After Redeeming the Villain, I Was Obliterated by the System - Chapter 4

Xiao Qingyan stared at the unconscious man, the mocking smile on his face growing wider. The blood covering his face had already dried, yet the dozen or so scars on his back continued to cycle through a grueling process of healing and tearing open again.

Blood seeped from his inner robes to his outer garments, dripping onto the floor like beads of vermilion glass, shattering into fragments the moment they hit the ground.

Fearing that Xiao Qingyan might strike again right under his nose, Su Zhanyun conjured a golden spiritual energy that transformed into ropes, binding Xiao Qingyan firmly.

Xiao Qingyan’s eyes were bloodshot and his expression was contorted as he spat out a ruthless vow. “If the Sect Leader does not kill me today, I will surely grind Lin Sui to ashes in the future!”

“Do you think I will give you the chance?” Su Zhanyun’s eyes flashed with a hint of ruthlessness, his tone eerie.

It was his idea to send Xiao Qingyan to the Outer Sect, but he could not guarantee whether Xiao Qingyan would actually survive there.

Xiao Qingyan understood Su Zhanyun’s implications perfectly. Since he had already seen the true face of the sect, why should he remain?

“This disciple voluntarily withdraws from the Sanqing Sect!” Xiao Qingyan spoke with forceful clarity. He had originally thought that if he gathered enough courage to bring evidence to the Sect Leader, he would receive justice. But what had he gained instead?

He received fifteen lashes of the Discipline Whip and ten days of reflection in the Cold Pond.

The whip wounds on his back would only heal if the owner of the whip willed it. Otherwise, the flesh would grow back only to split open again. Though the sentence was only fifteen lashes, as long as the owner did not withdraw their spiritual energy, it was effectively thousands upon thousands of lashes. The meat would knit together and then burst from the inside, causing a pain so excruciating it made the victim wish they were dead.

Unfortunately for his torturers, he was born without the ability to feel pain.

Because of this lack of sensation, he had been treated as a freak and abandoned by his biological parents. He fell into the life of a beggar and was bullied by a gang of them. The leader of the beggars noticed that his wounds healed by the next day and developed a sinister idea. He had the other beggars break the boy’s arms and legs and leave him in the busy market.

Even though he attracted the most money, the beggars snatched it all away. He was not given a single copper coin; he could only eat leftover steamed buns.

Under prolonged hunger, his dignity vanished. He even learned to act like the beggars who tormented him, making himself look even more miserable just to get a bite to eat. He did not want coins; he just wanted food.

That was when he met Lin Sui.

The hem of a silver-white robe embroidered with hidden patterns moved like ripples on water as its owner walked.

“Oh, how pitiful. To think there are human traffickers treating a child like this even in ancient times! Human hearts are sinister regardless of the era.”

Was this person pitying him?

He looked up and saw a pair of indignant eyes. When their gazes met, the anger shifted, and the heartache in those eyes almost overflowed. He looked down and was stunned by the man’s appearance.

The person before him had a face like fine jade, a cinnabar mole between his brows, and a high bridge to his nose. Two pink lips moved as he spoke, and from his vantage point, the boy could see the tip of a pink tongue.

Strands of jet-black hair brushed against his face. The cool sensation was not repulsive; instead, he reached out and grabbed a lock of the youth’s hanging hair.

“Are you an immortal?” he murmured. This person was more beautiful than the Bodhisattva statues he slept near in the temple.

Every night, he had offered his few steamed buns to the Bodhisattva, praying only to escape this life. He prayed for someone to take him away from the beggars. He would be a slave, a horse, or an ox, as long as he could have a full stomach and not be beaten.

But the Bodhisattva did not need his buns and would not grant his wish. Perhaps the Bodhisattva was just stone, not a person, and therefore could not feel pity.

The youth smiled so widely his eyes nearly squinted. The boy felt a weight on his head as a warm current flowed into his body. His broken limbs, which usually took all night to mend, were healed instantly by a simple gesture from the youth.

