The Scum Gong Villain Returns to Work - Chapter 7

Yu Sui answered with absolute nonchalance, completely unfazed by the clashing tension between Yu Baihua and Tang Jue. He wore the obedient expression of someone thinking, Since President Yu said so, I’ll simply do as I’m told.

Yu Baihua beamed brightly, looking as though he were thoroughly pleased with this answer, yet the aura surrounding him plunged into a sudden frost. The two stared fixedly at one another for a long moment before Yu Baihua effortlessly slipped back into an unhurried, breezy demeanor a mere moment later. He even considerately handed his own white pocket square to Tang Jue so he could wipe his face, then instructed Yu Sui to escort Tang Jue upstairs to the changing room.

With quite obedient docility, Yu Sui nodded and gently offered a virtual, supportive arm to guide Tang Jue. In return, Tang Jue offered him a polite smile, and the two of them headed upstairs one after the other, their figures vanishing from the sight of the crowd.

Responding to the probing inquiries of the guests as though nothing had happened, Yu Baihua remained entirely at ease. Only he knew that the brightly lit, dazzling hall before his eyes was beginning to warp and distort, transforming into a roaring sea of flames. Every single figure was swallowed up by the raging fire, while at the absolute center of the inferno, Yu Baihua raised his head to gaze at a cross materializing out of thin air, upon which Yu Sui’s form was nailed.

Demons were destined to face judgment; just as Yu Baihua was fated to be reduced to ash within the flames, the sinner Yu Sui who had bewitched human hearts would first be nailed to a cross and executed…

With a face as cold as still water, Yu Baihua lowered his gaze, took out his phone to tap out a message, and then smilingly raised a glass handed to him by another guest, draining it in a single swallow.

Standing before the vanity mirror adjusting his tie, Tang Jue could see Yu Sui from the massive reflection, sitting casually upon the sofa armrest with his long legs bent and resting on the floor, idly toying with a silver coin that seemed to have materialized out of thin air.

Tang Jue found his attitude thoroughly fascinating. Setting aside the fact that he was entirely confident in his own appearance, this was someone cultivated by Yu Baihua himself; shouldn’t a kept partner be hanging on their benefactor’s every word, showering them with constant flattery and attention? Yet from the moment they came upstairs, this person hadn’t spared him so much as an extra glance truly a rare specimen.

Straightening his clothes, Tang Jue turned around to walk toward Yu Sui, placing his hands behind his back and asking with a smiling tilt of his head: “What was your line of work originally? Let me guess… a dealer? A magician?”

“A magician,” Yu Sui replied unconcernedly. With a flick of his fingertip, he tossed the silver coin into the air, then reached out to catch and enclose it within his palm, causing the coin to vanish entirely. Curious, Tang Jue leaned forward to inspect the trick, only for Yu Sui to lean back and widen the distance between them.

Standing straight, Tang Jue offered a cold smile that didn’t reach his eyes: “You’re nothing more than Yu Baihua’s dog, yet you’re trying to put on airs of absolute loyalty? Is there any reason I wouldn’t dare touch what Yu Baihua has cast aside?”

“Do yourself a favor,” Tang Jue said coldly, “know your place and remember who you are.”

“Oh?” Resting one hand on the sofa, Yu Sui leaned back leisurely. Far from showing the slightest ripple of agitation at those words, he instead shook his head with a soft sigh:

“Young Master Tang, even when it comes to dogs, the ones constantly remembered by their masters are beloved pets. Stray mutts wandering outside while baring their teeth under the delusion of grandeur can only ever be called wild dogs.”

With a look of sheer listlessness, he twirled a stray lock of hair resting against his shoulder before asking: “Which kind do you suppose you are?”

The instant those words fell, Tang Jue abruptly lashed out with his hand, aiming a vicious slap straight across Yu Sui’s face—only for his wrist to be firmly intercepted and locked in place by Yu Sui, rendering him utterly immobile.

“If I wanted you dead, there are ten thousand ways to do it.” Having never suffered such humiliation in all his life, Tang Jue pressed his tongue against the back of his teeth, drew in a deep breath, and broke into a laugh. “You’ve got a lot of nerve.”

Rarely witnessing such a visceral, teeth-gritting display of forced smiles, Yu Sui casually conjured a playing card between his fingertips with a chuckle and flipped it outward.

A sharp whistling sound tore through the air, and when Tang Jue refocused his gaze, the card had embedded itself deeply into the wooden doorframe, its tail end still trembling slightly from the sheer force behind the throw.

“Before that happens, if I want to kill you, it’s just as effortless.”

Releasing his grip on Tang Jue’s wrist, Yu Sui tilted his head slightly. “Don’t be angry, Young Master Tang. After all, I’m here to help you out.”

His gaze dropped to the cuff pulled back during the struggle, revealing a very ordinary cross tattoo on Tang Jue’s wrist. Meaningfully, Yu Sui observed:

“Wild dogs also want to prove their worth to others, don’t they? When it comes to the desire to destroy Yu Baihua, we share a common language.”

