Chapter 27

The Black Hand closed her eyes tightly and fell into a deathly silence.

Although she had mentally prepared herself, Mu Qian Tan hadn’t expected him to blurt out that awkward fact so directly. She sorted through everything she had said in her heart since they met, only to realize she seemed to have said it all.

No one spoke in the prison cell for the moment. Dust motes floated in the sunlight, the straw had been warmed by the heat, and in the distance came the clang of iron being hammered along with unified shouts.

The only one confused about the situation, Shang Shan, looked around and asked, “Li Bi-what? Who’s that?”

Mu Qian Tan rose from the ground and walked behind her. Taking advantage of the moment when no one was paying attention, she struck the back of Shang Shan’s neck. The girl thudded to the ground once more, unconscious.

“What we said,” Mu Qian Tan lightly shook her sleeve to cover her hand and looked toward the man behind the wooden bars, “how much did you hear?”

A smile floated onto Jiang Yuanqi’s face again. “Well, my apologies, but I heard everything.”

Mu Qian Tan came to the wooden bars, knelt on one knee, and asked, “Any thoughts?”

Jiang Yuanqi replied smoothly, “My thought is that I was right to leave home back then. It’s let me see so many strange people and bizarre events in this world… truly beyond my expectations.”

Mu Qian Tan said flatly, “Come here.”

Jiang Yuanqi asked, “You want to silence me permanently?”

Mu Qian Tan said nothing. A snowflake mark faintly appeared between her brows, blue light flashed at the back of her neck, and streaks of white feather thorns shot out, piercing through the wooden bars and gathering behind Jiang Yuanqi.

The sunlight at his feet was suddenly blocked, shadows spreading over. Jiang Yuanqi slowly turned his head and saw a massive immortal crane behind him. Its claws were like iron hooks, the edges of its feathers sharp, its body huge enough to nearly fill the entire stone cell.

Those eyes were a dead white, their unseen focus locked onto Jiang Yuanqi. All sounds abruptly faded away, leaving only the piercing white filling the room.

No one could remain unmoved under such a gaze. He retreated two steps when a hand reached out from his shoulder side, grabbed his collar, and yanked hard, flipping him over to crash into the wooden bars.

Through the bars, Mu Qian Tan stared at his face, now marked with pressure lines, and asked, “Can your mouth keep a secret?”

Jiang Yuanqi tried to struggle free, but this woman looked delicate yet possessed strength that couldn’t be underestimated.

Straining, he rolled his eyes downward and noticed a faint golden glow emanating from the woman’s wrist—it must be some kind of artifact—so he stopped resisting.

“Keep a secret? Which one are you talking about?”

Even with his life point gripped, Jiang Yuanqi remained unhurried. “Is it the secret that I’m the male protagonist and you’re planning to replace me? Or the one where that girl is the female protagonist and you’ve signed some shared fate curse with her? There are too many—I can’t tell which one you mean.”

As expected, he had heard everything. Hearing such words from a character’s mouth was somewhat chilling. Fortunately, he hadn’t connected it to this being the book world—he probably just found it a bit odd.

Mu Qian Tan poured more spiritual power into the power gathering gold ring. Expressionless, she yanked hard. The wooden bars, as thick as a person’s wrist, snapped under his shoulder with two cracks. Wood chips flew, forcing his upper body across the cell divider.

Mu Qian Tan didn’t speak aloud but used mental voice instead: ‘Whatever you heard, swallow it back down. Understand?’

This close up, his features looked even more exquisite and refined—not at all like a man’s. If she hadn’t known beforehand that he was the male protagonist, she might have distrusted him like Shang Shan.

It made her wonder: was the original story designed with the male protagonist like this?

Mu Qian Tan yanked him tighter and scrutinized the face closely. In her mind, she said: ‘Li Biyuan, read me those two pages from the original describing the male protagonist.’

She could check if there were any issues by comparing.

No response came for a while. Impatient, Mu Qian Tan said: ‘Don’t play dead. Come out.’

After another moment, the standard AI mechanical voice of a novel narration finally sounded.

The youth surrounded by the crowd was someone whose gaze one couldn’t tear away from at first sight. Clad in white robes with silver bamboo embroidery on the shoulders, ink-black hair flying wildly, features sharp as if carved by a knife. Sword-like brows and starry eyes, heterochromatic pupils—one pure black, one amber, clear as jade-green water…

Comparing to the original description, it was roughly similar overall, but she saw none of the “knife-carved sharpness” or “sword brows” and such fierce terms. Mu Qian Tan asked, “Are you actually male or female?”

“What, doesn’t match up? That’s heartbreaking. Even if I have a feminine look, I’m a real man,” Jiang Yuanqi leaned forward, lips curving up. “Why don’t you heed your disciple and strip my clothes off to check?”

Mu Qian Tan’s gaze slid down a bit before snapping back. What if he really was male? She didn’t want to risk it.

Whatever, that wasn’t the point.

As she stayed silent, Jiang Yuanqi suddenly spoke. “I’d like to ask—who are you people?”

