Chapter 0

Ruan Xuezong had been reborn, and he had a dream.

In that dream, there was a book. He saw his own wretched life confined to just a few meager pages within it.

[You are Ruan Xuezong, the Young Manor Lord of Heart Washing Manor, one of the villains in this book. A massive fire claimed your adoptive parents, leaving you disfigured and warping your temperament. Ambitious all your life, you navigated endless schemes, betrayals, and deceptions, only to place your misplaced trust in that person and be cast aside like a worthless pawn. On the leaderboard of the players’ most despised characters, you hold the top spot.]

An electronic voice, proclaiming itself the will of the game, echoed inside Ruan Xuezong’s mind.

“Cough cough cough…”

Ruan Xuezong finished reading the sections of the book that pertained to him. Then his throat erupted in agonized coughs, veins bulging across the back of his hand.

He had always wondered why, with his sharp intellect and the vast resources at his command, he lagged behind none of the heroes or titans of the Rivers and Lakes—yet his fate remained so relentlessly cruel, as if manipulated by some invisible hand. Now he understood: it was all because he existed within a book.

He visited the forum that the game will had mentioned and took a quick browse. His villainous role proved wildly unpopular there.

The other antagonists boasted hordes of devoted fans, but he alone, marred by his disfigurement, found no admirers. They dubbed him the “Rivers and Lakes’ Number One Trouble-Stirrer.” Even after his gruesome death, the forums relentlessly piled on, cursing him as ruthless, spiteful, and a monster whose ugliness fueled his malice.

Fate had dealt him malice enough, it seemed, but malice lurked beyond fate as well.

Ruan Xuezong let out a cold laugh.

Five years had passed since the fire that razed the manor. His face lay ruined, his downfall etched in stone: limbs crippled, trust betrayed, reduced to a puppet jerked by strings until that man discarded him once he outlived his usefulness… If he had to relive it all, what good was this clear-headed rebirth?

Ruan Xuezong raised his hand, aiming it squarely at his heart.

He had trained in martial arts since childhood. Ending himself required only a single palm strike. It might look light as a drifting cloud, but in an instant, it would shatter his heart meridians and still his breath.

That was life in a wuxia world for you.

Sensing Ruan Xuezong’s suicidal intent, the system panicked.

It had no idea why this NPC character had suddenly awakened self-awareness. Recent hit interstellar films came to mind: awakened NPCs either despaired into inert shells or rose in furious rebellion. Neither outcome suited the game will’s interests—especially not for Ruan Xuezong, an NPC too vital to delete or replace.

The system could only coax him gently within its limited power, offering some compensation to keep him shining dutifully in his villainous role.

【Hold on, Young Manor Lord Ruan. This ancient Earth wuxia novel is being adapted into a game. As the game will, System 007 can grant you a few special privileges.】

At those words, Ruan Xuezong’s chin lifted slightly in the barest hint of a smile, but his raised palm remained poised.

【Your face and skin damage is too severe. I can give you a Face Restoring Pill.】

Ruan Xuezong’s expression flickered.

That nameless inferno had swept through the manor with ferocious speed. He, only thirteen at the time, had been the sole survivor amid the blaze—or so it seemed. In truth, his injuries proved devastating: his face charred beyond recognition, vast swathes of burns scarring his neck and thighs.

Blackened, suppurating sores mottled his skin, resembling the wanton bloom of spider lilies straight from hell.

Even he, grown accustomed to the sight, sometimes recoiled in horror. Bathing meant alarming the servants, so over time, he refused their help. Only the maid Shuiyin tended him without complaint, always murmuring soft reassurances: “Master, don’t be sad. As the saying goes, fortune favors those who survive great calamity.”

To claim he didn’t care would be a lie.

Before he could refuse, the system, reading his thoughts, dispensed the pill. The effect was immediate.

Why say that?

Because Shuiyin, arriving with his medicinal soup, gasped at the sight of his face. She fumbled the bowl, spilling an entire pot of Tianshan Snow Lotus Congee—hours of careful simmering, wasted.

“Master, your face…!”

How to describe it? Eyes like polished ink, lips like vermilion cinnabar, a wisp of flowing cloud gracing his brow, imbued with the crisp chill of snow and plum blossoms.

His ink-black hair spilled unbound over his shoulders, his stunning features so radiant that even the finest painter couldn’t capture their essence. His neck, curving toward his inner robes, gleamed like flawless white jade, utterly scar-free.

Just a cup of tea ago, she had seen a face crawling with festering sores. The sudden contrast with this divine visage hit like a thunderbolt.

A martial artist, Shuiyin boasted keen eyesight. She could even make out the faint blue veins beneath his skin—not some disguise technique, no stitched seams at the edges.

