Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"The big shot we were promised just dies like that?!"

Xie Yunshen tilted his aching, stiff neck back and placed the open book over his face.

Sunlight filtered through the cream-colored pages, his breath fogging the paper of page 207.

The plot had just reached the death of Yan Shiqi. The smell of ink from the print lingered at the tip of Xie Yunshen's nose.

"Yan Shiqi died the day before the Five Colors Conference. It was the day of Great Heat, and the weather was sweltering. By the time people found him, his corpse had already begun to emit an odor."

"Blood gushed and spilled from his body, like a broken wine bottle. His clean, respectable face lost its final trace of color, the light in his eyes snuffed out by the god of death..."

"The once glorious Yan family, with Yan Shiqi's death, completely collapsed..."

Xie Yunshen pondered the passage, feeling a sense of futile, baffling oppression filling his heart.

What bothered him most was that Yan Shiqi's bodyguard in the novel shared his exact same name.

When Yan Shiqi died, that guy was still standing there in a daze.

Xie Yunshen felt increasingly drowsy, his eyelids heavy. In his sleep, he saw the scene of Yan Shiqi's death.

"Brat, get up!" A palm was about to smack his head.

Xie Yunshen jolted awake, grabbing the other's wrist, a rising uppercut poised to shatter the chin. But upon seeing the head of white hair before him, he forcefully stopped himself.

"You still want to hit me?" The old man was startled, then *thwack! thwack! thwack!* gave him several knuckle-raps on the head.

"Stop, stop, stop!! Stop! Who are you?" Xie Yunshen shielded his head while rolling backward.

The old man paused, taken aback. "Brat! You're nimble today. The butler said you haven't shown up for duty in days?"

"?"

"Mr. Yan has just become the head of the family. It's precisely when he needs people around him. How dare you sleep here?!"

Before Xie Yunshen could ask anything, the old man shoved him into the bathroom.

"Take a shower and get to work!"

A uniform was then thrown onto his head.

Xie Yunshen looked at the unfamiliar face in the mirror and frowned.

This was not his own face. This body, lacking any explosive power, was also not his original body.

He checked the uniform. Embroidered on the cuff were the three characters "Xie Yunshen."

What was going on?

Just then, frantic knocking came from outside the bathroom, the old man urging him on: "Hurry up! Don't even think of dawdling!"

Does this old man have some kind of anger issues?

Xie Yunshen washed up quickly and put on the suit.

Before he could even finish tying his tie, with a clatter, the old man had already yanked him out of the bathroom.

"Hey, where are we going?"

"Mr. Yan is going to the port today, you brat. You have to go with him."

The old man tightened his tie, leading him like a horse on a leash, sparks and lightning practically flying along the way.

Xie Yunshen thought he was dreaming.

What? What Mr. Yan?

His gaze swept rapidly over the soaring, marble-paved corridor.

The shadows cast by the wall lamps receded one after another.

The solemn gaze of saints in the murals watched him gravely.

The cool air from above brought a slight chill.

It was entirely a stately and imposing mansion.

Finally, the old man stopped with him before an elegant fan-shaped door.

Xie Yunshen was panting.

It made no sense. Just running for this short while, why did he feel so exhausted?

"Work hard today, no backing out at the last minute. I'm off!" The old man slapped his back.

Two bodyguards in black stood guard on either side of the door. Seeing Xie Yunshen, they glanced sideways with disdain.

"Really unlucky, having to drag dead weight along on duty today."

"Just accept it, brother. Who told us his ancestors were meritorious servants of the Yan family?"

Xie Yunshen didn't hear the sarcastic remarks. He stood before the door, brows furrowed.

Through the diamond-patterned frosted glass of the door, he could vaguely make out a figure seated on a black sofa. The person was looking down, left hand covering the upper half of their face, sunlight falling on their shoulder.

A lonely figure that struck directly at his heart.

The words from the novel suddenly swirled in his mind. Those printed characters became three-dimensional and vivid, forming the living, breathing flesh and blood behind the glass door.

A bodyguard beside him smirked without warmth. "Xie Yunshen, since your bodyguard position is just a sinecure anyway, there's no need for you to tag along..."

Another bodyguard directly pulled him aside. "That's right. You might as well go back to sleep..."

The words were full of mockery.

Just then, the door opened. Several subordinates escorted the person out of the room.

Xie Yunshen wanted to follow, but the bodyguard tried to grab his shoulder again.

Xie Yunshen reflexively threw a backward elbow strike. The man immediately stumbled back, blood gushing from his nose.

Xie Yunshen moved his arm: ?! The sensation of hitting someone in a dream is this clear too?

Too bad he couldn't muster much strength in the dream; otherwise, it wouldn't have been just a nosebleed.

By now, the Yan family members had already escorted the head down the curved staircase and out the door.

