THE SYSTEM IS NOT MINE

The column of thirty men, the special unit, moved slowly along the eastern road as the dust rose beneath dozens of marching feet.

Han Defu was inside the carriage, two guards were at the front, and at the back of the carriage, Luma was riding his horse.

Behind them marched the foot soldiers, and Yan walked among them.

The group did not look impressive, and most were ordinary men, farmers with borrowed armor, mercenaries carrying chipped blades.

Only four cultivators walked in the column, including Yan and three others, who were barely within the early to mid stage of Spiritual Qi Foundation.

One was the trembling person, another was Jia Jain.

The last was an old man.

The rest were simply ordinary soldiers.

The road stretched long and dry beneath the afternoon sun.

No one spoke much, but the oppressive atmosphere of the war had not left them yet.

After some time, the old man drifted closer to the group. His back was slightly bent, but his steps remained steady.

He had grey hair and wore weathered armor. A long spear rested across his shoulder.

The old man glanced at the men around him and spoke casually, “Do you know where we’re going?”

Several soldiers looked toward him.

“To the special mission,” one replied.

The old man chuckled, “No.”

His voice was calm.

“We’re not going there to fight.”

A few men frowned.

“Then why are we marching?”

The old man looked ahead toward Han Defu’s carriage. Then back at them.

“We’re bait.”

The word lingered in the heads of the group. “You’re joking.”

Some laughed nervously. Others shook their heads.

“I wish I was,” the old man said.

"Stop the nonsense, seems like you have gone mad."

One of the soldiers cursed quietly.

But the idea had already planted itself in their minds.

Fear spread silently through the column.

While some quickened their steps, others tried to ignore the words, but Yan remained calm.

The old man noticed. His eyes rested on Yan for a moment longer than the others.

“You’re unusual,” he said.

Yan said nothing.

The old man smiled faintly, “I see great potential in you, young man.”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from NovelFire. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Yan turned his head slightly and asked, “Old fellow,” “You look fragile, why are you even here?”

For a moment, the old man’s pupils contracted sharply, and then he laughed.

“Because it’s my livelihood.”

His voice carried a strange pride.

“I’ve been a soldier since I was a teenager.” He tapped the shaft of his spear against his shoulder.

“My blood craves the battlefield.”

The road continued beneath their feet as Han Defu’s carriage rolled steadily ahead.

Another soldier said, “Old man… aren’t you afraid of death?”

The old man did not answer but suddenly stopped walking and raised his spear to the right side.

"Old fellow, move."

"Don't block the way."

The entire group slowed. The old man turned around and looked at them quietly.

Then he smiled.

His aura exploded. Spiritual pressure burst outward. Middle stage. Spiritual Qi Foundation - middle stage.

Before anyone could react, the spear flashed. It pierced straight through the chest of the nearest soldier. Blood sprayed across the road.

"Run!"

The man collapsed instantly.

Panic erupted among the crowd. Some tried to run while others reached for their weapons.

"Old... man, stay... away."

The trembling cultivator unsheathed his sword and pointed it at the old man.

Yan stepped back, and he was at the back of the trembling cultivator.

Jia Jain was at his left side, a few steps away.

Yan did not draw his sword and decided not to. Then he looked around. He wanted to end this without exposing his strength.

He began thinking but could not come up with any solution. Then he remembered the System.

Yan closed his eyes briefly and remembered how he activated the System function for the first time, and it returned him to the past and gave him insights.

Yan opened his eyes again.

White letters appeared.

The Overseer System

Resonance:

Ground (Foundation Cap)

Mind (80% Foundation Cap)

Compatibility: 10%

Stability: 90%

Functions Unlocked:

Memory Recall (Active)

Yan focused on the Memory Recall.

For a moment, nothing happened, then the road blurred.

And the soldiers disappeared, including the old man and the blood.

Then the scenery began to change.

Yan stood somewhere else, and the ground beneath his feet felt soft and familiar.

Yan looked around slowly. He looked at the familiar new scenery.

For a long moment, he remained silent and then exhaled deeply.

"Yan, you are skipping lessons again."

"Teacher Chen asked about you."

The familiar voice rang in his ears again.

"Teacher Chen can come fix my ditch, then." The Yan in the memory replied.

Shui's gaze moved to Taner, and he said, "Do you know something?"

"You don't know how good you have it."

"Good? I'm standing in mud up to my ankles. You call that good?" Yan contradicted.

"At least you eat dinner with people who want you to be there," Shui replied.

Right at that moment,

Shui stepped onto the soft bank. The soil near the irrigation edge looked firm, but it was treachery disguised as ground.

Yan knew what would happen, but he was powerless to change the memory, and he especially noticed the soil.

"Watch your step," Yan warned. "That side's soft."

Shui crouched and pulled a young stalk free. The roots tore with a quiet, sickening finality.

"Hey! What are you doing? Leave that alone!" Yan snapped.

Shui froze, and then something clicked in his eyes. Shui blinked, and he looked around like a madman.

Then he looked at his own hands.

"This isn't," he gasped. His hands turned over, fingers splaying. "No. This isn't right."

Yan grabbed his sleeve, his face flushed with mundane anger. "What's the matter with you? Quit acting strange!"

Shui looked at him without a shred of recognition.

Right at that moment, the soil beneath him slipped. His eyes were on the sky.

Yan appeared in front of him.

Their fingers locked for the smallest fraction of a heartbeat, pulse to pulse, heat to heat, before gravity resolved what the intrusion had begun.

"Not yet," Shui said. "I'm not done yet." The words were measured, clear, and utterly alien.

The scenario blurred...

The soldiers, the old man, and everything returned.

For a brief moment, a small trace of moisture rested at the corner of his eye, then it vanished.

"Attack him, we have a chance if we work together!" Jia Jain shouted at Yan.

Yan looked back at him.

"Attack!" Jia Jain said.

Yan ignored him but looked at the trembling cultivator in front of him.

"Old man... stay right there..."

He wielded his sword and pointed it at the old man.

Yan arrived at the back of the trembling cultivator and pushed him.

The trembling cultivator moved forward...

Then he slipped.

"Ha... ha... look at you, can't even walk," the old man commented as he took the blood-soaked spear out of the man.

Then he took a step backward and was about to move a step forward to pierce the trembling cultivator with his spear.

"What?"But his foot slipped as well. He stumbled and began to fall..

While he was falling, his eyes moved downward, toward the sword of the trembling cultivator below him, its blade pointing at his unguarded neck.

His pupils widened with the realization that he could not do anything.