Having Played the Villain for Ten Years, I Came Back - Chapter 7

The voice of Wen Linyu echoed through the desolate cemetery hill, met only by silence.

Linyu had expected this. He drew his sword and added casually, “It seems there are no ghosts here. In that case, I suppose it won’t matter if I slice the top off this hill, right?”

The various spirits sleeping in their own graves: Wait, excuse me?

This was truly a case of “disaster falling from the heavens while sleeping at home.” Who exactly did they offend to deserve this?!

“One. two.” Wen Linyu counted expressionless, while the ink-black sword in his hand began to gather spiritual energy. He looked like he was absolutely not joking.

This fluctuation of spiritual power was at least at the Foundation Establishment stage or higher! In this world where spiritual energy was thin, people who could reach that stage were few and far between. The sleeping spirits were scared wide awake; the graveyard instantly fell into chaos. After a frantic exchange of ghostly whispers, an old spirit with a long white beard was pushed forward by the crowd.

“Three!” Linyu reached the final count and raised his hand to swing.

“Wait! Stop!” The bearded ghost’s whiskers were trembling. What kind of Living Yama had come knocking on their door?

He was the oldest in this cemetery and possessed considerable power; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to manifest in broad daylight. He looked warily at the sword in Linyu’s hand, keeping a safe distance, and forced a friendly smile. “Little friend, can’t we just talk this out? No need for weapons.”

Wen Linyu corrected him: “This is a sword.”

The bearded ghost’s mouth twitched. It was just a figure of speech, do you have to be so precise?!

Linyu sheathed his sword and pulled out the strands of hair from his parents. “I want to trade the lifespans of these two people for money. You can take a commission.”

He then added, “By the way, these are my blood relatives. The wealth I can obtain from this should not be a small amount.”

The bearded ghost was stunned. He thought to himself: Am I the ghost here, or are you? This kid’s heart was pitch black, and he clearly knew exactly how the “blood relative” multiplier worked in occult trades.

However, since he wasn’t human anyway, there was no reason to turn down business delivered to his doorstep. The old ghost stroked his beard, squinted, and pondered, “And what percentage do I get?”

Wen Linyu let out a cold laugh. “Ten percent.”

The bearded ghost frowned, thinking that was far too little, but then he saw the Living Yama’s hand moving toward his sword again.

The old ghost: “…” I give up!

Ultimately, the forced deal was struck. The bearded ghost had never conducted such a humiliating piece of business in his entire afterlife.

Once Wen Linyu left to buy the necessary offerings the old ghost required, the spirit began to curse loudly. The other hiding ghosts poked their heads out; it was the first time a living person had ever tracked them down to their graves to initiate a trade. It was a rare sight.

“Old Bai, you’re so angry—why not mess with the ritual a little?” one ghost suggested with a snicker.

The bearded ghost immediately slapped him. “Do you think I’m blind? You’re trying to get me killed! Does that death-god look like someone easy to fool?”

Wen Linyu wouldn’t even budge on a higher commission; if the old ghost dared to tamper with the deal, he wouldn’t have a ghost-life left to spend that ten percent!

“Don’t be angry, don’t be angry. That person said the commission for the lifespan is only ten percent, but he didn’t say we couldn’t take a little something extra for ourselves!”

“Right! That makes sense! Old Bai, you’re a figure of status; you can’t show up without a bit of flair. You’ve been using a cane every day—it’s time you traded for a new pair of legs.”

The bearded ghost stroked his beard, considering the possibilities, and soon revealed a sinister smile.

Meanwhile, Wen Linyu, who was purchasing the ritual supplies, also allowed a small smile to touch his lips. Greed wasn’t just a human trait; ghosts had it too.

The trip to and from the cemetery didn’t take long. Linyu tucked two pieces of “joss paper” given to him by the old ghost into his pocket. All he had to do was get these into the hands of those two people, and the deal would be sealed.

He wasn’t in a hurry to go back, though. Those two likely weren’t home yet, and he had fifty thousand in his pocket might as well spend it first.

Linyu went on a shopping spree at the mall. On the other side of town, Wen Hongbo and Lin Wanxiu were indeed not at home.

They were at a high-end residential complex, visiting an important figure. Usually arrogant, the couple was currently sitting anxiously and obediently on prayer mats.

“Master, he took our hair. Is that really okay?” Wen Hongbo had an inexplicable sense of impending doom.

Lin Wanxiu was also nervous. “Yes, I don’t know what happened today, but his strength was terrifying. When he held us down, we couldn’t move at all.”

“Do you think… he could be possessed?”

“I think it’s possible! Sleeping in a place like that every day…”

The middle-aged man sitting above them, currently worshipping a divine statue, gave a light cough. They cut their words short and waited for him to speak.

The man sat down gracefully, took a sip of tea, and said slowly, “You said he took money today. In that case, it’s possible the ‘Debt-Collecting Ghost’ has awakened.”

The Wens’ faces filled with dread.

The man continued, “There is no need to panic. This is merely his ‘terminal lucidity.’ The array is working—you both should be well aware of that.”

