《Perspectives on Madness》 Chapter 0001 - Battle of Pridefulness Loud noises echo through the air near the training field of the university. Hundreds of teenagers are lined up in a queue for this year''s entrance examination. Naturally, most of them knew that they had no chance to be accepted whatsoever, but they nevertheless wanted to give it a shot. "NEXT! Number 365! Choose a puppet opponent!" A middle-aged examiner called Bai Long in shiny white and red battle attire shouted towards the front of the line with a stern voice, lacking any form of emotion. His sleepy, stone-grey eyes never left the paper in his hands as he addressed the next examinee. From his posture, one could clearly see his disinterest in this exam. With the examiner''s call, a teenager with snow-white hair and icy blue eyes shot his eyes open and set up a big grin, spanning from ear to ear. He took a wide step forward from the queue and made a military salute. His leather battle armour rattled with those motions which drew the attention of those around him. "Who''s that beggar?" "Can''t he afford new leather armour?" "What is someone like him doing here?" The white haired teenager gave those people no heed and let them talk. He only shot them a judging glance before focusing his attention back to the examiner. With his hands behind his straightened back and his chin slightly raised, he reported to the middle-aged man, "Number 365 ¨C Duan Jian. Puppet LV60C13!! " ". . ." Silence filled the examination ground. Even those who belittled him earlier didn''t make the slightest noise. The examiners prepared puppets numbered from Level 30 to Level 60 where only one Level 60 puppet existed. Until this day, nobody defeated the Level 60 puppet, whereas numerous people defeated Level 59 puppets. Rumours say that it is a failed product and only stops a fight after it crushed the mind of the opponent. Not even the examiners are able to stop it; apparently, if you defeat it then the university will gift that person a lot of cultivation resources and much other good stuff. Shouts and whispers again rang out from the examinees. "What is he doing?!" "Is he insane?!" "Nobody dares to challenge < The Owl >!" "365! Puppet LV60C13!" Bai Long announced ever so expressionless and stamped heavily on the dusty ground which made the ground vibrate. Some examinees even lost their balance and fell on the ground. An earthen cube of the size of a grown adult shot shortly after his stomp out of the middle of the training field and stood there like a boulder. Bai Long placed his hand on the earthen cube and in a split-second one side of the cube slid back into the ground like a door. A humanoid figure proudly stepped out from the cube. From sole to neck it looked like it was made from earth and stone. Its head was the only part which wasn''t from earth or stone but instead made from cold ice. Its face was round, and a beak and eyes like an owl decorated it. The puppet straightened its right hand and made a threatening grabbing-motion towards Duan Jian''s neck. It seemed as if it wanted to crush Duan Jian and it would do everything to achieve that. It put its hand down again and dragged its right foot backwards. Its foot made crunching noises while it got into its battle stance.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. "365! Forward!" the examiner commanded Duan Jian and left the field. Duan Jian proudly moved towards < The Owl > and halted a few meters in front of it. He also drew his foot a step back so that he can manoeuvre more freely and move faster. Both Duan Jian and the puppet were now in the same battle stance. The puppet''s cold eyes stared deeply into his eyes and penetrated his prideful spirit and soul. A shudder crept down his sweated back. "DRAW YOUR WEAPONS!!" Bai Long shouted from afar and stood in front of the other examinees in case that he has to protect them from collateral damage of the fight. Rattling chains creeped out from Duan Jian''s sleeves like snakes and with each hand he grabbed one end of the chain which has a sharp silver blade attached to it. It seemed that he can contract and extend the chains from his sleeves as he wills. With a slight hand motion he shot the chain-blade out from his sleeve towards the clouds. After they reached roughly the height of ten meters, he grabbed the moving chain and pulled it back down. Like lightning, the blade shot down and struck the ground before him, accompanied by a thunderous noise. Dust flew into the air and covered the near area around him and the puppet. Everyone from the crowd showed an expression of disdain. They couldn''t believe how dumb he was. Who would show their opponent how far they could reach with their weapon before the fight? Wasn''t this showing his weakness to everyone present? "What a show-off. He will pay the price for that." People shot him glances and shook their heads while others were holding their laughter back. Meanwhile, the puppet didn''t draw its weapon but started to act prideful too. It moved one hand behind its back and stretched its other hand towards Duan Jian. Its outward stretched hand gestured Duan Jian to come at him at full force. Duan Jian''s brow twitched from the puppet''s actions. ''Does it really believe that it can defeat me with one hand and without a weapon? I know I acted full of pride and looked down on it, but this is too much. Aren''t you just a puppet?!'' He just couldn''t stand the puppet''s pride anymore and shouted at it while fully aware that it was just a lifeless puppet and maybe didn''t even understand him. "Is this all?! The high and mighty Owl, which crushes the spirit of its opponents, decided to use only one hand for that? What do you want to do? Give me a high-five with that?!" A smile crept on his mouth and a small laughter of mockery escaped his lips. "But yeah, maybe - just maybe - you''re able to defeat me with one hand. Are you sure the fight will be so easy for you that you are able to crush me?" With those words, blades of ice formed on his forearms which looked like a pair of scythes. "Are you sure that you want to fight that way? Because maybe I am the one who crushes YOU!" Duan Jian snickered and imagined in his head how miserable he should damage the dumb puppet. But to everyone''s surprise, including the normally stone cold examiner, it seemed that the puppet understood Duan Jian''s words of mockery. It moved its hidden hand forward again while parts of debris crumbled down from it. Duan Jian, who regained a part of his pride again, couldn''t help but lift his head slightly upward to look down on the disgraced puppet and scoff at it, "At least you know your limits." He wanted to speak further, but what the Owl did next left him speechless. It raised its earthen hand and held it in front of its eyes as if it was saying: "Yeah right, fighting without a weapon and only one hand wouldn''t do my reputation any good. I don''t even need my eyes to break your prideful spirit into smithereens." The examinees couldn''t hold their laughter''s anymore and started to laugh like crazy. They enjoyed the sight of how miserable Duan Jian must have felt right then. He just lost all the dignity he had left. If the puppet would have left its hand behind its back, then it could be said that it didn''t understand Duan Jian''s words. That way, if he was defeated, it wouldn''t look very miserable because he already stated that the powerful owl, who even defeats the high-level teachers and examiners, needs one hand to defeat a mere student. No, not even a student; he is only an examinee currently and not even an official student. But now that it was blind, didn''t use a weapon, and only one hand, all of Duan Jian''s pride disappeared like smoke and not even his dignity remained. On the 10th floor''s terrace of the university stood an enchanting teenage girl in golden battle armour which glittered in the setting sun. Her long Valkyrie-golden hair swayed in the slight breeze and accented her teary, golden eyes even more. Her sorrow could be clearly seen from miles away. "Those people may not see your despair or sadness, but I do. I do see your despair. I do see your sadness. *sigh*. I do. But you are trying too hard." The examiner gave a cold laugh at Duan Jian and immediately returned to his stone-cold expression. "365! Are you ready?" Duan Jian gnashed his teeth in anger and tightened his grip on the blades so hard that veins bulged on his hands. He couldn''t let this end like this. Even if it means his death, he is not willing to be defeated in this way. He clicked his tongue and removed his leather battle armour where his chain-blades were attached to. Accompanied by the rattling of the chains and the creaking of the old leather armour, he cast it aside. With his hands in front of his body, he formed a sword of ice and clutched it with his strong grip. "I''m ready!!" he shouted back to the examiner and got into his battle stance. With Duan Jian''s focus back on the puppet, he saw that it was doing the threatening hand motion again, inviting him to go at it with all he had. Chapter 0002 - Carnage Night approached. The starless sky was casket-black and sullen. Even the clouds seemed grumpy. Duan Jian clutched the bone-freezing ice-sword as he stared at his foe. With ghostly moonlight glistening on the sword of ice, the examiner screamed; "Start!" and startled the tense viewers nearby. Duan Jian and the ice-faced stone puppet sprinted forward simultaneously and sent dust flying into the air. Cutting the eerie wind in two, his ice-blade descended onto the puppet with a soul-biting screech which sent everyone a shiver down their spine. *BAM!