A Heart Set Fluttering

"Lin Mo, hand over the imperial seal and abdicate in favor of the worthy, and I can leave you with an intact corpse!" A muscular man with heroic features wore a bright yellow robe, or rather, a dragon robe. He held a bloodstained saber, its blade gleaming coldly as he pointed it straight at the figure on the dragon throne.

"Lin Mo, it seems you're still just as stubbornly deluded. Let go. I'll never love you," a strikingly beautiful, dignified woman said hatefully.

"Lin Mo, you've already let everyone under heaven down. Hand over the imperial seal, and I'll plead with His Majesty to have you buried with the honors due an emperor," a man in purple official robes declared.

Lin Mo sat silently on the dragon throne, watching the gathered rebels below. Among them were his beloved empress, his best brother, his most trusted general, and the civil official he relied on most. Betrayed and abandoned by everyone close to him-this was what it looked like. Come to think of it, he really was a failure! But Lin Mo was the failure. What did that have to do with him, Yu Zhi?

"Host, there's one more line before you can log off. You can't keep slacking off like this. I don't suppose you want another taste of an electric shock!" an electronic voice threatened.

"Do whatever you want. I'd be better off if you killed me. If you can't, just control this body yourself. It's not like it'd be your first time," Yu Zhi said indifferently.

The system was momentarily at a loss for words, but following the plot was the priority. As a freshly minted rookie villain system, he had to earn a perfect rating on his first job. Who would have thought he'd run into such a troublesome host right out of the gate, one who refused to cooperate and wasn't even afraid of punishment? He was a dead pig that feared no boiling water.

"Xiao Yu, I just want to ask you one more time: have you ever loved me, even for a second?" The system controlled the body and delivered the melodramatic line.

"No," the dignified woman said with disgust.

After hearing her answer, the system closed the body's eyes. Without another word, it bit down on the poison hidden in its mouth. Lin Mo logged off.

Meanwhile, as the system controlled the body through the plot, Yu Zhi was once again using his spiritual power to infiltrate the system's core. He only needed the slightest opening now, and this system would become a non-sentient machine, just like its predecessors. The rookie system had no idea that Yu Zhi wasn't a novice, but a hunter who captured rookie systems.

Mission complete. Rating: C. Successfully exited the world!

"Host, you've truly disappointed me. You couldn't even handle such a simple role. It seems I need to give you a proper education!" The system's voice was as mechanical as ever.

"Oh? And how are you going to do that?" Yu Zhi said dismissively. In fact, when they had just left the world, he had made the final modifications to the system with practiced ease.

"Oh, right. There's something I wanted to say to you: goodbye, you fucking idiot system."

Without waiting for the system to react, Yu Zhi completed the final step and erased its intelligence. He integrated the system's energy and abilities, transforming them into his own. Its space was his too.

He rummaged through the space. Hm? The rookie system had nothing in it. Fortunately, he could enter it, so it at least counted as a safe house. It was just an empty room of a little over a hundred square meters, an unfinished shell with no doors or windows. He didn't know where the light came from, but it was bright.

With this system's energy added to his own, he could finally break free of those damned mission worlds. From now on, he would just be a bystander, watching the show, seeing the worlds and their scenery. He never wanted to step onto the stage himself again.

At the thought, some of the melodramatic, disgusting plot missions from those worlds popped into his head: cannon fodder, villains, second and third male leads. In short, just thinking about them made him want to cough up blood! He shook his head to block out the memories and muttered, "Where should I go next?"

He fiddled with the coordinates in the system, randomly picked one, and connected to it with his spiritual power.

After checking that the space had come along with him, he finally relaxed. "Let's see where I've ended up!" He looked around as he received the settings for this world.

He was lying on a bed in a room. Directly opposite him was an iron door with a narrow window, allowing people outside to check on what was happening inside. The air smelled of decay mixed with disinfectant, and a surveillance camera with a blinking red light was mounted on the wall diagonally across from the bed.

The world settings and identity information that came into his mind made Yu Zhi grind his teeth with hatred.

Fuck, that damned system. I knew nothing good would happen as long as I used its functions.

He had arrived in the tomb-robbing world, and it was still early in the tomb-robbing plot. The good news was that he had read the novel, but recalling it would take the power of his divine soul. For now, all he remembered were Menyouping, Wu Xie, Xiao Hua, Fatty, and Blind Man.

If he remembered correctly, he had been quite fond of the Pingxie and Heihua ships. If he got the chance, he could enjoy them up close.

