Chapter Two: You’re Truly a Terrible Person!

[Task reward has been stored in the system space. The host may retrieve it at will.]

The system’s cold, mechanical voice echoed again.

Jiang Li looked at the withered branch in his hand, unable to stop his lips from twitching. The emperor, working alongside the people—so this counts too? If that’s the case, aren’t the tasks issued by this system ridiculously easy to muddle through?

Just as Jiang Li was growing excited, the system’s voice rang out once more in his mind.

[System loading complete...]
[As the supreme Human Emperor, endowed with the power to shake heaven and earth, you must safeguard peace in this land.]
[Task: Slay the Alien Emperor.]
[Task reward: Five jin of sweet potatoes.]

Jiang Li stared at his own hands in shock. The supreme Human Emperor, with world-shattering power? “Come on, System, even if I really were the Human Emperor, even if I had such power, you expect me to take on the arduous task of killing an Alien Emperor, and the reward is five jin of sweet potatoes? This is your test for the Human Emperor? Who couldn’t pass such a test!”

After venting his complaints, Qiu Yue’s voice suddenly reached him. “Young Master, it seems we don’t have any fire starters, and I didn’t bring any flint with me...”

Jiang Li simply tossed the system’s task aside—Human Emperor or sweet potatoes, survival came first. “Leave it to me. Qiu Yue, gather some more wood, but don’t go far.”

As he spoke, Jiang Li began to act. He first found a flat piece of wood, then picked out a slender stick. Using his dagger, he carved a small pit in the flat wood, then cut a groove along one edge. He pulled out some cotton wadding from the bedding, and tore off a strip of cloth from his clothes.

With that, a simple fire-drilling tool was assembled.

After much toil, Jiang Li finally coaxed out a few sparks, carefully wrapping them in the cotton fibers and blowing gently. After a concerted effort, the campfire was finally lit.

“Whew, half an hour. I’m about ready to collapse from exhaustion.” Jiang Li let out a sigh of relief and was just about to sit when he froze mid-motion.

Ten meters away, a tall, imposing figure was watching him intently.

A name flashed through Jiang Li’s mind: Chu Chunqiu. He too had come to Qiongzhou with Jiang Li.

From memory, Chu Chunqiu was a guard recruited by Jiang Tian before his death. As for his character, Jiang Li knew nothing.

“Do you need something?” Jiang Li gripped his dagger.

“No, Young Master,” Chu Chunqiu replied in a booming voice.

Jiang Li rolled his eyes. A man nearly two meters tall, standing there staring at you—who’d believe he has nothing on his mind?

“Then why are you standing there?”

Chu Chunqiu rubbed his belly and grinned. “Young Master, I’m hungry.”

“Damn!” Jiang Li jumped to his feet, adopting a defensive stance. “You’re hungry? I’m hungry too! There’s nothing to eat here!”

“But—”

“No buts!” Jiang Li cut him off decisively.

Chu Chunqiu hugged his stomach, looking at Jiang Li with a pitiful expression. “But my lord told me when I came that food and lodging would be provided.”

“My father is dead,” Jiang Li quickly added, afraid this big guy might go mad with hunger and try to eat him alive.

“Young Master, won’t you look after my food and lodging? I can do anything, as long as you feed me,” Chu Chunqiu said, looking at Jiang Li hopefully.

Jiang Li eyed Chu Chunqiu skeptically. The big oaf didn’t seem like a bad person. Besides, he was desperately short of manpower.

He’d come with a group of guards and maids, but after the storm, most had perished, leaving barely a dozen survivors. Qin Lang and three others had already split off from his group. The rest, though not openly hostile, behaved with a certain wariness.

Jiang Li had the system’s task reward potatoes to stave off hunger, but he didn’t dare eat them now—if the aroma carried, others would surely come to snatch them. With just him and the young maid Qiu Yue, there was no way they could defend their food.

All things considered, taking Chu Chunqiu in seemed a wise choice. With his size, his combat ability was likely impressive.

Having sorted his thoughts, Jiang Li looked at Chu Chunqiu again. “I remember when Qin Lang entered the cabin, you were standing by the door. Why didn’t you come in when you heard the commotion?”

Chu Chunqiu scratched his head. “When my lord took me on, he told me to always listen to your orders. As long as you give the word, I’ll do it.”

“So you pretended not to hear anything?” Jiang Li narrowed his eyes.

Chu Chunqiu looked troubled. “I heard, but you didn’t call for me, so I couldn’t act. My lord said as long as you gave a command, if you told me to go east, I’d never go west. But you really didn’t call out...”

Jiang Li waved his trembling hands, understanding dawning. It all made sense now.

This guy was a real blockhead! Even more wooden than that ridiculous system. What a hopeless fool!

“Alright, come here. From now on, whether I call you or not, if you sense I’m in danger, you must rush to my side at once.”

“Understood, Young Master!” Chu Chunqiu shouted.

Jiang Li nodded and tossed a couple more pieces of wood onto the fire, then took out three sprouting potatoes.

Though these were meant for planting, dying of hunger now would make them worthless.

Jiang Li picked up his dagger again, carefully cutting away the green sprouts from the potatoes—those parts were poisonous and best avoided.

“Young Master, can we eat these?” Chu Chunqiu asked, leaning in.

“Yes, but you know our situation. We’re short on food—we must be frugal.” Jiang Li said, placing the three potatoes by the fire to roast.

Just then, Qiu Yue’s startled cry rang out.

“Ah! Stay away!”

Jiang Li sprang to his feet, waving to Chu Chunqiu. “Come with me!”

By the time the two arrived, Qiu Yue was slumped on the ground, clutching a stick and wildly beating at the earth.

“Qiu Yue, what happened?”

Like a child seeing her mother, Qiu Yue threw herself at Jiang Li. “Young Master, there’s a snake!”

Jiang Li looked down to see a snake with a mottled body writhing on the ground.

“It’s alright, if we’d come any later you’d have beaten it to death yourself.”

Qiu Yue opened her eyes at last, blushing as she bowed her head. “Forgive me, Young Master. I was scared and cried out.”

“It’s fine,” Jiang Li said, shaking his head as he took the stick from her hand and rained blows down on the snake.

[Ding!]
[Alien slain. Task complete.]
[Task reward has been distributed to storage space. The host may retrieve it at will.]

Jiang Li stared in shock at the dead snake on the ground. Slay the Alien Emperor?

This was it?