Is This How It Starts? I Choose To Fake My Death [Transmigration Novel] - Chapter 2

Shen Ji adapted to the blinding golden light and looked at the person speaking.

The other party wore a dazzling and luxurious set of elaborate golden robes, the whole person seemingly glowing. Yet, unlike this golden hall, he did not appear worldly or common.

He sat upright at the edge of the bed, turning his body slightly. His full head of silver-white hair, tinted with gold, cascaded down his back like a waterfall of snow, revealing only half of a noble and handsome face. His skin was very pale, and his expression was like ice. Gazing down from his superior position, strands of long hair slipped past his shoulders, yet they still could not block the eyes beneath his sword-like brows, which were terrifyingly cold and stern.

There was no need to guess; this must be the Phoenix Emperor, Xie Feng.

Knowing the contents of the entire book, Shen Ji was well aware that the villain before him was not a kindhearted person. Now that he could finally speak smoothly, he needed to seize the opportunity.

“I—”

Shen Ji was just about to tell Xie Feng about the Scarlet Phoenix Spiritual Venerable’s plan when a soft sound suddenly rang in his mind.

“Sizz…”

Shen Ji furrowed his brow.

He had heard this sound before, but this time it did not disappear.

“Sizz… Host, hello… Emergency Rescue Division System Sprite Number 003 at your service!”

A system sprite?

The youthful, clear voice in his mind became distinct and continued speaking.

“Congratulations to the host for smoothly triggering the plot mission, successfully activating the system, and obtaining the Newbie Gold Permission Gift Package. The package contains two arbitrary conditions within the rules—”

Hearing this, Shen Ji’s heart stirred slightly.

Arbitrary conditions?

The system seemed to hear his inner thoughts and immediately shifted its attention to explain to him: “That’s right! As long as the host proposes them, the system will execute them immediately! Please note that the arbitrary conditions included in the Newbie Gold Permission are extremely precious, so please use them prudently!”

Shen Ji looked back at Xie Feng, whose eyes already harbored a growing impatience, and his brow furrowed deeper.

To put it bluntly, he had become a captive with almost no strength to rely on, while his opponent was the uncrowned king of the Three Spirit Realms. To break free from pursuit, he could only pin his hopes on the system.

Although he had never liked trajectories that slipped out of his control.

Regardless of what was going on with this system sprite, however, his immediate crisis had to be resolved right away.

“What are you waiting for?” The strength in Xie Feng’s hand tightened further, clearly deeply displeased by his hesitation. As he finished speaking, he leaned down, his gold-and-silver pupils appearing cold and devoid of emotion, a color of extreme danger.

There was no time for excessive hesitation.

Thinking of the system’s reaction just now, Shen Ji made his request in his mind: “Help me immobilize him.”

In the book, Xie Feng could not simply be called the strongest villain, but rather the strongest character. He was the ceiling of strength for the entire novel; without external forces to restrict this ceiling’s actions, unexpected changes might occur.

This was also a verification.

Whether successful or failing, one chance would still remain.

The system duly communicated using intent: “Understood!”

Fortunately, it had not exaggerated.

With the first chance used up, Xie Feng instantly froze in place.

The two were very close, and Shen Ji immediately noticed those brilliant silver pupils contract violently.

Xie Feng reacted quickly and was aware of it immediately.

Unfortunately, he could not fight against power originating from the unknown. From head to toe, he was completely unable to move and was thoroughly restricted. He did not speak; only his gaze, covered in heavy frost, could speak for him.

Shen Ji waited for a moment, and seeing this, his eyebrows raised slightly.

It seemed his earlier words had been premature.

The matter of acting as a cauldron still had a chance to be set right.

The system’s reminder rang out simultaneously: “The arbitrary condition within the Newbie Gold Permission has been successfully executed, remaining count minus one.”

Shen Ji asked: “How long can the immobilization state last?”

The system replied: “Converted into world units, the immobilization duration is twelve double-hours.”

Which meant twenty-four hours.

This answer was barely acceptable.

With the system’s help, it should be enough to escape.

