Is This How It Starts? I Choose To Fake My Death [Transmigration Novel] - Chapter 5

Steamed?

Stir-fried?

Luo Ning looked at the white bird in Shen Ji’s palm, then back at Shen Ji, wondering if she was hallucinating.

“Brother Shen…” she asked hesitantly, “Are you planning to eat it?”

Shen Ji stood up, conveniently shaking off the residual snow clinging to his potential snack.

Luo Ning stood up alongside him, her gaze still tracking his hand: “That wouldn’t be right, would it? It looks so pretty. Wouldn’t it be an awful pity to eat it?”

This bird was completely snowy white, and its light, petite physique was both compact and smoothly streamlined. Although its feathers were dampened by snowmelt and somewhat disheveled, their original lustrous smoothness remained discernible.

It showed no obvious injuries yet appeared exceedingly frail. Having woken up at some point, its distinct pale-silver eyes shone brilliantly under the sunlight, possessing a breathtaking beauty.

Perhaps the cold of Tianshan was simply too intense, giving her the illusion that a bird’s gaze could send chills running down her spine.

Luo Ning subconsciously averted her eyes.

Shen Ji asked, “Do you want to raise it?”

Recalling his previous remark, Luo Ning said sheepishly, “If you can’t…”

“You can.” A skeletal frame with hardly any meat on it could never compare to saving a life. Shen Ji lifted a hand and said, “Then I’ll give it to—”

Before he could finish his sentence, the foolish bird resting against his palm suddenly staged a resurrection. Exerting every last ounce of its strength, it savagely pecked the back of his hand!

Shen Ji let out a sharp intake of breath, his fingers clenching abruptly into a fist as he exercised just enough restraint to keep from hurling it to its death.

Luo Ning gasped in alarm as well: “You’re bleeding!”

Fresh crimson blood slid from the back of Shen Ji’s hand down past the web of his thumb, instantly soaking the foolish bird’s snowy white feathers and looking extremely glaring.

Shen Ji transferred it to his left hand, which was currently slung across his chest.

Luo Ning hastily tore off a strip of her hem to wrap around the wound, helping him stem the bleeding.

Shen Ji flexed his five fingers: “Thank you.”

A residual tearing sensation lingered on the back of his hand, though thankfully it was merely a minor injury and quite bearable.

He flicked the foolish bird’s still-defiant chicken wing and casually tossed it over to Luo Ning: “It’s yours.”

Encountering a grudge-bearing phoenix in the Three Spirit Realms.

Encountering this volatile black chicken in the mortal realm.

Since coming to this world, he hadn’t accomplished a single proper task, so why did he always end up at odds with birds?

Fumbling in a panic, Luo Ning caught it. Glancing at the back of Shen Ji’s right hand and recalling the scene of blood splashing onto the bird, she felt a profound sense of awe toward this little ancestor, then tentatively and clumsily stuffed it back into Shen Ji’s hands.

“Brother Shen, um, you should probably keep holding it…”

Having said that, as if terrified of escaping this hot potato, she turned and scurried away, stiffly patting the docile Wind-Chasing Leopard instead.

Watching her feign nonchalance, Shen Ji lowered his head to look at the returned foolish bird, leaving him no choice but to pinch it and hold it up to eye level: “Behave yourself, and I might consider sparing your bird-life. Understand?”

The foolish bird seemed capable of human speech, glaring straight at him from the start with an intensely rebellious, unyielding expression.

It was likely still harboring a grudge over being treated as an ingredient earlier.

After all, this world harbored immortals and demons, so a bird possessing spiritual intelligence was hardly rare.

With herbs still to gather, Shen Ji chose not to bicker with it. Casually shoving it into the front of his tunic, he returned to the Wind-Chasing Leopard and led Luo Ning back to retrace their steps around the spot where he had fallen.

Luo Ning quickly forgot the brief interlude of picking up the bird, single-mindedly scouring the mountain for medicinal herbs to alleviate his injuries.

While organizing her back basket, she suddenly asked again, “Brother Shen, can you still hold on? Would you like to head down the mountain to rest?”

Shen Ji said, “I’m fine.”

A faint stirring tumbled within his tunic, prompting him to pat it downward with a single palm.

His garments possessed protective runic patterns, rendering the foolish bird powerless no matter how much it wanted revenge.

