After Redeeming the Villain, I Was Obliterated by the System - Chapter 24

After Xiao Qingyan left, the person on the bed lost consciousness entirely, a thin figure curled up at the very edge of the mattress. The bedding beneath him was soaked through with blood, red circles spreading outward like a blooming rose.

When Xiao Qingyan returned to the inn, Lin Sui had already fallen asleep sitting at the table, with a half-finished cup of tea resting nearby. He picked the youth up gently and placed him on the bed. As he withdrew his hand, he accidentally caught the silver-white ribbon tied behind Lin Sui’s head, causing the cool fabric to loosen.

A cascade of jet-black hair spilled out like a waterfall, but in the blink of an eye, that black hair turned silver-white. Under the candlelight, it shimmered like flowing moonlight. His pale complexion appeared even more hauntingly beautiful against the silver strands.

By the time Xiao Qingyan snapped back to his senses, his fingertips had already rubbed those bloodless lips until they were red. He was losing control of the demonic energy surging within him. He could not stay by his Junior Brother’s side any longer; he was afraid of what he might actually do.

Xiao Qingyan withdrew his hand, his face a mask of suppressed restraint.

“Senior, Senior Brother,” the person on the bed suddenly called out, his voice hoarse.

“Pain-suppressing pills, it hurts so much.” Lin Sui’s eyes remained tightly shut, the silver hair at his temples already soaked with tears that clung to his cheeks.

Xiao Qingyan’s Adam’s apple bobbed. The fire in his heart burned fiercely, becoming increasingly unbearable. The youth continued to moan unconsciously, each broken cry of pain sending that heat straight down to his lower abdomen.

I cannot! Xiao Qingyan, that is your Junior Brother!

If his Junior Brother woke up and discovered he had been treated this way, how could Xiao Qingyan ever face him again? He forcibly suppressed the restless fire, stepped forward, and held the medicine he had taken from Shizun to the youth’s lips.

The youth opened his mouth to take the pill, his warm tongue brushing against Xiao Qingyan’s fingertip.

“Senior Brother, more. It still hurts. It is not enough, not enough.” The crying youth held his finger in his mouth, making a swallowing motion.

Xiao Qingyan’s eyes widened. The stinging sensation on his finger spread to his heart, giving him an urge to pry the youth’s mouth open and replace his finger with his own lips. He hurriedly pulled his finger away, leaving two clear tooth marks glistening with silver saliva. He felt as though the warmth of the youth’s tongue still lingered on his skin.

The fire in his lower abdomen felt as though it would burn him to ashes. What was happening to him? Was he poisoned?

His steps faltered and his vision blurred. He leaned against the corner of a table. When he finally recovered, the wooden table he was holding had turned into the jade table inside his Shizun’s room. The cool touch did not extinguish his heat; instead, it forced a muffled groan from his throat.

The clear, cold fragrance of the room swirled around his nose. Demonic energy surged from his body, forming tentacles that hooked into his collar and dragged him toward the bed.

The person on the bed was completely unconscious, still curled in the position he had been in when Xiao Qingyan left. He was a red, blood-stained mass with almost no visible breathing. A tentacle pushed against Xiao Qingyan’s back, seemingly urging him to save the dying man.

Xiao Qingyan’s face darkened, and he forced the tentacle back into his demonic core. “That is my enemy! The person I hate most! Why should I save him? It is better if he dies like this!”

His tone was vicious, but the tentacles were unusually disobedient today, slipping through his fingers to reach his Shizun’s side. Xiao Qingyan was nearly fuming with rage, and the fire within him grew even hotter. What was so good about Lin Sui that even his own demonic energy would defy him?

A tentacle brushed the hair away from Lin Sui’s face, revealing a complexion so pale it was transparent. Fine, purplish-red veins were visible beneath the skin. The tentacle stood there, swaying back and forth as if unsure of the next move, before trying to press against the delicate neck.

“Come back here!” Xiao Qingyan grabbed the tentacle by its tail and dragged it away from Lin Sui, throwing it to the floor and treading on it. The tentacle immediately turned back into demonic energy and hid in Lin Sui’s embrace, trembling.

Xiao Qingyan felt betrayed by his own power. After all, this energy was a part of him! How could it be so close to Shizun? His eyes burned with anger as he flipped Lin Sui over, only to freeze.

The tentacles were attempting to use their own mass to fill the jagged whip wound on Lin Sui’s chest. Seeing him flip the body over, they worked even harder to adjust their thickness, trying to embed themselves into the wound without leaving a single gap.

“Do you want him to die faster?!” Xiao Qingyan roared. The tentacles shook and stubbornly insisted on healing Lin Sui, clinging to him tightly.

The person on the bed had almost no detectable breath, his limp body left to Xiao Qingyan’s mercy. After driving the tentacles away from Lin Sui’s chest, they moved to rub against the man’s cheek with a sense of grievance.

Xiao Qingyan noticed that the evil fire in his body showed signs of dying down the moment he touched his Shizun. The discomfort in his abdomen also seemed to ease.

After rubbing against Lin Sui’s face, the tentacles piteously hooked around Xiao Qingyan’s wrist, trying to pull his hand toward Lin Sui’s slowly beating heart.

Xiao Qingyan pulled his hand back and said fiercely, “If he dies, he dies! What does it have to do with me? Even if they trace it back to me, so what? He deserves to die!”

The tentacles scratched at Xiao Qingyan’s palm listlessly.

“I cannot escape it! He should die!” Xiao Qingyan turned to leave, but he found that no matter how he used his demonic energy, he could not get away. The tentacles were clinging tightly to his Shizun’s waist.

His anger flared. He took out a pill he had taken from Lin Sui, pried the man’s lips apart, and stuffed it inside. As expected of the medicine specially made by Senior Uncle Mo, the bloody whip wound began to repair itself the moment it entered his mouth. Eventually, it became an ugly scar stretching across his chest.

Looking at it, Xiao Qingyan felt a strange illusion that Shizun was his possession. The fire in his body was still hot enough to scorch his skin, and a voice in his heart tempted him to move closer to his Shizun.

The scene from the dreamscape appeared in his mind, refusing to leave, and his rationality collapsed instantly.

Yes! His Junior Brother was off-limits, but Shizun was fair game! After all, was it not Shizun who had manipulated him in that dreamscape?

But what fun was there in an unconscious Shizun? He wanted Shizun to feel everything while awake.

A large hand moved across the exposed chest of the young man on the bed, his rough fingertips rubbing the ugly scar. Xiao Qingyan felt the fire within him subside, but the moment his hand left, the heat returned.

His eyes were crimson. Shizun must have poisoned him! He slammed a palm against the jade-white chest, but the person on the bed showed no sign of waking. Xiao Qingyan suddenly went mad, lunged at Lin Sui’s chest, and bit down hard.

“Ngh!”