The Cannon Fodder Also Has a Will to Survive [Rebirth] - Chapter 7

The breath Lin Jingyuan exhaled was warm and sticky, but his tone was ice-cold, reminiscent of some dark, slithering reptile.

Previously, he had been wearing a massive hood, so even if one tried to look at his face, all they could see was a void of pitch-black shadows. An Jiu had a vivid imagination; he easily associated the man with creatures like venomous snakes and found himself unable to utter another word.

Seeing how spineless he was, Lin Jingyuan seemed to lose interest. Compared to An Yunge, the difference was truly like heaven and earth.

“Turn your head and look at me,” Lin Jingyuan commanded.

An Jiu had already made his promise. To save his eyes, he had no choice but to comply. He turned his head cautiously and saw a face right next to his, covered in acne some of which was inflamed, ulcerated, and oozing pus. An Jiu swallowed hard. I think I know why this lunatic scarred my face in my past life!

With a look like this, he must be psychologically warped and unable to stand anyone else’s beauty. As for the “handsome” description in the book, An Jiu figured it was likely a late-stage recovery. After all, once a person has a crush, they tend to care more about their appearance.

But for now, Lin Jingyuan’s look was quite a stomach-turner. The gnawing hunger An Jiu had been feeling actually subsided for a moment.

Yet, this man seemed to have a perverse sense of humor. “Well? Is my majestic countenance to your satisfaction?”

An Jiu’s face was a sickly shade of green, but he didn’t dare tell the truth. “It is, wonderful.”

Lin Jingyuan rose and stood by the bed, staring at An Jiu with an inscrutable gaze for a long time. He had discarded his black cloak, revealing a snowy-white under-robe beneath his ink-colored outer robe. Setting the face aside, his half-loosened silver hair draped over his back; the extreme contrast of black and white made him look remarkably elegant and clean. Judging by his physique alone, Lin Jingyuan deserved to be called “tall, straight, and handsome.”

“Since you find it wonderful, I shall let you keep those eyes of yours. It would be my gift to let you gaze upon me every day, wouldn’t it?”

An Jiu had been incredibly nervous under his stare, but hearing this, he immediately nodded like a woodpecker. “Yes, yes, yes!” Anything to stay alive!

Lin Jingyuan narrowed his eyes, his ugly face looking even more terrifying when he was angry. “Spineless.”

An Jiu didn’t care. Spineless or not, it didn’t matter. He was a “cut-sleeve” (gay) anyway; having “backbone” was of no use to him. Not only was he spineless, but he could also be a sycophant! If his life was safe, he wanted to ask for a full meal.

“Your Majesty, the wounds on your face likely need debridement, right? I can apply medicine for you!” An Jiu reasoned that since Lin Jingyuan went out with his face shrouded in a black void, he definitely didn’t want others to see his ruined face. But letting it stay ulcerated wasn’t an option what if the abscesses grew maggots? Ew… they thought alone is filthy!

“Are you trying to flatter me?”

An Jiu gave a cheeky “Hehe.”

Actually, after looking at it for a while, Lin Jingyuan’s face wasn’t that terrifying. Back when An Jiu was starving and had bitten his own wrist to drink his blood, his mangled wrist was far more disgusting. It had been midsummer then, and the wound went untreated; within two days, it had attracted flies. Even before he had died, An Jiu had watched maggots begin to grow on his own body.

“Fine. If you mess it up, I’ll cut off your hands.” Lin Jingyuan, for reasons unknown, actually agreed. “Tell me, what do you want from me?”

It worked!

The excitement on An Jiu’s face was undisguised. He even felt that if he could get fed by following the Demon Emperor, it wouldn’t be a bad trade certainly better than staying at Dongqi Peak where Si Xuanye wanted his blood and roots but wouldn’t even let him eat!

“I want food. Three meals a day!”

It was such a simple, unpretentious request that Lin Jingyuan didn’t react at first. “You want food?”

Seeing his genuine surprise, An Jiu explained, “Your Majesty, look: my spiritual power was sealed by my Master. Only he can undo it. Right now, I’m no different from a mortal. If I don’t eat, I’ll starve to death.”

Lin Jingyuan began to speak mockingly. “If you starve, you starve. What does that have to do with me? Do you think I kidnapped you so you could enjoy a life of leisure?”

“I can’t die.” An Jiu pouted, his mood dipping. The corners of his eyes slumped slightly, making him look exceptionally pitiful.

Lin Jingyuan sneered. “Give me a reason.”

To save his life, An Jiu revealed the real reason Si Xuanye kept him. “I don’t actually have a Gold Spiritual Root; I have a Heavenly Spiritual Root. Si Xuanye wants to use my roots to fix An Yunge’s…”

According to the book, Lin Jingyuan fell for An Yunge the moment he saw him and felt it was a pity his roots were ruined. If I tell him I’m An Yunge’s ‘medicine’, that should be a life-saving bargaining chip, right?

An Jiu peeked at him and added, “If I die, who knows when An Yunge will be able to repair his roots and resume his cultivation by the time he finds another way, he might be eighty years old.”

