At that moment, Fu Jue felt a bone-deep chill, and every instinct urging a living creature to survive was triggered at once.
But he knew those emotions were not his own. He was certain that Prince Liang would never kill him.
Whether because of the timing or the benefits involved, Prince Liang’s goal was merely to eliminate the threat posed by Xianluo Mountain. At the same time, he was determined to obtain Fu Jue’s abilities.
Thus, even in the worst-case scenario—even if everyone from Xianluo Mountain were to die—Fu Jue himself would still survive.
There was therefore no way that a struggle born from a genuine threat to his life could have arisen within his consciousness.
Yet in the next instant, Fu Jue realized that he could no longer control his body.
It was as though a layer separated him from the world. He could see Prince Liang standing before him, yet the man appeared like someone reflected in a mirror.
He heard his own voice ring out, carrying a panic that only he himself could perceive, forcibly suppressed beneath a veneer of calm.
“Your Highness’s deduction is perhaps a little too extreme. Though I can be certain that I am now the only surviving member of the Fu Clan’s direct line, given our ancestor’s wisdom, she naturally would not have overlooked such an obvious risk.”
“Even if Your Highness were to take my life, how could you be certain that the heavens would not prove human calculations wrong? Perhaps our ancestor left behind another bloodline, hidden somewhere amid the endless masses. After several centuries, it may have vanished without a trace.”
Pei Liang merely smiled. “Such a person would have no qualifications to inherit Xianluo Mountain’s legacy by then. Why should I care?”
Then, before “Fu Jue” could speak, he looked at him with undisguised disgust.
“And could you stop controlling the Immortal Master’s speech? Every glance and smile of the Immortal Master is filled with allure. Even when those eyes reveal ambition and those words contain schemes, she remains irresistibly charming.”
“You centuries-old parasite, stop sullying the Immortal Master’s body. Just looking at you makes this prince sick.”
“…”
“Fu Jue” fell silent for a moment.
Having lost control of his body, Fu Jue could clearly sense the killing intent and urgency in the other’s heart, as well as the awkwardness of having to suppress his panic and pretend to remain composed.
Now that Prince Liang had exposed her, Fu Jue was no longer in such a hurry to wrest back control of his body.
Deep within his soul, he could not help but smile—if a soul could smile at all.
To have noticed the change immediately after the body changed hands… Such keen perception truly gave him a measure of comfort in this unspeakable situation, where he could ask no one for help.
Then he heard Prince Liang say, “So my guess was correct?”
“Before your death, you stored your consciousness within the system and entered a deep hibernation, waiting for the modern era to arrive.”
“Whether by the principles of the grandfather paradox or by the causal inevitability of consciousness existing, you would inevitably be born at that point in time. Then you could simply wait to take over the body and enjoy everything.”
“Fu Jue’s” eyes flickered, and inwardly, she breathed a sigh of relief.
This man was not monstrous enough to have figured out even that much.
Otherwise, she truly would have had no way to respond.
Still, given the deductions she had made earlier, his theory was indeed the most reasonable explanation.
Both possibilities were based on the premise that she had traveled from the future and confirmed for herself that she would not be cast into a parallel universe. Her soul could only exist along the timeline in which she was destined to be born.
Thus, when she was born, the consciousness within the system would naturally merge with her original self.
The more intelligent a person was, the more stubbornly they clung to conclusions they had derived themselves.
“Fu Jue” followed the momentum and said, “Since Your Highness already understands the situation, there is nothing more to say.”
“Indeed, I made a mistake despite taking every precaution. I envisioned countless possibilities, yet underestimated the stupidity of my descendants.”
Whenever the Ancestor of Xianluo Mountain thought of this matter, she grew furious.
She had planned everything for Xianluo Mountain. So long as they followed the established path step by step, they would have remained safe.
Whenever a new heir inherited the legacy, she would naturally select one according to their talent.
In this generation, only Fu Xin and Fu Jue remained. It went without saying which of them should have been chosen to lead Xianluo Mountain.
