The Vicious Cannon Fodder Despised by Everyone Really Doesn't Want to Go Viral - Chapter 30

The morning light gradually dispelled the darkness in the room. When Lin Zhiyu opened his eyes, his consciousness was still a bit blurred. His thoughts spun sluggishly for several seconds before he gradually woke up. However, in the next second, the weight on his shoulder left him in a daze.

With a slight movement, he realized that he was curled up in Mu Sui’s embrace, their limbs intertwined.

Everything from the middle of the night rushed back into his mind like a tide, and Lin Zhiyu’s face instantly burned hot. The breath exhaled by the other man carried the warmth of early morning, lingering around his neck and making his heart flutter with a restless itch. He did not dare to move anymore. They were so close that even a slight struggle felt like a deliberate attempt to create more embarrassment.

“What on earth is this?” Lin Zhiyu grumbled in a low mumble. He resigned himself to his fate and lay flat like a salted fish being dried in the sun.

But he could not stay in this deadlock forever. Lin Zhiyu considered whether to play dumb and let out a loud shout to startle Mu Sui awake first. After all, he was the victim. As long as he insisted he knew nothing, there was nothing Mu Sui could do even if he wanted to ask questions. He could let the man agonize over it himself.

However, just as this thought arose, he felt the steady, even breathing beside him suddenly halt. Lin Zhiyu instinctively turned his head and locked eyes with Mu Sui, who had just opened his own.

The confusion and chaos in those eyes had completely vanished. Unlike the hollow, helpless look under the dim light last night, the waking Mu Sui was calm and restrained, once again shrouded in a layer of impenetrable frost. His gaze stayed on Lin Zhiyu’s face. The complex emotions in his eyes were like a dark tide in the deep sea, making his thoughts impossible to gauge.

Lin Zhiyu’s eyes darted around, and the rehearsed speech was right on the tip of his tongue. Instead, he was cut off by Mu Sui’s calm voice. “What are you doing in my bed?”

What a classic case of the villain suing first! How did he become the one trespassing on the bed?

Lin Zhiyu was almost moved to laughter by the sheer absurdity. This question left him speechless for a long time, and he felt like a popped balloon, leaving behind only a mess of fragmented emotions. He opened his mouth to retort, but on one hand, he thought about how the one paying the bills was the boss. It would be bad if Mu Sui misunderstood that he was intentionally making fun of him. On the other hand, he worried that if he accidentally mentioned last night’s events, it would only add to the embarrassment.

Therefore, he took a deep breath and asked back in the flattest tone possible, “Do you not think I should be the one asking that question?”

As he spoke, he looked around haphazardly, giving Mu Sui a silent accusation that screamed, “Look, this is my room!”

Mu Sui’s brow furrowed imperceptibly. He propped himself up with one hand and slowly sat up. Lin Zhiyu secretly observed his legs. They seemed to have returned to that soft, powerless state from before. Even so, Mu Sui’s movement as he sat up was languid and elegant. The faint morning light from the window outlined his silhouette clearly and softly, as if he were in a painting.

“What happened last night?” Mu Sui asked indifferently.

Lin Zhiyu swallowed hard, his heart rate suddenly accelerating. He did not know how much Mu Sui remembered about last night or how to begin. After all, saying “You sleepwalked, grabbed my hand, and would not let go of me” sounded less like an explanation and more like flirting or acting spoiled, no matter how it was phrased.

“Uh, nothing special happened,” Lin Zhiyu gave a dry laugh and changed the subject, reaching up to rub his messy hair. “It is just that you, well, you might have been sleepwalking a bit?”

“Sleepwalking?” Mu Sui raised an eyebrow, a flicker of something unusual crossing his eyes, though he quickly regained his usual coldness. “I do not remember.”

He lowered his eyes, staring at his legs as if trying to search for a memory, but he came up empty-handed.

Seeing his brow furrow deeper, Lin Zhiyu scratched the tip of his nose and braved the explanation. “You walked into my room last night, stood by the bed for a while, and then,” he paused, trying to keep his voice as neutral as possible, “and then you grabbed my arm and insisted on staying in my bed.”

As soon as he finished, Mu Sui looked up abruptly, seemingly scrutinizing the truth of his words in silence.

“Just that?” Mu Sui’s tone was light, but Lin Zhiyu felt an inexplicable sense of panic, as if his lies were being exposed.

“Yes, just that. Nothing else happened.”

He nodded his head like a chick pecking at grain, trying to act perfectly candid to hide his nervousness. However, his right hand uncontrollably touched the left wrist that had been held so firmly last night.

