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

Xie Shuci felt like he was extremely unlucky.

He didn’t have time to see if Xie An had fallen somewhere. He saw Young Master Li charging toward him with an imposing aura, so he quickly ran away.

“Big Brother! Brother! Young hero! Great hero! I was wrong! I know I was wrong! Please… don’t attack me! Really, don’t attack me! I was just talking nonsense, I overestimated myself…”

Xie Shuci wanted to cry but had no tears. He ran in circles with Young Master Li chasing him. Fortunately, there were many ordinary people in the inn watching the commotion. Young Master Li didn’t want to involve them, so he didn’t dare to use lethal force and gave Xie Shuci a chance to howl and beg for mercy.

Seeing that Xie Shuci had no backbone, Young Master Li’s face turned increasingly sour. “Xie Shuci, don’t you have any shame? You’re at least a cultivator. How can you have no courage? If you’re a man, don’t hide and face me head-on!”

Xie Shuci took cover behind an overturned table, took a brief moment to catch his breath, and replied, “You know nothing. In the face of life and death, face and courage are all meaningless! If you have the guts, put down your sword, and let’s arm wrestle. If I win, you won’t bother me anymore. If you win, I suggest you stay far away from me for the sake of your own well-being. Let’s mind our own business.”

Young Master Li was so enraged by his nonsense that his whole body trembled. He momentarily forgot to control his strength. With a swing of his long sword, a sharp gust of wind cut through everything in its path, leaving nothing intact.

“Oh my god!”

Xie Shuci narrowly avoided having his buttocks sliced off by the sword. He quickly covered his rear and continued to bounce away.

Xie An leaned against the wall amidst the wreckage, and the innkeeper, concerned that he might be affected, tried to pull him over. However, as soon as the innkeeper’s fingers touched Xie An’s clothes, they were blown away by a surge of energy.

The innkeeper cried out in pain and looked up to see Xie An lowering his head, his face dark and cold. Xie An even shook his robe as if the innkeeper’s touch had dirtied his garment.

The innkeeper stared in astonishment, never expecting a disabled person to possess such great strength. For a moment, he didn’t know how to react.

At this time, everyone’s attention was focused on Xie Shuci and Young Master Li. No one noticed Xie An and the innkeeper.

“Don’t run!”

“What do you expect me to do, stand here and let you kill me?”

“Stay still! This young master will eliminate evil for the people today!”

“Do you think I’m stupid? Stand still and let you attack me?”

“Xie Shuci!” Young Master Li had probably never encountered someone like Xie Shuci. He alternated between retorting and begging for mercy. Whenever he had a chance, he would mock Young Master Li. Young Master Li didn’t know whether Xie Shuci was seeking death or trying to avoid death. He was almost driven mad by anger!

Young Master Li’s long sword carried a menacing aura as it swung toward Xie Shuci with thunderous force. His mind was a mess, and he just wanted to quickly deal with this annoying person. This attack used all of his strength, and if the sword wind hit, Xie Shuci would be left either dead or severely injured.

Xie Shuci sensed the exceptionally fierce sword wind and, fortunately, had already taken precautions. He rolled on the floor covered in wood shavings, and his back was scraped by the hard wood, causing a sharp pain. Just when he thought he had avoided the sword’s edge and was about to catch his breath, he heard several screams nearby.

“Brother Xiaoci…”

“Ah Dong!”

“Be careful!”

The innkeeper’s heart-wrenching cries and Young Master Li’s voice overlapped.

Xie Shuci trembled all over. He suddenly turned his head and discovered that Ah Dong had somehow run out. He was standing where the sword wind was headed, holding a windmill in his small hand, looking confusedly at the transparent streak formed by the sword energy flying towards him.

Xie An stood three steps away from Ah Dong. His nostrils twitched, and his lifeless gaze accurately fixed on Ah Dong’s position. It was unclear whether he realized that Ah Dong’s life was hanging by a thread. His face remained calm, as if he knew nothing and didn’t care about Ah Dong’s life or death. He didn’t make any movements.

