2: Maru-la, life countdown is on!

"Wait, why is a monster spawning right above me?" Seeing the red dot overlapping his own icon on the mini-map, Zhou Yan broke out in a cold sweat.

On the map, red dots came in three types. A small red dot represented an enemy unit. A red dot with a longsword at its center marked an elite monster. A larger red dot with three overlapping longswords at its center signified a field boss.

And right now, overlapping his character icon was a red dot representing an elite monster!

"Damn it!" Zhou Yan lifted his stiff neck, looking up at the roof above him.

As Zhou Yan raised his head, his gaze directly met that of a black-clothed, masked figure standing on the rooftop.

Although the lower half of his face was covered, just seeing the upper half triggered the original owner's memories, revealing this person's true identity.

This person was none other than Zhou Pi, a direct descendant of the Zhou Family and Zhou Yan's younger cousin.

Even before Zhou Yan's accident, this guy had never gotten along with him. Now, appearing on the roof late at night, hiding his identity while staring intently, and being marked as an elite monster unit on the map... his purpose here was clear as day.

Only one word flashed in Zhou Yan's mind at that moment: "Run!"

Without another word, Zhou Yan turned and fled the alley. Through the mini-map, he could track Zhou Pi's position in real-time and avoid running into the main Dong Family forces.

And so, the two began a tense and thrilling chase through Nanshan Town.

Zhou Yan led Zhou Pi on a chase from the east market to the west market, then from the west market out of town. No matter how he ran, Zhou Pi clung to him relentlessly.

They finally reached the forest outside the town. By then, Zhou Yan's stamina was finally depleted, and he could run no further.

"Zhou Yan, oh Zhou Yan, I really underestimated you," said Zhou Pi, who was unwilling to reveal his identity, clapping slowly as he closed the distance toward the now-exhausted Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan just stared at him with dead-fish eyes, not uttering a single word.

An awkward silence filled the air. Zhou Pi felt something was off. Why wasn't Zhou Yan following the script? Shouldn't he be asking who he was right now? This lack of reaction robbed him of any sense of accomplishment. It just proved he deserved to die!

Zhou Pi, unwilling to reveal his identity: "Aren't you curious about who I am?"

"No."

"Then you must at least be curious about what exactly happened to you that led to your current state?"

"Not curious."

"..."

"Fine, fine. This lord is feeling merciful today. I'll let you die an informed ghost." Zhou Pi, unwilling to reveal his identity, having been rebuffed several times, finally couldn't hold back and prepared to spill the beans.

"Let me tell you, everything about you..."

"You drugged my wine, allowing my Body Tempering Realm Second Rank self to be moved to the big banyan tree outside town without any consciousness."

"The only person who both had the opportunity to drug me and the ability to learn about the Dong Family's dirty little secret, besides a direct descendant of the Zhou Family who holds a grudge against me, could only be you, Young Master Pi."

Zhou Yan didn't give Zhou Pi a chance to speak, preemptively stating his deduction.

Zhou Pi, unwilling to reveal his name: HP -1. HP: 99/100.

"Huh?"

"Is my little cousin's temper so bad that he couldn't catch his breath and actually lost HP from anger?"

In all honesty, Zhou Yan had only intended to buy time to recover some stamina. He didn't expect to escape, but at least he could fight before dying, making his second life not end so ingloriously.

Who knew the guy on the other side had such poor mental fortitude? Getting choked up twice made him so angry he lost HP and entered a rage.

"I'm going to smash you to pieces!" A fist fueled by Zhou Pi's fury shot toward Zhou Yan.

Thanks to his earlier stalling tactic, Zhou Yan had briefly recovered some stamina. He executed a backward dash, swiftly retreating several steps.

*Thud!* The ground, struck by Zhou Pi's enraged punch, cracked like a spiderweb, sending gravel flying.

As the attack landed, Zhou Yan's status shifted from story mode back to combat mode. As the enemy, Zhou Pi's full stats panel was now revealed.

[Elite · Zhou Pi]

[Rank: Body Tempering Third Rank]

[HP: 99/100]

[MP: 0/0]

"Hold on, hold on. What deep-seated grudge do we even have? Sure, we don't get along, but you're not so petty as to want me dead, are you?"

Zhou Yan looked at the other's panel and noticed it differed from his memory. The other had actually advanced a minor Realm.

Back when his predecessor was around, they were both at the Second Rank, and Zhou Yan couldn't beat Zhou Pi even then. Now that he had leveled up once, with his current state, Zhou Yan was absolutely doomed.

Figuring his mouth was there anyway, might as well use it, Zhou Yan launched a verbal assault, betting that Zhou Pi was a chatterbox.

