I'm a Major Villain with a Backer - Chapter 5

Bu Liuliu had no idea that while he was speaking those words, the man had already begun employing mystical arts to peer into his soul, and even utilizing spiritual power to probe and inflict minor tests of pain upon it. This physical shell had thoroughly decayed to begin with, so a lack of pain wasn’t particularly rare; however, the moment one stimulated the soul, it would directly trigger the nervous system and induce agony.

Yet… Bu Liuliu remained as steady as an old dog.

Following that, the man attempted trial after trial, escalating the severity of his output with each successive try.

The result was that Bu Liuliu’s unconcerned, completely unfazed state ended up slightly provoking him.

The man was intimately familiar with his own methods.

Yet he discovered that those methods of his were completely useless against this soul, which was rather humiliating to his pride.

“What on earth are you…” Before the man could finish his sentence.

“Don’t ask me; I’m just a genuine, authentic human being who simply has terrible luck.” If he weren’t unlucky, how else would he have been scammed so thoroughly by fate?

“Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise for you. Lacking pain sensations—even down to the soul level means your soul-nourishment process should proceed exceptionally smoothly,” the man remarked while simultaneously executing his next actions.

His hands fluttered with ethereal agility. For a man’s hands to be that jade-like, slender, and nimble while rapidly weaving numerous seal techniques—Bu Liuliu almost thought he was witnessing someone performing ninja hand signs.

Then, a stream of brilliant radiance cascaded down, landing directly upon his body.

“What are you doing?” Bu Liuliu asked anyway.

“What do you think? Or has your sense of smell failed you as well, so you haven’t noticed that the decaying stench has completely vanished from your body?” When the man posed the question, he was testing him once more.

He needed to figure out the exact extent of this soul’s sensory deficits—whether he lacked only pain, or other senses as well.

“Thank you.” Bu Liuliu instantly grasped that the other person was rescuing him from his wretched state.

“Don’t thank me; saving you is also saving myself. Who asked our lives to be bound together now?” When the man said this, one couldn’t really detect how much he cared; instead, a hint of cold mockery laced his tone. Naturally, he wasn’t mocking Bu Liuliu—whether it was self-mockery or something else entirely, however, remained anyone’s guess.

“Rest assured, I certainly won’t try to monopolize your half-life. Once you manage to retrieve your half-life, you can just kill me so nobody will ever know about this.” A cultivator of such formidable strength probably despised the thought of having their half-life tethered to another person; it was a major taboo.

“You really aren’t afraid of dying, and in fact seem quite eager for it.” Judging by the soul’s current disposition, he didn’t look like someone who had lost all zest for life, yet he could remain so calm and nonchalant about death.

“Who knows… anyway, I don’t want to live like this.” Transmigrating and all that was never something he had volunteered for anyway.

The single piece of good news for Bu Liuliu up to this point was that he wouldn’t have to go on wearing someone else’s rotting shell; he could use his own soul to cultivate and nurture a brand-new body belonging entirely to himself. That was undisputedly the greatest news so far.

As for the arch-villain and major boss Bu Liuqing, he harbored no grand illusions of whitewashing him. Although the novel was melodramatic and logically bankrupt, Bu Liuqing was genuinely a ruthless overlord who had committed countless vile deeds, staining his hands with blood and slaughter; being wiped out by the two male protagonists was undoubtedly a form of instant poetic justice that brought joy to the masses.

However, Bu Liuqing was Bu Liuqing, and he was himself. Bu Liuqing was dead beyond resurrection, his soul completely scattered, and even his physical shell would eventually be replaced by the body he would cultivate through soul-nourishment.

In a sense, he had simply pulled off a classic borrowed-corpse soul rebirth.

As for any karmic entanglements between himself and Bu Liuqing, there simply weren’t any left. Once a person’s soul was completely scattered and their body decayed to dust, what karma could possibly remain? It was simply that Bu Liuliu had extraordinary bad luck, transmigrating over in such a manner; wanting out was entirely reasonable under the circumstances.

“Once the soul-nourishment is successful, you will be entirely yourself, bearing no further connection to this current physical shell whatsoever. Why speak of death?” The man wasn’t someone given to comforting others or urging them to cling to life; he had never cared about the survival of anyone else.

Perhaps due to the peculiar nature of their shared predicament, they happened to share this idle moment of casual conversation, coupled with the fact that this soul had always remained so candid and straightforward making the man find him far less grating to look at.

“Let me tell you something else.” Every time Bu Liuliu began with this opening line, it meant he had something significant to share.

The man grew interested as well.

