Mi Lu felt a bit nauseous. 

Even though he didn’t understand why, as an NPC in the book, he was experiencing such a subjective feeling, the fact was that this sensation kept intermittently stimulating his brain nerves. 

Then—

He heard himself retching.

“Young master?” A familiar female voice called out, both surprised and delighted.

Immediately, the voice moved away, accompanied by the sound of hurried footsteps, “Liuli, quickly go get the master and madam! Tell them the young master is showing signs of waking!”

“Okay! I’m on it!”

After Liuli ran off, the female voice returned to the bedside, trembling and cautiously calling out to the young master over and over again.

Mi Lu was floating in boundless darkness, and the repeated calls of “young master” seemed to form an invisible golden thread, silently guiding him forward.

The darkness faded.

Consciousness gathered.

The female voice, tinged with sobs, gradually became clearer.

Mi Lu struggled to open his eyes, his vision blurred as if covered by a veil. Even though the warm yellow light wasn’t glaring, he still felt physiological tears welling up from the corners of his eyes.

“Young master! You’re awake!”

Mi Lu slightly turned his head, and the first thing he saw was a young girl’s face, tears streaming down like rain.

The girl was crying at the bedside, but her eyes were filled with joy, clearly overwhelmed with happiness.

“Feicui…” Mi Lu tried to speak, but his voice was hoarse. He could only manage to call out the girl’s name before he couldn’t utter anything more.

“Young master.” Feicui hurriedly wiped away her tears and smiled at Mi Lu, “Feicui is here. Liuli just went to get the master and madam. They’ll be here soon.”

Mi Lu nodded lightly and closed his eyes in silence.

At this moment, his thoughts were extremely chaotic, and it took him a while to digest what Feicui had said.

But even so, there were still many doubts—

Where had the plot progressed to?

Why did he suddenly gain consciousness?

Where was the male lead, Hulü Yan?

What exactly happened?

Weren’t they supposed to enter the eleventh cycle? Or was his part already over?

But his part wasn’t supposed to end on a bed! He clearly died on a journey.

Too much information was like a tangled ball of yarn, forcefully stuffed into Mi Lu’s brain.

Mi Lu couldn’t even find the ends of the threads, let alone untangle the already knotted yarn.

He thought for a long time, until his temples throbbed with pain, but he still couldn’t figure it out.

His brain was blocked by that ball of yarn.

Only a sense of discomfort, like seawater, engulfed him, making him feel not only mentally but also physically uncomfortable.

There was a strong metallic taste in his mouth, as if he had just drunk a bowl of blood, both fishy and sweet, spreading to his throat, making him want to retch several times.

“Water.” He barely managed to make a sound.

Hearing this, Feicui quickly poured a cup of warm water, using a clean handkerchief to dab it on Mi Lu’s dry lips.

Mi Lu turned his head to avoid the handkerchief, “I want to drink water.”

Feicui had no choice but to set aside the cup and handkerchief, helping Mi Lu sit up and lean against her shoulder before bringing the cup to his lips.

Mi Lu drank half a cup of water. Although the metallic taste in his mouth was still strong, it was at least bearable.

Just as Feicui helped Mi Lu lie back down, Liuli hurriedly led Mi Hefeng and Gu Qiu into the room.

Gu Qiu’s eyes reddened instantly upon seeing her son’s pale face, and she rushed to the bedside.

“Liuliu, you’re finally awake. You worried your mother to death.” Gu Qiu wanted to touch her son but didn’t dare, only able to gaze at him with tear-filled eyes.

Mi Hefeng followed behind, also deeply moved, but he was much calmer than his wife, Gu Qiu. After she finished speaking, he said, “Rest well for now. As for your master, I’ve already sent someone to inform him. Once you’re better, you can personally return to your sect to apologize.”

Gu Qiu nodded, unable to resist lovingly touching Mi Lu’s face, “If you feel unwell, tell your mother. If I’m not around, tell Feicui and Liuli. I’ll come back immediately.”

Gu Qiu’s hand was a bit cold, and when it touched Mi Lu’s feverish skin, a cool sensation seeped in.

This comfortable feeling was familiar.

Just like the scenes unfolding before him, familiar from experiencing ten cycles, some things were deeply imprinted in Mi Lu’s mind.

He just hadn’t remembered them for a moment.

Including the metallic taste in his mouth that he hadn’t noticed earlier.

Suddenly, he understood.

It was like untangling the ball of yarn in his brain, finding the ends of the threads, and everything became clear.

