System, You Didn't Say the Villain Can Read Minds! - Chapter 48

Chapter 48

◎So What If You Fall Into The Demonic Path?◎

“Master…”

This was Yun Wenzhou calling, her tone carrying clear hesitation.

Mo Jiu’s heart trembled.

Yun Wenzhou was usually self-righteous when doing bad things. Her hesitation implied that something genuinely bad had happened.

“What’s wrong?” Mo Jiu asked her.

Where does it hurt? No way, I was as gentle as can be?

This inner voice choked the rest of Yun Wenzhou’s sentence in her throat, but she ultimately mustered the courage to confess: “Master, my Golden Core has shattered. I must form my Nascent Soul immediately, or all my efforts will be wasted. But…”

She grit her teeth, ignoring Ye Lan’s presence, knelt before Mo Jiu, and adopted a more formal tone and wording: “Your unworthy disciple developed a Heart Devil due to lustful desires for Master. If I cannot resolve this Heart Devil, I will fall into the Demonic Path during Nascent Soul formation. Therefore… I earnestly request Master to resolve my Heart Devil!”

Ye Lan’s eyes widened. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard.

Lust… Lust… Lust… Lustful desire? Is that what I think it means?

The Star River Goddess, however, seemed calm.

I always expected her to fall into the Demonic Path sooner or later, but I didn’t expect the reason to be this. It takes courage to admit it so openly.

The moment Yun Wenzhou spoke, she prepared herself to be judged.

She thought Ye Lan would kick her while she was down, but Ye Lan was merely shocked.

She thought the Star River Goddess would ridicule her, but instead of mocking her, she affirmed her courage in her heart.

These two people were much kinder than she had imagined… So, all this time, she was projecting her own wickedness onto others? The evil one was herself, all along?

Yun Wenzhou gave a self-mocking smile: “Your disciple knows she is unworthy of Master. I request Master to give your disciple a real punishment, to sever my thread of affection, so that I may form my Nascent Soul in peace.”

She was serious. She wanted Master, but she felt that only a more righteous person was worthy of Master.

Thus, she added the word “real” before “punishment.” She wanted Master to banish her to a remote cave for fifty to a hundred years of solitary cultivation, and only come back to pursue Master when she became a better person.

However, if Master truly desired her and wished to cultivate with her…

Yun Wenzhou waited anxiously and expectantly for Mo Jiu’s response. Ye Lan and Star River also looked at Mo Jiu with curiosity.

Mo Jiu responded quickly, her tone rather dismissive: “So what if you fall into the Demonic Path?”

Yun Wenzhou: “?”

Ye Lan: “?!”

Star River: “…!”

According to the original book’s plot, Yun Wenzhou was destined to fall into the Demonic Path. It was just that the reason for her descent had changed from jealousy of Ye Lan to desiring her Master.

Mo Jiu checked with the System whether she should stop Yun Wenzhou from falling into the Demonic Path.

The System’s response was: The priority of falling into the Demonic Path is above bullying her.

Meaning she shouldn’t stop it.

That made things easy.

“So what if you fall into the Demonic Path?” Mo Jiu didn’t care at all. “Even after you fall into the Demonic Path, you’re still my disciple.”

In what form does a Heart Devil actually exist? I’m curious.

Through Master’s inner voice, Yun Wenzhou knew that she genuinely didn’t care if she fell into the Demonic Path or not, and was not being sarcastic.

This made Yun Wenzhou both happy and sad.

Happy—Even if she fell into the Demonic Path, she wouldn’t lose Master, and her Nascent Soul formation was now free of any worries.

Sad—Her confession was completely brushed off!

But since the most desired answer was obtained, Yun Wenzhou had no other requests. She sat down cross-legged, preparing to form her Nascent Soul in peace.

Mo Jiu walked over to Ye Lan and grabbed her wrist: “Let’s go.”

The two instantly flashed back onto the barren mountain. The tribulation cloud immediately found its target again. Five bolts of thick, red lightning descended from the sky, accompanied by an angry roar!

It was done playing! It was going to kill Ye Lan!

However, the prepared Mo Jiu brought Ye Lan back into the Secret Garden at the fastest speed. The five bolts of heavenly lightning missed their target again, while also blowing up the entire mountaintop with a deafening boom!

“Spirit Transformation level, nine Heavens’ Tribulations. Eight bolts of lightning have fallen, only the last one remains.” Mo Jiu took a deep breath, preparing to face the final bolt of heavenly lightning.

Star River tentatively asked: “My master shattered her core to form her Nascent Soul, she should only receive six bolts of lightning. Why has it become a nine Heavens’ Tribulation? Does Master know the reason?”

Mo Jiu looked at her.

She certainly couldn’t reveal the part about a section of the library usurping the Heavenly Dao to kill the protagonist.

