Having Played the Villain for Ten Years, I Came Back - Chapter 5

The “Stallion” protagonist, Lu Feng, had been an utterly unremarkable man before he gained his cheat system.

He spent his days idle, either staying home to play video games or complaining to his roommates about how all the beautiful women were being snatched up by rich playboys, leaving nothing for ordinary guys like them.

After gaining his “cheat,” he increased his cultivation by collecting “goddesses.” The more female confidantes he had by his side, the stronger he became.

This was why, upon hearing the name “Gu Chi” from his newest romantic interest, Lu Feng’s first thought was to help her brother, Xue Xu, teach the man a lesson. To him, helping Xue Xu meant helping the goddess, which would earn her favor and boost his power.

In his eyes, Gu Chi was just a rich, arrogant bully who harassed students and beat up teachers. Attacking such a villain was doing God’s work. To Lu Feng, Xue Xu was a victim; he even later used treasures obtained via his cheat system to help repair Xue Xu’s meridians so he could cultivate again.

In the original plot, the protagonist actually became “best brothers” with the evil cultivator Xue Xu. Lu Feng also had a “Red Rose” companion who was a female demon. Unlike Gu Chi—who cultivated the demonic path until he was strong enough to wield the Demon Sword and be hailed as a King this woman was a true monster who enjoyed slaughtering innocent people to fuel her arts.

Lu Feng acted sanctimonious, claiming to be a demon hunter, while secretly keeping a nationally wanted demoness by his side.

Wen Linyu couldn’t understand how someone like that could be the protagonist. However, he now understood why 998 felt the need to drag someone in to play out the plot. Given the circumstances, there was no way the real Gu Chi wouldn’t have killed this man on sight.

Under his teacher’s guidance, Linyu had also learned a bit about the real Gu Chi. The butler mentioned that Gu Chi loathed evil cultivators because his own parents had been ones.

They had timed Gu Chi’s birth and raised him to a specific age solely to refine him into nourishment for themselves. Fortunately, Gu Chi was no ordinary child. When his parents tried to drink his blood and eat his flesh, he killed them instead and threw their corpses to the hyenas.

Given that history, the real Gu Chi would never have shown mercy to Xue Xu. Since Lu Feng was standing up for Xue Xu and actively provoking Gu Chi, there was zero chance of him being let off.

Currently, Lu Feng had already passed the early stages of his growth. He had reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage and, with several goddesses empowering him, he was already somewhat famous. Hearing Wen Linyu’s dismissal, he was naturally incensed. He immediately challenged Wen Linyu to a duel on the school’s battle arena.

The arena was the designated place for students to settle disputes and test their skills.

Wen Linyu snapped his book shut and gave Lu Feng a cold sweep of his eyes. “Get lost.”

Brother Xin, who was watching nearby, was terrified by Linyu’s apparent anger. He immediately jumped out and pointed a finger at Lu Feng’s nose. “Who do you think you are? You think you’re worthy of making Student Gu move a muscle? I’ll take you on first!”

His lackeys cheered, and the atmosphere grew heated. Lu Feng gave a crooked smile. In his view, Brother Xin and the others were just small-time lackeys, so he attacked immediately.

Their cultivation levels were not in the same league, and Brother Xin was defeated in seconds. His subordinates rushed to help him, cursing under their breaths: “A dog bites the hand that feeds it! We were trying to save you, and you hit him that hard? Moron!”

They spoke softly, and Lu Feng didn’t quite catch it. He was about to ask what they said when Wen Linyu stood up. He glanced at Lu Feng as if looking at trash and said without emotion, “Sign a Life-and-Death contract. Do you dare?”

The surrounding crowd erupted into an uproar. Everyone—even those just passing by—turned to stare. Lu Feng, the center of attention, was stunned. Wait, how did it escalate to a Life-and-Death contract? I only said two sentences!

However, since he was the one who initiated the challenge, there was no way out. Under the eyes of the entire school, he had to accept.

Gu Chi offered his validation: “Very good. This is the perfect chance to test the results of your training.”

Wen Linyu’s heart skipped a beat, and the corners of his mouth twitched upward by a few pixels before he suppressed it, striving to maintain his frost-cold demeanor.