He grabbed Gu Qiu’s hand as she was about to withdraw it, staring at her intently, “Mother, did you feed me something?”

Gu Qiu was slightly taken aback, not expecting her son’s first words upon waking to be this. She couldn’t hide her expression, glancing anxiously at Mi Hefeng.

Only when Mi Hefeng gave her a look did she regain her composure, smiling at Mi Lu, “I got a medicinal lead from the Hulü family for you. What you drank was the decoction made from it. Otherwise, you might not have made it through this time, and I would never see you again.”

Thinking of this, Gu Qiu felt a wave of fear.

Fortunately, their Mi family held a place among the four great families. Otherwise, with so many people eyeing the medicinal lead, they wouldn’t have been able to quickly make a deal with the Hulü family and get what they wanted.

However, Mi Lu’s face showed no sign of relaxation. His expression was extremely tense, and whatever he was thinking about made even his breathing tremble, “What medicinal lead?”

Gu Qiu evaded, “Liuliu, first focus on recovering. These matters… I’ll tell you in detail later.”

“Mother.” Mi Lu took a deep breath, his face pale, but the corners of his eyes were tinged with a deep red, “What exactly is the medicinal lead? Tell me.”

Gu Qiu was in a dilemma.

As Gu Qiu hesitated whether to reveal the truth, Mi Hefeng timely interrupted the topic.

“The medicinal lead is just a medicinal lead. As long as it can save you, it’s a good one. Why delve into its origins?” Mi Hefeng said sternly, “You’ve just woken up and are not in good spirits. Your mother and I won’t disturb your rest. As your mother said, once you’re better, we’ll talk.”

With that, Mi Hefeng called Gu Qiu and turned to leave.

Gu Qiu wanted to stay with her son, but she knew his nature. As long as she was there, he would keep asking until he got answers.

So, after instructing Feicui and Liuli a few things, she reluctantly followed Mi Hefeng out—they had many matters to attend to.

In the past year, due to the appearance of that child from the Hulü family, the entire cultivation world had been quite turbulent.

Especially after dividing the medicinal lead, many sects and families that didn’t benefit kept causing trouble, and as one of the beneficiaries, the Mi family was naturally busy dealing with these issues.

If not for this, they wouldn’t have left their only son, who hadn’t woken up, unattended, constantly busy outside.

On the other side.

Mi Lu closed his eyes again.

He thought he had probably figured everything out.

He didn’t know if this was rebirth or self-awareness awakening, but he had returned to the year he was eighteen and gravely ill, unknowingly fed by his mother with a decoction made from half of Hulü Yan’s heart as the medicinal lead.

Unfortunately, his parents never dreamed that the hard-won medicinal lead not only failed to extend his life but also brought disaster to the entire Mi family.

But thinking about it, he was somewhat lucky.

If he hadn’t had that accident, he would have eventually died at Hulü Yan’s hands, and it wouldn’t have been an easy death.

But it was a pity for his parents, a pity for the entire Mi family.

Although Mi Lu had experienced ten cycles, at this time, he hadn’t died yet, nor had he become a wandering soul lingering around Hulü Yan. He only deduced that Hulü Yan had just been sacrificed, having his eyes, ears, tongue, hands, legs, and heart removed on the sacrificial altar.

After being sacrificed, Hulü Yan was completely useless, stripped of even the qualification of being human, and discarded into the abyss like trash by the Hulü family.

Mi Lu thought carefully.

It seemed to be the Han Tu Abyss.

After resting until night, Mi Lu regained some strength. After having dinner with Feicui and Liuli’s help, he asked Feicui to bring a map.

The Hulü family was in the Immortal Valley of Èchéng County, surrounded by waterfalls and rocks. The waterfall was the entrance, and the opposite end was a cliff.

Below the cliff was the Han Tu Abyss.

The Han Tu Abyss had a harsh environment, shrouded in ice fog all year round, with extremely low temperatures and large monsters roaming. It was a place where disciples of major sects often went for training.

But entering and exiting required at least five people. If fewer than five or alone, it was highly likely to die in the Han Tu Abyss.

However, as the tragic and powerful male lead in an upgrade flow novel, how could Hulü Yan easily die in the Han Tu Abyss?

Mi Lu didn’t know how Hulü Yan escaped from the Han Tu Abyss. By the time he heard Hulü Yan’s name from others again, Hulü Yan had already entered the demonic path.

The process must have been incredibly difficult.