On second thought, he decided to forget it. The plot wasn't important. He had come to watch the show and experience the world's scenery, not follow the plot. What did it matter to him whether he remembered it or not? If he ran into real danger, he could always enter his space. With that thought, he began to relax.

In such a high-risk world, gaining fighting strength was his immediate priority. Fortunately, he had passed through a cultivation world before and remembered all the cultivation methods and movement techniques. He still had the experience too, so a little practice should be enough here.

This time, Yu Zhi was using his own body. He never wanted to use someone else's body to move around again. His identity was a test subject at Golmud Sanatorium, and the year was 1971.

It seemed his immediate priority was to draw qi into his body and enter the Qi Refining Stage. That damned, godawful system setting-if only he could change it. Forget it. Thinking about it was no use. He had no desire to be experimented on.

He sensed his surroundings and found that the spiritual qi here was surprisingly decent. Although it couldn't compare to that of a cultivation world, it was much better than in an ordinary technological world. Perhaps it was because of the so-called Ultimate and all the monsters and zongzi here?

Although the world's will suppressed the power of his divine soul, he could still use it to cover the surveillance camera and fool it.

Having dealt with the camera, he assumed a five-hearts-facing-heaven posture and sensed the lively spiritual qi around him, with green points of light mixed among it. He drew it all into his body at once, then slowly guided the spiritual qi through his meridians.

One full circulation took about two hours, and he successfully drew qi into his body.

Yu Zhi examined the results and clenched his fists. His body felt a little stronger now, thanks in part to his previous experience. He had cultivated all the way to the Nascent Soul Stage before, and with the power of a Nascent Soul Stage divine soul to support him, the little Qi Refining Stage was his for the taking.

Unfortunately, he had nothing now. It seemed he needed to get his hands on some good things to arm himself.

After drawing qi into his body, his five senses were noticeably sharper. From far away, he heard someone pushing a cart across the carpet. The sound was faint, but he still heard it. It seemed a staff member was coming.

After some thought, he decided not to take the risk. With a thought, he entered his space to hide. After all, he didn't know what the level of combat strength in this world was like. He would only know after a fight.

He was still weak, and if he were restrained, it would be troublesome. He had better not take the risk. Playing was playing, fooling around was fooling around, and watching the excitement was watching the excitement, but he absolutely couldn't joke around with his life.

Fortunately, he could see what was happening outside from within the space. He heard a key slide into the lock and turn twice. A sturdy man dressed as a male nurse pushed a cart inside, its surface packed with needles and medication. The nurse glanced up casually and suddenly froze. Flustered, he fumbled for his walkie-talkie. "Test subject twelve is gone! Check the surveillance, quickly!"

"Surveillance is normal. Test subject twelve is on the bed," a rough male voice replied over the walkie-talkie.

"Someone get here, quick! The test subject really is gone!" the nurse said as he ran out.

Amid the ensuing chaos, the staff searched the entire sanatorium but found nothing. Fortunately, the other test subjects were all still there. Losing number twelve didn't matter, as long as number one was still there. After a whole day of commotion, they still hadn't found him, and the matter was dropped.

Yu Zhi stayed in the space. He was safe, but he still got hungry and thirsty. Although Qi Refining could ease them somewhat, it wasn't a long-term solution. He couldn't hide without food or water for too long-seven days at most.

He had to find a chance to leave.

The room had been abandoned. He didn't know whether the surveillance camera was still watching it, so he released the power of his divine soul and destroyed it completely.

He flashed out, pressed himself against the door, and held his breath as he listened for movement outside. It was silent in the middle of the night. This should be a good opportunity. Besides, even if he was exposed, it didn't matter. At worst, he could go straight into the space.

Even if his abilities really fell short and things spiraled out of control, he could simply abandon this body, leave the world, and fashion another body later.

Having steeled himself, Yu Zhi used his spiritual power to destroy the lock and slowly pulled the door open. At the same time, he destroyed all the surveillance cameras in the corridor and the locks on every room on the floor. Doors flew open one after another, and every camera his spiritual power swept over went on strike. This would certainly draw attention, but that didn't matter. He meant to create chaos and escape in the confusion.

Looking at the monster-like people behind the doors, Yu Zhi felt nothing but revulsion. Those beasts. Once he was capable, he would destroy this place.

Thoughts flashed rapidly through his mind. He felt as though he had forgotten something, but on second thought, if he'd forgotten it, it couldn't be important. If it were important, he wouldn't have forgotten it. He stopped dwelling on it.

