Chapter 1#

If You See SnowCh1 - Sworn Enemies End Up As Lovers#

【Consciousness disconnected… Consciousness reconnected… Consciousness successfully online. Status check: No abnormalities.】

【World successfully loaded. Ground environment successfully loaded. Host information successfully imported. Body matching in progress… Body matching successful.】

【System permission level: 30%】

【Host Number 000 Su Ruhui, welcome back.】

Su Ruhui opened his eyes, vision blurry as if shrouded in a thin layer of mist. His entire body ached from head to toe, meridians feeling as though they had been shattered inch by inch and then slowly pieced back together. He tried to wiggle his fingers, but his arm immediately went numb. He gasped for breath several times, lying still in silence as he waited for his vision to clear. What happened? As memories slowly returned, he remembered that he was dead. During his final days imprisoned in Kunlun, poison had taken root in his body, beyond cure. The Kunlun Secret Sect resorted to desperate measures, cutting open his chest to search for the heart core deeply embedded within him yet did not belong to him. Unfortunately, massive blood loss occurred from his wounds, and they failed to suture up his meridians. In his final moments, he felt his life quietly slip away like a stream trickling out of his body.

After what seemed like an eternity of darkness, he was woken up by a strange voice inside his head.

System. He remembered this voice had started intermittently chattering away in his ears since the age of 10. What on earth was this thing? Where did it come from? He had no idea, and had once even contemplated splitting open his own skull to find the source of the voice…

【Friendly reminder: Host, you won’t find me this way. You’ll bleed out again. Plus, you’ll lose your skull and your scalp— while others go hairless, you’ll go headless.】

Su Ruhui: “…”

【Congratulations host on reconnecting online. The current time is the first quarter of Wushi on the Jihai day of the 12th lunar month in the 1239th year of the Kunlun Calendar. Five years, three months, twenty days, and seven hours have passed since your disappearance. During this period, your “Phantom Puppet”, the mechanical puppet, has undergone revolutionary development.】

The system’s vocabulary was peculiar, but Su Ruhui could surprisingly understand it.

That’s right, Su Ruhui had a system.

“Heaven is the progenitor of all things, none exists without Heaven.” People believe the stars hold the primordial origins and laws governing creation. By interpreting celestial charts and counting the stars across the heavens, one can explore the connection between the Heavens and humanity. Those born with Heaven’s power awaken to secret arts. These arts are innate, and through cultivation and understanding of Heaven and Earth, one accumulates spiritual energy to unleash them. If humans are likened to cannons, spiritual energy is the gunpowder, and secret arts are the cannon barrel. Only those possessing secret arts can unleash spiritual power. Different arts manifest differently. When cultivators of secret arts unite, they increase the probability of their descendants awakening these arts. Thus, numerous powerful families across the world intermarry to maximize the inheritance of secret arts.

But Su Ruhui was most unfortunate. At the age of ten, he lost his secret arts due to an accident.

After that, he suddenly gained a system. This system’s biggest contribution was pitting Su Ruhui and spouting random crap, only occasionally offering some useful cheat codes. Among one of the small useful cheats, a book detailing how to create puppets was immensely valuable to Su Ruhui. According to the system’s records, the puppets are powered by spirit stones, immune to water and fire, and some are even impervious to blades and spears— incredibly formidable. As a waste without any secret arts, these puppets gave Su Ruhui a lot of support. However, his mechanical puppets’ biggest use was not in weaponry, but rather in entertainment districts.

Back in the day, he controlled the Underworld’s Paradise Pavilion, churning out tens of thousands of puppets annually. His creations came in both male and female, boasting flawless appearances so lifelike they fooled the eye. These puppets were shipped from the Underworld to brothels across the Great Jing Empire, generating a steady stream of gold. Even aristocratic families from the provincial capitals secretly paid him visits to sign sales contracts. Thus, all revered him as “Boss Su.”

