67 Cannon Fodder Script

【System 001 is very unhappy to serve you】

Hua Lang: ...

She now had to realize one thing: the person the system was truly bound to was Yan Rong.

And perhaps all the information she got from 001 needs to be re-examined to determine whether it is true or false.

Yan Rong approached Hua Lang, confusion evident on his face. "The system clearly arranged for you to hate Xie Hanjing. He didn't do anything wrong. Why did you forgive him? You said you would choose me and save me, so why did you abandon me halfway?"

Hua Lang thought about every decision he had made and every word he said to 001. Behind every decision he had made, there was a pair of eyes silently watching him. For a moment, he felt it was ridiculous. "You know everything, but don't you know the reason behind all this?"

"Yan Rong, you're connected to the system, so everything you want is within your reach. Even if I've wronged you, why would you want to implicate Xie Hanjing?"

Yan Rong sneered, his emotions finally stabilizing. "You always think I have everything but am never satisfied. Is it that Xie Hanjing's taking of the world's treasures is perfectly just, but I, Yan Rong, am unworthy?"

"The system only erased the name Zhaoming from the book. What Master saw was the true storyline from the original novel. Xie Hanjing wasn't a good person to begin with."

Hua Lang subconsciously wanted to question it, but she suddenly remembered that no matter how bizarrely the main plot deviated, it was strangely restored to normal in the end with her intervention... It was as if she was destined to be in it.

Yan Rong whispered something, and then, a book appeared out of thin air in Hua Lang's mind. The pages began to flip, and all the passages he had read before were erased, and replaced with familiar names - "Zhao Ming".

The person who saved Hua Lang on behalf of Yan Rong turned out to be Mo Jinghong. He followed Murong Jun's mark to find himself and accepted him as his sixth disciple. As the gears of fate turned, Hua Lang met Xie Hanjing again. The following plot was everything Hua Lang experienced personally.

The book abruptly stopped when it reached the chapter titled "Entering Zhongzhou." The subsequent plot was covered before Hua Lang could even read it clearly. Now that she couldn't control 001, she could only ask Yan Rong, "...what about the rest of the story?"

"Someone's coming," Yan Rong glanced outside the door. He ignored Hua Lang's question and accused himself, "Master, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here. You already owe me too much. I know you have the Wu family's ring. Give it to me and let me leave here."

Hua Lang was now only a stone's throw away from the truth, and she didn't bother to refute his bandit theory. She grabbed Yan Rong and said, "No, tell me, what's next?"

Yan Rong turned her head and said, "You have read all the contents."

"Nonsense, I clearly only saw the part where Rong Chengchuan died, and there was nothing after that..."

Yan Rong was not much taller than Hua Lang, but when he held Hua Lang's hand tightly, she still felt a sense of crisis as if she was completely enveloped.

"Since you can't see the rest of the story, it naturally means... you can only live up to this point. According to the development of the main plot... Master, after Rong Chengchuan's death, the next person to die will be you..."

Along with Yan Rong's whisper, 001's voice rang out again. Unlike the familiar tone it had just used when speaking to Yan Rong, this time it was only a cold electronic tone. [System Department is repairing the main line...]

After hearing this, Hua Lang had no time to escape. With a crackling sound in her head, she lost consciousness almost instantly.

*

“Tick…tick…”

The strange sound of dripping water woke Hua Lang up. As soon as she raised her eyelids, she broke out in a cold sweat - within the range visible to the naked eye, the layout of this stone chamber was too familiar.

It was almost identical to the stone chamber in one of her dreams, and she could almost recite everything that happened in that stone chamber backwards...

Footsteps sounded at the right time. Now the identities of the two had switched, and the person who came to visit the "prisoner" was Yan Rong.

He walked up to Hua Lang but didn't speak to him. "001, have you recorded everything in that book?"

001 said unhappily, "Of course, if you can't even do this, then the whole system might as well be destroyed."

Yan Rong quickly scanned the contents recorded by 001 and finally said with satisfaction, "Next, the only thing left is the 'experiment'."