But if she acted completely unsurprised and fully prepared, it would be difficult to explain that she knew nothing.

She had no choice but to improvise an explanation on the spot.

She was good at lying: “My third disciple gathers both luck and misfortune. She has high talent and many fortuitous encounters, but also many tribulations. Perhaps the Heavenly Dao fears she will disrupt the balance of the three realms upon her future ascension, so it tries its best to restrain her during her breakthrough. Since you have acknowledged her as your master, you must protect her well.”

“Yes.” Star River bowed.

[I see. No wonder I was picked up by her of all people. Being both favored and guarded against by the Heavenly Dao?]

So easily fooled.

Yun Wenzhou scoffed inwardly.

She hadn’t actually heard Master’s inner voice, but she knew Master was lying.

How did she know…

Master was not usually a serious person. She was rather languid, telling them to cultivate diligently while she herself often slacked off. Yet, when she lied, she was always exceptionally serious, afraid that if she wasn’t serious enough, she couldn’t convince others.

When Master spoke those words just now, her expression and tone were extremely serious, making it sound true… But this actually exposed her lie.

Mo Jiu was unaware that her acting skills had encountered the greatest crisis in history. After preparing to face the final bolt of heavenly lightning, she brought Ye Lan out of the Secret Garden again and returned to the mountain where the top had been blown off.

The uneven ground nearly twisted Mo Jiu’s ankle. Fortunately, Ye Lan quickly supported her.

Ye Lan’s arm was strong, supporting her decisively and swiftly, then pulling away instantly, not wanting to offend her Master.

However, Mo Jiu, whose waist was touched, still felt a slight discomfort—a feeling she never experienced when Yun Wenzhou touched her.

It wasn’t dislike, just discomfort. If she had to describe it, it was like a rabbit being licked by a wolf.

Mo Jiu realized that deep down, she was afraid of Ye Lan. She wondered if it was because Ye Lan had once sliced off her lower leg in the previous world.

The final bolt of heavenly lightning moved like a dragon among the clouds, calculating the angle of descent.

Finally, it struck diagonally, bending several times, descending like an electrocardiogram!

Mo Jiu accurately timed the moment it was about to hit her, taking Ye Lan back to the Secret Garden.

The heavenly lightning missed the two, spiraled upwards for a bit, and finally returned to the ground in anger, crashing onto the mountaintop with a “boom!”

With the nine Heavens’ Tribulations passed, Ye Lan successfully formed her Nascent Soul. Her aura transformed from within, and her cultivation level rapidly rose, skipping the Early Nascent Soul stage and entering the Middle Nascent Soul stage.

“You’re next.” Mo Jiu walked up to Yun Wenzhou and held out a hand to her.

Yun Wenzhou opened her eyes, pursed her lips, and placed her hand in Mo Jiu’s palm, using her strength to stand up. She confirmed one last time: “Master, are you not afraid that my personality will drastically change after falling into the Demonic Path?”

“If it really changes drastically, I’d quite like to see it.” Mo Jiu replied.

Will a drastically changed Yun Wenzhou become more like her, or less like her?

Honestly, Mo Jiu was having trouble distinguishing between her and her now.

She wanted to believe that her Xiao Zhou had crossed over to this world with her, but had lost her memory.

She didn’t know when she would accumulate the 100,000 reward points needed to exchange for the wish stone. In comparison, putting Yun Wenzhou into the Secret Garden at the end of this world and bringing her to the next seemed much more feasible.

Mo Jiu lifted Yun Wenzhou into a bridal carry.

Yun Wenzhou let out an “Eh,” looking at Mo Jiu, pleasantly surprised: “Master?”

“The mountain outside has been blown uneven by the heavenly lightning; it’s easy to twist an ankle,” Mo Jiu explained.

As she spoke, she summoned her sword, flying onto it while carrying Yun Wenzhou horizontally: “Are you ready?”

Yun Wenzhou’s hands were tucked at her chest. One of them tentatively grasped Mo Jiu’s collar, and she replied softly: “Mm, I’m ready.”

Once she confirmed Yun Wenzhou was ready, Mo Jiu brought her out of the Secret Garden and onto the barren mountain that had been completely ravaged by the heavenly lightning, preparing to welcome Yun Wenzhou’s heavenly lightning.

Star River, who was left in the Secret Garden, couldn’t help but chuckle: “Such favoritism. I’m surprised your senior sister’s affections aren’t one-sided.”

“Master is gentle and doesn’t want senior sister to be swallowed by her Heart Devil, so she is inserting herself into the situation,” Ye Lan replied.

Star River stared at Ye Lan for a long time. After confirming she was serious, she showed a helpless expression: “You, on the good side, are upright; on the bad side, you’re utterly oblivious.”

