On a June afternoon, the wind swept in carrying the breath of midsummer, and the air was filled with the increasingly strong heat of summer.
Outside a sprawling complex of ancient architecture, a pavilion with a Daoist Eight Trigrams symbol stood firm under three towering old elm trees.
Chen Han, dressed in a simple T-shirt and jeans, leaned back tiredly in the pavilion.
His mood was complex.
A month ago, he felt that heaven had not treated him too badly. Although his parents had long passed away, he was blessed with good looks, and his girlfriend was a National Goddess with over 3 million followers, envied by all.
But a month ago, after coughing up blood, he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.
He didn't understand how, at the age of 24, in the prime of his youth, his life was suddenly near its end, with no prior warning.
Chen Han helplessly looked at the expansive Chen Clan Ancient Building Complex, a Taoist inheritance family in the modern era surviving through clan lines.
As the sole direct descendant of the Chen Family, after his parents' passing, he naturally became the Patriarch and the largest owner of this ancient architectural site.
If it were in a big city, having ownership of such an architectural site at 24 would mean just lying back and counting money. However, the Chen Family was located in a village under a small county like Linhe County, which was quite awkward.
Even though his parents used tourism as a banner to integrate and lease clan resources and applied for funds from the county to develop tourism, the number of visitors was still limited. Hence, family members did not reap the benefits and had to work away from home.
In fact, his initial approach to his girlfriend, the National Goddess, wasn't entirely pure—it was to leverage her influence with over 3 million followers on Tiao Yin to promote the Chen Family Ancient Building Complex, as this was the most mainstream way to advertise scenic spots on Tiao Yin.
National Goddess + Ancient Architecture, isn't that the perfect match?
Unfortunately, bad news suddenly struck.
With the little time he had left, all he could do was retreat here in despair.
There were indeed many regrets.
After finally succeeding at getting intimate with such a beautiful girlfriend, he has no idea how she's doing now.
He also hasn't fulfilled his parents' wish of promoting the Chen Family Ancient Building Complex.
His parents died in a mudslide while applying for investment to develop the Chen Family Ancient Building Complex tourist project in the county.
Now, with things ending up this way, it truly feels like a letdown to his deceased parents.
After sighing, he could only place his last hope on an image in his mind:
["Swordsmen of Shushan" game world loading 99%...]
He didn't understand why watching a game ad and touching an electrical outlet resulted in a warm current entering his body, causing such a loading screen to appear in his mind.
After multiple verifications, he was sure this wasn't an illusion.
It seemed like the golden finger often mentioned online had appeared.
So, confronted with a terminal illness untreatable by modern medicine, he pinned his hopes on this magical and unbelievable event.
At last, a Void Nether voice echoed in his mind:
["Swordsmen of Shushan" game world successfully loaded, congratulations on being successfully transported to the "Swordsmen of Shushan" game world, officially embarking on a fantasy adventure!]
"???" Chen Han bewilderedly looked around the pavilion.
Where had he successfully traveled?
The familiar Chen Clan Ancient Building Complex was still before him, the distant village and rural roads all seemed unchanged.
At this moment, the Void Nether voice reappeared in his mind:
[Urgent news from the Shu Immortal Alliance, the Blood Demon has broken through the Divine Artifact seal, and various sects have united to eliminate the Blood Demon in the Extreme Demon Realm. Although they failed to seal the Blood Demon again, they seriously injured it, forcing it to flee and fall silent for now!]
[To prevent the Blood Demon from recovering and returning, and to protect regions from the demonic beasts under the Blood Demon, the Shushan Alliance, led by the Emei Sect, will send disciples to establish subsidiary sects everywhere! Thus, you choose to return to the family that raised you!]
With the Void Nether voice, Chen Han noticed a very simplistic game interface appearing in his mind.
It only displayed: Character Panel, Quest Center, Warehouse.
And nothing else, not even a basic game screen.
This was even more suspicious.
After investigating for a while, he discovered that by merely thinking, the Character Panel could be opened.
Name: Chen Han
Age: 24
Lifespan: 29 days 8 hours 50 minutes 23 seconds.
Constitution: None
Realm: None
Passive Skills: None
Active Skills: None
A very simple introduction, apart from a lifespan of less than one month, there's nothing else.
This was his information.
The director of the city's affiliate hospital, Director Liu, was indeed capable, just as he said: with only a month left, try to fulfill any desires without leaving regrets.
The interface was astonishing, and Chen Han immediately opened the Quest Center, where a newcomer task was displayed:
[You returned to your family and discovered the family is threatened by a Dog Demon. Please promptly expel the Dog Demon that broke into the family, and receive a reward: Sect Base Construction Token.
Task requirement: Expel the Dog Demon from the family's territory!]
"???" Chen Han bewilderedly looked at this task.
Dog Demon?
Confused, puzzled, what the heck?
In modern civilized society, where does this thing come from?
No, before the game system prompted that he successfully traversed the game world of "Swordsmen of Shushan."
Damn, he didn't cross over successfully.
"Senior brother, what are you doing here?" A clear and pleasant voice sounded.
