After Transmigrating Into the Book, I Picked up the Protagonist-Shou

In that instant, Xie Shuci felt a chilling sensation throughout his body.

It was the first time he had encountered such a situation. Despite mentally preparing himself for what he might encounter after leaving the sect, he was still paralyzed with fear.

The little white horse also sensed something amiss. It neighed anxiously and nudged Xie Shuci’s arm with its head as if urging him to take it away from there.

However, the intense aura and murderous intent emanating from the youth suddenly vanished in an instant, as if the genuine killing intent that Xie Shuci had felt was nothing more than his own illusion.

“Whoosh—”

A wooden arrow cut through the air, piercing through the dense branches and leaves of the forest, like an imperceptible lightning bolt, aiming straight for the youth.

The white-robed youth shifted his gaze away from Xie Shuci and calmly looked back. He didn’t dodge or evade, allowing the arrow, charged with thunderous momentum, to accurately pierce through his chest.

“Be careful!”

In a critical moment, Xie Shuci, who prided himself on being a law-abiding youth in the 21st century, couldn’t help but shout. As he watched the wooden arrow penetrate the youth’s chest, fresh blood spread like fireworks in early spring, quickly staining the white fabric of his clothes.

The youth staggered back a couple of steps, stepping on a branch, his back against a tree trunk, struggling to stabilize himself.

At the same time, several hurried footsteps sounded from the other side of the bamboo forest. One person exclaimed, “Oh no, there’s someone here!”

“Not far from here, there’s a small sect. It’s probably one of their disciples. Let’s retreat; we can’t pursue any further.”

“He’s been hit by an arrow, he won’t survive for long. Let’s go!”

The footsteps gradually faded away. The youth leaned against the tree trunk, using all his strength, his fingers almost denting the sturdy tree trunk, whether out of anger or pain.

In the next moment, his legs gave way, and he fell from the tree.

Xie Shuci stood there, still in shock. The gaze of the youth from earlier sent shivers down his spine. It was truly terrifying, something he had never seen in his nineteen years of life.

The youth rolled down from the branch into a half-meter-high grass thicket, the wooden arrow piercing through his chest. Blood dripped from both ends of the arrow, gradually staining the soil beneath him. With his back turned to Xie Shuci, he lay motionless in the grass, his condition uncertain.

“Hey…” Xie Shuci tied the little white horse to a tree and picked up a thumb-thick branch from the ground. He cautiously approached the youth. “Are you still alive?”

He walked to a spot not far from the youth’s back and gently prodded his waist with the branch. The youth remained motionless, allowing Xie Shuci to manipulate him.

“You, you’re not dead, right?” Xie Shuci’s face turned pale. The arrow had pierced straight through the youth’s chest. What if it had pierced his heart? Xie Shuci had never seen a dead person in his life and was feeling somewhat helpless.

“Don’t die… I’m warning you…” Xie Shuci’s voice trembled, and his legs felt weak. Persistently, he used the branch to poke at parts of the youth’s body that were uninjured, hoping for a response.

Now that he was closer, he noticed that the youth’s body was covered in wounds, large and small, from arrows and blades. There were even several wounds that Xie Shuci couldn’t recognize how they were caused.

“Mm…” Finally, under his continuous harassment, the youth uttered a hoarse murmur.

Xie Shuci breathed a sigh of relief and disregarded his fear as he dropped the branch and circled around to the front of the youth.

The youth’s face was extremely pale. Despite his slightly youthful features, it was clear that he had an overly attractive face. With sword-like eyebrows and a straight nose, the pain caused him to tightly purse his lips, making his already slender chin appear even more delicate. His black eyes were half-open, which were as cold as ice blades, and they pierced right into Xie Shuci’s face.

“Are you okay?” Xie Shuci crouched in front of the youth, his brows furrowed in worry and impatience, but he hesitated to touch him.

The youth was around fifteen or sixteen years old, and for some reason, despite his young age, his eyes could captivate one’s soul. Being stared at by him, Xie Shuci was filled with fear. But compared to the fear in his eyes, Xie Shuci was even more afraid of witnessing a young boy dying right in front of him!

