Is This How It Starts? I Choose To Fake My Death [Transmigration Novel] - Chapter 4

“Captain, what on earth are we hunting for? They only said it is a madman, without even telling us what he looks like. How are we supposed to catch him?” After leaving the city, each squad began searching separately, and someone finally voiced their question.

“His Majesty has given the order, and we simply obey,” the female squad leader frowned as well. “The envoy made it clear that no non-Phoenix clan demonic beasts are to be spared. Keep your eyes peeled and stay alert.”

“Understood.”

Shen Ji lagged at the very rear, watching the translucent panel summoned by the system before him.

Displayed on the panel was a detailed map of Qishan, complete with an expressly marked route down the mountain.

The system whispered sneakily, “Host, as long as we can successfully leave Qishan and survive for three days, I guarantee you that for the next three months, you will not run into the main villain again!”

This was also part of the plot in the book.

Xie Feng’s awakening heritage had been sabotaged by poison, and for the following three months, he would lose his cultivation entirely and his whereabouts would be unknown.

Before finishing, the system added, “This part wasn’t written clearly in the book, but I know that three days from now, the main villain’s first attempt to open the immortal-mortal passage failed because he was violently violated by you and poisoned. The poison’s effect caused excessive consumption to trigger an imbalance in spiritual energy, and shattering the seals on the passage required a massive amount of energy. That is why the main villain lost his cultivation completely and plummeted straight from the fracture of the passage into the mortal realm.”

Shen Ji maintained a poker face, long past the point of correcting its phrasing: “The mortal realm?”

“Correct,” the system said. “Rest assured, host, the mortal realm is vast. Furthermore, the main villain has no cultivation, so even if he wanted to hunt you down, he lacks the strength to do so. We have a full three months to find the female lead’s whereabouts, which is more than enough!”

Its tone was absolute and oozed confidence.

Shen Ji held a healthy skepticism toward its confidence.

Actually, the logical thread of this analysis was somewhat self-consistent, but no matter how sound a deduction was, coming from the system’s mouth, its credibility drastically plummeted for no good reason.

After all, his destination for the next leg of the journey was the mortal world, and concerning Xie Feng, utmost caution was warranted.

“By the way, Captain, which Venerable’s subordinate envoy was it that led us out of the city?” A Phoenix Guard walking on the other side suddenly asked loudly. “And with such a massive matter, it seems the Scarlet Phoenix Guards aren’t anywhere to be seen?”

Shen Ji was raising a hand to brush away a drooping wisp of parasol tree leaves hanging before him when his footsteps paused slightly upon hearing this.

The Phoenix Pill he wore originated from the Phoenix Envoy of the Scarlet Phoenix Spiritual Venerable’s faction. If there were still phoenixes on Qishan capable of recognizing his aura, this would be the sole exception.

If this single exception joined the search, he would have an eighty percent chance of not surviving his descent down the mountain.

“The Scarlet Phoenix Guards?” The squad leader looked ahead as well. “They won’t be coming. When I rushed over from the inner city district, I saw His Majesty issue a punishment upon Juanchi Terrace, trapping all the Scarlet Phoenixes within it. Only the Scarlet Phoenix Venerable went alone to Minghuang Palace to report.”

The inquiring Phoenix Guard drew in a sharp breath: “Punished at Juanchi Terrace? Exactly what kind of chaos erupted in Minghuang Palace to provoke His Majesty into such wrath?”

The squad leader shook her head: “How could we Green Phoenix Guards know the inner details? Let us just get on with searching the mountain.”

Hearing this, Shen Ji spoke in a calm tone: “Captain, Qishan is so vast. We might as well search in separate directions.”

Fortunately, whether it was the Scarlet Phoenix Spiritual Venerable or the Envoy, once they learned he had broken free, neither of them could possibly provide Xie Feng with any clues concerning him.

Harboring ulterior motives, the Scarlet Phoenix Spiritual Venerable was far too eager to silence him; how could he possibly help Xie Feng find this tool-cauldron and invite his own destruction?

Xie Feng undoubtedly realized something was amiss, which was why he placed the Scarlet Phoenix lineage under control.

