Transmigrated as the Villain and Driven Crazy by the Vengeful Male Lead - Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Tianjin Alley (End) — Why don’t you try it for me, being the first…

Meng Shijie clutched a dagger—originally meant for his wife to peel fruit for their daughter—and lunged from behind while the crowd was distracted!

At that moment, Su Cheyue was closest to Rourou. No one knew if Meng Shijie intended to stab his former savior or his own biological daughter.

Ultimately, the sharp blade sank into the soft belly of the calico cat.

With a shrill, lingering shriek, the grey-white fur of the calico’s belly split open, and blood gushed out.

The room fell into a deathly silence. Meng Shijie released the dagger, stumbling back: “Tang… Tangyuan…”

“Tangyuan? Tangyuan!” Madam Meng cried out in despair.

The dense fur became clumped with blood, losing its usual smoothness. The newly molded physical body heard that call; a whimpering cry that could break one’s heart rose from its throat, though none knew if it was an answer or a protest.

The cat arched its back in agony, its body beginning to twitch bit by bit as its voice gradually faded.

It lay exactly in the arms of Rourou and Su Cheyue; both their hands were covered in its blood. Rourou wailed louder, while Su Cheyue kept his eyes downcast, his long lashes trembling like the wings of a startled crow. His white robes were stained entirely with blood, the droplets merging into a vast, spreading crimson.

It turned out a cat’s blood was even darker than a human’s, thick with a sense of hopelessness.

Su Cheyue’s lips parted slightly: “…I told you, the Bone-Shaping Pill was your only chance.”

“If you die like this,” though he tried his best to suppress it, Lyu Shuyao could hear the tremor in his voice, “you will lose everything—your body, your soul, your memories. There will never be another calico cat in this world that is you.”

There will never be another cat in this world that is you.

Familiar words. Lyu Shuyao’s pupils dilated violently.

The cat’s amber eyes grew cloudy with extreme pain, its tail feebly thumping against Su Cheyue’s arm, each strike splashing tiny blossoms of blood. Soon, the focus in its eyes vanished completely, and a faint phantom soul drifted out once more, floating in the air.

Su Cheyue looked up at it, his gaze dark.

“I didn’t expect to regain a body so quickly, nor did I expect to return to the human world so soon,” the ghost said. “Thank you.”

Su Cheyue gripped the hem of his robe tightly, closing his eyes in silence.

“However, I also didn’t expect to say goodbye again so soon.” Its tone was gentle, sounding as if it were smiling. “Though I will lose everything, being able to enter the cycle of reincarnation at last is a good thing.”

Changing from a physical body back into a spirit, bypassing the curse of the Abyssal Purgatory, it could now take on the identity of a fresh ghost to drink the Soup of Oblivion, cross the Yellow Springs, and be reborn.

“Aren’t you happy for me?”

Madam Meng covered her mouth, sobbing: “It is we who have failed you, Tangyuan…”

It shook its head: “Without you all, I should have died long ago. So, no one owes anyone anything.”

“…” It took a long moment before Su Cheyue found his voice: “Of course. I am happy for you.”

Heat surged through Lyu Shuyao’s chest like a volcanic eruption or a tidal wave. The heavy rain from ten years ago seemed to pour down again, leaving him nowhere to hide. Shivering uncontrollably, he stepped forward and held the cat’s cooling body.

“Juanjuan, Juanjuan.”

“I’m sorry, Brother Shuyao, Brother Qingsang. I caused you both to suffer.”

“Tired? I am quite tired,” the soul in the air joked, mishearing the name. “I’m going to catch up on some sleep. Goodbye, everyone. Goodbye, world of the living.”

It did a cozy flip in the void and took a long, stretching yawn: “I hope in my next life I can be human, so I can be stronger and stay with those I love for a little longer.”

The soul was like mist, dispersing without even a breeze.

the body lost all warmth.

Su Cheyue took a deep breath, let go of his robe, and suddenly swiveled his sword. He hauled up the slumped Meng Shijie, using his blood-stained white sleeve to tightly bind the man’s mouth, nose, and neck, leaving him no room to breathe.

The scent of blood rushed down his throat; Meng Shijie nearly gagged, but with all exits blocked, he could only let out pained moans. His face turned the color of pig liver, his eyes bulging.

“Ayue?” Su Qingyang called out worriedly.

“I might have considered sparing your life if you had begged me,” Su Cheyue’s voice had never been so chillingly cold. “It seems I was overthinking.”

Meng Shijie’s hands clawed desperately behind him, but it was futile. His legs dragged on the ground, kicking back and forth, his cloth shoes making a scalp-numbing scraping sound against the floor.

“I have never killed a person,” Su Cheyue said. “You were right, I am a hypocrite. All that talk of being ‘as bright as the moon and as pure as mountain snow’ is fake.”

“The Abyssal Purgatory is loud and chaotic. Those evil spirits want nothing more than to get out all day—to seek revenge, to harm, to kill, to commit every unpardonable sin under heaven.” He let out a ghostly laugh. “Staying in there for so long, I sometimes wonder… what does it feel like to ruin someone, to kill someone?”

“Ayue!”

Su Cheyue acted as if he hadn’t heard: “Is it a thrill? Regret? Fear? Or… an addiction?”

“Why don’t you try it for me—be the first person killed by the ‘Greatest Young Master of the Immortal Sects’?”

Su Qingyang pulled at Lyu Shuyao: “Persuade him!”

“Why should I?” Lyu Shuyao, perhaps thinking of someone else, said woodenly, “He took away what we cared for and trapped us here for a lifetime.”

“His death wouldn’t even begin to pay for his crimes.”

Su Cheyue’s gaze shifted slightly, and his fingers hidden beneath his sleeve moved imperceptibly.