Yet she had never imagined that these stubborn fools would abandon the true heir and allow an idiot to take control.
Nor was this the first time such a thing had happened.
If not for this pointless internal strife, Xianluo Mountain would not have withered to such an extent, nor would it have fallen into a situation where Prince Liang had caught it with nowhere left to flee.
It was unable to escape the bloodline of the Fu Clan.
Then the Fu Clan Ancestor made an ambiguous smile with Fu Jue’s face.
She was a woman herself, so she naturally knew that Prince Liang held a man-and-woman attraction toward Fu Jue.
Her voice carried a seductive lilt as she said, “Your Highness’s deductions are correct. If things had developed according to plan, I would naturally have benefited in the end.”
“But since Your Highness knows that Xianluo Mountain has declined to its present state because of internal strife, it should be easy enough for you to change that.”
“What Fu Jue said earlier about wanting to bear Your Highness’s children was not a lie. Your Highness could simply spread your branches and multiply with him, lifting the restriction against marrying outsiders that some fool from an unknown generation established. After several generations, Xianluo Mountain would naturally flourish, becoming a large and populous clan.”
“And I would be nothing more than one member of that enormous family. Your Highness already knows what I seek. I merely wish to make up for my regrets and enjoy a position above others in the era that belongs to me.”
“After several generations, with descendants numbering in abundance, surely Your Highness would not be unable to tolerate one unlikable child among them? At the same time, Your Highness could keep your descendants hidden from the public eye. No matter what fate awaits the Pei dynasty in the future, Your Highness would lose nothing.”
Her meaning was easy to understand.
With Pei Liang’s current power, his becoming the next emperor was already a certainty.
According to Pei Liang’s understanding, after enduring changes of dynasty, the imperial family could be carried by fate to any destination. But a hidden power like Xianluo Mountain had countless ways to avoid danger.
Not to mention that it had already accumulated capital and technology.
At present, only Fu Jue remained of Xianluo Mountain. If Prince Liang was willing, then all the future descendants of Xianluo Mountain would carry his bloodline.
No matter how one looked at it, this would amount to taking out double insurance for his descendants. Why would he refuse?
The only price would be having to endure one underwhelming child among his many descendants. But what did that matter?
People throughout the world encountered descendants who failed to live up to their expectations. Even a peasant woman in the countryside could suffer such troubles. And this concerned events hundreds of years in the future; they would not interfere with Prince Liang’s life in the slightest.
From her perspective, it was a deal that could only bring profit.
She looked at Prince Liang expectantly.
But Prince Liang said, “Even if you have more descendants in the future, as long as your consciousness remains lodged in the system, you will naturally choose yourself as the heir of each generation.”
“The head of the family would not be some dispensable idler, living off the family’s shares.”
The Ancestor of Xianluo Mountain was momentarily speechless. As expected, Prince Liang was not so easy to deceive.
But she had never intended to persuade him in the first place.
This man’s will was firm and impervious to outside influence. If he were truly so easy to convince, he would never have stopped just short of the final step with Fu Jue.
Within her mind, she issued Fu Jue an order:
[I’ll stall for time. Find the right moment and send the Liang scoundrel away.]
Fu Jue showed no resistance. He merely asked in a low voice, 【Since she has already deduced the conditions that trigger it, and all the clues she was given just now were false, how are we supposed to send her away?】
Ancestor of Xianluo Mountain said impatiently, 【Use that Chu Yebai as the coordinate.】
【Since she spoke that name without the slightest hesitation and accepted what you said just now by default, that means this is indeed a real person. Since he exists and has had dealings with her, how could he not be from her world?】
A flicker passed through Fu Jue’s eyes, but he made sure Ancestor of Xianluo Mountain did not notice his thoughts.
He asked again, 【I understand, but she said her circumstances are rather unusual. Recklessly experimenting could easily backfire. If we fail to send her away, the negotiations may collapse completely.】
Yet Ancestor of Xianluo Mountain said, 【We can’t afford to worry about that anymore. I just searched through the entire world. There is no one named Chu Yebai who fits the conditions of Prince Liang. That person must be from another world.】
【Even if we send her to the wrong place, it will have nothing to do with us afterward. Just do as I say.】
Fu Jue paused for a moment before replying, 【Yes.】
“His probing just now.” “Searching.”
