This chapter is brought to you Puffball, thanks for the ko-fi! (⁀ᗢ⁀)
Chapter 208 – Cold Indifferent Loyal Dog VS. Playful Ghost King (03)
Yin Tianyi’s academic performance has always been outstanding because he hopes to change his fate through diligent studying and leave this family behind. However, on the eve of the college entrance examination, his so-called aunt refused to allow him to participate in the exam.
Although they knew Yin Tianyi’s grades were excellent, considering that Yin Tianyi’s parents were the ones they had helped Yuan Hongshen to kill, how could they sincerely wish him well?
They persuaded him not to take the exam and instead go out to work and earn money to support their own children’s education. Naturally, Yin Tianyi refused, so they pretended to reluctantly agree, sending him to the mountains to dig bamboo shoots, and even asking him to take his younger brother along.
But in reality, they had other intentions, privately instructing their so-called younger brother to secretly cause trouble for Yin Tianyi on the way. After all, the mountain road was rugged, and if he accidentally fell and got injured, he would naturally miss the exam.
Who knew that the younger brother’s ambush failed, and he ended up sliding down the hill himself. Yin Tianyi ended up rescuing him and bringing him back home. However, when he returned home with his injured younger brother, the couple accused Yin Tianyi of deliberately hurting him, and they beat him severely with a stick.
Yin Tianyi, frail and malnourished, was no match for the couple. That night, after being severely beaten, he developed a high fever and lost consciousness. When he woke up again, he found that he had missed the college entrance examination due to illness.
Yin Tianyi, who had never felt the warmth of a family, completely lost hope in this family, so he fled from them to the city overnight. However, lacking education, he could only work as a laborer on construction sites.
One day, as he was leaving the construction site, he coincidentally saved an old man who was almost hit by a car, and that old man turned out to be Yuan Hongshen, the one who had killed his parents.
Yuan Hongshen used sweet words to express his gratitude and took Yin Tianyi back to his own home. Knowing that Yin Tianyi lacked education, Yuan Hongshen did not look down on him. He pretended to be kind and even arranged for someone to train him, then appointed him as the bodyguard of his son, Yuan Cheng.
Yin Tianyi was well taken care of in the Yuan family and felt grateful. It was the first time he had felt warmth from others, so he cherished his current life and obediently followed the Yuan family’s orders.
It was because of this that when he realized everything was a scam, and they only wanted his life to sacrifice to a bronze tripod, he became furious.
He finally understood why the Wang couple, who had supposedly taken him in out of pity, treated him so poorly. It turned out they were accomplices in the murder of his parents.
Realizing all the suffering he had endured from childhood to adulthood was because of the Yuan family, Yin Tianyi naturally wanted revenge. Without implicating Yuan Cheng, Yin Tianyi had shown enough kindness.
After leaving the Yuan family, he went back and dealt with the Wang couple, then retreated to live in a small mountain village. His luck had been nearly drained by the bronze tripod, so his life afterward was very bleak. Looking back on his life, Yin Tianyi felt there was nothing truly worthwhile to remember.
So, when Yuan Hongshen found Yin Tianyi again, he chose not to explain. After being arrested, Yin Tianyi felt even more that he had no reason to live, so he chose to end his life. In essence, he simply found life unbearable.
After watching all the plotlines, Mu Jin still hadn’t found any trace of the original host. His understanding of the original host seemed to be limited to just the name Mu Jin. Moreover, after searching through the memories of the original host, Mu Jin discovered that the original host’s memories seemed to be nothing but a blank slate.
Could it be amnesia? Mu Jin looked at his clothing, unmistakably ancient attire. However, it was clear that the plot he had just read through was something that would only occur in modern times, albeit with some elements of fantasy. It definitely wasn’t set in ancient times.
With this in mind, Mu Jin quickly consulted 003 in his mental realm. Upon hearing Mu Jin’s words, 003 hesitated for a moment, then smiled apologetically and awkwardly scratched its claws, saying, “Um, Xiao Jin, it seems like you’re not exactly human in this lifetime.”
Mu Jin paused for a moment upon hearing 003’s words, then furrowed his brows and said, “Xiao Hei, how come you’ve learned to insult people at such a young age? That’s not good!”
Upon hearing Mu Jin’s words, 003 was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. So, it delved deeper into some information about the original host that could be found and sent it to Mu Jin. Now Mu Jin finally understood that 003 wasn’t actually insulting him earlier. Because his current identity truly wasn’t human, but rather a ghost.
