Surviving the Ancient Angst Novel [Transmigration] - Chapter 19

I dreamed I was bound to an execution platform.

My entire body felt as if it had been soaked in a special chemical; the flesh appeared bloated, white, and rotting. Beneath the surface, blue veins crisscrossed like a nest of terrifying, visible earthworms. Someone was holding a razor, slicing gently through the flesh of my thigh.

The meat was soft and mushy; the moment the blade scraped it, a mixture of yellow and red fluid seeped out. I trembled with agony, wishing for nothing but immediate death. I opened my mouth to scream, but only intermittent, raspy breaths escaped.

It felt as though my tongue was gone as well.

The executioner had a gentle, soothing voice, constantly whispering, “I won’t let you die.”

“The flesh I carve away will grow back.”

“You will live to be a hundred years old…”

No! No! I want to die, please just let me die!

I struggled frantically, yet no matter what I did, I couldn’t dodge the razor that precisely scraped away at my body. I was in unspeakable pain, my heart filled with boundless despair and terror. This endless torture death had become a luxury I could only dream of.

“Ten years ago…” The executioner’s hand paused, the blade lingering on a half-severed flap of my leg meat.

My vision went black from the pain. I desperately slammed the back of my head against the wooden board beneath me.

Thump, thump, thump.

The person’s voice was mixed in, intermittent and unclear: “You and… him… grudge… in…?”

The executioner chuckled and moved his hand; another piece of rotted flesh was gouged out. My throat constricted, and I coughed as stomach acid surged up. Burning tears flowed from my eyes, washing over my ulcerated cheeks with a stinging heat.

“Why?” he asked. This time, his voice was clearer.

What ten years ago? Why what? Damn you, what are you trying to say!

I widened my eyes, staring at him with a murderous intensity, yet I could never quite see his face.

“Pitiful.”

The man sighed with regret, yet his hands showed no mercy whatsoever. Darkness enveloped me, and I fainted from the sheer intensity of the pain.

When I woke up again, it was already noon the next day. Warm, yellow sunlight streamed through the window frames, casting square patterns of light across the bedding. I sat leaning against the headboard, my chest heaving, staring blankly into space. It took a long time for the lingering effects of that nightmare to fade.

The back of my robe was sticky, soaked through with cold sweat. I got out of bed, stripped off my clothes, and walked naked to the bronze mirror to inspect myself. My skin was normal no rot, no missing muscles or tendons.

The system spoke up then: 【Yinchen, did you have a nightmare?】

‘Yeah.’ I walked to the wardrobe, pulled out clean clothes, shook them out, and dressed myself piece by piece.

The system comforted me: 【Dreams are the opposite of reality. Don’t worry.】

I smoothed the wrinkles on my robes and sat down at the table without a word. I rested my elbows on the surface and covered my forehead with my palms, closing my eyes to rest. After a moment, I stood up and paced back and forth in the room with my hands behind my back. I felt restless and uneasy.

【Yinchen, it was just a dream!】 The system couldn’t help but emphasize as it saw my state.

True. Just a confusing dream. I stopped pacing, my body standing rigid.

【Maybe you’ve seen too many corpses lately and it’s left a psychological shadow. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine once you get used to it.】

‘A psychological shadow?’ I considered myself fairly resilient. Even in the modern world, I could watch horror movies late at night for a month straight and never have a nightmare. But seeing it in a film and seeing it with your own eyes clearly has a different impact. Perhaps my nerves had been rattled without me realizing it.

Seeing that my expression had improved, the system suggested: 【Yinchen, do you want to sleep some more?】

I shook my head and rubbed my empty stomach. ‘I’m hungry.’

I pushed open the door, but the table in the main hall was empty. There was no hot food, and not even a teapot to quench my thirst.

【The first three months were a “newcomer perk.” After that, you have to find your own food. The restaurants in Zhuifeng Town provide three free meals, but it’s currently lunchtime if you’re late, you’ll miss out~】 the system reminded me.

I pressed down on my growling stomach, feeling a bit weak. ‘I’m starving.’ A few more steps and I felt like my old bones would fall apart. I forced my feet to move and stepped over the threshold. Just as I was about to head out, I remembered something. ‘By the way, we’re in Zhuifeng Town, right?’

System: 【It is Zhuifeng Town.】

I breathed a sigh of relief. As long as I didn’t have to trek across maps just to eat, it was fine.

Opening the door of the main hall led directly to the street. It was a strange sight. During the day, the streets were nearly empty; a glance revealed only a few people standing at stalls, and even they left immediately after buying their items. They were in a hurry, as if racing to be reincarnated. They lacked the leisurely ease of the people out at night.

Just then, an all-black carriage suddenly appeared on the main road, charging toward us at high speed. The groom wore a demonic, fanged mask and had a Green Jade tied with a black string at his waist.

“It’s a Massacre hunter!” “Run!!!”

Everyone scrambled into the nearest buildings in terror. Even the street vendors abandoned their stalls, leaping onto rooftops and crouching there motionless. In seconds, the street was deserted.

A withered leaf drifted down from a branch and was crushed into dust by passing iron hooves. The carriage was moving incredibly fast and was about to bear down on me. I quickly stepped back, slammed the door shut, and slid the wooden bolt home. Just as I was about to breathe a sigh of relief—

BOOM!