This provided him with an exceptional opportunity to slip away.

The squad leader glanced back toward his retreating figure, vaguely feeling that this tall and straight physique was far too unfamiliar.

Yet with the Green Phoenix Guards numbering in the masses, no one could memorize every single face, so she simply suppressed her inexplicable hunch and nodded, saying, “Very well, spread out. Report immediately with fire if you discover any clues.”

“Understood!”

Without looking back, Shen Ji pretended to search for a distance. Once he drifted out of his teammates’ line of sight, he briskly made his way down the mountain following the route marked by the system.

Guided by the system, he did not cross paths with a single soul along the way.

Occasionally, various streams of light flashed across the sky overhead, all hurrying on their journeys without sparing a glance at the ground to see if any unauthorized Green Phoenixes were scurrying about.

Reaching the foot of Qishan, a silver, transparent barrier radiating a faint golden glow quickly came into view.

Outside the barrier, clueless demonic beasts clustered in twos and threes, hesitating as they approached the boundary. A terrifyingly oppressive stream of golden-silver flames suddenly ignited, severe enough to inflict grave injuries upon contact, instantly beating back any attempts at a forced breakthrough.

A Phoenix Guard swooped down, binding all the demonic beasts securely with colorful, dangerous trails of fire while dragging them back toward Minghuang City amidst a sky full of curses and pleas for mercy.

Shen Ji watched the streams of light still moving freely across the air.

These Phoenix Guards had been dispatched to hunt him down, so for convenience’s sake, Xie Feng certainly wouldn’t trap them within Qishan as well. That meant entry and exit were unrestricted; he could only wonder if the Phoenix Pill in his possession would successfully clear Xie Feng’s final layer of security.

“Host, what should we do?” Having survived several close calls, the system had developed an unconscious reliance on Shen Ji.

Shen Ji scanned the sky.

Delays breed complications; the demonic beasts nearby had been cleaned out, and the Phoenix Guards were withdrawing one by one. This was as good a time as any to test it.

Just as he approached the barrier, however, he abruptly sensed a fierce, murderous wave of energy silently surging toward him from behind!

“Someone is ambushing you!”

Before the system’s panicked warning could fully register, Shen Ji had already channeled his spiritual energy, spinning around to retreat sharply!

As he turned, he caught sight of the figure opposite him.

Behind the figure sprouted a pair of wings blazing with furious crimson flames.

A Scarlet Phoenix.

The system let out a terrified gasp of air inside his mind.

Shen Ji glanced at the charred scorch mark on his right arm and furrowed his brow.

A single Green Phoenix Guard was his current limit; dealing with a high-tier Scarlet Phoenix undoubtedly exceeded his capability range.

When the opponent’s first strike missed, he paused slightly, sniffing the faint aura lingering in the air. Unmasked killing intent surged in his eyes as he formed hand seals once more, his gaze remaining locked onto Shen Ji.

“It really is you!”

He intended to silence him.

The shock of being discovered lasted mere fractions of a second; Shen Ji’s consciousness remained composed and collected, entirely counter to the system’s panic.

Xie Feng had sealed Juanchi Terrace, meaning this Scarlet Phoenix had clearly snuck out in violation of the ban. Choosing to strike at this moment meant he was well aware that his own actions wouldn’t bear scrutiny either, which was why he hadn’t used his full strength, not daring to kick up too massive of a disturbance.

Even so, he couldn’t bridge the gap in cultivation through sheer force, forcing him to rely more heavily on strategy. For instance, strategic relocation.

Shen Ji immediately channeled every last ounce of spiritual energy left in his body, flying at full throttle toward the silver flame barrier.

“Trying to escape?” The Scarlet Phoenix sneered, pointing a finger from afar. The primordial flame seed, scorching the air itself, came on menacingly, hurtling straight toward him!

His strength was worlds apart from a Green Phoenix.

Having learned from his previous lesson, the moment Shen Ji’s feet moved, the fire seed in the air instantly split into five, sealing off every single angle of evasion.

Panicked, the system cried out, “Host!”