Gold led to the growth of the Underworld’s reputation, drawing the attention of the Secret Sect. He consistently topped the Secret Sect’s most wanted list, constantly on the run from the sect’s Sang Chiyu.

Recalling the painful memories he’d long since buried, Su Ruhui let out a deep sigh. He tried to move his limbs once more, and the pain in his meridians finally subsided. He turned his head to take a look at his surroundings.

Before him lay a rather elaborate room built of stone and brick. It was complete with carved windows, a canopy bed, and a square table fit to seat 8. Everything that should be here was here, typical of a model aristocratic family’s style. Su Ruhui hadn’t lived in a house like this for a long time. Having spent years in the cellars of the Underworld and caves on the outskirts, he found it rather unfamiliar. The walls were hung with many vermilion curtains, suggesting the original owner had recently gotten married. Numerous books lay spread across the desk, covered in dense, tiny handwritten notes. The rosewood window lattice stood open, and the wind rustled through the papers with a hualala. The floor was strewn with meteorite parts, silver bearings, a puppet balancing device inlaid with spirit stones, and worn artificial meridians.

With a mirror directly facing his front, Su Ruhui saw his own reflection. It was four to five parts similar to his original appearance, only much younger. His bone structure was sharp and angular, with slightly pointed eyebrows. Most striking were his eyes—dark and intense, radiating an intimidating sharpness when he looked at someone. He had the air of a spirited young nobleman.

Su Ruhui touched his pale cheek and finally asked his first question since rebirth:

Who am I now?

A translucent panel sprang into view—

Name: Jiang Quexie

Race: Human

Gender: Outwardly male, secretly a cross-dressing master u6qXwQ

Age: Seventeen, still young— not old enough yet for sexual dysfunction

Identity: Known as the youngest son of the Jiang family of Yunzhou Province, a pitiful little heir who never inherited the family’s secret arts. Married off as a husband three days ago. The system blesses the host and his husband with a fiery passion and a century of harmonious union. Other identity aspects to be explored.

Su Ruhui: “?”

Let’s forget about the crossdressing master, what the heck does “married off as a husband” mean!?

Jiang Quexie— Su Ruhui had never heard of this name before. The Jiang family of Yunzhou was one of the most distinguished families among the aristocratic houses. There were no small number of people each generation to awaken secret arts and enter the Kunlun Secret Sect. Among the aristocrats, lacking secret arts is tantamount to being crippled. The most common solution was to send them off to form alliances through marriage with other noble houses. Evidently, this was precisely Jiang Quexie’s current predicament.

How did he die? Su Ruhui asked again.

【System permissions are insufficient. Only basic information is currently available. The rest must be explored by the host independently.】

Ai… what a pain. Su Ruhui rubbed his forehead. The phrase “Other identity aspects to be explored” on the interface panel was quite thought provoking. It seemed this body’s original owner was no ordinary kid. He patted his hands all over his body. His skin was intact, there were no wounds, and no signs of struggle were visible around him.

Was this a natural death or a homicide?

Su Ruhui pulled himself off the floor, shuffling around in his slippers as he surveyed the room. He opened the wardrobe to find it neatly stacked with Ru Qun and half sleeved jackets. He pulled out a pomegranate red skirt and held it up to himself. This kid had some good tastes—it looked pretty nice. He turned his gaze to the books scattered across the long black lacquered table, flipping through a few at random:《Quick Illustrated Guide to Phantom Puppets》,《Meteorite Iron Bone Materials》, and《Mastering Puppet Joint Mechanics》. It looks like this kid was researching his own phantom puppet. Su Ruhui’s gaze shifted upward, where a conspicuous shoe print on the windowsill caught his eye.

The toes were pointed inward, meaning someone had climbed through the window to enter this room.

Su Ruhui took off his shoe to compare the size with the print. It was a size bigger than the original owner’s.

This was most likely the killer’s.