Mindful of its mission, the system seized every opportunity to brainwash Shen Ji: “Host, look at how attentive the female lead is to your affairs. Build a solid foundation right now, and why worry about failing to earn points!”

Recalling something, Shen Ji stopped ignoring its clumsy persuasion: “I found Luo Ning, so why didn’t I get any point reward?”

The system had a ready script prepared: “Because although this book revolves around Luo Ning, our main quest is to defeat the main villain. Therefore, we need to focus primarily on the male lead Xuan Chen, who possesses higher combat power, while Luo Ning leans more toward a supporting role. Finding Luo Ning is merely a prerequisite condition to unlock the main quest; subsequent rewards in points will only arrive after the male and female leads unite.”

Shen Ji frowned: “Are you saying that for these three months, I won’t gain a single point?”

The system comforted him: “You don’t need points temporarily anyway, Host. Since you are injured, these three months are best spent recuperating! Besides, the main villain will also disappear for three months; even if he shatters the seal to come down to the mortal realm and hunt you down when the time comes, we will have long since reached the immortal realm.”

Shen Ji tapped his waistband.

The timeline was squeezed too tightly, easily breeding hidden vulnerabilities.

Furthermore, Xie Feng was not his only enemy.

The Scarlet Phoenix Spiritual Venerable would never let him go easily.

The system swore oaths of confidence: “Rest assured, Host, the main villain won’t attend the banquet in the celestial realm until a full month after the passage opens. Throughout these four whole months, you two won’t cross paths!”

Shen Ji did not bother explaining to it.

Things having reached this stage, aside from playing it by ear, there was no other option.

Instead, he asked: “How exactly is this quest executed?”

Seeing the host finally showing some motivation, the system eagerly explained: “The quest splits into two sub-lines. The first is hatred diversion. The host needs to attract the main villain’s animosity on behalf of the male lead; the more the main villain dislikes you, the more he will target you. That way, the male lead gets bypassed by him, and the level of danger drops dramatically.”

Shen Ji inevitably recalled Xie Feng during their final meeting.

As for this hatred-diversion sub-line, he feared he had already over-fulfilled his quota.

“The second sub-line is guiding the male lead to avoid detours and absolutely preventing any plot developments that lead to a rushed finale! Of course, to complete these two sub-lines, the most important thing right now is to build a good relationship with Luo Ning.”

Finishing on a firm note, the system boldly fantasized about the future: “Once the host successfully infiltrates the protagonists’ inner circle later on, you’ll be able to earn tons of points, redeem various functions, and reach the pinnacle of life!”

Shen Ji remained non-committal regarding its optimistic ideology.

The pinnacle of life?

Better survive these next three months first.

When they headed back down the mountain, dusk was approaching.

Night descended exceptionally late over the snowfields, carrying an extraordinary, bone-chilling frost.

Half the horizon was draped in colorful sunset clouds while the ground still gleamed with the glaring illumination of the snowy plains. Yet a cold wind, growing harsher by the second, swept in from the direction of the rolling snow mountains, purging the entirety of Shouluo Village.

“Strange…”

Still outside the village, Luo Ning stared toward the village with a puzzled expression.

Shen Ji asked, “What is it?”

Luo Ning explained, “Night is about to fall. At this hour, everyone usually shuts their doors tightly against the cold, and every household starts cooking dinner. Why is there not a sound today?”

Hearing this, Shen Ji likewise turned his gaze toward the overly quiet perimeter of Shouluo Village.

Before Luo Ning could speak further, several familiar figures hurried out from the village entrance: “Uncle?”

Shen Ji lightly nudged the Wind-Chasing Leopard’s flanks, accelerating his approach.

Luo Honglin and the others turned at the sound, initially startled by the fierce and imposing beast before them as they hastily raised a variety of improvised weapons.

Luo Ning called out urgently, “It’s me, Uncle! Brother Shen and I!”

Seeing the two figures atop the beast, the group finally let out a sigh of relief.

Luo Honglin wore a stern expression: “Luo Ning, you went too far this time! Leaving the village without a word and disappearing for an entire afternoon, do you have any idea how worried I was?”

Luo Ning blinked, feeling somewhat guilty: “I know I was wrong.”

Shen Ji noticed their thinly veiled anxiety: “What happened?”

