Transmigrated as the Villain and Driven Crazy by the Vengeful Male Lead - Chapter 35

Chapter 35: The Illusion Opens — Running with him in the rain.

Wake up, Lü Shuyao.

Su Cheyue couldn’t help but feel a surge of anxiety. He forced himself to stabilize his mind, stalling for time: “I have one more condition.”

Jiang Zhiqing grew visibly more agitated. “What condition?” she demanded.

Su Cheyue was blunt: “The Bounty Order.”

Jiang Zhiqing was shocked. “The Bounty Order? Why do you want the Bounty Order?”

In truth, Su Cheyue wasn’t entirely sure what the Bounty Order was for either; he only knew Lü Shuyao had said it could help him recover. Though the two things seemed completely unrelated, he decided to believe it a little.

“Miss Jiang needn’t ask. Just say: will you give it, or not?”

Jiang Zhiqing did not respond immediately, and the two sides stood in a silent standoff. Su Cheyue was puzzled. The Bounty Order was a treasure of Zhuohua Palace, not some shameful secret or leverage. Was it really worth such extreme caution just for a temporary loan?

Jiang Zhiqing instinctively looked toward the ice coffin. After a moment of hesitation, she said in a heavy voice, “This item cannot be given to you.”

“Why?”

“The Second Young Master had better stop trying to negotiate with me,” Jiang Zhiqing said impatiently, stepping toward the purple-clad youth she had just knocked unconscious. “You seem to have forgotten your current situation.”

Su Cheyue’s gaze narrowed sharply. “I am the one talking to you. Why involve an innocent bystander?”

Jiang Zhiqing stared fixedly at him. “Is Young Master Lü a bystander? He is not.”

Su Cheyue looked behind her, his eyes flickering slightly. Then, a faint smirk touched his lips. “And if I still refuse?”

Having gone back and forth with him for so long, Jiang Zhiqing had lost all composure. She could wait, but the person in the ice coffin could not. She was the one pleading; in this game of wits, she was like a thunderstorm—appearing fierce, but unable to sustain herself for long.

In contrast, Su Cheyue was like deep, still water—seemingly calm, but containing a quiet endurance, waiting for the right moment to strike.

She really couldn’t wait any longer.

Driven to desperation, Jiang Zhiqing lunged forward, her sword pressed against Su Cheyue’s throat.

“I don’t have time to waste with you! Where is the Desire-Seeking Pearl?!”

Despite his life being in her hands, Su Cheyue didn’t look at her. His gaze remained calm, looking past her shoulder.

It wasn’t until a slight sound echoed in the freezing, hollow ice cave that Jiang Zhiqing suddenly snapped back to reality and spun around.

“Lü Shuyao! Stop—”

Lü Shuyao had already moved to the side of the ice coffin, one hand rubbing his aching neck. “Lower your sword first. Let him go.”

“Fine, fine!” Jiang Zhiqing withdrew her sword without hesitation and ran toward the coffin. Lü Shuyao said, “Don’t move. Stay right there.”

Jiang Zhiqing stopped instantly, as if her acupuncture points had been struck.

…That’s surprisingly effective?

Lü Shuyao looked curiously into the ice coffin.

One look was all it took for his soul to nearly leave his body in fright.

Lying in the coffin was not the flamboyant, red-robed Chang Huaichen he knew. It was a stiff, half-rotted corpse!

The fair skin of his memory was now shriveled and gray, brittle and hard like a fallen leaf in late winter. It looked as if it would crumble the moment Lü Shuyao touched it. Yet through the decaying flesh, one could vaguely see bones that had softened into a dark sludge—a deep, terrifying black, as if poison had seeped into the very marrow.

Where is Chang Huaichen??

“Don’t touch him… please, don’t touch him!” Jiang Zhiqing’s voice was grief-stricken, her tone one of pure begging.

I… I didn’t plan on touching it… Lü Shuyao said silently to himself.

He struggled to look away and suddenly noticed something pinned beneath the corpse.

“This is…”

Exercising extreme caution to avoid the mysterious body, he reached in and felt a cold, hard token.

The token was square and blood-red throughout, like a translucent pigeon-blood ruby. The front was carved with a lifelike dragon that looked almost 3D-printed, its eyes gleaming like a living creature under the reflection of the ice crystals.