Now what method did this guy use to kill Jiang Quexie? There were no wounds, so perhaps some bizarre secret art was used. There were also no signs of a struggle, making it highly likely that the killer was someone Jiang Quexie knew. With Su Ruhui possessing this body, it now looked that Jiang Quexie wasn’t actually dead. Would the killer come back to kill him again?

More importantly, there were no footprints inside the house. The killer was extremely cautious and took off their shoes, only leaving the singular shoeprint on the windowsill. Since they’d have to wipe away all their prints anyway, this meant that they must have planned to erase their shoeprint before leaving. But because the print was not wiped and there was only an entry shoeprint and not an exit shoeprint, this could only mean one thing—

The killer was still in the house.

Sharing a room with a killer really made one tremble with fear. The situation seemed dangerous, but…

Well if he died then he died. Su Ruhui rolled his pair of dead fish eyes that were disillusioned to life and death. He was sick of living and didn’t care.

Come, kill me ah. Su Ruhui waited idly for a while, but the person didn’t come out.

If they weren’t coming out, then whatever. He hummed a tune and confidently strode out the door with hands behind his back, taking a look outside. Woah, what a large courtyard. The wooden corridor was winding and twisted, with bamboo mats hanging beneath green tiled eaves. Crimson silk lanterns spun round and round. Sunlight splayed onto his shoulders, shimmering and rustling like golden bees. The courtyard was so big. Being rich was so nice. But why was there not a single servant? Not a single soul was in sight even after being outside for so long.

Truly bizarre! What on earth is this place?

Su Ruhui stroked his chin in thought, casting a glance up to spot a locked side room across from him.

Well if you lock it, then I’ll break it open.

Su Ruhui didn’t bother looking for the key. With a kick, the red lattice wooden door was flung wide open.

Inside was pitch black, filled with a coldness penetrating to the bone. The interior was old fashioned and simple. Su Ruhui first saw a solitary frame bed. White gauze draped over it, covering up a shadowy figure. It looked like the scene of an abandoned grave. A skinny old dog lay by the bed. Seeing him open the door, it lifted its eyelids and gave him a glance.

Su Ruhui slipped in silently, lifting the curtain with one hand and saw the figure within. It was a man. His face which should have once been unparalleled now appeared unnaturally pale. Dripping with cold sweat, he looked like a gardenia drenched in water. A plain white undershirt was soaked through with blood, staining a crimson rouge across a wide expanse. Even a complexion as wan as paper could not suppress his refined and aloof aura.

Su Ruhui fell silent.

He could recognize this man even if he turned to ashes. Sang Chiyu, the sharpest blade of the Kunlun Secret Sect. His mortal enemy, his lifelong foe.

He still remembered being imprisoned in the Immortal’s Cave, with Sang Chiyu standing guard like a statue day and night at the entrance, not letting him take even half a step away. Until he died of illness, he remained there like a reef, not even moving a hairs width. He sometimes even wondered if after he died and rotted into bones, this guy would guard his remains until the end of time.

For some reason this thought made him quite happy.

“We meet again, my sweet enemy.” Su Ruhui opened the man’s blanket and noticed that his right knee was shattered. “Oh dear, what happened here?”

【Information Unlocked: Sang Chiyu committed a grave mistake and was expelled from the Kunlun Secret Sect five days ago. His master stripped him of his secret arts and crippled his right leg. Now that he is utterly defenseless, host may do as you please with him. Friendly reminder: The candles are on the third shelf of the display cabinet, the riding crop is on the second shelf of the bedroom’s display rack, and the refined iron collar is in the wardrobe.】

So it seems that if you come into contact with key individuals or items, the system will automatically unlock related information— although whether that information is useful or not is an entirely different matter. Su Ruhui automatically filtered out the questionable content and wondered to himself: so why is he here?

