Tan Shihong groaned internally, he was feeling more and more like a cheesy villain in a novel. He’d attacked the protagonist, conducted a speech in a prideful and pretentious manner, and then finally went to harm the protagonist in a cruel way when two figures showed up just in time. They wore the same white robes with blue lining as the protagonist, so he figured they must be members from the same sect. 

They must be the shidi and shimei of the protagonist. Tan Shihong could instantly tell that their cultivation was definitely lower, but due to the transmigrator’s naive inexperience in fighting, Tan Shihong knew they definitely proved to be more of a threat.

‘Am I perhaps playing a minor villain role now?’ Tan Shihong raised a brow, and flicked the dart imbedded in his collarbone out, twisting and inspecting it in his hand. 

[Well, you didn’t have to! You could’ve just been, like, cannonfodder or something. But nooooOooOooo! At least you make for an interesting beginning. Just try not to be all over the place with your actions.] the System replied, suddenly perking up [Or well, I guess you still could be cannonfodder! Would you consider letting the twins murder you easily?] 

Tan Shihong was preparing a sarcastic reply when another dart flew towards him, Tan Shihong was luckily a bit more prepared and blocked the attack with the first dart he held between his fingers. Whatever, he figured he could take the chance to attack them why they were still by the opening. 

He rushed forward, throwing the dart between his fingers back at them and unsheathing his sword. The boy immediately went in a defensive position in front of his sister, raising the hooked swords together to take Tan Shihong’s blow head on. 

Now, as Tan Shihong listlessly attacked, he noticed the boy moved quite smoothly while fighting, causing his and Tan Shihong’s exchange of blows to appear more like an elaborate sword dance than the overly-dramatic action movie moves Tan Shihong did while against the protagonist. 

Without noticing, he had allowed the boy to move him deeper into the cave. His master’s coffin was now only about 12 feet or so away. It sat, extravagantly done and surrounded by carved pillars covered in calligraphy.  It was placed horizontal under a curved piece made up of more calligraphy and what looked like ink paintings of mountains and pine trees. 

Tan Shihong’s eyes narrowed as he realized he had become absentminded in his actions. He immediately became more serious as the feeling to continue to protect this place to the death flared. He avoided one of the boy’s swings, taking a step back and aiming a blow with the blunt of his sword at the boy’s neck. He didn’t want to murder anyone, after all. Just knock him out. 

The boy faltered, and his eyes widened. He barely blocked the blow with his wrist, and Tan Shihong heard a sharp crack as the blow landed. He… used too much strength. The boy’s face had paled, but he refused to cry or let any weakness show through his expression. He flipped one of the hook swords from his broken wrist to the other and sheathed it, persisting through the fight with his left. 

Suddenly, Tan Shihong erupted with rage. He had forgotten about the protagonist! He heard the sound of the protagonist hitting one of the sculpted pillars in order to retrieve any treasures  buried inside, and all he could think of was that he was slacking, almost failing in his duty due to a nobody. He couldn’t waste time with the boy anymore, and  kicked him away fiercely. 

Another dart pierced his hand as he turned away, but he couldn’t care less. He thrusted himself at the protagonist with the full intent to kill, grasping his shoulder and ripping him away from his master’s grave. 

He was about to pierce him through with his sword when he heard new footsteps. Someone else had arrived! Tan Shihong felt himself grow even more frustrated, just how many people did it take to save this useless protagonist? He kicked the other back just as he did his shidi, towards where the sister was clutching her unconscious brother and attempting to hit Tan Shihong with more darts.

There’s your sweet protagonist! Tan Shihong indignantly thought, Take him and go!

Apparently, the newcomer wasn’t interested in the protagonist, though. He rushed past the group at the mouth of the cave, black and gold robes flashing. Tan Shihong was feeling tired out by all this fighting, but took a defensive stance anyway. 

The newcomer didn’t take interest in Tan Shihong at all, rushing past him to the grave behind him and breaking the piece directly behind his Master’s coffin. 

Tan Shihong forgot his exhaustion in a heartbeat, and all he saw was red before he hurled himself, yelling, at the stranger. As Tan Shihong ran, footsteps pounded behind him. The stranger’s sword struck the stone, and the perpetrator channeled magic through the strike, shattering the stone, calligraphy, and the elegant ink paintings like glass. 

As the stranger, the protagonist, and the minor villain/cannonfodder barged into each other, they tumbled through the broken stone and each felt light-weight as they fell into what seemed like an endless abyss behind the cave.  

MadGhostofBrownHollow

Apologies for the short chapter, I'm slightly busy with things but I'll try to get chapter 5 pumped out either later today or tomorrow to make up for it.