“Mhm,” Mu Sui responded lowly, as if finally accepting the explanation, though his expression remained thoughtful.

Unnoticed, Lin Zhiyu breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to get out of bed, he felt a tug at his waist. Looking down, he realized that one of Mu Sui’s hands was resting right on the hem of his oversized pajamas.

Thinking of something, Lin Zhiyu froze instinctively, his heart rate surging. He could almost hear the muffled thumping in his chest.

“Do you want to keep your hand pressed there for a bit longer?” Lin Zhiyu asked tentatively.

Mu Sui paused, his gaze returning to Lin Zhiyu. He followed the boy’s look down to his own hand that had inadvertently fallen there. His expression did not change, but he silently let go.

“Sorry.” His tone was flat, revealing no emotion. “I did not know I had this condition. But since I was the one who ‘stayed’ here by force, you do not need to be so nervous.”

Pulling back his hem and preparing to flee, Lin Zhiyu could not help but retort, “I am not nervous!”

“Is that so?” Mu Sui gave a light laugh. “That is good.”

Lin Zhiyu felt as though he had been subtly teased, but he could not quite put his finger on why, which made him feel helpless. He shot Mu Sui a secret glare, pursed his lips, got off the bed, and grabbed his jacket to throw over his shoulders.

He was about to slip away when Mu Sui called out to him.

“Lin Zhiyu,” Mu Sui said unhurriedly. “Besides what you just said, did I do anything else or say anything?”

Lin Zhiyu’s foot slipped, and he nearly lost his balance. He remembered the ambiguous word “gift” from last night. He did not know what it referred to, but his instinct told him to hide it.

“No, you did not say anything.” He turned back with a stiff smile, grabbed his half-worn jacket, and ran out in a hurry.

Mu Sui watched his back as he practically fled. After a while, he looked down at his own palm resting on his lap. His fingertips curled slightly, as if he could still feel the warmth from the previous night. He gave an undecipherable laugh, and then heard the sound of hurried footsteps outside the bedroom.

Lin Zhiyu pushed the wheelchair over with his head bowed and asked hesitantly, “Can you manage on your own?”

Mu Sui asked back, “If I say no, will you help me?”

Lin Zhiyu was silent for a moment before silently extending his arm. Mu Sui shot him a glance and pressed his palm against the boy’s forearm. His movement getting out of bed was a bit slow, and Lin Zhiyu could only look straight ahead, imagining himself as a walking cane.

But the moment their eyes met, his thoughts became chaotic again. He felt as though he was about to be locked in by Mu Sui’s eyes. He was not sure if it was his imagination, but he thought he saw a flash of an indescribable emotion in Mu Sui’s gaze. It was gone in an instant, as if it had never existed.

“Thank you.”

Lin Zhiyu tactfully let go and watched him operate the wheelchair out of the bedroom. He had thought that after transmigrating to this world, his biggest challenge would be avoiding the original plot to save his life. He had not expected to face a Mu Sui who was completely different from the descriptions in the original book.

“Forget it, whatever!” Lin Zhiyu muttered. He rubbed his face hard to dispel those messy thoughts. But his heart was still racing, like a drop of water falling into a hot pan of oil, creating countless tiny ripples that would not settle.

Even after he finished washing up and got into the car where Chen Chen was waiting for him, Lin Zhiyu could still clearly remember the whisper from last night.

His gift. What could it be?

As Chen Chen drove into the set, he was still rambling. “Finally, we can change locations for the outdoor scenes. I went and caught up on this part of the plot last night. Xie Yunce’s group followed the direction of the dissipating spiritual energy to Changqing Town by the Huai River and ran into the River God’s wedding. There is sword-flying and going into the water. You are really going to suffer today, Brother Lin.”

The filming location was by an unnamed riverbank within the film city. Zhao Jinyu was already busy directing in the center of the field, while the lighting and set designers were busy adjusting the equipment.

Lin Zhiyu skillfully changed into his costume. Under the guidance of the staff, he put on the wire harness and walked onto the wooden boat. A red bridal veil was placed over his head, blocking all his vision. Lin Zhiyu felt the prop soft sword at his waist. After confirming its position, he gave a blind hand signal to Zhao Jinyu.

This scene involved Xie Yunce and his group investigating the dissipation of spiritual energy in the Central Plains. They happened to pass through Changqing Town, only to find that the town, which should have been decorated for the Lantern Festival, was filled with a deathly silence.

Yun Qi asked the townspeople and found out that the Mother River they had relied on for generations had given birth to a River God. The River God demanded a young woman as his bride every three months; otherwise, he would flood Changqing Town.