He carefully observed the expression on Hua Lang's face and said dissatisfiedly, "Master, why do you always look at me like this? At least for now, haven't I done anything?"

Hua Lang was completely fed up with his train of thought and sneered, "Even without you, I would have been taken away by Mo Jinghong. So why should I be grateful to you? Since we've been honest, let me tell you, if you want to kill me, you can just do it directly. There's no need to disgust me with these words."

Yan Rong was successfully irritated by her. His face darkened, and a gloomy expression filled his brows. "I thought you were different from them. It seems that there is really no need to talk any further."

Hua Lang said, "It's never me who's different from others, it's you."

Yan Rong stopped talking nonsense. Hua Lang's words reminded him of his childhood, before he encountered the system. He decisively reached out and, under Hua Lang's nervous gaze, took her blood.

Hua Lang waited for a long time, but all she got was a cut on her wrist. Seeing Yan Rong and 001 about to leave the stone chamber again, she asked, "Are you just leaving like that?"

"Why, Master can't bear to leave me?"

Hua Lang said bluntly, "You'd better not come back. Even if you starve to death here, I don't want to see your face again."

Hearing this, Yan Rong ignored 001's attempts to stop her and retorted, "Don't want to see me again? In the next few years, I'll be the only person you'll see. But don't worry, Master. When the original book ends, I'll keep my promise and give you a break."

After saying that, Yan Rong turned around and left angrily.

Hua Lang successfully obtained some information. She seemed to be extremely important to Yan Rong's plan. According to her speculation, it was for this plan that Yan Rong sneaked into Zhongzhou and took her away when he was a teenager.

He and 001 have been working hard to get the main storyline back on track. The ending is that Xie Hanjing enters the state of incarnation. However, according to Yan Rong's idea that the whole world owes him, he should hate Xie Hanjing more than himself. This is a contradiction.

Hua Lang absolutely could not bear to stay in this stone chamber. If it was really as Yan Rong said, and she was to be locked up here for several years, according to the physique of a mortal, she would either die of illness or go insane.

But now she was tied up for real, and there was a system in her head that monitored her all day without food or water, almost blocking any way for her to escape.

Thinking of the system, Hua Lang whispered, "001?"

As always, the system ignored her completely. With her life at stake, Hua Lang no longer cared about her dignity. "001, Yan Rong and I are both your hosts. He wants to kill me, and you're just going to watch him die without helping?"

001 couldn't stand Hua Lang's trick of following Yan Rong, so it corrected him, "Please note, there is no binding relationship between us. My only host is Yan Rong."

Hua Lang twitched his lips and said sincerely, "Why would you want to bind a madman?"

001 sneered and said in a condescending tone, "This is called a cannon fodder counterattack. You guys who are the protagonists naturally don't understand."

Hua Lang vaguely grasped some information, "In the original novel you showed me, I didn't see Yan Rong. Even if she's cannon fodder, she should have a role, right?"

001 said, "Because this is the ultimate cannon fodder. According to the script, when he was thirteen, his true identity should have been revealed during the demon-slaying activities, and King Luo Yun would have discovered his illegitimate status. He would have been implicated and died quietly. Naturally, there is no plot about him in the book."

Isn't this too much of a cannon fodder?!

Hua Lang was stunned. "There must be thousands of cannon fodder like him. Why did you choose him?"

001 said angrily, "Face! How can I become the protagonist without a pretty face?"

As for the personality, it was discovered only after binding, but this thing is not returnable or exchangeable, so 001 can only accept this host with a pinch of his nose.

Hua Lang was convinced by its theory and nodded in agreement. After realizing that they had become close enough, he struck while the iron was hot and said, "We've been together for such a long time. Can you really bear to see me locked up here? I can tell you anything you and Yan Rong want, and I can cooperate with you in anything you want."

001 saw through it and said it out loud, "Don't even think about it. You are the protagonist and you must pave the way for Yan Rong's counterattack. It's better for you to cooperate with us."

After going around in circles and returning to the starting point, Hua Lang wanted to ask for some more information, but 001 completely stopped answering her. For a moment, the only sound in the empty stone chamber was the constant dripping sound of water.

