CH 16

Since the different novel worlds had begun merging together, the protagonists Ji Ning had seen were monsters, ghosts and even a game character, but they had all retained their vivid personalities. Not like Qin Ruwang, who had been dead for over two thousand years.

He was actually gone… 

At first, when he heard the teenager’s words, Ji Ning couldn’t believe it. He knew that although Qin Ruwang was the protagonist of an ancient court novel, not even a monarch could escape the cycle of birth, sickness, old age, and death. But hearing the news so suddenly, he felt a sharp ache of loss and despair in his heart.

In the ancient court world, he had lived with Qin Ruwang for ten years and practically raised him.

Ji Ning was a relatively rational person. Having experienced so many worlds, he understood that as a traveller, he couldn’t get too emotionally involved with worlds he wasn’t allowed to stay in. But human emotions can rarely be controlled by reason. After such a long time, of course he couldn’t help growing attached to the worlds and their people and Qin Ruwang had always been one of his favourites.

Although, he had always regarded Qin Ruwang as a son. There was no way around it, as he first met him when Qin Ruwang had just turned six years old. 

After the worlds began to merge, it wasn’t that Ji Ning had thought about how the other protagonists would appear, but he hadn’t expected that Qin Ruwang’s world would merge with Ying Qianqiu’s on completely different timelines.

Ji Ning already felt like grieving, but knowing those teenagers wanted to desecrate Qin Ruwang’s grave and steal his body for corpse training, he was infuriated. He wanted to tear their heads off their bodies and bury them in the dirt for others to find and use as they wanted.

He was going to kill them.

Ji Ning lay on Yun Dao’s shoulder, eyes focussed on the teen in front of him as his tail twitched back and forth, betraying his fury.

After following them for a while, the teenagers arrived at a large mountain outside of Tiandu city. Their footsteps slowed significantly and they became more alert to movements around them.

The corpse-refining boy from the Xiao family took out a treasure and placed the silver coin on top of it. He blew qi into the treasure and moved his hands around to see which direction the qi would move it. It seemed they had already discovered that Qin Ruwang’s tomb was somewhere inside the mountain.

“We’re almost there…”

Watching their vigilant movements, Yun Dao lowered her voice and dispersed the qi shield she had been using to monitor the teens. 

She patted the cub’s head, then suddenly lifted him by the scruff of the neck and with a tap on her waist an imperial beast bag appeared and she dropped him inside of it.

“Sister is going to do something good now and can’t be discovered, so you’ll have to stay in here for a bit, little guy.”

Yun Dao stroked the imperial beast bag and whispered, “Wait for sister. When I’m finished, I’ll let you out. Stay obedient for a little bit, okay?”

No way, how could he be locked up at a time like this?! 

Ji Ning was taken by surprise and thrown into the pitch black beast bag. He was so anxious that he scratched all the way along the smooth side of the bag with his claws as he fell in, but the beast bag had a hypnotic effect. Soon, Ji Ning’s eyes closed drowsily and he fell into a deep sleep, his body relaxing little by little.

Ji Ning opened his eyes and was met with a soft dim light and white ceiling.

A humming sound came from the electronic equipment at his side. Ji Ning’s mind went blank for a moment, as he found himself lying down on a bed with medical equipment on his left and right. The decoration was cosy but it was still obviously a hospital ward.

“Hello Mr Ji.” 

A bionic medical robot in protective overalls emerged from the wall. It approached Ji Ning and took a reading from his wrist, rapidly carrying out several different tests to confirm that Ji Ning’s condition was stable. It then opened its notification system to inform the doctors and nurses so that they could make more detailed observations.

Had he returned to Gu Chen’s world?

Looking around, Ji Ning knew he had left Ying Qianqiu’s world but wasn’t certain if he had come back to Gu Chen’s. He had previously been in his villa, how could he suddenly be inside a hospital?

He sat up slightly and felt a burst of dizziness. It seemed his memory had recently been modified by Herinos, which assured him that he hadn’t entered a new world. 

Using what he knew from before he passed out, and the information he received from the newly created memory, Ji Ning determined what had happened. The battle between Huo Wuling and Herinos had caused the entire villa to collapse due to an earthquake and although he wasn’t badly injured by the blood pact, Ji Ning was sent to the hospital in a coma.

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All in all, both Herinos and Huo Wuling had vanished and although Huo Wuling hadn’t killed him, Herinos was also gone so it wasn’t clear what had really happened.

Ji Ning knew they had been fighting before he passed out. As they were both absent when he’d woken up, he guessed they must both be injured and needed time to recuperate. 

Seeing that Herinos had time to shape his memory before leaving and that he could still sense the blood pact within his body, he knew that nothing major had happened to Herinos.

Ji Ning felt a sense of relief knowing this, he really didn’t want Herinos to be hurt.

As for Huo Wuling, Ji Ning didn’t expect much could hurt him for very long, but if Huo Wuling was alright, he would try and kill him, so it would probably be for the best if he didn’t recover too quickly.