Shen Ji stared at the barrier right before his eyes, lacking time for idle thoughts as he dodged three streaks of fire. Until evasion became impossible, the final two streaks of fire mercilessly pierced straight through his left arm!

He immediately pulled out clothing to press against the wound, preventing any abnormal traces from leaking, and continued accelerating without halting his stride.

Behind him, however, yet another lethal streak of fiery death closed in rapidly!

“Hurry, hurry, hurry…” At this life-or-death juncture, the system finally lost its composure, praying aloud in a continuous stream.

Shen Ji’s lips were pale, his pitch-black gaze remaining as piercingly perceptive as ever.

Stepping fiercely onto the ground, he finally vaulted right into the boundary of the barrier.

First his hand, then his arm,

Just as the approaching tongues of fire were about to lick across Shen Ji’s spine, the silver flame barrier personally erected by the Phoenix Emperor rippled like lake water, swallowing him whole and inadvertently shielding him from this fatal blow.

“What?!”

A near-successful strike dissolving into thin air left the Scarlet Phoenix consumed by fury. He flashed forward to pursue, but the towering, towering silver flames flared up menacingly the moment he approached!

Startled, the Scarlet Phoenix hastily retreated.

In that instant, the temperature capable of melting nearly all creation quietly faded, and the intensely burning golden-silver flames vanished without a trace.

Seeing this, Shen Ji withdrew his gaze.

It seemed his gamble had paid off.

Xie Feng keeping all the Scarlet Phoenix Guards locked away undoubtedly meant he harbored precautions against the Scarlet Phoenix lineage.

Fortunately, the spiritual energy acquired through dual-cultivating with Xie Feng truly managed to disguise his aura as belonging to the Phoenix Clan, successfully deceiving a boundary that recognized auras rather than faces.

The system released a long breath of relief as well: “Scared the life out of me…”

Filled with hatred and rage, the Scarlet Phoenix repeatedly tightened the hand seals he had formed, yet ultimately dared not unleash them against this restriction personally laid down by Xie Feng.

Gritting his teeth, he could only watch helplessly as Shen Ji grew smaller beyond the barrier. With a bitter swallow of anger, he pulled his fire seed back into his palm, hurriedly erasing all traces before anyone noticed and cloaking his presence.

Shen Ji pressed forward.

The scent of blood would expose his aura, and here on Qishan, which swarmed with Phoenix Guards, the moment another phoenix approached, he would become a public target.

The system couldn’t help asking, “Host, weren’t you worried that Scarlet Phoenix Guard would expose your identity just now?”

Shen Ji smiled slightly: “More than killing me, they fear Xie Feng finding me.”

“Alright…” The system seemed half-enlightened, then asked, “Then are we leaving now?”

Shen Ji said, “Yes.”

He was injured, making this place ill-suited for a prolonged stay; he needed to travel as fast as possible.

The system said, “Hold on, let me plan a route!”

During the waiting second, a parasol tree leaf drifted gently down, landing softly upon Shen Ji’s shoulder.

He raised a hand to catch it, dropping his gaze to sweep across it.

Such texture was something he had only laid eyes upon last night within Minghuang Palace.

“All set!”

Shen Ji snapped back to his senses.

Before setting off, he cast one final look toward the direction of Minghuang Palace.

Xie Feng.

Hopefully, they would never cross paths again.

“Let’s go.”

Within the city.

Minghuang Palace.

“That cauldron was utterly audacious; it is my Scarlet Phoenix lineage’s incompetence that mistakenly presented a traitorous scoundrel. I beg Your Majesty to grant me the chance to redeem myself by capturing the mortal and bringing him back to face Your Majesty’s judgment!”

The Scarlet Phoenix Spiritual Venerable stood outside the hall, his aged facial skin pulled taut and rigid.

He never imagined Xie Feng’s magic power would run so immensely deep that even the soul-corroding pill from ancient secret forbidden arts proved entirely ineffective against him.

With the golden heritage seal remaining upon Xie Feng’s forehead, unmistakably marking a successfully awakened heritage, and last night presumably spent in sweet intimacy with the cauldron to achieve this smoothly, Xie Feng currently displayed zero anomalies. This undoubtedly meant his plan had failed utterly.

