Chapter 2: The Third Young Master

Run?

Xu Yuan's steps halted, his body frozen in place, his eyes widening as he turned back to gaze into the vast Buddha's eyes—dimming slowly in the darkness.

Some details he had previously overlooked suddenly surfaced in his mind, as if a long-buried truth had just cracked open. He seemed to suddenly grasp something.

Reality wasn't like anime or movies. If an enemy could strike and kill you, they wouldn't stand around posing, waiting for you to notice them.

Yet this colossal Buddha had silently appeared beside him, never launching an attack until Xu Yuan had taken refuge at the edge of the temple hall—only then did it choose to engage the cloaked woman.

The rain outside continued to fall softly, steadily. The air inside the temple felt cold—so cold it seemed capable of freezing the very breath.

Third Prince...

Xu Yuan looked down at his frail, weak body, and suddenly exhaled deeply.

The Buddha's address to him, the condition of this body, and what had just transpired—all of it stirred a quiet, growing suspicion within him about this world he had somehow crossed into.

Too similar.

What just happened mirrored almost exactly a scene from a 2.5D pixel-art game called "Cangyuan," a segment of its storyline that he once played.

The giant Buddha, the ruined temple, the nobleman in brocade robes, and the woman in black, as cold as ice.

Only then, the original 2.5D pixel style had been abruptly transformed into a first-person, real-time perspective—such a stark contrast that Xu Yuan, freshly transported, could not at first connect the two realities.

But now, the giant Buddha’s single line—“You are the Third Prince of the Chancellor’s family”—suddenly awakened it in him.

He, the Third Prince of the Chancellor’s household.

The most tragic third prince in the game "Cangyuan," who, across twenty-five worldlines, had died twenty-five times in different ways.

Yet, once this truth settled in, Xu Yuan’s tightly coiled heart loosened slightly, and his gaze turned forward.

Time seemed to slow—raindrops sliding from the eaves splashed across the darkness, leaving shimmering lines of silver.

His eyes, now adapted to the gloom, caught a glimpse of that graceful form approaching.

The woman’s steps were light, yet unmistakably audible.

The darkness of the temple spread swiftly, the cold wind of a rainy night howling through the void.

At last, Xu Yuan met the gaze of the black-robed woman—her eyes, in the darkness, serene and luminous.

"You are..."

A voice, calm and gentle as flowing water, echoed from the shadows.

One could already imagine a noble, refined young man, graceful as jade.

Her body must be quite striking.

Thinking of such trivialities, Xu Yuan continued:

"...Ran Qingmo?"

Before the words had fully settled, a flash of cold steel passed through the woman’s serene eyes.

Yet, upon seeing that icy, unsettling chill in her gaze, Xu Yuan merely relaxed completely.

He was right—this was the world within the game.

The current situation aligned with the narrative he knew. Xu Yuan instantly recalled that this massive block of ice had been designed to capture him, not to kill him.

Because the other side still needed him—to "persuade" his father, the looming warlord boss who was about to unleash conflict.

No matter how he might die in the future, for now, the immediate threat to his life had vanished. The pressure eased, like a weight lifted from his shoulders.

They stared at each other for a few seconds—

the cold glint in the black-robed woman’s eyes slowly faded. She turned, her voice calm and even:

"Follow."

Xu Yuan realized she was preparing to flee.

The corpses outside, and the "spirit buddhas" within this temple—were all under the command of his father’s old body. Though she had left no survivor in her blade’s path, this place was clearly no longer safe to stay.

Yet if she was leaving, Xu Yuan would by no means follow her.

The game "Cangyuan" can unfold into countless different endings based on the player's choices, among which several paths lead to the protagonist's demise—this little antihero, in fact, dies while being kidnapped by that massive ice block.

Though the manner of death is briefly mentioned, it is undeniably true that he perishes.

Thus, Xu Yuan stands motionless, gazing at the silhouette of the other figure in the dark, his voice as clear and calm as possible:

"Mr. Ran, do you know what you are doing now?"

"Mr. Ran" is the respectful title used by the main character in the game for Ran Qingmo.

"........."

Xu Yuan's sudden words seemed to surprise the black-robed woman.

Her steps halted, and a piercing gaze, as delicate as a blade, swept toward him, sending a shiver of gooseflesh down Xu Yuan's spine.

She said nothing, merely standing still in the darkness, gazing at him.

To be stared at by such a massive ice block was deeply uncomfortable. Xu Yuan repeatedly recalled the game's storyline in his mind, confirming beyond doubt that the character at this plot point could not possibly kill him.

She repeated:

"Follow me."

Xu Yuan maintained composure, speaking slowly and deliberately:

"You won't kill me."

Ran Qingmo waved her hand casually, and a thick, long wooden pole was pulled from the ground.

Holding the pole, she stood still, silently staring at Xu Yuan.

"........." Xu Yuan.

Taking a deep breath, he followed the woman.

On the surface, Xu Yuan appeared calm and indifferent, speaking softly:

"Mr. Ran, catching me holds no meaning."

Ran Qingmo still said nothing, one hand holding his sword, the other gripping a wooden stick, silently walking toward the temple's outer edge.

Xu Yuan strained to keep his voice at a steady pitch:

"Someone like my father wouldn't change his decision based on my life or death."

Only then did Ran Qingmo finally speak softly, his voice as delicate as ever:

"What do you want to say?"

The rain outside the temple continued to fall, droplets striking the eaves in a relentless cascade, sending ripples across the puddles.

At the sound of Ran Qingmo finally speaking, Xu Yuan immediately replied:

"Of course, I'm referring to your reason for capturing me."

With a faint smile, he added:

"Mr. Ran, you took me to save the four thousand disciples of the Sword Sect..."

Buzz————

Before the words could even fade, time within the temple seemed to congeal into ice.

A murderous chill climbed abruptly, and a sudden hurricane radiated outward from the woman, making Xu Yuan’s robes snap and howl in the wind!

An invisible, colossal pressure emanated inch by inch from her silhouette draped in the darkness; merely by standing there, she made Xu Yuan feel an almost overwhelming urge to fall to his knees.

Forced back two steps by the crushing weight, he tightly clenched his fists hidden within his expansive sleeves, grabbing a nearby wooden pillar just to force his posture to stabilize.

Deep within the gloom, the biting intent to kill radiating from her body made the hairs on his neck stand on end.

Such a sudden turn of events caught Xu Yuan completely off guard, leaving him entirely at a loss as to why Ran Qingmo would react so violently to his words.

In the span of a lightning flash,

As his mind frantically recalled the game's plot, a sudden realization struck Xu Yuan that he had apparently spoken entirely out of turn.

The monumental event of the Prime Minister annihilating the Tianyuan Sword Sect was something he, as a "player," naturally took for granted to know.

But for the people of this world, the matter should still be in the planning stages—a secret buried deep, known only to his cheap old dad and a handful of the most trusted inner circle masters beneath him.

At this very moment,

The Master of the Sword Sect remained the esteemed State Councillor of the Great Inflame Dynasty, still a lifelong friend of his ministerial father, someone he had served alongside for decades.

To suggest that the Minister would bring down the Sword Sect—such a thing might even make the Sword Sect’s Master himself doubt it.

Though this body, as the third legitimate son of the Chancellor, was in theory of noble standing, his indulgent, hedonistic lifestyle—drinking, eating, gambling, and reveling—could not possibly have known such a secret at this time.

Cold sweat poured down his back.

He’d messed up completely.

At that instant, Ruan Qingmo turned fully around, his eyes glowing with a deep, eerie blue light in the darkness, stepping forward toward Xu Yuan while drawing his sword:

“How do you know?”