After a while, the hospital’s doctor arrived at the ward to perform a manual examination on Ji Ning, to confirm he was alright. The doctor cleared him, but to be on the safe side, Ji Ning was asked to remain at the hospital overnight for observation. 

Now that the blood pact was no longer causing trouble, Ji Ning thought his condition was pretty stable. He was far more worried about Qin Ruwang, whose grave was about to be excavated, so asked Future to immediately send his soul to Ying Qianqiu’s world.

【No, your soul is still weak and can’t be transferred immediately.】Future said.

【You need to rest for at least two days before I will transfer you.】

「In two days they will have destroyed Qin Ruwang’s grave.」Ji Ning shook his head,「I need to go there now.」 

【That won’t happen】Future said,【Time flows differently between the two worlds. When you are in one world, the timeflow of the other world is close to a semi-frozen state and has a slower flow rate. Resting in this world for two days is equivalent to only a few hours in the other world.】

Thinking about it, Ji Ning felt Future was right. He had just spent several days in the Xuanhuan world, but in this world he had been in a coma for less than a day.

He didn’t ask why this happened because he felt that Future wasn’t particularly certain either.

As a soul transfer was out of the question for now, Ji Ning had no choice but to ask about the system’s progress, but the answer was the same. ‘Still under investigation,’ and Ji Ning’s application to lift his power seal had once again been rejected. 

After cutting off contact with Future, Ji Ning slept all afternoon. In the evening both his family and manager came to visit him, to talk about the current situation.

In this world, apart from being a relatively well-known actor, Ji Ning was set to inherit a profitable entertainment company. His father was the company’s president and he had an older sister and younger brother.

Although they were wealthy, the Ji family still had a very harmonious relationship. There were no fights over the family property and everyone had supported Ji Ning’s acting career, instead of forcing him to return home to inherit the family business.

In order to further support Ji Ning, his father had paid for a special arrangement with the central optical brain. Anything related to Ji Ning would be automatically filtered through the central optical brain to prevent any information that would damage his image from being released. 

This agreement had been very useful on this occasion. Due to the central optical brain’s interception, the reports about the collapse of Ji Ning’s villa were not sent out, so the outside world didn’t know about Ji Ning’s hospitalisation. Otherwise, Ji Ning’s fans would be storming the internet by now.

Ji Ning was very pleased with this. After all, his mission was to attack Gu Chen, other than that, he would rather not attract any unexpected attention.

When visiting hours were over, everyone left the ward to let Ji Ning rest. But after sleeping all afternoon he longer felt tired, so he opened up his terminal.

After turning the terminal on, Ji Ning found he had several unopened messages, including ones from Gu Chen. They had been casually texting about movies when Ji Ning had suddenly stopped replying, which had worried Gu Chen. Ji Ning sent a message to him. 

「Sorry I didn’t reply in time, I was hospitalised.」

Gu Chen responded almost immediately,「Senior is in hospital? Are you sick? Is it serious?」

Ji Ning responded,「I’m fine, I’ll be discharged tomorrow.」

「You’re really alright? You really worried me, can I holographic call Senior or would it be inconvenient?」 

A holographic call was similar to a video call, but produced a 3D holographic projection of the other person, to give the illusion of a normal face to face chat.

Of course Ji Ning wouldn’t refuse when Gu Chen had taken the initiative to get closer. He left the message on read for a few minutes, in line with his cold persona, then after checking his appearance looked good enough, he agreed to Gu Chen’s request.

The terminal made a beeping sound as a holographic projection of Gu Chen appeared in Ji Ning’s room.

As it was late in the evening, Gu Chen had changed into dark pyjamas. He sat on his bed with slightly damp hair that fell softly around his face, making him seem younger than usual. 

He held a pile of paper and a pen in his hands, appearing to be working on a script. Seeing the projection of Ji Ning, his eyes curved in a gentle smile as he said, “Good evening Senior.”

“Yeah.”

Ji Ning nodded without elaborating. He responded to the questions Gu Chen asked him and briefly explained the reason for his hospitalisation.

On the other end of the terminal, Gu Chen was inside his residence, watching Ji Ning sit in a hospital bed through the holographic projection. Although there was a smile on his face, he was not in a good mood. He was distressed that Ji Ning had been involved in another accident. Although he said he would be discharged from the hospital the next day, his face still looked pale and his hands trembled very slightly. 

Perhaps it was the low light, or a side effect of his fatigue, but Ji Ning’s expression seemed a lot softer and without its usual ice. His slender body in the oversized hospital gown looked a little cute and his exposed wrists and neck gave him a fragile appearance. Gu Chen thought he looked a little pitiful.

Gu Chen shook away the sweet and sour feelings of his heart. He knew that Ji Ning should rest but he didn’t want to end their call so soon. After a moment of hesitation, he smiled.

“Senior, are you bored, do you want to play a game with me?”

Ji Ning looked at him and motioned for him to continue. Gu Chen raised the papers in his hands and said, “I’m studying actor Gu’s script.” 

