Countdown

The night was deep and still, and a cool breeze drifted in.

Heavenly Sword City, the Lin Lineage.

Inside a side courtyard.

The house was somewhat old.

In the dim yellow candlelight.

Signs of wear and damage covered much of the table and chairs.

Incense smoke curled upward along the screen.

The screen had a few holes, and the golden dragon embroidered on it was somewhat tattered too.

Lin Tian sat woodenly in a chair, looking ahead.

There was nothing there.

But in Lin Tian's eyes, a line of text hovered there.

[Countdown: 12:45:45]

The next instant, the numbers changed.

[Countdown: 12:45:44]

It was a countdown.

When Lin Tian had first transmigrated into this world.

A voice had told him.

His sword would soon arrive.

After obtaining the sword.

Lin Tian would level up alongside it.

Slaughter every enemy and tread the path of slaughter.

That voice had arrived the instant Lin Tian transmigrated.

However, his golden finger needed time to arrive.

Now, only twelve hours remained.

"Perhaps it'll be a divine sword."

Lin Tian murmured.

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone knocked outside.

Lin Tian opened the door. A round-faced maid stood outside.

"Young Master Lin Tian, Xiaolian asked me to bring you this."

The round-faced maid shoved a bundled object into Lin Tian's hand, then hurried away.

Lin Tian sat back down in his chair, holding a sheet of yellow paper.

The yellow paper had been crumpled all over.

Several lines of small, graceful handwriting covered the yellow paper.

[Young Master Lin Tian, it's Xiaolian.]

[We haven't seen each other for a month, but I've been thinking of you all this time.]

[The day before yesterday, I heard that the Holy Maiden of the Joyous Immortal Sect had taken a liking to you. I was happy for you then.]

[But then I heard you were going to become the Holy Maiden's cultivation cauldron.]

[I can't watch you be forced to go to the Joyous Immortal Sect to die. After thinking for a long time yesterday, I decided to take you and escape the Lin residence together.]

[To leave this ugly place forever.]

[Young master, I'm at the back mountain now, at the entrance to that mountain path we found before.]

[You know the place. I'll be waiting for you there.]

Lin Tian looked at the writing on the yellow paper, his gaze dark.

He had transmigrated here yesterday.

Only today had his predecessor's memories merged with his own.

He had never expected to face a death trap as soon as he transmigrated.

The Holy Maiden of the Joyous Immortal Sect had taken a liking to his predecessor and selected him as her cultivation cauldron.

Tomorrow, an envoy from the Joyous Immortal Sect would come to take Lin Tian away.

This was no good thing.

Once he became a cultivation cauldron.

All that awaited Lin Tian was death from having his vital essence sucked dry.

The Joyous Immortal Sect was not a sect affiliated with the immortal kingdom.

Every year, thousands upon thousands of beautiful men and women were selected to become cultivation cauldrons for the disciples of the Joyous Immortal Sect.

The Joyous Immortal Sect would also give those men and women's families some compensation.

It was an immortal sect, after all.

Even a little compensation was something ordinary families could only dream of obtaining.

The Lin household counted as a minor lineage in Heavenly Sword City.

Now that the Joyous Immortal Sect had taken a liking to Lin Tian.

Everyone in the Lin household rejoiced.

Except Lin Tian.

Lin Tian's father was the second younger brother of the current head of the Lin Lineage.

He had died many years ago.

No one cared whether Lin Tian lived or died.

Over the years, his predecessor had suffered much ridicule and torment in the Lin residence.

His life had been miserable.

Last month, Lin Tian's maid Xiaolian had seen that his meals were far too meager.

So she had stolen a chicken drumstick from the kitchen for his predecessor, only to be discovered.

After being subjected to a round of humiliation by members of the Lin Lineage, she had been driven out.

During the month that followed, his predecessor's life had grown even bleaker.

He had never expected that, now that he faced a crisis.

The one who wanted to help him would still be Xiaolian.

He put away the yellow paper.

"She shouldn't have come back."

Lin Tian murmured softly.

He was not his predecessor, so he thought a little further.

Now, Lin Tian was the prized darling of the entire Lin household.

How could escaping possibly be so easy?

Perhaps Xiaolian had already met with disaster.

Lin Tian had transmigrated here.

He had no feelings for Xiaolian.

But he had already absorbed his predecessor's memories.

They were influencing him.

His predecessor's memories were filled with Xiaolian.

Every conversation was deeply branded into them, like a frozen image.

In a daze, a figure appeared in Lin Tian's mind.

The figure looked exactly like Lin Tian.

"Brother, I'm about to leave."

"Xiaolian is the person I've treasured most in my life. Could you go and check on her for me?"

"This is my last wish. If you see Xiaolian and she is safe, I'll have no regrets."

Lin Tian shook his head slightly.

"You should know that Xiaolian may well be dead already."

The figure trembled slightly, then bowed to Lin Tian.