He saw a girl with a graceful figure and a beautiful face, dressed in hanfu, glaring at him angrily: "Can you put some effort into promoting tourism about the Chen Clan Ancient Building Complex? It's the last wish of the master and mistress; look at what you've done in the month since you've been back. Yesterday, I attracted a group of county tourists from Tiao Yin by promoting again, and they'll be here soon. You need to put some effort into hosting them."
Chen Han smiled at his junior sister's angry expression, genuinely grateful for her efforts in promoting the Chen Clan Ancient Building Complex. If it weren't for her diligently making videos by performing sword dances and Tai Chi at Tiao Yin, attracting some tourists, it would have been difficult to maintain.
"Xiaoyu, thank you for your hard work." Chen Han sincerely expressed his gratitude, and looking at her hanfu, added a compliment: "Your hanfu today looks beautiful."
Upon hearing the compliment, Xiaoyu's angry expression instantly disappeared, and she beamed, "Senior brother, do you think it looks beautiful too? My 'Xiaoyuzha' account already has 600,000 fans. This hanfu was promised to fans for a sword dance."
"Xiaoyu is quite the influencer." Chen Han chuckled and patted her head, thinking of his girlfriend, the National Goddess with over three million fans. If it weren't for his late-stage lung cancer, he might have found a chance to bring her to the Chen Family.
She and Xiaoyu would probably get along well.
"Senior brother, don't make fun of me." Xiaoyu spoke with a hint of embarrassment, but there was still a trace of pride on her pretty face.
Anyway, being praised by her senior brother made her very happy.
Seeing he won over his junior sister, Chen Han attempted to inquire: "Xiaoyu, I'm playing a game, and the novice task is to drive away the dog demon that has intruded upon the family grounds. But I have no idea where this dog demon is; it might not even exist. What do you suggest?"
Xiaoyu touched his forehead: "Senior brother, are you silly? Ask nearby NPCs; doesn't the game have NPCs?"
Chen Han looked complexly at his pretty junior sister.
He asked, but it didn't help.
As he was pondering, the voice of the Void Nether in the game suddenly sounded again:
[Unknown error occurred in the game, data lost... System detected a large number of data packet fragments, collecting data packet fragments for updates...]
[Successfully loaded new data packet (1), Dog Demon has appeared in the Chen Family Ancient Building Complex, please banish it swiftly!
Hint - Dog Demon features: Yellow fur, and has lost part of its tail from fighting other demon beasts.]
In the next moment, something shocking happened to Chen Han, as a blue light circle instantly appeared, enclosing the Chen Clan Ancient Building Complex.
Looking at his junior sister's unchanged expression, it was clear she couldn't see this blue circle.
Moreover, a game map guide appeared in his mind.
Isn't that map the Chen Clan Ancient Building Complex?
Two dots appeared on it, a white one and a red one.
The white dot's location was obviously his.
The red dot should be the Dog Demon.
"Holy Crap!" Chen Han suddenly sensed something was off, worried that he hadn't successfully crossed over, and the game system had directly spawned a dog demon into reality?
That would be really bad.
In his frail condition, he's supposed to drive away the dog demon, possibly endangering the Chen Family too.
He didn't dare hesitate and hurried toward the location of the red dot.
That area was the outer courtyard of the Chen Family's main hall. As a Taoist Sect family, they worshiped the Demon-Vanquishing Celestial Venerable inside, who was Emperor Zhenwu.
A Taoist Sect family typically chooses a main deity to worship, adhering to the principles, moral cultivation, and conduct advocated by the deity...
Besides demon-vanquishing, the Celestial Venerable is a true god protecting the state and safeguarding the people. In the past, the Chen Family followed this principle, sheltering the surrounding areas.
Back then, the Chen Family had inherited Taoist Martial Arts and organized the young men from nearby to fight bandits and drive away rebel soldiers.
Even the Chen Clan Ancient Building Complex was built through donations from people in the surrounding areas.
However, with changing times, the young generation here now knows nothing about the Chen Clan Ancient Building Complex.
As for the inherited martial arts, even as the patriarch, all he had learned was superficial forms, which he once performed at a school event and was teased as "Dance Technique," and questioned "What if the opponent doesn't cooperate when you break moves?"
Chen Han, panting heavily, reached the outer courtyard of the Chen Family's main hall. Even a short distance was an enormous expenditure for him now.
But seeing the tranquil and ordinary state of the outer courtyard, he was bewildered again.
Where's the Dog Demon?
It was clear that the red dot's position almost overlapped with the white dot, the Dog Demon was here.
"Woof woof!"
A dog's bark caught his attention, as a small stray dog lifted a leg to urinate against the wall corner in front of him.
Isn't this just a stray dog from the village, often wandering here?
[The Dog Demon is right in front of you, recklessly releasing strong demonic aura; please drive it away swiftly!]
"???" Chen Han looked at the urinating stray dog, baffled.
Is this the Dog Demon?
Urination equals releasing strong demonic aura?
He specially checked the stray dog's tail, and indeed, a small part was broken.
This...