The might of a forbidden art was overwhelmingly tyrannical, and whether Xie Feng had perceived anything remained uncertain. Coupled with Xie Feng’s chronically suspicious nature, if that escaping mortal fell back into Xie Feng’s hands, he dared not dwell on whether clues might be uncovered leading back to him.

He raised his head to gaze at the golden figure standing with hands clasped behind his back within the hall.

A mere back profile was enough to convey Xie Feng’s cold ruthlessness.

The heavy, crushing pressure had been rolling in endlessly ever since his arrival, leaving people gasping for breath.

After a long while, the silver-hemmed golden skirt hem shifted slightly.

Before the Scarlet Phoenix Spiritual Venerable could retract his gaze, Xie Feng materialized right before him. A jolt of panic struck his heart, and he took a hurried step backward, lowering his head to conceal it.

“Wuxun.”

The Scarlet Phoenix Spiritual Venerable’s lowered gaze flickered evasively: “Your Majesty?”

“Three days from now, I want everything concerning him.”

Concerning him?

Rather than finding him?

With Xie Feng giving instructions like this, didn’t it imply he wouldn’t allow the Scarlet Phoenix faction to meddle in this matter?

If this abandoned piece could not be eliminated promptly…

Wuxun’s heart sank straight down: “Your Majesty—”

“Withdraw.”

Xie Feng’s orders brooked no argument. Having dared to test the waters once, Wuxun was unwilling to risk it a second time, leaving him no choice but to swallow his deeply buried resentment, offer a respectful compliance, and depart with lingering hatred.

Watching the sunset-cloud-like stream of light fly toward Juanchi Terrace, Xie Feng narrowed his eyes.

Today his cultivation had reached major accomplishment, yet the spiritual energy within his Dantian fluctuated subtly on several occasions.

Setting up a mere barrier just now had nearly caused him to revert to his original form. Even if only for a split second, it was far too bizarre.

Yet a mere mortal could never exert a profound impact upon him.

Wuxun’s abnormalities were not lost on him, though now was hardly the time for massive upheavals.

Once his cultivation stabilized, whoever participated in this matter would not escape his wrath.

Especially him.

Abruptly.

That face, which should have been dead long ago, surfaced clearly.

“You’ve fallen for a trap.”

“The Scarlet Phoenix Spiritual Venerable, before coming here, he drugged me—”

Recalling something, the golden seal between Xie Feng’s brows flickered with a faint glow.

The Phoenix Emperor’s frost-cold expression layered with an extra shade of chill, causing the floor tiles supported by his magic power to crack with a sharp snap, sinking by a full third of an inch.

The silver phoenix hovering above Minghuang Palace froze abruptly as well.

Xie Feng paused.

The floor tiles instantly restored themselves to their original state.

Suppressing the cold glint in his depths, he turned and strode back into the main hall.

The Phoenix Guards had searched the entirety of Qishan without a single report returning so far; he knew very well the target had likely found a way to break free.

No matter, three days of seclusion would suffice to dredge his meridians.

Three days later, when he shattered the seals, he would scour all five realms and personally twist the mortal’s head off.

“Host, we are free! We’re truly free! I knew you were amazing enough to pull this off!!”

Barely walking a few steps, the system’s delayed, triumphant cheer rang out in his mind.

Shen Ji first retrieved the mount bead from his Qiankun bag: “How do I use this?”

Living up to expectations, the system readily shifted its focus: “It’s very simple, I’ll transmit the method to you right now!”

Receiving a burst of conscious instruction from the system, Shen Ji formed hand seals accordingly, channeling spiritual energy into the bead.

In a flash, a mount resembling a cross between a leopard and a cat leaped out from the bead, prostrating itself upon the ground.

The system introduced it: “Its name is the Wind-Chasing Leopard, quite high-grade among low-tier mounts.”

Shen Ji mounted it. The beast stood up, shook its head, unfurled a pair of wings from beneath its paws, took a few steps forward in a running start, and soared into the air.

