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"The rain slowly slides down the glass as if it's crying..." NaLan QingYu looked to his left. His back hurt from the fatal stab wound, a flash of remembrance flitted past his soon closed eyes.

There was blood here and there, and pools of blood on the pristine dewy grass, soaking into the slightly dry soil of the earth. The black grass submerged in blood was flattened by a body of great height and stature. The rain continued to hammer NaLan QingYu, his dying resolve, and the small glass shards that surrounded, and beneath, him.

NaLan QingYu was lying flat. Flat on the grass with his back to the ground. Gripping on the wet grass his already pale face paled further as he struggled to sit up.

With deep quickened breaths he sat up after a lot of effort before resting for a moment.

His wound stung sharply, almost letting out a pained grunt, NaLan QingYu's body tensed with pain.

Gritting his teeth he decisively pushed himself up. He was cold, in pain, hungry, and weak.

However, somehow, he had to live.

NaLan QingYu wobbled before regaining balance, he winced in pain before keeping a stern expression, taking small steps while looking around.

"Forest of Loneliness... That traitorous bastard is too cunning." Now that he was in the area, NaLan QingYu clearly understood why it was called such.

The dark grat forest, where grat wood was harvested, birthed many towering black trees. The signature dull grey leaves blocked the sun hence there was no vegetation. As for the grass, it lived on the sap secreted by the grat trees.

The small leaves sometimes fell, twirling in a spiral, inducing a spark of loneliness within the unoccupied forest.

NaLan QingYu limped as he listened carefully through the whistling wind.

He could faintly hear the sound of gushing water; a small smile crept upon his face as he moved toward the sound.

His smile vanished almost immediately once he heard a sharp whistle. NaLan QingYu threw his body down near the trunk of a grat tree. His eyes winced in pain as a line of blood seeped through his bluish-red lips.

"Liu Yin..." NaLan QingYu whispered, it was almost inaudible.

With a small grunt, NaLan QingYu blacked out. Before this, he heard a faint rustle that soon vanished.

Shortly, unknown to NaLan QingYu, cold mechanical voice sounded— it was as cold as ice; one could describe it as the embodiment of absolute zero.

"Host has fulfilled conditions to contract system thus is now bound to system."

"System has detected host is in critical danger and will soon proceed to preserve host's life."

"Host will recover in approximately two days."

"Operation will begin in 3!... 2!... 1!"

***

It was warm.

NaLan QinYu slowly opened his eyes before shutting them. He covered his eyes with his hands, waiting for them to adjust to the light.

However to his surprise, he realised his body was not stiff, not cold, nor was it bloodied.

NaLan QingYu's eyes dilated once he registered what was happening.

A crackle of lightning and the glowing of the sky marked the coming of what he thought to be an angel.

After a few moments had passed, a grandiose being with amber golden eyes like glass stood in front of him. The other stared at NaLan QingYu for a moment, he could not help but feel intensely emotional.

Two slim wings of pure energy looked beautiful and imposing at the same time. His toned body moved with a dignified energy and was barely clad in a few robes. He carried a single flower, a white orchid. NaLan QingYu was enthralled by it and what its purpose may be.

NaLan QingYu glanced at his affable face once more; his face was one of contemplation.

"System welcomes host to system space—" the angel stepped towards NaLan QingYu while speaking,—"system is called the death evasion system. Host is free to give system a name."

In contrast to the system's previous glacial and monotonous voice, the current voice was silvery. NaLan QingYu liked it. It was not like the honeyed voices of the officials that entered his ears everyday.

NaLan QingYu furrowed his brows an instant later, for some reason he understood what the system was and its basic uses.

"System input them during host's recovery. Host's body has also been improved by 41.7%."

NaLan QingYu was stunned before putting his new thoughts at the back of his mind. Then he studied the system's spirit body in contemplation as he thought of a name.

"ChaoTian. Surpassing heaven." NaLan QingYu suggested before sneaking a glance to what was beyond ChaoTian's body.

"ChaoTian." ChaoTian repeated shortly before pausing to let NaLan QingYu observe.

NaLan QingYu was too preoccupied with ChaoTian's appearance he had forgotten to check where he was.

NaLan QingYu's face showed hints of satisfaction once he looked around. He was stood on a field of grass with a bright blue sky, white clouds and a bright sun— very simple— he liked it.

After knowing NaLan QingYu was finished scouring the area, ChaoTian began to explain.

"Every world is ranked into five ranks: unranked, lower class, middle class, higher class, and noble class. Everything is factored into deciding these ranks."

NaLan QingYu's curiosity was piqued.

Each world has a protagonist of the world— or simply, the protagonist for short. There are also the female and male leads who are deemed as the true children of 'heaven' for they always achieve greatness and can never die.

"It is common sense that every great person is accompanied with cannon fodders, correct?" ChaoTian paused, he gazed at NaLan QingYu with patience.

NaLan QingYu wore a tight-lipped smile and bailed his fists. At this moment, he knew.

He was cannon fodder.

"Who is it?" NaLan QingYu asked.

His eyelids were trembling as he contained his frustration and anger.

"NaLan YeBai, your fourth brother. He, however, is not the protagonist. He is the male lead of this world. The protagonist is Xue XiaoHua. The two will be engaged within a few months and NaLan YeBai will reveal his true character to Xue XiaoHua when he saves her."