“I possess all the memories of the original owner, right down to knowing what age he was when he was weaned and when he stopped wetting the bed. Isn’t that bizarre?” It truly was bizarre. Provided he avoided revealing how he had arrived here or the nature of his true world, it seemed he could speak of anything else freely without facing any restrictions.

“That certainly is peculiar. If I hadn’t already perceived and known from the start that your soul differed from this physical shell, I would genuinely have thought you were the original person.” For such a phenomenon to occur prompted the man to look at Bu Liuliu with an extra half-measure of lingering curiosity.

“Indeed! If I hadn’t firmly known who I am inside, even I would have believed I was him.”

“Let me tell you, this physical shell of mine belonged to an absolute mega-overlord—public enemy number one of this continent, a wicked villain hunted down and besieged by righteous practitioners. He died a truly tragic and miserable death. Now that I’ve become him, can you imagine how awful my mood is, and just how dreadful my luck must have been to turn into this guy?” In a past life, he must have severely offended Lord Heaven in some unintentional way.

That was the only explanation for why such a tragic farce befell him.

“The continent you mentioned earlier—the one you hailed from previously—was merely a low-level continent, not worth worrying about. Besides, you’ve already left that continent behind; you needn’t worry about any old enemies finding out you’re still alive and hunting you down for revenge.” The man offered this with a distinct undertone of playful teasing.

“When you mentioned earlier that this place is called Dutian Realm, where exactly is Dutian Realm located?” The novel hadn’t mentioned it anywhere.

In truth, the moment he spotted the little girl, he had already deduced that he had departed from that continent entirely.

“Dutian Realm resides within the Creation Continent. Have you ever heard of the Creation Continent?” Since he had no idea which world Bu Liuliu hailed from, the man decided to ask.

“Never heard of it.” Creation Continent just hearing the name alone sounded like an immensely overpowered place.

And Dutian Realm… sounded even more ridiculously formidable.

Thus, having acquired half a life from this venerable individual, Bu Liuliu felt no swell of arrogance or greedy delusions of trying to claim it as his own; instead, he felt a profound sense of indebtedness. He was reaping an immense bounty from the other person while also receiving assistance with soul-nourishment. Whether considering the half-life or the soul-nourishment process, he was the sole beneficiary taking advantage of the situation. Consequently, his attitude toward the man was exceptionally upright and sincere.

Moreover, he was fully prepared to cooperate one hundred percent with whatever the man instructed next.

He intended to strive earnestly to return that half-life to its rightful owner as soon as possible.

“You will come to understand it gradually over time. For now, you can try moving around.” The man withdrew his spell-casting energy, tossing both sleeves backward as he clasped his hands behind his back, looking utterly unconstrained and transcendent like an immortal.

Bu Liuliu, however, had zero spare energy to admire such aesthetics; his entire focus rested on the man’s instructions.

Move around…

Following that, Bu Liuliu—who had previously been lying like a corpse upon the bed frame—attempted to wiggle his neck. No problem… He wiggled his fingers. I have sensation.

Then came his toes…

Once he confirmed that his entire physical frame possessed sensory feedback, Bu Liuliu propped both arms against the mattress and hoisted himself up in a single, swift motion.

“Damn it, I finally feel like a human being again! Let me tell you, back when I couldn’t move and was stuck in that muddled state with the unbearable stench assaulting my nose, I kept worrying that maggots might be crawling all over me it disgusted me to my absolute core. But disgust aside, I had already resigned myself to waiting for death, yet you brought me back to life. Honestly, I ought to thank you; at least until you take back your half-life, you’ve allowed me to live like a human being again. Rest assured, I’ll take good care of your half-life and won’t let it get broken on my watch,” Bu Liuliu declared, patting his chest reassuringly.

“I believe you.” Those were spoken as genuine truth; this soul was truly rather interesting. The moment he spoke those words, he simply found himself believing him.

“Thank you. Oh, right, my name is Bu Liuliu—ironic enough, considering this physical shell’s name is Bu Liuqing, while I am Bu Liuliu. It’s truly a predestined bond of misfortune that I ended up becoming him. I don’t suppose I might ask your esteemed name?” Bu Liuliu’s personality could best be described as sincere, casual, carrying the unpretentious, carefree chivalry of a martial hero without a trace of flippancy.

“Su Cishang.”

“A fine name, sounds wonderful.” A genuine compliment.

“I think so too.” Genuine narcissism.

In that fleeting moment, two individuals hailing from entirely different worlds shared the familiar tacit understanding of close friends, interacting with exceptional harmony.