Saving Xiao Yan's Enemy, Jia Lie Ao

Twenty-odd li outside Wutan City lay a small mountain range stretching for a hundred li, with rolling peaks, lush trees, ancient vines winding about, and dense battle aura permeating the air.

Because Magic Beasts roamed freely here, ordinary people never ventured into this place. Only a few martial cultivators from nearby came here to train.

With nothing to do at home today, Xiao Meng secretly slipped out of Wutan City and came to this mountain range to train. First, he wanted to improve his combat skills; second, he wanted to pass the time.

After entering the mountains, Xiao Meng's wild nature returned. He no longer hid anything, tucking a wrench at his waist and hanging a slingshot over his chest. Whenever he encountered a Magic Beast, he pounced on it and fought it head-on, fist against fist, without any flashy moves.

After bringing down a wild boar weighing three or four hundred jin, he continued deeper into the mountains, looking for stronger Magic Beasts to fight.

"Get lost!"

As he walked, a huge black ape sprang out of the dense forest, roaring furiously and crazily beating its chest. Yet just as it was about to attack, Xiao Meng struck first, kicking it flying with one foot. Whether it lived or died was unknown.

"Ptui!"

Xiao Meng spat out a mouthful of phlegm and curled his lip. "Hurting yourself before hurting your enemy? You're acting like you've practiced the Seven Wounds Fist. You stupid bastard, trying to scare me? Not a chance."

As he traveled onward, he brought down more than a dozen Magic Beasts. Only one or two of them required him to put in some real effort before he beat them flat.

Ding, new random mission.

After Xiao Meng defeated a black bear, the system's voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

"A mission? Come to think of it, the system seems not to have issued a mission for over half a month!"

Xiao Meng muttered to himself. Unhurried, he opened the mission and took a look, only to be utterly dumbfounded.

Save the assassinated Jia Lie Ao. [Note: Xiao Yan, the protagonist of Battle Through the Heavens, cannot be allowed to die early. Otherwise, history will be altered, and the host will suffer backlash from heaven and earth.]

"What?"

Xiao Meng stood frozen. "Xiao Yan is the protagonist of Battle Through the Heavens, so what does that make Xiao Meng?"

"A supporting character? Supporting number one or number two? Male supporting character, or female..."

"System, explain this to me first. Between Xiao Yan and me, who exactly is the protagonist?" Xiao Meng became anxious. What happened to having the system in hand and owning the world...?

The system remained silent.

Xiao Meng was furious. "You made me keep a low profile for eight years and told me not to provoke Xiao Yan. But after eight years, I risked my life just to break through to the peak of the first realm. Forget who provoked whom; I endured it anyway."

"That night, you deliberately issued a mission that made me lose the woman I loved. For the past eight years, my heart has bled day and night. I was in such agony that I could only hide in the shadows like a wounded old wolf, licking my wounds. To lessen the pain, I could only constantly remind myself that there are plenty of fish in the sea, so why cling to one flower? Besides, I'm a man with a system. I have to think big and look far ahead... In short, all of this was because I trusted you."

"Other people's systems issue missions like helping an old lady cross the street, comforting a crying child, giving up seats on buses to the elderly, weak, sick, or disabled—simple things like that. But what about you? You made me endure insults without talking back and beatings without fighting back. I could only silently bear all that humiliation. My young heart faced collapse and suffocation again and again, but I always believed you were doing it for my own good. So I persisted time after time and survived... because I trusted you."

"And also, you..."

System: "Ding! You are the protagonist."

Hearing that, Xiao Meng's expression stiffened. But he did not buy it and continued choking back tears. "You..."

System: "Ding! Xiao Yan is the protagonist of Battle Through the Heavens, while you are the protagonist above the protagonist."

Xiao Meng's face was covered in tears. He wiped them away with one hand and said mournfully, "What does protagonist above the protagonist even mean? There can only be one protagonist. Either it's me or it's Xiao Yan."

System: "Ding, you are the true protagonist."

At those words, Xiao Meng's expression improved. Still unwilling to let the system off, he snorted. "Then say it for me: 'Xiao Yan is a supporting character.'"

System: "Ding, Xiao Yan is a supporting character."

"System, show me the way!"

Xiao Meng instantly stopped sobbing. The tears vanished from his face, his complexion brightened, and his face filled with smiles, as though nothing had happened just now.

System: "..."

After obtaining the map, Xiao Meng immediately took out a piece of black cloth and covered his face. He casually pulled the wrench from his waist and rushed off.

Inside a valley.