Shen Ji thought to himself, brushing aside Xie Feng’s hand, which was still clamped around his jaw, and just as he was about to get up, he saw a shadow pressing down from before him—

Lacking its sole fulcrum, Xie Feng, who had been leaning over to look down at Shen Ji sideways, lost his balance and toppled straight forward.

Shen Ji instinctively raised a hand to support the other’s shoulders, but his muscles, temporarily weakened and soured by the drug’s erosion, failed to steady the person, instead pulling him right into his arms.

His hands inadvertently landed on Xie Feng’s neck and slid back to the nape.

The skin beneath his palms was slightly hot, and the jade-like texture felt like wildly pouring a potent medicine into boiling desire!

An abruptly heavier breath sounded right beside Xie Feng’s ear.

His gaze shifted slightly, his eyes cold to the bone.

He could not hear a single word of the dialogue between Shen Ji and the system.

His body and even his spiritual energy had been firmly sealed away in the blink of an eye. Even for him, a crack inevitably formed in his state of mind, bringing an unavoidable surprise.

The Scarlet Phoenix lineage had long harbored dissatisfaction toward him, and naturally, he would not completely trust the cauldron sent by Wu Xun.

It was just that the awakening of the ancient divine beast bloodline was extremely perilous, and he had repeatedly delayed the heritage transmission, making today the final deadline.

Upon entering, he had already examined this mortal and confirmed that, just as Wu Xun claimed, he was a Heavenly Spirit Cauldron immensely beneficial to awakening the heritage, and his cultivation was no different from that of a crippled person. Originally, he posed absolutely no threat.

Yet he should not have been momentarily careless and fallen for a mortal’s sneak attack.

Thinking of this, Xie Feng’s gaze grew even colder.

Recalling the abnormal flush shining through the mortal’s pale complexion, his thoughts churned.

The mortal had been drugged, something that did not need to be explicitly pointed out, though he had not taken it to heart at first.

Rigidly lying prone on top of Shen Ji, the limits of Xie Feng’s vision allowed him only to see Shen Ji’s shoulders and neck rising and falling with his breath.

With his cultivation suppressed and his spiritual energy sealed, he had no way of checking whether the mortal’s cultivation had changed compared to before. Yet such behavior did not look like pretense.

Since he possessed the strength to deceive him, there was no need to put on a false front. Yet how could he fail to resolve a mere aphrodisiac?

And why, after successfully launching a sneak attack against him, did he delay in taking any further action?

Could it be that the mortal was not falsely suppressing his cultivation, but genuinely possessed low cultivation, and had barged into Minghuang Palace alone without any backup?

The mortal possessed a magical treasure capable of imprisoning him. If he truly harbored unwillingness, even Wu Xun could do nothing to stop him, and he certainly would not have waited until he reached his presence to remember escaping.

Furthermore, seeing him subjugated now did not come as a surprise; it must have been closely tied to this matter. Yet his actions were rash and completely lacking in methodology, making it likely that he still did not realize he was already an abandoned piece.

If he was an abandoned piece…

Xie Feng stared at the rapidly beating pulse beneath Shen Ji’s pale skin.

A Heavenly Spirit Cauldron was merely rare. If someone utilized it to scheme against him while he awakened his heritage, it still followed a logical trace, yet wasting a peerless magical treasure merely for a test was not something anyone could casually pull off.

Wu Xun could not produce such a mysterious and formidable magical treasure.

If not the Scarlet Phoenix lineage, who else would dare act this way within Minghuang Palace?

Behind all this, what kind of force was truly standing there?

Having failed to invoke his spiritual energy several times, Xie Feng stared at Shen Ji with an increasingly cold and sunken gaze, his thin lips parting slightly: “I will kill you.”

“You can speak?”

“How is the main villain still able to make a sound!”

Shen Ji and the system spoke almost simultaneously.

Hearing the system’s exclamation, Shen Ji asked again in his mind: “What is going on?”