“Ah Dong!” Xie Shuci shouted loudly. Seeing that Ah Dong was about to be covered in blood, he found an unexpected burst of strength. Unconsciously, he enveloped his legs in spiritual energy. Without time to think, he stomped on the ground and flew like an arrow toward Ah Dong.

When Xie Shuci was in mid-air, he had a moment of thought. Damn! My life is over!

Young Master Li, holding his sword, turned pale. He suddenly saw Xie Shuci rushing forward and embracing the little boy. He couldn’t believe his eyes and shouted, “Xie Shuci—”

At that moment, Xie An, who had been motionless all along, picked up a wooden table and threw it toward them. The sword wind split the table into pieces, perfectly shielding Xie Shuci and Ah Dong. Wood fragments rained down, hitting Xie Shuci’s head and back, causing him to grimace in pain. However, he protected Ah Dong, who was still in a daze, even more securely.

At the same time, everyone regained their senses.

The innkeeper’s legs turned weak with fright. He had long forgotten about Xie An’s abnormality and crawled over to Xie Shuci, holding Ah Dong. “Ah Dong? Are you alright? Thank you, Young Master Xie! You saved Ah Dong’s life!”

The innkeeper gratefully looked at Xie Shuci, who brushed off the wood shavings from his head and smiled with his teeth bared. “You’re welcome, you’re welcome. It was just a small favor.”

Ah Dong, still unaware of what had happened, stared curiously at the two of them.

Xie Shuci rubbed his head. “What are you looking at? You little brat.”

Ah Dong pouted and rolled his eyes at him.

Young Master Li also approached them anxiously and asked, “Is the child injured? I’m sorry, I couldn’t control—”

The innkeeper glared at Young Master Li while holding Ah Dong. “If anything happened to my son, I’ll fight you to the death! What kind of cultivator are you? Trying to kill someone in broad daylight?”

Others joined in, criticizing Young Master Li upon seeing the situation.

Young Master Li knew he was in the wrong and didn’t dare to argue back. Only after confirming that the child in the innkeeper’s arms was unharmed did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Xie Shuci felt quite satisfied seeing Young Master Li dejected. He ignored the pain and grinned widely.

But he still had a conscience and felt somewhat responsible for the incident. As a mediator, he said to the crowd, “Young Master Li is young and hot-tempered. It’s normal for him to be neither gentle nor excessive in his actions. Anyway, Ah Dong wasn’t hurt, so let’s just consider the damages to the shop caused by Young Master Li’s outburst and let him pay for them.”

Xie Shuci’s self-sacrificing spirit when he protected Ah Dong slightly changed the perception of the crowd towards him. Seeing him taking the initiative to excuse Young Master Li, others didn’t say anything more and gradually dispersed.

Young Master Li hurriedly bowed to the innkeeper and said, “Please rest assured, I will compensate you twice the value of the damaged items. I will also give this child two body-strengthening pills as compensation.”

For ordinary people, one pill was extremely precious. The innkeeper’s expression remained unpleasant, but they didn’t make things difficult anymore.

Xie Shuci had no intention of antagonizing Young Master Li. After all, it was the original body that had provoked him first. Now that he had taken over the original body’s identity, it was only right for him to take responsibility for what the original body had done.

Xie Shuci felt that he and Young Master Li were now even. He turned to see Xie An leaning against the wall and went over to support his arm. Placing one of Xie An’s hands against his own lips, he asked, “Did you hurt yourself from the fall?”

While speaking, he glanced at Young Master Li, who was giving the pills to the innkeeper.

Xie An pursed his lips and shook his head.

“That’s good,” Xie Shuci said, lowering his hand. He couldn’t help but take a deep breath. He leaned against the wall and massaged his neck. It was sore and probably swollen from earlier.

Just now, he had no idea what had happened. He looked around the crowd, trying to figure out which kind-hearted person had saved his life, but couldn’t tell. Perhaps it was someone who didn’t want to be acknowledged, like a hidden hero.

