It was early morning. The subway was full of people in suits. Most of them were glancing briefly at the clock hanging from the ceiling and counting the seconds. Some were stamping their feet on the ground, making the silence even more unbearable. Finally, the sound of two strong metals scraping was heard. The tension in the atmosphere eased a little and people began to gather behind the yellow line. Then the train stopped with a shrill sound and opened its doors. Large crowds started to board the train at once. It was very cramped and they were forced to push each other. The seats filled quickly, but many people remained standing. Soon, an announcement was made and the train departed. It started to move to its next stop.
Yi Xian had managed to find a seat and was sitting down. He had black hair. His bangs were messy. His thick black-framed glasses hid his face. He was wearing a loose suit. When you looked at the edges of his clothes, you could see his emaciated flesh and pale skin. His red tie was tied crookedly and tight. He was wearing a backpack and sneakers that did not match his outfit. The only difference from everyone here was that he was a little more sloppy. Other than that, he looked pretty ordinary. He was a normal office worker.
He hugged his bag tightly and opened his phone. He opened the homepage of the novel he had been following for a while. The name of the series was 'Rise of the Empire'. It was an eastern fantasy novel. Mystical creatures ruled the world. These creatures could use Qi from birth. They were immortal and powerful. On the contrary, humanity was unaware of Qi and was much weaker than other races. Humanity established 7 dynasties. Each dynasty began to worship some mystical creatures for protection. They declared them as guardian gods.
They constantly fought to gain superiority over each other using the name of their guardian gods. It was a time when the smell of corpses could be heard in the streets and human blood colored the rivers. Crops could not be harvested and the people were starving. During this unstable period, the main character Qin was born as an orphan. He grew up fighting for food on the streets. He was drafted into the army and sent to war. He learned to use Qi in a life-or-death situation. He became the first human to cultivate. He soon showed great success in battle. He rose through the ranks one by one. He transformed from an ordinary soldier to a great general. Qin later unified the seven dynasties and became the emperor.
During this time, he taught people to use Qi and rejected the guardian gods. The position of the emperor was deified. Humanity was now challenging the mystical beings. This meant a great change in the balance of power. Because humanity had long been considered a slave race. Qin's authority over their lands had to be recognized. Thus, humanity would establish a legitimate empire.
The four seas gathered. The dragon kings and elders were meeting. They were the guardians and rulers of the mystical world. Their words were law. Therefore, every decision made by the dragons was of great importance to the human race. During the meeting, humanity was accused of disrupting the existing natural balance. They learned Qi by going against the will of Heaven and gained power that they should not have. It was claimed that humanity had become demonic beings. According to the elders, humanity was created to serve and should remain that way. But there was one person who opposed this idea and supported humanity. The dragon king of the eastern sea supported humanity, causing the negotiations to drag on.
While the uncertain situation of the human race continued, the Ancestral Treasure appeared. It was a miraculous monument that was said to be able to grant any wish. It shook the entire mystical world. A great war broke out over the monument. Many races suffered heavy losses. Humanity's army was weakened. But the dragons suffered the most damage. Half of the dragon race, which was said to be invincible, was wiped out. The only obstacle to Qin's obtaining the treasure was the Eastern Dragon King. The ally turned into the enemy.
A fight to the death began with the dragon king of the eastern sea. He was the last boss to be defeated before the end of the book. Unfortunately, the result of the battle had not yet been announced. The new chapter would come this week. But the author had already missed the promised time. So Yi Xian would occasionally open his phone to check if the page had been updated. He scrolled down the page a few times. There was no news. He turned off his phone. He waited calmly for his stop. When he arrived at his destination, he took his bag on his back and stood up. He took a step out of the train door.
He felt the ground beneath his feet shift. The surrounding colors faded and his vision went dark. He was suddenly wet! It was like a flood was falling from above and accompanied by a strong wind. The driving force was so great that he had difficulty standing still. He stuck to the ground. He felt the mud and tree roots under him. He held on instinctively.
Then his eyes turned towards the only source of light. He raised his head towards the sky. His eyes widened in shock behind the wet glass.
In the middle of the storm was a dragon the size of a skyscraper. Dark clouds surrounded it. White lightning was shooting from everywhere. When he opened his mouth, his skin was shining and he was spewing out blue flames. When he looked in the direction he turned his head, he saw a golden light. He was like a grain of dust next to the dragon. But he didn't shake at all. The golden light quickly moved towards the dragon. The dragon opened its mouth, wanting to swallow. The golden light rippled. Suddenly, a bright slit moved towards the dragon's body. This light surrounded everywhere.
When Yi Xian regained his awareness, he realized that he was running. He was running away as fast as he could. There was no obvious source of light, and he had difficulty seeing his surroundings. Sometimes he would hit trees, sometimes he would slip because of the mud. His skin was covered in cuts, and his suit was worn out. Still, he continued to run with all his might.
What he had experienced was ridiculous. But he was aware of the situation. The golden light was the main character Qin, and he was fighting the dragon king of the Eastern Sea. He had migrated to the novel 'Rise of the Empire'. It was a book where constant war and intrigue took place. The lives lost were countless. Even though the human empire had settled into order, it didn't mean the danger had diminished. There were monsters that could split mountains and rivers, and they couldn't be said to love the human race. If he encountered one, he wouldn't be able to survive. Moreover, he had no tricks. He hadn't migrated to a handsome and rich corpse. He was with his weak and defenseless body. He couldn't act like a prophet using the knowledge of the book. This was the last scenes of the book. He hadn't been tied to any system. He could only rely on himself to survive.