When he had probed Prince Liang, nothing had happened that threatened the inheritance.
Yet the moment the other party seized control of his body, it had understood the situation completely, as though it had experienced everything firsthand.
Either it had kept its eyes open at all times, monitoring every action and every step in the lives of the successive inheritors.
And when necessary, it could even control them, making them choose the “correct” course of action.
Or else, the instant it seized control, it could inherit all his memories and experience, flawlessly integrating itself into his identity.
Either possibility was enough to send chills down one’s spine.
Moreover, it possessed the ability to “search” through everyone in the world in an instant—something he himself did not have.
That meant the authority these inheritors possessed over the system had never been fully unlocked.
Within that short span of time, Fu Jue’s mind had weathered countless furious waves. If not for Prince Liang’s step-by-step traps and guidance this time, he would never have realized that after exhausting every possible scheme, he had still ended up as someone else’s pawn.
A cold smile tugged at his lips. As the inheritor, however, he still held priority over certain authorities before the other party officially decided to replace him.
For example, excluding people who did not belong to this world. Otherwise, it could have done that itself.
But why, when designing the system, had it not simply concentrated priority over all authority in its own hands?
The answer was probably not that it did not want to, but that it could not.
In other words—
Sure enough, it continued trying to persuade Prince Liang. “If Your Highness feels that the stakes aren’t high enough, you can keep raising them.”
“What if I told Your Highness that I could bring your consciousness into the modern world as well? What would you say to that?”
Pei Liang raised an eyebrow. “That does sound tempting.”
“But how exactly do you plan to do it?”
Seeing that there was room for negotiation, the other party was visibly relieved.
It said, “We can copy Your Highness’s consciousness and preserve it within the system, just as I am now.”
“What if this is a trap you’ve laid for me?” Pei Liang said. “I let you enter my consciousness without any defenses, only for you to erase me outright. Who would I complain to then?”
Ancestor of Xianluo Mountain said, “Your Highness can rest assured. If it were that simple, Xianluo Mountain would not have gone to such lengths to gather the conditions for eliminating transmigrators.”
“No. I don’t trust you,” Pei Liang said. “You had Fu Jue come out and negotiate with me. At the end of the day, he is the current owner of the system.”
Ancestor of Xianluo Mountain ground its teeth. The Liang scoundrel truly was slippery as an eel.
It could only swallow its anger and say, “Fine. If Your Highness will only believe the words of a junior—”
It had no choice but to interrupt things briefly and release Fu Jue.
The sensation of being separated from the world vanished from before Fu Jue’s eyes. Remembering how he had suffered at Prince Liang’s hands earlier, Fu Jue knew that the man had absolutely not released him because he trusted him.
As it happened, he also needed Prince Liang’s cooperation.
The tacit understanding between the two had reached its peak.
He heard Prince Liang ask, “What do you think? Do you believe what she said?”
A smile appeared on Fu Jue’s face. “The Ancestor’s word is naturally trustworthy. With the Ancestor here, there is no place for me, Fu Jue, to speak. Your Highness may rest assured and proceed boldly with whatever negotiations she proposes. In any case, these transactions will not change because of my personal wishes.”
Pei Liang nodded knowingly. “In that case, I’m relieved.”
“Then there is something I would like the Immortal Master to relay to your sect’s ancestor.”
Pei Liang suddenly revealed a smile so strange that it was impossible to fathom.
Fu Jue’s heart began to beat faster. Then he heard Pei Liang say to him, “Please tell her that this king has never once considered leaving behind descendants in this world.”
“And I have no interest whatsoever in being confined somewhere for hundreds of years, merely waiting for the prosperity and glory of a particular era.”