Luo Honglin turned to him, just in time to see him dismount from the saddle with clean, crisp, and exceptionally unrestrained movements. He looked extraordinary in bearing, completely failing to show any signs of unhealed severe injuries.

This Shen Ji, possessing such a bee-attracting appearance was one thing, but judging from his speech and demeanor, he was clearly no ordinary person.

Having suffered heavy injuries and fallen from the demon realm, there must be a reason behind it. Luo Ning was simple-minded and grew close to him; whether that was a blessing or a curse remained to be seen.

Seeing Shen Ji raise a hand as if to help Luo Ning down, Luo Honglin’s eyelid twitched. He hurriedly stepped forward, intercepting Luo Ning’s arm before Shen Ji could reach it.

Unaware of his apprehension, Luo Ning followed up on Shen Ji’s question: “Did something happen in the village?”

A sturdy young man behind Luo Honglin stated, “Xiao Ning, you weren’t here this afternoon, so you don’t know. Two groups of people from the demon realm came to the village, acting extremely arrogant. Everyone is discussing it over at the ancestral hall, and you were the only one missing after counting heads.”

Luo Ning looked astonished: “The demon realm?”

The young man recalled, “Yes, all to find a man. I saw the portrait; he looked like an immortal. Oh right, that man’s hair is silver-white, just like the snow on Tianshan at night.”

Hearing this description, Shen Ji’s gaze shifted slightly.

So they were after Xie Feng.

Naturally, with Xie Feng stripped of his cultivation, everything related to him on Qishan would undoubtedly vanish along with it. Not only would the Scarlet Phoenix he sealed regain freedom, but the remaining phoenixes would naturally take action as well.

Yet since even they had begun moving, it meant his own safety faced threats as well.

Luo Honglin said, “People from the demon realm have come repeatedly, and such abnormal events make me fear it might spell trouble for Shouluo Village. Luo Ning, you come with me to the ancestral hall as well.”

Luo Ning nodded obediently: “Oh, alright.”

At this point, the young man pulled two wrapped buns from his tunic: “Xiao Ning, I saved these specially for you. Go ahead and eat.”

Luo Ning’s eyes lit up: “Thanks, Second Brother!”

She accepted them and split one for Shen Ji, suggesting, “Brother Shen, what about the bird you rescued? Shouldn’t you feed it a little too?”

This reminded Shen Ji that he was still harboring dead weight inside his tunic.

Luo Honglin couldn’t help asking: “Rescued a bird?”

He looked at Shen Ji once more.

Having briefly met at the banquet earlier, he had deliberately observed him. While this person possessed composure and handled matters with proper etiquette, his eyes remained perpetually unfathomable, suggesting someone warm on the exterior but cold within, hardly the sort to engage in redundant acts of kindness.

“That’s right, Uncle, look! It’s so pretty!”

Finishing her words to Luo Honglin, Luo Ning touched her chin and muttered, “Though it’s been listless all this while and must be quite sick. Brother Shen, should I feed it some medicine?”

Shen Ji said, “Do as you see fit.”

The foolish bird was only kept around because Luo Ning wanted to raise it; whether sick or healthy, he didn’t particularly care. As he spoke, he simply retrieved a cloth pouch and handed it to Luo Honglin. Inside were all the spiritual stones from the system inventory and the Qiankun bag.

With people coming and going during the meal, he hadn’t managed to thank Luo Honglin in private, and this was the precise moment.

“I have no way to repay this saving grace. Please accept these spiritual stones as a humble token of gratitude.”

Luo Honglin was startled: “This!”

Spiritual stones were common in the other four realms, but rarer than phoenix feathers and unicorn horns in the spiritual-energy-depleted mortal realm. Shouluo Village possessed a single piece, yet the spiritual energy remaining within it was down to a mere thread, serving as a treasured heirloom passed down across three generations. The number in Shen Ji’s hands exceeded thirty!

As village chief, he knew the value of these items in the mortal realm far better than anyone.

He also knew clearly that compared to Shouluo Village, the heavily injured Shen Ji needed them far more right now.

Shen Ji perceived his hesitation: “The demon realm—”

Two urgent, piercing warnings detonated within his mind, causing Shen Ji to frown.

His original intention had been to remind Luo Honglin about Xie Feng and prompt them to hide out and evade the trouble. Naturally, the system had other ideas.

