Chapter 1: Extermination (1)

◎Just transmigrated like this??◎

“What a coincidence, exactly the same as your name!”

Her friend’s teasing voice came through the phone; she sounded like she had already collapsed laughing.

“Is that so,” Yun Jinxue responded casually.

Her attention was entirely focused on the mural before her.

There were no lights installed inside the cave. The weak beam from her phone’s flashlight could only illuminate a small patch of the mural.

The majestic, magnificent sight—even just glimpsing this small detail was enough to witness a glorious sliver of history.

“So beautiful,” she couldn’t help but sigh.

She had grown tired of sleeping in the tent and had come out for some fresh air. She hadn’t expected to find a cave at the mountaintop.

Even more unexpected, on the cave’s flat, towering wall, there was a huge mural that looked quite ancient.

At the mural’s bottom, ocean waves rolled, undercurrents surging fiercely. Above them were layers upon layers of crimson mountain ranges stretching for a thousand miles.

The colors were so vivid and bold, the brushstrokes so delicate and magnificent, they seemed about to burst from the wall.

The travel website had no information about this mural whatsoever, nor had she seen any other tourists post photos of it.

How could such a stunning place not be a popular check-in spot?

How strange.

Leaning close to her phone’s flashlight, Yun Jinxue tilted her head, earnestly trying to identify every detail of the mural.

She was tall, dressed simply and neatly, wearing a white baseball cap. Her delicate face was mostly hidden in the vast darkness.

She had always loved traveling, and she had seen murals before.

But this painting possessed a unique magic, drawing her in the more she looked.

Those spirited dark eyes seemed possessed, fixated on the woman in red suspended amidst the countless mountains.

Amidst the unfurling panorama of towering crimson mountains, the woman in the cinnabar dress had snow-white hair and an immortal-like bearing.

Even with most of its vibrant colors peeled away by time, the painted woman’s unparalleled beauty was still visible.

Who was that?

Her friend was still rambling: “Not a single character is different from your name. Shouldn’t you be prepared for this? What if you accidentally transmigrate into a book?”

Yun Jinxue adjusted her cap brim so it wouldn’t block her view and chuckled softly upon hearing this. “Transmigrate into a book? Let’s be scientific, something like that is impossible.”

“Ah, you really shouldn’t say things like that…”

She was on a mountain hike with a friend to clear her mind. This girl insisted on watching the sunrise, so they ended up sleeping at the summit.

There was still some time before the truly great scenery appeared. With nothing to do, her friend found a discounted used book stand at the peak and bought a pile of random books like she was stocking a warehouse.

The girl had developed a picky reading palate somewhere; she tossed aside every book after reading just the beginning.

But she was reading a tattered book with no cover with great interest.

In just the short time Yun Jinxue had been out here, she had already heard countless reactions from her.

The story was just another ordinary, cliché cultivation novel, not interesting at all.

What truly amused her bookworm friend was, naturally, the character who shared her name.

That cannon-fodder Senior Sister named Yun Jinxue was the Head Senior Disciple of the Number One Immortal Sect, the Divine Zenith Sect. She was known as Dao Rhythm Immortal Lord.

As the future heir to the sect, the Immortal Lord was a prodigy, brilliant and noble, admired and respected by all.

Such a person should have had a smooth path to immortality, ascending straight to the top rank of immortals.

But she was suppressed by the talent of the little villainess, who had started later. Her Dao Heart became unstable, and she could no longer advance.

Consumed by jealousy, she cast aside the propriety, righteousness, and integrity expected of a Senior Sister and began to viciously bully and suppress her.

The villainess was a villainess for a reason; holding grudges was her top priority, while strong power was her life-saving skill.

The returning arch-villainess didn’t waste words, directly torturing this Senior Sister to death, obliterating her very soul.

Yun Jinxue sighed inwardly. Why bother?

She already possessed so much, yet she met this fate because she coveted what wasn’t hers.

However, from her friend’s brief description, that villainous evil cultivator named Jiang Yanyu left a deep impression on her.

If such a person truly existed, she would probably be as vibrantly beautiful as the figure in this mural.

How strange. She couldn’t even see the woman’s face clearly, yet she felt a sense of familiarity.

