Chapter 7: He Took My Script

Xu Ziqing, one of the four main protagonists of 《Borrowed Sword》.

He stood less than 1.7 meters tall, with a doll-like face that leaned toward youthfulness, and his features were remarkably delicate.

At the moment, because of his burning anxiety, his face was tinged with red. With that flush, he appeared even more refined—truly brimming with “zero energy,” vivid and full of life.

Right now, the four men from the Patrol Bureau had blocked him completely. No matter how he explained, they simply wouldn’t let him pass, bombarding him with all kinds of questions.

One of them even suggested cutting the nonsense and just taking him back first.

“It’ll be midnight very soon,” Xu Ziqing tightened his grip slightly on the umbrella handle.

This was such a rare opportunity—he didn’t want to miss it.

Just a few days ago, he had met a storyteller.

That man told him, “At midnight tonight, head to Biyou Terrace at the foot of the Wumeng Mountains. Someone will come to receive you and lead you into the Dao Gate!”

Once those words were spoken, the plain-looking storyteller vanished without a trace.

There was no doubt—he was a powerful cultivator!

And for someone from Mirror Country, who wouldn’t yearn to join the Dao Gate?

That was one of the four great sects of Mirror Country on the Eastern Continent—and once the greatest among them!

What’s more... the legendary sword was said to be within the Dao Gate as well!

For that reason, Xu Ziqing had spent the past few days on the road, traveling through hardships and suffering endlessly.

Tonight, even though torrential rain was pouring down, it did nothing to cool the fire in his heart.

“I want to join the Dao Gate! I want to train in the sword! I want to become a sword cultivator!”

Since the storyteller had instructed him not to arrive too early at Biyou Terrace at the foot of Wumeng Mountain—no more than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn—but that he absolutely must not be late, Xu Ziqing had been timing everything down to the second.

“Opportunities depend on heavenly timing. I understand,” Xu Ziqing felt he understood it well.

But what he couldn’t figure out was—how could he run into people from the Patrol Bureau in the middle of the night?

It was almost midnight! Midnight!

Moreover, judging by their earlier conversation, someone had just died in this dense forest tonight—another colleague from the Patrol Bureau whom they didn’t seem to like much?

“Who the hell commits murder on a rainy night like this!” Xu Ziqing, desperate not to miss his opportunity, instantly grew to hate that person.

Even though the Mirror Court had waned in power and the four great sects now dominated the Eastern Continent, it was still the court!

Killing someone from the Patrol Bureau?

—Was there no law anymore!?

Time ticked away by the second; right now, all he wanted was to get away.

In the end, under a hint from one of the men, Xu Ziqing handed over all the silver he had on him before they finally let him go.

The delicate-looking young man walked forward a few steps under his umbrella, only to hear the four men behind him chatting without the slightest care.

“Tsk tsk tsk, with that tender face and soft skin, Xue Hu will definitely like this one,” one of them said, letting out a couple of sinister chuckles.

“Then why’d you let him go? If Xue Hu has a taste for this kind, doesn’t that make him even more suspicious?” another asked in a low voice.

“It definitely wasn’t him. I checked just now. Although most of the footprints had been washed away by the heavy rain, there was one particularly deep print. Someone probably stomped hard in that spot, and the footprint was much larger than his shoe.”

“Then why did you still...”

“It’s the middle of the damn night, raining like hell, and the one who died was that bastard Xue Hu. We can’t just come here for nothing.” That man tossed the money pouch in his hand.

“Ha! Hahaha!” The four of them laughed together, utterly shameless.

Xu Ziqing, walking ahead quickly, clenched his teeth in anger and tightened his grip even more on the umbrella handle.

“Damn court!” he cursed inwardly.

“Those Patrol Bureau bastards—they deserved to die!”

Xu Ziqing walked faster and faster.

Once he had gone far enough, he broke into a run, tossing the umbrella behind him as he ran.

The reason he hadn’t run off immediately was that he feared those Patrol Bureau scum would grow suspicious and really drag him back for interrogation.

“There’s still time—I must make it in time!” Xu Ziqing ran faster and faster, giving it his all.

By the time he reached the largest tree in Biyou Terrace, there was just a sliver of time left before midnight.

“Not late—not late...” he panted, face pale and body drenched.