Jia Lie Ao and more than a dozen lackeys were collecting their spoils. He was dressed lavishly, around twenty years old, and rather handsome, though his complexion was somewhat pale.

On a whim today, he had specifically come here to train. Not long after entering the mountain range, he encountered a powerful Magic Beast—a saber-toothed tiger. At the cost of four or five lackeys' lives, they finally killed it, though all of them sustained injuries of varying severity.

There were not many Magic Beasts as powerful as saber-toothed tigers in this small mountain range, so no other Magic Beasts would be around its territory. They relaxed their guard and sat on the ground, gasping for breath.

The facts proved that there truly were no other Magic Beasts nearby. After resting for a while, they began gathering the spoils.

But just then, a group of black-clad masked men suddenly appeared. Without a word, they immediately attacked. Caught unprepared, more than half of them were killed or injured in the blink of an eye.

"Who are you people? How dare you ambush and kill this young master?"

At the brink of death, Jia Lie Ao fought desperately, but inwardly he was terrified. The lackeys he had brought soon all died, leaving only him behind.

From beginning to end, the enemies never answered him. Every move targeted his vital points, determined to kill him.

"Bang!"

His chest took a heavy blow, and he immediately spat blood as he flew backward, crashing heavily more than ten meters away.

"I am the young master of the Gale Clan. Aren't you afraid that if you kill me, your identities will be uncovered and your entire families implicated?" Jia Lie Ao struggled two or three times but still could not stand. He could only inch backward, hoping to get farther away from the black-clad men.

"Jia Lie Ao, you're exactly the one we came to kill." At last, one of the black-clad men spoke.

Jia Lie Ao panicked and hurriedly said, "Who exactly are you? Who sent you? As long as you're willing to spare me, I'm willing to pay you double... No! Ten times, even a hundred times the reward."

"Hehe, who cares about your reward? We only want your life..." As soon as he finished speaking, three black-clad men attacked simultaneously, their swords slashing down.

"No..." Jia Lie Ao screamed. His pupils instantly filled with blood, and a stench of shit wafted from his lower body.

Yet just as the tips of the three swords were about to strike him, a strange weapon flew out from the forest and sent all three men flying with one blow.

The three spat blood, their heads spinning, before collapsing to the ground without another sound.

Jia Lie Ao, who had nearly fainted from fright, stared blankly at the scene. His heart seemed to stop beating in that instant.

The other black-clad men were stunned at first, then sharply turned toward the direction from which the silver-white weapon had flown. Alarmed, one shouted sternly, "Who is it? Come out here!"

A string of footsteps crunching over leaves sounded out. Gradually, a half-grown youth walked out of the forest. Like them, his face was covered with black cloth. It was none other than Xiao Meng, who had just accepted the mission.

He walked over slowly and casually picked up the wrench from the ground, as though nothing had happened.

He blew the dirt off the wrench, then looked up at the seven or eight black-clad men and said flatly, "If you don't want to die, get out of here immediately."

"You little bastard, you dare meddle in our business? You must be tired of living." Seeing that Xiao Meng was merely a half-grown youth, the black-clad men did not take him seriously and immediately developed murderous intent.

"I think you're the ones tired of living." As the black-clad men surrounded him, Xiao Meng's face darkened. He suddenly burst forward.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Xiao Meng knocked all seven or eight of them to the ground with a few swings of his wrench. Their heads split open, blood flowed freely, and they wailed loudly.

"Why aren't you getting lost already? Are you waiting to die?" Xiao Meng barked.

The group of black-clad men instantly lost their nerve. Carrying the three unconscious men with them, they fled in disgrace.

"Damn it, a bunch of tiny Fighters dared to mouth off in front of me? You don't know your place." Xiao Meng said disdainfully.

Ding! Mission completed. Reward: one fishing opportunity.

"Damn! Only one?" Xiao Meng said unhappily.

"Thank you, benefactor, for saving my life! You are..." Jia Lie Ao, having survived the calamity, was filled with gratitude.

"Bang!"

Before he could finish, Xiao Meng swung his wrench backhandedly at him. However, he controlled his strength and did not kill or knock Jia Lie Ao unconscious, leaving only a strange mark on his face.

Jia Lie Ao: "???"

The blow had dazed him so badly that he even forgot to scream.

"You were scared shitless. That's fucking disgusting. Go die!" Xiao Meng suddenly raised his wrench and smashed it down.

Ding! If he dies, you can say goodbye to this world.

Hearing the system's voice, Xiao Meng's body instantly stiffened. Shouldn't the system have used two or three fishing opportunities to preserve Jia Lie Ao's life?

