March Into Hell

"Get lost." Li Qingming did not hesitate to brandish his sword in warning at Cai Zhixin's pledge of loyalty.

Scared backward several steps, Cai Zhixin only shivered and said after confirming he was out of range, "Then, brother, from now on we'll each walk our own path, I guarantee I won't bother you again!"

"I think you're already planning to bother me." Li Qingming said as he casually flipped the saw-toothed sword in his hand like a pen, "Your eyes haven't left this, you want to snatch it, right?"

"No, no, no..." Terrified, Cai Zhixin shook his head desperately, "Brother, let's not fuss..."

"It's fine, I'll give it to you."

"???"

No one expected Li Qingming to actually turn his hand over and toss a saw-toothed sword to Han Chun's side.

"He's still alive."

After leaving that statement behind, Li Qingming turned to tidy up the chairs.

After a brief moment of stupefaction, everyone looked at Han Chun together and silently observed him for a dozen seconds or so.

Thump thump...

It's moving!

The body is really still breathing!

It's just too faint; one would have to watch closely for a long time to notice it.

In the midst of stunned silence, a girl with glasses suddenly shouted with bulging eyes, "His belly... his belly..."

Everyone accordingly looked over.

Three or four seconds later...

Thump thump...

There was an obvious bulge at the position of Han Chun's navel.

All of them shivered in unison.

Three or four seconds later.

Thump thump...

It bulged again, as if a fist was punching out from the inside.

After another three or four seconds,

Thump thump...

The cycle repeated.

By now, it had been established that this was a fixed rhythmic movement, but definitely not the rate of a heartbeat.

Some had noticed this earlier but thought it was just a natural response of a corpse, without realizing its inherent rhythm.

But it was clear that Li Qingming had noticed it long ago.

Most people only now realized this.

So that was why Li Qingming couldn't take his eyes off Han Chun.

It was then that Zheng Ruixing, kneeling beside Han Chun, finally slapped his head and shouted, "I remember now... Old Han begged us for help... there seems to be something inside of him..."

Speaking, Zheng Ruixing knelt forward, tremblingly grabbed the saw-toothed sword that Li Qingming had thrown away, and stared at the blade's teeth as he swallowed hard: "I understand..."

Not just him, everyone understood.

"Zheng Ruixing! Calm down!"

"Who knows what's inside..."

"Even if you want to perform some kind of surgery... just with a saw, that's not achievable, right..."

"It must be a monster inside; don't seek your own death!"

"Think about it, is Li Qingming really that kind-hearted?!"

"Let's discuss it first, let's talk it over properly!"

The crowd gathered around Zheng Ruixing and broke into an uproar.

On the other side, Li Qingming, without saying a word, replaced the chair leg with a spare and, after attaching the remaining saw-toothed sword to his belt, pulled up a chair and sat down next to Ji Xiaoxiang, grabbing her crooked ponytail.

"Open your eyes."

Even though Ji Xiaoxiang had actually been peeking the whole time, she pretended to be obedient and, with her hands down, rubbed her eyes before looking at the saw-toothed sword at Li Qingming's waist: "Are you going to use that on me too?"

"No, that's just for scaring people." Li Qingming said, casually pointing in a few directions, "There are seven or eight more convenient things hidden around, and I have three or five backups on me, don't worry, you won't be shortchanged."

Ji Xiaoxiang listened with a serene expression.

But Li Qingming felt something was off with her.

It seemed that because of her confidence in a comfortable ending, she had lost all sense of fear.

No, it's not good for her to be too comfortable; she needs some intensity to stay energetic.

So, Li Qingming suddenly turned his head, and the corner of his mouth twitched upward as he put on a terrifying demon face specially designed to frighten children.

"Huh? Making a face all of a sudden?" Ji Xiaoxiang looked at Li Qingming blankly, touching her chin and tilting her head, "Are you... playing with me?"

"..." After staring for a solid three seconds, Li Qingming rapidly turned back around.

For the first time in his life, he felt ashamed.

It started as a heat at the base of his neck.

Is it really not that scary?

Ji Xiaoxiang didn't react until he saw Li Qingming's blushing neck.

'Ah, he was trying to scare me!'

'I should be scared!'

'It's all over, the expression of embarrassment on Doctor Hannibal...'

'Intimidation is his most confident talent, he must be quite hurt now...'

'Quick, apologize...'

'No, no, apologizing too quickly might seem like a provocation...'

'But if I just leave it, will I cause him long-term psychological trauma? Will this scene suddenly appear before him years later every night before he sleeps, just like the cringe moments that play in my head like a slideshow when I lie in bed...'

'Hurry, hurry, make amends...'

With her eyes shut and fists clenched, Ji Xiaoxiang mustered her effort for a long while before finally letting out a series of forced screams: "Ahhh, terrifying, scared, frightening!"

Hearing such a perfunctory cry, Li Qingming immediately became annoyed and embarrassed.

He turned back, intending to really scare her this time, but to his delight, he discovered...

It's back, the fear production from the crooked ponytail is back.

She was just slow to react, or perhaps it was a sequela of childhood twitching.

Fine, let's stop here for today and not exploit her further; we have to maintain a mutually beneficial symbiosis.

As Li Qingming calmed down and sat back upright, a certain process cautiously emerged.

[Mr. Li Qingming, the process believes it is safe to appear now.]

[If you find the process troublesome, it can retreat.]

[Please instruct, but kindly.]

'Continue.'

[Okay, now we will begin the role explanation.]

[Jingzhe, one of the twenty-four solar terms, signifies the thunder of spring awakening creatures from hibernation, a time when all things revive.]

[But the process prefers a more intuitive interpretation—]

[Jingzhe, the oldest and most primal existence in the primordial soup.]

[Those first entities, devoid of consciousness and barely qualified as life, drifted in endless magma, lightning, and sulfuric acid rain; they could disintegrate into organic fragments at any moment and recombine just as easily.]

[Until one moment, amidst the chaos and disorder of Hell, a one-in-a-billion coincidence occurred.]

[An entity experienced the world's first emotion—fear.]

[Life was thus awakened.]

[This is Jingzhe, the earliest embodiment of fear and the progenitor of the concept of life itself.]

[The process admires Jingzhe.]

[But you should not understand it concretely; it is an emotion, a force, an existence both abstract and instinctual.]

[Only those draped in the role of Jingzhe, the Vanguard, can perceive, absorb, and wield this power.]

[And this primal power...]

'It's getting a bit annoying.'

[Please look at the big screen!]

Suddenly, a graphical interface appeared in front of Li Qingming—

[Li Qingming]

[Role: Jingzhe]

[Rank Ⅰ: Anxious Egg]

[Satiation: 100%]

[Reserves: 48]

[Hatching Value: 1%]

'Are you using me to hatch eggs?'

[Please remain calm, Mr. Li Qingming. You are not a digital pet, nor a host for parasitism. These are merely attributes of your role.]

[In the early ranks of the Jingzhe role, Satiation replaces Vitality, Reserves replace Growth Value, and Hatching Value replaces progression in ranks.]

[Moreover, as an Anxious Egg, you started with only 1% Satiation, starving and fragile. This is a dangerous stage where death comes at the slightest touch, almost incapable of dealing with any foe.]

[But somehow, by the time you were encountered again, you were fully satiated and had even accumulated up to 48 Reserve items, 1/5 of which came from a single source.]

[...Are you certain you haven't violated any laws, Mr. Li Qingming?]]