* A thunderous noise sent the ground into turmoil and left it shaking in fear and fright. Examinees lost their balance on the trembling ground and were forced to kneel down. A fierce shock wave accompanied by splinters of ice rushed through the serene air and sent it into a frenzied state. Ice splinters cut like blades through the rough skin of the viewers and rampaged like a tempest through the examination ground. Thousands of flesh-deep cuts sent fountains of magma-red blood gushing into the cruel and calamitous air. Distorted screams of despair accompanied the screeching winds. The petrifying stench of blood assaulted their noses and left a bitter, mordant perfume of death on them. It was carnage. With the winds screaming and slashing at the examinees faces, they forced their pain-ridden eyes open to catch a glimpse of the scene. Bathing in the ghostly moonlight, Duan Jian''s dominant demeanour sent them goose bumps all over their body. His glittering ice-blade was stopped by a single finger of the puppet and was left with fractures. "I knew something was amiss. You''re not a puppet! Who are you?" Duan Jian felt perplexed and jumped backwards to gain distance between them. ". . . . ." The owl faced puppet remained mute. *crack* . . . . *crack* . . . . Its head started twitching and making ticking motions like a clock; shooting its chin to the right and moving it back only to repeat this motion sharply like clockwork. Maybe it had a screw loose? Duan Jian lost his patience with this insane thing. "If you don''t want to say it then I will force you to." The temperature suddenly changed and a bone-freezing, cold wind blew through the examination field. A rapture of moonstone-white light broke through the raven-black sky and illuminated Duan Jian. Flickering crystals in the colour of the moonlight emerged above his head and formed a silver crown of few prongs. The moon-silver crown was twice as large as his head and floated prideful above his white-haired head. "Let me introduce myself again. I''m Duan Jian - Pursuer of the Throne of the Moon God. And I will claim what righteously belongs to me!" he announced full of pride and resoluteness. The bone-chilling sword of ice split into uncountable, deathly splinters and danced spectacularly around Duan Jian like a tornado. With the moonlight glistering and shimmering on the ice splinters, it looked awe-inspiring. He made a simple movement with his index finger and the swirling tornado of ice rushed towards the puppet. The tornado levelled everything in its way and tore a scar of destruction and frost deeply into the barren ground of the examination field. Suddenly, a wave of devilish heat blew the cold and chilling winds away. The space above the owl-faced puppet twisted and split open as an enormous eye opened from its deep and dimensionless slumber. A giant blood-red serpentine eye flaming with hatred and horror gazed down upon Duan Jian, which sent a shiver down his spine. A glowing, golden crown with a diameter of one meter - more than thrice its head size - floated like an immortal cloud full of resentment above its head. The nine prongs on the crown showed the high cultivation stage of it and that it was near advancing to the next crown-stage: the halo.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "The devils eye, huh? So you are pursuing the Throne of the 3rd Ruler of Hell!" Duan Jian shouted. The emitting light of the golden crown grew stronger by the second and the pressure on Duan Jian and the others grew heavier. It felt like a humongous mountain weighing down on them. Breathing got harder and harder and then impossible as the pressure sucked the dry air out of their deflated lungs. With pale faces and cracked lips void of blood, the already severely wounded examinees lost consciousness and dropped face-first onto the barren, bloodied ground. The other examinees had to summon their immortal headgear to withstand the pressure of immortality from the golden crown. Coincidentally, every headgear of them showed the cultivation stage of the bronze laurel wreath, which is the lowest. But the types and amount of leaves as well as the size of it varied from person to person. Some of the examinees had a bronze laurel wreath nearly four times the size of their heads, which is near the breakthrough to the next level: the silver laurel wreath. The frozen face of the puppet cracked and a pugnacious smirk formed from the crack in the cold ice. *puff* . . . . The puppet disappeared abruptly and only left ghost-grey mist in its place. Creeping through the noiseless and bloodless air, the sombre mist drifted towards the serpentine eye and ended up being devoured. The destructive tornado lost its target and kept rushing straight ahead where some ill-fated examinees stood rooted to the ground. With death at the door, the examinees lost all color in their eyes, and eyes void of a soul replaced their gaze. Duan Jian reacted as fast as possible but was still a second to slow to disperse the death-dealing tornado. Carnage descended - again. Ice shards tore through the examinees robust armours at high speeds and took them easily apart. Fountains of molten blood spouted into the lifeless air and coloured the tornado from a cold blue to a magma red. Duan Jian dispersed the tornado and enforced the blood-stained ice shards to regather into a sword at his cold hands. He gave no heed to the mess that he left behind and ignored the putrefying stench. Duan Jian could feel his blood rushing frenziedly through his veins. His heart pounded against his rib cage. *ba-bump* *ba-bump* Nervously he searched the field with his ice-blue eyes and shot his gaze left and right. He shouted; "Come out!" in agitation and felt a heavy heat wave crawling by. With a twist of his body he turned around and held a bloodied ice-sword as defence in front of him. But he couldn''t catch a glimpse of the freakish puppet and the only things he saw were the bloody bodies of examinees and an expressionless Bai Long who protected them with not even a single drop of blood staining his battle attire. Even though the examinees behind Bai Long looked terrible, he blocked most of the immortality pressure from the puppet with his own silver crown, or else the examinees would already be dead or crippled. But because his immortal headgear was also too low in front of the golden crown, he couldn''t protect everyone. When Bai Long noticed the confused expression on Duan Jian''s face, he gave a smirk while baring his teeth. He gave a signal with his head towards Duan Jian that he should look up to the sky. Duan Jian reacted as fast as he could and shot his gaze towards the abyss-black sky. Raven-black feathers accompanied by ghost-white feathers descended from the sky like snowflakes. The black feathers kept dancing around the white ones like they were protecting them from all the misery of the mortal world. Duan Jian lifted his bone-chilling ice sword and aimed at the white feather. The wind sighed heavily in front of his chilling blade and made way. Surprisingly, the blade went right through the feather and didn''t cut it in the least - it was like it passed through soft mist. He tried again and again, but the result stayed the same. *Kekekeke* A scratchy laugh could be perceived. Swiftly he turned around and found the puppet standing behind him. In its hands made of stone it firmly grasped a silver shining crown. *crack* . . . *crack* Cracking noises originated from the owl-faced puppet and cracks spread along its icy beak. With a firm grip on a silver shining crown, the devilish puppet devoured the crown with crushing and crunching noises. *ba-bump* *¡ª¡ª* Duan Jian''s heart stopped and he spritzed blood through his mouth. Duan Jian realized while spurting ember-red blood that it was his loss. His cold hands let go of the cold sword and hanged limp down. The floating raven-black and ghost-white feathers merged with the lifeless air and disintegrated into nothingness. The puppets head rose; Duan Jian fell. The whipping winds died down and the scenery turned serene again. Silence finally filled the examination ground again. Duan Jian''s vision became fuzzy and his glassy eyes gazed towards the heaven-piercing tower before him. He noticed a golden clad girl watching him with sorrow from a terrace. He felt too ashamed of himself to look into her bright eyes. He turned his head and avoided her gaze. With love and regret he whispered, "I''m sorry." "Sorry, that I can''t return your love. Sorry, that I can''t be with you." "And mostly, I''m