“Who the hell sent you?” Staring fixedly at him, Tang Jue finally allowed a flicker of wariness to surface in his eyes.

“You only need to do what you’re supposed to do. What truly interests me is the person standing behind you,” Yu Sui smiled. “As for the rest, you don’t need to know quite that much at least not yet.”

Tang Jue was ushered back downstairs to continue hosting the banquet, while Yu Sui vanished without a trace. Yet this minor interlude appeared to draw little notice from anyone… or perhaps it simply went ignored.

The banquet finally drew to its conclusion, and the guests dispersed in succession. Guided by an attendant toward the exit, Yu Baihua stepped outside, where a Maybach had been parked quietly in waiting by the front hall for quite some time. The driver opened the door for him, and just before getting into the car, Yu Baihua turned around with an intuitive premonition, catching sight of Yu Sui and Tang Jue boarding another vehicle together.

He smiled.

Seated in the back seat of the car, Tang Jue and Yu Baihua remained locked in absolute silence. A bizarre, eerie tension blanketed the two of them, whereas Yu Sui appeared entirely relaxed, resting his head against the car window and gazing out at the night view flashing past.

The Saint Aurorofei Hotel was located in the heart of the downtown district. From here all the way to the Tang family estate, the route naturally passed through the bustling central business district where night glowed as bright as day, yet Yu Sui could only catch the glare of streetlamps standing rigidly alongside the highway.

This route is wrong. Dropping his eyelids, Yu Sui brushed his fingers against the door, realizing with near certainty that the car doors had been completely and securely deadbolted.

Though Tang Jue also caught onto the anomaly and frantically tried the door handle, it proved entirely impossible to open from the inside. The noise he made was too loud to conceal, and in the rearview mirror, the driver met their gazes before breaking into a wide, grinning smirk.

The air inside the cabin grew increasingly stifling, until the world suddenly spun wildly before their eyes.

When Yu Sui regained consciousness, he felt zero surprise to find himself bound so tightly he couldn’t budge an inch. His hands were tied rigidly behind his back with coarse rope that bit cruelly into his skin, and a dark blindfold covered his eyes. The only sound audible was the muffled, agonizing whimpering of the person beside him likely Tang Jue.

“You’ve made him wait so long… he’s finally deigned to wake up.” A low chuckle rang out, carrying a hoarse edge of suppressed madness. A faint rustle of shifting fabric brushed past, and Tang Jue abruptly fell silent.

Following that came the sound of deliberate footsteps drawing closer. Yu Sui could sense that someone had walked right up in front of him, and he knew with absolute clarity precisely who that person was Yu Baihua.

Inwardly, Yu Sui let out a sigh. He knew this little madman was bound to lose his patience, but he hadn’t expected him to crack quite this fast. Before the plan had even begun deployment, this fellow had directly flipped the table and thrown everything into chaos.

Yu Sui felt someone daringly straddle his lap. Yu Baihua was so exceptionally slender that Yu Sui could easily encircle him with a single arm. A chilling, sharp object trailed slowly down from Yu Sui’s cheek all the way to his waistline, leaving behind an uncomfortable, prickling sensation.

It was likely the blade of a knife.

The pressure was controlled to perfection, leaving no actual wounds upon Yu Sui’s skin, yet the passing graze left a fiery flush in its wake. Yu Sui heard Yu Baihua’s satisfied sigh: “Yu Sui… sometimes I truly have the urge to carve you apart piece by piece… and lock you inside a safe… so no one else can ever look at you.”

“Then wouldn’t you be unable to look at me either?” Yu Sui countered calmly.

“Do I need to?” Yu Baihua’s voice was syrupy sweet yet chillingly cold. “Possession is more important than anything else. No betrayal, no pain for me.” Within his eerie, low murmurs lingered a thread of raw carnal desire, sounding like a lover’s whisper yet carrying the ominous prelude of a venomous snake striking its prey.

Without waiting for Yu Sui’s reply, he reached out and tore the black blindfold off Yu Sui’s eyes, then stood up to pace back and forth before returning to stand beside Tang Jue.

Lifting his eyelids, Yu Sui found his vision filled with an abandoned warehouse, Yu Baihua still clad in formal evening wear he even possessed the leisure to switch into a different pair of cufflinks than the ones he wore earlier and Tang Jue, who was bound tightly right in front of him.

Gripping Tang Jue’s chin, Yu Baihua smiled with a manic, unhinged sweetness: “Such a foolish, naive… utterly endearing face… but you are simply too stupid. Did no one ever teach you not to casually touch things that belong to other people?”

The dagger in Yu Baihua’s hand spun into a flash of steel-petaled arcs. “Which hand did you use to touch him? Or was it both hands… how about we chop both your hands off, would you call that fair?”

Tang Jue shook his head frantically.