Through Fu Jue’s eyes, she looked toward the person hidden deep within his consciousness and gave a disdainful, arrogant smile. “No matter what era I’m in, I can obtain whatever I want.”
Ancestor of Xianluo Mountain was enraged. Prince Liang was toying with her.
She wanted to emerge and refute him. What did this man understand? The reason transmigrators could distinguish themselves in ancient times was simply that they enjoyed the advantages of a more advanced age.
Even the most ordinary person from the modern era would possess knowledge and a perspective at least above the average. If they were lucky enough to transmigrate into a powerful and influential family, rising to prominence would naturally follow.
If she were merely an ordinary person like this, then without the system’s assistance and the support of knowledge from later generations, how could she possibly have achieved so much?
But if she were competing on an equal footing with everyone else, all the advantages of her superior awareness would disappear.
What she wanted was to become a superior person—not a superior person in a backward ancient world with its dull, tiresome life, nor one surrounded by the worshipful followers of ignorant fools.
She wanted to revel in the colorful modern world she knew, and make all those who had once looked down on her pay the price.
But how difficult was it to rise above the crowd in a society where she possessed no competitive advantage? Prince Liang was merely enjoying the benefits of being a transmigrator as well, yet here he was making such grandiose claims.
No matter how furious she felt, however, she discovered that she could no longer easily seize control of Fu Jue’s body.
He was resisting her. All his obedience and docility earlier had been an act. He had been prepared for this moment, and the suppression Ancestor of Xianluo Mountain now felt was on an entirely different level from before.
Then something even more horrifying happened.
She realized that she had been captured.
She was merely a cluster of consciousness. How could something formless possibly be captured?
And yet she could feel countless threads binding her, leaving her nowhere to escape.
“You—you—” she shrieked in panic within the consciousness.
Prince Liang seemed to hear her. He smiled and said, “At first, it was only a guess. Thank you for confirming it for me.”
Her smile became increasingly wicked. “You’ve confirmed that you truly resurrect yourself by seizing the consciousness of your inheritors.”
Ancestor of Xianluo Mountain’s struggles halted for an instant. Then a chill rose from the depths of her soul.
Prince Liang had never gone astray from the beginning. She had been deceiving her all along.
How laughable. She had even gone along with it, thinking she could use the situation to stall for time.
Sure enough, Prince Liang shook her head and sighed, speaking as though she were discussing an idiot: “I’ve never seen such a fucking idiot who cared only about the beginning and not the consequences. You practically confessed everything yourself.”
Ancestor of Xianluo Mountain still had no idea when she had exposed the flaw.
Instead, Fu Jue sneered and said, “You can preserve her consciousness through negotiations, but you never even confirmed whether she’s someone from this world’s future. She’s someone who may not even be born in the future—what makes you so certain she’ll be able to enjoy everything in the modern era?”
“How else could it be done? By taking over someone else’s body, of course. You think you’re buying her time, but in reality, you’ve never had the situation under control. You’re trying to deal with Prince Liang, analyze the circumstances, and explain yourself to me all at once. You simply don’t have the mental capacity left to consider the loopholes in your own words. At times like this, you’re more likely to reveal the truth.”
Ancestor of Xianluo Mountain was furious. “Then why are you just standing there watching the show? Send her away!”
“Why should I send her away?” Fu Jue replied. “Once she’s gone, won’t there be no one left to kill you?”
Ancestor of Xianluo Mountain was horrified. “You—”
“Idiot!” He let out a cold laugh. “Did you really not see the exchange between the two of us right under your nose?”
“I really can’t believe someone as stupid as you managed to deceive so many people.”
“I’m your ancestor,” she hurriedly said. “You can’t collude with outsiders to harm me.”
“An ancestor who can seize control of my body at any time.” Fu Jue sneered. “Why do you women always assume that men will willingly give you everything?”
She was about to continue persuading him, but Fu Jue cut her off. “There’s no need to deny it. Based on my earlier deduction, either you’ve been watching us successors from deep within our consciousness…”
“Or, the moment you seize control, you automatically inherit everything we possess and perfectly replace us in our own lives.”
