The sound of footsteps echoed through the dense forest—quiet, deliberate, and drawing closer with each passing second.
Su Chen's ears twitched as he pressed his back tighter against the thick trunk of the ancient banyan tree. Each step landed with a rhythmic precision that made his skin crawl.
The sound of footsteps grew louder and more distinct. Su Chen tensed. Whoever was approaching was heading straight toward him. He didn't like trouble, and he especially didn't like taking stray arrows for someone else's fight—but if it came down to survival, he wouldn't hesitate to kill and erase the evidence. Still, he didn't immediately stick his head out to see who it was. Su Chen wasn't curious—he was cautious.
The footsteps stopped just a short distance from his hiding spot beneath the banyan tree.
The forest held its breath.
Now came the subtle crackling of dry leaves—soft, uneven. Someone shifting their weight, adjusting their stance.
Also hiding.
From the rhythm of the steps and how they landed, Su Chen could tell: human. Animals didn't walk like that. Too even. Too deliberate.
The forest fell into silence again, broken only by the occasional rustle of leaves.
Then came a more deliberate shuffling sound—like someone creeping carefully, trying not to be seen. That caught his attention.
So, they're hiding too?
Su Chen slowly, carefully, lifted his head to glance in the direction of the noise. The jungle had already been swallowed by evening darkness, thick enough that even seeing his own hands was difficult. Yet, strangely, he could still make out vague shapes—faint outlines in the gloom.
And what he saw startled him.
Lin Yu.
The arrogant son of the village chief. Spoiled, petty, and annoying. A textbook little villain.
But now, he was crouched behind a tree, facing toward Cloud Village. His face was pale, his expression filled with raw panic. He was trembling, eyes wide, clearly watching—and waiting—for something. Something terrifying.
Su Chen narrowed his eyes. He knows, he thought. Lin Yu knows what's going to happen.
But how? Why hadn't he run away earlier? Why hide here instead?
Su Chen's own knowledge came from instinct, gut feelings, and the logic of a thousand cultivation novels from his past life. He was guessing. But Lin Yu clearly knew.
Could he be... a son of luck?
Before he could dive deeper into that theory—
BOOM!
A thunderous blast rocked the forest. The ground trembled. Birds scattered in every direction, screaming.
Su Chen's head whipped toward the village.
A massive red formation had appeared in the sky above Cloud Village—an enormous crimson circle etched with glowing patterns. And floating above it was a single figure: Old Jack.
Even from a distance, the red light from the formation lit up everything. Su Chen could see it all clearly.
The figure raised a hand and began forming signs in the air.
Another, even stronger wave of energy erupted from the circle—BOOM! The trees around Su Chen swayed violently. Some cracked and toppled. Thankfully, the banyan tree held firm—its thick roots clutching the earth like anchors.
Then the formation began to rotate, slowly, clockwise.
And then—
"Aaah! Aaaaah!"
The screams.
They came from the village. Dozens. Maybe hundreds. They pierced the night and echoed through the forest.
Su Chen had prepared himself mentally for something like this. He had imagined it. Anticipated it.
But when it actually happened, his body shivered. A chill ran down his spine. His breath caught in his throat.
This wasn't a novel. This was real.
A thick red mist began to rise from the village, swirling upward into the center of the formation.
But it wasn't mist.
It was blood.
Human blood, turned into paste by the terrifying formation. From afar, it looked like smoke. But Su Chen knew better.
"Damn it," he thought bitterly. "I was wrong. That old dog didn't want to let me live out of friendship or pity. He just wanted me to die quietly in my sleep thanks to his drug. Good thing I didn't take that risk. Without plot armor, I'd already be a puddle in that soup."
Relief flickered across his face. Then he glanced at Lin Yu.
The young master was frozen in place. Silent tears rolled down his cheeks. His fists were clenched so tightly that blood dripped from his palms—nails buried in his own flesh. His lips were bitten raw.
For a brief moment, Su Chen felt a pang of sympathy.
But it passed.
"He's a son of luck," Su Chen thought coldly. "He'll be fine. They always are. As long as he doesn't drag me into his fate, I don't care what happens to him."
He turned his gaze back to the village.
What was once a peaceful cluster of homes was now a lifeless wasteland. The screams had stopped. The red formation above the village stopped rotating.
Old Jack moved his hand.
The formation contracted, folding in on itself, drawing all the blood-mist into its core. It floated toward him—but instead of grabbing it, he pulled out a small pouch from his waist and sucked the entire formation inside with a soft hum.
But he didn't leave.
Instead, he closed his eyes. And then—
The air changed.
Heavy. Sharp. Suffocating.
His spiritual consciousness spread across the land like a vast net.
"Let's see if any rats slipped through," he muttered with a smirk.
And then—
His spiritual sense turned toward the forest.
Toward them.
Only one thought exploded in Su Chen's mind:
"Shit. I'm dead."
His face turned ashen, like someone who had taken a proud step forward in life only to land in a fresh pile of cow dung.
His outsider aura could definitely make other people ignore him, but if their cultivation was many levels higher than his, then it wouldn't work properly.
Su Chen's eye twitched.
He turned to look at the blissfully unaware Lin Yu, his expression full of bitterness.
"You walking disaster magnet! Son of Luck, my ass! You're a black hole in human skin—bad luck for everyone else expect yourself!"
He mentally cursed Lin Yu's entire family line. If he could, he would've written a hate letter directly to the heavens demanding a refund on fate.
Then, he remembered.
The system.
Of course! His cheat! His golden thigh!
"System! System! Please—Daddy! Ancestor! Great Immortal Lord System! Save me! I'll call you whatever you want, just get me out of this mess alive!"
He was practically on his knees in his mind. Outwardly, though, he was a statue—barely daring to breathe.
Even blinking felt too risky.
He kept his thoughts silent but intense, practically radiating desperation through sheer mental effort. At this point, even a sarcastic popup window would've comforted him.