Reborn As A Villainous Cannon Fodder

Another chapter will be updated today.

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“Yanran, you… made two portions from the very beginning?”

Hearing these words, Mu Daosheng’s eyes widened, finally snapping out of the anxiety caused by this potential catastrophe.

Yanran crossed her arms and leaned back against the sofa, silently averting her gaze.

“I couldn’t bring myself to begin with…”

She whispered softly, sounding as if she were complaining, yet clearly afraid of being overheard by her father.

Yanran took a deep breath, her beautiful eyes fixing solemnly on the pastry laced with the Immortal parasite. “So, Father, what should we do with this pastry now? How are we going to account for this to the forefathers in the Immortal ancestor shrine?”

“It is of no consequence.”

Mu Daosheng breathed a sigh of relief, leaning back in his chair and waving his hand dismissal. “You don’t need worry about this matter. This old man will simply tell the people from the Divine Gate that we have already administered the parasite. Since Yuyan is currently cultivating with the National Advisor at the Dragon Palace, the Divine Gate won’t be chanting the incantation to trigger the Immortal parasite anytime soon for fear of alerting the enemy.”

“As long as they don’t chant the incantation, the presence of the parasite cannot be detected.”

“As for this poisoned pastry, this old man will keep it for now. We will observe the situation and decide later.”

Yanran listened in silence, though her eyes still could not hide her unease.

On one hand was her biological father; on the other was the little sister she had taken care of since childhood.

They were the most important family in Yanran’s life. Being caught in the middle like this was agonizing for her, no matter which side she chose.

That was why that night, when Mu Daosheng had assigned her the task of administering the Immortal parasite, Yanran had broken down in tears before deciding to make two batches of Silver Pear Pastry.

She had first made the one laced with the Immortal parasite, but after kneeling before the stove in the kitchen and hesitating for a long time, she still couldn’t find the courage to give it to Yuyan. So, she rose again and used the remaining ingredients to make another batch of ordinary pastries.

Yanran had thought to give the safe pastries to Yuyan, and then lie to her father that the deed was done…

Afterward, she planned to eat the poisoned pastry herself, attempting to deceive the Divine Gate so they wouldn’t notice.

However, Yanran hadn’t expected Mu Daosheng to send a message overnight telling her not to administer the parasite after all.

The plan was aborted, which naturally brought relief to Yanran.

But…

If father was outwardly compliant but inwardly rebellious, going against the will of the Immortal Ancestors, wouldn’t father end up walking the same path as Yuyan’s father back then?

Thinking of this, Yanran held the pastry, her gaze lowering, her vision clouding with a gray sense of helplessness.

“But we can only hide it for a while, not forever…”

“What if one day they fight the Jianlan Sect, and the Divine Gate chooses to chant the incantation, only to discover that Yuyan wasn’t affected at all?”

She spoke faintly.

Mu Daosheng glanced up at her, recalling the words National Advisor Changli had spoken the previous night.

Indeed, Yanran’s worries were valid.

But this was the reality, what other choice was there?

Startled, back when Mo Yiqing was Sect Master, he had faced the threat of the Divine Gate with unyielding defiance. The result was the overnight annihilation of the entire Mo Mansion.

It was only after that tragedy that the position of Sect Master fell to Mu Daosheng.

Though titled the Sect Master of Wuji Sect, in reality, he was nothing more than a puppet for those few Immortals and the Divine Gate.

But did Mu Daosheng dare to refuse?

Did he want his daughter to become an orphan like Yuyan?

In the face of true hegemony, Mu Daosheng was just another member of the suffering masses trying to survive.

“Yanran, I have told you, you need not worry about this. This old man has his own assurances.”

Mu Daosheng’s eyes were dim as he spoke coldly.

He didn’t want to explain, but seeing the mist and dew gathering in the black-skirted woman’s beautiful eyes, Mu Daosheng finally couldn’t withstand the ache in his soft heart.

He closed his aged eyes and let out a feigned, indifferent scoff:

“If the Divine Gate really investigates, we will simply say we administered the parasite, but it was seen through by Yino, and the Immortal parasite was neutralized by the National Advisor. Wouldn’t that solve it?”

At these words, Yanran’s eyes widened slightly.

She blinked and nodded repeatedly, the worry in her heart finally finding a solution. “That makes sense!”

“Alright, alright, you’ve only just reached the Nascent Soul stage this year, while Yuyan is already at the Divine Transformation stage!”