sorry that I let you down." "But I will make things better." "I''ll better my reputation to be fit for you. I''ll better my character so I won''t be a shame to you. So, be patient for my selfish wish." The examiner, Bai Long, stepped between the puppet and the unconscious Duan Jian and shouted; "Number 365! Result: Total Failure," with a stern voice. "You intentionally injured dozens of people severely. This crime is punished by one year in the H.I.V.E. prison which is immediately valid." Bai Long ignored the injured people and continued to talk down on the unconscious Duan Jian. With those words, damnation-black armoured guards with masked faces rushed swiftly towards Duan Jian and dragged him by his feet away like a filthy garbage bag. Duan Jian''s face was dragged on the ground and scratched open, leaving behind a trail of dirtied blood. Chapter 0003 - Another Perspective - Mock Fight << Shortly before the examination fight >> << A girl somewhere underground >> Darkness. Everything that could be seen: Deep Darkness. This wasn''t the first time for Qing Lin to be in a situation like this. She also couldn''t remember how many times she has experienced this, but she got accustomed to it. She could only sit on the cold ground, leaning her back on the wall behind her and hug her knees to feel some warmth. "I''m tired of it all." Almost every day, Qing Lin had to wait in this sick darkness to being chosen as a sparring partner. But in all those months - maybe even years - she never got chosen. This was also the reason why she hasn''t put on her armour. The silence in this darkness calmed her heart, and her breathing got softer. But soon the serene silence was broken by a male voice which floated into her head and softly said; "Qing Lin, it''s your turn. You have 3 seconds to prepare," in a calming tone. "W-What? I . . . I was chosen?" she stuttered with a flustered heart. She couldn''t believe her luck. Finally, could she could stand under the sun again. She would finally feel the breeze of the wind blowing through her ocean-blue hair again. She would finally feel the sunshine on her skin. She would finally . . . leave this darkness and see the light. The ground started grumbling and shaking. She could feel it pushing her upwards towards freedom. Suddenly Qing Lin remembered what her purpose was and why she was in this darkness. The Nan Tian University was the best university in the city because their students are experienced in battles and especially those with killing intent. Every student of theirs had fought multiple battles where their opponents have a dense killing intent. Because of their countless battles against such opponents, they got accustomed to it and are experts in subduing bandits and demons. And apparently Qing Lin was such a person. Students of the Nan Tian University fight against her in order to get accustomed to Throne-Pursuers like her - the Throne of a Ruler of Hell that is. They lock people like her into the H.I.V.E. prison and disguise them as puppets for the mock fights so that nobody notices that they are prison inmates. "Wait¡­" a thought struck her and she screamed; "Wait! I haven''t put my puppet-armour on yet!" in panic. If they would see that she is not a puppet but a prison inmate, then she would be executed on the spot. The square room roared and Qing Lin was pushed inside of another square room. The darkness lightly faded and light seeped through some cracks of the stone walls into the room. In the lightly illuminated room, the petite Qing Lin struggled to put on the earth-coloured stone armour.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. *clack* With the knocking signal of the examiner that he will now open the room, Qing Lin panicked and used her ice attributed qi to form a mask instead of putting on her helmet. *BAM!* An entire wall of the room disappeared in the ground. Through the ice mask she could see the scenery lying before her. The radiating sun was hiding half of its beauty behind a mountain and began to set. The warmth of the sun warmed her body and the clear air smelled like fresh grass and blossoming flowers. It was dusk. Sadness overcame her because the sun was on its way to leave her - again. She hadn''t enjoyed it enough yet. Even the sky wasn''t blue anymore but painted in a fading rose-red colour. Soon the ink-black night will take over the sky. Qing Lin stretched her arm towards the sun and tried to grasp the fleeing sunlight so that it could keep her company just a little longer. But as expected, she couldn''t grasp it. Heavy-hearted she noticed the white-haired youth in battle attire who stood before her. Awakening from her daydream, Qing Lin got into her battle stance and ready to fight. Sadly, she couldn''t enjoy this moment of freedom but had to fight. "365! Forward!" the examiner commanded the white-haired teenager and left the field. The good-looking teenager stepped towards her and moved into his battle stance. His eyes stared at her and observed her body all over. Qing Lin was feeling a little embarrassed that he was staring at her like that. But she also couldn''t help herself from staring into his eyes. His eyes were sky-blue and shimmering. Mourning to see such a sky again, she kept staring at his eyes and imaged herself under a sky the colour of his eyes. Her beautiful daydream was torn apart by the examiner, Bai Long, screaming; "DRAW YOUR WEAPONS!!" in seriousness. Chains were growing like flowers out from the youths sleeves. Gently, he grabbed the ends of the chains where dazzling daggers were attached to. With a flick of his wrists, the blades shot into the air like a rising star. As they reached their highest point, they came crushing down like a powerful waterfall. A brown veil of mist arose from the ground and shrouded the area. Whispers of disdain came from the surroundings. Qing Lin felt kind of sorry for the youth. He only wanted to impress people with his skills but ended up with being looked down upon. She couldn''t just let it stay like that, so she decided that she will give her all at this battle and show everyone that he isn''t someone weak. She glided her hand behind her back and reached for her beloved weapon - a dagger which she named ''Cat Claw''. It had the form of a cat''s claw and a deep violet colour. ''Hmmm?¡­ What?! I can''t get it out! It''s stuck too deeply in my stone armour!'' Qing Lin struggled and tried her best to get it out, but it was of no use. She knew that asking someone to help her would be shameless in a situation like this; but what else could she do? This was the only weapon she had on her, and without a weapon she couldn''t make this fight look equal. If she would fight without a weapon against the boy, who wields a weapon, then it wouldn''t make him look good and he would fail his exam. And Qing Lin also couldn''t lose too miserably because that would only arouse suspicion. With no other idea in her mind, she signalled with her other hand that he should be so kind and come over to help her out. But sadly, the white-haired youth seemed to have misunderstood her. He shouted, "Is this all!? The high and mighty Owl which crushes the spirit of its opponents decided to use only one hand for that? What do you want to do? Give me a high-five with that?!" A smile crept on his mouth and a small laughter of mockery escaped his lips. "But yeah, maybe, just maybe, you''re able to defeat me with one hand. Are you sure the fight will be so easy for you that you are able to crush me?" With those words, blades of ice formed on his forearms which looked like a pair of scythes. "Are you sure that you want to fight that way? Because maybe I am the one who crushes YOU!" ''That''s not it! *sigh~~~*. I didn''t mean that.'' Qing Lin felt wronged and dejectedly moved her arm away from her dagger and back forward. Deeply in thought, her mind was rushing to come up with a new idea. ''Arghhh~~'' Pain. It hurts! My head, it hurts! She moved her hand towards her head and slightly placed her palm against her mask. She pushed against her mask and cooled her forehead with the cold ice-mask. The pain didn''t stop. It blossomed further and her sight became fuzzy. ''Arghhh, no. Not yet. . . not now,'' she prayed in desperation. This isn''t the first time that she experienced this pain. Every time the pain came, she would fall unconscious for a long time. Distorted voices entered her ears but she couldn''t understand a single thing. She kept focusing on staying awake. ''Why does it have to happen now? I am finally outside of the prison and see the endless sky. I don''t want to miss this chance I got. I have the stay awake. '' Short of breath and suffering in pain, Qing Lin signalled with her other hand that she can''t fight and someone should help her. Someone should come to her and help her! A deafening voice crushed against her ears and tore her concentration apart. Her soul felt elevated as if it was leaving her body, but it wasn''t. Darkness. Again, Qing Lin was shrouded in darkness. All alone. "I''m tired of it all." Chapter 0004 - A Voice in the H.I.V.E. << Underground in the