Borne by Me

The Leng Family.

Leng Qingqiu idly spun a water pen, her eyes fixed on the window outside.

"So many life forms..."

She muttered to herself, her eyes faintly glowing with a ghostly light.

Ever since she had started practicing this forbidden technique, she could see the life essence of various beings.

Life essence, in simple terms, was akin to someone's life force.

For instance, what she saw outside the window now was a dark void filled with numerous green glowing objects.

These green objects were somewhat blurry, but Leng Qingqiu could roughly guess what they were.

After learning from Yan Huang the reason behind the destruction of her family, she had come to understand the terrifying nature of [Night].

For example...

Leng Qingqiu's eyes flashed, and a dagger wreathed in eerie black mist appeared in her hand.

She gripped the dagger and aimed it at a life essence that resembled a tree outside the window.

With a light swipe in the air,

Whirr!! Whoosh!!!

The tree-like life essence was sliced apart and quickly disappeared. In reality, the tree that had stood by the roadside was now drained of all its vitality, withering and decaying rapidly.

Leng Qingqiu felt the influx of some life force into her body and pouted.

Her eyes glowed faintly, and in an instant, the tree returned to its original state.

Apart from absorbing life force, she could also restore it. And this seemed to be just one aspect of her current abilities.

Alas, the energy from plants and animals was far too meager.

It seemed she could only feel a real difference by absorbing the souls of martial artists.

Of course, she wasn't a cold-blooded murderer. She would only absorb the souls of those who were her family's enemies.

Speaking of which, Leng Qingqiu placed the dagger against the desk and leaned on it, spinning the dagger with her fingers.

Her expression was one of deep entanglement. Was she really a righteous martial artist with such a cultivation method?

This was clearly the path of a demonic cultivator. If Gu Yan... if he knew her true nature, would he be so scared that he wouldn't dare to get close to her anymore?

"Ah..."

Leng Qingqiu glanced at the water pen. In fact, not only living beings...

Even inanimate objects like the water pen...

She lightly sliced at the green life essence resembling the pen with her dagger.

Snap!

In reality, the water pen instantly crumbled into dust.

Leng Qingqiu blew the dust out the window.

She felt even more unsettled. This ability...

If Gu Yan knew about it... what would he think of her?

Would he think she was a monster?

Leng Qingqiu's thoughts were in turmoil. She believed that any normal person, seeing her forbidden techniques, would surely be too scared to get close to her.

Just as Leng Qingqiu was feeling melancholic.

The next second.

"Qingqiu, what are you doing? Sleeping so early in the morning? You must not have slept well last night."

A concerned voice rang out.

Leng Qingqiu was startled. Oh no!

Her mind was too chaotic, so she hadn't sensed Gu Yan's presence.

The dagger was still in her hand!

She hurriedly tried to hide the dagger.

But.

"Why are you still holding a dagger, Qingqiu? This is too dangerous."

Gu Yan reached out, intending to take the dagger from Leng Qingqiu's hand.

"Wait!!"

Leng Qingqiu panicked and quickly stood up, clutching the dagger tightly and retreating to the corner. "Stay away from me!"

"???"

Gu Yan looked at the scene, slowly raising an eyebrow.

Wait a minute, not to mention that the dagger looked familiar, but Qingqiu, you're holding a dagger, shrinking in the corner, looking very panicked.

This look...

"Were you about to commit suicide?!"

Gu Yan exclaimed in shock.

"How could I?!"

Leng Qingqiu was impressed by Gu Yan's train of thought.

...

...

"So what were you doing?"

"By the way, could you put the dagger away?"

"You're making me feel like I'm about to do something to you, and you're resisting with all your might."

After some persuasion, Gu Yan finally managed to get Leng Qingqiu to sit back down.

However, at Leng Qingqiu's insistence, he moved a chair and sat under the bookshelf, keeping a considerable distance from her.

Even so, Leng Qingqiu still refused to let go of the dagger.

Leng Qingqiu knew it was strange to hold the dagger like this, but what could she do? She couldn't just put the dagger away in front of Gu Yan.

Moreover, the dagger was far too dangerous. If Gu Yan accidentally touched it, it would be disastrous!

So she coughed lightly. "Don't ask so much. Anyway, what did you come here for?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Leng Qingqiu regretted it. It was normal for Gu Yan to come back and check on her after sending Ling'er home. Damn, her mind was too muddled right now.

"What for... just to see you, Qingqiu."