"Heh, no grudge? No hatred?" Zhou Pi halted his movement, his expression twisting as he looked at Zhou Yan. His eyes held one part desolation, two parts anger, three parts confusion, and four parts indifference.

Seeing his status shift from combat mode back to story mode, Zhou Yan knew his gamble had paid off!

"That Dong Family's Second Young Miss... she was my childhood sweetheart, betrothed to me before birth. I always thought we were a perfect match. I even gave her most of my Cultivation resources, hoping we could both step into the Qi Refining Realm and become an immortal couple."

"But who could have guessed? We've known each other since we were three. I gave her so much. Yet she fell in love with some poor guy she'd known for less than a year? And the reason she loved him was just because he gave her a bowl of plain, ordinary, but lovingly prepared white congee!"

"To hell with his 'he's different'! To hell with her 'just seeing me as a brother'! Pah!"

Zhou Yan: "Ow, you spat in my eye."

Zhou Pi: "Ah? Sorry, wasn't intentional."

"It's fine, keep going."

Hearing Zhou Yan didn't mind, Zhou Pi continued recounting his painful experience.

"I thought she was just young, immature, didn't understand life's hardships. As long as the Family disapproved and she realized she couldn't live a good life with him, she'd naturally return to me."

"But who knew..." At this point, tears welled in Zhou Pi's eyes. "She told me she wanted to elope with that poor guy and needed to borrow some travel money from me."

"You gave it?" Hearing this absurd statement, Zhou Yan even wondered if he'd entered a female-oriented novel world. For a moment, the urge to Make complaints overwhelmed his desire to survive.

"She insisted!"

"She insisted, so you gave it!"

Hearing this, Zhou Yan understood. So that's what those two were doing under the banyan tree—planning to elope.

Wait, that still doesn't add up. Wasn't it this guy who put him up in the tree? Then what was all this he was saying?

Seeing the look of surprise on Zhou Yan's face as he pieced it together, Zhou Pi, who had been weeping moments ago, switched to a sinister grin in one second, as if finally venting some pent-up emotion:

"Hehehe, looks like you've figured it out. I'm not a fool. I gave her chance after chance, and she never appreciated them. Can't blame me for destroying her then."

"Ever since I knew she was hopelessly devoted to that guy, I gave up on her completely and started my 'ruin her' plan. From that day on, I indulged her every whim."

"I let her come to me for everything, even asking me to help plan their elopement. They thought I was a fool, little knowing everything was part of my scheme."

"Thanks to my tip-off, they were caught red-handed this time. The Dong Family definitely won't go easy on them. That'll help me vent my anger."

"At the same time, to maintain good relations between our Families, they'll compensate me, the victim, with a large amount of resources, making up for all I invested in the Dong Family's Second Young Miss over the years."

"Hehehe. And all I had to do for all this... was endure."

"You really can endure, cousin. I underestimated you before. So, you framed me probably because I offended you over something many years ago, right?"

After listening, Zhou Yan could only sigh. His predecessor had indeed offended the wrong kind of person. This was truly hard to guard against.

"Oh, not really. It's purely because I'm petty and just felt like killing you off since I don't like you."

Hearing this, Zhou Yan was first stunned, then pointed a finger. "Ah, you bastard!"

Seeing the satisfied look on Zhou Pi's face, it was clear he had enjoyed sharing his story, getting all those plans off his chest. Next would be silencing the witness.

Time to scram, time to scram.

Thanks to a bug triggered by leaving combat, his stamina had recovered. Zhou Yan once again embarked on his great escape plan.

He was a game character. As long as his stamina wasn't depleted, he was unaffected. But Zhou Pi, having chased for so long, couldn't possibly have no stamina loss.

The earlier stalling was precisely to create this stamina gap now. As long as he could shake him off and escape into the mountains, there was still hope!

"You think you can hide? I'll chase you to the ends of the earth!"

Zhou Pi, following behind, still hadn't realized this, still immersed in the thrill of the hunt.

An hour later, the thick cloud layer gradually dispersed. The pale moonlight had already begun to fade in the west. Sunrise was imminent.

By now, having chased all night, Zhou Pi finally sensed something was wrong. This cousin of his, whose Meridians were completely severed, was running with a ferocity that seemed almost inhuman.

Being able to run and jump in his condition was one thing, but running this fast, this steadily, without showing the slightest sign of exhaustion?

After all this time, not only had Zhou Pi failed to catch up, but his own stamina was nearly depleted, making him increasingly agitated.

Seeing his goal almost within reach, Zhou Yan felt a secret joy. The impending dawn heralded his new life. Everything was so beautiful...

*Swish—*

A sharp whistling sound shattered Zhou Yan's beautiful dream. He could see a silver throwing knife wreathed in bloody light piercing through his chest.

[Zhou Yan HP: 2/100]