Having Played the Villain for Ten Years, I Came Back - Chapter 2

Xue Xu wasn’t dead yet but being alive was proving to be far more agonizing than death.

Evil cultivators took a shortcut to power a path paved with blood and human lives, usually involving sacrifices or the consumption of others’ souls. The advantage was rapid growth; the disadvantage was the high risk of being struck down by heavenly lightning. Normally, a cultivator could use their power to resist or suppress the side effects, but now that Xue Xu’s Golden Core was shattered and his spiritual roots were ruined, he would never walk the path of cultivation again. All that awaited him was an endless cycle of spiritual backlash.

Xue Xu clearly understood this. He glared at the trembling Wen Linyu, his eyes nearly bursting with rage. “Despicable! You were deliberately pretending to be weak and easy to bully!”

Wen Linyu caught his gaze for a split second before quickly looking away. Blood—there was so much blood, and his own hands were covered in it. His voice shook, and he looked like he was on the verge of tears from sheer terror. “I wasn’t pretending.”

“The Xue family will never let you get away with this!” Xue Xu snarled, but in the next instant, a blood-curdling scream erupted from his throat.

Wen Linyu shook even harder. He wasn’t looking at Xue Xu, yet the horrific image of the man suffering from the backlash was projected clearly in his mind. Even if he covered his eyes, he could still see it.

Of course, it wasn’t him looking. It was someone else.

Observing the misery of his enemies was one of that person’s favorite pastimes.

Once he had enjoyed the show enough, the voice said pleasantly, “Alright, now go deal with the few ‘tails’ behind you.”

Tails? Wen Linyu lowered his hands, his eyes rimmed with red. He turned around and spotted Brother Xin and his group, who had quite literally wet themselves in fear.

The moment they saw Linyu notice them, they began shaking like leaves. They scrambled to get up and run, but their legs were so weak they tripped several times. Eventually, survival instincts took over, and they managed to stand up, preparing to bolt.

However, they hadn’t even taken half a step before Wen Linyu vanished from Xue Xu’s side and reappeared directly in their path.

Such speed was, of course, not Wen Linyu’s doing. He felt so dizzy he wanted to vomit. Brother Xin and the others felt so terrified they also wanted to vomit.

Brother Xin’s knees buckled first as he crashed into a kneel. “Big boss! I didn’t see anything! Please don’t kill me!”

Taking his cue, the others followed suit and knelt. They wept and begged for mercy, filled with bone-deep regret.

Linyu’s behavior that morning obediently giving up his seat and his awkward performance in class, had given them the false impression that he was a pushover. When they saw him put his belongings into a high-end storage ring, they grew greedy.

Storage rings were incredibly convenient. Demand was high among both cultivators and ordinary people, and supply always fell short. The one Linyu wore was an especially expensive model. They had planned to “borrow” a little money, so they had followed him.

When they saw him enter the woods after leaving campus, they thought their opportunity had arrived. Instead, they had walked right into a murder scene without the slightest warning.

The man had killed a Golden Core cultivator with a single strike. If this “weak” psycho wanted to kill a few Qi Refiners, wouldn’t it be as easy as crushing ants?

Seeing Wen Linyu raise his hand, the group looked on in despair.

Suddenly, Wen Linyu grabbed his own right hand. He spoke to the presence in his mind: “Don’t! They… they…” He didn’t want to kill anyone, especially since these people hadn’t done anything deserving of death.

“Useless kindness,” the man remarked, though he ultimately stopped.

To him, whether these ants lived or died made no difference.

Brother Xin closed his eyes and waited. When no pain came, he cautiously peeked and saw Wen Linyu lowering his hand. Did this mean he was letting them go?

Reacting instantly, Brother Xin kowtowed several times, stammering out his thanks before sprinting away. The others, momentarily stunned, quickly did the same.

They ran with every ounce of strength they had, terrified that a palm strike might hit them from behind. They feared the classic villain trope—letting the hostage think they’ve escaped only to shoot an arrow into their back.

