Chapter 1

Li Zhixing was the name of a simple civil servant who enjoyed web novels.

Li Zhixing was also the name of a side character in the web novel “The Ruthless Dragon Pride”. Just as the name suggests, the story is about a dragon-blooded Son of Heaven. It never tried to be subtle about the whole thing: the protagonist’s name was Long Tian, for god’s sake.

The “ruthless” part comes in throughout the course of the story, as the poor guy was exposed to the constant turmoil characteristic of any protagonist. As he lost his parents, lovers, and friends, Long Tian becomes indifferent towards life and cruel towards his enemy – his ruthlessness and cold rationality are fairly common among the new generation of cultivation ‘heroes’. Long Tian tortures and murders 9 generations of families on a daily basis – 9 generations from top to bottom, something made possible by the longevity of cultivators. He supposed every good thing had its downsides.

In this bloody story, Li Zhixing appeared as a classic side character: one of the MC’s closest male friends. They met early in the story and Li Zhixing was almost a mirror image of the protagonist. Their backstory and their motivations were very similar, and they were brothers in all but name.

That was until the third arc of the story.

Out of nowhere, Li Zhixing turned against the main characters and sided with the villains. There were reasons, chief among which were cold vengeance and unrelenting ambition. Yet, these were not fully elaborated upon, and it felt like his story was cut a bit short, with the full context never seeing the light of day.

Whatever motives he had it was undeniable that he turned traitor. He stole the protagonist’s chief weapon, something that had been and would continue to be a part of Long Tian’s arsenal. However, that crime paled in comparison with the next.

Li Zhixing captured and then raped Bai Ruxue, one of the protagonist’s closest companions.

The event was actually quite pivotal in the story because it was the first time an important character was harmed with lasting consequences. Before, there were losses and pain, but the worst was usually suffered by less fleshed-out characters, like MC’s parents or teachers. The rape and Li Zhixing thus became fairly important, if only as a plot device.

Indeed, much of Zhixing’s betrayal felt like plot shenanigans, with him seemingly acting as a foil for the MC.

The new villain did not stay loose for long. In fact, the scene that followed the rape was Li Zhixing’s capture – not even four days later.

First, he was castrated – completely understandable. Following that, he was dipped multiple times in boiling water, which slowly stripped his skin right off. He only survived thanks to the strong vitality of cultivators. He was whipped directly to the flesh, had saltwater rubbed into every inch of his body, and then was eaten alive by killer ants – a process that would take years to finish.

If there was one thing this villain could be admired for, it would be his resilience. Even in such a hopeless situation, the guy still resisted and retained the will to live.

Not that his efforts resulted in anything. He was put down like the dog that he was, forcefully fed a poison that doubled as a malicious hallucinogen. After a prolonged period of screaming, Li Zhixing met his end.

As a reader, he found the punishment quite fitting. It was all fine and dandy as a disconnected reader, even if the victim bore the same name as himself. Gruesome as his fate was, it was also very satisfying. The chapter had brought a big grin to his face.

However, Li Zhixing no longer felt like smiling, not at all. He was barely holding back his screams of despair.

Certainly, on a physical level, he never felt better. He felt he could push mountains and divide seas, which might not even be a delusion. Such inhumane strength was completely foreign to somebody who only worked out irregularly, or rather, to anybody from Earth.

However, the main problem lay in front of him. A woman with snow-white skin and a perfect physique, lithe and strong. Her black hair cascaded down the bed like the Stygian River, with motes of white that resembled lost souls. Most striking were her crimson eyes and the two tiny red dots beneath each eye, all of which resembled the most magnificent of pearls. She was glaring at him, her boiling rage shining through. Simultaneously, her eyes appeared watery and despondent.

She was trying and failing to put up a front. Deep pain, great rage, and undiluted fear: emotions that were entirely justified. After all, Bai Ruxue was in the middle of being violated, her purity tarnished, and her pride utterly defaced. And who was committing this heinous act? Who else but yours truly, Li Zhixing?

He immediately jumped out of the bed. He wondered what he could say, what he could do, what he should do. In the end, the coward that he was, he did nothing but turn away. Despite being in complete control, he could not even face the victim.

Shame, anger, confusion; everything about the situation drove him insane.

Instead, Zhixing blankly stared at the wall. Even that was too much for him to bear. The architecture was a painful reminder of his present situation.

He thus closed his eyes, welcoming the blankness that came with it. He emptied his mind and stayed still. He failed but pressed on regardless.

Minutes passed. Or was it hours? He was not sure. But he felt his mind clearer than ever. He knew how he needed to act, what was needed for him to adapt in this dog-eat-dog world of uncivilized, arrogant, and unbearable men.

And women, don’t forget about them. He could not even if he had wanted to, what with the shallow, hollow breathing in his ears.

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

His thoughts wandered to the main issue: the options currently available to him.

He could just kill himself right now and avoid a worse fate. It was a simple solution – the simplicity was why it was so appealing. After all, he had no ties to the world right now, nor did he feel like building such ties. This shit stain of a world was something to observe from a safe distance, not a place to participate directly in. This was not his body, and the original owner did not really deserve to live either. As such, he might as well cut his losses early and ‘reroll’. If it was ‘game over’ then that was just the luck of the draw.

At the same time, he could not bring himself to do the deed. Suicide simply went against everything he stood for. In addition, he was given a new life – might as well make the best out of it.

