After Transmigrating into a Book as Cannon Fodder, I Pampered the Villain - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Transmigration

She has become cannon fodder about to be blown into fireworks.

Inside the Longevity Sect, the thick scent of blood permeated the mountain peaks. Fighting marks and corpses were everywhere. An internal rebellion had taken place here, but those people were all dead. At the end of these trails of destruction, the only person left standing staggered, holding a blood-stained blade.

She clutched her heart. The pain there brought a shimmer of tears to her eyes; the lashes of her peach-blossom eyes trembled, damp with faint moisture.

The woman endured the pain and looked up, but her pupils constricted at the sight of the blood and corpses!

What is this place?

Broken bodies surrounded her, and the nauseating stench of blood assaulted her senses.

Wasn’t she just at her computer desk revising a design draft? Why was she suddenly here? Why were the people on the ground covered in blood? Were they still alive?

The eerie, bloody scene left Yu Yingxia’s mind blank. Suddenly, she spotted a red figure in the distance.

Dozens of meters ahead, leaning against a tree, sat a woman covered in wounds. She wore a striking, ancient-style red dress, though the fabric was slashed in several places by sharp weapons. The color of the dress was visibly darker in those spots, soaked through with blood.

The woman’s face was completely drained of color—pale to the point of transparency, as if she might shatter at a touch. Fine beads of sweat lined her forehead from the pain, wetting a few stray locks of hair. Yet, the agony did not diminish her exquisite features; instead, it added a fragile air that stirred one’s protective instincts.

Yu Yingxia almost lost herself for a moment. She instinctively wanted to see if the woman needed help, but when the woman lifted her head, her narrow, beautiful fox-like eyes held only a cold, indifferent light.

Looking into those eyes, Yu Yingxia could no longer associate her with the word “fragile.”

Yu Yingxia didn’t know her, yet a mysterious sense of dread welled up from the bottom of her heart—a fear so intense her legs went weak, nearly causing her to collapse.

Strange… this emotion came out of nowhere, as if it weren’t her own.

Who is that woman?

Yu Yingxia’s thoughts were in total disarray. She struggled to connect her memories with this bizarre scene. Half a month ago, her company took on a big project. Due to the tight deadline, she had to break her healthy lifestyle habits and pull several all-nighters.

She thought that after years of careful maintenance, her congenital heart condition wouldn’t be so fragile. But on the night the design draft was finished, she felt a sharp, stabbing pain in her heart and lost consciousness.

Right—she had a relapse. There was no way she could have run to a place like this!

Sss…

At that thought, a sharp pain hit her head, and unfamiliar memories flooded her mind.

The owner of these memories was also named Yu Yingxia, and even her appearance was nearly identical. However, she didn’t live in Yu Yingxia’s world, but in an ancient world inhabited by ghosts, immortals, and gods.

The original owner was an orphan who survived by begging until someone discovered her talent for cultivation. At age seven, she was brought back to a place called the Longevity Sect.

Despite its ethereal name, the Longevity Sect was a den of heretics and evil-doers. The previous two sect leaders were a madman and a pervert who had committed countless atrocities. Things only improved slightly when the current leader killed her predecessor.

However, it remained a notorious demonic sect.

Recently, the righteous factions launched a crusade against the Longevity Sect. The current leader was heavily injured, and seeing the tide turn, the original owner of these memories attempted to kill her leader to use her head as a token of surrender to the righteous path.

Currently, she had found the wounded leader with her blade drawn. But for some reason, at this critical juncture, the original soul vanished, and “Yu Yingxia” had mysteriously taken her place…

Looking at the blood-stained knife in her hand, Yu Yingxia’s face turned even paler. From the original owner’s memories, she found the name of the third-generation Longevity Sect Leader—Yan Huaixi.

Yu Yingxia’s pale lips trembled. She was not unfamiliar with this name. A month ago, the girls at her office had recommended a cultivation novel called The Path of Dao, and she had finished it during a slow period at work.

