Chapter 4: Talking Past Each Other
"Wait, who the hell am I?"
Chu Huaixu squatted beside the corpse, frowning, cursing in his heart.
He had no past memories regarding this 【character】, nor did he receive any information from the system at the moment.
Therefore, he had no idea which side his character belonged to.
Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going?
He knew nothing at all!
"Oh right! That person said I’m supposed to infiltrate the 【Dao Gate】."
At this thought, Chu Huaixu immediately made a decision: "Like hell I will!"
He now firmly believed that he had transmigrated.
If he followed the predetermined route, due to the lack of memory and information, he would feel a strong sense of uncertainty and insecurity.
"There are 【Revival Coins】 in the game, so even if I die, I can revive by inserting a coin."
"Although my 【Character Panel】 shows that, like every initial account, I come with three 【Revival Coins】."
"But... what if?"
"After all, this is a transmigration, not just playing a game. What if they don’t work!"
So he felt that he still needed to be somewhat cautious.
Just now, he heard a system prompt sound, informing him that the 【Mission System】 was activating.
This was extremely important to Chu Huaixu.
《Borrowed Sword》 was a game with a relatively high degree of freedom; players could explore on their own, with many channels available to gain 【Experience Points】, which could then be used to level up their 【Character】, 【Skills】, or 【Equipment】.
The most official way to gain experience points was definitely by doing missions.
"If these functions still work, then they’ll be my golden fingers for survival after transmigrating," Chu Huaixu thought.
Back on Earth, he could survive by "selling his looks," flirting with the edge in games, pulling stunts and special content.
Surely he couldn't keep doing that after transmigrating, right?
Otherwise, he wouldn't just be a so-called 【Virtual Male Model】—he’d literally start clucking and quacking.
Chu Huaixu knew very well that in 《Borrowed Sword》, strength was everything!
This foxy face of his that could charm both men and women at most was just a bonus.
A few more seconds passed, and the 【Mission System】 finally activated completely.
A system notification rang in his ear, audible only to him, like the legendary secret voice transmission.
"【Ding! Mission System Activated!】"
"【Assessing your initial completion...】"
"【Judged: You have escaped the ambush set by ‘Xue Hu’...】"
"【Judged: You successfully counter-killed him during the escape...】"
"【Judged...】"
Listening to each evaluation notice, Chu Huaixu couldn’t help but mutter inwardly: "What do you mean I counter-killed him while escaping? I didn’t even get a chance to run, did I?"
"If I had known, I would've taken him on a few laps—maybe I could’ve coaxed out some useful info during the chase."
"But no—just one slash and he was done!"
At that thought, Chu Huaixu slapped the corpse again.
"Smack—!"
You see, since 《Borrowed Sword》 passed review and got released, it meant the game’s guidance for players was generally positive, not leading down dark or twisted paths.
Therefore, Xue Hu, who now lay dead in front of him, must have deserved to die—he was no good person, clearly the "red-named wild mob" type. Chu Huaixu felt zero guilt.
In fact, after killing him, Chu Huaixu even gained 100 experience points.
Meanwhile, the two masked men watching Chu Huaixu from a distance had their lips twitch slightly under their masks.
The two of them racked their brains and still couldn’t understand why he had to slap Xue Hu every now and then?
Did it really feel that good?
But as members of the 【Organization】, their sense of allegiance to the 【Moon Country】 was among the strongest in the nation, and so was their hostility toward the 【Mirror Country】.
Since Xue Hu was from the Mirror Country, they didn’t find this fox-faced guy’s behavior overly violent.
Besides, people in the Organization lived repressed lives and had no shortage of unusual preferences, so...
—They didn’t understand, but they respected it!
After exchanging a glance, the man wearing the golden mask spoke: "We should go."
"My lord, this newcomer is quite interesting. I’d like to observe a bit more," replied the silver-masked man.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, the other immediately let out a cold snort, and a powerful pressure swept forth instantly:
"Hmph! Have you forgotten what the Organization taught us before we departed for the Mirror Country, what warnings we received?"
The golden-masked man spoke in a low voice: "‘Admonition’ Article Three—do not harbor excessive curiosity toward fellow members of the Organization!"
"This is for your good, and his as well!"
The silver-masked man immediately bowed his head respectfully: "Yes, my lord!"
Seeing his proper attitude, the golden-masked man gave a slight nod, and his voice softened a little: "You and I still have important duties. This is the last newcomer introduction task we are responsible for."
"You should return to the Mirror Court and do your part properly."
"I too should return to the 【Dao Gate】."
The silver-masked man immediately bent forward and cupped his hands: "Yes, my lord."
The two then parted ways and disappeared into the rainy night not long after.
As such, they did not witness Chu Huaixu’s next move.