The system pulled up a map and spread it before Shen Ji: “Host, Qishan is not far from the passage connecting the Three Spirit Realms to the mortal world. At our current speed, we can reach the mortal realm in half a day!”

The Wind-Chasing Leopard flew very steadily.

Ever since arriving in this world, Shen Ji had rarely experienced such leisure. He casually asked the system, “Can you teach me magic spells?”

The system explained, “Basic ones can be taught. They’re very easy to find and completely worthless, not even qualified to enter the Points Mall, for instance, the Beast-Taming Formula you just used belongs to the category of ‘anyone with hands can do it’.”

Before Shen Ji could ask further, a sharp agony erupted violently from his lower Dantian!

He felt the self-circulating spiritual energy barely suppressing the erupting pain, but an imperceptible sour numbness crept into his limbs first, feeling as though countless insects were gnawing at him.

The system hurriedly stated: “Residue of the Soul-Dropping Powder detected in the host’s body is flaring up. Please handle it promptly!”

Soul-Dropping Powder.

Shen Ji furrowed his brow.

It was bad enough that the antidote Envoy Feng gave him yesterday couldn’t offer a complete cure, but he hadn’t expected it to only last for a single day.

He was still within the Three Spirit Realms with Xie Feng eyeing him like a tiger watching its prey; any superfluous action would complicate matters further, and he absolutely could not turn back.

Concerned about this even more than he was, the system reminded him, “There are still Peiyuan Pills in the pack; they can help the host strengthen your physique.”

Shen Ji swallowed one, saving the other two as spares, and endured the pain to urge the Wind-Chasing Leopard into accelerating toward the mortal realm.

Xie Feng was unquestionably the uncrowned king of the Three Spirit Realms; he couldn’t afford to provoke him. As for the antidote to the Soul-Dropping Powder, he could find another opportunity to look for it later.

“Oh, right!” the system added. “Host, although our ultimate goal in helping the male and female leads is to make things difficult for the main villain, during the mission process, we should still appropriately strive for benefits. For instance, the female lead Luo Ning we’re going to find in the mortal realm is a physician. As long as we locate her quickly, these residual toxins might still be treatable!”

Shen Ji’s heart stirred slightly.

Since this book revolved around Luo Ning, her background and origins were naturally described in great detail.

In the story, Luo Ning’s parents passed away early on, and she had grown up following her paternal uncle, Luo Honglin, who was well-versed in medical principles. Possessing exceptional innate intelligence, she had long mastered medical arts thoroughly. Upon reaching the immortal realm, she was even capable of helping Xuan Chen resolve the congenital cold poison in his body, demonstrating a profound level of medical skill.

Finding Luo Ning, even if it couldn’t completely resolve the Soul-Dropping Powder, would at least alleviate the toxin flare-ups.

Moreover, having sustained repeated injuries across two clashes alongside the chronic ailments left behind by his original body, his entire person essentially required emergency medical treatment from the inside out.

He had never possessed any self-abusive hobbies.

With Xie Feng temporarily shaken off, physical health was the primary task that must be placed on the schedule.

Having such a physician around would definitely save a ton of trouble.

The system chimed in: “What do you say, host? Action speaks louder than words, let’s hurry up and find the female lead!”

Interrupted by its chatter, Shen Ji adjusted his breathing, ignoring the surging, violent tearing waves within his internal organs as much as possible, and focused his attention on the map.

The system cheered him on inside his mind: “Go for it, host! Hold on, host! Never give up, victory is right ahead!”

Shen Ji said, “I have a question.”

“Ask away, host!”

Shen Ji accordingly asked, “Do you have a mute function?”

Following that, the system maintained a dignified, aggrieved silence for half a day until the sealed entrance of the passage hove into view in the distance, waking it up with a jolt.

“Host, this is it!”

Shen Ji had been closing his eyes to rest, opening them at the words to look ahead.

The entrance was completely deserted.

Stationary storms gathered countless fractured boulders, suspended upside down in midair while blanketing the vast, arid basin.

No signs of life were visible in the surroundings.