Stepping behind him, Yu Baihua bent down and forced Tang Jue’s face upward so the person opposite could see clearly: “Let’s play a game, shall we? If either of you is willing to stay behind here for the other, I’ll let the other person walk free.”

He asked Yu Sui with sickening sweetness: “Yu Sui, are you willing?”

“And Tang Jue, are you willing?”

No one answered. Absolute silence blanketed the space. Pacing crookedly back over to Yu Sui with a troubled, pouting expression, Yu Baihua asked: “Yu Sui, why won’t you say you’re willing?”

After a long beat, Yu Sui spoke slowly.

“I am willing to stay.”

The ropes binding his hands behind his back had already fallen away, scattered loosely on the ground; such a cage could never truly trap a magician determined to slip away.

“But not for his sake for yours.”

Abruptly raising his hand, Yu Sui clamped his fingers around Yu Baihua’s throat, forcing him downward. At the same time, Yu Baihua’s dagger sank steadily a third of an inch deep into Yu Sui’s chest. Refusing to dodge or evade, Yu Sui deliberately leaned forward into the blade, pressing a light kiss against the corner of Yu Baihua’s lips.

I’m sick to death of this, Yu Sui thought to himself.

It had always been for your sake, even when I myself didn’t understand why.

Back when Yu Sui had stayed by Yu Baihua’s side in his past life, he had vaguely sensed that something was amiss. The world consciousness would never arbitrarily assign someone a villain role destined to fail the mission without a reason, and since the persona of “Yu Sui” itself possessed nothing particularly extraordinary, it meant there had to be a second faction within the world capable of being leveraged to achieve the mission objectives.

The former Yu Baihua had understood precious little about his family’s enterprise, keeping his mind set entirely on wild dissipation and pleasure-seeking outside. Curiously enough, the Yu family could hardly be described as a warm, affectionate household; instead, fathers harbored suspicions toward their children while simultaneously forcing them into the mold of heirs, and elder brothers harbored vigilance toward their younger siblings while treating them as expendable tools. Under such conditions, the only reason Yu Baihua had been able to roam free outside for so many years was because a specific link in the chain had malfunctioned.

That was why Yu Sui had coaxed Yu Baihua into returning to take charge of certain operations, using that as an avenue of investigation to uncover the truth: the Yu family had long since ceased to be an unyielding, impregnable monolith; the undercurrents churning beneath its surface were far too vast.

Take, for instance, the never-before-seen young master of the Tang family who had been brought back into the fold, publicly clashing head-on with the sole direct heir of the Yu family he was nothing more than a decoy deployed on the surface to draw fire.

If one truly wished to fell a colossal tree from its roots, the insects had to bore inward from within.

Yu Sui had discovered all of this long ago. In truth, had he simply joined forces with these individuals back then, his mission would have reached completion far quicker, plunging the Yu family into a state of total, irrecoverable collapse from which they could never rise again especially Yu Baihua, who remained blissfully ignorant right at the eye of the storm.

It was simply that Yu Sui had believed a villain ought to maintain some semblance of professional ethics; providing the protagonist with a catalyst for growth was sufficient… As for the rest, Yu Sui figured an idiot like Yu Baihua wouldn’t be able to handle it on his own anyway.

Since he was already cast as the villain, adding one more thorn to his side wouldn’t hurt, and ignoring a whole bunch made no difference.

Yet Yu Sui hadn’t anticipated that his departure would deal such a devastating blow to Yu Baihua. He remembered wondering back then: Why are you hurting this badly? Shouldn’t you be following that original path to exact your revenge and claim everything that belongs to you?

They all told him he was merely a plaything Yu Baihua kept around for everyday amusement, and that in his own vast tapestry of thousands of worlds and lives, Yu Baihua was nothing more than the most ordinary, mundane enemy.

Yet it was precisely this most ordinary, mundane enemy who had driven Yu Sui to sign a brand-new contract with the Administration.

The system knew nothing; only Yu Sui understood.

The day Yu Baihua died and the world collapsed, when Yu Sui returned to submit his mission report, even his colleagues who usually lounged around the office procrastinating and sleeping walked over to ask him with utter bewilderment:

“Yu Sui, why are you crying?”

“…Am I?”

Yu Sui’s hands were steady enough to catch a butterfly’s fluttering wings amidst a raging storm, yet he could not steady that single tear sliding unbidden down his cheek.

“You are… don’t scare me. It’s just a mission; we can’t guarantee a win every single time, which is why you need to learn from me and stop being such a workaholic… Hey, where are you off to? What are you doing going to see the Lord God?”

On that day, Yu Sui realized he wasn’t weeping for a failed mission, but for that specific person.

Under what circumstances would a human cry for another soul? Lacking the capacity to fully comprehend that logic, Yu Sui had chosen to return.

“Even though you interfered with other affairs concerning the protagonist and failed to properly execute your villainous duties, you will still face punishment. Knowing this, Yu Sui, are you still willing?”

“Mhm.”

Above and beyond the original agreement, he remained behind in the Time Administration for another full century.