Giving up before even doing anything was something he absolutely despised. If he ended up in the exact same position as the original, then that was too bad.

The other part was simple. He felt duty-bound to at least try and improve upon things. He had some future knowledge and would seek to improve things for these characters. That was why he needed to stick to the main plotline and stuff…

That was a complete lie, and he knew it.

A large part of him possessed a morbid curiosity to see how things would progress with his input. To see the rule of power at play in this world of unregulated cruelty. What was there to lose, after all? A bit of pain? Hah… he only needed to not screw up then.

As for the characters involved… it was genuinely hard to care. After all, he did not read this story because of a deep connection to the characters.

That being said, Li Zhixing still felt sorry for-

Pain exploded inside of him. He felt his heart bursting, his body failing, and his mind shattering. It was brief, less than a second, but it still rendered him near-unconscious. He brought his shivering body up from the cold floor, his eyes weakly looking around for any signs of hostile activities. There was nothing unless you counted the narrow-eyed Bai Ruxue.

He decided to ignore the freak incident… just for now.

The girl did not look to be in much pain but looked incredibly fearful, even with her futile attempts to mask it. Was she afraid he would come for her again? Was she afraid he would discard her to be safe?

Her lips were quivering, seemingly wanting to say something. Her beauty was utterly marred by her inner conflict and fear. Even if it was not him who made her like this, he still felt some responsibility. It was undeniable that she had suffered; it did not matter if he or a dead ‘original’ was the one who committed the crime.

He should help her, even if she might not seek help. After all, she would possibly meet a worse fate if he was not careful. And he did not want such a beautiful piece of work to turn to ashes.

Was it just his dick talking?

Not exactly. Just his artistic spirit and his everlasting compassion for his fellow man… or woman, he supposed. That thought was his cue that he needed rest.

In the end, though, there was always a stark difference between talking and actually doing something. Once he turned to face his victim, reality came crashing down. He had no clue what to do.

Honestly, the best thing to do was simply to get out of her face. Probably.

So, he took the blanket and covered her with it. Out of sight, out of mind. He also turned the heat up a little, mostly with the help of the small hearth.

Doubt it helped much, but even a little comfort should be welcome. If nothing else, it helped his conscience.

As he got out, a voice blandly commented, “You know, you did not need to turn the room into a funeral pyre. A full package with a shroud, flames, and what basically amounts to a corpse. She might seem like a vegetable, but she’s still alive all right. You should know that.”

Li Zhixing was looking at a monster of a man. Literally. Emerald scales covered various parts of the speaker’s body, making him shine brighter than the open flame he had just created. A feat for sure, especially when it was midnight with no moonlight. The man also possessed horns and a long, pointed tail that flicked about like a living serpent.

And then there was his disposition. A sense of arrogance that almost turned corporeal. An arrogance that was born from an unshakable conviction in his own superiority. An arrogance that led him to view Zhixing as little more than a dirty, traitorous, and lustful piece of human garbage.

Well, the last part was justified. Considering his race, the second part was also not too far from the truth.

This was Long Hao, the 25-year-old heir of the main villainous faction in this section of the story. An arrogant young master that had some actual basis for his arrogance.

Not that it really mattered, since the guy got slapped to death in the end. Still, he made the protagonist suffer dearly, such as in this little debacle right here. That was more than most could ever hope to achieve.

Speaking of suffering, Long Hao added, “The recording was completed and sent. I will keep my promise and keep you safe from harm. For now. Go violate her again if that’s your wish, disgusting cretin. But stay put until tomorrow afternoon. Then, come meet me, and we’ll have some serious… discussion.”

The heir sneered at the last word, before immediately making his departure. Throughout his conversation, the man did not bother hiding his distaste for Zhixing. The latter could not care less about Long Hao’s departure… no, no, no. What worried him was that the recording had been sent. Obviously, the recipient was Long Tian.

No saving that now… would he have prevented this had he been faster?

Definitely not. Long Hao tolerated him for only one reason, and that was his usefulness as bait. Second was his ability to provide information, which could be a matter of life and death. Even if Li Zhixing was not weak, strength was not something Long Hao had any lack of.

More crucially, the main character knew that Ruxue was in his hands. With or without the video, the guy would have come regardless, fully intent on butchering him. The ‘video’ would only serve to heighten his rage.

While that would normally be a decent idea to make people lose their judgement, Long Tian was a protagonist. Nothing more needs to be said.

Li Zhixing did not transmigrate to the beginning, which presented a big problem. The power scaling was already in full swing while the easier ‘opportunities’ were all gone. He had some ideas of what to do, but even then, these ideas were rudimentary – and that was being charitable.

While the main plot points were easy to remember, details escape him. Though, that might be a good thing. No info is oftentimes better than bad info, and he was almost certain that the information within the books would not be applicable. There was the simple issue of the butterfly effect.

More importantly, the limited scope of the book had given way to a living breathing world. This meant that things outside the books could come along and whack him in the face should he make plans based on book knowledge.

Li Zhixing sighed. Actually, now that he thought about it, Long Hao’s eyes had been a vibrant crimson, similar to but still distinct from Ruxue’s… huh. In the story, Long Tian’s eyes were also described in similar terms. What’s new! Special irises for our-

Ah, bloodlines and the wretched concept of purity.

Just another problem on his plate, though a far-off one. A looming threat that would keep him constantly on his toes.

Additional spicing, despite no requests. Spicy enough to make one cry, because that was what Diner Zhixing felt like doing right now.