The skyline was gloomy and grey, thick, heavy dark clouds effectively blocking out the extraordinary scorching sun of the Three Spirit Realms, leaving no light to speak of. Within the limited field of vision, the ground was crisscrossed with intersecting fissures, and pitch-black shadows churned within bottomless abysses.

This two-realm passage, sealed for nearly ten thousand years, formed an isolated special space of its own.

“Host, shall we go down?”

“Yes.” Shen Ji changed back into the protective gear gifted by the system before driving the Wind-Chasing Leopard through the discernible shapes of the gale, leaping headlong into the fractured, irregularly shaped circular giant entrance.

The fierce wind within the entrance was no longer stationary.

Shen Ji leaned forward slightly, flying together with the Wind-Chasing Leopard against the wind toward the end of the passage, struggling hard to break through the sea-of-clouds-like exit.

Shortly after breaking through, the system tentatively said, “It seems there was something else I wanted to say…”

Before its voice faded, the smoothly flying Wind-Chasing Leopard suddenly shuddered.

Shen Ji already sensed a bad premonition rising.

The next instant, the premonition came true.

The Wind-Chasing Leopard shuddered again, its four paws kicking wildly in the air, flapping its wings as it swayed left and right.

Struggling desperately for a couple of seconds, it tilted and plunged straight toward the ground, carrying Shen Ji down with it!

In a self-reproachful yet panicked and frightened tone, the system said, “I’m sorry, host! I forgot to remind you, the mortal passage is sealed, and spiritual energy between heaven and earth is thin. Even when the main villain descends to the lower realm, his cultivation gets restricted, let alone a tiny mount. What do we do? We didn’t prepare in advance, and if we crash like this, there are serious safety hazards…”

The Wind-Chasing Leopard’s despairing howls drowned out its chattering, nonstop explanations.

The biting-cold wind lashing across his face continuously cut like needles, serving as the most direct alarm!

Fortunately amidst misfortune, beneath the exit lay a stretch of continuous snow mountains. The main peak towered into the clouds, buried under blindingly white thick snow, with a visual distance remaining of less than a hundred meters.

Realizing this without needing the system to elaborate further, Shen Ji waved his hand to recall the Wind-Chasing Leopard back into its bead, frantically adjusting his posture in midair to brace for the landing impact.

The system asked nervously, “Will this work? Won’t we die from the fall?”

Lacking time to entertain its nonsense, Shen Ji swallowed his final Peiyuan Pill. Just as he channeled all the spiritual energy left in his body to shield his underside, he crashed violently into a pine tree crown!

With virtually no buffer, he kicked up splashing sprays of snow upon hitting the ground, tumbling downward along the slope.

Two screams, internal and external, rang out simultaneously.

“Host, are you alright?!”

“Quick, look over there!”

Cyan runic patterns gradually faded, leaving the lusterless clothes in a tangled mess.

A pain severe enough to nearly dislocate his joints spread across his entire body, flaring up in tandem with the excruciating pain coursing through his meridians. Coughing twice, Shen Ji spat out trails of blood that dripped continuously as he sank deep into the snow.

The murky sea of his mind and the internal-external knife-twisting blunt pain completely tore apart, splitting into two distinct forms of torture.

His vision darkened in waves, sustained solely by a thread of sheer willpower.

At that moment, a slightly chaotic set of footsteps approached from afar.

“Oh god, someone really fell from the sky!”

Shen Ji buried his side profile into the snowy surface, using the chilling temperature to clear his mind. After a long while, he spotted a group of silhouettes walking against the light.

One of the young girls looked at the tracks leading from top to bottom, jogging over to him to squat down and ask with concern, “Hey, are you alright?”

“Luo Ning, what’s going on?”

Without turning back, the girl gently and cautiously checked his injuries, her expression remaining full of worry: “Uncle, come take a look at his injuries!”

Shen Ji looked toward her.

Bright eyes and charming smiles, red lips and white teeth, skin like congealed fat, almond cheeks and peach blossom face, it matched the description in the book to the letter.

“Luo Ning!” Witnessing their dialogue, the system’s fright transformed into pleasant surprise. “Host, our luck is off the charts! We found the female lead the moment we arrived in the mortal realm! Rest assured, she’s very kindhearted; seeing you like this, she definitely won’t leave you to die!”