He searched Xue Hu’s body, took the money pouch and other “loot drops” like after killing a monster, stuffed them into his chest, then took off running at full speed.
The reason was simple—the 【Mission System】 had just rated his initial completion score at 9.93, nearly perfect, and quickly issued a new system mission—evade the blockade from the Patrol Bureau!
"Why am I being targeted by the Patrol Bureau?" Chu Huaixu ran while checking the 【map】, processing the information in his head.
There was probably something fishy going on.
But he didn’t have time to think now.
On this pitch-black rainy night, he needed to find a place that gave him a sense of security.
He knew the Patrol Bureau well.
Once, when he started a 【new account】, he was immediately hunted by the Patrol Bureau at the start. Wanting to experience their “special services,” he had turned the 【Pain Index】 to the lowest and deliberately got caught, enduring a full night of torture.
And the result?
Damn it, it wasn’t like in those anti-Japanese war dramas—after surviving the torture, you’d unlock a secret ending like the beauty trap.
Now that Chu Huaixu had transmigrated and couldn’t adjust his pain sensitivity, he knew that if he got caught by the Patrol Bureau, it would be pure hell.
At this moment, while fleeing, he studied the 【map】 and quickly analyzed his escape route.
After weighing the options in his heart, he decided to head toward the nearby Wumeng Mountains.
In 《Borrowed Sword》, the 【map】 included many of Earth’s rivers and mountains.
There were the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, the Five Great Mountains...
So the Wumeng Mountains appearing wasn’t strange at all.
In fact, the Wumeng Mountains were quite famous in 《Borrowed Sword》.
The reason was simple—one of the Four Great Sects, the 【Dao Gate】, was located right beside the Wumeng Mountains.
Players believed that the game developers were probably fans of the ancient duo band Phoenix Legend due to such a map design.
After all, Phoenix Legend’s song “Lady Shexiang” had a lyric: “The Wumeng Mountains connect to the mountains beyond.”
So, it wasn’t hard to guess—the place where the 【Dao Gate】 was located was called “Mountains Beyond Mountains!”
Chu Huaixu choosing to flee toward the Wumeng Mountains now actually went against his earlier stance.
Just moments ago, he was thinking “no way I’m going to the 【Dao Gate】,” purely out of rebellion.
At this moment, he wasn’t trying to infiltrate the 【Dao Gate】—it was just that the Wumeng Mountains might be the nearest safe zone.
According to the info from the Mission System, Chu Huaixu’s current situation wasn’t extremely dangerous.
He had just reviewed the mission details, and from the content, it seemed only Xue Hu knew the truth.
But Xue Hu, being greedy for money, lustful, and eager for merit, didn’t share any of it with his colleagues.
The Patrol Bureau people were arriving simply because each of them carried a 【Life Token】. Once someone died, the Bureau would know, and the token had a tracking function.
"In that case, running toward the outskirts of the 【Dao Gate】 should be better," Chu Huaixu concluded.
As a veteran player of 《Borrowed Sword》, he knew the game’s lore inside out.
Where he currently was—the Mirror Country—was dominated by the Four Great Sects, with the royal court holding weak power.
To put it simply, the 【Dao Gate】 stood above the court!
But in the neighboring Moon Country, it wasn’t like that—the court ruled over the sects, and the sects followed the court’s lead.
The Wumeng Mountains were basically the 【Dao Gate】’s turf. Even court officials would act more restrained there, lest they provoke the sect.
Without special circumstances, court people didn’t even dare step into the area.
"As for whether the death of a Patrol Bureau scoundrel counts as ‘special circumstances’...?" Chu Huaixu didn’t think so.
And so, he ran through the rainy night, his lower half covered in mud, his long black hair drenched, and that fox-like face of his looked even more unruly and wickedly handsome when wet.
He followed the navigation function in the 【map】, taking shortcuts the whole way.
Chu Huaixu cut through the dense forest and arrived at the foot of the Wumeng Mountains.
Then, his pupils slightly contracted.
Because someone was ahead!
On this torrential night, he saw a woman holding an oil-paper umbrella, dressed in pale blue, with her face veiled.
She was about 1.7 meters tall, with a graceful and curvaceous figure and strikingly long legs.
Even with only the upper half of her face visible through the veil, one could still tell she was a beauty.
Unfortunately, her entire aura was extremely cold—her slightly furrowed brows and scrutinizing eyes gave off an overwhelming sense of distance.
The woman stood with her umbrella, looking at Chu Huaixu standing in the downpour.
To her own surprise, she blurted out what was on her mind, as if possessed. Her voice was cold, but the content of her words was a stark contrast to her tone and demeanor:
"Hm? Truly a most exquisite furnace."