“So stop worrying blindly about Yuyan’s affairs. From now on, this matter has nothing to do with you.”

“It’s getting late! Go back and rest!”

Mu Daosheng waved his hand, pushing his daughter by the shoulders and ushering her out of the main hall of the Sect Master’s Pavilion.

Yanran nodded obediently and waved goodbye to her father.

After she left, Mu Daosheng remained alone, sitting silently on the sofa in the main hall.

He rested for 15 minutes, readjusting his state of mind and expression.

Then, Mu Daosheng sat up, scanned the nearby spiritual energy to ensure Yanran had gone far, and only then did he pick up a lantern and head alone toward the Immortal Ancestor Shrine in the back mountain.

He walked quietly through the night, his heart filled with anxiety, memories of Mo Yiqing from years past uncontrollably surfacing in his mind.

In those years, Mu Daosheng and Mo Yiqing had competed for the position of Sect Master.

In the end, relying on his extraordinary talent in array formations, Mo Yiqing won the favor of the Elder Council and defeated Mu Daosheng.

Back then, they were both young and full of vigor.

Until late one night, a nervous Mo Yiqing found Mu Daosheng and showed him the results of years of dedicated study into star formations.

In those star charts deduced by the Art of Heavenly Divination, Mu Daosheng saw the fate arranged for the entire Western Region for the next hundred years.

Because Mo Yiqing’s technique was not yet refined enough, those fates were blurry, but even so, Mu Daosheng suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of horror.

For the first time, they peered into the cruel truth of this cultivation world…

Everything, every destiny, was planned by a pair of invisible giant hands. Even the unformed fetus in Mo Yiqing’s wife’s womb had vaguely had its future arranged, a predetermined fate of death by having its bones dug out and veins seized!

Mo Yiqing was indignant about this, but Mu Daosheng spent the night urging him to believe it was all superstition, to burn the star charts immediately, and absolutely never to delve deeper.

They had a huge argument over it.

Later, Mo Yiqing remained obstinate, determined to fight this Heavenly Mandate to the end.

Later still, Mu Daosheng tried to persuade him for a long time. Even when the Iris from the Divine Gate personally intervened, she could not dissuade Mo Yiqing.

And so, the entire Mo Mansion was erased from the Wuji Sect, leaving behind only Yuyan, who possessed the Innate Frost Holy Physique…

This almost confirmed that the Heavenly Mandate Mo Yiqing had deduced was not fiction.

Why did the Divine Gate specifically spare Yuyan? What could they want other than her Innate Frost Holy Physique?

Many Chosen Ones in this world were actually just disposable tools.

The meaning of their existence was to provide opportunities and golden fingers for the true Fated Hero chosen by the Divine Gate in the future.

If Mu Daosheng guessed correctly, the young man named Chen Jianxin back then was the Fated Hero chosen by the Divine Gate to inherit Yuyan’s Innate Frost Holy Physique in the future.

It was just that by a twist of fate, Yino had appeared out of nowhere and disrupted the Divine Gate’s plans…

Mu Daosheng understood all these truths behind the scenes.

But other than bowing his head in compromise to the Heavenly Mandate, what could he do?

He knew the Divine Gate would eventually dig out Yuyan’s bones and tendons, but so what? Did Mu Daosheng have the right to refuse?

Such a mindset persisted until that night when Mu Daosheng spoke with Yino and received a clear promise from National Advisor. Only then did his suspended heart finally seem to find something to rely on, allowing him to make up his mind.

According to the Divine Gate’s plan revealed by Mo Yiqing, Yuyan was destined to have her bones dug out and veins seized.

Mu Daosheng was no great hero; he was just a mortal. He wanted to rely on compromise and pleading to let Yuyan live a few more years. If she could survive ingloriously as a mortal in the future, it would count as preserving a descendant for Mo Yiqing.

So, when it was just Yino saying he wanted to protect her, Mu Daosheng couldn’t trust it at all.

What ability could a young boy have to oppose the Heavens?

But later, when even National Advisor Feng Changli personally agreed to protect Yuyan, Mu Daosheng was willing to gamble alongside Yino.

Mu Daosheng might not trust a boy, but having mixed in the cultivation world for so long, he could trust the divine power of National Advisor Feng Changli to manipulate the Heavenly Mandate.

So…

“Yiqing, has this old man ultimately walked the same path you did back then?”