The system was equally baffled: “As long as permission is acquired, we system entities should have absolute control over the characters in the book… Actually, the reason we had to come here to correct the world this time is because the main villain is too strong. Could it be that the main villain’s power is already capable of slightly touching the world’s origin? That would explain it…”

Its subsequent muttering sounded like talking to half-self, trailing off before pulling itself back to the main topic.

“But it doesn’t matter, host, rest assured! The main villain cannot lift the seal on his own!”

Shen Ji had already perceived this.

Given Xie Feng’s strength, he would not have held back while harboring anger, nor would he have any reason to put on an act before him. The fact that he remained rigidly seated in place could only mean he was truly being controlled.

Moreover, although Xie Feng’s demeanor appeared calm and collected, his voice was very soft, and there was no continuation after he finished speaking.

From this, it could be seen that uttering those words, or rather managing to speak a single sentence like that, was the absolute limit of what he could currently achieve.

Even so, Shen Ji did not doubt the truth of Xie Feng’s words in the slightest.

According to the description in the book, Xie Feng did not kill indiscriminately, but he held grudges.

He always repaid grievances, and once a grudge was formed, he would undoubtedly return it a thousand or ten thousand times over at the first opportunity. Yet he possessed formidable strength, causing the five realms to avoid him out of fear.

Take this sneak attack, for instance. The moment he returned, he bloodied the demon race with ruthless efficiency and a fierce style, leaving behind a lingering psychological shadow for many.

And the most crucial point:

Xie Feng was extraordinarily hard to kill.

Throughout the entire novel, the closest he ever came to death was during this very “cauldron conspiracy,” where not only did he lose his cultivation, but he was hunted down by all sides under extremely perilous circumstances, making it a narrow escape with nine deaths and one life.

Afterward, he weathered the crisis. Even by the ending, under the siege of everyone, he did not perish, but rather returned to Minghuang Palace to fall into an eternal slumber, vanishing from trace thereafter. In other words, pooling the power of the upper and lower five realms, no one could find a method to thoroughly execute him.

An opponent who could not be killed was someone no one wanted to provoke.

Xie Feng’s strength was the foundation that gave him the confidence to speak those words.

If he had a choice, Shen Ji would not actively cultivate hostility with him at a time like this. Being hunted down by such a person made future prospects easy to imagine.

Unfortunately, what was done was done.

Xie Feng already harbored resentment toward him. Unless he used his remaining arbitrary condition to let the system kill Xie Feng, it would be difficult to break out of this situation.

He had not made this request because Xie Feng, this “main villain,” was crucial to the book, and the system might not agree to killing him just like that.

Another reason was that killing Xie Feng would not genuinely free him from mortal danger.

In this world, his strength could not even compare to an insignificant minor demon, let alone being in the stronghold of the Supreme Phoenix Clan, which was filled with high-cultivation phoenixes. He could not walk out of this Minghuang Palace, and the Scarlet Phoenix Spiritual Venerable’s side would not easily let him go either.

Rather than wasting this last universal chance here, it was better to save it for a critical moment.

Thinking of this, Shen Ji barely suppressed the surging agitation within his body and explained helplessly: “Wrongs have their heads and debts have their owners. I believe you can tell that I neither have the strength to harm you nor the intention to harm you.”

Xie Feng was concise and to the point: “Who.”

Shen Ji turned his face, seeing only the messy silver hair behind Xie Feng’s ear.

He lowered his voice, speeding up his tempo to condense his explanation amidst his increasingly chaotic consciousness: “The Scarlet Phoenix Spiritual Venerable. Before coming here, he drugged me.”

At these words, his voice paused.

The distance was too close.

The scorching breath exhaled by Xie Feng against his temple in his arms was too intense.

Shen Ji’s second attempt to help someone up paused as well. His fingertips sank deeply into the luxurious golden robes across Xie Feng’s shoulders amidst the other’s cold, restrained gaze.

His breathing at that moment was even hotter than the Phoenix Emperor’s temperature, burning like a blaze. Within the dark eyes repeatedly urged on by the drug, only a shred of remaining sanity lingered.

