Chapter 82
The system could hear the conversation between Jiang Lin and Jiang Rou. It also possessed a limited detection function. Though not as emotionally nuanced as a real person, the system found it strange that Jiang Lin was aware of its existence.
When Jiang Rou first asked why the system insisted on killing Jiang Lin and Wei Yunzhao, the system chose silence and didn't respond.
Jiang Rou was terrified that the dagger in Jiang Lin’s hand would slit her throat and end her life. In desperation, she cried out, “I don’t want to die! System, System, please tell me why! I’m begging you, just tell me!”
Receiving no response, Jiang Rou was on the verge of tears.
Jiang Lin used the dagger to cut off a strand of Jiang Rou’s hair and blew it into her face. He said, “I know you can hear me. I assume there’s a limit to how many hosts you can bind with, right? Jiang Rou must be your second host. Tell me, if I kill Jiang Rou, will you dissipate from her mind, or will you have a chance to find a third host?”
“But it doesn’t matter. No matter how many hosts you bind with, your mission will always target me. I’ll soon know who your next host is, and I’ll deal with them the same way I’m dealing with Jiang Rou, by killing them.”
“You can bind as many hosts as you want. I’ll kill every single one until you vanish from this world completely.”
Jiang Lin’s words sent chills down Jiang Rou’s spine. To him, killing seemed as ordinary and effortless as eating a meal. He could kill anyone he wanted, including her.
Growing increasingly frantic, Jiang Rou clutched her head and banged it with her hands. “System, say something! I’m begging you, just tell me! Jiang Lin really will kill me! I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die… Wuwu…”
She broke into sobs, overwhelmed by fear and helplessness.
Jiang Lin’s words also triggered a flicker of instinctive fear in the system. It began analyzing the possibility of his threats and quickly arrived at a 100% certainty, Jiang Lin would destroy it.
In reality, the system only had two chances to bind with a host. It could abandon the first host to seek a more suitable second one, but the drawback was that if the second host died before completing the mission, the system would be recalled by the main system and permanently deactivated as scrap.
The system hesitated. Jiang Rou, meanwhile, pleaded for its help, secretly bargaining in her mind: If I survive this, I’ll find a way to kill Jiang Lin.
The system knew that if Jiang Lin got the answers he wanted, he would never let it go. So, it couldn’t reveal anything. After multiple calculations, it concluded:
The system: You haven’t directly killed anyone, so Jiang Lin won’t execute you outright. If you stall until dawn, you’ll have a chance to turn the tables. Host, hold on, daybreak is near.
Jiang Rou instinctively glanced at the pitch-black sky outside. The system’s words eased her panic slightly, and she repeatedly confirmed in her mind, "System, Jiang Lin really won’t kill me?"
The system replied: Data analysis confirms that Jiang Lin has only killed assassins sent to murder him. There’s no record of him slaughtering innocents. He’s merely threatening you to break your will and force compliance.
“Okay,” Jiang Rou immediately agreed. “We won’t say anything. We just have to wait for dawn.”
Believing she wouldn’t die, Jiang Rou relaxed and began pretending to cry and beg the system, feigning terror.
But the difference between genuine fear and an act was obvious. Jiang Lin noticed Jiang Rou’s relieved demeanor and deduced that the system had fed her some new plan.
His eyes glinted coldly. “My patience is limited, and I don’t need an answer.”
He tapped Jiang Rou’s cheek with the dagger, then drew a light cut, adding a splash of crimson to her delicate face.
Softly, he asked, “Do you think I won’t kill you? Jiang Rou, have you forgotten what you’ve done? I still remember how you had someone plant a gu in Yunqi. And how you incited refugees to massacre innocent civilians and harass the Wei family. Did you really think I wouldn’t settle these debts?”
With a swift motion, he drove the dagger through Jiang Rou’s hand, pinning it to the bed.
A piercing scream tore from her throat as tears streamed down her face from the pain.
“I only spare good people. But someone as rotten as you, why would I let you live?” As he spoke, he yanked the dagger free and stabbed it into her thigh.
Jiang Rou could only shriek in agony, unable to form coherent words.
Even the system sensed Jiang Lin’s murderous intent. It realized he knew far more than it had assumed. Though Jiang Rou hadn’t killed anyone directly, her schemes had caused numerous deaths, and Jiang Lin was holding her accountable.
His voice rang out again, this time addressing the system: “How many more strikes do you think your host can endure?”
As the dagger hovered for another strike, Jiang Rou frantically shook her head. “N-no… please, don’t kill me…”
In her mind, she screamed in pain and begged the system: "System, I’m begging you, just tell him the answer! I’m going to die! Jiang Lin isn’t bluffing! He’ll really kill me! I don’t want to die!"