He continued to cause chaos. He ran all the way to the end of the corridor, where a turn led to the stairs.

There was another room opposite the stairs. Without stopping, Yu Zhi opened the door and destroyed the camera, then glanced at the person inside out of the corner of his eye.

That one look made him feel as though his heart was about to explode.

A man with handsome features, fair skin, pale lips, and an otherworldly air sat there quietly, gazing at him with eyes as calm as water.

His hands and feet were cuffed to the bed's iron frame, adding a hint of allure. To Yu Zhi, it was a critical hit.

His hands moved faster than his brain, packing the man and the bed together into his space. By the time he came to his senses, the room was empty. Giving it no further thought, he raced downstairs with his heart fluttering like a frightened deer. He seemed to have picked up a great treasure. He quickly escaped outside.

A few minutes later, the alarm sounded. Hearing it from far away, he thought the people there had reacted quite quickly. He didn't dare stop, using his spiritual power as he fled along a narrow path.

His lungs felt ready to burst, but he still didn't dare stop. He raced into the mountains and flashed into his space to rest. He was nearly run ragged. Although this body had already drawn qi into itself, it was only a little stronger than an ordinary person's. After all, it had yet to undergo tempering.

Only after feeling a little better did Yu Zhi belatedly remember there was another person in the space. Being watched by a face like that was still a critical hit. Every last feature was exactly to his taste, and his heart thumped wildly.

"Holy shit, I know what I forgot!"

He suddenly remembered: human experiments at the sanatorium, that air, those looks-wasn't this Zhang Qiling?

No one had told him Zhang Qiling was this handsome! And the way he was cuffed to the bed now had a truly exquisite, tormented beauty!

Yu Zhi shook his head, clearing his mind of the filthy thoughts.

"How are you feeling?"

As he spoke, Yu Zhi used his spiritual power to open the handcuffs and shackles and helped Zhang Qiling sit up. Only when he touched him did he discover that beneath the blue-and-white clothes, his body was all skin and bones.

His heart ached. He wasn't aching for a stranger, but for Zhang Qiling.

The twenty years had passed in a few lines in the book, but only five years had gone by now, and he was already like this. What would he be like after another fifteen years? At that moment, Yu Zhi felt killing intent toward certain people in this world. At that moment, he no longer thought of himself as a bystander.

Zhang Qiling merely watched Yu Zhi quietly without speaking, even though he had just witnessed something so extraordinary. He had no memories of the past and knew only that at intervals, blood would be drawn from him and flesh cut from his body. But he knew pain. Now he knew he had left that devilish place, but he didn't know what he would suffer next, so he simply kept silent.

Yu Zhi didn't mind receiving no answer. He remembered the book saying that Zhang Qiling was Mute Zhang, so it was normal for him not to speak. Besides, he had probably lost his memory, and with the past few years of human experimentation, he was probably already numb.

Sitting on the bed, Yu Zhi carefully controlled his spiritual power and sent it into Zhang Qiling's body. It was empty inside, severely depleted. His internal organs had suffered some damage, and he had internal injuries too. He was a rag doll through and through. Yu Zhi truly couldn't describe how he felt. His heart felt as though it were being pricked by needles.

Zhang Qiling felt something cool enter his body. It was very comfortable, and the pain throughout his body seemed to ease a little. He slowly turned to look at Yu Zhi.

"My name is Yu Zhi. Your name is Zhang Qiling. I know you. Don't be afraid. I'll take you somewhere safe. Lie down for a while first."

Yu Zhi helped him lie back down slowly. There was nothing else in the space, so if he didn't lie on the bed, he could only lie on the floor.

"I have to go run for my life. Get some sleep first. By the time you wake up, we'll be somewhere safe."

Without waiting for a response, Yu Zhi left the space and quickly fled deeper into the mountains under cover of darkness. He didn't know when his pursuers might catch up, so he could only hide in the remote mountains as fast as he could.

At last, as the sky began to pale, he reached the deep mountain forests. He searched for water and food while looking for a place to hide temporarily. He couldn't stay in the space all the time; there was no spiritual qi there, so he couldn't cultivate. After coming into the mountains, he had thought it through. First, he could evade the search more easily. Second, the forest was rich in spiritual qi, and its wood-element energy was denser than elsewhere. With his Wood Spiritual Root, cultivating in such an environment would yield twice the result for half the effort and help him raise his cultivation quickly.