After staring for a while longer, the silence around her made her realize the phone call had been disconnected.

Yun Jinxue tapped her phone screen. “Strange, when did it hang up?”

She wanted to call back, but noticing the time on her lock screen, it was getting late.

Thinking she would see her friend soon anyway, there was no need to call again.

Just as she put her phone away, she suddenly heard a discordant panting sound.

Was there someone else in this cave?

A shiver ran down Yun Jinxue’s spine.

At this hour, there were quite a few people at the summit, but they were all concentrated in the commercial area.

She clearly remembered that when she entered, there was no one else nearby.

Everything around was pitch black, nothing visible except the tall mural emitting a faint glow.

Against this backdrop, the woman at the bottom of the painting looked exceedingly tiny.

Yun Jinxue’s fingers trembled again as she reached for her phone.

No signal. Couldn’t make any calls.

To leave the cave, she had to pass the source of the panting sound.

It wasn’t strange for someone else to have entered the cave; after all, she had been so absorbed in the mural she hadn’t noticed anything.

Yun Jinxue psyched herself up, pressing close to the wall, slowly inching forward.

With extremely limited vision, her attention was focused straight ahead.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but she felt a strange heaviness on her body and heard an odd sound of fabric rubbing.

There was also a faint, cool chill coming off her.

“Who’s there!”

A pebble flew over, knocking her phone from her hand.

It hit the ground with a clatter, the screen going black.

Yun Jinxue didn’t pick up her phone, because she saw, in a corner not far away, a young girl slumped against the wall.

The girl looked no older than thirteen. Her clothes were tattered, her body covered in blood, her hair disheveled. The skin on her exposed limbs was crisscrossed with wounds.

A sharp gaze pierced through her matted hair, like two sinister daggers.

Yun Jinxue didn’t move for a moment.

Her heart was cold with shock and surprise.

Why would such a young child have such a look in her eyes?

What happened to her?

Where were her parents?

She wanted to ask, but her throat felt clamped shut, unable to produce a sound.

The girl held a broken blade backhanded, her whole body trembling, staring at Yun Jinxue with extreme vigilance.

The broken blade glinted with cold light; it didn’t look like a prop in any way.

As if unable to hold back any longer, the girl suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

“Oh my god!”

Yun Jinxue disregarded everything else, kneeling to search for her phone, wanting to dial 120.

However, before she could find her phone, she noticed a change in her own attire.

An intricate, silver-white robe with subtle dark patterns, tightly bound at the waist and wrists.

The outermost layer was a sheer, soft, and transparent gauze. As she moved, the hem swayed like gentle waves and soft ripples.

“Th-this…”

Yun Jinxue pressed a hand to her forehead. When did she change clothes?

And into this kind of ancient costume that, while beautiful, was hard to put on and take off!

Her friend’s words echoed in her ear.

Same surname, same given name, not a single character difference, be careful not to transmigrate into a book!

No way…

【That’s right, you transmigrated.】

A light, cute girl’s voice came from beside her.

Turning her head, she saw that the young girl had already passed out.

And beside her was a little girl hugging her knees, a toddler about three or four years old, as small as a radish head.

The little girl wore overalls, her eyes large and dark, her voice quite lively in the empty cave.

【I am your System. My name is Mi Ba. I’m here to help you complete your mission.】

(T/N: Mi Ba means One Meter Eight)

Yun Jinxue felt her mind buzzing, her legs almost giving way.

【The book you’ve transmigrated into is the one your friend was just reading. I’ll gradually tell you the specific settings.】

【Don’t ask why it’s you. You can just consider yourself unlucky, chosen by me.】

Strength returning slightly to her body, Yun Jinxue stood up, wanting to find a way out of the cave.

But she found her body moving involuntarily toward the young girl.

She walked over naturally, squatted down naturally. A drop of cold sweat trickled down Yun Jinxue’s cheek and dripped to the ground.

Mi Ba said: 【Don’t struggle, you can’t escape. If you want to go home, first live here as Yun Jinxue.】

Yun Jinxue asked, “What do you mean?”