Fortunately, they were lucky enough to escape the forest alive. Reaching the sunlight, the group broke into loud sobs. They swore that from this day forward, they would never do anything dishonest again!

Logically, Wen Linyu should have left as well. But listening to Xue Xu’s screams and seeing the blood-soaked ground, he hesitated for a long time. He couldn’t bring himself to just walk away.

The voice in his head mocked him: “Don’t tell me you’re going to save him?”

Wen Linyu shook his head. He wasn’t stupid enough to save someone who had tried to kill him, but regarding what just happened…

Watching Wen Linyu hesitate before eventually calling the police, both the mysterious presence and the little yellow chick—who had cautiously crawled back—went silent again.

Wen Linyu went to the police station, and Xue Xu was taken away not by the Xue family, but by the Bureau of Demon Suppression. This department was an official police branch specifically for handling cases involving evil cultivators and supernatural threats.

Xue Xu’s Golden Core was destroyed, and the signs of spiritual backlash were obvious. The laws here were different from what Linyu knew. Even though Linyu had provoked the teacher first, the fact that an evil cultivator had attempted to steal his soul meant that Linyu’s counterattack was legally considered self-defense.

Still, he received a stern lecture. Following someone into the woods wasn’t exactly commendable behavior.

Wen Linyu was extremely cooperative, even going so far as to write a formal self-reflection. His attitude left the butler who came to pick him up completely baffled. It became even weirder when Linyu got into the car and said apologetically, “I’m sorry for the trouble of coming to get me.”

The driver in the front seat trembled so hard he could barely grip the steering wheel. Through the rearview mirror, the butler could see the driver’s terrified expression. He understood.

The butler hesitated, wondering what kind of game the Great Demon Lord was playing. Was he supposed to play along?

Well, whatever made the Master happy.

The butler maintained a professional smile as he reported on the Xue family’s situation. “…Xue Xu isn’t the only one in the family practicing evil arts. In my opinion, his father most likely is as well. Moreover, since Xue Xu reached the Golden Core stage at such a young age, the family likely won’t let this matter drop. Regarding this… would you like to handle it personally, or should I arrange for someone to take care of it?”

Wen Linyu, still dazed from the afternoon’s events, blinked. “Take care of what?”

The butler pushed up his glasses and continued smiling. “You must be joking. I’m referring to wiping out the Xue family, of course.”

Wen Linyu’s face froze. He glanced at the nearby police station and stammered, “N-no, that shouldn’t be necessary, right?”

Now it was the butler’s turn to be confused. “But don’t you hate evil cultivators the most?”

Was that so? Linyu wondered. So, today’s mission wasn’t just Gu Chi looking for trouble; it was because he knew Xue Xu was an evil cultivator.

Linyu didn’t know. He knew almost nothing about the original owner of this body. The system hadn’t told him, and he didn’t dare poke around through someone else’s things.

Seeing his reaction, the butler dropped the subject. As the car started moving, he brought up another matter: one of Gu Chi’s subordinates had leaked information about his location. The man was currently at the house, waiting for Gu Chi to personally decide his fate.

How was he supposed to handle that? Wen Linyu’s mind was a mess. In his eighteen years of a dull, gray existence, he had never dealt with anything like this. He had never had family or friends he could trust. As for people who “leaked information,” he had plenty of experience with those.

They had posted his photos everywhere, gossiped about his life, cornered him, beat him, and stripped him of whatever money he had. They looked at him with mockery and disgust. In their eyes, he was a useless waste.

How had he handled those situations? He hadn’t. He couldn’t fight back. Everyone around him was like a giant hand pressing him down. He could only endure silently, praying that tomorrow he’d wake up in a different world or not wake up at all.

Yes, he was a useless waste, so he didn’t know how to do anything.

Wen Linyu’s mood plummeted. The voice in his head and 998 had both gone quiet; no one was giving him advice or teaching him what to do. When the man who had betrayed Gu Chi was dragged before him, Linyu felt lost and helpless all over again.