Hua Lang suddenly remembered the two seeds in her body, but she couldn't move her body. She could only shake her body and try to knock down the shelf.

But even when she was exhausted, she still couldn't move even a little bit.

The candlelight in the stone chamber was still burning, and the speed at which time passed became unpredictable. Hua Lang was so hungry that she called 001, but 001 seemed to have made up his mind to ignore her.

Hua Lang didn't know how much time had passed, but his eyes were shining with hunger. He vaguely heard a rustling sound coming from above his head.

Hua Lang tried to call out, but didn't get even a single response.

Time ticked by, and the rustling sound rang out again, only it was weaker than the last time.

Hua Lang couldn't remember how many times this cycle had passed. Finally, he heard a clang, the sound of countless stones collapsing. The dull sound was like thunder hitting his ears. For a moment, the echo in the stone chamber made the surroundings buzz.

Following the noise, Hua Lang gathered his strength and shook the wooden frame on his body. With a "click", the wooden frame collapsed completely.

I don’t know if it was because 001 was psychologically traumatized by her recent complaints of hunger, but until Hua Lang tiptoed to the stone gate, no one showed up to stop her.

The sound of collapse from above was still ringing. With the huge noise, Hua Lang pushed the stone door open a crack. The crack slowly opened, and she finally heard the long-lost human voice.

"...The insect swarm has finally died out. Watching this wall of stone statues crumble still feels like a dream to me."

"Yes, I never thought that I, an old woman, would still be able to see the scenery outside."

"So how do we deal with these stone statues?"

…

"Let's put it here. Many of them are covered with moss, which is just right for covering the bones below. When the gates to Zhongzhou are opened, maybe this thing will become a unique landscape of our city in the future."

Fill the city?

Hua Lang didn't expect that Yan Rong didn't take the opportunity to escape, but chose to stay in the most dangerous Zhongzhou.

But this also means that she can be rescued quickly as long as she returns to the ground.

This stone path seemed to be cast in a formation. Hua Lang originally wanted to try to use the passage to escape directly, but even after walking out of the stone chamber, she was unable to successfully build a passage.

Hua Lang almost held her breath with every step she took along the stone path. If 001 or Yan Rong appeared, it would be even more difficult for her to escape.

But until the sound of the collapsing stone wall died down and the voices gradually faded away, Hua Lang still hadn't finished walking the entire stone path.

There was a tinkling sound above her head, as if something was being built, but before Hua Lang could figure out what was going on, the sound disappeared the next second, replaced by the usual dead silence. There were occasional sounds, but when Hua Lang spoke, these sounds quickly faded away.

Hua Lang walked faster and faster, and finally, she even started to run, but there was sky above her and earth below her, and the winding stone path in between seemed to have no end. Slowly, this realization made the slight joy of her escape completely dissipate.

After an unknown amount of time, a ray of light appeared in front of the dim stone road. Hua Lang almost thought it was an illusion. She was already exhausted and the feeling of hunger never left, but her muscles were not tired at all. Only her spirit was on the verge of collapse.

When she confirmed that it was a door with light coming through it, Hua Lang stumbled forward and pushed the door open.

The familiar stone chamber came into view. Yan Rong was lost in thought, and before him was a sturdy wooden frame, a completely undamaged one...

Before Hua Lang could understand what was happening in front of her, in the blink of an eye, she was back on the wooden shelf. Yan Rong, whom she had not seen for a long time, looked thoughtful.

He said, "Welcome back."

Hua Lang's breathing became increasingly rapid, and the wooden frame nailed to the ground creaked as she shook it. "What is that...it's fake, right? What on earth are you experimenting with?!"

Yan Rong was startled by her actions and frowned, "What's true or false? What's wrong with you today?"

Hua Lang tried to calm down. She wanted to see if Yan Rong was lying, but she only saw pure confusion and a bit of temptation. He asked again, "Did you dream about anything?"

Hua Lang calmed down completely. 001 could fabricate memories. If this wasn't done by 001, then who else could it be?

She thought of the bead she had left behind in the filling city. Could this stone chamber really be underneath the filling city? If it was an illusion created by the bead, the dream just now might be the key to her escape.

