The Cannon Fodder Also Has a Will to Survive [Rebirth] - Chapter 14

Lin Jingyuan remembered everything from the illusion. He hadn’t forgotten just how clingy that little orange kitten had been.

Now, projecting the image of that tiny ball of fur, who slept in his arms every night and insisted on nuzzling him the moment it woke up onto An Jiu it didn’t feel out of place at all. An Jiu was the living embodiment of that little orange kitten.

The reason a “Heart Demon” was so torturous was that it repeatedly dragged a person back into their darkest, most terrifying moments. Consequently, every experience and emotion within that illusion felt entirely real. An Jiu’s appearance in the dream hadn’t changed history, but it had provided Lin Jingyuan with the strength to break free from the realm much earlier than usual.

The longer one stayed in such an illusion, the more dangerous it became. Had he succumbed to the Heart Demon’s control, he might have simply never woken up.

An Jiu stumbled his way into helping me.

Thinking of this, Lin Jingyuan’s expression softened slightly. He felt that if he were to show An Jiu a bit of favoritism, it wouldn’t be entirely unwarranted. However, because of his facial disguise, An Jiu saw none of this.

An Jiu was only filled with dread at Lin Jingyuan’s words. According to the original book, every “male lead” who fell for An Yunge would maintain absolute physical and mental loyalty to him.

Lin Jingyuan’s words must be sarcasm! An Jiu thought. He’s probably furious and already calculating exactly how to kill me.

“No, no, no! That’s not it! Your Majesty misheard me!” An Jiu tried to save himself. He was drowning in regret; he cursed his big mouth for blurting out his inner thoughts.

Lin Jingyuan, who had been considering letting An Jiu move out of the dog kennel and into the main sleeping quarters, felt his face instantly darken at this frantic denial. His aura became even colder and more stern than before.

Guided by a keen, animal-like intuition, An Jiu sensed the shift in the atmosphere immediately. He glanced up cautiously at Lin Jingyuan but the man’s face remained a black vortex, rendering his expressions invisible.

Lin Jingyuan saw the fear and vigilance in An Jiu’s eyes, and his chest felt uncomfortably tight.

He never looked at me like that in the illusion.

In the dream, the orange kitten was always full of life, looking at him with nothing but trust and dependency. As the silence stretched, the air around them seemed to freeze.

An Jiu grew more terrified by the second. He watched Lin Jingyuan’s every move, terrified that the Emperor would strike him dead with a single palm. Under this high-intensity stress, cold sweat broke out on An Jiu’s forehead, and his eyelids began to twitch uncontrollably.

“Get out,” Lin Jingyuan finally grunted with a sense of exhaustion. With a flick of his sleeve, An Jiu was bundled bedding and all and tossed out of the palace.

Thanks to the thick quilts acting as a cushion, An Jiu didn’t even feel the fall. He scrambled to his feet, looking relieved, and bolted away without a single backward glance. This decisive departure left Lin Jingyuan fuming with indignation.

He was much cuter as a cat, Lin Jingyuan thought coldly.

When An Jiu returned to his kennel, he realized that half a month had passed since An Yunge had sabotaged him.

He was desperate to pet his dog to calm his nerves, but he found that Ah Hua was acting as if they were strangers again. The dog avoided him at every turn. Normally, An Jiu would have let it go there was no point in arguing with a dog but he was desperate for emotional comfort. Knowing Ah Hua was afraid but wouldn’t bite, An Jiu forced the dog into a “cuddle.” He locked his arms around the dog’s body and pinned it down with his leg, forcing Ah Hua to sleep beside him.

The dog was terrified, its body shaking like a leaf, but it didn’t fight back excessively.

An Jiu recalled the dream he’d had where a man claimed to be his partner and insisted on sharing his bed. He had suspected Ah Hua was some kind of dog spirit and projected that mysterious man onto the poor animal.

“You were so eager to warm my bed before, so why are you being so stubborn now?” An Jiu grinned, kneading the dog’s ears. “Was it you, Ah Hua? Did you really say we were ‘partners’?”

Humans truly love finding a sense of superiority in those weaker than themselves. Having easily suppressed Ah Hua’s resistance, An Jiu felt a bit giddy. Before drifting off, he vaguely felt he was forgetting something important, but he fell into a deep sleep before the information could surface.

In the darkness, the black crystal on the wall emitted a faint, eerie glow, invisible to the naked eye.

The next morning, An Jiu heard the biting remarks of the demon servant: the person the Emperor brought back had finally regained consciousness.

An Jiu froze, then gave a hollow “Oh.”

An Yunge is awake…

A moment later, An Jiu was seething. What an actor! He was certain An Yunge had been awake for a long time perhaps he was never even unconscious. All these blind, foolish men were being tricked! An Yunge was no “noble, moon-like gentleman.”

Just as An Jiu was wallowing in resentment, a demon servant arrived to announce that the Emperor had summoned him. An Jiu panicked, grabbed Ah Hua, and threw the dog at the servant. “I’m not going!”

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that with An Yunge awake, Lin Jingyuan summoning him could only mean trouble. They were probably going to dig out his spiritual roots!

The demon servant gave a sinister chuckle. An Jiu expected him to drop the classic line, “That is not for you to decide,” but instead, the servant coldly pulled a black crystal from his robes.

“…” An Jiu finally remembered what he had forgotten last night.

The servant reported the situation into the crystal with professional indifference. From the other side, Lin Jingyuan’s calm voice rang out: “If he refuses to come, do not give him any food.”

An Jiu: “…”

“I’m coming! Tell His Majesty to wait for me, I’m coming right now!” An Jiu changed his tune instantly. Any hesitation would be a sign of disrespect toward his next meal.

Lin Jingyuan, you bastard, An Jiu thought. Killing me is one thing, but starving me is just cruel.

With the mindset that he would rather die a well-fed ghost, An Jiu went to meet Lin Jingyuan. To his surprise, it didn’t seem like the Emperor intended to slaughter him just yet.

The servant led him into a massive limestone cavern. He recognized it as a reception hall for guests, though the customs of the Demonic Realm were famously eccentric.

The vast cave was filled with human cultivators wearing the uniforms of the Wan-Yan Sword Sect, while the demon cultivators stood on a slightly elevated platform. High above them, on a throne naturally formed from rock, sat Lin Jingyuan.

From the moment he entered, An Jiu was as quiet as a mouse, barely daring to breathe. He scanned the crowd of Wan-Yan cultivators; once he confirmed that no one from his own Dongqi Peak was present, he breathed a subtle sigh of relief. The people of Dongqi Peak were his sect-mates of four years, and Si Xuanye was his long-time secret crush. Facing them would be far too stressful.

Noticing An Jiu’s arrival, Lin Jingyuan cast a glance toward him. “Come here.”

An Jiu pretended not to hear. He had no desire to be the center of attention in a place like this. But unfortunately, someone else was determined to make sure he didn’t get his way.

“Nephew An, the Demonic Emperor is speaking to you.”

A deep, magnetic voice rang out, drawing every eye in the cavern to An Jiu. Cold sweat broke out on his brow. Now that he had been called out by name, An Jiu had no choice but to look toward the leader of the human delegation. He gave a weak, timid greeting.

“Junior Uncle”

This was Han Zhong of Fengyuan Peak, the only Spirit-Beast Cultivator of the previous generation in the Wan-Yan Sword Sect. Since Spirit-Beast cultivators weren’t entirely human in nature, their humanity was thin, and their personalities tended to be wild and unpredictable.

Before An Yunge had ever appeared in the Cultivation World, this Junior Uncle was the person An Jiu feared most.