Fortunately, the war had taken all the weak creatures away from Qin and the dragon king of the Eastern Sea. He would be safe for a while. Still, he had to reach the human race's lands as soon as possible. The only problem was that he didn't know the direction. The storm hadn't stopped, and he could barely see ahead. He could tell from the slope of the ground that he was on a mountain. So he had to go down first. Then, from what he remembered, he had to find the east. It was said that the human lands were located in the east.
Tremor!
Yi Xian felt the ground shaking. It seemed like the mountain was splitting in two. He couldn't stand and fell. He hugged a tree tightly until the earthquake was over. When he got back up, he had a hard time standing still. His knees were shaking. His heart felt like it was going to jump out of his chest. He took a breath to calm himself down. Then he continued forward. As he was going down, he noticed fallen trees and dragged grass. A landslide had occurred and crushed everything in front of him. Yi Xian felt very lucky at that moment. Fortunately, he was alive.
But the thought that he could die appeared in his mind. It worried him. Would he be so lucky next time? Would he be able to get down safely? Even if he did, he might encounter monsters? How would he escape? Could he really find people? Maybe he wasn't making the right decisions?
Yi Xian realized that he was doubting himself. This was definitely dangerous. He tried to direct his mind to more positive thoughts. Rice cakes! Rainbows! Puppies! Then he started thinking again. Reaching the human race was the main goal. But it was dangerous when he was alone and mostly depended on luck. He hadn't thought much about it while running away. Now it made more sense to run towards the main character. Qin would take him to the human lands. If he could gain his sympathy on the way, he could even grab his thigh. Wasn't that the best solution?
Yi Xian started running in the opposite direction of the mountain. But before he could go very far, the ground started shaking. The soil beneath his feet shifted. There was terror in his eyes.
Tremor!
.
.
.
His mind seemed frozen. Everything was very blurry. Yet an incredible pain was forcing him to wake up. He lifted his upper body with difficulty. The layer of soil that had accumulated on top of him slowly dispersed. The pain began to intensify as he regained awareness. It felt like someone was squeezing his right leg. He shook off the mud on his lower side. When he touched it, he saw that the soil was soaked with blood. He looked at his leg and saw a cut. The wound didn't look deep and the bleeding had long since stopped. Still, there was a risk of being attacked. He raised his left arm to reach for his bag.
He felt a sharp pain. Then he gently took off his jacket and rolled up his shirt to look at his arm. His arm was bruised. The crack could have been worse, a fracture. He felt like he had lost an arm and a leg. If he didn't get the necessary treatment, the limbs would rot. Worse, it could have caused him to lose his life. He had to find the main character urgently, but how could he move like this? Even if he did, would he be able to catch up with the main character?
His mind was filled with thoughts again. His breathing started to become irregular. His cheeks became wet. Yi Xian tried to control himself. He was trying to hold back his tears. He was forcing his breathing to slow down. His heartbeat accelerated, blood started to rush to his brain. His face turned red because his breathing was cut off. His eyes were about to pop out of their sockets. He tried to calm his mind. He tried to regulate his breathing. He slowly returned to normal.
He convinced himself that he could be saved. He reached for his bag with his right arm. One of the bag's handles had broken off while being dragged, damaging the fabric. Fortunately, there were no holes big enough to cause the contents to fall out. He took out a water bottle and put it aside. He took off his shirt and tie. He tore the shirt apart and cut it into long strips. He poured some of the water from the water bottle into a cloth and cleaned the wound. Then he wrapped it tightly with the torn cloth.
His right arm went to the ground where he was standing. He dug through the mud and found broken pieces of twigs. They were as long and straight as they could be. He tied the pieces of twig to his arm with his tie. He had to keep it steady. Then he took his bag in front of him and took out its contents. As expected, the computer was broken. The documents were crumpled. They were no longer functional. He threw both of them away. He took out his phone. The screen was broken but it still worked. The battery was also full, so he put it in his pocket. The rest were pens, a charger, a water bottle, a glasses case, a lighter, a pack of cigarettes, and his wallet. He put everything back in the bag. But first he took out a pair of glasses from the glasses case. These were his old glasses, which he kept with him just in case. He decided to use them since he had lost his glasses in the landslide. The numbers were a bit different, but it would definitely do.
He put on his glasses and looked around. He was in a crevice. The soil that had accumulated around him wasn't enough to lift him up. So he carefully climbed down from the soil he was standing on. In the meantime, he found a branch that he could use as a third leg and used it for support.
There were only two ways to go, and it was hard to tell for either one. There was no exit in sight. He could only guess. He didn't think much and chose the right. After walking for a while, he saw a cave. There was no other way in sight. He decided to turn back to try the other way. But when his eyes met the cave once more, he felt a strong desire to go there. It was as if he was being invited.
Yi Xian started thinking. He could stay here tonight. There was no need to rush anyway. Wouldn't it be better to rest for a while and then set off safely in the morning. There might be wild animals outside. It would be dangerous to encounter them at night. He quickly changed his mind and went inside. The light faded as he went. He turned on his phone to see what was in front of him. After taking a few steps, he noticed that the ground was wet. He turned his phone around. The red liquid was everywhere. He looked in the direction it was flowing.
He saw a corpse. Its back was against the wall. As he got closer, he noticed its chest rising and falling slowly. It was definitely alive.