H.I.V.E. Prison >> With an aching head and a fuzzy gaze, Duan Jian lifted his heavy eyes open. He found himself on the moss-covered stone floor of a tiny prison cell. Distorted screams and scratchy voices echoed throughout the area. The air was stuffy and reeked. Across from his run-down cell, he could see dozens of other prison inmates. Hidden in the dense shadows, they clutched their knees in hunger, waiting for something edible. To Duan Jian''s astonishment, every single inmate had ocean-blue hair; no exception. He moved his attention away and focused back on himself. Even though he showed himself in an arrogant demeanour yesterday, he did it only to impress other people. Being now alone and by himself, he leaned his jade-white back against the cold stonewall and gave a heavy sigh. "At least the wall supports me¡­" He pulled his knees up to his head and hugged them tightly, blocking all noises. They were now the only things that gave him warmth in this cold world. With his face buried between his knees, hidden from view, he let loose of his feelings and a lonely tear fought its way down his face. The silence in this darkness calmed his heart and his breathing got softer. He snuggled closer to his black trousers and pressed his face tightly on it. Shortly after, he moved his delicate face away from the fluffy cloth and stared at the ceiling, going through his memories. "*sigh* I''m tired of it all," he muttered under his soft breath. Shifting his hand towards his head, he ran his rough hand through his snow-white hair, trying to get rid of the rose-red blood in vain. Only a single thought remained in his head: Will I die alone? "HEY, YOU SAVAGE!!" howled a deafening voice, crushing against his ears. "KEKEKEKEKE~~" a heinous, female laughter scratched at his pain-ridden ears, sending him a shudder down his spine. Duan Jian raised his voice and screamed back, "Who are you?! No¡­ Where are you?!" But his questions were left unanswered. The devilish voice continued talking, pressing its next words through its gritted teeth, "Oh~, you puny boy~~."This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ". . ." Duan Jian''s heart knocked against his rib cage, begging to be let out. A wet and moist breath floated into his ear. In a swift motion, he shot an icicle towards that direction, decimating a part of the wall in the process. But there was no one, not a single living being. The scratchy voice sounded out again, "So¡­, you hate being alone? Should I keep you company?" The voice moved closer and whispered, "Let''s have some fun~. You and me, just the two of us. Kekeke!" Duan Jian''s eyes contracted, his heart stopped beating, and his breath faded away. Ocean-blue veins popped up at his neck, crawling like earthworms. His icy-blue eyes turned a crimson-red colour and he hissed under his gritted teeth, "How dare you!" Life faded away from Duan Jian''s eyes. His snow-white hair turned ocean-blue in seconds, the bulging veins hid themselves under the skin again, and his now serpentine eyes radiated of pride. A pugnacious smirk cracked onto his face. Licking his lips, he whispered in a hoarse and flirty voice: "Just lean back and enjoy the ride, little boy~." With a straight back and his head held high, he walked with wide strides towards the rusty iron bars of the prison cell. At that moment, a single prison guard walked by this run-down cell. The guard was clad in a damnation-black military outfit. A casket-black military hat sat on his head, accenting his devilish smile and sharp and murderous teeth even more. Seeing the symbol of a black raven on the guard''s hat, Duan Jian couldn''t keep calm anymore. His fingers slithered along the rusty iron bars, waiting for its prey to come closer. His breathing got rasher and ragged, not able of hiding his excitement. "A little bit more~¡­ just a little bit more~," he whispered to himself as if he was trying to calm himself down and be more patient. His rough hands continued slithering and coiling around the rusty iron bars. The military clad guard marched in lockstep forward; his night-black dog tags were chinking and dinging with each stomp. Duan Jian swallowed his saliva. When the guard was directly in front of him, he shot his slithering hand forward, his fingers forming into fangs. In a swift motion, he clutched his dog tags and pulled him closer - closer to his doom. The surprised and soldierly guard couldn''t react in time and was smashed face-first into the iron bars. Not waiting for the angered guard to recover, Duan Jian pulled his foot backward like a bow string and shot it between the guard''s legs, hitting his only weak spot. But to his surprise, the guard didn''t even twitch a single eye lid. With no other choice left, Duan Jian balled his other hand to a fist. With bones cracking and popping, his fist was shrilling through the heavy air, hitting the forehead of the savage-looking guard. The soldiery guard screamed and screeched in pain, alarming every guard in the facility. His eyes turned white and he fell unconscious. Not having time to waste, Duan Jian slithered his fingers into the guard''s pockets and pulled a golden key out. Unlocking the rusty gate, Duan Jian pulled the sorry-looking guard into his dark and stench-filled cell. He stripped the guard half-naked and changed clothes with him. Just as he finished changing, a group of guards arrived in lockstep and in an orderly manner in front of the cell. The leader of the group, wearing purple dog tags, scanned the dog tags around Duan Jian''s neck and screamed, "G54, what happened here?!" Duan Jian straightened himself and made a military salute. "Reporting! LV30C10 was acting out of line and I taught him a lesson." The group leader responded with a slight nod and continued his patrol. Duan Jian cracked a smile and sniggered under his teeth. He stepped out of the cell and locked it tight, not sparing the person inside another look. With his back straight, head held high, and clattering and clanking dog tags, he slandered along the corridor into the boiling darkness of unknown dangers. Chapter 0005 - My Little Soldier Slandering through the ashen darkness, Duan Jian arrived before a gigantic, golden door. On each side of the sunrise-golden door stood a small army of soldiers clad in raven-black amour. With their spears raised and ready, they pointed them at him. From each small army, a scar-ridden leader stepped forward, sending the dust from the ground with each step into turmoil. Like a united being, they both shouted; "STOP!" towards Duan Jian at the same time. Duan Jian halted in his steps and tore his dog tags from his neck, throwing them towards one of the guards. The soldiery guard clutched them with his bony hand and gave them a slight scan from his elf-sharp eyes. Sparing Duan Jian a last glance, he threw the dog tags back at him and moved back into formation, making way for Duan Jian. His blood-red eyes changed back to their icy-blue colour and his conscious returned. The only thing that stayed the same was his ocean-blue hair, cascading down his head. At this moment, he could hear a familiar voice again, which gave him goose bumps - simply spine-chilling. "Little boy~, let''s have some more fun next time." The heavy, golden door creaked open, showing an enormous land of green in front of him. From grasslands and flowers to waterfalls and big trees, everything looked awe-inspiring. After he stepped through the door, a cherry blossom sweet smell assaulted his nostrils. A whiff of baked-apples was lying in the fresh air and accented the sweetness of the air even more. Looking at the mint-green leaves of the proudly erected trees, he felt like he walked into a picture book. The beauty of the forest not only comforted Duan Jian''s heart, it seemed that it was also enjoyed by the animals living in it. Yolk-yellow ducklings waddled along the riverside, sticking their cute butt feathers clumsily towards the air. With a pleased look in their innocent eyes, they followed their mother and gave an occasional "grackgrack" from them. The nut-brown deer stood peacefully in the flower field, surrounded by busy bees.