The Cannon Fodder Also Has a Will to Survive [Rebirth] - Chapter 5

The first person to react to the Master’s diagnosis was Fang Yuhe. He rose and moved to the bedside, leaning over to pinch An Jiu’s cheek. “You, little brat. Now you can’t blame me for poisoning you, can you?”

An Jiu noticed the slight hitch in his voice; he knew the man had likely wanted to call him a “vile thing” again. Annoyed and defiant, An Jiu snapped back, “You didn’t poison me, but you’re definitely involved! I coughed blood right after eating your buns! Who knows if you slipped some other pill in there? You know exactly why!”

He finished his outburst by making a face at Fang Yuhe. For a split second, Fang Yuhe felt that arguing with a child making faces was beneath his dignity…

But his innocence was at stake. Just as he opened his mouth to defend himself, his Master spoke coldly. “What did you feed him?”

Si Xuanye had been finding the intimate cheek-pinching a bit strange, but then he heard An Jiu’s accusation. It felt as though a spiritual medicine he was meticulously cultivating had been fed garbage.

Fang Yuhe, still oblivious to the undertones, replied, “Just buns. Who knows what’s wrong with him, coughing blood after eating a bun.”

Si Xuanye’s face grew colder. “You may leave. Leave An Jiu here with me; I need to determine the cause of his condition.” This was partly the truth, but the other part, he felt the “medicine” was better off raised by his own hand.

“Yes.” Fang Yuhe didn’t question the order and turned to leave.

An Jiu panicked. His meal ticket was leaving! “Wait! Wait!” He reached out and grabbed Fang Yuhe’s sleeve.

Fang Yuhe turned back and saw the unease and panic in An Jiu’s eyes, as if the boy truly relied on him. Because of this thought, Fang Yuhe didn’t pull his sleeve away. Instead, he stopped and waited for the boy to continue. At that moment, he was uncharacteristically patient and gentle the complete opposite of his usual self.

An Jiu said urgently, “What about my meal I mean, my food.”

“Refine two furnaces of Bigu pills for him,” Si Xuanye commanded coldly. When Fang Yuhe agreed and left, Si Xuanye saw An Jiu’s face fall. “What? Dissatisfied?”

An Jiu forced a smile that looked more like a grimace. “No, thank you Master. Sorry to trouble you, Senior Brother.”

Fang Yuhe suddenly recalled the sparkle in An Jiu’s eyes when he saw the food box and his look of pure bliss while eating. He understood now. With a silent chuckle, he found the “greedy” An Jiu rather cute.

After Fang Yuhe left, only An Jiu and Si Xuanye remained. An Jiu felt awkward. The marks on the bed surely Si Xuanye didn’t clean them himself? He was thick-skinned, but not enough to ignore that.

He remembered yesterday. His Master had looked down at his wretched form on the floor with loathing: “The path of the sword is without desire. You think you’re worthy of breaking my Dao heart?”

In the four years since joining the sect, Si Xuanye had always been indifferent. That was the first time An Jiu had seen such intense emotion on his face, which only highlighted the depth of his disgust. An Jiu had thought he was going to be beaten and while he wasn’t, his spiritual roots were eventually extracted anyway.

An Jiu shivered at the memory of that agonizing pain. He found it hard to accept that such a high-minded deity would eventually fall for An Yunge. Similarly, after last night, he found it hard to face the “defiled” deity. He no longer dared to love him; he just wanted to hide.

Escaping pain is human nature. An Jiu shrank into himself like a quail, an attitude that earned him a long look from Si Xuanye. In the past, An Jiu had been clingy, his affection written plainly on his face. Si Xuanye had always been indifferent to it, viewing An Jiu’s “love” as nothing more than a social climber’s scheme no different from those who used his name for profit.

Today, he was much more subdued. Though Si Xuanye found it strange, he didn’t ask.

“You will stay here at the peak for a while. I will regulate your constitution. You are not to eat random things or run around. Do not cause trouble.” After the warning, Si Xuanye left.

An Jiu waited until he was gone before jumping out of bed. He wanted to scout the area, but his stomach was cramping again. He was trapped on the peak; he couldn’t even reach the back of the mountain to steal Xue Nian’s chickens or fruit.

Regulate my body? An Jiu thought bitterly. For what? To slaughter me once I’m healthy? He didn’t want it. He had survived sixteen years this way; he didn’t need “regulation.”

However, he didn’t dare provoke Si Xuanye. He wandered outside, found some edible roots to chew on to settle his stomach, and went back to sleep. If I sleep, I won’t feel hungry. Exhausted from the day’s events, he fell into a deep slumber the moment his head hit the pillow.