But how could this be? The manor’s divine doctor, Shen Qionghua, had labored fruitlessly for years over his face!

Realizing he had startled her, Ruan Xuezong smoothly donned the copper mask from beside him, snapping it into place. Only then did she recover.

Before, he had worn the mask to spare others horror. Now, he wore it for the same reason.

“These fire scars plagued me for five years. Today, by the grace of an immortal, I received a Face Restoring Pill and was healed… My temperament soured these past years, prone to outbursts. You’ve endured much.” Ruan Xuezong spoke mildly. Outwardly, he called the 007 System an immortal, but inwardly, the system detected no respect or gratitude.

Absurd as the immortal claim sounded, Shuiyin accepted it without question. “No wonder. It doesn’t surprise me that you would receive such fortune, Master.”

The words “endured much” reddened her eyes. She dabbed at her tears. “No need for such courtesy, Master. To serve at your side is happiness enough for Shuiyin.” With that, she curtsied and bent to gather the shattered porcelain from the floor.

Once she withdrew, Ruan Xuezong murmured coolly, “Who would guess that this devoted maid, throwing herself into harm’s way time and again to shield me from the Rivers and Lakes’ endless blades, harbors such depths of loyalty… only to be a master spy.” How could anyone remain unmoved by such feigned devotion?

In his previous life, he had naively believed his charm unmatched—even crippled and reviled by all, someone clung to him unwaveringly. Until Shuiyin led him before her true master and shoved the incredulous Ruan Xuezong into the Sword Forging Pool…

His dying sight had been Shuiyin kneeling reverently at that man’s robe hem—a vision that seared his eyes.

Spies really committed to the bit these days.

System 007 stayed silent.

It was too embarrassed to speak.

For now, Ruan Xuezong couldn’t deal with her. He had no one under his command. Shuiyin had infiltrated the manor for five or six years, rising to his most trusted confidante. Without exaggeration, removing her would grind the entire operation to a halt.

“Is this the best you can do?” Ruan Xuezong tilted his chin, questioning System 007. Did it think one beauty pill would suffice?

【Fine. Actually, I have another privilege. During the game’s closed beta, I can tweak some players’ spawn points to have them descend at Heart Washing Manor—for your use.】

“Players?” Beneath the mask, Ruan Xuezong’s lips curved in an enigmatic smile. “That forum crowd brimming with zeal for grunt work in a virtual world?”

Free labor without paying a dime? Perfect, if they could serve him.

Seeing his assent, System 007 promptly processed the request, lottery-style summoning a few lucky souls from another world. Just a handful—three or four at most. Hardly enough to stir trouble.

【System scanning… Eligible player detected… Data integration underway… Summon progress: 10%… 50%… 100%…】

Ruan Xuezong waited patiently in his room, cradling hot tea with initial interest.

As time dragged on, his expression grew indifferent, his gaze icing over.

He tugged his Fox Fur Cloak tighter against the chill night draft through the hall, convinced the system had played him for a fool. The progress bar had hit 100% ages ago, yet from dusk till midnight—from 6 p.m. to the witching hour—he saw neither hide nor hair of anyone, not even a stray sleeve.

Noticing his darkening mood, the system hastened to explain. “The selected players are still in the character creator. They should arrive soon.”

Ruan Xuezong waited on. Another hour passed—still nothing. Exhausted, he summoned a maid to handle greetings and retired to sleep.

Finally, at 4 a.m., the player who had spent ten hours perfecting his face—ID: Linghu Xiao—strolled into the room. He faced a yawning maid in a pink dress.

Truth be told, Linghu Xiao reeled from the game’s hyper-realism. The young maid’s collagen-plump face bore the unmistakable exhaustion of an all-nighter, blending seamlessly with the antique carved beams and fragrant air, making it feel utterly real.

A man materialized in the room. Forewarned by her master and shielded by the game will’s anomaly-ignoring protocol, the maid felt no alarm. She rubbed her sleepy eyes, hesitated, then recited the line her master had drilled into her for every guest.

“Young hero, welcome to Heart Washing Manor. From this day, it is your home. Please contribute to its prosperity.”

As her words faded, a plot summary scrolled before Linghu Xiao’s eyes.

【Heart Washing Manor stands among Jiangnan’s premier martial sects. Once, its fame blazed like the midday sun: the finest liquors, the most loyal retainers, lavish banquets without end, nights of endless revelry. All that changed five years ago.】

Linghu Xiao hadn’t yet grasped the weight of “once”—did that mean no more?—when a system alert chimed in his mind.

【Congratulations, player Linghu Xiao! You’ve unlocked the achievement “New Arrival”!】

Linghu Xiao perked up instantly.