【This is the villainess of this book. As the greatest contributing factor to her future blackening, your presence is indispensable.】

【So you need to stay here and, according to the original book’s content, save her, care for her, deceive her, betray her.】

The little girl’s slender finger traced the young girl’s cheek: 【Become her closest friend, then become her ordeal, and finally, die by her hand.】

So that was it, she was here to substitute for this Senior Sister!

Then where did the original one go?

Before Yun Jinxue could ask more, the little girl’s body suddenly dissipated.

Only one sentence was left behind.

【No more words, now begin your first mission, save her.】

Regaining control of her body, Yun Jinxue felt a blockage in her chest, neither going up nor down.

What kind of situation was this?

Transmigrating, saving the villainess, doing missions, destined to die once—all of it sudden and inexplicable!

Could it be related to that mural?

The unconscious girl seemed to be in great pain, letting out a low groan.

Yun Jinxue snapped back to attention. Saving a person was the priority.

She wanted to bend down and pick the girl up, but the broken blade was awkwardly in the way.

She intended to take the blade away, but even in her coma, the girl’s grip didn’t loosen at all. She held the handle tightly, impossible to pry open.

Worried that forcing it would cause her discomfort, Yun Jinxue had to avoid the sharp edge and picked her up from the other side.

Getting up and walking towards the cave entrance, she saw a group of teenagers, dressed similarly to her but in much simpler clothes, standing at the entrance.

Seeing her come out, they started chattering.

“Senior Sister! Was there a demonic beast inside?”

“What was that noise just now?”

“Eh! Senior Sister is carrying someone!”

A transparent book opened in front of Yun Jinxue, briefly introducing the young people before her.

They were all disciples under the Divine Zenith Sect’s Elders, accompanying their Senior Sister on this mountain training trip to capture demons.

Yun Jinxue maintained the bearing befitting a Senior Sister, merely nodded slightly: “Let’s return to the sect first.”

The group was already on their way back; they had only stopped at this cave to rest.

Some had heard strange noises, prompting the Senior Sister to investigate.

Unexpectedly, she had happened upon the little villainess, gravely injured and hiding from her enemies.

The distance wasn’t far; returning to the sect didn’t take long.

The disciples all went to report to their respective masters. Yun Jinxue carried the young girl, following the System’s directions to her residence, Sword Summit.

It was an extremely tall and steep mountain peak, thrusting toward the sky like a rusty sword.

The mountain body was covered in lush, verdant vegetation. Mist swirled around it, and golden palaces were hidden within, only faintly visible.

Without stopping, they went straight to the bedroom. Yun Jinxue laid the little villainess on the bed.

The moment her body touched the bed, the girl’s eyes snapped open, like two sharp swords stabbing forward.

Then, ignoring her body full of injuries, she rolled over and sat up, shrinking to the end of the bed. She clutched her broken blade, staring fixedly at Yun Jinxue.

A posture of complete defense.

After a moment of silent staring, the girl said in a low voice, “Yun Jinxue, it’s you.”

Each word was practically gritted out from between her teeth.

Being called by name by the future arch-villainess was not a good thing. Yun Jinxue said softly, “You know me?”

A moment of confusion flickered across the girl’s face. She turned her head, looking around the room.

Her circling gaze finally stopped on her own hands.

Only then did she seem to understand something, letting out a cold laugh.

Her body relaxed slightly, but her hate-filled eyes remained icy cold.

“Of course I recognize you. The renowned Head Senior Disciple of the Immortal Sects, the eternally noble and virtuous Dao Rhythm Immortal Lord, Yun Jinxue. How could I not recognize you?”

Yun Jinxue thought: That doesn’t sound like a compliment?

Mi Ba: 【It’s normal. Jiang Yanyu as a person is naturally duplicitous, a smile hiding a dagger. It wouldn’t be her if she didn’t speak with thorns.】

Yun Jinxue: But she’s still just a child right now.

Mi Ba: 【You’d understand if you grew up like her. But the current villainess should just be sharp-tongued with a soft heart.】

Thinking about the need to build a good relationship with such a child and become her close friend, the difficulty seemed too high.

A faint headache crept over Yun Jinxue.

She lifted her robe, wanting to sit on the edge of the bed to slightly close the distance.