His eyes rippled with bright curiosity. “You appeared out of nowhere, keep saying strange things, and even assigned me a new identity. I feel like you must have quite the background.”

Mu Qian Tan said, “None of your business.”

Jiang Yuanqi said, “You want to kill me and steal… certain things of mine. How is that none of my business?”

Mu Qian Tan tilted her head slightly. The crane-gazing orchid step-shake swayed in the sunlight, scattering light spots. She said, “How do you know I want to kill you?”

Her exchange with Li Biyuan hadn’t indicated that at all.

Jiang Yuanqi said confidently, “If you can’t get what you want, you’d just strike me down, right?”

Mu Qian Tan neither confirmed nor denied it and replied instead, “What I mean by none of your business is that I don’t need your permission to take what I want, you can’t change it, so it’s best if you pretend you know nothing.”

Jiang Yuanqi’s expression didn’t change, as if threats to his life meant nothing.

Seeing this, Mu Qian Tan switched tactics. “Unless… you never want to see your sister again.”

To strike a snake, hit its vital point; to kill, destroy the heart. Sure enough, Jiang Yuanqi’s face changed drastically in the next instant, showing unprecedented seriousness. His gaze sharpened as he lowered his voice. “You know where my sister and mother are?”

At this point in time, he still didn’t know his mother had passed away.

Mu Qian Tan didn’t tell him that and answered irrelevantly. “Everything you’ve heard from me—the male protagonist, female protagonist, and whatever else—no third person in this world will know.”

A flat iron pan for prisoners’ drinking water sat by the bars. She extended a fingertip, drew some blood from his collarbone wound, and pressed it into the pan. After an ice layer formed, beneath the water surface gleamed a sharp ice blade.

“So, if I hear even a whisper of wind outside, it’ll definitely be you who leaked it.” Mu Qian Tan drew out the ice blade, her gaze following its tip as she pressed it to Jiang Yuanqi’s neck, her voice growing colder. “When that happens, I won’t just deal with you—everyone around you will go too, including…”

The ice blade traced three shallow lines along his neck: “Your sister, your mother… and all your friends…”

Mu Qian Tan’s words carried a smile too, her voice lowered to a near whisper: “I hope these words become the seal on those secrets, rotting away forever in your gut. Let me ask one more time: understand?”

Jiang Yuanqi pressed his lips tight, eyes wavering, before squeezing out, “Where are they?”

Mu Qian Tan snorted coldly. “Do I owe you the answer? Useless trash, go find them yourself.”

White Pupil returned to her nape. She released her grip, and the ice blade clinked into the iron basin. The next second, Shang Shan groggily woke and lifted her head from the ground.

“Huh?” Rubbing her messy hair, she propped herself up and looked around. “Did we get captured?”

Mu Qian Tan retreated to the wall, leaned back comfortably, and said nothing. Jiang Yuanqi shrank back into his cell, straightened his collar, his gaze patrolling the woman’s face.

Seeing no one respond, Shang Shan rubbed her sore nape and asked strangely, “What’s going on?”

Vaguely recalling events before passing out, she turned her head. “Master, did you knock me out?”

Mu Qian Tan said, “No.”

“Oh.” Shang Shan nodded. “Then I must’ve fainted on my own.”

In a few breaths, Jiang Yuanqi’s face had returned to normal. He smiled. “Want to hear my plan?”

Shang Shan said, “Yes!”

Noticing the two broken wooden bars, she asked curiously, “What’s that…”

“Nothing,” Jiang Yuanqi brushed wood chips from his collar. “This cell’s old and rundown—give it a shake and it falls apart.”

Shang Shan said, “Okay.”

Seeing the two start chatting, and that Jiang Yuanqi seemed to have taken those words to heart—for now, he probably wouldn’t dwell on it—Mu Qian Tan withdrew her attention and asked mentally: ‘Li Biyuan?’

After a moment, the AI mechanical voice replied: ‘I’m already dead.’

Mu Qian Tan said: ‘Playing dead won’t help. What needs facing still needs facing.’

Li Biyuan said: ‘I really didn’t expect to socially die in another world…

Jiang Yuanqi’s gaze drifted over now and then. Mu Qian Tan looked back: ‘He can’t see you anyway, so whatever. I wanted to remind you—at least for now, it seems the future female protagonist straying from the original plot onto a path of world-destroying rampage isn’t just because of the cannon fodder master’s accidental death. Aren’t you going to investigate more thoroughly?’

From the current view, the Prosperous Joy Workshop’s artifact demon demonizing early, the male protagonist somehow reading minds, the original host master’s heart exploding—all were points where the plot could derail.

The problems in this world went far beyond just the master.

Li Biyuan replied half-dead: ‘Ah… sure, investigate. Investigate.’

It seemed the social death had hit her hard. With the male protagonist present, they couldn’t communicate properly for the time being.

Just as well—Mu Qian Tan didn’t feel like saying much either.

Irritation churned in her heart. The male protagonist slipping from control meant her backup plan hadn’t even started before it failed—even earlier than the female protagonist plan.

One path blocked, the other impossible. She could only think about what to do next.

Truly… nothing went her way.

