The Cannon Fodder Also Has a Will to Survive [Rebirth] - Chapter 8

In truth, the dog kennel was clean and warm far more comfortable than the dilapidated shack An Jiu had slept in as a child, and certainly better than the days he spent crawling through the mud after becoming a cripple.

Because of this, An Jiu slept very peacefully. By the time he woke up, the sky had already darkened. He was alone in the kennel; without A-Hua’s warm body nearby, he felt a bit chilly.

“A-Hua?” An Jiu called out, but there was no response.

He crawled out of the kennel and looked around, only to see the once majestic wolfhound curled up in a corner of the courtyard, trembling as it watched him. It looked terrified, a complete 180-degree turn from the dog that had been nuzzling him and begging for affection just a few hours ago.

An Jiu walked toward it, refusing to believe it, but A-Hua let out a series of pathetic whimpers as if threatened by a natural predator.

An Jiu: “…”

This behavior, it’s exactly like mine.

Feeling a sense of kinship with the cowardly dog, An Jiu didn’t force the issue. He turned and went back to the room the maidservant had assigned him.

A short while later, someone knocked on the door and handed him a bowl of “dog food.” An Jiu looked closely: it was a bowl of white rice drenched in meat gravy, with two large chunks of stewed meat on the side. As expected of the Demon Emperor’s pet, the food was better than what most humans ate.

The attendant said, “Pets only deserve mortal food. Don’t even think about Bigu pills or the like.”

Even demon cultivators looked down on the “five grains” consumed by mortals, viewing them as low-level sustenance. Even if their cultivation wasn’t high enough to forgo food entirely, they preferred Bigu pills, followed by spiritual plants or beasts. Mortal food was considered a taboo because it introduced impurities into the body, hindering cultivation.

An Jiu didn’t care about any of that. He wished he could fill his body with so many impurities that An Yunge wouldn’t want to drink his blood and his spiritual roots would feel “distasteful.” He snatched the tray and thanked the attendant profusely.

The attendant left, looking at An Jiu as if he were mentally ill.

An Jiu didn’t care what others thought. After so many days, he was finally eating a hot meal. He ate until he almost cried. So, so satisfying!

Indeed, “a blessing in disguise.” He might have been kidnapped by Lin Jingyuan, but at least he got fed! For this reason alone, he was willing to show some loyalty to the Demon Emperor. As for how badly Lin Jingyuan had treated him in his past life, An Jiu only felt fear toward him; he didn’t actually harbor much hatred.

From the moment he decided to poison An Yunge, he knew he wasn’t a good person. He had always been exceptionally self-aware about the consequences he might face. That was why, upon rebirth, his first thought wasn’t revenge, but simply escaping his predetermined fate.

This was exactly what Xue Nian meant when he said An Jiu wasn’t truly a vile person.

After dinner, An Jiu wanted to go outside for a walk, but he remembered A-Hua’s fear. Forget it, why scare the poor dog? If it were him, he’d also want a safe environment to be alone.

He turned back to the black crystal, lost in thought. Can Lin Jingyuan see what’s happening on this side through this thing? Is he watching right now?

An Jiu decided to test it. He stood before the crystal, cleared his throat, and spoke: “Your Majesty, do you need me to apply medicine for you tomorrow?”

His heart hammered against his ribs. He waited nervously for about the time it takes to finish half a cup of tea. Gradually, his heartbeat steadied. It seemed the Demon Emperor wasn’t so bored as to watch him every second. Perhaps he had already forgotten about a small fry like him?

That would be for the best.

An Jiu exhaled, feeling much more at ease. Before turning away, he whispered “Goodnight” to the crystal.

He lay down on the bed, expecting to be restless after sleeping all afternoon, but with a full stomach and the gnawing hunger gone, he fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

He didn’t just sleep; he dreamed!

In his dream, a very tall man sat by his bed. He couldn’t see the man’s face or even what he was wearing. It was a bizarre situation, made stranger when the man asked him if he was cold. An Jiu thought: Did I cover myself with a blanket before sleeping? I don’t think so, so I must be cold.

He nodded, and the man said, “Then I’ll come up and hold you while we sleep.”

“No, no, no!” An Jiu waved his hands in refusal. “I’m not cold anymore! Don’t hold me.”

The man asked, “I am your partner; why can’t I hold you?”

“Huh?” An Jiu was utterly confused. “You’re my partner? Why didn’t I know?”

The man didn’t answer but moved closer and sat on the edge of the bed. An Jiu strained to see his face, but everything remained a blur. The effort made his head spin a feeling similar to being suppressed by Lin Jingyuan’s cultivation, though milder.

An Jiu reached out to touch the man’s face and his hand met a handful of fur.

In the next instant, a loud knocking at the door startled him awake. “Open up! What time do you think it is? Get up and come with me to serve the Emperor!” It was the voice of the attendant from yesterday.