By the time he dashed outside, the door of the lead car had already closed.

"Mr. Yan!" he blurted out.

To his surprise, the car stopped.

A buzz-cut man in a black shirt opened the car door and stood beside it. "Mr. Xie, Mr. Yan said that if you have any needs, you should speak directly to the butler."

Xie Yunshen frowned. What was that supposed to mean?

After the man finished speaking, the door closed, and the cars drove off together from the Yan estate.

Xie Yunshen could tell that the buzz-cut guy just now was a skilled fighter.

Wait, was he really dreaming?

Xie Yunshen looked up at the sun.

It was sweltering.

A gust of hot air swept through his fingers, and the dry, sun-baked scent of leaves reached his nose. Fine water mist from the fountain coated the back of his hand.

Could a dream feel this real, with such vivid smells and sensations?

"Mr. Yan has just become the head of the family. Now's exactly when he needs people by his side..."

"Mr. Yan is going to the port..."

The white-haired old man's words echoed in his head.

The novel had mentioned that after the old Yan family head died, Yan Shiqi became the new head. In less than a month, he was shot at by a sniper at the port.

Although he managed to avoid a fatal shot in time, he almost died on the operating table.

Was it happening now?

Xie Yunshen ran to the main road and flagged down a cab.

"Do you know the Yan family's port?"

The elderly driver chuckled. "Are you kidding? Around here, other than the Yan family, who else has a private port?"

The driver whistled a cheerful tune. Unfamiliar high-rises whizzed by the window, and the news on the radio mentioned unfamiliar project names.

As the destination drew closer, Xie Yunshen couldn't help but feel a tense sense of mission.

In the book, the port shooting was only briefly touched on through the male lead's dialogue.

But Yan Shiqi was hospitalized for emergency treatment, throwing the Yan family into a panic; since several top experts were at the hospital, the male lead had sneaked into the Yan estate at night and stolen an important document, triggering a whole chain of problems later on.

The port was enormous. After half an hour, Xie Yunshen finally spotted the figure he was looking for on the open deck of a moored freighter.

The bodyguards around him were somewhat vigilant, but there were major holes in their security perimeter.

As for that buzz-cut guy, although he was a fighter, he was clearly not a professional bodyguard. He was posted on the left, where there was a massive blind spot. If a sniper took a shot now, it would be far too easy.

With everyone watching, Xie Yunshen boarded the deck.

A bespectacled subordinate saw Xie Yunshen coming up and sneered, "Oh, shouldn't you be lounging around at the Yan estate? What are you doing here?"

Xie Yunshen heard the pure malice in his voice.

"Don't like me? If you don't like me, then go die."

The other person was instantly dumbfounded.

Xie Yunshen walked onto the deck, quickly scanned for possible hiding places, and scrutinized his surroundings.

Finally, behind a conveyor belt pipe, he spotted the cold gleam of a metal barrel.

It was pitch-black. In such a cluttered environment, most people would never spot such a tiny detail.

The barrel was already lined up and aimed at Yan Shiqi's back.

"Get out of the way!" Xie Yunshen shoved aside a few people in the way and swiftly tackled Yan Shiqi to the ground.

A searing bullet grazed the back of his head.

His scalp burned fiercely, like a freshly peeled sweet potato.

What's wrong with this body? Why is it as clumsy and heavy as a winter melon...

Based on his experience, he should have taken Yan Shiqi to the ground a full second before the shooter fired.

Yet, his speed just now was a full 0.5 seconds slower!

He felt the person beneath him turning his head to look at him in astonishment.

But Xie Yunshen felt dizzy and his vision blurred.

By now, the assassin was already running toward the ship's railing, preparing to jump into the sea to escape.

"Don't let him get away!" someone shouted.

Seeing that Yan Shiqi was unharmed, the subordinates on the deck focused all their efforts on the assassin. The buzz-cut expert subdued the assassin in one round and dragged him back.

Xie Yunshen sat up and touched his scalp. The area grazed by the bullet was wet.

He looked at his hand; it was covered in blood.

No way, no way... why is my vision blurry and my head spinning?

Am I really going to faint this easily?

The Golden Bodyguard, who once fought single-handedly through seas of blood and starred in a Fast and Furious-style chase on a helicopter;

Drove a car in free-fall mode off a cliff;

Performed an extreme version of Temple Run outside the palace of a lecherous employer, spinning 360 degrees and landing successfully... is this same Golden Bodyguard now going to faint just from a bump on the head?!

Xie Yunshen comforted himself. He must have just become fragile in the dream.

Then, amidst a sharp ringing in his ears, the world plunged into darkness.

Author's Note:

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Reminder again: this story has many characters, including the main CP and side CPs. However, the side CPs have relatively less plot.