"Wake up, wake up quickly! Sect Leader!" A hushed voice called.
Xue Ranmei felt his shoulder being grabbed and shook back and forth.
"Ugh! What's your problem?" Xue Ranmei rubbed his eyes. "I thought today was Saturd--!"
The surroundings have changed. It wasn't his college dorm. And the person next to him...wasn't his dormmate. He was surrounded by a dark forest and sitting against a tree. A tiny window showed that it was already night outside. The chilly wind rushed around, making Xue Ranmei shiver a little. When he hugged himself tightly, he saw that his clothes were black robes that looked like what someone would wear in ancient times.
[Congratulations! You have finally woken up, Tomato And Fried Eggs[1]!]
'Who's Tomato And Fried Eggs?! And where is this?' Xue Ranmei rubbed his head. 'I know it! This must be a dream. I spent too many hours writing that damn script! Well in that case...I guess I'll go back to sleep and wait until I wake up.'
[Tomato And Fried Eggs is your username. I am your guide. You are not dreaming. You have transmigrated.]
'Who are you kidding, you're actually dumb enough to believe that transmigration is re--WAIT A MINUTE how are you talking to me? Get out of my head!'
[Repeat: You have transmigrated, and I am your guide. I am not in your mind, but I am an invisible APP.]
"Sect Leader, if we don't go now, it will be too late! The people from Qingmeng Sect somehow found out our location again and they will be here in minutes!" Su Xiaonan continued to shake him.
Xue Ranmei scratched his head and found that his hair was also different. A ponytail secured by a hair cuff was sitting on the top of his head, and long masses of hair lay against his back.
"This dream is too real." Xue Ranmei muttered.
"Sect Leader?" Su Xiaonan waved his hand in front of Xue Ranmei's face.
"Wait, Little Brother, what you just said doesn't make sense." Xue Ranmei commented out loud. "You said that the people supposedly trying to kill us or something are going to be here in minutes. How do you know that? If they are far enough, then do you have extendable eyeballs or something? I mean, there's no way that you could've heard it."
Su Xiaonan, "..." 'Has Sect Leader become muddle-headed because he slept for too long for the first time in days? My level of cultivation is way enough for me to detect the presence of thousands of other cultivators through spiritual senses! Or else wouldn't it be a waste of his sincere efforts teaching me, his disciple, through these years? Has he forgotten the whole fact that we are being chased-killed by disciples of the Qingmeng Sect? Even their Sect Leader, Qing Qingxian has personally come out to deal with us!'
Guide talked again, [Tomato And Fried Eggs, Qing Qingxian is here to kill you. Now you have two choices. First, sit here and wait for death. Second, run immediately.]
'Haha, how about third, change my username first before I do anything else?' Xue Ranmei thought. 'Wait, I'm actually being chased?!'
[Tomato And Fried Eggs, this System has already provided you with the choices, now please take your time to consider them.]
'Do you think I'm stupid? Of course, it's run! I don't want to get stabbed with a sword, even if it's in my dream!'
"Let's go!" Xue Ranmei jumped up, his face dead serious.
Su Xiaonan let out a sigh of relief and ran after Xue Ranmei. 'Strange…Sect Leader has lightness skills[3], why is he running on foot? Did he get injured at some point and I didn't know about it? Oh, it's my bad, it's my duty to keep him unharmed!' He kept his sword unsheathed, just in case someone came to ambush them. This made Xue Ranmei uneasy.
"Brother, can you please put that thing away? We're running, and if--if that thing accidentally loses control, I'm going to lose some blood!" Xue Ranmei said while panting. 'Ugh, why is running so hard! I should have exercised more daily!'
"Sect Leader, it's for our safety. This disciple wouldn't dare to hurt you!"
Xue Ranmei finally stopped, feeling powerless. He held onto a tree, trying to catch up his breath.
Su Xiaonan seemed confused, "Sect Leader...this disciple thinks that it is perhaps more suitable at this moment to use your lightness skills..."
Xue Ranmei looked up at Su Xiaonan with a blank face. Su Xiaonan was worried about this, thinking that he might have offended Xue Ranmei. "Sect Leader... this disciple knows my mistake, this disciple didn't mean to disrespect you in any way..."
'What? Do I look that mean?' Xue Ranmei saw the panicking teenager in front of him. "Haha, no, I'm not angry at all! Don't worry! Uh...I....even have lightness skills?" He confirmed.
Su Xiaonan nodded slowly and carefully.
'Hahahaha! Great! This dream is really satisfying! I get to experience all those scenes that I wrote in jealousy of the characters who can fly, and now I can finally fly!'
"You're absolutely right! Thank you so much, little brother!" Xue Ranmei beamed.
Su Xiaonan was again dumbfounded. 'Little brother? Never mind that, surviving is most important for now.'