Xie Zhuoyu and Yun Qi naturally did not believe in such a wicked deity and wanted to investigate the river immediately, but they were stopped by Xie Yunce.

“Tomorrow is the day of the River God’s wedding. We should wait patiently.”

However, to everyone’s surprise, the one who stepped into the wooden boat to drift down the river the next day was not the chosen bride, but Xie Yunce in disguise.

Lin Zhiyu sat upright and comforted himself several times. It is fine, it is fine. The pay for a cross-dressing role is much higher. But the bridal outfit was too restrictive, making him quite uncomfortable.

“Action!” Zhao Jinyu’s voice cut through the bitter wind on the river.

Lin Zhiyu’s thoughts snapped into focus. All his confusion and doubt were cast aside. When he looked up, his entire aura transformed into that of Xie Yunce.

The small boat gradually drifted into the depths of the mountains. Behind layers of thin mist was a quaint lakeside pavilion. As if sensing the surrounding chilling aura, the fingers Xie Yunce had resting on his lap gradually tightened. His red lips, faintly visible under the red gauze veil, were pressed into a straight line.

Finally, a man wearing a silver mask appeared directly in front of the boat. “My lady, I have been waiting for you for a long time,” the man said in a raspy, playful voice.

Xie Yunce remained silent, nodding as he looked up at the man. ‘It is a malevolent spirit; act with caution.’ He sent a secret transmission to Yun Qi and Xie Zhuoyu, who were following in the shadows.

The boat docked by the pavilion. Just as the man reached out to lead him ashore, Xie Yunce drew the soft sword from his waist and struck at the man’s vital points!

However, in the next second, something heavy hit the ground. The man was cut in two at the waist, but only a pile of bright red wedding clothes remained on the ground. Inside, it was completely empty. Not a single trace of flesh or blood was left behind.

Xie Yunce’s brow knitted. The wedding clothes on his body were immediately shattered by his spiritual energy, revealing the snow-white inner robes beneath.

At the same time, water splashed on the river. Columns of water rushed toward Xie Yunce like coiling dragons. Xie Yunce retreated to dodge, but another column arrived, and the previous one followed closely. He flicked his long sword and rose into the air on it. Seven or eight columns of water like dragons and snakes exploded from the surface, trapping him within a small area. No matter how high he flew, the water columns could rise to his height in an instant.

“Brother, I am coming to help you!”

But the malevolent spirit’s power was more than that. In the next moment, Xie Zhuoyu, who had just flown to the pavilion on his sword, only had time to throw out a formation-breaking talisman before he felt his sword sink. He fell straight into the water.

Yun Qi cursed, “I told you not to bring him! He is more of a hindrance than a help!”

The water columns were dispersed by the talisman, and Xie Yunce escaped.

“Yun Qi, cover for me. Zhuoyu cannot swim; I am going to save him.” Immediately, Xie Yunce jumped into the water.

Ten minutes later, Lin Zhiyu fished Jiang Yubai out and brought him ashore.

In early December, the river water was cold enough to make one shiver. Lin Zhiyu knelt on the riverbank and gasped for breath, his exhaled air appearing as milky white mist.

“Are you okay?” Jiang Yubai asked with concern.

Lin Zhiyu shook his head, his teeth chattering uncontrollably. “No, not okay at all. Does catching a cold count as a workplace injury?”

The soaked white inner robe clung to his body, outlining his slender yet strong waist and tight hip line. His thin back was still shivering, and the exposed skin appeared a sickly white. Strands of hair clung to his face, with water still dripping from the ends. His lip color was as red as blood. It was hard to tell if the redness at the corners of his eyes was from the cold or the lingering eyeshadow, but the vibrant color spread out, making him look like a seductive ghost in the night.

Ye Nanyi stood next to Zhao Jinyu holding the newly revised script. She watched as Chen Chen hurriedly stepped forward to wrap a bath towel around Lin Zhiyu, her eyes sparkling. After a long pause, she asked, “Is it confirmed? The scene for the Nightmare Ghost?”

Zhao Jinyu glanced at her and said, “You are asking what you already know. You look much more excited than I am.”

Ye Nanyi did not deny it.

Lin Zhiyu changed his clothes in the lounge and was watched by Chen Chen until he finished three large cups of ginger tea. He felt as though his tongue was too numb to be his own. However, before he could lie down and rest, he heard Ye Nanyi’s voice greeting him from outside the door.

“Teacher Lin, are you free? There is something I would like to discuss with you,” Ye Nanyi said.

Lin Zhiyu had Chen Chen open the door. He looked up listlessly and happened to see the script in Ye Nanyi’s hand. A bad premonition suddenly arose in his heart. This development felt strangely familiar.