Meng Shijie’s expression finally shifted from terror to despair. Under Su Cheyue’s unmoving throttle, his struggling limbs gradually went limp, and his refined, scholarly eyes slowly closed.

At the threshold of death, Madam Meng spoke: “Young Master, stay your hand!”

“He tried to harm your daughter, and you still plead for him?”

Madam Meng led her daughter forward, and together they knelt before Su Cheyue.

Su Cheyue’s brow furrowed, but he did not let go.

Madam Meng said, “I am not pleading for him.” Her eyes were wet, but her voice was steady. “On the contrary, I do not want him to die so easily.”

Everyone was stunned.

“The things he said to me just now… I imagine you gentlemen heard them from outside the door. Having lived as his wife for nearly ten years, I thought I knew him well, only to find it was all an illusion.” She smiled bitterly. “I thought what he cared for most was this home, myself, and our child. Thus, when he wanted to capture Tangyuan’s soul, though I was sad, I saw him so haggard and busy for the peace of our household that I couldn’t bear it and agreed.”

“But just now, for his reputation, his career, and his own safety, he actually had the heart to kill his own daughter… I cannot accept this. I will not!”

Meng Shijie suddenly began to kick and thrash again. Madam Meng looked at him coldly: “What do you want to say?”

Su Cheyue loosened his sleeve.

“Vile woman!” As soon as he could breathe, he couldn’t wait to scream insults. “How dare you point fingers at your husband! I wanted a promotion, I wanted to keep things perfect—was it not for you? For this family?! Do you not know what kind of background we come from?! I finally saved enough to enter the city, and through ten years of hard study, I finally earned a bit of fame and official rank—how could I let it go to waste!!”

“Without money, without power, even if you gave birth to ten more children, we couldn’t afford to raise them!! Which of the masters at our academy doesn’t have three wives and four concubines?! I have treated you with a single heart from the start, and this is how you repay me!!”

Madam Meng listened to his rant calmly, then turned to Rourou: “Rourou, do you see clearly? Do you hear clearly? This is your father.”

Rourou huddled fearfully into her mother’s arms, cautiously peeking out with one eye at Meng Shijie as if looking at a complete stranger.

“That’s the right reaction.” Madam Meng stroked the back of her head. “From this moment on, he is no one, and you have no father.”

Rourou sobbed quietly, not wanting to be heard. Madam Meng said, “Cry if you want to. After today, do not cry again.”

Meng Shijie’s eyes were bloodshot. He was speechless for a moment before saying, “You vile…”

Su Cheyue asked, “What is your name, lady?”

Madam Meng was startled, then replied, “I… my name is Luo Wenyue.”

“Miss Luo, please continue.”

“Since you care so much about these things, then heaven shall not grant them to you.” Luo Wenyue looked into Meng Shijie’s eyes. “I ask the Second Young Master to hand him over to the government. I will beat the drum and file a complaint for attempted murder of his daughter. I ask you gentlemen to stand as witnesses.”

“Crazy woman!” Meng Shijie roared.

Su Cheyue curled his lips. “That is not a bad idea. Immortal sects do not interfere in mortal affairs. According to your laws, the punishment shouldn’t be light, right?”

Having followed Meng Shijie, Luo Wenyue was well-versed in many laws: “It is the same as attempted murder. Half of the family property will be seized for the military, and he will be exiled to the borderlands, never to hold office again for all eternity.”

Meng Shijie’s eyes widened in disbelief, and he immediately slumped down, unable to even muster an insult.

Su Cheyue wrapped his white sleeve around Meng Shijie’s limbs, tore a piece off, bound him tightly, and tossed him to the ground.

“He is at your disposal.”

…

The day the court opened, the street outside the government office was packed, and the public’s fury was overwhelming. The judge’s gavel fell; the matter was settled. Su Qingyang pushed Su Cheyue out, but the other figure was nowhere to be seen.

“Where did Lyu Shuyao go again?” Su Qingyang looked left and right. “He’s always running off like this—can he really take care of you?”

Su Cheyue lowered his eyes in thought for a moment and said, “Don’t worry about it, Brother. Let’s return to the inn first.”

The red bean bun shop closed early today because a beautiful young man in purple had come by and bought every single bun. The owner was quite puzzled as he locked up—someone who eats that much should be in a good mood, so why did he look so lonely as he left?

The backyard of the inn was planted with fruit trees. The shopkeeper often used local ingredients, picking peach, pear, and apricot blossoms or fruits in the spring and autumn to brew wine or make pastries. Lyu Shuyao had chosen a pear tree. He sat there alone on the ground under the tree, beside him the body of the cat wrapped in extremely clean white cloth, lying quietly as if asleep.

” I haven’t been here long, I’m not familiar with this world,” he talked to himself. “I didn’t know any good places, and I figured you wouldn’t want to go back to Tianjin Alley, so I chose here.”

“Pear blossoms are nice. The Second Young Master likes pear blossoms best, and I like them too—especially the green pears that grow in autumn. They’re so fragrant, they taste like… well…”

He hesitated for a moment and swallowed the rest of his sentence.

“And red bean buns. I said I’d buy them for you, and now I’m making good on that.”

He looked up at the back window of the guest room.

“I know you aren’t Juanjuan. There is no Juanjuan in this world—there isn’t one in any world. But it’s alright. Our meeting was a twist of fate. This is where we first met; I hope you get what you wish for in your next life, free from sorrow and hardship.”

Having finished his rambling, he rolled up his sleeves and got to work. Using a mud shovel he’d borrowed from who-knows-where, he began to dig with a huff.

After digging for a while, the sound of wooden wheels rolling over the ground came from behind him. He turned to see Su Cheyue standing behind him, looking down at him.

“Lyu Shuyao, do you have any common sense? Digging in someone else’s private backyard is illegal.”