Seeing that the boy didn’t respond, looking like he was about to pass away, Xie Shuci became even more nervous. Although the young boy had no connection to him, and at one moment he even sensed the boy’s strong intent to kill him, as a virtuous youth living in a peaceful era, he couldn’t just watch the young boy die in front of him. Moreover, the boy was so young, how could he just die like that?

“You, can you speak? You can fly in the trees, so you must be a cultivator, right? Quickly stop the bleeding, stop it for yourself, and then repair the wound… Don’t die, please don’t die!” Xie Shuci spoke incoherently to the young boy.

The youth seemed annoyed by his incessant babbling and furrowed his brows slightly. In a hoarse voice, he asked, “Do you have medicine?”

“Yes! Yes! Just wait for me to get it for you. Please, don’t die!” Xie Shuci looked at the youth with concern and quickly ran towards the little white horse. The fellow disciples from the small sect had stuffed him with a bunch of spiritual pills last night. He couldn’t remember what each of them was for, but the names were written on the bottles, so he should be able to guess to some extent.

Xie Shuci hurriedly returned to the youth’s side, clutching a wooden box. He knelt down and opened the box, emptying the bottles onto the ground. “What medicine do you need? I don’t recognize them or know their effects…”

The youth glanced at him, a cold sweat sliding down his temple, and his pale lips slightly pursed. With great difficulty, he extended his hand, stained with fresh blood, and slowly grabbed a white porcelain bottle on the ground. He didn’t have enough strength to open it, so he handed it to Xie Shuci. “Open it.”

Xie Shuci felt that the youth’s breath was fading, but he hesitated as he looked at the white bottle stained with the youth’s bloody handprints. His scalp tingled.

Suppressing his discomfort, he took the white bottle and immediately got his hands covered in the sticky blood of the youth. At this moment, he couldn’t worry about that. He opened the bottle and poured out two pure white pills. When the youth glanced at him, Xie Shuci gritted his teeth and brought one pill to the youth’s lips. The youth’s parched lips slightly parted, and his warm, wet tongue swept the pill into his mouth, accidentally brushing against Xie Shuci’s trembling fingertips.

Seeing the youth swallow one pill, Xie Shuci offered the other one and asked, “Is one enough? Do you need more? I’m telling you, don’t die. If you die, I’ll be scarred for life.”

Listening to his incessant chatter, the youth, for some reason, suddenly grasped Xie Shuci’s wrist with great force. The pressure of flesh and blood against his bones caused excruciating pain, and Xie Shuci let out a low cry. He felt like his bones were about to be crushed!

“Let go!” Xie Shuci gasped.

The youth narrowed his black eyes, giving him a glance. His gaze was no longer as cold as before; it seemed to be examining and contemplating something within. He appeared to be calculating something in his mind.

“Let go! It hurts! If I die from the pain, who will save you?” Xie Shuci’s eyes were teary from the pain. He suddenly felt that he had encountered such a situation because he had extremely bad luck. If given another chance to return to his original world, he would eat well, sleep well, and make sure his body was healthy and chubby!

The youth seemed to have heard his words and slowly released his grip, closing his eyes and breathing heavily. He murmured softly to Xie Shuci, “Sorry, I… am a bit scared.”

The youth’s breath was feeble, and Xie Shuci couldn’t clearly hear the last two words. However, that didn’t hinder Xie Shuci’s overwhelming sympathy. This young boy was probably no more than sixteen years old, yet he was being pursued by enemies. The terrifying look in his eyes might be due to the burden of deep-seated grudges. But in the end, he was still a child who would naturally feel fear when facing death and wanted to seize the only opportunity for help by his side.

Not in vain had Xie Shuci read hundreds of novels on a certain online novel platform. In the blink of an eye, he had already imagined the youth as a character with a tragic and burdened past.