The Wens gave awkward smiles, then proceeded to ask the man for a way to counter the situation, still feeling uneasy.

They had arrived with furrowed brows but left with relaxed faces. Upon returning home, they stuck a talisman given to them by the Master under Wen Linyu’s bed. Now, they didn’t have to worry about him going crazy again.

Besides, the end was near. It wouldn’t be long before they never had to look at that annoying face again.

Linyu spent every bit of that five hundred thousand at the mall, buying everything that caught his eye. The money was a bit on the low side, but he didn’t care; he wouldn’t be lacking funds in the future.

Taking the mall’s delivery van back home, Linyu ignored the basement entirely. He directed the delivery men to move all his new belongings inside.

He scanned the entire building with his divine sense, picked the room that received the most sunlight and moonlight, and had them move his new things into his new bedroom.

“You can’t go in there! That’s the Mistress’s room!” The butler stood at the door, trying frantically to block them, only to be effortlessly pushed aside by Wen Linyu.

“Do me a favor. Throw everything inside out, then move my things in,” Linyu said to the hesitating mall employees, ignoring the shouting butler. “This is my house. I make the rules.”

“Young Master, if you continue this, I will call security,” the butler said with a dark expression, looking at Linyu with the same disapproval as his parents.

Only then did Wen Linyu look at him. He had almost forgotten—this butler wasn’t like the kind Uncle Butler from Gu Chi’s world. In front of Linyu, this man often acted superior, as if he were the one giving orders in the house. In the past, if Linyu didn’t want to go hungry, he had to cater to this man’s whims.

Wen Linyu smiled. “What is your status exactly, that you dare speak to me like that?”

The butler’s face darkened further, but he found he couldn’t actually answer Linyu’s question. He could only bring up the people Linyu used to fear most. “If your mother finds out when she returns, she will be very angry.”

What a coincidence, Linyu thought. Wen Cheng said the exact same thing this morning.

“So? Are they going to kill me?” Linyu sneered, staring straight into the butler’s eyes.

The butler felt a chill run down his spine, losing the upper hand to Linyu for the first time. “T-that. of course not. Young Master, don’t joke like that.”

A joke? Isn’t it just the truth?

Linyu didn’t waste any more words on him. The delivery men, wanting no part in this wealthy family’s drama, worked with lightning speed. As soon as the items were placed, they immediately took their leave.

Wen Linyu locked the door—not with a physical lock, but with a cultivator’s seal. Without his permission, no one could enter that room, even if they smashed the door to pieces.

The room was originally used specifically to store Lin Wanxiu’s clothes and jewelry. Many high-end, global limited-edition items were kept here. The natural light would hit the gold and silver threads, jewels, and diamonds, reflecting a beautiful glow. The room even had its own climate control system.

It was hundreds of times better than his basement.

The delivery men hadn’t dared to touch the clothes, but Wen Linyu certainly did. Not a single piece remained; he even threw the mannequins out quite violently. The butler nearly fainted, terrified that Linyu would throw the jewelry out next, and was forced to call people in to carefully pack the remaining items away.

Now, there were no traces of Lin Wanxiu in the room, only the scent of the new furniture Linyu had bought today.

Still, he used a cleansing spell to disinfect the room.

When he was finally done, Linyu stood in his brand-new room, looking out at the maple forest in the backyard. The setting sun hit the leaves, turning them a beautiful, shimmering gold.

He lowered his gaze. He was alone now, and his eyes held a loneliness he no longer bothered to hide.

Teacher, did I do a good job as a villain today? I even went to a cemetery alone and threatened ghosts.

In the past, he was always terrified of people pretending to be ghosts to scare him. He never expected that now, he’d be the one scaring the real ones.

The food today was good, the drink was perfectly sweet, the view was beautiful, and he’d bought things he liked.

And yet, he still really wanted to hear his teacher say, “Well done.”

Desperate to hear it, he replayed every “Well done” his teacher had ever said in his memory. Linyu drowned himself in those thoughts, closing his eyes with a smile as the sunset cast a reddish glow over his face.

I really am a pervert, he thought.

“Gu Chi, you’re a freaking psycho! How am I supposed to know where the other you went?” Lu Feng, hanging upside down with blood rushing to his face, roared in agony. “I didn’t dig up your ancestral graves, did I? Is it really necessary to torture me like this?”

“If you’re going to kill me, just do it and get it over with, dammit!”

Lu Feng was on the verge of a breakdown! He had expected to be killed in the Misty Forest, but in the end, Gu Chi hadn’t done it. Just when he thought Gu Chi would simply destroy his cultivation and release him like the previous times, the torture began!

What a nightmare! With over a dozen types of torture being used in rotation, Lu Feng truly couldn’t take it anymore!

The yellow chick, swallowing hard, was shaking so much today its feathers were nearly falling off. The protagonist didn’t know which nerve he had struck, but 998 knew exactly what was happening: the Great Demon Lord was killing the protagonist to warn the chick!

If it didn’t find a way to let the Demon Lord see his little disciple soon, it would be the next one on the rack!

Aaaaah, I’m just a System! Why do I have to go through this?

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