit-Gathering Array.”

A Spirit-Gathering Array?

Gazing at the two arrays, Shen Ji vaguely grasped what Xie Feng intended to do.

With a slight wave of his hand, Xie Feng commanded, “Sit.”

Shen Ji walked over to sit opposite him, swept his robes to cross his legs, and asked directly, “Helping me heal my injuries?”

“Mhm,” Xie Feng said. “Hand.”

Lifting his injured right hand, Shen Ji noticed the wound had worsened somewhat.

Xie Feng caused a single spiritual stone to levitate between them, pointing two fingers at it to channel masterless spiritual energy over Shen Ji’s black-qi-corroded wounds, clearing out the lingering Yin-sha energy.

Shen Ji watched him.

Xie Feng’s tone remained as cold and indifferent as ever. “You were injured shielding me; this merely settles the debt, nothing more.”

Shen Ji smiled. “Is that so? How do we calculate the injuries I got saving you last time?”

Xie Feng lifted his eyes to look at him. “Only this once; whence came the last time.”

Shen Ji raised an eyebrow, gesturing to the scar on the back of his hand. “Doesn’t the bite you left count as an injury?”

Xie Feng’s breathing grew slightly heavier, his expression turning abruptly stern and rigid. Glancing coldly at him, he ignored his nonsense entirely.

Shen Ji suppressed the smile at the corner of his lips.

This phoenix, Xie Feng, possessed a rather fractured personality at times.

When bearing grudges, his intent to kill was entirely genuine.

Yet after a truce, he could genuinely cast aside grievances to aid in cultivation and healing.

Unfortunately, his temperament remained truly unpredictable.

And under specific conditions, completely disregarding personal consent was equally genuine.

Observing the healing wound, Shen Ji closed his eyes as well, refining the endless stream of spiritual energy pouring forth from the Spirit-Gathering Array.

After an indeterminate length of time, feeling the spiritual energy wrapping around his hand slowly recede, Shen Ji opened his eyes to look across at him.

Xie Feng formed hand seals to conclude his session.

Countless depleted spiritual stones clattered onto the floor, rolling aside.

“I have cleansed the Phoenix fire seed from your body; tend to your external injuries yourself.”

Shen Ji pressed against his previously pierced left arm; true to word, the piercing, bone-deep burning pain was gone.

Just as he was about to speak, Xie Feng flicked his palm, sending a sweep of golden light brushing across his face.

A trace of minor itching crawled over his features. Raising a finger to brush past it, he found nothing out of the ordinary.

Shen Ji didn’t dwell on it. “Thanks.”

Watching him stand up, Xie Feng’s gaze drifted to the Spirit-Gathering Array on the floor before pointing two fingers toward Shen Ji’s Dantian.

“You have formed your foundation?”

Shen Ji let him inspect. “Foundation?”

Xie Feng’s spiritual energy navigated Shen Ji’s meridians, discovering that not only had he formed a foundation, but his meridians had entirely widened, displaying vastly superior progress compared to yesterday.

Yesterday.

Xie Feng withdrew his hand.

He recalled that less than half of the foundation reshaping for Shen Ji had been completed before instinct took over and led to their dual cultivation; he hadn’t exerted himself afterward either.

While Tianling Cauldron bodies indeed absorbed spiritual energy during dual cultivation, pushing through realms the way Shen Ji had required abandoning all self-regard and entrusting one’s entire cultivation entirely to the other party’s dominance.

Xie Feng looked at Shen Ji, his gaze shifting slightly.

Shen Ji asked, “Is there a problem?”

Xie Feng merely said, “Your foundation is newly set; it still requires stabilization.”

Thus, Shen Ji sat back down.

Detecting no need for stabilization on his part, he cultivated strictly according to the original body’s memories.

As the moon climbed to the zenith of the sky.

A frown suddenly crossed his brow.

An acute pain erupted abruptly from his Dantian, spreading rapidly across his entire frame as an unbearable, sore, and itchy sensation followed, diffusing in the blink of an eye!

The system hurried to speak: “Medicine! Host, you forgot to take your medicine today, go decoct it quickly!”

Decocting medicine was out of the question now.

Recalling how Xie Feng had healed him earlier, Shen Ji raised a hand to form hand seals.

Dense spiritual energy, guided by his fingers, condensed in his palm—

Opposite him.

Xie Feng snapped his eyes open.

A flash of golden light crossed his pupils, echoing the mark upon his brow that shifted from pale to deep.

“What is that?”

Hearing the system’s confused voice, before Shen Ji could look over, a familiar restriction wrapped around his waist and back, its tip lightly brushing his temple, soft yet stubborn, intimately entangling with him.

Shen Ji: “…”

Forced into clarity, Xie Feng suppressed his hair-trigger desires.

Glancing at the spiritual energy pooled in Shen Ji’s palm, he lifted his eyes to meet Shen Ji’s gaze, where anger was gradually surfacing as well.