A large crowd followed them to the outdoor arena. A teacher stood in the center, repeatedly reminding them that the duel should be “limited to a point,” but Wen Linyu threw the Life-and-Death contract at Lu Feng right in front of him. The teacher’s face turned green.

The duel began. Lu Feng possessed a Lightning Spirit Root and was at the peak of Foundation Establishment. Although Wen Linyu had made rapid progress, he had started from the very bottom of Body Refining. According to the standard timeline, he hadn’t even reached Foundation Establishment yet.

Because his study time was short and he had only practiced alone, he had no combat experience. He fell into a disadvantage immediately. As the fight went on, Lu Feng’s confidence soared. He filled the arena with lightning, bolts crashing down from the sky toward Wen Linyu. Linyu could only dodge repeatedly, while Lu Feng smirked and asked if he wanted to beg for mercy.

Brother Xin and the others watched Lu Feng like he was a clown. Laugh, go ahead and laugh! You have no idea this big boss loves to play weak—he’s a total psycho!

Sure enough, in the next instant, the smirking Lu Feng watched in horror as he was blasted out of the arena. He probably couldn’t even fathom how it happened.

Wen Linyu straightened his back, his palms trembling slightly. This was the first time he had truly fought someone, and his strike had been heavy. He thought he saw Lu Feng spitting blood.

A soft chuckle echoed in his mind: “Well done.”

Wen Linyu’s heart was racing—half from the adrenaline of the fight, and half from something else.

By standard cultivation logic, he shouldn’t have been able to beat Lu Feng. But Gu Chi’s cultivation was massive. Since Linyu hadn’t learned how to fight with finesse yet, he simply channeled that vast power to crush his opponent. It felt a bit like cheating, and his heart hammered with guilt while doing it, but his teacher had taught him: “If you have resources and don’t use them, you’re just being wasteful.”

The results proved him right, and his teacher had praised him again.

Moreover, he realized that fighting back felt amazing. It was as if all the suppressed frustration in his chest had been vented out with that single palm strike, leaving only a sense of pure exhilaration!

It felt so good!

As for Lu Feng, he ended up with three broken ribs and a shattered cultivation. Unless a miracle occurred, he would be a cripple for life.

Brother Xin and his group were grinning from ear to ear—secretly, of course. No one in the school dared to laugh too loudly in front of Wen Linyu now, for fear that it would remind him of Lu Feng and make his hands itch for another fight.

After this incident, no one bothered Wen Linyu’s studies for a long time. Instead, he spent his time in various “No-Man’s Zones” infested with monsters. His teacher said that if he wanted to increase his combat power quickly a real battle was the only way.

He went to class when he had to and killed monsters when he didn’t. Wen Linyu maintained this routine for three years. His growth speed left Gu Chi very satisfied. Above all, this little disciple was incredibly obedient—he listened to everything Gu Chi said without a hint of complaint or impatience.

He was so well-behaved that Gu Chi’s hands often felt “itchy” to pat his head, though he only had the chick to squeeze.

The ruffled 998 thought: What did I even do?!

But one could study too much. During a trip to a Secret Realm, Wen Linyu ran into Lu Feng again. Lu Feng was the protagonist, after all, and his “cheat” was powerful. He should have been a cripple, but three years later, he was actually strong enough to enter a Secret Realm.

Wen Linyu had no intention of dealing with him, but as he walked past, he noticed a jade flute in Lu Feng’s hand. The jade was translucent and lustrous; Wen Linyu fell in love with it at first sight.

Seeing this, Gu Chi tempted him: “Since you like it, what should you do?”

Wen Linyu’s eyes sparkled, and his voice was clear: “Snatch it!”

“Very good.” Gu Chi was satisfied.

998: What a coincidence! The plot mission was exactly to steal the protagonist’s treasure. It hadn’t even issued the prompt yet, and the host was already itching to move.

I’m so moved, family, 998 thought. The host is becoming a better villain every day!

Thus, Lu Feng—who had worked so hard to return to the peak of Foundation Establishment was once again humiliated and stripped of the treasure he had found. After Wen Linyu left, Lu Feng cursed at the sky, vowing that one day the tables would turn and he would make Gu Chi kneel and apologize!

The more he vowed, the more frequently he encountered Wen Linyu.

When he took a quest to handle a rogue ghost, Wen Linyu appeared, stole the quest, and beat him up.