Luo Ning opened her mouth to speak again,

Her words were no longer clearly audible to Shen Ji.

Scanning the curious faces behind her one by one, he slowly closed his eyes and lost consciousness entirely.

Waking up once more, Shen Ji found himself lying on a bed.

This delicately structured wooden cabin was saturated with a rich medicinal scent, and half-processed herbs sat upon the table beside the bed.

As he lifted the blanket, the wooden door creaked open, and Luo Ning walked in from outside.

Seeing his movement, Luo Ning beamed with joy: “You’re finally awake!”

Shen Ji propped himself up into a half-sitting position. His left arm, pierced through twice, was wrapped tightly and hanging across his chest. He lowered his head to glance at it, his free right hand brushing across the large and small bandaged wounds over his body, and smiled at her: “Thank you.”

Luo Ning waved a hand chivalrously: “It’s just a small matter.”

Being quite talkative, she explained his medical condition in full upon seeing that Shen Ji had regained consciousness.

From her lips, Shen Ji learned that he had been asleep for four days and four nights. His external injuries had been personally treated by her elder uncle, Luo Honglin, and no longer posed a major issue; internal injuries, by contrast, were severely complicated. Lacking spiritual energy themselves, they couldn’t offer substantial assistance and could only provide supplementary conditioning. The residual toxins within his body would also be difficult to eradicate in the short term and required further research.

This matter wasn’t urgent, something Shen Ji had anticipated long ago.

Chattering with Luo Ning helped him recover some physical strength. After a simple wash-up, he naturally got out of bed to step outside for a stroll.

The village where Luo Ning resided was the sole human settlement at the foot of Tianshan, named Shouluo Village. The village chief was Luo Honglin, whose ancestors had supposedly settled there to guard the passage seals, only for descendants to gradually lose their protective capabilities over time and retreat to guarding the village for self-sufficiency. Due to rarely contacting the outside world year-round, most villagers were exceptionally simple and honest, treating him, an outsider of unknown origin, with great friendliness. When mealtime arrived, they even went out of their way to prepare a lively banquet.

Regrettably, owing to Tianshan’s harsh environment making it difficult to hunt live game, scanning the banquet yielded not a single trace of meat.

Luo Ning painstakingly picked out a plate of vegetable leaves from the spread, carrying it alongside a bowl of porridge straight to Shen Ji.

“Brother Shen, your injuries haven’t healed yet. Eat something light first, lest you upset your stomach.”

“Thank you,” Shen Ji accepted her goodwill.

Luo Ning waved her hand, smiling as she sat back down.

The system cheered him on: “You’re doing great, host! Exactly, keep it up, you definitely need to build a good relationship with the female lead!”

Paying no mind to its shouting and hollering, Shen Ji unhurriedly finished his first meal since arriving in this world.

He had slept for four days.

According to the book’s timeline, Xie Feng had already failed to shatter the seal yesterday and plummeted into the mortal realm.

This news would undoubtedly spread across all four realms before long.

In other words, Xie Feng’s numerous enemies would soon begin rallying. The Scarlet Phoenix lineage might act even faster.

The book hadn’t explicitly stated whether the various factions inflicted any impact upon Shouluo Village, but as the sole village on Tianshan, this place would certainly not be spared.

Shouluo Village possessed a flat terrain offering a clear view of everything; aside from resisting the cold, it served zero defensive functions.

If he wanted to spend these three months in peace here, he still needed to do something to prepare for a rainy day.

After the meal, Luo Ning escorted him out the door and told him, “You head back first. I’m going up the mountain to gather some medicinal herbs and will change your dressings when I return.”

Gathering herbs?

Shen Ji looked toward the endless snow mountains.

Allowing Luo Ning to go up the mountain alone to gather herbs for his injuries was something he couldn’t rest easy about.

“I’ll go with you.”

“You?” Luo Ning couldn’t help laughing. “Your injuries aren’t healed yet, besides, how would you…”

Before finishing her sentence, she widened her eyes involuntarily.

A tall, fierce beast seemed to appear out of thin air, crouching docilely beside Shen Ji’s hand.