Xie An stood quietly beside Xie Shuci, his expression calm, as if he knew nothing. However, when his unfocused gaze paused in a certain direction, Young Master Li, not far away, felt a chill rising from the soles of his feet. He instinctively felt danger and tightly grasped the sword hanging at his waist. He turned to look toward the source of the dangerous aura.

This turn made him see Xie Shuci and the quietly composed Xie An next to him.

After compensating the innkeeper with money and pills, Young Master Li hesitated while looking at Xie Shuci. 

His gaze carried a complicated expression.

His aptitude was much better than Xie Shuci’s. Normally, it would have been easy for him to rescue a child from under a sword wind. However, he had been frightened just now, his mind going blank in that instant. He couldn’t move, feeling as if his limbs were as heavy as lead.

He never expected that the despicable and shameless Xie Shuci, whom he despised the most, would risk his life to save that child. This complicated his emotions.

On one hand, he felt that Xie Shuci was a shameless scoundrel. On the other hand, he genuinely appreciated and admired Xie Shuci for protecting the child. Although it was ultimately a table that saved them, flying from who knows where, it was enough to change Young Master Li’s perception of Xie Shuci.

Moreover, Xie Shuci had a conversation with the young boy next to him. It seemed that the boy was not only visually impaired but also couldn’t hear or speak. Xie Shuci communicated with him through writing in the palm of his hand or touch. Although it was troublesome, Xie Shuci didn’t seem impatient, and the boy didn’t reject him either.

From this perspective, it seemed that he had misunderstood Xie Shuci.

Xie Shuci estimated that his back was also swollen. It was throbbing with pain, and he couldn’t help but groan. Suddenly, he realized that there was an extra figure in front of him. He looked up in surprise and saw Young Master Li standing there with a disgruntled expression.

“What’s wrong? Do you want to fight again? Let me tell you, fighting is fine, but risking my life is not. I’m particularly attached to my life now,” Xie Shuci thought Young Master Li had come to pick a fight and spoke with a firm tone.

Young Master Li looked somewhat unwilling and pouted. He clasped his fists and slightly bowed to Xie Shuci, saying, “Thank you… Thank you very much.”

Xie Shuci quickly waved his hand. “Don’t flatter yourself. I didn’t do it for you.”

Young Master Li became angry and gritted his teeth. “Regardless of your intentions, you did help me. Xie Shuci, although I still despise your methods, your willingness to sacrifice yourself shows that your nature isn’t bad. I hope you understand that liking someone requires mutual feelings, and using such despicable methods is absolutely unacceptable.”

He repeatedly mentioned shameless and despicable, although Xie Shuci hadn’t done that particular act. It made Xie Shuci slightly uncomfortable, and he replied with a frown, “I get it, I get it. Didn’t I say it already? It was because I was blind that I acted against you.”

Young Master Li’s face turned unpleasant, but he didn’t want to continue arguing with Xie Shuci. He simply clasped his fists and said, “Regardless, you helped me. Let’s forget about the past. From now on, we won’t interfere with each other.”

Xie Shuci was more than happy about it. He wanted to raise his hand to return the gesture to Young Master Li, but it caused pain in his back, making him tremble.

Upon seeing this, Young Master Li recalled that all the fallen debris had landed on Xie Shuci. He felt a tinge of guilt and took out a bottle of pills from his pocket, saying, “I apologize. I promised the Xie family’s patriarch that I wouldn’t pursue this matter further. This is compensation for you…”

Before he could finish speaking, Xie An, who had been silent all along, suddenly made a move.

He took a step forward, seemingly wanting to approach Xie Shuci. However, he accidentally kicked a broken chair leg on the ground. The sturdy piece of wood flew into the air and forcefully struck Young Master Li’s shin bone.

“Ah!”

Caught off guard, Young Master Li cried out in pain, his leg losing strength. He half-knelt in front of Xie Shuci with a thud.

The bottle of pills slipped from his hand and rolled to Xie An’s feet.

Unaware of the situation, Xie An kicked the bottle away when he took a step forward.

At the same time, he reached out and grabbed Xie Shuci’s arm.