“Host, please refrain from altering established plotlines, as this will cause subsequent narrative developments to shift!”

The system panicked: “For instance, if they leave the snow domain, the female lead loses the conditions to reach the sealing site, and the plot cannot proceed, that constitutes a top-tier major error, for which I will face trial, and the host will lose the chance of reincarnation and suffer soul-reconstruction. The penalty is severe!”

Fearing Shen Ji might stubbornly insist, it heavily emphasized: “If the host insists on doing this, I guarantee that before you even finish speaking, we will be instantly pulled out of the small world. Please, think twice!”

Receiving no follow-up words from Shen Ji, Luo Honglin couldn’t help asking, “What about the demon realm?”

Shen Ji modified his phrasing under the system’s continuous pleas: “People from the demon realm are not to be trifled with. You will need these.”

Realizing that individuals from the demon realm kept showing up while Shouluo Village possessed zero capability to resist, Luo Honglin clenched his fists. Hesitatingly, he took a single piece: “Thank you, young friend. A single piece is enough.”

Even so, he felt ashamed to accept it. Glancing at Shen Ji’s left arm, he added, “Now that we have spiritual stones, I will carefully ponder a medicinal formula tonight to help you recover as early as possible.”

Without waiting for Shen Ji to reply, he patted Luo Ning’s shoulder: “Let’s go.”

“Oh…”

Yielding to her uncle’s long-standing intimidation, Luo Ning nodded in disappointment. Before leaving, she turned back to tell Shen Ji, “Brother Shen, then you remember to feed the bird something, don’t let it starve to death!”

Shen Ji cast a glance at Luo Honglin before turning back to Luo Ning, nodding in agreement: “Alright.”

The wooden cabin where he convalesced lay in the opposite direction of the ancestral hall. Upon returning, he tossed the pouch overflowing with spiritual stones onto the table and felt a warmth stirring against his chest before taking a seat, prompting him to fish out the foolish bird.

Discarded onto the tabletop in the same manner one would toss trash, the foolish bird wobbled a couple of steps before steadying itself.

Shen Ji swept a glance over it, tore off a piece of bun skin, and held it to its beak: “Eat?”

The foolish bird displayed an attitude of extreme indifference toward its half-savior, turning its nose up at the offer and declining to spare it even a glance.

Shen Ji asked, “Not hungry?”

The foolish bird stared straight at him unblinkingly, apparently still harboring resentment over the afternoon’s events.

Still, such a gaze felt inexplicably familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

Failing to recall it after two seconds of reflection, Shen Ji raised a hand to grab its wing, running his fingers through its feathers from head to tail while it offered a delayed struggle.

Uninjured.

The sole trace of blood on its body belonged to him.

Without struggling for long, the foolish bird extended its sharp claws to rake across his palm!

Judging from the unhealed scabs on the back of his hand, it was certainly not playing around.

Shen Ji immediately released his grip.

Deprived of balance, the foolish bird immediately staggered and toppled onto the table.

Sitting down, Shen Ji munched on the bun it disdained, watching it clumsily and slowly struggle back to its feet before flicking his finger to flip it over on the table once more. Up it got, flipped again.

Regrettably, the foolish bird lacked perseverance, surrendering entirely after two failures and lying flat on the table to brood in anger.

The eyes staring at him finally shut, and the previously relatively steady rise and fall of its chest deepened.

At least, thoroughly angered, it possessed a bit more vitality.

The corners of Shen Ji’s thin lips twitched upward as he poked its head: “Wake up.”

The foolish bird cracked open a slit of its wing, stubbornly pulling it back to offer zero response.

Shen Ji poked its belly instead, mischievously sliding downward to hook one of its slender bird legs: “I wonder how one tells a male bird from a female?”

The foolish bird’s pale-silver eyes snapped wide open.

It glared icily at Shen Ji, kicking fiercely toward the fingers between its legs. Seeing Shen Ji withdraw his hand, it flapped both wings to take flight into midair, diving straight down at him in a rapid charge!

Shen Ji raised an eyebrow with a soft smile, using one hand to grab the cloak behind him and effortlessly sweeping this wave of wrathful impact right into his embrace.

Perhaps realizing his disadvantageous position, the foolish bird ceased its struggle.

Accordingly, Shen Ji lifted a corner of the cloak.