But she saw the girl immediately tense up completely. Those sharp, forbidding eyes, keeping people a thousand miles away, seemed capable of piercing a person alive.

Yun Jinxue helplessly stood back up. “May I ask your name?”

The girl was silent for a moment, the corner of her lips slightly curving upward. “Yanyu.”

Why did she omit the surname Jiang?

Naturally, she wouldn’t ask that. Yun Jinxue said, “I won’t hurt you. You rest first, I’ll go brew some medicine.”

The girl sneered, “Oh, you won’t hurt me. Many thanks then, Immortal Lord.”

Tch, this little girl really didn’t speak pleasantly.

Yun Jinxue said nothing more and walked out of the bedroom.

Arriving at a small stream, she observed her current appearance in the sparkling water.

Dressed in moonlit silver-white, a jade crown on her head, elegant brows, a dignified and tall bearing, a gentle and refined countenance—a flawless, transcendent Immortal Lord in appearance.

Judging by looks alone, she indeed lived up to the title of Head Senior Disciple of the Immortal Sects.

It was a pity that her inside was gradually rotting.

With a sigh, Yun Jinxue drew some water and honestly went back to brew the medicine.

Although everything came too suddenly, fortunately, the System was truly capable, a complete encyclopedia with everything.

Under its guidance, she got the medicine brewing. Yun Jinxue finally had a moment to rest.

Thinking about the headache-inducing presence inside the house, she decided to use this opportunity to understand the villainess’s life story.

【This person will become the Number One Evil Cultivator Under Heaven in the future, the Hall Master of Mad Red Hall.】

【The Hall Master is insidious, vicious, and ruthless, two-faced and backstabbing. She most enjoys boiling white bones for soup and slicing human flesh as a meat dish. With a laugh, she overthrew the Nine Great Clans. Both the Immortal and Mortal realms pale at her name.】

【As for her childhood, she was abused while growing up in the Jiang Family. Not enough food, not warm enough clothes, lived in thatched huts and pigsties, suffered humiliation and abuse. So later, she didn’t hesitate at all when exterminating the Jiang Family.】

【And the biggest catalyst for her blackening was your betrayal.】

【At the time she trusted you most, you sold her for three copper coins. This would become a lifelong thorn in her heart, an unhealable, throbbing pain.】

【As for how you die… I think you don’t want to know temporarily, so I won’t elaborate.】

It seems this Senior Sister didn’t understand the phrase “finish what you started.”

Since she saved the girl in that cave back then, even if she couldn’t always protect her well, she at least shouldn’t have had the intent to harm.

But her jealousy was too hard to quell, leading her to commit a grave mistake that ultimately harmed both herself and others.

Yun Jinxue asked, “Who was chasing her just now?”

【The Jiang Family sold her for the price of a pig to a wealthy merchant in Cheng Prefecture as a plaything.】

【That old man was eighty this year. When she struggled, she kicked him square in the chest, sending him to the afterlife. That’s why the rich merchant’s family was chasing her.】

A girl so young, sent away by the Jiang Family for just one pig.

And later, the Senior Sister, whom she viewed as her redemption, also cheaply sold her for three copper coins.

Always being looked down upon, always being labeled as cheap, always being heartlessly discarded.

No wonder she became so twisted later on.

Staring at the bubbles rising from the medicine stove, Yun Jinxue sighed inwardly.

To go home, to return to her original life, she had no choice but to play this villain, to push that young girl into an abyss of eternal damnation.

As for death, she would think of a way at that time, perhaps dying first before the girl came for revenge.

The torture from a mentally twisted person would surely be creatively cruel.

She was essentially an ordinary person with low pain tolerance; she definitely couldn’t endure it.

As long as she completed the mission, wasn’t that enough?

Just as she was shivering from boundless, terrifying imaginings, she suddenly felt a gaze upon her.

Even without meeting it, she could feel the scrutiny and disdain in that gaze, making her extremely uncomfortable.

Looking up, the girl stood expressionless, leaning against the doorframe, most of her face hidden in shadow. Only those two sharp eyes were fixed on her.

Tree shadows danced; she stood there quietly and serenely, like a patient predator lying in wait before the kill.