The man’s hands were tied behind his back. He knelt low, cold sweat soaking his clothes. “My Lord, I was just drunk! I only mentioned you were in Qingyuan, I didn’t say anything else! Please, spare me this once! I know I was wrong!”

“System?” Wen Linyu shifted uncomfortably. He wasn’t used to people kneeling to him. He called out for 998 in his mind, but there was no response.

998 didn’t have time to answer. It was currently busy giving the Great Demon Lord a leg massage. Looking at the notifications flashing in the “Sovereign No-Slave System Chatroom,” tears streamed down its beady eyes.

Waaaaah, in the end, I still couldn’t escape the claws of fate!

Wen Linyu waited, but the silence continued. He had to figure it out himself. Meanwhile, the man on the floor hadn’t heard Linyu speak for a long time, and his teeth began to chatter.

After what felt like forever, just as the man was beginning to lose hope, Wen Linyu spoke.

“Getting drunk is indeed not very good. And you… shouldn’t have talked about my business to others.” Linyu struggled to piece the words together. “Do you really know you were wrong?”

The man heard the first half and thought Linyu was mocking him. He frantically kowtowed, his forehead hitting the floor with a loud thud. “I truly know I was wrong! I deserve any punishment, I just beg you to spare my dog’s life!”

“Punishment.” Wen Linyu looked at the pathetic man. He couldn’t think of a proper punishment. “System, are you there?”

The little yellow chick flashed a sycophantic smile at the Demon Lord, its wings working tirelessly. The Demon Lord the real Gu Chi, glanced at it.

998 carefully tried to guess the Demon Lord’s intent and spoke tentatively into Linyu’s mind: “How about. start by giving him two slaps?”

Hearing 998’s voice again, Wen Linyu felt a wave of relief. At least he wasn’t alone. He stood up as instructed and walked over to the subordinate.

The subordinate remained kneeling, his head almost touching the floor. From this angle, it was hard to hit him. Linyu had to tell him to look up.

The man swallowed hard and raised his head in terror, waiting for death to arrive.

Wen Linyu had never slapped anyone before. After a great deal of mental preparation, he finally gritted his teeth and swung his hand at the man’s face.

Slap.

The room went silent. A very weird silence.

The subordinate was stunned. Did the Boss just. Stroke my face? He gathered the courage to look at Wen Linyu and realized that the Great Demon Lord seemed very different today. His eyes were red, making him look strangely pitiful.

The man’s imagination went wild. He looked down at his own bound, muscular physique and remembered how many people had complimented his handsome face. An absurd thought crossed his mind—Does the Boss have feelings for me?

Suddenly, he was ecstatic. Does this mean I don’t have to die?!

Boldly, he spoke up: “Thank you for the reward, My Lord! If it pleases you, please punish me however you like!”

The butler and the others in the room looked at him like he was a dead man: Did you seriously just enjoy that?!

However, they were also puzzled. What was wrong with the Boss today? People who betrayed him usually suffered the most horrific deaths. Why did he seem like a different person? Was he possessed?

The thought barely formed before they dismissed it. Who on earth could possess Gu Chi?

Gu Chi, watching this scene, pinched the bridge of his nose. He had reached his limit. “Is this how you play the villain?”

“I know I’m not doing a good job, but I don’t know how…” Wen Linyu was a bit afraid of the voice, but he was also grateful. If not for this person, he would have died at Xue Xu’s hands. He added, “Um, excuse me, who are you?”

“Who am I?” Gu Chi almost laughed. Was that even a question? But remembering Linyu’s timid, mouse-like nature and seeing the yellow chick huddled in a corner, he chuckled. “I am the teacher that bird hired for you. Since you don’t know how to be a villain, I’ll be the one to teach you.”

998 chimed in immediately: “Yes, yes! This Lord is a specially invited consultant! You must study hard!”

For the first time since arriving in this world, Wen Linyu actually smiled. Feeling a great weight lifted from his shoulders, he said obediently, “Hello, Teacher.”

Hearing that “Teacher,” Gu Chi found himself in a remarkably good mood. Hmm, it’s been a long time since I’ve encountered such a fresh little waste.