She regretted listening to the system. If Jiang Lin dared cripple the Fourth Prince, why would he hesitate to kill her?
Ignoring her pleas, Jiang Lin stabbed through her other palm. Blood soaked the bedsheets as Jiang Rou writhed, now too broken to even beg.
Faced with annihilation, the system finally relented to preserve its last host, and itself. It instructed Jiang Rou to relay its words to Jiang Lin.
“Th-the system says… it’s the Cannon Fodder Rule… The plot demands that cannon fodder must die… or the storyline can’t proceed correctly…”
[Cannon Fodder Rule: A trope where minor characters exist solely to die for plot progression.]
From Jiang Rou’s fragmented explanation, Jiang Lin learned the truth: the system wanted him and Wei Yunzhao dead because they were designated cannon fodder in the original novel. Their survival would drastically alter the plot and the fates of the main characters.
To ensure the protagonists followed the original storyline and completed their missions, the system had to eliminate disruptive variables. It wasn’t just the system, every major character positioned against them, like Emperor Changde, Cao Lan’er, Zhao Qiuru, etc. would inevitably seek their deaths.
Antagonists were predisposed to despise them, with hatred escalating until it culminated in murder.
This was the novel world’s inherent malice, the reason so many people wanted them dead.
What trash writing.
Jiang Lin’s gaze turned icy.
“What happens if the system fails its mission?”
Jiang Rou relayed: “The world will collapse… Cannon fodder will take over, and all opposing characters will die.”
“Ah, that sounds perfect,” Jiang Lin replied, thoroughly pleased. Victory was non-negotiable now.
He pointed at himself. “We cannon fodder haven’t done anything wrong, yet your so-called protagonists have blood on their hands. So tell me, why do these protagonists deserve to exist? Are cannon fodder lives worthless?”
The system explained that this was the original novel’s framework. It merely followed the plot, ensuring the intended outcome. Once the protagonists succeeded, the story would retroactively justify all their actions, no matter how heinous.
No wonder.
Jiang Lin finally understood why Cao Lan’er faced no consequences for using bloodbone gu to kill two people, and why Yue Heng, a villain for opposing the protagonists, was deemed irredeemable. Even Cao Lan’er’s child-swapping scheme with Concubine Li was glossed over.
As someone who’d read the novel, Jiang Lin recognized how differently he perceived events now versus when he was just a reader.
The so-called protagonist halo is truly formidable.
[主角光环 (zhǔ jué guāng huán): Protagonist halo, plot armor ensuring main characters’ survival/success regardless of logic]
He felt like he’d gained a new perspective.
“Maybe the heavens couldn’t stand these trash protagonists slaughtering innocents, so they sent me.”
Having gotten his answers, Jiang Lin retrieved a small bamboo tube from his sleeve. He shook it in front of Jiang Rou. “Mother-child gu. Remember? You had someone plant this in a five-year-old child.”
[子母蛊 (zǐ mǔ gǔ): Mother-child gu, parasitic worm pair where the child gu’s actions are controlled by the mother gu.]
The tube contained two gu worms, one large and one small. Jiang Lin implanted the larger one in the Fourth Prince earlier. Now, he placed the smaller one into the wound on Jiang Rou’s palm.
“I’m a kind person, so I’ll let you and the Fourth Prince die together, star-crossed lovers, reunited on the Yellow Springs Road.”
[黄泉路 (huáng quán lù) - Yellow Springs Road: The mythical path to the underworld in Chinese folklore]
[亡命鸳鸯 (wángmìng yuānyang): lit. "Fugitive mandarin ducks"; fig. A couple facing certain death together]
The gu worm, drawn to blood, quickly burrowed into Jiang Rou’s flesh.
“Since the system cooperated, I won’t kill you myself. I’ll let your rightful executioner do the job.”
Jiang Rou thrashed about, desperately trying to claw the gu out of her hand, but it wouldn't budge.
Jiang Lin knocked her unconscious, wiped his dagger clean, and left with Chu Ba.
Chu Ba was bursting with questions. He hadn’t understood a word about the “system” Jiang Lin and Jiang Rou mentioned. He kept glancing at Jiang Lin, hoping for an explanation.
Jiang Lin finally spoke. “Chu Ba, you must be curious…”
Before he could finish, Chu Ba nodded vigorously. Extremely curious.
Jiang Lin continued, “…why we didn’t encounter any of the Fourth Prince’s men in the courtyard earlier?”
Chu Ba: “…”
He shot Jiang Lin an aggrieved look. Young Master was toying with him!
Jiang Lin pretended not to notice and explained, “Because they all went to the Wei mansion.”
“There’s another show waiting at home. If we hurry, we might catch the tail end of it.”
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