Mu Qian Tan unconsciously bit her lower lip lightly, her gaze drifting empty.

The sun gradually slanted westward, her face mostly shrouded in shadow, only the faint crystalline glint in her eyes shadowed by long lashes.

Though setbacks came one after another, meekly accepting fate was impossible.

If she didn’t take the protagonist route and just acted as a side character, what if she broke free from all current binds right now and fled far away?

The idea was nice, but executing it wasn’t simple. The behind-the-scenes black hand still lurked on her heart, monitoring constantly. To escape that gaze, she at least needed to fully repair the shattered heart first.

And the spirit medicine to repair the heart would inevitably be of supreme grade. It required perfect timing, location, and people to chance upon, with countless obstacles in the way. Finding it herself would be extremely difficult. Plus, rare treasures always drew multiple coveters—snatching one wouldn’t be easy.

Still, this path wasn’t without shortcuts. Reviewing the female protagonist’s growth history, before Mu Qian Tan sacrificed her in the plot, there was this segment:

The female protagonist, gravely injured and on the brink of death in peril, was saved when the male protagonist, after desperate searching, obtained a thousand-year lingzhi capable of reviving the dead and regrowing flesh from bone. He didn’t hoard the treasure or use it on himself out of greed but gave it to the female protagonist, successfully saving her. It deeply moved her and served as a catalyst to heat up their relationship.

That lingzhi’s effects were so potent that repairing the heart would be no issue. If Mu Qian Tan could snatch it for herself at that time, consume it to fix her heart first, then shovel off the black hand and flee, she might escape her fated death.

Once free, she could do whatever she pleased.

Her restless thoughts gradually calmed at the prospect of another path. Mu Qian Tan looked toward the two again and saw Jiang Yuanqi cupping his hand by his lips, whistling a clear, nightingale-like bird call—remarkably lifelike. It pierced through the cell and drifted far.

Soon, a small cat wearing a bamboo hat with orange-white patterns slipped in through the cell door. Her face was round, she wore little white gloves and mountain bamboo claws, her posture elegantly proud, tail and head held high, eyes like black grapes, fur fluffy all over—like a majestic little tiger.

“Wow!” Shang Shan jumped in surprise and reached to pet the cat’s head, but the little cat dodged with a flick and leaped straight to Jiang Yuanqi’s side, flopping onto the ground.

“Her name’s New Year’s Money,” Jiang Yuanqi lightly scratched the little cat’s belly, smiled, and asked softly, “Good kitty, do you know where their treasure vault is?”

New Year’s Money curled her tail and meowed. Jiang Yuanqi listened intently, picked up a twig, and drew in the dirt. In a few strokes, a map of the entire village appeared.

He circled one building. “This is the treasure vault.”

Shang Shan, unable to pet, could only feast her eyes. “Your kitty’s amazing.”

They had deliberately let the guards take his personal weapon, the jade flute, which was valuable enough to be placed in the treasure vault. Then the little cat tracked it, revealing the location.

“Of course, after all, it had been following me since it was little,” Jiang Yuanqi said with a gentle smile. He took out a paper package from his bosom, unwrapped it, and inside were stacks of fragrant dried fish.

He took two of them to feed New Year’s Money. Just as he was about to put it away, he thought of something and handed the package to the girl. “You try feeding her.”

“Good!” Shang Shan rolled up her sleeves, pinched a piece of dried fish, and dangled it in front of New Year’s Money’s head.

New Year’s Money licked its pink paw pad and glanced at Jiang Yuanqi. Seeing no objection from him, it deigned to bite the dried fish and slowly ate it.

Shang Shan said, “She ate it. Can I touch her now?”

Jiang Yuanqi said, “Go ahead and touch.”

The two got along exceptionally harmoniously. It could be said they were fated partners. Unfortunately, Mu Qian Tan had already made up her mind that she must snatch that lingzhi. She didn’t know what would happen to these two then. The male protagonist still had no other way to save the female protagonist.

Although he kept talking to Shang Shan, Jiang Yuanqi occasionally glanced over this way, as if he hadn’t given up probing Mu Qian Tan’s identity. Suddenly, his gaze slid over, and he asked, “I see your master has an extraordinary demeanor—not an ordinary person at all. I wonder where she comes from? To cultivate such fine temperament.”

Shang Shan was still teasing the cat and casually replied, “We come from Tianyu Sect. She’s a hall master, very powerful. Of course, I’ll be very powerful in the future too.”

Jiang Yuanqi murmured, repeating, “Tianyu Sect…”

Mu Qian Tan had already calmed her mindset. Let the big mouth say it; anyway, the male protagonist would find out sooner or later.

After Shang Shan finished teasing the cat, she clapped her hands, wanting to say something more. But seeing the sister’s gaze from across the way constantly scanning her own master, she said discontentedly, “Why do you keep looking at her?”

Jiang Yuanqi laughed wryly. “This is unfair to me. Clearly, it was your master who looked at me first.”

Shang Shan turned to look. The woman in the shadows was indeed paying attention to this side. She turned back. “Then why does she keep looking at you? What did you do?”

Jiang Yuanqi: “….”