Transmigrated into the Cannon Fodder's Daughter - Chapter 54.1
Hello everyone, apologies for not posting. A winter storm knocked out power for three days and made some of my pipes burst 🙁
Editor: Aaghna
It was a village surrounded by enchanting scenery. Wheatfields, short houses, farmers carrying hoes, and smoke billowing from chimneys composed this serene scene.
Li Nanjue had turned into an old, sun-tanned farmer, and the abrupt change made him alarmed. The previous Li Nanjue was always calm and composed. However, the last few months were filled with sudden setbacks that had deteriorated his confidence.
And now, this sudden encounter made Li Nanjue have a mental breakdown. Was this his future? Did Xiao Xiao give him this hallucination? How was she so powerful?
What unsettled him, even more, was the fact that he was like a marionette on a string. His entire body was being controlled by an external force.
He opened his mouth to greet an old man passing by.
“Uncle De. Your grandson will be one-month-old in a couple of days, right?”
“Yes. When the time comes, our family will drink Manyue wine.”
After greeting the old man, Li Nanjue had an epiphany. In this setting, he was nothing more than an ordinary farmer.
Unable to change the status quo, Li Nanjue could only withhold his anxiety and continue to watch the subsequent developments.
The village became quiet and serene at night. He had just fallen asleep when he heard screams and cries for help. Li Nanjue draped a jacket over his body and peered out through his window. His neighbor’s house was on fire, and screams resonated from the flames.
A single man was illuminated by the flame’s light. Li Nanjue was able to recognize this man with just one glance. Zeng Lunian, dressed in black, stared at the blazing house expressionlessly, but his eyes were frighteningly cold. Several blue and white people hovered around him. No, they were ghosts. Their feet floated above the ground, and their forms were transparent. Li Nanjue could see his neighbor’s brick house through their bodies.
Li Nanjue rushed to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and filled a bucket of water. He rushed to the door, but no matter how hard he pushed, he could not open his door. He tried his window, but even that was stuck. Li Nanjue rummaged through the cupboards, found a hammer, and flung it against the glass window. But the glass did not break. It was as if there was a supernatural force preventing him from leaving his home.
Li Nanjue saw Zeng Lunian turn. Their eyes met, and Zeng Lunian smiled at him. His smile was indescribable. It was mixed with cruelty and the sweet pleasure of teasing prey.
It was him! Zeng Lunian had set the fire!
The realization struck Li Nanjue in full force. He pounded against the window even harder, but no matter how hard he struck the glass, it would not break. He could not escape.
Li Nanjue became desperate.
Suddenly, his house burst into raging flames. No matter how much water Li nanjue threw over the fire, the flames would not recede. Embers floated in the air around him, and Li Nanjue desperately dodged, hoping the sparks wouldn’t touch his body. But it was to no avail. Suddenly, a beam came down and struck his back. He fell to the ground in pain, unable to move. His hair and clothes were charred, and the excruciating pain had Li Nanjue begging for death.
Black smoke filled his lungs and obstructed his breathing. His vision gradually began to blur, and the last thing he remembered was the feeling of burning resentment.
Why did he deserve to be burned to death? What had he done wrong?
He suffered an intense, painful death.
*****
Li Nanjeu staggered before collapsing to the ground. He lifted his head and seemed relieved when he saw a white mist around him.
At last, he didn’t have to keep on experiencing painful deaths over and over again.
Just now, Li Nanjue had played the roles of many people. He had experienced firsthand what they had gone through before they died.
He had been burned to death, hanged, pushed down a well, and possessed.
Li Nanjue was unable to resist, unable to change his fate. He could only watch Zeng Lunian use various means to kill him, use Li Nanjue’s pain and despair to refine his evil arts. He could only watch his village be killed off by Zeng Lunian.
Although Li Xiao had once said Zeng Lunian had killed hundreds of people, Li Nanjue had thought she was exaggerating. It was not until he experienced it himself that he realized how cruel Zeng Lunian was.
All the deaths had caused Li Nanjue to have a mental breakdown and his breathing to become labored. He remembered Zhan Jiayin’s comments about Zeng Lunian.
“He’s not a bad person. He’s just a little protective. He treats Fei’er and me very well, so you know he’s a good person.”
“He suffered a lot in his hometown when he was young because his grandfather died. He’s very poor, so don’t be too biased towards him.”
“If you treat him well, he will treat you well, too. He’s a good friend of mine. I trust him.”
Li Nanjue could no longer look at Zhan Jiayin the same way. The brutal scenes of Zeng Lunian had been engraved in Li Nanjue’s mind. He couldn’t believe his wife had attempted to defend Zeng Lunian.
A good person? If Zeng Lunian was considered a good person, there should be no bad people in this world.
Zeng Lunian didn’t have a drop of humanity in him. Besides Zhan Jiayin, people were no better than ants. Would you feel guilty if you stepped on an ant? No, of course not. That’s how Zeng Lunian must’ve felt when he killed someone.
Li Nanjue squeezed his eyes shut, but he couldn’t help the terrifying thoughts from seeping into his skull. If Zhan Jiayin hadn’t rescued Zeng Lunian, he would’ve died and the farmers in that quaint, little village would’ve still been living out their mundane lives.
But because they had experienced such despair before they died, they resented Zhan Jiayin.
Li Nanjue staggered to his feet and suppressed his overwhelming emotions. He needed to find a way to get out of here.
He assumed that Li Xiao had shown him these things using the resentful ghosts. But after seeing the things he had seen, he could no longer think badly of Li Xiao. He regretted treating her poorly.
Li Nanjue wasn’t the only one who saw those images. Li QIanfei, Qu Lian, Zhan Jiaiyin, and the chauffeur were all tortured.
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