“If the first possibility were true, you wouldn’t have sat by and watched Xianluo Mountain destroy itself through internal strife until its bloodline withered away. That means the second possibility is far more likely.”
“But you don’t need to wait for your ideal era before forcibly seizing control. Yet when Xianluo Mountain made the wrong decision several times, you never intervened. Why? It wasn’t that you didn’t want to. You couldn’t.”
Why couldn’t she?
It must have been because the strength of her soul was limited. Every time she emerged, she would weaken a little more.
“And as far as I know, every successor who has sent a transmigrator away has died young. If I exhausted myself to send Prince Liang away, I’d probably have to focus on reproducing as quickly as possible afterward, only to die of exhaustion in my thirties or forties, right?”
Fu Jue sneered. “Do you think you’re worthy of making me sacrifice myself like that?”
“Prince Liang understands me. She knows I would never willingly make myself a stepping stone for any woman. What I hate most is burning myself out to benefit a woman, so she let me see for myself.”
At last, Ancestor of Xianluo Mountain understood what Prince Liang’s question and Fu Jue’s answer had meant when she had returned control of the body to him.
Fu Jue had made it clear to Prince Liang that he really could lose control of his body at any moment, and that the system’s highest authority did not actually belong to him.
Those two facts alone were enough to make Fu Jue rebel. Once they reached an understanding, the two of them had acted without hesitation.
Fu Jue had suppressed her, while the unknown force binding her had most likely come from Prince Liang’s side.
Once she understood what had happened, she asked in panic, “You’re a system carrier too?”
Pei Liang did not hide it. “Not exactly. I have to determine the logic behind your resurrection before I can remove you.”
This was probably the trial the current mission had assigned her.
Pei Liang disabled her system’s Do Not Disturb mode. Sure enough, the system’s delighted voice rang out—the voice of someone who had just landed a massive achievement.
“Scanning for a recoverable abandoned system. An attached consciousness has been detected on the system. The operating trajectory of the attached consciousness has been detected. Would you like to erase it?”
Pei Liang glanced at Fu Jue. Fu Jue answered without the slightest hesitation. “Yes.”
After all, he was the system’s owner. The Cannon Fodder Struggle System had to respect the original inhabitants—especially the lives and property rights of important characters from the original world.
Before Fu Jue died a natural death, he owned all rights to the abandoned system.
Upon hearing this, Ancestor of Xianluo Mountain struggled desperately and begged for mercy. “No, wait! I’ll transfer the highest authority to you. Don’t kill me.”
“I never intended to take over your body. I have no interest in this era at all. Besides, you’re a man. What benefit would I gain from possessing you?”
“Oh, I know,” Fu Jue said coldly.
“Then why—”
“So what?”
As Fu Jue’s words fell, Ancestor of Xianluo Mountain’s soul was completely crushed. The fruits of her painstaking efforts would likely remain forever beyond her reach.
Pei Liang’s system exclaimed excitedly, “Sis, I knew you could do it! I was worried you wouldn’t notice that bastard before. That thing was really good at hiding.”
“This world’s instance has several versions set in different time periods. In the versions from the previous several centuries, none of the mission-takers managed to expose it. If it wasn’t exposed, that abandoned system could never be considered ownerless, and we couldn’t recover it. We would have suffered a huge loss for nothing.”
Pei Liang became interested. “Is that thing particularly special?”
Before the system could answer, she understood. “Judging by its functions, it really is impressive. Its abilities aren’t especially extensive, but it possesses all the permissions you lack. And this is merely an abandoned system. That proves its origins are extraordinary.”
“Exactly!” the system replied obediently. “It’s an abandoned system left behind by an advanced game. Although only its basic functions remain, its research value is extremely high.”
“Besides, this incident benefits you too, Sis. Hehe!”
Pei Liang’s heart stirred. The abandoned system was indeed important to their game, but since her own system had put it that way, it meant that future missions might involve situations similar to that of the Fu Clan Ancestor.