Actually, he was lying. Of course he wasn’t studying his own scripts, but he had been researching famous actors of the interstellar age as he wanted to perfect his acting skills according to the current age’s filming methods. It was just…since Ji Ning liked his past self, he would unashamedly take advantage of that fact.

He continued, “Actor Gu had many classic lines in his works. Since Senior is his fan, you should remember some of them. If one of us begins a line, the other should try and remember how it ends. Would Senior be interested in this kind of game?”

Shameless enough to be using your own lines, Gu Chen?

Ji Ning was a little taken aback by what Gu Chen suggested, but fortunately he had the advantage of Future, who could search up the relevant lines fast enough that it seemed natural. 

“There is only darkness in front of me,” said Ji Ning abruptly. Gu Chen was stunned for a moment, then quickly replied,

“But I believe that is a reflection of light. The heavier the shadows ahead, the brighter the future will be.”

“He will not die in obscurity-”

“His dried blood will be a raging river, his rotting body will be a fertile land, and he will live forever, may you and I be with him…” 

Relying on the fact that he had recently binged through the movies Gu Chen had made in his previous life and cheating with Future, Ji Ning was able to respond to each line perfectly. Gradually, the questions they asked became trickier and they even began acting out accompanying movements with the spoken lines.

“It’s getting late. Senior should rest, let’s do one last round.”

Gu Chen knew that because of Ji Ning’s personality, he definitely wouldn’t be the first to suggest they end it, but he was worried about Ji Ning’s body and didn’t want to keep him up too late.

It was enough that he knew how much Ji Ning liked him. 

If you didn’t love an actor, how could you memorise so many of their lines?

A sensation of sweetness and joy filled his heart. For some reason, Gu Chen recalled the celebration dinner, when Ji Ning held the crystal wine glass, eyes and body lit by a hazy halo, as if he would disappear from this world the very next second.

At the time, he had asked himself in his heart what he wanted. He still didn’t know the answer, but, at least at this moment, he wanted to hold Ji Ning’s hand.

Ji Ning waited in the hospital room for Gu Chen to say the next line but instead Gu Chen stood up and walked over to the hospital bed. When he reached him, he lightly placed his hand over the back of Ji Ning’s. 

It was just a projection of Gu Chen. The terminal’s simple projection was not as advanced as the one they used while filming and wouldn’t simulate real touch, but Ji Ning still felt as if Gu Chen was standing in front of him.

Gu Chen looked down at him, eyes gently intoxicating as he spoke with a low voice into Ji Ning’s ear.

“Day after day, I will love you more.”

That sentence is… 

Ji Ning was stunned, having no memory of those words. He asked Future, but there wasn’t any record of that line.

“There is such a line in his films?” Ji Ning asked, almost suspecting that Gu Chen made up the line in order to win.

“Senior can look it up online, you should be able to find it.”

Gu Chen smiled and got up, ending the phone call after saying good night to him. 

Of course, Ji Ning was unwilling to lose so inexplicably, so he frantically searched the internet until he finally found the source of the line in the archives of an advertising company.

“Day after day, I will love you more and more, so please… come and fall in love with me.”

It was from a script in an advertisement that Gu Chen once shot when he was an actor. But that version of the line was abandoned and it would be practically impossible for anyone but Gu Chen to know such a line.

Gu Chen wanted to win that badly? If he’d known that, he would have lost to Gu Chen several rounds earlier… 

Ji Ning propped his jaw on his arm and lay on the hospital bed with a thoughtful expression on his face.

Suddenly, his terminal made a light sound and a holographic projection automatically popped up. A handsome boy saluted with a sword and the complicated lettering of ‘Dark Kingdom of Heaven’ was reflected in the air.

【A new chapter has been unlocked. You are free to experience the official version of ‘Dark Kingdom of Heaven’. Please choose an option:】

【Continue the game.】 

【A new beginning.】

The two options flashed in front of Ji Ning, giving him a headache.

He didn’t want to continue the game that was exactly like the Western fantasy world, but he obviously had no way to refuse. If he didn’t make a choice, the game would choose for him.

But Herinos wasn’t here, could he really play it without any incidents… 

The countdown timer had already started. Ji Ning sighed, already feeling tired, he couldn’t even rest inside a hospital. Without any enthusiasm, he clicked on the option ‘Continue the game.’

【You selected ‘Continue the game’.】

The light of the holographic program suddenly become so dazzling he was forced to close his eyes. When he opened them again, he found he was no longer in the ward but inside a building. It appeared to be a bungalow made of stone.

【Welcome, you have officially entered the ‘Dark Kingdom of Heaven’. We hope to give you the most realistic experience.】 

【You are now the necromancer, ‘Eidolon’, waiting for your future disciple, the knight of the Temple of Light, Lai Senger.】

I think the funniest thing about Gu Chen’s world is that Ji Ning has spent decades or hundreds of years in other worlds, executing the perfect strategy to capture his protagonists and then he takes one look at Gu Chen, who was half in love with him as soon as Ji Ning said ‘hi’ and thought, ‘I can get him in less then six months’.

Gu Chen: I love you

Ji Ning: what kind of trick is this?