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Unnoticed by the mesmerized Duan Jian, the enormous, golden door closed tightly behind him. With freedom lying in front of him, Duan Jian couldn''t help himself and a bright smile blossomed on his face. He hummed a mesmerizing song and followed the path of gravel deeper into the fairy-like forest. Even though he had never seen this forest near the city, he gave it no heed and just enjoyed this moment of bliss. Putting his hands into his pockets while walking further, he looked like an innocent person taking a stroll in the park. After having walked more than five minutes, the noises of a surging waterfall could be heard. Following the gravel path even further, he stood before an aquarium-blue waterfall. The water drizzled onto the rocks under it, lifting a curtain of white smoke. The flowers next to it were swinging along and had a honey sweet smell. Lowering his gaze even more, he saw a petite woman sitting on a throne under the waterfall. The cloud-white mist from the waterfall extended from under the throne like a carpet only for gods themselves to use. The petite woman had ore-golden, bright hair which flowed over her right shoulder. Her dreamy, duckling-yellow eyes accented her pencil-thin eyebrows. Even a sculptor couldn''t have created a better Amazonian figure than hers. Wearing an Eden-green dress, she seemed like she had a gentle and cheerful character. Opening her sugar sweet lips and showing her angel-white teeth, she formed a soothing smile which eased his heart. With an enchanting and melodious voice she asked, "What are you here for, my little soldier?" Duan Jian chocked on his words and didn''t know what to say. No matter what he would say, he would embarrass himself in front of her. Moreover, he got a familiar feeling from her, as if he knew her. In his panic, he just said what came to his mind to avoid an awkward silence. "Oh. Ahmm¡­ I am on the way to the city. I think I took a wrong turn." The woman only gave a light smile in return, chuckled, and stood up from her throne. She gracefully walked over the carpet of cloud-white mist towards Duan Jian. Standing next to him, she leaned her head next to Duan Jian''s ear and whispered to him in a seductive manner, "You''re not my little soldier." Duan Jian was left perplexed. ''What does she mean?'' Shifting back her head, she continued in a voice no songbird could match, "Every solder of mine knows that this is my throne room. How could any of my sweet, little soldiers mistake my throne room for the outside world or anything else?" Only now did Duan Jian understand. He hasn''t left the H.I.V.E. prison at all! He was still in it, and adding to his mistake, he was in the throne room of the owner of the prison! That was the worst place he could have come to! Duan Jian started to curse that mysterious voice in his mind for sending him in here. Within a split-second, the petite woman sat elegantly on the throne again. A lavender-purple hue flashed through her yellow eyes as a golden crown thrice the size of her head appeared above her. Shortly after, the non-existent sky turned casket-black and thunder was cracking and crashing above their heads. The thunder rang out across the area, echoing through the throne room. A single lightning fought its way through the grumpy, black clouds and shot full of anger towards Duan Jian. Having a good reaction, Duan Jian could evade the thunder in time. He started sprinting towards the exit to flee from this monster. He also tried to summon his head gear to no avail. It seemed that the puppet ate it last time and his cultivation was now non-existent. Ghost-white mist crawled out from the ground and slithered along the ground. Cold and heavy raindrops fell from the outraged clouds and drenched Duan Jian. His breathing became ragged and uncontrolled; he didn''t know if she followed him or not, but he also wasn''t willing to turn around to look. With his hawk-like gaze focused on the far away golden door, he ran for his life. Chapter 0006 - Sweet Dreams and Grease In the coal-black sky, the thunder kept raging on and setting the trees aflame. Even the heavy rain couldn''t stop the flames from growing and stretching towards the sky, being the only source of light in this god-forsaken place. "I- I have to run faster, faster, and even faster," mumbled Duan Jian in heavy breaths. With the blazing flames raging through the forest, the green trees turned bladder-brown and crackled. The stuffy air was now filled with the stench of burning corpses. An occasional screech of pain and misery came from the depths of the forest, probably from a burning animal. But what could Duan Jian, who had no cultivation now, do against the golden-haired woman? The demonic flames spread faster than Duan Jian could have run and encircled him soon enough. With nowhere else to go and no chance to fight, he already lost all hope. The sadistic giggling of a woman scratched against his ears. The blazing flames which encircled Duan Jian made a slight bow and made way for the woman. Not willing to beg for mercy, Duan Jian stared at her and howled, "What are you waiting for?! Kill me already!!" "Grackgrack," quacked an innocent duckling and waddled in its panic towards the woman. Being disoriented and having lost sight of its mother, it searched for someone to protect it from the hellish flames. The smirking woman had no pity or sympathy for the duckling whatsoever. She ruthlessly clutched it and threw it far away, giving a satisfied smile afterwards. Duan Jian''s gaze followed the duckling flying into the distance, and before he knew it, he was knocked out cold. His vision turned black and his ears were ringing. With a plump sound, his bones and body collapsed to the ground. The demonic woman had a look of insanity in her widened eyes, and a soul-shuddering gaze drilled into Duan Jian''s insignificant soul. A pugnacious smirk plastered her face and cracked her lips open with hell-red blood trickling down. She hissed, "Sweet dreams, my little boy~," into his ear and stuck out her slimy tongue, licking the blood from her lips.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ". . ." ". . ." ". . ." Duan Jian woke up with a bad mood. Struggling to heave his heavy eyes open and having a fuzzy vision, he mumbled, "I swear that if someone knocks me unconscious again, I will decimate that person into ashes and stomp on it like a stampede of fat elephants." His vision became gradually better; he could already see the outline of something big and round next to a thin stick-like thing. The surroundings were still ashen-black, so he was probably still in the prison. His ears already worked better than his eyes and he overheard a conversation. A heavy and greasy male voice sloppily asked, "Bao Bai, what should we do with him? You know?" Another male voice answered lightly and hoarsely, "I don''t know, Bao Bo. . . Do you have any ideas, or not?" "Hmmm¡­ I like his military cloths, you know. I want to have them, you know." "Are you dumb? You''re way too fat to fit even a single part of your body into that uniform, or not?" While the two voices continued arguing, Duan Jian''s vision was nearly back to normal but still a bit fuzzy. The outlines in front of him became more detailed. He could now see a big portion of jelly wobbling in front of him. It was probably his meal. Duan Jian sat himself up and stretched his hand towards the big jelly, grabbing a chunk of it. "AHHH!!" the greasy voice screeched. With the screech of pain, Duan Jian returned to his senses and saw what he had grabbed with his hand. It was the big and inhumanely fat belly of a 3-meter tall man. The man looked more like an inflated balloon, ready to burst with grease. Duan Jian removed his hand and leaped backwards in shock. He stared with wide eyes at the fat man and asked in distress, "Who are you?" This made the fat man giggle in response, layers of fat wobbled with his giggle. He had to hold his belly with his oily fingers still or else this motion alone would make him sweat. When he finished laughing, he stroked his double chin with his oily fingers like he was marinating some meat. "It''s rude to ask for names before introducing yourself, you know? But I will look over it. I''m the great and mighty Bao Bo," he introduced himself and pointed at the bone-thin person beside him "and that is Bao Bai, you know." Duan Jian shifted his gaze to the side and saw a thin, old man who was probably in his 50s or 60s. Like the fat man, he also didn''t wear a shirt and was only covered by a pair of black pants with his bony hands in its pockets. His grey, sparse hair stood on ends and was ruffled. After the old man wetted his lips, he asked, "You''re LV60C60 named Duan Jian, or not?" Duan Jian was a little irritated by his question and refuted, "Yes, I''m Duan Jian. But my code isn''t LV60C60; it''s LV30C10." This sent the fat, greasy man and the bone-thin, old man giggling. Bao Bo said to him, "You''re a funny guy, you know?! We''re on level 60 here, the deepest part of the prison, you know. Every prisoner here has a code starting with LV60. Furthermore, the code LV60C60 is clearly written on your dog tags, you know? We checked, you know?" Duan Jian pulled his dog tags out from under his military uniform and gave them a glance. He had to agree with them; his code was indeed LV60C60. Bao Bai said, "Because you''re a newbie, we will be polite. Let us go eating; you''re hungry, or not?" *growl~~* The both of them took Duan Jian''s growling tummy as a ''yes'' and moved to the side, laying the scenery behind them in front of Duan Jian. His jaw dropped heavily out of shock from seeing the scenery and he asked himself, ''Just how big is this H.I.V.E. prison?!'' Chapter 0007 - Another Perspective - The Chicken << H.I.V.E. Prison >> << Level 60 >> In a tiny shack in the middle of the woods, a petite, ocean-blue-haired girl lied on a self-created bed of wheat and leaves. She caressed her violet dog tags deep in thought, thinking of what had happened yesterday at the training