The two of them flew through the forest quietly, tapping their foot on one place, leaping up high, and landing themselves several zhangs[2] away.
[Tomato And Fried Eggs, please kindly pause.]
Xue Ranmei was annoyed, "Now what?"
[There is no way that you can escape. Please kindly conserve your energy.]
Xue Ranmei felt a bucket of ice dumped on his head. He really did stop flying. 'What do you mean?! I'm destined to die? But I will still wake up as usual in the actual world even if I get stabbed in my dream, right?'
Su Xiaonan, "Sect Leader, why did you stop?"
Xue Ranmei, "Wait. I...uh, have something important to think about."
'Something important?! What's more important than escaping first. No offense to you, Sect Leader, but I really feel like your mind was messed up after a good sleep!' Su Xiaonan exclaimed mentally.
[Qing Qingxian has formed a barrier in this forest, and the range is gradually getting smaller and smaller. It will be no time until you get caught. If you get killed, then it will be game over.]
'And game over means?'
[Game over is exactly what it means.]
'Shut up, why are you so annoying? Is there a guide as unhelpful as you?'
[I refuse to answer unnecessary questions. I suggest you to not ask them, because wasting your time with me is not smart.]
Su Xiaonan wanted to facepalm a thousand times. They were about to get killed and Xue Ranmei was stopping midway to THINK about SOMETHING IMPORTANT. He wanted to cry, thinking that he will have to say goodbye to his life at such a young age. Most importantly, he failed to protect Xue Ranmei.
"Sect Leader!" Su Xiaonan sounded almost angry. In fact, he was just frustrated that Xue Ranmei seems to be putting his focus on the wrong things right now.
Xue Ranmei blurted out, "We can't escape! There's a barrier!"
Su Xiaonan had no idea how Xue Ranmei got to know that, but he believed that Xue Ranmei wouldn't have any intentions of giving up his life. He avoided thinking about what will happen to them next.
Continuing to what he was doing, 'I have limited time? Is the time duration enough to get me through this dream?'
[Repeat: You have transmigrated. By the way, every repeat costs the twice amount of coins as before. Your remaining balance: 0 coins. This system will shut down temporarily. Earn points to reactivate through completing correct actions.]
Xue Ranmei was almost about to spit out blood.
First, he was actually stuck in this world, and if he dies, he dies.
Second, there's no way to run.
Third, this s*beep* app, the only thing that can help him a little right now, just abandoned him.
So the only solution left?
Beg for mercy. Kneel down. Apologize. Maybe even sign a self-selling contract (not THAT kind of selling).
'Well, how easy things are going to be...will depend on what kind of mistake the original owner made...' Xue Ranmei prayed to god in his heart.
"Sect Leader, how about let me try to break the barrier?" Su Xiaonan asked. "Or else there's really no choice other than to wait for death!"
Xue Ranmei, "As long as the blade hasn't been put on our necks--nope, as long as it hasn't actually slit our throats..."
Su Xiaonan waited for him to continue.
"...there will be a chance for survival. Good idea, let's try breaking through the barrier." Xue Ranmei felt hopeful again. 'Thank you so much, Little Brother! I almost forgot that those magical barrier thingies can be broken with spiritual energy!'
The two continued to move within the forest quickly, trying to search for one edge of the barrier. The later that they were able to find the barrier, the greater the chances that they would be found first, and also the greater the concentration of the spiritual energy (thickness) of the barrier since it was zooming in onto them.
Even though using lightness skills was a lot more energy-conserving than running, there was still a limit to everything. This time, Su Xiaonan was exhausted along with Xue Ranmei. One problem was realized: they weren't even sure if they were heading in the right direction. What if they were running towards the center the whole time? Then although they would find the barrier sometime, it would probably be way too late.
"Sect Leader, do you have any, any new ways?" Su Xiaonan panted.
Xue Ranmei shook his head, holding onto a tree again. Su Xiaonan was surprised himself. He didn't expect that he would ever get to see Xue Ranmei, who had the reputation of being the strongest--although evilest--cultivator, being so...he hated to use the word 'weak', but the truth was the truth.
Suddenly, a group of about a dozen people wearing cyan robes and holding their unsheathed glowing swords appeared in sight, although far away.
"Shhh! Careful!" Xue Ranmei hissed. He pulled Su Xiaonan, and the two held their breaths while hiding behind the wide tree.
The group of adolescent boys and girls moved closer towards them.
"Wanxing, do you think that we even stand a chance if we were met with Xue Ranmei?" A whiny teenage boy asked. "I don't want to sound like I'm a good-for-nothing, but isn't Shushu[4] making things too difficult for us by making all of us go out and help him catch that demon?"