Mi Lu lowered his eyes, his lashes covering the complex emotions in his eyes. He put away the map by his pillow and then asked Feicui and Liuli to prepare a bath.

After bathing, he went to bed to rest.

Mi Lu lay in bed for five days. Once everything was ready, he quietly left the Mi family one night when Feicui and Liuli weren’t paying attention.

As a cultivator, Mi Lu was one of those with no real talent. At twelve, he became a disciple of the famous Master Puji, training under him for six years. While his junior brothers and sisters had all reached the Foundation Establishment stage, he was only at the early Qi Refining stage, unable to even fly on a sword.

Fortunately, the Mi family was one of the four great families, never lacking in wealth.

Mi Lu used five thousand spirit stones to hire a flying boat and a person to pilot it, heading to the Han Tu Abyss behind the Immortal Valley overnight.

The pilot was a rogue cultivator who had reached the mid-Golden Core stage. Although not as powerful as those above the Nascent Soul stage, he was more than capable of protecting Mi Lu in the dangerous Han Tu Abyss.

They flew all night.

By the time the morning light began to spread across the sky, with layers of blue like silk overlapping from the horizon, they reached their destination, landing the flying boat at the entrance of the Han Tu Abyss.

As soon as Mi Lu stepped off the flying boat, he was hit by a wave of cold air, shivering. Still recovering from his illness, his face was pale, and even in thick clothing, he was cold enough to stomp his feet.

The rogue cultivator, a burly middle-aged man, wasn’t as affected but wasn’t much better off either. He placed several warming talismans on both himself and Mi Lu.

Before entering, the rogue cultivator asked Mi Lu again, “Are you sure you want to go in?”

The talismans weren’t very effective in the Han Tu Abyss, and Mi Lu’s teeth were chattering. He gritted his teeth and said, “Let’s go in.”

The Han Tu Abyss was filled with towering trees, so dense they blocked out the sky. With ice fog swirling around, visibility was low, and the rogue cultivator couldn’t fly on his sword, so he led Mi Lu on foot.

They walked and stopped, encountering several monsters along the way, all easily dealt with by the rogue cultivator.

In the ice fog, they couldn’t light a fire, not even use a fire starter.

During breaks, Mi Lu took out a pile of clothes and warming items from his storage bag, but he was still shivering.

The rogue cultivator leaned against a tree. With his cultivation, he could vaguely see Mi Lu’s appearance, like a little chick hiding in a cave, shivering with every feather.

The rogue cultivator couldn’t help but chuckle, “Is that person really that important? For you to go this far.”

Mi Lu shivered and said, “Important.”

The male lead in the book.

The center of this world.

How could he not be important?

The rogue cultivator guessed, “A lover?”

Mi Lu reacted strongly, “How could that be?!”

The rogue cultivator chuckled, “A relative?”

Mi Lu shook his head, “No.”

The rogue cultivator thought for a moment, “Then a friend?”

Mi Lu also thought for a moment, “I guess so.”

The rogue cultivator laughed, “A friend you value so much must be extraordinary.”

Mi Lu sighed inwardly, thinking this rogue cultivator was a bit of a prophet. How could Hulü Yan not be extraordinary in the future?

He asked the rogue cultivator, “When will we arrive?”

“Soon,” the rogue cultivator said, “Tomorrow, I think.”

Sure enough, the next morning, they arrived at the bottom of the cliff.

Below were jagged rocks, barren and devoid of vegetation. Without the cover of trees, they easily found Hulü Yan.

Now Hulü Yan was fourteen, with no trace of the fearsome future demon lord, more like a broken doll, lying in front of a protruding gray boulder.

Motionless.

As if lifeless.

Mi Lu watched from a distance, feeling his scalp tingle. He swallowed hard and strode over.

Soon, he reached the boulder.

The gloomy sky made his face even paler. He clenched his fists, his heart tightening to the point where he felt he couldn’t breathe.

He saw Hulü Yan with missing hands, blind eyes, missing legs, a complete person seemingly served on a dining table for diners to feast upon.

After the feast, only a broken but still barely alive body remained.

And he—

Was one of those diners.

Hulü Yan seemed to sense his presence, turning his empty eyes in Mi Lu’s direction.

Scarlet blood flowed from Hulü Yan’s eyes.

A child not yet fourteen, dragging a body ravaged by consumption, with a face full of confusion.

“Hulü Yan.” Mi Lu crouched down, reaching out to touch Hulü Yan’s face, “I’m taking you away.”