“This…”

Shen Ji left an adequately spacious spot beside himself, gesturing to her: “Get on.”

The Wind-Chasing Leopard couldn’t fly in the mortal realm, but its foot speed was beyond the reach of ordinary mounts.

The Scarlet Phoenix Spiritual Venerable’s pursuit could arrive at any moment; he couldn’t lower his guard, and utilizing the herb-gathering process to familiarize himself with the surrounding terrain counted as killing two birds with one stone.

Hearing his words, Luo Ning shot him a delighted look and hurried to his side.

Before mounting, she still patted her chest solemnly: “Alright! Anyway, whatever happens, leave it to me, I’ll definitely bring you down the mountain!”

Having picked him up, she subconsciously regarded Shen Ji as her own responsibility.

Shen Ji chuckled, refraining from refuting: “Alright.”

With the topic concluded, Luo Ning instantly tossed her worries to the wind. Along the way up the mountain, she stroked the Wind-Chasing Leopard left and right, happily introducing the snowy mountains to him the entire way.

The snow domain, commonly referred to as Tianshan in the mortal world.

Tianshan remained snow-covered year-round, unthawing across all four seasons, and served as the bitterest, coldest sealed land in the mortal realm. Though it once housed passages leading to the immortal and demon realms ten thousand years ago, serving as the obligatory path for mortal beings to ascend and attain the Dao, it was now merely an impassable chasm that mortals could never cross for eternity.

As she spoke, Luo Ning’s eyes lit up: “Brother Shen returned to the mortal realm from the demon realm, so the place where you fell must be the location of the demon realm’s seal, right?”

Shen Ji countered, “You don’t know the exact location of the two realms’ seal?”

Luo Ning shook her head: “Even my uncle doesn’t recognize the records in ancient texts.”

Raising his gaze toward the boundless snowy scenery, Shen Ji pondered for a moment before telling her, “If you’re interested, we can wander around the vicinity.”

Xie Feng had fallen from the passage fracture into the mortal realm; right now, he was likely right here on Tianshan.

What Xie Feng wanted to open was the immortal-mortal passage, which naturally had nothing to do with the demon realm seal, and should not overlap with the coordinates where he had dropped.

Though the chance of a re-encounter was minuscule, such scenarios were best avoided; he didn’t care for the trouble.

The only thing requiring vigilance was any disturbance from the demon realm passage.

Yet compared to a chance encounter with Xie Feng, he would rather bump into the Scarlet Phoenix.

Luo Ning readily agreed: “Alright!”

Shen Ji immediately altered his direction.

Halfway through, he inadvertently glanced toward the left, noticing a slight undulation in the snow as if something was buried underneath.

“Brother Shen, why did you stop?”

At the words, Luo Ning followed his line of sight downward and wore a look of utter amazement: “What is that!”

Shen Ji hadn’t seen it before either.

Walking over at a steady pace, he knelt on one knee in the snow and leaned down to fish this palm-sized little creature out from the snowbanks.

Luo Ning trailed closely behind him, hurriedly brushing the snow off its body and cupping Shen Ji’s hand to inspect it closely: “Is it a bird?”

Calling it a bird was stretching it significantly.

The white, disheveled fur made it look like a malnourished black-boned chicken.

Still, a chicken from Tianshan should boast decent meat quality, making it quite suitable to satisfy a craving.

Shen Ji looked it over with a critical eye.

Too bad.

Not much meat.

With this thought, he turned his face: “Luo Ning.”

Unaware, the “black chicken” before him opened its eyes the moment he spoke.

Upon registering his face, the indifference vanished entirely from its snow-reflecting eyes, instantly turning sharp.

Even less aware, Luo Ning was filled with fondness: “Huh?”

Weighing the creature’s weight in his hand, Shen Ji asked her, “Do you prefer it steamed, or stir-fried?”

Luo Ning froze, the rich curiosity and interest completely stiffening across her face.

“Huh?”

Only the system, observing from a full-angle perspective, silently panicked.

Um.

Is it safe to say this, but somehow this bird feels distinctly wrong.