The novel followed the protagonist, Fang Yuetong, who was adopted by the murderer of her parents, took her enemy as a master, grew through various conspiracies and hardships, and eventually became an immortal.

There were two ultimate villains in the book: one was the protagonist’s master, and the other was the Longevity Sect Leader, Yan Huaixi!

The Longevity Sect was considered the head of all demonic sects by other cultivators, making Yan Huaixi the ultimate Demoness. She was ruthless and cold-blooded, striking terror into the hearts of the entire cultivation world. Any one of her deeds was enough to make a crying child fall silent in fear!

Under the deliberate instigation of the villainous master, Fang Yuetong led the entire sect to attack the Longevity Sect. Yan Huaixi was defeated by the protagonist and heavily wounded. Although she managed to return to her sect, a traitorous Guardian by her side opened the protective grand array for the protagonist, allowing the enemies to drive straight in!

And that traitor… was the original owner!

Yu Yingxia realized she had transmigrated—specifically, into a book. She had become the traitorous cannon fodder! The fate of this cannon fodder was to be blown into red “fireworks” by a Puppet Seal in her body while trying to kill Yan Huaixi!

The original owner thought she was Yan Huaixi’s confidant, but in reality, Yan Huaixi never trusted her. From the day she joined, Yan Huaixi had planted a Puppet Seal that controlled her life and death.

Now, the original owner had finished committing all her crimes! But the one about to be turned into “fireworks” was her!!!

Yu Yingxia felt she was having trouble breathing. Through the memories, she confirmed the identity of the woman in red under the tree. She was none other than the villain, Yan Huaixi!

The woman’s gaze was so cold it made her heart tremble. Was that… killing intent?

Her transmigration felt like a joke. Did she do something unforgivable in her past life? Did the heavens think dying of a sudden heart attack was too easy on her, so they brought her here to experience a different way to die?

“Ding-dong!”

In this state of extreme tension, a sudden electronic prompt scared Yu Yingxia so much she felt her heart start to ache again.

“Hello, Miss Yu Yingxia. I am Maintenance System 886. Congratulations, you have been selected as an agent. Your previous body has died, but as long as you help us repair the world-line, we can let you… bzzz… live… bzzz…”

System? A glimmer of hope flashed in Yu Yingxia’s eyes.

The voice calling itself a system echoed in her mind, but before it could finish its introduction, it turned into static, like a jammed signal. After a long while, the voice returned to normal, but its words sent Yu Yingxia’s heart back into the abyss.

“Dear Agent, our mission… Huh? The protagonist has already breached the villain’s sect? Mission complete?! Haha! Time to clock out! Have a nice life! Goodbye!”

What do you mean mission complete? I just got here! What mission did I even do?!

The system’s originally formal voice suddenly became bubbly. It seemed even the system didn’t want to work this crappy job.

But if it clocks out, what about her!

Yu Yingxia frantically called for the system in her mind. Because Yan Huaixi was right there, she didn’t dare show any outward strangeness, yet the system remained silent.

Yu Yingxia thought that if she really died here, she would definitely haunt that system as a ghost!

“Cough, cough. Dear Agent, we are equipped with a one-time after-sales program. Please don’t be in such a hurry to haunt the system. Look on the bright side: you don’t have to do any work and you basically got a free life~”

Yu Yingxia was almost laughed to tears. “A life that only lasts a few minutes before being blown into fireworks? You want this life?”

But now wasn’t the time to argue with the system. Her life was still in someone else’s hands. Yu Yingxia’s mind raced. The most lethal problem right now was the Puppet Seal in this body.

If Yan Huaixi wanted her dead, she would die. If Yan Huaixi died, she wouldn’t survive either.

“Do you have a way to remove the Puppet Seal?”

“I’m so sorry, dear. The energy level of this Puppet Seal is too high. I’m just a new system; even if I used all my energy, it wouldn’t be enough to lift the seal set by Yan Huaixi. If I mess with it, I might accidentally blow you up.”

“…” It’s a useless system!

Leaning against the tree, Yan Huaixi narrowed her fox-like eyes. Her injuries were real, but it didn’t mean she was helpless against these traitors.