"Two-faced scum! He caused Benwang's death after everything Benwang had done for him?!" NaLan QingYu yelled out in anger. He gave NaLan YeBai everything he had, it was due to him that the other could keep his life from the onslaught of his brethren and the assassination attempt that, supposedly, turned him into a retard when the other was seven.

"Host is advised to stay calm, it is a misunderstanding. Liu Yin was under the crown prince, this was all the crown prince's ploy. NaLan YeBai believed it to be your actions once he heard you went missing the same day. Liu Yin stabbed himself with WanXing."

Originally, NaLan QingYu was to be saved by the crown prince who turned him against NaLan YeBai but now he had the system who saved him before the crown prince found him.

ChaoTian slowly revealed what he knew.

"WanXing, he has Benwang's butterfly sword! Benwang will definitely not die, not until Benwang gets revenge. As for YeBai, Benwang will sort it out after dealing with eldest brother, that scum!"

"Host must be patient. ChaoTian has many functions host is unaware of. ChaoTian will now explain your missions."

NaLan QingYu listened as he attempted to calm his inner anger, it was difficult but he managed it after ChaoTian was almost finished explaining.

NaLan QingYu's primary mission was to evade his destined death— he must not die as a cannon fodder.

The reward of the primary mission is calculated by how the mission was completed and the time taken to accomplish it.

"Host's secondary mission, which is optional, is to reconcile with your father, NaLan YunFan. The reward will be decided similarly to the primary mission reward. Upon completion of either missions, host will be rewarded at least ten dras. Dras is the currency we system's use to exchange with something valuable. The reward corresponds with the world difficulty."

NaLan QingYu's eyes brightened as he asked.

"What is the difficulty of Benwang's world, ChaoTian?"

"Middle."

"Understood," NaLan QingYu nodded, the reward did not matter. What mattered was surviving.

"Is there anything Benwang should know more of?"

"The penalty for not completing the primary mission results in a harder death to avoid in the next world. Currently, host is only a spirit body, and so is ChaoTian. ChaoTian's voice will differ once you leave."

"Thank you, ChaoTian. Now send me back, I must first leave the forest before I can plan."

"ChaoTian understands."

***

A black figure flashed past the grat trees and leaves, passing the Atlantic blue stream to the border of the forest where he then revealed himself.

On his back was a large bloodied hole about the size of a baby's fist. It was located near his right lung.

Liu Yin's complexion was extremely pale, almost devoid of blood.

He looked around cautiously before his figure once again vanished, all that was left were his bloodied footprints on the ground near fallen grat leaves.

***

"Your Highness." Liu Yin greeted NaLan YeBai as he knelt.

NaLan YeBai nodded, his black hair was draped over his broad shoulders, "Who was it?"

"It was the second prince, Your Highness. My wound is too grave, I doubt I will survive another hour." Liu Yin informed.

NaLan YeBai's eyebrows were creased, he was in disbelief.

"This one knows Your Highness will not believe however this one holds proof." Liu Yin held up his right hand, the black plain ring on his index finger shone dimly.

NaLan QingYu's butterfly sword, WanXing, shot out covered in Liu Yun's blood.

YeBai stared at the sword before looking at Liu Yun's wound and his lips were pursed in silence.

"Good, good! Such a great brother Benwang has!" NaLan YeBai laughed before looking at Liu Yin.

"Benwang is sorry, Liu Yin. Benwang does not have any herbs to heal your wound." NaLan YeBai fixated his gaze on Liu Yun's wound.

Liu Yi smiled lightly before his body fell, his hoarse voice rang out, "It seems this servant overestimated himself, Your Highness."

NaLan YeBai rushed toward Liu Yin and checked his pulse only to clench his fist in anger.

"NaLan QingYu!" He spat out in ever-growing disgust.

***

NaLan QingYu looked at himself through the reflection of the water in the stream with disbelief expressed by his face.

ChaoTian's improvement altered his appearance. He wondered if he had inherited another's body instead.

His black hair had grown longer and more lustrous, his greyish-black eyes, the signature eyes of the royal family were brighter.

What NaLan QingYu disliked was that his muscles grew more compact and his previous masculine looks leaned much more towards the feminine side.

He sighed before looking at the now dim sky and turned his head left.

His sharp ears heard a group of people approaching and smiled with mockery before silently going around the group and left in the direction they came from.

NaLan QingYu had to retrieve WanXing. His sword was more important than revenge. WanXing was the last thing his mother, the deceased empress, left him days before her death seventeen years ago when he was four.

NaLan QingYu kept proceeding forward however the Forest of Loneliness was too big.

He spent six and a half days, five nights, fleeing away from Liu Yin in the forest. However with ChaoTian's help, he would take approximately three days and two nights with few hours of rest throughout if he was going to correct way.

***

NaLan QingYu narrowed his eyes as he wondered how to approach the villagers in the village he came across right outside the forest.

His appearance was too flashy so he covered himself in dirt and leaves when he was approaching the end.

Sadly, he was in another area. One that was far away. The terrain on the side he had exited from was not of his country's.

There were many cliff sides and lizards, it was a drastic change from the Forest of Loneliness and LanFeng Country.

NaLan QingYu was somewhat excited, maybe he could try to climb the ladder and convince a powerful person to help him defeat the crown prince or somehow get his title stripped of him whilst also getting WanXing.

That was his revenge, however now he had to make his aims and how to achieve them to do death.

In order to do so, NaLan QingYu had to know where he was. It would be better if it was an enemy country so any alliances would not be broken.