field. Remembering the white-haired youth from that time, a tinge of red blossomed on her cheeks. Her soft lips formed to a smile and she dreamily said, "I wish I could see him again. I hope nothing happened after I fell unconscious¡­" *knock* *knock* A knock on the door tore Qing Lin away from her memories. She set up and replied, "Who is it?" A deep and bassy voice answered politely, "Miss Lin, it''s me, Bao Bo. I have news which might interest you, you know?" Qing Lin stood up from the bed, put her dog tags away, and patted her emerald-green clothes to remove some dust. After she walked to the wooden door, she pulled it open with a creaking sound. In front of the door stood a fat and topless man which was twice as broad and tall as the normal-sized door. Seeing Bao Bo, a pair of cute dimples emerged next to Qing Lin''s glowing smile. "Hi, big brother Bo, you look like you''re in a good mood. What happened?" "Big news. Rea~~lly big news! You will be shocked Miss Lin, you know. Do you want to sit down?" said Bao Bo, becoming lightly energetic. Qing Lin was shocked. ''What could make big brother Bo so full of energy? ¡­Could it be¡­ Could it be about the youth I fought against yesterday? Was he sent to prison or what happened?'' She became worried and asked in concern, "You''re making me nervous. What is the big news?" Bao Bo gleamed with a wide smile and answered, "Chicken! Bao Bai found a group of chickens, you know! So, today''s dinner will be fried chicken!"Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. When hearing that, Qing Lin sighed in relief. ''So it wasn''t about the boy.'' She changed her worried expression to a sweet one and smiled brightly. "That really is big news. I can''t wait for dinner, you know." Immediately after saying the last two words, she turned bright red and apologised: "I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to say that. That was rude of me." Bao Bo seemed to have misinterpreted her and replied, "What''s wrong with saying that you like fried chicken? That wasn''t rude at all, you know." Qing Lin sighed in relief that she didn''t offend him and went along, "You''re right. Liking fried chicken isn''t something rude to say." "Ah." Bao Bo seemed to remember something. "Speaking of rude. That little boy who tried to hit you at the mock battle¡­ He was sent here to level 30 for injuring multiple examinees, you know?" Qing Lin''s ocean-blue eyes widened in shock and she stuttered, "D-Did he say anything? Is-Is he angry at m-me?" "No! How could he be angry at you? It''s his fault that he is here!" retorted Bao Bo. "But¡­ But I still feel guilty¡­" Her eyes full of resoluteness, she said, "Big brother Bo, please help me saving him." Bao Bo had a tender smile on his lips and said, "How can I deny a request by Miss Lin. Rest assured, with your big brother Bo here, we will save him." Qing Lin gave a warm smile. "Thank you, big brother Bo!" Qing Lin went outside of her shack and the both of them walked to the nearest, nut-brown tree. Sitting under the tree, Bao Bo pulled a simple and small doll out from it. It had no hair and no clothes; just a simply created cloth doll. Qing Lin already knew what she had to do and tipped with her index finger onto the doll''s forehead while imagining the appearance of the white-haired boy. A white hue flashed through Bao Bo''s eyes and the doll started talking in a soft and manly voice which seemed scratchy because of the transmission. "*sigh* I''m tired of it all." Just as Bao Bo wanted to talk through the puppet with the boy, a chicken followed by his friend Bao Bai came sprinting towards him. "Bwok Bwok!!" cried the chicken and jumped at Bao Bo''s head, scratching him. Before Bao Bo could grab the chicken, it jumped away. He screamed towards the chicken; "HEY, YOU SAVAGE!!" and turned his gaze towards the thin, old Bao Bai who followed the chicken. Bao Bai said, "I nearly have it, or not?" Qing Lin had to hold back her laughter and giggled sweetly. It seems that she found it amusing, even if it means that there may be no chicken for dinner. But when Bao Bo thought of not getting this chicken for dinner, his mood turned to the bad side. He gritted his teeth, looked at Bao Bai who clumsily ran after the weak chicken, and cursed, "Oh~, you puny boy~~." Qing Lin didn''t want to see the both of them fighting, so she continued with their plan on saving the white-haired youth. Knowing that controlling the body needed the contact of saliva on the puppet, she leaned her head forward and gave a gentle kiss on the side of the doll''s head. Remembering what the youth said before, she tried to console him. "So¡­, you hate being alone? Should I keep you company?" Getting back to her plan, she put her forehead against the forehead of the doll and whispered gently, "Let''s have some fun. You and me, just the two of us. Hehehe." With the contact of their foreheads, Qing Lin''s consciousness started to invade and replace the one from the youth. But it seemed that he didn''t understand her intentions and hissed, "How dare you!" Qing Lin wanted to assure him that nothing bad will happen to him and she only planned to bring him towards his freedom. So she told him, "Just lean back and enjoy the ride, little boy~." Chapter 0008 - Another Perspective - Male? Female? Qing Lin''s consciousness was now in the white-haired youth''s body. Her surroundings were those of a typical prison cell: stone, moss, a simple bed, and an iron bar gate. Normally she would be scared when she was in such a room or environment, but she wasn''t now. The reason was simple: It was because she was here for him! - Helping him! She could feel the cold ground, the heavy air, and a wet spot on her cheek. Thinking that it was probably a tear, her heart became heavy and she swore in her heart, "Don''t worry. I will bring you out of here." She wanted to stand up, but controlling another body was nevertheless strange. His body was taller and more muscular than hers. In addition, she felt multiple stinging pains in her muscles, probably from a fight. She couldn''t endure that someone had injured him like that and she promised to herself, ''Whoever gave you those injuries, I will get revenge for you and get payback for what that evil person did to you.'' Standing up, she straightened her back and lifted her head to get a feeling for her new height, getting accustomed to this body. Seeing a single prison guard in a black, military uniform nearing her cell, she couldn''t remain standing there and walked in her straightened position towards the gate of the cell. She had to stick to the plan or else it would be fatal. Arriving at the rusty gate, she shot a glance towards the scary-looking guard. She had to check if the guard was weak enough so that she could knock him out with this weakened body. When she saw the black raven at the guard''s hat, she knew that this guard was perfect. It was only a guard of the lowest rank with no cultivation. In her happiness, her breathing got faster and she was getting nervous. Moving her gaze back to the rusty iron bars, she thought, "Wow. These bars are rustier than I thought they would be."Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. With no time to loose, she glided her hands along the iron bars in search for the keyhole. As the guard came nearer and nearer, her hands became more fidgety. The guard marched in lockstep nearer; his dog tags were clinking. She simply couldn''t keep calm like this. It was too much pressure on her. When the soldiery guard was nearly in front of her, she finally found the keyhole. Shortly after, the guard was directly in front of her and she swallowed her anxiety. ''*gulp* Okay, here goes nothing. I''m sorry guard.'' She shot her hand out and grabbed his dog tags, pulling him closer into her warm embrace with the bars between them. Shooting her foot between his legs, she thought that it would knock the guard out. Or at least send him to his knees. But to her shock, the guard didn''t even flinch ¨C not one bit. ''I didn''t misjudge right? This is a man. I mean he looks really, really scary. How can''t he be a man?'' Having no time to think more about that matter, she balled her fist and hit the guard''s forehead with all her strength. The guard gave a high screech in response which sounded kind of girly to her, alarming all guards. ''So the guard IS female. ¡­right?'' The guard collapsed in her arms, and she pulled a golden key out from the guard''s pocket. Because she already found the keyhole, she put the key immediately in and unlocked the gate. With the gate now being unlocked and opened, she pulled the soldiery-clad guard into her cell. ''Okay. So far so good,'' she sighed. Thinking of the next step in her plan, her cheeks turned blazing red. She looked at her body, which is the one from the muscular, white-haired youth, and became nervous again. ''I can''t be embarrassed now! This is all part of a plan for his good ¨C not for mine!'' she told herself. Swiftly she removed her clothes and laid them to the side. Now being half-naked, she couldn''t resist after seeing this kind