A Father’s Burden

Shen Linzhi transmigrated into a dangerous cultivation-world novel, becoming the doomed sect master who was destined to die within three chapters, and the father of Chu Yan, a future villain born under an unlucky star.

System: [Mission 1: Raise the villain to be a good and upright young man. Mission 2: Fake your death and escape before he turns eighteen. Reward: a path to ascension.]

Shen Linzhi: Raising a kid is fine. Ascending is fine, too.

But dying is off the table.

So, by day, he was the gentlest little-kid caretaker in the whole sect:

Warming milk in the middle of the night;

Sewing little robes by hand;

Teaching him to write, and embedding "Respect your elders, care for the young, and life is worth living" into the villain's very bones.

At night, he furiously worked the beads on his abacus as he studied his child-rearing journal:

"Corruption value -5, obedience value +10... I'll run on the night his bloodline awakens. Perfect!"

Then, on a snowy night, the young villain placed his newly sprouted dragon horns in Shen Linzhi's palm and asked in a hoarse, soft voice, "Daddy, don't leave me."

Shen Linzhi's heart trembled, but his abacus beads clicked even faster: Run. I absolutely have to run!

*

On the night he faked his death, he left behind bloodstained clothes, staged a corpse falling into the ravine, and vanished without a trace.

In an ice coffin at the bottom of the ravine, Shen Linzhi breathed a sigh of relief: Mission complete. On to freedom!

The next second, a long-fingered hand lifted the coffin lid.

The young man who should have been transformed into a god by the ritual knelt beside him, his white robes soaked with blood, dragon horns drooping. His voice was as dark and cold as an ice blade. "Daddy, don't you want me anymore?"

**

Chu Yan had always known a secret.

He knew that his father protected him and treated him gently, but didn't truly love him and was always trying to escape.

He could only hide his vicious temper and do his best to be the most obedient adopted son, doing whatever he was told.

But when the day came, his father still left.

So Chu Yan turned evil.

*

Shen Linzhi had always thought that once the mission was over, he could ascend and enjoy a peaceful old age.

But the heavenly ladder collapsed. He failed to ascend and found himself imprisoned in a tomb coffin, lying in endless darkness.

Shen Linzhi stared blankly. "...What do I do now?"

The System blared: [Host data has been breached. The ascension plan has been exposed. The villain's corruption value has gone through the roof. We recommend that the father repay the son's debt!]

Shen Linzhi: "???"

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Theme: Take responsibility for your own actions