Pei Liang had formed a few guesses. The system was forbidden from giving her hints outside the rules, so this was already the greatest extent to which it could help.
Sure enough, the next second, the system began taking credit for itself. “Sis, I’ve recently set my sights on a car.”
“Buy it.” Pei Liang did not even blink.
The system was ecstatic. With this month’s performance added in, it could finally get itself a flashy sports car.
What a pity that Sis’s current level was too low for them to meet. Otherwise, it would immediately sell its ass to her as a token of gratitude.
The investigator from that previous adults-only game had only managed to become a department supervisor by clinging to Sis’s coattails, hadn’t he?
A promotion and a raise were practically guaranteed. Even its ass was getting perkier.
After that, Pei Liang stopped listening to the system, and the system obediently refrained from disturbing her. Pei Liang therefore saw no need to enable Do Not Disturb again.
With the death of the Fu Clan Ancestor, Fu Jue had clearly gained quite a few additional permissions. His expression alone made it obvious that he had benefited greatly.
Pei Liang said, “Let’s stop here for today. As for the payment you owe me, we’ll discuss it later.”
Fu Jue nodded. Once he realized that Prince Liang’s situation was similar to his own, the shortcut of sending her away no longer existed.
There were too many matters to deal with next. There was no need to rush.
Pei Liang left the mourning hall, intending to return straight to Prince Liang’s residence. But then she spotted General Liu standing in a corner not far from the hall, arms folded across his chest. He had clearly been waiting there for quite some time.
Pei Liang’s attention had been focused entirely on Fu Jue and the Fu Clan Ancestor, so she naturally hadn’t spared much thought for the vast area outside the mourning hall.
Besides, General Liu was skilled at reconnaissance, stealth, and concealing his presence. Pei Liang hadn’t noticed him at all.
Seeing him, she started in surprise and hurried over. “General, you haven’t gone back yet?”
General Liu glanced at her. Both his expression and his voice seemed somewhat strange. “This subordinate promised to protect Your Highness’s safety. How could I leave first?”
Pei Liang gave an awkward, helpless smile. “It’s fine. This place is actually quite safe.”
She had expected General Liu to argue, but instead, he unexpectedly said, “This subordinate knows that now.”
Hmm?
Something felt a little off. What she had done in the mourning hall just now had hardly been dignified—making advances on a widow right in front of her husband’s corpse, no less.
Could General Liu have seen it? Pei Liang felt rather sheepish.
Given General Liu’s personality, he probably wanted nothing more than to spit at her right now.
General Liu said nothing during the journey, leaving the atmosphere rather awkward.
It wasn’t until they entered Prince Liang’s residence and returned to the main courtyard that Pei Liang finally heard General Liu speak.
“Was what Your Highness said earlier true?”
“What?” Pei Liang asked, somewhat blankly.
“Your Highness said that you would never leave behind any children with anyone in this lifetime.”
Oh, heavens! General Liu really had heard her.
Pei Liang felt her scalp prickle. She might usually have no shame, but she still had to consider who she was dealing with. General Liu was clearly an honest, upright man in this regard. He couldn’t be bullied.
General Liu’s beautiful blue eyes fixed on her as he waited for her answer. Pei Liang could only reply with difficulty, “Yes. That’s right.”
General Liu nodded. “This subordinate guessed as much. Your Highness has carefully raised the Crown Princess. If you did not intend to pass the throne to her in the future, you would never put her in a position where she could not establish herself later on. It is clear to me that Your Highness truly cares for the Crown Princess.”
Pei Liang flushed at the praise, but at least the awkwardness had eased. So General Liu had merely been sorting out the order of succession and future power transfer.
That was a perfectly respectable matter—
Just as she was feeling relieved, General Liu continued, “Since that is the case, there will be no worries about what comes afterward.”
“Please enter into a long-term, purely physical relationship with this subordinate, Your Highness.”
When Pei Liang heard this, her ears began to ring.
She hadn’t mistranslated his words in her head, had she?
General Liu was inviting her to become his long-term paramour?