In Yan Huaixi’s hand was a “Puppet Thread” invisible to others. This thread was connected to the Puppet Seal. She used to hold many such threads, but those that needed to be dealt with had already been handled.

Those traitors had once sworn to follow her to the death, and now they had fulfilled those promises one by one. Only this Left Guardian remained.

However, for some reason, the usually ruthless and decisive Guardian Yu had suddenly stopped. She looked a bit dazed. The woman had approached with killing intent—what was she trying to do by stopping now? A playful curl appeared at the corner of Yan Huaixi’s lips.

Her bloodless lips parted, speaking in a voice just loud enough for Yu Yingxia to hear: “Guardian Yu.”

Yu Yingxia was frantically thinking about how to squeeze the most value out of the system’s “after-sales service” when Yan Huaixi’s voice triggered the physical instinct of this body. Her frame shook uncontrollably, and the knife slipped from her palm.

At that moment, a foul wind blew up a cloud of dust. Some grit entered Yu Yingxia’s eyes, and tears began to stream down uncontrollably. She looked quite pitiful.

Yan Huaixi frowned slightly. Why is she crying?

Yu Yingxia took a deep breath and stepped forward. She felt as if every step was on the edge of a blade. She didn’t know if the rumors—told through the mouths of bystanders in the novel—that Yan Huaixi pulled out traitors’ bones to make lutes and peeled their skin to make drums were true.

Yu Yingxia kept her eyes lowered, avoiding eye contact. Following the behavior in the original owner’s memory, she knelt beside Yan Huaixi and whispered, “My Lord.”

“It’s no longer safe here. We must leave quickly.”

Her voice trembled slightly, acting the part of a submissive, harmless subordinate to the extreme.

In the silence, Yu Yingxia felt the scent of blood around her nose grow stronger. As she approached, she caught a glimpse of Yan Huaixi’s wounds. This villain had numerous injuries, big and small, but the most serious was a piercing wound near her heart. It was a bloody mess, with blood soaking through her clothes and the soil beneath her.

Such a gruesome injury would be enough to kill an ordinary person, yet Yan Huaixi’s expression was as calm as ever. At this life-or-death moment, a thought instinctively surfaced in Yu Yingxia’s mind:

Doesn’t she feel pain?

While Yu Yingxia’s thoughts were swirling, she suddenly felt a cold touch against the artery of her neck, like the flick of a poisonous snake’s tongue.

Her breath hitched. Then, the cold sensation slid from her neck to her chin. Yu Yingxia was forced to look up into Yan Huaixi’s eyes—those pitch-black eyes seemed to be churning with some terrifying emotion.

“Why are you crying?” Yan Huaixi’s fingertip brushed over the tear tracks on her face. Her tone sounded normal, as if she were genuinely concerned for Yu Yingxia.

But Yu Yingxia knew that was impossible.

“Your servant is just…”

Before she could finish, Yu Yingxia’s voice audibly shook because Yan Huaixi’s fingertip had slid back down to her neck.

“Are you afraid of that little girl from the Tianqiu Sect and that old fossil?” Yan Huaixi sat up a bit straighter. More blood seeped from her wounds with the movement, but she didn’t care.

Her hand tightened slightly, and a hint of crimson surfaced in her fox-like eyes.

“You already opened the protective array for them. They won’t have enough rewards to give you—so what is there to fear?” Yan Huaixi’s cold hand gripped Yu Yingxia’s throat.

Beneath her palm, she felt the pulse representing life, but with just a little pressure, she could snap the delicate neck of this trembling, red-eyed little rabbit.

The way this rabbit looked—so piteous, actively offering her weakness into Yan Huaixi’s hands—prevented Yan Huaixi from wanting to kill her immediately.

Strange.

The cold sneer on Yan Huaixi’s lips faded slightly. Guardian Yu seemed different today. In a place like the Longevity Sect, where vipers and scorpions nested, how could a harmless rabbit actually be raised?

Or was this her new trick?

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