Gu Yan was a bit puzzled. He looked at the tense Qingqiu and then at the dagger in her hand.

In an instant!

Sss!!!

Gu Yan took a sharp breath!

He suddenly stood up.

"What... what are you doing?"

Leng Qingqiu, sensing the movement, quickly hid the dagger behind her.

What was going on? Why was Gu Yan suddenly so agitated?

"It's nothing."

Gu Yan sat back down, glancing at Leng Qingqiu's nervous expression and the dagger hidden behind her.

A thought emerged.

This... could this be the [Night] from the original story?

In the original story, Leng Qingqiu had relied on this dagger to reach the peak of the Grand Master level.

One of the cultivation methods was extremely cruel, requiring the absorption of others' life force to cultivate.

If she directly absorbed souls, the effect would be doubled.

In the original story, Leng Qingqiu had slaughtered and absorbed the life force of tens of thousands of people, along with the main characters.

This had allowed her to break through to the peak of the Grand Master level.

And the effects didn't stop there! This dagger was a nightmare for the entire world.

!!!

Gu Yan thought of another possibility. In the original story, there was no explanation for why the Leng Family had been destroyed.

But looking at this scene now, he seemed to understand something.

It must have been because [Night] appeared in the Leng Family!

That's why so many ancient martial arts factions had joined forces to annihilate them.

Because [Night] was far too dangerous, a demonic artifact that could lead to the destruction of the world!

From Leng Qingqiu's current state, it seemed she had already mastered [Night] quite well.

After all, there were no signs of discomfort.

So had she started cultivating with it?

Oh right, Yan Huang had already been killed. His soul had probably been absorbed by Leng Qingqiu.

Gu Yan's mind raced with thoughts. So that's how it is...

Although she hadn't gone down the path of darkness, she was still following the original script, taking the path of absorbing human souls to cultivate.

Although this was the predetermined script...

His initial goal was only to make Leng Qingqiu strong enough to protect herself...

But...

There was a crucial point, perhaps the biggest side effect of the dagger's power.

As the dagger absorbed more souls, the host's mental state would become increasingly erratic. Eventually, they would even hear the wails of the absorbed souls.

Every minute, every second, these voices would torment the host.

In the original story, Leng Qingqiu had been fortunate to have a strong will and had practiced the Ice Heart Scripture, which allowed her to endure the side effects.

But back then, she had already been driven by the thought of dying, with only one remaining target: Xiao Lin.

So she had chosen to end it all by taking the main characters with her.

The constant torment and unimaginable pressure of revenge had already shattered Leng Qingqiu's psyche.

All she had wanted was to kill all her enemies and then die.

This time... would it be the same?

Gu Yan's silence was deafening.

Leng Qingqiu couldn't figure out what Gu Yan was thinking.

Just as she was about to speak,

Gu Yan stood up and, in Leng Qingqiu's flustered expression,

He walked over and pulled her into a tight embrace.

Leng Qingqiu felt the warmth of the embrace and was momentarily stunned. "Gu Yan?"

It seemed... she could sense Gu Yan's confusion and pain.

Why was he in pain? What had happened?

"Gu Yan, what's wrong?"

Leng Qingqiu wanted to hug Gu Yan back, but her hand was clutching [Night], so she couldn't do that.

Because once the dagger touched Gu Yan, he would be drained of his life force.

"It's okay... I just suddenly felt like doing this."

Gu Yan hugged Leng Qingqiu tightly, his expression gradually becoming resolute.

Become like the original story? No, I don't want that. I don't want Leng Qingqiu to end up looking neither human nor ghost.

Gu Yan's thoughts began to clear up. Why hadn't he thought of this earlier?

He had a background, he had a system...

He had already thought of leading the forces of Leng Qingqiu's past life. So why not go all the way?

Since [Night] is the enemy of the entire world.

Since Leng Qingqiu wants revenge on those from back then.

Since according to the plot, the ancient martial arts world will be revealed to the public, and all factions will move to the secular world.

Then...

It's just a matter of creating another [Night].

Let another [Night] draw all the attention, let another [Night] complete the revenge.

That's right...

Gu Yan hugged Leng Qingqiu tightly. This life.

Everything about you will be borne by me!

And you...

Gu Yan seemed to think of something, his gaze becoming incredibly determined.

.......

.......

[Author's Note: Alright, the daily life arc of the first volume ends here. Next, we'll move into the main plot of the book.]

[Finally, please remember that the title of this book starts with "Villain." Please, please remember this point.]