WBICDPH Chapter 54 Part 1

Chapter 54 — Past Events

After leaving Jinlin City, the man carried Lin Jin all the way out beyond the gates. Beneath a large tree outside the city, a young girl in red paced anxiously in circles. The moment she spotted him, her eyes lit up, and she waved.

“Senior Brother!!!”

Hua Nanzhi ran toward them. When she got close and saw the blood covering Lin Jin, her face instantly turned pale.

“Hey, Lin Jin! You’re not dead, are you? Senior Brother, he’s not dead, right?! You can’t die! If you die, how am I supposed to explain this to Elder Yu and Sect Master Xun?! Sect Master Xun will lock me in the Heavenly Training Grounds for a hundred years! Help! Save Lin Jin! Lin Jin, you can’t die!!!”

Lin Jin hadn’t fully regained consciousness. Still groggy, he felt as if Miss Hua’s booming voice was haunting him like a nightmare, ringing right beside his ear.

He tried to speak and coughed a few times, but the movement pulled at the wound in his abdomen. The pain forced his eyes shut as he endured it in silence.

When the pain finally eased a little and his mind cleared, he realized he seemed to be cradled in someone’s arms.

He jumped in shock.

“Don’t move. Your injuries are severe,” the man said gently, his voice calm.

Lin Jin struggled to open his eyes.

The young man beside him carried a faint chill like frost, yet his presence felt warm and steady. His features were refined and otherworldly, his expression untouched by worldly concerns. Earlier, Lin Jin had heard Hua Nanzhi call him “Senior Brother.”

Searching his memory, Lin Jin tested the title hesitantly. “Senior Brother…?”

“Mm.”

As expected.

Someone addressed as “Senior Brother” who could rescue him so easily from demonic cultivators—there was probably only one person capable of that: the famous Senior Brother of Yanyu Mountain, Xiao Yunkong.

In the cultivation world, there were currently two peerless prodigies—both legendary sword cultivators said to appear only once in ten thousand years, both believed to be closest to achieving ascension. One was the undeniable female lead of this story, and the other was Xiao Yunkong himself.

Xiao Yunkong was a direct disciple of Sanzong Yu and the foremost disciple of the Nanqian Sect. In both cultivation and seniority, he stood among the very best. Since Lin Jin was half-affiliated with the Nanqian Sect already, calling him “Senior Brother” alongside Hua Nanzhi wasn’t inappropriate. Still, Lin Jin vaguely remembered that in the original story, this Senior Brother wasn’t exactly a heroic character, and his ending hadn’t been good. But with his body and head throbbing in pain, Lin Jin had no energy to think further.

Truthfully, Lin Jin felt awkward being carried like this as a grown man. But his bones felt like they’d fallen apart, and there was a hole through his abdomen—there was no point pretending to be tough. He gave up resisting and let himself be a useless lump in Xiao Yunkong’s arms.

As his tense mind relaxed, overwhelming drowsiness swept over him. Just as he felt himself slipping back into unconsciousness, he suddenly jolted awake.

“My… my dog… where’s my dog?”

“…?”

Xiao Yunkong looked confused.

Since he didn’t understand what Lin Jin meant, he glanced at Hua Nanzhi. She slapped her forehead, looked around, then quickly picked up the little ball of fluff that had followed them out of the city and was now sitting nearby.

“Your dog! Here—Qiuqiu, hurry and see your master one last time! Don’t let him leave with regrets, wuwuwu…!”

“…It’s not that serious!”

Lin Jin felt speechless, but he had no strength left to explain. Using his last bit of energy, he hugged the puppy tightly.

Only then did his heart finally relax. He nuzzled into the warm fluff resting against his neck and whispered—so quietly only the puppy could hear.

“You bad dog… you didn’t trust me.

“I told you I could protect you, didn’t I?

“Next time… don’t wander off on your own…”

His voice grew softer and softer. Breathing in the scent of fire and grass from the little puppy’s fur, he finally sank into darkness.

It hurt—more than anything he had ever experienced. The pain felt as if it were tearing both his body and soul apart. In a peaceful modern world, after all, no one expected thorny vines to suddenly burst from the ground and stab through their side.

When would he be able to go back? When could he leave behind this life of walking on blades?

He wanted to go home…

“Xiao Mei! Wait—he was fine when he left! Who the hell injured my Xiao Mei like this?!” Mo Yuzi shouted hoarsely nearby.

Not long after, Lin Jin faintly heard another familiar scream in the distance.

“Ah! How did he end up like this?! Xiao Yunkong, Hua Nanzhi—and that kid surnamed Han—where is he?! You’d better explain how my disciple ended up like this!”

The noise around him blurred together. Sometimes he couldn’t even make out what people were saying. But he could hear their worry and panic. He could feel the warmth when someone held his hand.

They cared about him.

They loved him.

Compared to that, even the pain of his injuries seemed less unbearable.

But what about his original world? Would anyone there care that he was gone? If he died quietly, would anyone notice… would anyone cry for him?

Messy memories and dark thoughts filled his mind, but one truth stood clear: from childhood until now, Lin Jin had never been a child who was loved.

He had no clear memories of his parents—only two faint, blurry figures. As far back as he could remember, he had lived at his aunt’s house, always feeling like a burden.

Because it wasn’t truly his home, he spoke and acted cautiously. He never dared express his thoughts to the adults, never dared compete or argue, always afraid that if he made a mistake, even his place there would be taken away.

The most rebellious thing he ever did was take care of a dirty little stray puppy near his aunt’s home.