Sure enough, Lin Jingyuan grew pensive. His face made it hard to read his expression, but An Jiu guessed he was weighing the information.

Lin Jingyuan laughed meaningfully. “A Heavenly Spiritual Root your life is safe for now.”

An Jiu was too naive. Those swordsmen were high-minded and didn’t think much of a “Heavenly Spiritual Root,” but Lin Jingyuan was a demon. Demon cultivators were naturally erratic and unrestrained; they saw nothing shameful about using a “Cauldron” for cultivation.

Still, his life was saved for the moment. An Jiu breathed a sigh of relief and gave Lin Jingyuan a flattering smile. Seeing his silly grin, Lin Jingyuan remarkably smiled back. It wasn’t a mock or a sneer; it was a simple, genuine curve of the lips. He didn’t even realize he had done it.

Later, Lin Jingyuan gestured, and a demon maidservant in light attire entered the room. “Take him away and lock him up with A-Hua. Give him the same things A-Hua eats,” Lin Jingyuan commanded.

An Jiu followed the maidservant, having no interest in the scenery of the Demon Palace—he was only thinking about what the Emperor had said.

“Sister Demon, who is A-Hua?”

The maidservant held a black crystal and remained silent as they walked. An Jiu had assumed she wouldn’t answer, but she giggled and reached out to tweak a lock of his hair. “A-Hua is the Emperor’s pet. Since he said that, it means your status is the same.”

An Jiu pointed to himself. “I’m a pet too?”

“Naturally.”

An Jiu hesitated before asking the most important question: “Then, what does A-Hua usually eat?”

The maidservant burst into laughter. “Little beauty, you’re quite interesting. No wonder the Emperor…” She left the rest of the sentence hanging, but An Jiu didn’t care. He was only waiting for the answer.

Seeing his eager look, the maidservant felt he really was a lot like A-Hua. “Rice, buns, pumpkin cakes, or noodles. Things mortals eat.”

As she listed each item, An Jiu’s head bobbed frantically, his eyes sparkling. The maidservant internally wondered where the Emperor had kidnapped such a cutie.

In reality, the demons lived in luxury and excess. They loved meat and decadence; some even had the perverse habit of eating human flesh. The food the maidservant listed was considered lowly and meager, but to An Jiu, it sounded like a royal menu.

“Great, great! A-Hua is great!”

“…” The maidservant was speechless.

When they arrived, An Jiu discovered that “A-Hua” was a large wolfhound quite majestic-looking. Fortunately, An Jiu wasn’t afraid of dogs. The maidservant waited to see his reaction to the beast, but there was none. An Jiu was perfectly calm. Let alone eating the same food as a dog, he’d even eat the dog’s leftovers; in his past life, he hadn’t even been able to get that.

To others, this would be a humiliating blow to their dignity, but An Jiu accepted it easily. He even approached A-Hua to bond.

“You’re A-Hua, right? I’m An Jiu. We’re roommates now, and we’ll be together for a long time, so you can’t be mean to me,” An Jiu said formally to the dog.

A-Hua poked its head out of the kennel, but upon seeing An Jiu, it let out a whimper as if intimidated and retreated back inside.

The maidservant held the black crystal near the kennel, and An Jiu heard Lin Jingyuan’s raspy voice coming from it: “What did you do to A-Hua?” His voice was lazy, as if he didn’t really care about the answer.

“I… I didn’t do anything,” An Jiu replied blankly.

The moment he spoke, A-Hua seemed to hear its master’s voice and excitedly bounded out. After circling the two people twice and finding no master, the dog began circling An Jiu, its tail wagging like a propeller.

The maidservant smiled. “It seems A-Hua likes the young master very much.”

“Mm,” Lin Jingyuan replied lazily. “Then let him stay there.”

The “kennel” was actually a small courtyard. A-Hua was just an ordinary, non-sentient dog that required manual feeding, so the courtyard contained three adjacent rooms in addition to the kennel. The maidservant pointed out a room for An Jiu, hung the black crystal on a lampstand on the wall, and left.

An Jiu wandered through the room before going back out to see the dog. A-Hua truly liked him and immediately came over to nuzzle him. An Jiu happily began petting the dog; in his past life, everyone and everything had hated him even Xue Nian’s birds bullied him. This was the first time an animal had shown him affection.

A-Hua’s fur was glossy, and its frame was large nearly as tall as a person when standing. After playing for a while, the dog stood on its hind legs and rested its paws on An Jiu’s shoulders, trying to lick his face.

An Jiu laughed as he dodged. A-Hua licked his neck and ears, and the ticklish sensation made him burst into giggles. “A-Hua, A-Hua! You’re raised so well, your life must be much better than mine. I’ll be following your lead from now on!”

A-Hua let out two grunts, as if it understood and agreed.

Recalling the black crystal lamp, An Jiu didn’t go back to his room. Instead, he crawled into A-Hua’s large kennel. A-Hua followed him in and curled up in his arms, nuzzling its head against An Jiu’s chin. An Jiu rubbed the dog’s ears gently; A-Hua settled down, contentedly falling asleep and snoring.

Listening to the sound, An Jiu also drifted off into a deep, peaceful slumber.