of body and had to do it: she slowly glided her fingers over his muscular six-packs. ''AH! What am I doing?! The guards will come soon,'' she reprimanded herself. She now started removing layer for layer of clothes from the guard: hat, shoes, jacket, shirt, and pants. Now the both of them were half-naked. Looking at the guard, she murmured, "So it was a woman. I''m sorry." She quickly changed the clothes and put them on, looking now like a real guard. A group of guards arrived in lockstep at her cell, standing in an orderly manner. The leader of the group wore purple dog tags and called out to her, "G54, what happened here?!" It was time to show what she could do. She recalled every interaction with the guards and the code from the knocked-out guard''s dog tags. Remembering all those things, she straightened herself, made a military salute, and replied, "Reporting! LV30C10 was acting out of line and I taught him a lesson." The leader of the guards acted as if this was totally normal and only gave a slight nod in response. He continued the patrol with his group of guards and marched away. Qing Lin felt really happy. A smile came to her lips and she giggled. ''I did it. I really did it!'' She stepped out of the cell and left the real guard in it, who she now knew is female. She locked the gate, put the key away, and walked proudly away from the cell. Following the corridor, she walked into the direction of the exit. Chapter 0009 - Another Perspective - Loneliness Or Sadness Qing Lin was now walking in the white-haired youth''s body through the corridor and towards the exit. Her military outfit looked really good fitting, nothing that looked odd. She met multiple guards, but none of them spared her a glance. Thinking about bringing this boy out of the prison and towards his freedom, it brought mixed feelings to her. Sure, she was glad that she could help him. But on the other hand, this also means that she will never see him again - maybe forever... ''No!'' She shook her head and patted her cheeks with her hands, waking her up. "I should let you go..." Telling herself the things she needed to her, she put up a faked smile and strode further down the corridor. Finally she arrived at an enormous staircase. Big slaps of stones coiled around an ostentatious pillar. Without giving it a thought, she started sprinting downward because every exit of a building is at the lowest floor. A long while later she arrived at the last floor; huffing and puffing she was gasping for air. "That was worth it. Just thinking about him smiling when he arrives outside already makes me happy." In front of her was a gigantic sunrise-golden door. On each side of the door stood a small army of well-trained soldiers and guarded the exit. When they saw her nearing, all the black-clad guards pointed their spears at her. From each army a scar-ridden leader stepped forward and they shouted at her at the same time: "STOP!" Qing Lin already knew what she had to do and threw the stolen dog tags towards one of them. The guard-leader caught them easily and gave them a slight scan from his sharp eyes. Having approved of them, he threw the dog tags back at her and moved to the side. ''*sigh*. This will be it. Maybe I won''t see him ever again¡­ But I have to stay positive. Positive! Maybe he will take the entrance examination again and chooses me as an opponent again. At that time I will make sure that I lose and you make it into the university.''Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Thinking like that, she forced her consciousness out of his body and returned the body back to him. She was also looking forward to meeting him again and said to him, "Little boy, let''s have some more fun next time." Heavyhearted she found herself back at the nut-brown tree. With her smile now gone she looked at Bao Bo next to her who asked, "You don''t look happy, you know? Haven''t you finished it?" Qing Lin stroked her long, blue hair to the side and set up a forced smile, "I finished it. Thank you, big brother Bo." Feeling her tears welling up, she tried her best to hold them back and said in a lightly trembling voice, "I will go fetch some water for our dinner." Clumsily she ran away. Bao Bo could only watch her leave and fade into the distance. ". . ." ". . ." ". . ." Everything was still. Everything was quite. Sitting at the shore of a still and lifeless pond, Qing Lin held her hands against her face, hiding her tears. But the tears came through nevertheless. A lonely tear dropped from her reddened eyes: cold, lonely, and lifeless. She sniffled with her cute and reddened nose and wiped her tears away. When she saw her own reflection in the water, she felt even more pathetic. "I''m sick of having a heart, sick of falling in love¡­" Lightly stretching her petite finger towards her reflection in the water, she tapped at the reflexion of her nose. Circles of water ripples spread outwards from the contact with the water surface ¨C leaving her presence, leaving her alone. "It feels like I am drowning. I hate the way this feels..." Tears welled up inside her again and she knitted her gentle eye-brows, holding back her tears. She bit her trembling lips to distract her with pain from the sadness. A drop of blood oozed out from her sweet, red lips. Struggling with a broken heart of her first love, she cursed, "This is the worst day of my live. I have felt pain before but I have never felt this much pain. This is really the worst day of my live!" The loss of her first love left a nasty scar in her heart, one that might not even heal. Even though she helped him and he is now probably thankful to her, she just couldn''t feel happy. With a heart as empty as the pond, she stood up and walked back to the other two to have dinner with them. ". . ." She arrived at a long, wooden table in the middle of the woods. A lot of porcelain tea cups and plates were placed on the table. It really looked like a peaceful atmosphere to have dinner at. At one side of the wooden table sat Bao Bo with his huge belly in plain view. He saw her swollen and red eyes and the red drop of blood on her soft lips. Seeing her in this pitiful state, all he could say was: "It''s going to get better, you know?" But how could that make her feel better. She sniffed and replied, "All you have to say is that it is going to get better, but how am I to believe that?" There were just too many feelings that she couldn''t verbalise. Bao Bo didn''t know how to reply to that, so he could only change the subject to the only thing he loves. "How about you eat a lot of fried chicken today? You can even take one part of mine, you know." Qing Lin gave it some thought: Maybe stuffing myself with food will fill this void in my heart. "Okay, thank you big brother Bo," she replied, took a seat, and started wolfing down on the food. Meanwhile, Bao Bo stood up and went to Bao Bai who was in the storage room. Chapter 0010 - A Meal with Savages Duan Jian was in a small, wooden room with two strangers he had just met. When the fat Bao Bo and the skinny Bao Bai moved to the side, they revealed a shocking scenery behind them. Looking outside from the open door, Duan Jian saw trees as far as he could see. The bladder-brown leaves on the trees made it seem like it was autumn. The rustling leaves were cracking under the slightest blow from the wind. Somehow the air smelled burned and blasted, carrying a putrefying stench. He had to hold back his gag-reflex. The forest seemed empty of life on the first glance. There was neither man nor beast to be seen. He couldn''t imagine that someone lived in this desolate and lonesome place. Under the staring trees, a lizard creeping through the thicket could be occasionally seen. Casket-black crows called out in their horrible voices, scratching against his ears. It was a spine-chilling place. The fat Bao Bo was the first to walk out the door and into the forest where the grim reaper walked before and decimated life. He was shortly followed by Bao Bai who seemed more like a skeleton from a graveyard and more fitting to this environment. With the both of them walking first, Duan Jian hopped onto his shaky knees and followed them. On their way towards dinner, Duan Jian kept being on guard. He observed everything that happened around him; be it triveous or not. What caught his attention the most were the trees. Their barks looked like bubbled soup had been frozen on its surface. Some of those trees had a caving hole on them as if someone tried to tear their beating hearts out, leaving them to their silent and dead state now. With the never-stopping cry of ravens, it was truly a forest to be avoided. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. It was the sensations that let you know you were about to die here: Your skin feels like thousand bugs crawl under it. Your tongue is sticking to the abyss of your mouth. It''s like a there is a grim reaper clutching your throat, pressing the dry air out from your lungs. Even your eyes feel like they melted, blurring all surroundings. Every step you take feels like an eternity, every second like a century. It makes your teeth rattle and your body tremble. The forest is your enemy. Nothing would make you forget this; it will fill up your dreams. Walking even further into the hair-raising forest, Duan Jian''s veins started to freeze over. Every step they took further in, his heart-strings were pulled tightly, raising his heart to his throat. Now he could also hear the chomping noise of someone wolfing down on food. At last they arrived at their destination. In front of them was a large wooden table laid with broken porcelain tea cups and other table ware in addition to some burnt meat. At one end of the table sat a blue-haired, beautiful teenage girl. She was engrossed in her task of wolfing down the food on the table. One thing after another went into her craving mouth. Her reaper-red eyes and black eye bags accented her gaze of insanity. Duan Jian could even see a smear of blood on her lips. "We are here, little one. You can take a seat and eat whatever you want, you know," said Bao Bo. He was the first to leave Duan Jian''s side. He pulled a wooden chair back and took a seat. The wooden chair lowered itself in pain and was near its bursting-point. It could be described as a miracle that the chair had not given in to its misery yet and kept fighting on. The second one to leave him was Bao Bai. He said, "You like meat, or not?" and left him. Duan Jian stood motionless in front of the table and looked at the three of them chewing and chomping down on the red meat, working in a swift manner. Duan Jian was feeling hungry too, so he took an empty seat and clutched a piece of fried meat. Not thinking from where this meat is, he shut his eyes and tore a bite out of it. A metallic taste of blood assaulted his mouth along with an ashen bitterness. ''Raw! This meat is raw and burnt at the same time! Who cooked that?!'' he screamed in his mind, not willing to offend those savages. Because he had an empty stomach and craved for food, he forced the joyless meat down his dry throat. Every bite he took he could taste the lifelessness again and again, slowly filling his stomach. Across the table, Bao Bai''s glacial eyes kept staring at him coldly. A smirk was on his razor-sharp lips. He licked his lips, opened his mouth, and spoke in a voice as lonely as a tomb, "You enjoy it, or not?" Duan Jian ran a shudder down his spine, his face turned as pale as a winter''s moon. He swallowed the bloody meat in his mouth, forced a grin, and replied, "It tastes fresh." The bone-skinny Bao Bai cracked a smile; it stretched from one ear to another, showing his insanely sharp teeth. His tundra-cold eyes lit up and stared down at him. Duan Jian could only avoid that and grabbed his half-broken tea cup to flush down the bad taste in his mouth. Taking a small sip from the cup, a plain taste gushed through his mouth. It was plain water. It seemed like everything from this dinner was either plain and joyless or nauseating. Remembering that he still hasn''t told them his name, he introduced himself, "I''m sorry that I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Duan Jian. I''m a pursuer of the Throne of the Moon God. And I have no cultivation to speak of anymore." His introduction left the blue-haired girl motionless. Her reddened eyes contracted to the size of a needle. With a gaping mouth and food still inside it, she glared at Duan Jian as if she finally found her lifelong prey. Chapter 0011 - The Dark Side Duan Jian was shocked at the reaction from the blue-haired girl and started to explain, "I lost my cultivation during the examination fight against a dumb and stupid puppet!" The blue-haired girl stared down at the insignificant Duan Jian and remained motionless. Her hands loosed their grip which sent the bloody meat in her hands falling on the wooden table. With a swift motion she stood up and pounded her fists against the table. Each strike sent the table into an uproar, shaking in fright. Balefire-red blood was oozing out from her distorted mouth like a merciless hunter who had devoured her prey raw. With her mouth still wide open, food showing in plain view, she kept staring at him. Her eyes turned to a deeper shade of hell-red and her breathing became fast and ragged. Under gritted teeth she coldly pressed the words out: "I. *BURPPPP~* EAT. YOU. BETTER!" The smell of undigested food assaulted Duan Jian''s nose, turning the air into a vile and sickly odor. The girl''s face turned hell-red, her blood-red eyes formed to crescent moons, and she seemed as if she was about to pounce at Duan Jian at any moment. Duan Jian wasn''t willing to wait another moment to be devoured by her alive and sprinted for his life again. It seemed to him that no matter where he lands, he has to run for his life. Entering deeper into the haunted woods, trees flashed by his vision and casket-black crows followed his every move, crying in their horrifying voice. Suddenly, a flash of white entered the scenery in front of him. Sprinting out from the dark woods, a big grassland stretched out before his eyes, covering a large space in his field of vision. The grassland was nearly entirely covered by small flowers. They were ghost-white and drilled like teeth out from the ground, biting into the scenery and leaving nasty scars behind.Stolen story; please report. Duan Jian couldn''t take it anymore and accepted his fate. He fell to his knees sobbing and cried out towards the non-existent black sky, "JUST TAKE ME ALREADY!" Just at that moment, the earth started shaking rhythmically; small stone crumbles fell from the sky or rather the ceiling. It felt like a gigantic monster came rushing towards him. Duan Jian bit his lip and fire-red blood spritzed out. He bore his fingernails into the brown soil and banged his head against the ground. He had enough. He already experienced two types of terror: Gross-Out: The chewing and chomping of savages in the woods, gobbling meat and grinding on bone; thick blood oozing out from the meal and spritzing in all directions, dying the table into a magma-red colour. Horror: The creeping forest of heart-dead trees with bladder-brown leaves, crumbling to death by the slightest touch; a hair-raising smell drifting through the forest, assaulting you with a gag-reflex. So, why not the third too? He waited for the terror to come. The vibration in the ground became heavier and heavier, shaking all ghostly flowers in the field. A deep and greasy voice pounced at his sorry ears. "WE EAT YOU BETTER!! YOU KNOW!" shouted it at him. With grinding teeth, crunching and gnashing on the teeth''s surface, Duan Jian turned around and shifted his gaze at the source of the voice. A fat and tall figure was rushing towards him. Nothing could stand in front of it: Be it flowers, earth, or stones; everything was supressed and shattered into the ground. All beneath it was decimated into nothingness. "That is it! I have enough!" said Duan Jian and stood up again. He got into a battle stance and screamed at Bao Bo, "I WON''T LET YOU!!" Even though Duan Jian earlier said that he had no cultivation anymore, it was a bland lie. The moon has two sides: a heavenly bright side, showered by the holy light of the sun, and a shadowy dark side, never seeing the light. What the puppet of the examination fight devoured was his cultivation from the bright side. He still had the one from the dark side. But he was never willing to use it because it was a double-edged sword. Not thinking more about it and looking at his 500-pound doom drawing nearer, he rammed his hand into the wet soil, piercing it to its core. His veins turned to a bat-black colour and darkness seeped out from his being. His eyes became like a crescent moon and turned his gaze glacier-cold. Retracting his soil-ridden hand from the earth, he drew a cauldron-black spear out from it, as if the earth itself gave birth to this weapon. Standing tall along his spear, his black spear reached taller than him. Carnal-black darkness seeped from the spear into the decaying air, turning it into a realm of shadows and sinners. A black-lipped mouth appeared at the spear. It stretched its slimy, grey tongue out, sniggered, and whispered to him, "Kiri-shi-shi-shi! Five souls or one soul?" Duan Jian already knew the procedure and answered devoid of emotions, "Five souls." The slimy tongue licked its lips and faded away from the black spear. A golden laurel wreath twice the size of his head floated above his head. With the darkness seeping out from his spear and his body, it was fed to the laurel wreath. "This is it!! YES!" he howled and clutched his spear tight, his hand creeping around its body. His grin stretched wide across his face, revealing his ghost-white teeth. He lowered his military hat and opened his soldiery jacket, letting it flicker in the wind. The inhumanly fat Bao Bo was not a long distance away. He was still running, his layers of fat jumping like a hysterical monkey up and down. Beads of sweat, or was it grease and oil, showered his body in a sticky colour. Duan Jian lifted his spear, pointed its death-sharp tip at Bao Bo, and sprinted like a tempest forward.