Chapter 2: Start Over, Just Want to Run Away

Lin Xiao had been dying from his master’s obsessive love one second.

The next second, he opened his eyes to a familiar place.

Before him were several hundred disciples in uniform attire, a dark sea of them filling the square.

“Is this the initiation ceremony…? Did I just get a game restart?”

Lin Xiao muttered under his breath.

Then his gaze fell on his hands.

The hands were still the same hands.

But what the hell was that on the inside of his wrist?

He rolled up his sleeve in one motion.

On his left wrist, right where his pulse beat, there was now a faint pink mark the size of a fingernail, shaped like a flower petal.

Lin Xiao rubbed it hard with his right thumb until the skin turned red, but the mark didn’t change at all.

An absurd thought popped into his head.

‘Could it be… a death counter? One petal for every death. Collect seven and summon a Divine Dragon?’

Lin Xiao shuddered.

That kind of collection gacha was one he definitely didn’t want to play.

“Calm down.”

He took a deep breath and forcibly pushed away the dangerous thoughts about his master.

“You’re the guy who has the script in his hands.”

His eyes instinctively scanned the crowd.

If this was the start of the game, then she should be here.

The next second, his gaze locked onto a corner.

A small figure in light purple clothes stood there, looking completely out of place among the others.

The girl had her head down, her whole body shrinking into the shadow of a stone pillar at the edge of the square, her fingers nervously drawing circles in front of her.

Xiao Luoyi.

His junior sister.

Compared to her in the harem ending, right now she was weak, pitiful, and helpless.

But once she went dark, she’d smile sweetly at you and say, “Big brother, I like you the most.”

Then she’d gently sever your tendons, so you couldn’t go anywhere.

Lin Xiao felt a phantom pain in his limbs.

It wasn’t that he was afraid of Xiao Luoyi herself, though.

To be honest, among the dark transformation scenes of those celestial maidens, the junior sister’s yandere tendencies could even be considered tame.

She was just too afraid of losing Lin Xiao.

Afraid to the point where she’d use any means necessary to keep him forever in her grasp.

What really made his hands and feet go cold was the woman in white standing behind and to the side of the main seat on the high platform, her eyes closed in meditation.

His master, Ling Qingxue.

“How did she even do that?”

Lin Xiao’s mind uncontrollably replayed that imprisonment ending.

‘One second she’s saying ‘I’ve taken care of everything for you, disciple,’ and the next second, she’s offed me…’

He shook his head violently, flinging that overly vivid memory away.

Couldn’t think about it anymore.

The priority now was to turn himself into a ghost, and then run away.

“Right, run away.”

Lin Xiao’s gaze instantly hardened.

‘This cultivation world is huge. There’s no way I can’t find a peaceful corner to lie low in until the end of time!’

The first task was to lower his presence.

Especially in front of his master and those future yanderes.

His presence had to be reduced to negative.

He silently shuffled half a step deeper into the crowd, using the burly guys in front as human shields to block the view from the high platform.

Perfect.

Presence minus one.

Second, he had to maintain a safe distance from all potential yandere sources.

His gaze unconsciously drifted back to Xiao Luoyi in the shadow of the pillar.

He remembered her backstory: born in a small mortal kingdom, her special spirit root brought a catastrophic destruction upon her nation.

She wandered, displaced, until his master saved her.

When she first joined the sect, she was withdrawn, and often suffered exclusion and bullying from some fellow disciples.

‘So, right now, she’s still in the self-isolation phase after being beaten down by the world.’

Lin Xiao analyzed internally.

‘There should still be a decent buffer period before she becomes completely dependent on me.’

According to the original plot, his first key interaction with Xiao Luoyi was during the thunderstorm night event three days later.

‘As long as I don’t meddle that day…’

Lin Xiao calculated rapidly.

‘I should be able to nip that line in the bud.’

What a great plan.

Except his eyes were still glued to the little girl like a lock-on attachment.

This game did have reward CG for getting the girl.

Those in the know, knew.

‘Tsk. Gotta keep the big head in control of the little head, bro.’

Lin Xiao forced himself to look away.

“Lin Xiao!”

A loud shout yanked him out of his forced calm.

He looked up.

The entire square of several hundred people was looking around at each other, confused.

The outer sect elder pointed at the register in his hand, his brow furrowed.

“Lin Xiao! Who is Lin Xiao? Come up to the stage and receive your disciple token and basic supplies!”

‘…’

‘Well, screw this.’

Lin Xiao felt like his path of lying low was starting off with a catastrophic crash.

That one shout from the elder exposed him, didn’t it?

Lin Xiao could only steel himself, push through the crowd, and walk up to the high platform step by step.

“Disciple is here.”

He kept his head down, took a Storage Pouch and a jade plaque the size of a palm from the elder, wanting only to grab the stuff and turn around to bail.

“Hold on.”

A cool, clear voice rang out.

It wasn’t loud, but it instantly silenced the entire square.

A white-clad celestial maiden had somehow appeared three paces in front of him.

“You are Lin Xiao?”

“Yes…”

“Raise your head.”

“…Yes.”

Lin Xiao forced himself to stay calm and met those seemingly gentle eyes.

Ling Qingxue studied him for a moment.

“Your bone structure is passable. But your mind seems somewhat unsettled. The path of cultivation begins with cultivating the heart. Avoid impatience, and avoid… escape.”

Those last two words clearly drilled into Lin Xiao’s ears.

Cold sweat broke out on his back, instantly soaking his clothes.

‘Did she see that I want to run? No way. This is just the beginning.’

“Disciple… will heed the elder’s teaching.”

Lin Xiao replied carefully.

Ling Qingxue looked at him quietly.

A faint smile suddenly curled at the corner of her mouth.

“Go on.”

Lin Xiao walked down from the high platform with stiff limbs.

Even when he squeezed back into the crowd, his legs were still a little weak.

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

His heart was still pounding.

“‘Avoid escape,’ Master. I sure hope you meant that about cultivating the heart…’

He looked down at the Storage Pouch in his hand.

Inside was the standard newbie starter pack: ten Low-grade Spirit Stones, a few bottles of pills, a copy of the Basic Qi Guidance Technique, and a change of sect uniform.

Pretty shabby.

He continued rummaging through the Storage Pouch.

Suddenly, in a hidden pocket, his fingers touched a small, smooth object.

It was a fingernail-sized Jade Pendant, carved into a cloud pattern, tied with a red string.

It looked very ordinary.

“What the hell is this?”

‘I don’t remember writing this line of code?’

‘It’s not some kind of all-in-one tracker, eavesdropper, and emotion monitor, is it? The must-have item for house arrest?’

Lin Xiao was now jumping at shadows.

‘Whatever it is, I’ll just pretend it doesn’t exist. Out of sight, out of mind. Out of sight, out of mind.’

Lin Xiao took a deep breath and shoved the Jade Pendant to the very bottom of the Storage Pouch.

‘Once I save up enough capital to run…’

‘I’m done serving you all!’

By the pillar, Xiao Luogi was still shrinking in the shadows, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her sleeve.

Her light purple eyes occasionally lifted, quickly sweeping over Lin Xiao, then swiftly dropping back down.