The Cannon Fodder Also Has a Will to Survive [Rebirth] - Chapter 1

The clamor outside was unbearable, but An Jiu couldn’t make out a single word because his cultivation had been sealed. The more muffled the voices, the more his panic grew. He felt as though every person out there was coming to seize him.

He was currently huddled under Si Xuanye’s bed, frantically stuffing Bigu (fasting) pills into his mouth. He didn’t even dare to chew; he simply held them against the roof of his mouth with his tongue, rolling them around. Every time there was a slight noise nearby, he would shove another pill in, until both cheeks puffed out like a startled hamster.

As the minutes ticked by, An Jiu felt his body beginning to heat up. Only then did he realize with the clarity of hindsight that in his past life; in order to facilitate an “intimacy” with Si Xuanye, he had lit a colorless, odorless aphrodisiac incense the moment he entered the room.

I’m going to be the death of myself!

He had to flee. He had to leave this place immediately, or else he would be dragged out of here in a state of undress.

An Jiu scrambled out from under the bed on all fours, extinguished the incense, and used a brief lapse in the outside chatter to slip out the door. He didn’t dare to run upright; instead, he stayed low to the ground, carefully inching toward the dark shadows.

“How is Junior Brother Yunge?”

“The danger has passed. The Sect Leader and our Martial Uncle are watching over him.”

“What a pity, they didn’t let that one see him.”

“Shh! Watch your tongue. If you gossip about that ‘ancestor,’ you won’t last long in the Wanyan Sword Sect.”

The sound of approaching footsteps and conversation drew nearer. Cold sweat beaded on An Jiu’s forehead. Using a blind spot in their vision, he ducked back through the very door he had just exited.

Who is this “ancestor”? I have no memory of this.

But as those two had said, Si Xuanye was busy watching over An Yunge. He wouldn’t be back for the first half of the night. This room was, for the time being, safe.

As long as he left before the hour of the Tiger (3:00 AM), Si Xuanye wouldn’t find him. He wouldn’t be dragged out by his senior brothers, his spiritual bones wouldn’t be brutally extracted, and he wouldn’t be cast back to the human realm to starve to death.

That sensation of hunger the feeling of his stomach slowly digesting itself returned. An Jiu hurriedly reached for his bottle of Bigu pills. When he poured them into his palm, he found only one left.

No more food!

This realization fueled his anxiety. His hand shook, and the last pill fell, bouncing twice on the floor before rolling into a dark corner. Panicking, An Jiu dropped to his knees and lunged after it. Only when his palm pressed down on the round pill did he feel a sliver of relief.

But in the next second, he froze. There was someone standing in the darkness before him.

An Jiu’s heart stopped. After a long silence, he dared to slowly lift his head. A sliver of light from the window fell upon the hem of the person’s robe, revealing the embroidery reserved for the Main Peak of the Wanyan Sword Sect.

Is it, is it Si Xuanye?

When did he arrive? Or had he been here the entire time?

An Jiu swallowed hard, not daring to look further up. He pressed his body lower to the ground, trembling like a leaf. His lips moved in a silent, incoherent plea for mercy that even he couldn’t hear.

Time seemed to stretch for an eternity.

Drip. A single tear fell onto the floorboards in front of him. It was as if a dam had burst; An Jiu finally broke. Tears gushed from his eyes as he began to sob.

The figure moved, taking a step closer. A hand reached down, gripped An Jiu’s arm, and hoisted him up. Blurred by tears, An Jiu couldn’t see the man’s face clearly; he only felt the man’s imposing height and overwhelming aura.

“Don’t, don’t kill me” Once those words broke through, the rest followed in a rush. “I was wrong, Master. Sword Deity, I know I was wrong”

The man said nothing. He leaned in close to An Jiu’s neck and sniffed lightly. Like a small animal caught in the jaws of a predator, An Jiu was too terrified to move, letting out only muffled whimpers.

The man reached out a long arm and scooped An Jiu up like a child. He strode into the inner chamber, placing him on the couch and pressing down over him in one fluid motion.

Gradually, An Jiu’s fear faded. The fire started by the aphrodisiac incense flared up again under the man’s touch, turning into a wildfire in an instant.

I don’t want to die so miserably again

In a haze, An Jiu clung to the man. As he reached a peak of sensation, he drifted into a long, vivid nightmare.

He lost consciousness and dreamed of his past life. However, it wasn’t from his own perspective. He was in a strange “third-person” state, and his mind was flooded with new concepts he had never encountered but understood instinctively. For example: his world was actually a novelnwhat commoners called a “story-script.”

His older brother, An Yunge, was the “Protagonist Shou” (the submissive lead) of the novel.

The story unfolded through An Yunge’s perspective. It told of how he had accidentally saved the Wanyan Sword Sect’s eldest disciple, Xue Nian, as a child. To show his gratitude, Xue Nian gave him a sect token and invited him to join the sect once his spiritual roots were tested.

An Yunge agreed. Though he faced setbacks, the result was a happy one. He joined the Wanyan Sword Sect, became the final disciple of his generation, and was pampered by everyone as a “Chosen One.”

An Jiu, meanwhile, was merely a “setback” on An Yunge’s journey.

According to the book, An Jiu was An Yunge’s half-brother. Jealous of his brother’s luck, he constantly sabotaged him. When he heard An Yunge had tested for a Water Spiritual Root and could join the sect, An Jiu plotted his move.

Though he hadn’t had his own roots tested, An Jiu didn’t believe he was inferior to his brother. He bribed An Yunge’s servant to poison him, stole the token left by Xue Nian, and entered the Wanyan Sword Sect in his place.