The door exploded. Luckily, I had dodged in time and wasn’t crushed by the falling door panels. Wood splinters flew through the air as the Massacre groom leaped down from the carriage. He waved the dust away and pointed his whip at me arrogantly. “Who gave you permission to close the door?”

I lowered my head, carefully choosing my words. “I…” I saw everyone else doing it! Of course, I couldn’t say that. What excuse could I use?

I was about to go to sleep? No, sleeping in broad daylight didn’t make much sense. I was making sausages? If he asked for a demonstration, I had neither the ingredients nor the tools; my cover would be blown.

While I was at a loss for words, a violent commotion erupted from within the carriage behind him.

“Ah!! Slower, slower!! I can’t!!” A young man’s voice, sounding both pained and blissful, rang out as the carriage rocked violently. It creaked under the weight, looking as if it might fall apart at any moment.

I was forced to witness an ancient version of “car sex,” completely at a loss for words.

The Massacre groom flicked his whip and asked playfully, “Does it sound good?”

I shook my head stiffly.

“Hn?” The groom raised his whip high, making a move to strike me.

I immediately nodded, putting on the act of a timid, law-abiding citizen forced into submission. The groom touched the jade at his waist and circled me once. Behind him, the young man’s scream suddenly spiked: “No more!! Help me!!!!”

I shuddered in fear. The groom let out a wicked laugh. “Want to go in and have a look?”

Me: “…”

The groom suddenly swung his whip with a fierce strike. I used “Grass-Skimming Flight” to narrowly dodge it. After I dodged, I regretted it slightly; taking a hit wouldn’t have been that bad.

The groom watched me, flicked his whip, and pointed it toward the sky, threatening: “I dare you to try flying away from here today.”

“I wouldn’t dare.” I lowered my head and stood motionless.

Thud!

The carriage gave a heavy jolt, and with a tearful cry from the young man, the noise finally died down. Then, there was a long silence. I looked up cautiously.

The Massacre groom turned and dragged a young man dressed in only a thin inner robe from the carriage, tossing him onto the ground without a shred of pity. Finally, as if he found me dirty, he walked over and wiped his hands on my clothes over and over again.

When he was done, he used his whip to lift my chin mockingly. A pair of triangular eyes hid behind his mask, looking at me with a disgusting, slimy smile. “You ugly wretch, I’m giving this piece of trash to you. Have fun playing with him.”

He patted my face with his whip as he spoke. I suppressed the fury in my heart, pressing my lips together and standing silently. The groom, seeing no reaction, seemed to find it boring; he retracted his whip and left.

【Yinchen, it’s quite humiliating to be in a position where you have no power to fight back, isn’t it? Are you still sticking with your “casual retirement” mode?】

I gave a self-deprecating smile: ‘I’m sticking with it.’

This was nothing. In the modern world, I’d been cursed at by major clients in front of hundreds of people. They called me brainless, stupid, inflexible, and told me I was less intelligent than a three-year-old. The next day, I still had to bring cigarettes and liquor, greeting them with a smile to take more abuse. To keep my job, I’d endured far worse indignities to my character. It all boiled down to one word: money. Car loans and mortgage payments were a suffocating weight; I couldn’t afford to lose that high-paying job.

Think about it: in a year of 365 days, a workday is only a fraction of your time. Once off the clock, he was no longer my client so what did he matter? Here, the principle was the same, only the goal had changed: everything was for the sake of survival.

After the groom sat back on the carriage, he didn’t leave immediately but turned to look into the cabin. A bronze-skinned hand suddenly reached out, five fingers forming a claw, and slammed directly onto the groom’s crown. The groom’s body convulsed violently, and he collapsed on the carriage, bleeding from all seven orifices.

It happened silently. By the time I noticed, the hand had retracted. Then, a small, round medicine box fell from the carriage curtain and rolled along the ground until it settled in a small hole beneath the threshold. I stepped back, staring at the carriage and wary of any further movement.

The person inside did not appear. The scene fell into a bizarre silence.

I turned my head to see the man who had been dragged out. He lay motionless on the ground, his life status unknown. His lower body was bare and a mess of red and white it was an unbearable sight. There were fresh red finger marks on his thighs, and his skin was covered in a dense red rash that was chilling to look at.

Just as I was wondering what to do, the black horse at the door began to move its four hooves of its own accord. It pulled the carriage, along with the dead Massacre groom, and trotted away down the street.

I waited until they were out of sight before walking to the threshold. It took a lot of effort to pry the medicine box out of the hole. I retreated into the main hall, propped the fallen door panels back up, and slid the bolt shut, blocking the gossiping gazes of any passersby.

Once done, I opened the medicine box and found the ointment inside was a dark purplish-red. It looked like blood when smeared on a finger and had a fresh, herbal scent.

‘What is this for?’ I turned the box over curiously. Ancient times didn’t have instruction manuals, and I couldn’t find a single hint.

The system was hesitant: 【Cough… it’s for… well, the rectum.】

‘What?’ I didn’t hear it clearly.

System: 【!!! Anal fissures! You know what anal fissures are, right!!!】

Me: 【…】

It seemed it was meant for the man on the ground.