Looking at the youth’s pale face and bloodstained body, Xie Shuci felt a surge of righteousness. He gently patted the youth’s cold cheek, and the youth glanced at him before lowering his gaze, appearing quiet and pitiful.

“Don’t be afraid. You won’t die. I will definitely save you,” Xie Shuci reassured him with determination.

Although he didn’t know how to save the youth, having a glimmer of hope in his heart should buy them some time.

The youth looked at him again and said, “Help me sit up.”

“Can you sit? Will it affect your wounds? If it hurts, don’t hold it in and shout,” Xie Shuci tended to ramble when he got nervous, and the youth seemed a little impatient, furrowing his brows in displeasure.

Xie Shuci approached and helped the youth up, inadvertently causing some strain on his injuries. The youth gritted his teeth, enduring the pain without making a sound.

With Xie Shuci’s assistance, the youth successfully sat cross-legged on the ground. These few simple movements made the youth’s forehead sweat profusely, accentuating his already pale face.

The youth began to meditate and circulated the spiritual energy within his body. Despite the absence of wind, his hair and robe fluttered and floated. A transparent protective layer formed around the youth, and before long, the wooden arrow that pierced through his chest snapped into two pieces and fell from the wound. The blood surged out more vigorously, but the youth’s hands formed seals, covering the wound with spiritual energy, barely stopping the bleeding.

Xie Shuci stared dumbfounded at this scene, marveling at the wonders of the world.

Seeing the youth healing his injuries, Xie Shuci was afraid of disturbing him and accidentally causing him to lose control. He quietly moved aside, imitating the youth’s posture, sitting cross-legged. With one hand supporting his chin, he watched the youth.

It was only then that he earnestly observed the youth’s appearance.

Although the youth was young, he seemed slightly taller than Xie Shuci, but his figure didn’t appear sturdy. In fact, due to the bloodstains and injuries covering his body, he had a somewhat fragile appearance. Of course, this was just an illusion. Just a moment ago, he had suffered such a serious injury and still nearly crushed Xie Shuci’s bones.

Xie Shuci could understand the distinctive temperament emanating from the youth. It was a fragile sense of vulnerability, which was not really weak, but rather an image he projected.

He didn’t know how long he had been observing, but he found the person captivating. If he were in the 21st century, with such looks, he would undoubtedly be at the top of the entertainment industry that relied on appearance. If he grew a bit older and completely developed, he could even cause great chaos among the people.

Sitting like this for a long time, the youth never changed his posture or opened his eyes. Xie Shuci grew bored, and after being nervous for so long, he became drowsy. Eventually, he lay down in the grass and fell asleep.

In a half-awake state, he faintly heard a groan. He hazily opened his eyes and noticed that the sky had already darkened. Through the gaps between the treetops, he saw several brilliant stars sparkling above.

Xie Shuci was still half-asleep, not immediately realizing where he was. Then, he heard a “pu” sound beside him, and a dazzling splash of blood fell onto the grass. Xie Shuci’s whole body jolted, and he quickly sat up from the ground. He turned to look at the youth, who had collapsed after coughing up a mouthful of blood.

“Hey! What happened to you? Don’t scare me!”

Xie Shuci crawled over with urgency, gently tapping the youth twice. The youth didn’t respond, so Xie Shuci carefully turned his body, using the moonlight in the sky to examine his face. It was then that he noticed that the youth’s eyes, mouth, nose, and ears were all bleeding.

Xie Shuci was shocked. Damn, he’s bleeding from all seven openings!

“Don’t die! I’m warning you, don’t die! There’s nobody here in the wilderness to take care of your corpse! There might even be wild dogs or wolves…” Xie Shuci completely panicked, frantically wiping away the blood from the youth’s face while shaking the youth’s body. “Wake up! Say something!”

“Tsk…” The youth was probably disturbed by Xie Shuci’s shaking and made an impatient sound. Then, he pressed his hand against Xie Shuci’s shoulder and swiftly flipped over, pressing Xie Shuci underneath him.

“Fuck!”

Xie Shuci felt his world spin, with his limbs firmly trapped by the youth.