An Jiu opened his eyes groalily, still disoriented, when a warm, wet tongue licked his cheek. He snapped awake and saw a dog’s face right in front of him.

“A-Hua?!” Why is this dog in here?

Wait, wasn’t A-Hua afraid of him? Why would it crawl into his bed in the middle of the night? And how did it get in?

The knocking continued. An Jiu grabbed the dog’s ears, forcing it to face him. “How did you get in here?” The door was still closed, and the person outside was still banging on it.

He saw a look of pure guilt on the dog’s face a truly human-like expression. Its eyes darted upward, and its mouth curled in a fawning grin. An Jiu gasped. “You dog-spirit!”

He didn’t have time to investigate further. He opened the door to find only a sliver of dawn light in the sky. He inwardly cursed Lin Jingyuan for enslaving his subjects so early.

The attendant wasn’t surprised to see A-Hua in the bedroom. In his eyes, two pets huddling together wasn’t strange at all.

“What does the Emperor want with me?” An Jiu asked, trying to fish for information.

But the attendant’s rank was likely too low. “How should I know? The Emperor summoned you; just go. Stop asking questions.”

A-Hua bounded down and followed An Jiu, acting as if it intended to go along. An Jiu patted its head, and without him saying a word, A-Hua sat down obediently. It was so perceptive that An Jiu was increasingly convinced it was a spirit.

When they reached the entrance of the Emperor’s sleeping quarters, the attendant stopped and signaled for An Jiu to enter alone.

Looking into the pitch-black room, An Jiu felt his head ache. Lin Jingyuan hasn’t even gotten up yet, has he? Is he just messing with me? The moment I walk in, he’ll punish me for trespassing!

An Jiu hesitated. “Maybe, I should wait for the Emperor to call me at the door?”

“Why do you have so many questions and nonsense? Just get in there!” The irritable attendant lost patience, shoved the door open, and kicked An Jiu inside.

An Jiu stumbled and fell. By the time he recovered, the door had slammed shut.

The room was dark. An Jiu stood up and realized he had no sense of direction. He took two steps in the dark and banged his shin against a chair, making him hiss in pain. He was already annoyed at being woken up so early; now he was sure Lin Jingyuan was doing this on purpose to make him look like a fool.

I won’t give him the satisfaction.

He stood still and whispered, “Your Majesty? Are you there?”

“Who is there?” A cold, indifferent voice rang out from the darkness. In the next moment, a sharp gust of wind rushed toward him.

Though An Jiu had lost his cultivation, his instincts as a trained swordsman remained. He dodged to the side, missing whatever had been thrown, but successfully stumbled right into someone’s arms.

The body, smelling of sandalwood, stiffened. Then, a cold hand clamped around An Jiu’s throat, pinning him against the wall.

An intense sensation of suffocation hit him. An Jiu clawed at the hand with his fingernails, leaving scratch marks, as he choked out two words: “Who are ”

The voice wasn’t the raspy, unpleasant tone of Lin Jingyuan. Is this a shadow guard? An Jiu’s face turned red from lack of oxygen, and tears began to well up.

Lin Jingyuan! You’re going to be the death of me!

Struggling to breathe, he could only whisper the name “Lin Jingyuan” over and over in a raspy gasp. The hand suddenly let go.

An Jiu slumped to the floor, coughing violently. The person stood silently before him. Once An Jiu’s breathing leveled out, the man spoke: “I didn’t intend to kill you.”

“Cough, I know cough. You’re just doing your duty, protecting the Emperor,” An Jiu panted, waving a hand. “But next time… cough… can you figure out who it is before you strike? Ough, it hurts.”

“…” Protecting his own safety?

In the darkness, Lin Jingyuan immediately understood. He doesn’t recognize me? It made sense; An Jiu was currently a mortal. In this palace shrouded in dark magic, it was normal for him to be blind.

A wicked thought occurred to Lin Jingyuan. He touched his face; he wasn’t wearing any disguise, but his heterochromatic eyes and silver hair were too recognizable.

He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, his eyes had turned a normal tea-brown, and his hair had turned black.

An Jiu, oblivious, was still muttering about how they were both “low-status servants” and that he forgave the guard. At least he didn’t actually kill me.

With a snap of fingers, the dark palace was suddenly bathed in brilliant light. The sudden brightness was too much for An Jiu; he squinted, seeing the figure before him shrouded in a warm, almost holy glow.

When his vision finally cleared, An Jiu’s eyes widened like a startled cat’s.

“You… you…”

Lin Jingyuan frowned, feeling a rare bit of nerves. Did he recognize me?

An Jiu paused for a heartbeat before finishing his sentence: “You are so handsome!”

The man’s looks were on par with his Master’s. How does even a shadow guard in the Demon Palace have such heaven-defying beauty? An Jiu stared at the ethereal man, unable to look away.