"What time is it now? How long will it take for you to give me a quick death?"

Yan Rong didn't seem to be very interested in the content of her dream, and was quickly diverted by Hua Lang. "The concept of time has no meaning to you. You should have helped me unconditionally. You are just doing what you should do now..."

Hua Lang felt that it was really difficult to communicate with him after his true nature was exposed. It would have been better for him to hide in a corner secretly and not say a word.

Fortunately, Yan Rong had no intention of staying for long. As usual, he denounced the injustice of the world towards him. After taking what he wanted from Hua Lang, he strode away.

After Yan Rong left, Hua Lang began to concentrate on grinding the rope on her body. She knew that this would have little effect, but her current goal was to induce the illusion again.

Sure enough, after an unknown amount of time, the rope finally "broke". Hua Lang did not dare to hesitate and immediately headed towards the gate.

This time, the stone path was finally no longer so long that the end was invisible. She walked forward a few steps carefully along the stone path and saw a new stone chamber. Yan Rong was sitting at the desk, his mouth opening and closing, as if he was communicating something with 001.

"...Why, didn't you say you would control the main plot?"

"I don't care. Even if Xie Hanjing becomes the city lord, you must correct the main plot for me, otherwise I want..."

“…”

Hua Lang listened for a while, and only when Yan Rong stood up and came towards her did she hurriedly try to hide. Unfortunately, the stone path was narrow, and it was too late for her to move.

Accompanied by 001's voice, Yan Rong immediately locked onto her. On the way Hua Lang was captured and taken back, she blinked her eyes and woke up from the wooden rack again.

It’s true!

As long as she keeps trying and figures out the route, maybe she can escape from here before Yan Rong kills her!

Thinking of this, although Hua Lang was extremely tired, she became motivated. She didn't know how long she had been in the illusion, but the feeling of hunger had never subsided from beginning to end. Based on this, Hua Lang guessed that about two or three days had passed.

Yan Rong took away more and more blood, and Hua Lang walked from the stone chamber to door after door. She could almost smell the fragrance of flowers and plants and the fresh scent of soil.

Countless overlapping illusions drowned Hua Lang unknowingly. The stone chamber became more and more dilapidated, and unknowingly moved closer to Hua Lang's original illusion.

Yan Rong stood before Hua Lang countless times. He rarely left immediately. "The next time we meet, Master will be free. I never thought that I would really wait for this day..."

Hua Lang listened to Yan Rong in a daze. She pulled her mind away from the map built up by countless illusions and pondered his words with difficulty.

How come this day has come so soon?

What time is it now?

While she was in the illusion...how much time had passed in the outside world?

Hua Lang took a deep breath. She couldn’t wait any longer. She had to escape today!

She had already confirmed the route. After Yan Rong left, Hua Lang couldn't wait to break free from the wooden frame and walked towards the gate step by step. The stone path outside was the one she had seen and walked countless times.

Following the route she remembered, she avoided one dead end after another and the journey was eerily smooth. When Hua Lang touched the moss on the bricks, she still felt a little unbelievable.

The long-lost soft bird song is getting closer, she is about to go out, she is about to go out!

Before climbing out of the underground maze along the ladder, Hua Lang suddenly looked down uncontrollably, as if by some mysterious sixth sense.

A figure hiding in the darkness was looking at her quietly with his head raised.

…

"Why, why are you thinking of running away? You haven't even paid me back yet..."

It’s Yan Rong!

Hua Lang got goosebumps all over her body. She didn't dare to delay and immediately ran out of the cave, but Yan Rong's voice was like a leech. The next second, her ankle was grabbed by a hand.

Yan Rong was about to pull Hua Lang down, but suddenly, he was silent for a while. Hua Lang saw that he seemed to be talking to 001.

Hua Lang was afraid that the system was also involved. "Your experiment is over, and you've got what you wanted. 001, are you really unwilling to let me go?"

001 heard her words and responded to her for the first time, "You seem to have forgotten my identity. Trying to play the emotional card with the system is the most foolish thing a human can do."