Don’t Hurt Yourself

Qi Xiu dreamt of unpleasant memories from the past life he so wished to forget.

His first encounter with He An hadn't gone the way it did in his previous life.

His virginity had been forcibly taken on the day he first arrived at the Northern Empire by the four men. No matter how much he struggled, how much he tried to fight back or beg them to stop, they took turns dirtying his body and mind.

"You're just a mere slave, what can you do?" They ridiculed his face full of tears with no intentions of stopping their actions. He was left a ruined mess with no one to rely on—

And it only got worse from then on. Day after day, night after night, he was toyed with by multiple corrupt monsters from the North.

Qi Xiu had sworn to get back at everyone who wronged him, whether it was by killing them slowly or mentally torturing them—he would put them in the same spot they put him in.

Especially that Emperor who abandoned him mercilessly after promising to take care of him.

Yet thinking about how that same Emperor protected him this time, Qi Xiu's thoughts came to a pause.

The Emperor didn't come to his rescue in his past life.

There was an assassination attempt aimed for him, just like his previous life. In his previous life, he had been badly injured by the arrows and was close to death when a passing maid found him. He survived by sheer luck.

This time, He An had shielded him from the arrows and taken the injury for himself. Thinking of the deep wound on He An that was bleeding uncontrollably made Qi Xiu's face pale.

He hated the sight of blood. He absolutely detested it. It only served as a reminder for the countless nights of torture he received just because his face was slightly attractive.

He touched his cheeks.

If he wasn't born with this face, would his life be different?

Qi Xiu fell to the floor, hugging his knees tightly as the blood dripped. His face became even paler as he looked at his own blood, his entire body trembling slightly. He didn't know when he had began to self-harm himself but there were noticeable large cuts on his wrist caused by his own fingernails.

Qi Xiu closed his eyes, breathing heavily...

If I just let it sit, it'll go away on it's own eventually...

"What is this? You...!" Qi Xiu's arm was grabbed harshly by another person and his eyes opened with fear embedded in them.

When did the Emperor get here? How come Qi Xiu didn't notice the door open at all?

"What are you doing to yourself!" He An was panicking as he tried to stop the bleeding and dress the cuts. The boy who was hurt didn't say anything and just hung his head low to avoid eye contact. This made him even angrier at the situation.

"No matter how desperate you are, you should never go to these measures and do this to yourself." He An grumbled with great emphasis after he was finished applying bandages to the cuts.

The boy in front of him was still in a daze, his face expressionless.

He An sighed. It seems life as a slave was truly something horrid for this cub to do this to himself. Just what could he do to help the cub?

Just then, a tiny flash of spark appeared in front of him and the system reappeared! He An's eyes widened initially in shock and then in panic for fear of the cub noticing the system.

[No worries, host! No one but you can see and hear me. You can also communicate with me using your mind~] The system was happy to announce as it circled around He An.

He An: [Can you hear me?]

System: [Yes!]

He An was surprised to find that communication through telepathy was truly possible. Now he wouldn't look like a crazy patient in front of the cub.

He An: [System, am I allowed to help supporting characters?]

System: [Call me Six, host! And there's no rule that prevents you from interacting with them~ ^o^]

He An: [I want to help that guy over there.]

When Six turned around to look at who his host was talking about, it almost died from a heart attack. If it had a heart, that is. It's small spirit body fell back as if to exaggerate it's shock.

Six: [Host... that's... that's the protagonist!! No! You can't establish good relations with him!!]

He An frowned.

How could this cub be Qi Xiu. Weren't protagonist's supposed to be invincible and overbearing? This little one could barely fight back and was even scared by the sight of blood.

Six: [Don't forget you're here to help him become a protagonist like the ones in stallion novels!! QwQ]

Oh.

That's right.

His mission here was to unlock Qi Xiu's fullest potential, and do this by being the villain and causing Qi Xiu to suffer.

He An's face was ugly at the thought of this little cub enduring anymore pain. He had just witnessed him harm himself, would he kill himself next?

[No. If a stallion protagonist is what you want, I can guide him to reach his 'potential' in different ways.]

By this point Six already knew it couldn't convince it's host. It went into a little corner to sulk at it's failure as a system.

Meanwhile all this time Qi Xiu was focusing his gaze on the ground. He didn't know how to confront his problem at the moment.

He was still as weak as he was in the past.

"Don't hurt yourself anymore." He An coaxed in a comforting tone.

"You're no longer a slave. There's many things waiting for you in the future."

While He An thought of the good things to come after helping Qi Xiu become a protagonist with charm and confidence, Qi Xiu was thinking the opposite.

'Many things waiting for you in the future.'

Would the incidents from the past repeat themselves? Would he be defiled again and again, until he was a crying mess wishing for death?

No!

He didn't want that.

He would change his regrets with his own hands and slowly plan to crush those despicable bastards.

He grabbed the hem of his garments and slowly began to take off the outer robe before he was at the very last piece. His hands were shaking but just as he grabbed the last layer, he was stopped by He An.

"What are you doing now?!" He An was frantic as he tried to put the pieces back onto Qi Xiu.

"Does... does Your Majesty not intend to... share a bed with me? Since you took me as a... concubine." Qi Xiu spoke with a quiver in his voice.

"Rest assured, I have none of those intentions. You shouldn't give yourself so easily to others." He An explained himself while secretly gathering more worries in his heart for the little cub.

Qi Xiu on the other hand was on the verge of breaking.

He An, just what are you thinking?