Another boy, about the same age, but seeming slightly more sensible, replied in a gentle and chastising tone, "Wanjing, don't say something like that in the future. What Shushu orders us, is exactly what we have to do. I'm sure Shushu is good-intentioned. He wants us to gain experience. Plus, he knows that this demon is extremely dangerous, and that's why he put us in groups larger than usual. Even if anything happens, we can shoot a signal if we are unable to handle it."
Qing Wanjing nodded, "Yes."
Qing Wanjing's elder brother, Qing Wanxing, continued to look around. "Let's go over there and see." Qing Wanxing pointed towards the opposite direction of Xue Ranmei and Su Xiaonan.
"Good." Qing Wanjing followed. The others walked behind them in a double line, also turning their heads around to watch out for anyone hiding or lurking.
Xue Ranmei felt a sense of amusement after overhearing what they said. "Huh! So I'm actually this powerful! Little brother, it seems like we don't have to worry that much!" He grinned in relief.
Su Xiaonan remained concerned, "Sect Leader, although these disciples are not any big threat to us, there are way more groups like this in the forest, according to my detection lately. And what's worse...the seniors have also arrived. Other sects sent their share of personnel too...since in their minds..." Su Xiaonan's voice trailed off, thinking that what he was about to say probably wasn't very respectful.
Once it was started, Xue Ranmei wouldn't let it go. He was unruffled, though. He simply asked out of genuine curiosity, "What did they think of me?"
"...It's nothing..."
"Spill it. Little brother, this isn't very brotherly of you to be so restrained when talking. We could be said to have experienced life and death--okay that was an exaggeration--but anyways, I see you as my friend already."
Su Xiaonan felt some respite. "This disciple knows that they are totally speaking nonsense...but they said that you are only a demon who was over your peak...and that now you are merely a big prey to help them get their glory by capturing and...killing..."
Seeing that Xue Ranmei was silent for a moment, he quickly added, "Of course! All of them are nonsense!"
Xue Ranmei waved his hand, "Ugh. The common people in this common world, always going about this and that about anything that could be marked as sensational. I really don't car--A-CHU!" He suddenly felt a tickle in his nose and sneezed out loud.
Xue Ranmei, "Brother, sorry, did I sneeze on you? I'm so sorry, I know this is--"
The group of Qingmeng disciples stopped again.
Qing Wanjing, "Wanxing, did you hear that?"
Qing Wanxing paused for a moment and raised his hand to signal for others to be quiet.
'Damn it! They heard me!' Xue Ranmei didn't even dare to curse out loud.
Su Xiaonan whispered so quietly, "Sect Leader...what should we--"
Xue Ranmei put a finger to his lips. Su Xiaonan understood and sealed his mouth. Xue Ranmei waved his hand a little as he crept away, and Su Xiaonan followed.
"Over there!" Qing Wanjing pointed. The other disciples were alarmed and ran towards the direction of Xue Ranmei and Su Xiaonan. The rustling sound made when they moved gave out their location, so even if Qing Wanjing was muted, everyone would've known.
'This is bad! This is bad!'
"Sect Leader, quick!" Su Xiaonan grabbed Xue Ranmei's arm.
'No offense, but do I need you to tell me?!'
The two were now using their lightness skills again, while the disciples also chased with their lightness skills. Because they weren't as skilled, and one of the young boys was injured by a needle shot by Su Xiaonan, they ended up stopping. Xue Ranmei and Su Xiaonan averted this risky chase.
"Wanxing, it hurts so bad!" It turns out the person shot was Qing Wanjing.
Qing Wanxing took a look at the needle in his stomach. Qing Wanjing reached his hand to pull it out, but Qing Wanxing stopped him. "Don't. We are not sure how it works. Let's send a signal to one of the seniors."
Qing Wanxing took out a tiny cylindrical wooden tube and squeezed it once towards the sky. A burst of light shot up, followed by a firecracker. Depending on the severity of the situation, different colors were used. In this case, the most dangerous red color would be used, since they suspected that they had just run into Xue Ranmei, while a disciple was even shot by the demon.
[Some distance away in another part of the forest.]
"Young Master, look!" Qin Conglin pointed towards a red firecracker in the sky.
Qing Qingxian raised his head. "A red signal."
Qin Conglin, "It seems not too far from us, should we go?"
"We must go." Qing Qingxian clenched his sword a formed a teleportation spell. The two vanished into the air instantly.
[1]Tomato and fried eggs (柿子炒鸡蛋) is a very common Chinese dish.
[2]1 Zhang (丈) = 3.33 meters
[3]Lightness skills (轻功): I'm sure you all know about all that flying/anti-gravity behavior from Historical/Wuxia/Xianxia C-Dramas XD.
[4]Shushu (叔叔) is the paternal uncle who's younger than the dad.