【Jiang Quexie’s newlywed husband, your cheap arranged spouse, is none other than Sang Chiyu. As the saying goes, sworn enemies end up as lovers.】

Su Ruhui finally remembered. Sang Chiyu had been betrothed to the Jiang family. Sang Chiyu was the Kunlun Secret Sect’s highest military officer. Although he wasn’t super popular, his nickname as the Killing God made men shake in their boots. Still, he was the sole disciple of the grand sect leader. The Jiang family had long since arranged a marriage with his master. But if his memory was correct, Sang Chiyu’s fiancee should’ve been the Jiang family’s 12th young miss, Jiang Xueya. Now it seems like Sang Chiyu, having been reduced to a handicap, allowed this equally useless kid to replace his fiancee in this marriage arrangement.

No wonder this courtyard was deserted and the furnishings so worn. It turned out to be the old Sang family residence. Sang Chiyu was born into the Yunzhou Sang family. When he was three, the Underworld’s criminal troops attacked the Kunlun Secret Sect, besieging the Buku Pass. The entire Sang family perished in battle, leaving only this little child. With all the masters of the house gone, the servants naturally dispersed. Sang Chiyu had resided in the imperial palace of the border capital year round, which naturally left the old Sang family residence unattended.

The man looked so miserable that Su Ruhui didn’t have the heart to bully him. He stood in place for a while, having an awkward staring contest with the old dog by the bed. Su Ruhui returned to his original room and rummaged through the cabinets and drawers for some gauze and wound medicine. Before leaving, he took a look at the windowsill—the shoeprint was gone. The killer had likely fled. He returned to the side room and cut open Sang Chiyu’s clothes. The wounds were ghastly, with gashes overlapping on top of each other. They looked like whip marks, with the flesh turning inside out. Several areas were swollen and blackened, with pus oozing out.

These wounds were too severe. The rotten flesh had to be cut away, the fresh blood allowed to flow before applying medicine, and only then could the wound heal. Some areas even required stitches. Su Ruhui found some alcohol and a dagger, took a large mouthful of wine and spat it onto the blade, then held it over the candle flame until it glowed red. He first applied anesthetic over Sang Chiyu and waited until his body numbed. Then, he cut away the rotten flesh bit by bit.

Just then, the figure on the bed furrowed his brows, his eyelashes trembling slightly as he slowly opened his eyes.

Su Ruhui lifted his eyes, and locked gazes with Sang Chiyu. His eyes were still dark and deep even after all these years apart. Gazing into it felt like looking into a deep and ancient sea. Upon closer look, there seemed to be something different, although he wasn’t sure what exactly had changed.

Su Ruhui gave a sly grin, “Oh, husband you’re awake? You were unconscious for so long, you worried me to death.”

Sang Chiyu just looked at him without saying anything.

Sang Chiyu had always been a man of few words. Su Ruhui knew this, and so he said nothing more and simply continued to apply medicine for him. Sang Chiyu was as expressionless as a wooden puppet, showing not the slightest reaction.

What mistake did he possibly make to deserve such a fate? Based on Su Ruhui’s understanding of Sang Chiyu, this man had a stubborn mind that would not bend. He treated the commandments established by Dantai Jing and the Kunlun Secret Sect’s scam preaches as the rules governing his entire life. How could he have possibly done anything wrong?

Thinking of this, a beep suddenly sounded in his ear.

Dii—

Task Issued: What can save you, my disabled husband?

Task Description: Investigate the truth behind Sang Chiyu’s expulsion from the Secret Sect.

Task Reward: System permissions released by 10%. The host may request any daily consumable item from the system.

He continued to focus on bandaging Sang Chiyu’s wounds. After bandaging his chest, Su Ruhui noticed there were also bloodstains on the bedding. He supported Sang Chiyu to sit up and sure enough, his back was just as tragic. This guy did not make a single noise despite laying there for so long. Does he not feel pain?

Su Ruhui couldn’t bear to look at it anymore, “This person whipped you to the point where not a single inch of flesh was still normal. Who was so cruel to you? Utterly inhuman.”

Sang Chiyu quietly raised his eyes and finally opened his mouth for the first time to say: “You.”