Xie Feng perceived the mortal’s struggle and felt annoyed by the mortal’s pointless chatter. Just as he was about to speak, feeling the abnormal collision beneath him, his expression turned abruptly frigid.

The strength in Shen Ji’s hands tightened again and again, and he could instinctively feel the blood vessels at his temples throbbing and pounding, challenging the limit of his endurance second by second.

He closed his eyes for a long moment, forcefully suppressing the erupting-ready desire, intending to lift Xie Feng up. However, his current state made it difficult to concentrate, so he could only half-carry and half-shuffle him. During this, seeing the substantive killing intent in Xie Feng’s eyes several times intermittently tugged at his wits.

Subject to another’s control, Xie Feng forcefully pressed down his anger and let the mortal manipulate him, following up with a question: “Purpose.”

“To utilize me to poison and harm you during your heritage transmission,” Shen Ji said. “Of course, this matter has zero relation to me.”

Amidst his words, he finally managed to lift Xie Feng up from his arms.

Xie Feng’s gaze swept across the back of Shen Ji’s hand, where bulging veins stood out, surprised by his self-restraint. Only then did he truly look straight into those pitch-black eyes for the first time.

Shen Ji tried to move the person to his side, anchoring his wavering clarity with conversation: “So, please drop your prejudices. From now on, let each walk their own wide road on opposite sides, how about that?”

Xie Feng perceived the stern resolution in the mortal’s eyes that ill-matched his fragile exterior, his gaze gradually growing heavier.

The heritage transmission was imminent, and success had to be achieved tonight.

Yet, forced by the current situation, he had to make concessions.

“Aid my cultivation, and I might spare your life.”

Shen Ji’s movements paused slightly.

He had merely spoken casually, not expecting Xie Feng to actually back down.

“You trust me?”

Xie Feng locked gazes with him, calmly spitting out two cold words:

“No.”

Shen Ji: “…”

Right in the middle of this brief dialogue, the anomaly within his body violently clashed!

Caught off guard, the strength in his hand abruptly slackened, and Xie Feng toppled down heavily once more.

Silver-white hair tangled amidst their movements, and Xie Feng, forced into passivity, pressed his side profile tightly against Shen Ji’s neck.

Shen Ji screwed his eyes shut tightly.

Clearly possessing a scalding temperature, the moment of contact felt like an ice spring poured into a raging wildfire. The faint, electric-current-like numbness dissolved in the blink of an eye, rapidly burying itself deep into his limbs and bones. Instead of quenching his thirst, it gave birth to a deeper, more urgent craving.

Shen Ji’s eyes half-drooped. His hands, resting lightly and vaguely on Xie Feng’s shoulders, inadvertently massaged, his Adam’s apple rolling.

Until his fingertips brushed against Xie Feng’s face, he snapped back to his senses!

No.

The medicinal potency was too fierce. Touching Xie Feng right now was an agonizing torture for a man.

Yet he could not act as a cauldron.

He could no longer drag this out.

Since his physical strength was lacking, he had to find a second path.

Shen Ji hastily steadied his mind to think.

This body’s cultivation was not worth mentioning in the Three Spirit Realms, but in the mortal world, it was at least an expert capable of capturing demons. It was simply that he had first sustained injuries, then been poisoned with Soul-Dropping Powder, and finally had his Dantian sealed, making it almost unusable.

The hope was slim, but he had to treat a dead horse like a living doctor.

Drawing from his limited memories to find the method for driving internal energy, Shen Ji formed a hand seal with his right hand and just began—

Boom!

Shen Ji’s expression changed slightly.

It was just like pouring oil on fire.

The moment spiritual energy was invoked within his meridians, the fire seeds planted everywhere inside his body exploded simultaneously!

Noticing the increasingly intense and fierce heat raging within him, he made a prompt and decisive decision, immediately proposing his second request in his mind: “Help me get away.”

The system hesitated for a moment before dutifully asking: “Uh, are you sure?”

The drug’s effects were erupting exponentially, leaving no time for meaningless dialogue.