“When it strikes midnight, someone from the cultivation world will come to fetch me, right?” His heart burned with anticipation.

...

...

A youth full of unwillingness swore at Biyou Terrace that he would join the Dao Gate no matter what.

A man full of hidden motives, floating in the air, was speechless—he really hadn’t wanted to join the Dao Gate.

At this moment, Chu Huaixu’s identity remained unclear, but he would rather go to the notoriously perverse 【Spring and Autumn Mountain】, one of the four great sects, than to the Dao Gate.

When he played 《Borrowed Sword》, his sect had been Spring and Autumn Mountain.

Though the place was filled with perverts, he had still thrived there, to the point where he occasionally wondered if he was a latent pervert himself.

“As one of the four great sects, Spring and Autumn Mountain is no weaker than the Dao Gate.”

“Besides, I’m more familiar with it—I can snatch plenty of opportunities there.”

“In terms of development prospects, the only downside is that both World Protagonists of the Eastern Continent are in the Dao Gate.”

Players had discussed this on the forums, and from that, it was clear that in future storylines, the Dao Gate was likely to reclaim its title as the top sect.

The long-legged beauty Han Shuangjiang in front of him—hugging her legs could definitely carry him to success.

Just then, a system prompt rang in his ear: “【Ding! You have successfully escaped pursuit from the Patrol Bureau. Mission complete. Reward: 100 experience points.】”

Chu Huaixu was still flying through the air and felt an overwhelming frustration: “I’m already flying this damn high—of course I escaped!”

He thought this Mission System was idiotic and began to miss the naughty AI customer service he had once trained.

Besides, he had just secretly observed Li Chunsong and Han Shuangjiang to confirm whether the system prompts were audible only to himself.

Once he confirmed that, he let out a long breath of relief.

“After all, this is a transmigration—it’s obviously different from when I was just playing a game. Caution is the key to longevity,” Chu Huaixu thought to himself.

Though his gameplay had always been flashy, deep down, he was actually a cautious and meticulous person.

In fact, without that caution and precision, this Virtual Male Model would never have been able to navigate among so many female bosses.

He had even dared to take on a job involving twin sisters and managed to maintain both relationships well.

After all, to love someone was to love everything about her—including her sister.

At this moment, Chu Huaixu deeply suspected that Li Chunsong had misunderstood something.

“That previous exposé said that Han Shuangjiang and Xu Ziqing were both brought back to the Dao Gate by Li Chunsong.”

“Together, together, together...” Chu Huaixu began to mull over those two words and once again looked toward Han Shuangjiang beside him.

A bad feeling began to rise in his heart, along with a vague suspicion.

“This is bad! I’ve become a ‘World Protagonist’!”

...

...

Chu Huaixu suspected that he had picked up someone else’s script.

“I can only take one step at a time,” he thought.

He just didn’t know where Xu Ziqing was now, or what he was doing.

A deep sense of exhaustion swept over him, enveloping his whole body.

The sudden transmigration had already left him unsettled, and he felt no sense of belonging in this world.

Then came everything that had happened in the rainy night—one event after another.

Fortunately, he had always been bold yet meticulous, so he didn’t feel helpless, just very tired.

“Anyway, I didn’t say anything to you. I only gave my name. If anything goes wrong, it’s your own responsibility,” Chu Huaixu thought as he looked at Li Chunsong’s back in midair.

At this point, he could only hope that all of this was a beautiful misunderstanding rather than a disastrous twist.

He was even starting to adopt a self-destructive mindset.

After all, there was definitely something suspicious about his “identity.” According to Xue Hu, his goal in coming here was to infiltrate the Dao Gate.

“Well, haven’t I successfully infiltrated it now?”

There was no such thing as a truly optimistic person in the world—only people who could take things lightly enough.

The Dao Gate’s location was called 【Mountains Beyond Mountains】. It wasn’t the name of a single mountain but rather a collective term for many peaks.

Mountains Beyond Mountains was shrouded in clouds and mist, which were actually part of a mountain-protecting formation said to be impenetrable even by a cultivator of the eighth realm.

Li Chunsong wore an elder’s token at his waist, which naturally allowed him to bring others in and out freely.

And so, the three of them landed in front of a courtyard in the outer mountains.

...

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