After Redeeming the Villain, I Was Obliterated by the System - Chapter 27

“Yan’er, can you let go of your master?” Lin Sui thought his tone was already very kind, and he had even used a questioning manner.

Xiao Qingyan could not accept that Shizun would leave him. He had not yet returned everything Shizun had done to him, so he would never let Shizun die. Furthermore, he no longer wanted Shizun to die. If Shizun insisted on seeking death, it did not matter; he could just as easily lock up Shizun’s soul and imprison him completely.

He knew he was afraid, but he did not know why. It was as if if this person died, there would be no one left in this world who loved him unconditionally.

“Shizun.” Xiao Qingyan let go, but his face leaned against Lin Sui’s chest.

Suddenly, Lin Sui’s body began to shake violently. His pupils dilated, and he murmured unconsciously, “No, no, please. I beg of you. I beg of you.”

Xiao Qingyan quickly looked up, his tone panicked. “Shizun, I will not treat you like that anymore. I will not touch you, I will not touch you. I am leaving now.”

He only wanted to humiliate his master; he never intended to turn him into this. Before leaving, worried that Lin Sui would still seek death, he used the demonic energy within Lin Sui’s body to temporarily seal this memory.

By the time he returned to the inn, it was already noon the next day. His Junior Brother still showed no sign of waking. He walked over and realized the youth seemed to have cried all night. Tears had nearly soaked through the pillow, his brows were tightly knit, and his murmurs were filled with agony.

“No, no, ugh.”

Had his Junior Brother dreamed of his parents?

Xiao Qingyan sat on the bed and patted the youth’s shoulder with a rhythmic stroke. “Junior Brother, do not be afraid, do not be afraid. When I become stronger, I will help you take revenge. As for your eyes, I will also find a way to heal them.”

Xiao Qingyan had actually known all along that it was his Junior Brother who had helped him when those disciples bullied him at the Outer Sect. One’s aura cannot lie, but his Junior Brother was too shy and fled the moment Xiao Qingyan asked who it was.

“No, I beg you!”

The youth’s nightmare continued. Xiao Qingyan could not bear to see him in such pain. He pressed his index finger against the cinnabar mark on the youth’s forehead, intending to enter the dream. Before he could use his spiritual power, a bolt of purple energy lashed the back of his hand, preventing him from entering the dreamscape.

Striking him once was not enough; it hit him more than a dozen times until the back of his hand was a bloody mess with bone visible, only then returning to the youth’s body.

Xiao Qingyan was in no hurry to tend to his wound. He was entirely focused on his Junior Brother, fearing that such constant nightmares would lead to the birth of a heart demon. A cultivator must never develop a heart demon.

“Junior Brother. Junior Brother Lin. I am here; do not be afraid.”

However, his words had the opposite effect. The person on the bed began to tremble, and his lips were bitten until they were bloody. Xiao Qingyan pried the youth’s mouth open and placed his own finger inside. The youth used immense strength, as if he wanted to crush the finger.

“Senior Brother Xiao, Junior Brother Lin, are you awake?”

Zhu Jiayu’s voice came from outside. From his words, it was clear he had come to ask several times already. He knocked on the door. “Senior Brother Xiao? Are you in there? You did not leave me behind, did you? I cannot contact Senior Brother Feng, and now you have abandoned me too.”

As he spoke, he moved to push the door open.

“Junior Brother Zhu!” Xiao Qingyan quickly shouted to stop him. This scene would be far too easy to misinterpret. “Junior Brother Lin is still unconscious. Go back and rest. When he wakes up, we will go find Senior Brother Feng.”

Zhu Jiayu replied, “Alright, Senior Brother Xiao.”

It was not that they did not want to return to the sect, but they were too far away, and the flying boat was with Senior Brother Feng.

Otherwise, he would have returned to the sect long ago to bring reinforcements to find him.

Xiao Qingyan called out to Zhu Jiayu again, “Have you sent a transmission to your Senior Brother Feng?” He suspected that with Zhu Jiayu’s brain, he had probably forgotten that transmissions were possible.

Zhu Jiayu was silent for a moment before saying, “Oh, right! I actually forgot I could send a transmission. Senior Brother Xiao, I will do it right now. Maybe he is looking for us too!”

“Maybe he will be the one to send a transmission.”

“True, why has he not sent us one? Did he forget too?” Zhu Jiayu walked back toward his room, talking to Xiao Qingyan through the door.

Xiao Qingyan was momentarily speechless. How was Zhu Jiayu’s brain wired? Was that head on his neck just to keep from scaring people?

When Lin Sui woke up, he heard Xiao Qingyan cursing Zhu Jiayu in his heart. He suddenly felt that the villain’s malice was not just directed at him; it was an indiscriminate attack.

Xiao Qingyan deepened his voice to keep from losing his composure. “Junior Brother Zhu, is it possible that the reason he has not sent a transmission is not because he forgot?”

Zhu Jiayu paused, uttered a confused “Ah?”, and finally realized the implication. He awkwardly coughed to hide his foolishness. “Senior Brother Xiao, should I still send it?”

Zhu Jiayu asked sincerely from outside.

“If you send it, he probably will not be able to receive it anyway.” Just like in the dreamscape, their transmissions could not reach each other’s disciple plaques.

“That, that seems to make sense.” Zhu Jiayu nodded dejectedly, but he still chose to try. What if Senior Brother Feng had simply forgotten he could use the plaque, just like him?

Thinking this, he returned to his room. Once the silence returned, Lin Sui slowly woke up.

Seeing Lin Sui open his eyes, Xiao Qingyan hurried to pull his finger out of the youth’s mouth. It drew a long, red thread of blood and saliva.

“Senior, Senior Brother,” the youth said. He was like a startled rabbit, his expression anxious and fearful, his voice trembling.

When Lin Sui opened his eyes, the terror from the dream carried over. He could not remember the dream, but he knew it was terrifying. It was a panic like having a fierce beast chasing him from behind, ready to devour him.

“Junior Brother Lin, I am here.” Xiao Qingyan tried to grab Lin Sui’s hand, but as soon as he touched him, he saw the terror on his face. The youth dodged frantically, and the word “No” escaped his lips.

Xiao Qingyan’s hand hung in mid-air. Seeing the youth avoid him as if he were a poisonous scorpion, he felt a needle-like sting in his heart, even though he knew it was not his fault. He tried to maintain a smile, even though the youth could not see it.

“Junior Brother Lin, it is me.” He tried to grab the youth’s hand again.

In response, the youth fell to the floor and scrambled away to a corner he considered safe, curling up under a table and hugging his knees while shaking. He kept repeating, “No, no, please, please.”

Xiao Qingyan felt a stabbing pain in his chest. He knelt down and took out some preserved fruit from his robe. “Junior Brother, I brought some sweets back for you.”

Lin Sui did not know why he was so afraid of the villain upon waking. A voice in his heart kept telling him not to let the villain get close.

“You, you stay back.”

His mouth was not under his control; even his body was not. Every cell in his body was screaming to get away from Xiao Qingyan! Get away from Xiao Qingyan! Xiao Qingyan was the source of his pain!