Silver radiance flashed sharply.

A sharp beak burst forth from the shelter, viciously stabbing toward the back of his hand!

The system exclaimed in alarm: “Host, it’s going to peck you again!”

The smile on Shen Ji’s lips deepened.

He had long prepared for this foolish bird’s retaliatory antics. The moment it ambushed him, he had already securely pinched the beak it used for committing crimes.

The foolish bird flapped its wings against his arm, though with negligible effect.

Pinching it, Shen Ji shook it slightly: “Any other tricks up your sleeve?”

The foolish bird glared at him.

Its pale eyes were sharp as blades, naturally exuding an icy temperature. Imbuing them now with brewing, intensifying fury, the wooden cabin seemed to warp with a momentary, unperceived scorch.

Withholding its temper after repeated efforts, it took a step backward, only to be yanked back to its original spot by the force of Shen Ji’s grip.

Shen Ji chuckled, “You’ve got such a fiery temper. Steaming won’t suit you; barbecuing fits you much better.”

The foolish bird froze, darting a glance up at him. Its sharp claws involuntarily carved anger-induced holes into the tabletop; a second later, drawing a deep breath, it threw itself heavily backward into the chill-seeping silence.

Simultaneously, Shen Ji abruptly released his grip.

Watching it catch off-guard and topple backward, tangling into the fabric folds and tumbling a full circle within the cloak, he couldn’t help laughing out loud twice.

Stiff all over, the foolish bird collapsed onto the ground and remained motionless.

The system couldn’t help complaining: “Host, you really are so boring…”

Amused, Shen Ji fished up the playing-dead foolish bird and returned it to the tabletop: “Am I?”

The system asked: “This bird has developed spiritual intelligence. Being toyed with by you like this, aren’t you afraid it will cultivate success one day and return to exact revenge?”

Shen Ji remarked casually: “Then I shall look forward to it.”

He poked the foolish bird’s head again. Seeing no reaction, he smoothly stroked the smooth feathers beneath his palm; they felt soft and pleasantly warm, making it quite ideal as a constant-temperature hand-warmer in harsh, freezing environments like Tianshan.

Tomorrow he still needed to head up the mountain to observe the terrain, and it would come in handy right on schedule.

Meanwhile, the foolish bird remained motionless with its back turned toward him.

Presumably, those few attacks just now had exhausted the energy it spent resting all afternoon.

Chuckling softly, Shen Ji pushed the bun skin back in front of its beak. Ignoring the tearing, churning agony periodically flaring in his Dantian, he untied the cloth sling supporting his left arm, adopted a meditative posture with a spiritual stone in hand atop the bed following the original body’s memory, and formed hand seals with both palms facing upward.

In this world, his physical body served as his sole weapon.

Recovering even a fraction more strength early on increased his margin of winning by ten percent.

Seeing this, the system ceased disturbing him.

During the interval when Luo Ning delivered medicine, Shen Ji finished it and saw her out, by which time the blinding snow-white glare outside the window had been swallowed by moonlight.

Turning back, he spotted the foolish bird still lying in its original spot, prompting him to scoop up the cloak and pile it underneath the creature to prevent it from accidentally freezing to death in the deep night chill.

The foolish bird’s flight feathers twitched imperceptibly.

Shen Ji tapped its seemingly apathetic little back of the head.

“Go to sleep.”

The flickering candle shadows cast silhouettes onto the wall, clearly outlining the movements of the person behind them.

The rustling whispers quickly ceased, plunging the wooden cabin into absolute stillness.

The foolish bird rose from the tabletop.

The magnified shadow of the cross-legged figure projected onto the wall caught its eye, causing it to pause before turning its gaze toward the mortal on the bed, who was currently closing his eyes to heal his wounds.

It coldly watched Shen Ji for a moment before shifting its focus to the side pouch.

Mortal realms suffered from a scarcity of spiritual energy; failing to master cultivation techniques nowadays, he actually had to rely solely on a mere handful of spiritual stones to heal his injuries.

Yet it had absorbed every word of the conversation between those individuals earlier.

Since disturbances had arisen in the demon realm, this matter brooked no delay.

“Host! This is a disaster! The bird you picked up is about to squander all your spiritual stones!!”

Early the next morning.