"If that truly is the case, then please avenge me, brother."

The voice vanished, and the figure dispersed.

At last, he disappeared from this mortal world.

For a long time, Lin Tian said nothing.

"I never agreed to anything. I simply enjoy slaughter."

Lin Tian blew out the candle and sat in his chair, waiting for the right moment.

He waited until deep into the night.

Lin Tian looked at the line of small text before him, which gave off a faint glow.

[Countdown: 7:56:43]

Only the final eight hours remained.

Lin Tian gently pushed open the door.

He walked out through the side courtyard's exit.

His way was clear the entire time. No one noticed him.

"They really take me for a fool."

Lin Tian murmured.

In his previous life, he had been a mercenary and had experienced a great deal.

The calmer things seemed, the more strangeness lurked beneath.

He had already guessed everything and had no desire to go there.

He merely wanted to clear his head.

According to his predecessor's memories.

His predecessor had often played with Xiaolian on the back mountain.

Back then, they had found a small path that led out of the Lin residence, and it had become their secret.

A young master and a maid.

In truth, they were more like childhood sweethearts.

He walked all the way to the place Xiaolian had mentioned.

A figure emerged from the shadows.

"Are you waiting for her?"

A man's cold, clear voice rang out.

Lin Tian's pupils contracted slightly. This man was Lin Yu, an elder of the Lin Lineage.

Lin Yu held a spherical object in his hand, liquid still dripping from it.

A faint smell of blood reached his nose.

Lin Tian lowered his eyelids slightly and sighed inwardly.

"Just as I thought."

Murmuring, he walked forward.

Lin Yu frowned.

Lin Tian was somewhat different today from his usual self.

"Could you give me Xiaolian's head?"

Lin Tian asked.

Lin Yu froze for a moment, then said with a savage grin:

"Of course."

Lin Tian took Xiaolian's head.

Blood kept flowing from the severed neck.

Lin Tian could even feel a trace of warmth.

The girl's eyes were wide open, filled with terror and unwillingness.

Perhaps the feelings from his former life had affected him; a trace of grief and hatred welled up from the bottom of Lin Tian's heart.

He gently passed one hand over Xiaolian's eyes.

Lin Tian placed Xiaolian's head on the ground.

He looked at Lin Yu and said:

"You didn't actually need to kill her. She was only a weakling. With you here, she couldn't have done anything."

Lin Yu looked at Lin Tian in surprise.

He was utterly disappointed.

In his imagination, Lin Tian should have flown into a rage and roared hysterically at him.

But what was this now?

He was far too calm.

Lin Yu snorted coldly, looked at Lin Tian, and said:

"Killing her or sparing her made no difference to me. All I did was raise my hand a little."

Lin Tian gave Lin Yu an indifferent glance and said nothing more.

In his previous life, he had been a mercenary and had slaughtered over a thousand people.

He had, in fact, long since grown accustomed to slaughter.

Deep in his bones, there was even a streak of irrepressible brutality and madness.

But Lin Tian's killing was entirely different from Lin Yu's.

At the very least, Lin Tian would not kill the innocent.

Meanwhile.

A group of figures approached from behind Lin Tian.

"Young Master Lin Tian, come back. Everyone's pretty tired from putting on this act with you."

The speaker was a middle-aged woman who still retained some grace and charm.

Everyone usually called her Aunt Wang.

She had always treated the previous owner of this body extremely poorly.

Those behind Aunt Wang were all servants of the Lin Lineage.

Once someone lost their standing, they would live more lowly than a dog.

In these servants' eyes, Lin Tian was beneath even them.

Lin Tian noticed that the maid who had helped Xiaolian deliver her letter to him earlier was among them.

"Can you give me some time? I want to bury Xiaolian."

Lin Tian looked at Lin Yu and spoke calmly.

Lin Yu gave a light snort and stamped his foot down on Xiaolian's head.

Crack!

Blood splattered everywhere in an instant.

"Lin Tian, stop wasting everyone's time. Hurry back."

Lin Yu stared at Lin Tian with cold eyes as he spoke.

Lin Tian narrowed his eyes slightly, and that trace of sorrowful resentment from the body's previous owner surged up again.

"All right."

Lin Tian spoke calmly.

Then he walked toward the Lin residence.

Seeing Lin Tian act this way, the servants all whispered among themselves.

"How pitiful, living like this."

"He'll die sooner or later anyway, haha."

"Xiaolian really was stupid. She deserved to die."

"I heard we'll all get rewards once he enters the Joyous Immortal Sect."

Lin Tian glanced over. The round-faced maid who had betrayed Xiaolian earlier was looking at him with ill intent.

Suddenly.

Whoosh!

Lin Tian shot out one hand and seized the maid's face.

He squeezed hard, forcing the flesh of her face out between his fingers.

Everyone was instantly stunned. None of them had expected Lin Tian to lash out so suddenly.