“That is my Master,” Ye Lan insisted. “I can understand senior sister’s feelings for Master, but Master towards senior sister… such a strict Master dislikes disciples who are troubled by love and don’t cultivate properly.”

However, Master’s tenderness has always been hidden. But just now, the expression I saw on senior sister’s face, revealed a tenderness from within. It didn’t look forced.

Could Master really feel something for senior sister…

“In Senior’s opinion, what are my senior sister’s merits?” Ye Lan asked.

Star River was stunned: “I didn’t expect you to ask such a question… I thought someone as upright as you wouldn’t gossip, but… I genuinely dislike your senior sister.”

“Aside from her appearance and figure, there’s nothing about her that surpasses me. I’m not boasting, it’s the truth,” Ye Lan said. “But… if Master truly likes her, it means she must have some merits I can learn from. Do you think I should go ask her for advice?”

“…Do you also want to seduce your Master?”

“…No, I just want to become a better version of myself.”

“…Then I think, instead of seeking advice from your senior sister, you should put more effort into your appearance and figure.”

“My Master is not that shallow!”

“Oh.”

Was Mo Jiu shallow?

She was certainly initially attracted by Yun Wenzhou’s appearance and figure.

Later… she didn’t even know what she loved later.

Every virtue of Yun Wenzhou she later recalled had once been her flaw.

Logically, she knew she didn’t fall for Yun Wenzhou because of those traits. She fell for those traits because she fell for Yun Wenzhou.

Perhaps, the later her simply loved the feeling of being entangled with Yun Wenzhou.

She loved the feeling of her rationality being washed away by the waves of emotion.

Leaving behind a field of beautiful, glittering seashells.

Mo Jiu stood on the sword, carrying Yun Wenzhou horizontally. Their long hair and clothing ribbons danced in the wind.

The sun was on its way down, painting half the sky crimson.

The red glow of the sunset fell on Yun Wenzhou’s face and hair. Her skin reflected a layer of bright yellow, like gold under a crystal lamp.

Her eyes were already light-colored. Under the sunset, they took on an alluring amber hue.

Mo Jiu looked at it and didn’t find it strange; she just found it beautiful.

Such beautiful eyes, I want to kiss them.

Yun Wenzhou’s face blushed. She instinctively wanted to ask her—Are my eyes really that beautiful?

But fearing the exposure of her mind-reading secret, she ultimately kept her lips tightly sealed.

The dissipated tribulation cloud was gathering again. Its scale was nowhere near as terrifying as Ye Lan’s.

The Heavenly Dao only wanted to kill the protagonist. It couldn’t be bothered with Yun Wenzhou, the villain.

Mo Jiu could withstand the six bolts of Nascent Soul level heavenly lightning without relying on the Secret Garden. She wanted to block the first three bolts for Yun Wenzhou and let Yun Wenzhou endure the remaining three.

The six bolts of heavenly lightning meant destruction for the first three and rebirth for the latter three. Being struck by the last three bolts would help strengthen the physique and improve aptitude. The effect was similar to the Vessel Forging Scripture—this was the Vessel Forging Scripture bestowed by the Heavenly Dao, after all.

“Don’t ever say things like you’re unworthy of me again,” Mo Jiu suddenly spoke, her tone exceedingly gentle. “All humans are born equal. While there may be differences in personality and ability, the soul has no distinction of rank or nobility.”

Yun Wenzhou looked up at her Master, gazing intently.

“If you’re afraid of doing something wrong, I’ll stop you, and you stop. That’s all. As long as I haven’t said you did something wrong, you haven’t done anything wrong.”

Mo Jiu didn’t know which Yun Wenzhou she was speaking to, but it no longer mattered…

Both Yun Wenzhous were Yun Wenzhou.

She yearned to continue their entanglement, just as the Earth was accustomed to the Moon’s orbit and could no longer adapt to a night without the moon.

The apologies could wait for a future opportunity. When that time came, whether it was kneeling on a washboard or a durian, she would kneel.

Yun Wenzhou looked at Mo Jiu, her pupils trembling. She had a premonition, but she dared not believe it.

Is it real? Am I dreaming?

Mo Jiu didn’t give her much time to prepare. Before the first bolt of lightning struck, she lifted Yun Wenzhou’s body, lowered her head, and pressed her lips against Yun Wenzhou’s lips.

Facing the Yun Wenzhou before her, she surrendered, carrying the guilt she felt toward the Yun Wenzhou of the previous world.

She had made her choice, both for the Yun Wenzhou on the verge of falling into the Demonic Path and for herself.

Soon, the first bolt of lightning descended. She maintained the kiss with Yun Wenzhou, raised one hand, caught it in mid-air, and twisted it like a pretzel.

A living thing, you say? As long as it’s a living thing, it’s under my command!

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