His eyes lit up, and he hugged the waist of the youth who was about to leave. “Immortal, take me with you, okay? I am not afraid of hard work or getting dirty, as long as you give me a bite to eat.”

The youth looked down at him for a long time, looking conflicted. His slender brows furrowed, and a trace of fear flickered in his eyes.

The boy let go, discouraged, no longer daring to cling shamelessly. Just as he was about to sit back down, a cold voice drifted from above, making him feel as though he were floating on clouds.

“Why are you sitting back down? Weren’t you going to come with me?”

The person in his memory overlapped with the man currently lying on the bed with a furrowed brow. The hatred in Xiao Qingyan’s eyes threatened to consume him.

This man has the face of a Bodhisattva but the heart of Yama.

When he first arrived, Lin Sui was incredibly good to him. Everyone in the sect knew he was the apple of Lin Sui’s eye. Even a small scratch would result in him being rushed to the Spiritual Herb Mountain.

Xiao Qingyan had no sense of pain and cared nothing for those wounds, but seeing someone turn red-eyed with worry over his injuries caused his frozen heart to melt into a spring pond of green life.

But this man had entered his heart step by step only to deliver a fatal blow once he had earned his total trust.

He had drained his blood, fed him to insects, and broken his limbs just to watch his recovery time shorten from a full night to a mere fifteen minutes.

Xiao Qingyan had endured it time and again, convincing himself that his Master was doing it for his own good to cure his condition. It was only when he overheard a conversation between his Master and another person that he realized there was no “cure.” He had been brought back solely to act as a vessel to suppress cold poison. He had never been saved.

A wisp of black energy surfaced in Xiao Qingyan’s eyes, and the open wounds on his back were also entwined with dark mist.

A thread of black smoke emerged from between his brows, heading straight for the person sleeping on the bed. The black energy circled Lin Sui’s bedside, seemingly searching for a way to enter his body.

Xiao Qingyan was stunned by the sight of the black energy. He quickly reached out and caught it. The smoke struggled in his palm before sinking into his skin. He looked at his palm repeatedly; other than dried blood, there was nothing there, as if the black energy had been an illusion.

Su Zhanyun had forced him to kneel here, surrounded by layers of restrictions. He could not use a shred of spiritual energy, nor could he even get close to his Master.

The person on the bed let out a mumble. His frown deepened, and his face grew paler. The wind chimes hanging from the top of the bed moved without a breeze, their ethereal, pleasant sound transforming into purple spiritual energy that flew into the space between Lin Sui’s brows.

In the darkness, Lin Sui did not know how long he had been walking before he saw a speck of white light ahead. Heartened, he quickened his pace. The white light grew larger beneath his feet. Before he could fully exit the darkness, a long sword pierced straight through his body.

His pupils dilated. His hand trembled as he reached for his chest, but before he could touch it, sword after sword flew from the sky ahead.

Lin Sui tried to retreat in horror, but he found he could not move. His legs were nailed to the spot, leaving him to watch helplessly as the blades vanished into his body.

Bizarrely, despite so many swords piercing him, he felt no pain at all.

Then, a tall black figure appeared before him. He could not see the person’s face clearly. He only felt that this person radiated the aura of death.

Was this the Black Guard of the Underworld? Can the Underworld even handle business in the cultivation world?

“Master.”

The visitor stared at him with blood-red eyes. A dagger radiating black energy was plunged into his heart and twisted ruthlessly.

The agonizing pain in his chest instantly flooded his limbs. Under the intense pain, Lin Sui snapped his eyes open, clutching his chest and panting heavily.

Was that a dream? The second half was far too real.

But why would the Black Guard call him “Master”?

“Master.”

This time, the voice came from nearby. Lin Sui’s eyes snapped open again. He could still hear the rhythmic repetition of that word, over and over. “Master.”