When he found a treasure to woo a new goddess, Wen Linyu appeared, shamelessly stole the gift, and beat him up again.

Lu Feng was beyond furious. What am I, a resource node?! Is he just farming me for drops whenever he’s bored?

One day… one day I will have my revenge!!!

Days turned into weeks, then years. Wen Linyu was living a very good life. In front of others, he was expressionless, but when he was alone, a smile was almost constantly on his face.

This place was so good. 998 was good. Teacher was good. It was so good he didn’t want to leave.

But he hadn’t forgotten—the ten-year term was almost up. This body wasn’t his; he was just a passerby from another world. He had to leave eventually.

He was so reluctant to go, especially…

But he knew that if he were too greedy, he might end up with nothing at all.

The final seven days.

The chick in his subconscious had gone a bit crazy, humming strange songs about “slaves rising up.” Normally, Gu Chi would have blasted it into the sky for being annoying.

But now, he didn’t have the time to bother with it. His little disciple seemed to be in a bad mood lately. Although Linyu was still practicing and studying as usual, and no one had upset him, something was off.

What was wrong?

Gu Chi asked him directly.

Wen Linyu was startled. Does Teacher think I’m not focusing enough on my studies? He didn’t dare let his mind wander again. He grabbed the remaining time and worked even harder, exhausting his energy so that his schedule was too full for sadness.

Gu Chi, watching Wen Linyu hack away at monsters every day: “???”

Gu Chi’s body was truly resilient. Wen Linyu fought in the Misty Forest for seven days until he was numb, yet he never felt tired. After one final sigh of admiration, Wen Linyu gave a relaxed smile and whispered to the body: “Thank you, Gu Chi. Sorry for the trouble I’ve caused you.”

Gu Chi was stunned. He was about to respond, smiling and wanting to ask when Linyu had figured out his true identity (since his disciple was usually quite dense without pointers).

Instead, he heard Wen Linyu say: “Teacher? Teacher, are you there? I’m leaving now. I’m truly grateful for these years. Without you, I’d probably still be that useless waste.”

“I know we probably won’t see each other again. I’m very..Teacher, I actually.” By the end, Wen Linyu sounded like his old self again, stammering and unable to finish a sentence.

He wanted to be more direct, but he was afraid. He was afraid that what he said might cause trouble for his teacher.

“You what? Wait a second, where are you going?!” Gu Chi was furious. “Don’t you dare move an inch without my permission!”

Wen Linyu was startled by the roar, his parting emotions cut in half. “Teacher, ten years are up. Didn’t you know?”

Almost the moment Wen Linyu asked, a mechanical voice spoke impatiently: “Commencing teleportation!”

Wen Linyu was shocked and frantic, only managing one last cry: “Goodbye, Teacher”

“Wen Linyu!” Gu Chi roared his full name for the first time, reaching out only to grasp empty air.

He looked down at himself. There was no one else in his body anymore.

After a silent tenth of a second, Gu Chi’s face turned completely dark. He reached into his subconscious and dragged out the chick that was preparing to flee. “Speak. Where is he?!”

998 had sent the host back at light speed and was planning to escape just as fast, but it was caught. Seeing the Great Demon Lord looking like he was about to destroy the world, it shook with terror: “H-h-he went back to his own world. This was the deal we made.”

“It’s you!” At that moment, an uninvited guest appeared.

The Misty Forest was a forbidden zone for ordinary people, filled with monsters, but for cultivators, it was the best training ground. Thus, Lu Feng had come here to train.

Seeing Gu Chi today, Lu Feng noticed the man was surrounded by a thick, overflowing black aura, looking like he was suffering from demonic deviation. Lu Feng was overjoyed.

“You finally have this da—” Before he could finish the word “day,” let alone take his revenge, he was sent flying by a single kick from Gu Chi. The foot landed on his throat with lethal force.

Today’s “Gu Chi” was expressionless, but his eyes were filled with a murderous intent so thick it was suffocating. Lu Feng had a sudden, terrifying realization: this time, he was really going to die!

998 watched the half-dead protagonist and trembled. Facing Gu Chi’s murderous gaze, it stammered: “S-s-since you hit him, you can’t hit me anymore, okay?”

In its heart, it wailed: Host! Host, please come back! I’m just a chick, I can’t handle this!