Shen Ji frowned: “Get me out quickly!”

“…” The system emitted a brief, meaningless audio wave, perhaps wanting to dissuade him, but ultimately decided to obediently follow instructions: “Understood!”

Hearing the system’s response, Shen Ji finally replied to Xie Feng’s proposal.

“Better not.” His voice was hoarse from being scorched by the rampant internal fire. “I am not interested in you.”

The words barely dropped.

He heard a sound of rip!

A flash before his eyes.

Black, gold, white…

Brocades of various colors intertwined and scattered across the air.

Shen Ji: “…”

The system’s obedient voice rang out again.

“The arbitrary condition within the Newbie Gold Permission has been completely used up!”

Though it did not understand why the host wanted to waste a precious arbitrary condition on such a trivial matter, it maintained its extremely dedicated enthusiasm.

“Mission unlocking in progress, please wait patiently, host. Have a pleasant life!”

“…”

Shen Ji spared one second of silence from his busy schedule.

Then he told the system: “My intention was to help me leave safely.”

The system’s reply was always prompt: “I am sorry, the host’s available points are insufficient, unable to perform arbitrary distance teleportation.”

The raging drug potency wantonly eroded Shen Ji’s dwindling sanity, completely incomparable to the patience worn thin by this single round of ineffective communication.

Shen Ji closed his eyes for a moment and repeated: “I meant the condition. Getting away means helping me leave this place.”

The system lagged for two seconds, and this time its answering voice was low and guilty: “I am sorry, the condition has been successfully executed and cannot be retracted.”

Shen Ji’s silence was beyond description.

Amidst the gaps of the filling sky of fragments, he looked toward Xie Feng.

The ruthlessness in Xie Feng’s eyes had gradually been stained with the fury of being played for a fool.

Firmly pinned in place by an untraceable force, and having his robes torn to shreds by that same force, he was absolutely and thoroughly suppressed, yet it could not compare to even a fraction of the humiliation he felt at this moment.

This humiliation made his killing intent toward the mortal before him grow more intense with every passing second.

Shen Ji forcibly endured his increasingly scorching breathing, still retaining a last shred of composure.

Right after saying he wasn’t interested, he had gone and ripped the man’s clothes apart.

This remaining shred of composure made him deeply understand Xie Feng’s hatred toward him right now.

He also understood clearly that given the other’s vindictive nature, his hard-earned second half of life would likely experience endless hardships because of this.

Hmm.

He would have to consider an escape route afterward.

—

Very soon.

His already taut consciousness snapped its strings.

The clarity in Shen Ji’s eyes was completely eradicated by pure desire mixed with faint bloodshot veins.

He raised a hand to press against Xie Feng’s back, hooked his knees to force his way between Xie Feng’s thighs, and exerted force through his waist and abdomen so that the two of them rolled over, reversing their positions.

The scattered silver-white hair spread out beneath them, highlighting the Phoenix Emperor’s cold-as-frost yet peerlessly handsome face.

The pair of uniquely exquisite, golden-tinted silver eyes before him brimmed with anger, reflecting two miniaturized shadows of Shen Ji.

“I will remember you—”

Woven into the Phoenix Emperor’s slow, low voice was a bone-chillingly cold and austere edge, but before he could finish speaking, his lips were pressed back by a thumb forced down upon them.

That hand brushed past his lips, forcibly turning his face to press it against a soft pillow, then moved downward to firmly clasp the back of his neck, making a motion to slightly lift it.

Another hand was also in motion, instinctively locking tightly around the prey in his arms with a raw, brutal strength that refused to allow escape.

Killing intent fully manifested in Xie Feng’s eyes!

Abruptly.

A warm, lingering kiss landed upon his forcibly raised throat. With his vital points compromised, it stirred up a series of involuntary, instinctive shivers.

“…”

Inside the hall.

The rapidly brewing heatwave surged to its heart’s content.

Heavy, ragged breathing that could no longer be restrained rushed across the bed, gradually blurring into chaos, running wild amidst the daylight-bright golden light to vent to its fullest extent.