“Xiao Hei, what’s going on? Are you trying to set up an unresolved romance between me and my husband?”
Upon hearing Mu Jin’s words, 003 also showed a wry expression and said helplessly to Mu Jin, “Xiao Jin, this is the most suitable target I could find for you to conquer. Take another look, this character is actually not bad.”
Mu Jin sighed when he saw 003’s expression. A ghost is a ghost, after all. Just after glancing through the information related to the original host, and experiencing his own body in a different way, he also noticed some peculiarities.
It must be said that although Mu Jin’s current state was relatively weak, the original host was truly an old ghost who had been practicing for thousands of years. However, he had been sealed by the Yin family, who were Feng Shui masters, several hundred years ago. He had been trapped in this chaotic space, gradually losing himself.
The original host had been alive in this world for too long and had forgotten his past as a human being. His previous memories had long since blurred, without even desires, which saved Mu Jin a lot of trouble.
With the original host’s qualifications, he could no longer be simply regarded as a ghost; he could almost be considered at the level of a Ghost King or Ghost Immortal. Once he regained his peak, there would be hardly anyone in this small world who could rival Mu Jin. However, the problem was how to break this seal.
Fortunately, with 003’s help, even though Mu Jin was currently unsure of his surroundings, 003 could monitor the outside world and knew that Mu Jin was sealed within an ancient bronze mirror.
If there’s such a thing as fate, then this is fate. Yin Tianyi had already been living in a small mountain village far from the Wang family, yet he still managed to coincidentally find the ancient bronze mirror that the Yin family ancestors had sealed and buried here.
Many years had passed, and the spells and seals on the mirror had long since disappeared. However, without the blood of the Yin family, the seal on the mirror still couldn’t be truly broken.
In the past, Yin Tianyi would often be asked to go up the mountain to dig up some wild vegetables and herbs to bring back. When Yin Tianyi found this mirror, he thought it looked decent enough, so he took it back with him. After all, his room was full of raggedy things and lacked any real objects.
However, even though this mirror had a decent design from the past, after several hundred years, it looked worn and dilapidated. The people of the Wang family didn’t covet it, considering the mirror as nothing more than junk, so Yin Tianyi could keep it.
Guided by 003, Mu Jin slowly found the source of light in the mist and arrived at the entrance to the mirror and the real world. From an outsider’s perspective, Mu Jin couldn’t be seen in the mirror, but he could observe his current room through the entrance.
The conditions of the room where the Wang family allowed Yin Tianyi to live were naturally very poor, resembling more of a shed. There were still many piles of firewood in the corners.
The furnishings in the room were pitifully few. There was a very crude wooden bed with a tattered thin blanket on it. One of the legs of the chair was broken and had been crudely tied back on for use. There wasn’t even a table in the room; just a chipped porcelain bowl sitting on the windowsill.
As for the bronze mirror where Mu Jin was located, it was just placed in a corner. Despite being worn out, it could still be considered the only idle item in this room.
Mu Jin couldn’t help but feel heartbroken just by looking at the empty room. At the same time, he harbored resentment towards the Wang couple.
The room was empty, and Mu Jin waited for a long time without anyone returning. He couldn’t leave the mirror, so he could only quietly wait here for now.
It wasn’t until nightfall that Mu Jin heard noisy voices coming from outside the room. There was a woman screaming hoarsely in anger, and even the sound of someone groaning under a beating.
Mu Jin immediately snapped back to reality and compared the timeline, realizing that the time he had crossed over to today was the eve of Yin Tianyi’s college entrance exam.
So, today, the Wang couple must have planned to send Yin Tianyi up the mountain to dig bamboo shoots. After he returned, they would accuse him and start beating him with sticks.
Mu Jin only hated that he was still sealed inside the mirror, unable to do anything. He could only clench his fists, grit his teeth, and wait for it all to end.
He couldn’t help but try to block out his senses, not wanting to hear the sounds that almost tore his heart and lungs apart. If possible, he didn’t want to see his lover suffer even the slightest harm.
But he knew he could only endure for now because he was just a ghost sealed inside a mirror. If he were to use his original energy to break out, it would surely cause chaos in this small world.
So Mu Jin endured the pain in his heart along with Yin Tianyi until late into the night when the sounds of fighting gradually stopped. The door finally opened, and a figure stumbled in.
There was no light in the room, but Mu Jin could still see the person in front of him by the moonlight. The young man before him was tall but extremely frail. His clothes were ragged, with bruises covering his face and arms, and there were some spots of blood on his hands.