Seeing that the system was not joking with him, Xiao Meng sheepishly withdrew his hand and gave Jia Lie Ao an embarrassed smile. "I was just joking. Don't take it to heart!"

Jia Lie Ao: "..."

"Benefactor, you saved my life. I haven't even had the chance to thank..." Having witnessed Xiao Meng's strength, Jia Lie Ao dared not show his anger. He endured the pain in his face and forced a flattering smile, his words filled with gratitude.

"Bang!"

But Xiao Meng once again did not wait for him to finish. He struck him with the wrench and knocked him unconscious, then dragged him into the forest at a sprint.

After fleeing seven or eight li, the earlier group of black-clad men sat down to recover. Their injuries were too severe; even traveling had become difficult.

"What rotten luck. At such a critical moment, some busybody suddenly appeared and ruined our great plan."

"I wonder who he is. He's young, but incredibly strong."

"That person definitely isn't from Wutan City."

"That's right. We know all the younger generation in Wutan City. We've never heard of such a talented expert."

"And the weapon in his hand was extremely strange and very powerful." One man looked at the broken sword in his hand, his heart shaken.

"There are one hundred and eight kinds of weapons in this world: sabers, spears, swords, halberds, axes, battle-axes, hooks, forks, tridents, staffs, lances, clubs, whips, rods, hammers, claws, crutches, meteor hammers... We know them all, but there is no weapon so bizarrely shaped."

"His weapon is strange, his strength is great, and he's still so young. He may be a young expert from the imperial capital. But why does he hide his face?"

"Well... he probably doesn't want anyone to see his true face, or he doesn't want to reveal his identity."

"Sigh! No matter what, this mission failed. How are we supposed to explain this to the clan head when we return?"

"Yeah! When we go back, how are we supposed to..."

"Bang!"

Suddenly, something fell from the sky, startling them into jumping up. In an instant, their bodies froze, and their eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.

"Jia Lie Ao?" Seeing the unconscious young man on the ground, with two peculiar marks on his face and his clothes torn to shreds, the black-clad men were somewhat dumbfounded.

They seemed to realize something and abruptly turned to inspect their surroundings, but they did not find Xiao Meng. Then their gazes returned to Jia Lie Ao.

"Look at the strange marks on his face. They're exactly like the ones on our faces. They were caused by that person's weapon."

"That guy really is a genius. He even offends the person who saved his life, and judging by this, he offended him badly."

"Even better. Let me kill him first." A hot-tempered black-clad man stepped forward and thrust his sword out.

"Wait!"

A black-clad man beside him grabbed him and said, "Don't you think this could be a trap?"

"We're operating with our faces covered. Once we kill someone, we run. So even if this is a trap, it won't affect us. And even if we're caught afterward, he still won't be able to trace the force behind us," someone said.

"Fuck your ancestors, just hurry up and kill him! Why are you dragging this out?" Xiao Meng, hiding in the distance, gritted his teeth as he waited for the system to issue a mission telling him to save the man.

"Rumble!"

Yet just as the black-clad man was about to raise his sword and kill Jia Lie Ao, dark clouds suddenly gathered in the previously clear sky, and thunder boomed.

"Fuck! I was just joking, don't take it seriously!"

Xiao Meng shuddered from head to toe, his soul trembling. He immediately admitted defeat, gripping his wrench as he rushed out like lightning. In the blink of an eye, he knocked all the black-clad men down again.

The group of black-clad men: "???"

They stared at Xiao Meng's back... What the fuck is wrong with this guy? What are you getting out of messing with us like this?

If they had looked more carefully, they would have noticed cold sweat beading on Xiao Meng's forehead and strange sounds coming from his throat.

Only when the dark clouds in the sky dispersed did Xiao Meng finally let out a breath of relief. He had seen similar situations far too many times.

"Why aren't you getting lost? Do you want me to send you on your way?" Xiao Meng was in an especially bad mood. Not only had he failed to get a mission, he had been scared half to death.

"..."

Ten thousand grass-mud horses galloped through the black-clad men's hearts. They nearly cursed aloud, but circumstances were stronger than men, so they could only flee in disgrace once more.

"You son of a bitch, you idiot, you useless piece of trash!"

After the black-clad men left, Xiao Meng took off his shoe and gave Jia Lie Ao a savage beating with it. After thoroughly looting everything on him, Xiao Meng strode away.

He had now reached a conclusion: if he deliberately killed Xiao Yan's enemies, the system would not only refuse to bargain with him, but the consequences would also be severe. If he deliberately let others kill them, he would be punished.