Unknown to him, shortly after he fell asleep, tiny specks of silver light began to leak from the nape of his neck. They spread across his body, forming a faint, white glowing film that cocooned him. The light was so dim it was invisible from a distance. After about an hour, the light receded back into his neck.

Because his hair covered the area, no one he had interacted with since yesterday had noticed anything unusual. If An Jiu were to look, he would find a silver-patterned tattoo on the back of his neck.

The next morning, Fang Yuhe arrived early to deliver the Bigu pills. They were easy to make; he had refined two batches effortlessly. On his way, he had even stopped at the outer gate to pick up a basket of large meat buns.

He usually kicked the door open, but since this was the Sword Deity’s domain, he pushed the door open softly. An Jiu didn’t even wake up.

Fang Yuhe had intended to play a prank, but seeing the sleeping boy, he stopped. Asleep, An Jiu looked even younger. His long lashes cast shadows on his cheeks, and his face looked small enough to fit in Fang Yuhe’s palm. He looked clean and very “pinchable.”

Fang Yuhe recalled how much he used to pinch him. The texture truly is excellent. When he wasn’t being noisy or troublesome, An Jiu was just a child.

The boy was sprawled out on the couch, his mouth occasionally twitching as he smacked his lips in his sleep. A silly smile appeared on his face, followed by a trail of drool.

An Jiu was having a wonderful dream. He was eating chicken legs!

Back when he was dying in his past life, a wild dog had found a chicken leg nearby. It pinned the leg down with its paw and licked it, reluctant to eat it all at once. An Jiu had watched with bloodshot eyes. If his limbs hadn’t been broken, he would have fought the dog for it. He’d rather be bitten to death by a dog than die without tasting a chicken leg one last time.

In that state, his survival instinct had been fierce. If he could have moved, he wouldn’t have died so pathetically. The final stage of starvation is a blur of consciousness and swelling limbs before death. Thus, a chicken leg became his final desire.

His dream was filled with a “rain” of chicken legs. He’d grab one, take a bite, and turn to grab another. He was like a dog swimming in a sea of poultry blissfully happy. The dream felt even more real because he could actually smell meat.

He lunged toward the scent in his dream, but his teeth met only thin air, and he felt a sharp ache in his jaw.

An Jiu opened his eyes to see a large bun right in front of him. He murmured “chicken leg bun” and tried to bite it. The fragrant bun “grew legs” and dodged him. Only when he sat up fully did he realize someone was teasing him!

He focused his gaze and met Fang Yuhe’s mocking eyes. “Want to eat?”

An Jiu nodded, wiping his drool.

Fang Yuhe hid the bun behind his back. “Not afraid of being poisoned anymore?”

An Jiu smiled sheepishly. Master had said the blood-coughing was just clearing old toxins. While he had argued with Fang Yuhe, he knew deep down the man hadn’t poisoned him.

“No, no! Senior Brother is the best! A great philanthropist!” It’s just words, An Jiu thought. If I get food, I’ll say anything.

“Say something nice and apologize properly, and this whole basket is yours.” Fang Yuhe pointed to a box containing five large buns.

An Jiu’s eyes darted around. He was an expert at this. “Senior Brother Yuhe, Brother Yuhe… I’m sorry. I misunderstood you before. You are the kindest, best person. Jiu-er likes you best.”

His voice was crisp and sweet, but without being cloying. Fang Yuhe privately savored the title of “Brother Yuhe” before handing over a bun. “My gift to you. Eat.”

An Jiu snatched it and devoured it in three bites. The first was to satisfy the craving; he would savor the other four slowly.

As An Jiu was licking his fingers, another person entered the room. Fang Yuhe reacted quickly, but upon seeing who it was, he stood respectfully and bowed. “Master.”

An Jiu scrambled up and murmured, “Master.”

Si Xuanye looked coldly at the two of them, his gaze landing on the food box. The room smelled so strongly of meat that he didn’t even need to look to know what Fang Yuhe had been doing.

“Go to the Discipline Hall and receive your punishment,” Si Xuanye said tonelessly, instantly deciding Fang Yuhe’s fate.

Fang Yuhe’s lip twitched, but he answered, “Yes.” He looked at An Jiu; the boy was a mortal now. If he were sent to the Discipline Hall, he’d lose a layer of skin.

Just as he was about to plead for him, the spineless brat lunged forward and threw himself at Si Xuanye’s feet. Looking up with teary eyes, he sobbed, “Since Master punished him, you can’t punish me too, right? Wuwu…”

Si Xuanye: “…” Fang Yuhe: “…”

Hah. What a fair-weather, disloyal little liar.