Reading this, An Jiu felt a surge of indignation. The book brushed over his experience with a single line: “Assumed An Yunge’s identity to enter the sect.” Who knew how far he had traveled or how many near-death experiences he had endured just to find the sect? Even with the token, he had to pass the outer-gate trials before being accepted into the inner gate under Sword Deity Weiyue.

I stole the token, yes, but does that completely negate my hard work?

Then, the amnesiac An Yunge also joined the sect. Because he looked like An Jiu, he was introduced to the Sect Leader, Si Xuanye (Sword Deity Weiyue). Si Xuanye realized An Yunge possessed a Top-tier Water Spiritual Root and began competing with his junior brothers to take him as a disciple.

An Jiu had been terrified by An Yunge’s arrival. Now, seeing Si Xuanye, who had promised An Jiu would be his last disciple focusing on An Yunge, his alarm bells rang. From that point on, An Jiu sabotaged An Yunge’s missions, putting him in mortal danger.

But these dangers didn’t kill An Yunge; instead, they provided him with fortuitous opportunities. In his most desperate attempt, An Jiu even caused An Yunge to be kidnapped by a demon lord. An Jiu thought An Yunge was surely dead, but he returned safely and the demon lord had fallen madly in love with him. After An Jiu “exited the stage,” the Master, Martial Uncles, and Senior Brothers all joined a massive “harem battle” for An Yunge that lasted hundreds of thousands of words.

And An Jiu? After his crimes were exposed, he was imprisoned. He thought he might be forgiven, only to be told he was kept alive because of his rare “Heavenly Spiritual Root” the legendary “Cauldron” physique.

However, these swordsmen were “gentlemen” who all had someone in their hearts. Thus, the Heavenly Spiritual Root had another use: it could be extracted to repair or supplement someone else’s spiritual roots. Because of its high compatibility, it was known in the cultivation world as the “Heavenly Spiritual Medicine.”

An Jiu’s poison had ruined An Yunge’s roots. In the end, An Jiu became An Yunge’s cure.

Upon learning the truth, An Jiu broke through his barriers and fled. He made one final mistake: he went to Si Xuanye, his Master. He wanted a definitive answer. He had a hidden, unspeakable affection for Si Xuanye; while he feared the worst, he still held onto hope.

An Jiu remembered thinking: If Master really wants to extract my roots, I’ll just climb into his bed and seduce him.

His mother had survived that way. She had stolen the Matriarch’s hairpin and was supposed to be beaten to death, but because she successfully climbed his father’s bed, he couldn’t bring himself to kill her. She gave birth to An Jiu, became a concubine, and lived a better life.

Born into such circumstances, An Jiu had a narrow worldview. He didn’t realize that his suggestion was a grave insult to a high-minded swordsman.

Si Xuanye hadn’t even given him a second look. When An Jiu asked, crying, why he wouldn’t take him as a “Cauldron,” Si Xuanye dragged him off the couch with his back turned, his voice full of undisguised loathing: “You? You think you’re worthy?”

Then, Si Xuanye personally extracted his roots and threw him to Xue Nian and Fang Yuhe.

Xue Nian was alright; aside from taking his blood, he ignored him. Fang Yuhe, however, was twisted. He practiced alchemy and fed An Jiu strange pills none were fatal, but all caused him agonizing pain.

Even so, An Jiu wanted to live. He thought that once they were done with their revenge, they might let him return to the mortal world as a commoner. This thought became an obsession. Even when a demon lord broke into his cell, he was still mumbling about wanting to be a normal person.

I don’t want to be an immortal. I don’t want Master’s love. I just want to live.

Lin Jingyuan found him in the dark room. Hearing An Jiu’s plea, he smiled, broke An Jiu’s limbs, scarred his face, and tossed him into a pile of beggars in the mortal world.

Hideous and shunned, An Jiu rolled in the mud. He grew so filthy that no one would even offer him pity. At first, he could find scraps of food; later, he ate trash, bark, and eventually is own flesh. When he could no longer chew himself, he lay on the ground licking stagnant water.

But he was so hungry a heart-wrenching, gnawing hunger. By the end, he didn’t even have the strength to cry. Fang Yuhe, that pervert, had once said he looked beautiful when he cried, which was why he hurt him so much.

An Jiu regretted it. If he hadn’t tried to escape, even if he were tortured by Fang Yuhe, he would at least have been given a full meal after he finished crying.

He starved to death. He never knew that being starved to death was so painful.

This was the complete life of the “Vile Cannon Fodder,” An Jiu. A few lines in a book could never describe the tragedy of a cannon fodder’s existence. Because he wasn’t the protagonist, he simply vanished from An Yunge’s life.

An Jiu finished the “novel” and saw that after his death, An Yunge merged with his roots and upgraded to an “Ice Spiritual Root.” His cultivation skyrocketed, and he was honored as the “Frost Sword Lord.”

An Yunge ended up with Xue Nian. Later, Fang Yuhe and the demon lord Lin Jingyuan also joined, willing to share their lover. Most galling of all, even Si Xuanye unable to advance his cultivation and nearly falling into madness chose to stabilize his foundation by dual-cultivating with An Yunge.

An Jiu cried again. He no longer felt jealousy or resentment; he only felt an immense, painful sorrow. His entire life was a joke, a script written long ago. His efforts, his pursuits, everything he desired all of it was a joke.

Even in his dream, An Jiu couldn’t accept this truth. He thought despondently: Why give me a second chance, only to tell me everything is already predetermined?