Shen Ji’s long-overdue tranquility was shattered completely by the system’s shriek.

He formed a hand seal to conclude his session, opening his eyes to look at the tabletop.

Upon the table, the pile of cloaks remained identical to last night, and the scattered bun skins sat untouched in their original spots.

The sole difference was that the foolish bird, which had nested inside the cloak last night, was currently crouching right atop the loosened spiritual stone pouch. A tiny white puff of a ball, with faint glows shimmering through the gaps of its feathers, it exuded a lazy posture carrying a unique sense of beauty.

Shen Ji walked over, only discovering upon close inspection that every single spiritual stone beneath it had lost its luster, fracturing from the middle, evidently drained of every drop of spiritual energy and rendered completely useless.

Each time the light upon its body flashed, an abrupt cracking sound echoed from within the pouch.

This was likely the sound that had drawn the system’s attention.

In truth, he had vaguely heard it earlier as well, but simply hadn’t paid it mind.

Lifting the foolish bird, Shen Ji poured out all remaining spiritual stones from the pouch.

His inventory had suffered a catastrophic shrinkage.

Out of yesterday’s thirty-four spiritual stones, only the final six lacking in spiritual energy remained.

The system wailed in heartache: “Host, this bird is such a prodigal! We can’t afford to feed it!”

Unusually enough, Shen Ji shared the exact same sentiment this time.

Twenty-eight spiritual stones swallowed in a single night; had the system not noticed, the remaining six might not have survived either. Given his current degree of poverty, he genuinely couldn’t afford to keep it.

Moreover, he had intended to use most of these spiritual stones to help Shouluo Village weather their crisis; now that they had been squandered by an unknown foolish bird, he would have to find another alternative later.

Time could not be reversed, however; lost spiritual stones were gone for good, and fretting over it changed nothing.

Sighing helplessly, he brought the foolish bird in his hands up to his face: “Playing thief last night?”

The foolish bird maintained its cold, thick-skinned, dead-bird indifference.

Pressing his index finger against its unchanging belly, Shen Ji asked, “With an appetite this massive, do you have any idea that these were all my worldly possessions?”

The foolish bird shuddered slightly under his touch, the radiance within its feathers gradually shifting to silver.

Still expressing righteous indignation, the system complained: “It eats way too much! Host, why don’t we really barbecue it? Otherwise, there’s no way we’re breaking even!”

Breaking even?

Shen Ji pinched the soft flesh on the foolish bird’s belly.

This weight.

Breaking even was an absolute impossibility.

The foolish bird went through the motions of struggling, albeit without much sincerity.

Flicking its forehead as a minor disciplinary measure, Shen Ji asked, “Tell me, if I stew you into soup, how many spiritual stones worth of energy will that extract?”

The moment his words fell, the silver light radiating from the foolish bird exploded into brilliance!

Shen Ji only felt a sudden heaviness in his hand as the palm-sized furry ball abruptly stretched outward in the silver radiance.

Side-glancing to evade the blinding light, he instinctively pulled the heat source falling into his embrace tightly against himself.

His injured left arm lacked strength for support, so he gripped the other’s waist with his free hand, securely steadying them and pulling them closely and firmly against his body out of sheer, absolute goodwill.

In a mere fraction of a second, the foolish bird vanished.

A naked man sat right before his eyes.

The man’s eyes were brilliantly silver and chillingly cold. At such close range, the unmasked killing intent within those eyes felt chillingly familiar.

The snow-white hair lengthened by spiritual energy drifted downward slowly, scattering to partially cover an equally familiar, bare, and flawless body.

The warm, damp breath intertwined once more, this time with an unfamiliar, steady calm, carrying a sobriety that lacked the erratic fog of their previous encounters.

Looking down at Shen Ji from close range, Xie Feng’s frost-sharp features were laced with a low, deep voice, wrapped in an unconscious, cold mockery.

“Stewed soup?”

Shen Ji: “…”

He maintained silence in absolute dead-silence.

The shock suffered by the system was unquestionably far greater.

Crashing for a single second, it experienced a full mental breakdown.

“The main villain?! Why is he here! How can he be here!!”

Filled with disbelief, incomprehension, circuit errors, and agonizing grief, the system screamed, “Host, we’re doomed! The main villain isn’t following the original plot, so how are you supposed to recover his cultivation while staying with him?!”