Lü Shuyao stared at it for several seconds. “…The Bounty Order?”

Finding it after wearing out iron shoes, only to get it without any effort??

Lü Shuyao held up the token. Just as he was about to ask the system how to use it, the dragon’s eyes began to flash a frantic red. Dazzled by the light, he squeezed his eyes shut.

Suddenly, a violent sensation of spinning took over, like being tossed into a washing machine. Lü Shuyao grabbed the edge of the coffin, thinking, What the hell?!

Eventually, the centrifugal force subsided.

When he opened his eyes again, the scene had changed—the corpse was gone, the ice coffin was gone, and the people were gone. He wasn’t indoors; he was outside!

Splatter! He was outside in a torrential downpour!

Lü Shuyao stood in the pouring rain. Before his brain could react, a warm hand suddenly grabbed him.

And led him into a run through the rain.

Lü Shuyao turned in surprise to see that the person leading him had hair as dark as silk and moon-white robes fluttering against the wind and rain.

The first time he had seen this back was in the Ghost Purgatory, when the man had told him: “Martial Nephew, do not come close. Stay away.”

The back was familiar, but because its owner hadn’t been able to stand, he hadn’t seen it like this in a long time.

“Su Cheyue?”

The rain was loud, heavy droplets smashing like stones against the ground and roofs. There seemed to be nowhere to hide, yet Su Cheyue continued to lead him, running fast. He turned his head slightly. Through the curtain of rain, Lü Shuyao couldn’t see his expression clearly, nor could he tell if he had said:

“Don’t be afraid.”

The wind was too fierce; he couldn’t hear.

They ran for a long time. The rain never let up. By the time Lü Shuyao’s heart was racing and his breath was too ragged to keep up, Su Cheyue finally reached their destination, pulling him under a wide roof eave.

Stopping abruptly, Lü Shuyao bent over with his hands on his knees, gasping for air. Su Cheyue moved to let go, but Lü Shuyao wouldn’t allow it, pulling his hand back. Su Cheyue paused, no longer struggling, restraining his own heavy breathing.

Lü Shuyao panted for a while until he felt the oxygen return to his brain. He straightened up and shouted excitedly: “You—you—”

Su Cheyue: “I what?”

Lü Shuyao looked at him with burning eyes. “Your legs!”

Su Cheyue froze, looking down at the hem of his robe in astonishment.

…

Did he only just notice??

He remembered to lead him out of the rain, yet he hadn’t even realized he could stand again?

Su Cheyue looked at his feet, then at Lü Shuyao. He looked so bewildered it was almost cute. “I…?”

Lü Shuyao: “…”

Looking at him, Lü Shuyao didn’t know whether to show his joy first or wait for Su Cheyue to realize it himself.

But Su Cheyue, having lived several years longer than him, merely flickered his gaze with restraint before calmly looking away from his legs to their surroundings. “Where is this?”

Lü Shuyao looked as well and was equally confused.

“How did you wake up just now?”

When asked this, Lü Shuyao remembered he was supposed to be unconscious. The sudden system announcement had been more effective than a rooster’s crow, shocking him awake.

[Congratulations, Visitor! Male lead Su Cheyue’s Hatred Value has decreased by 230. Current Hatred Value: 500. Keep up the good work!]

…Lü Shuyao understood this as: someone hit him, so Su Cheyue was happy. And because Su Cheyue was happy, the Hatred Value dropped.

Was this similar to when he was scratched by the Civet Demon? Su Cheyue couldn’t beat him right now, but seeing him get punished by others apparently felt just as good.

…Forget about whether they were on the same side or not.

Lü Shuyao sighed. Fine, as long as the points go down.

The wind blew mist toward them. The ornaments hanging under the eaves were soaked and limp, looking as if they could no longer bless the owner with “good fortune.” Su Cheyue stepped further out, completely shielding Lü Shuyao from the raindrops blowing in.

“Su Cheyue, you can really—”

Su Cheyue turned to meet his eyes, but before he could speak, they heard a soft whisper nearby—a voice weak and delicate.

“Brother, why hasn’t the rain stopped yet?”

Turning toward the sound, both men were stunned.

The girl who spoke was only a few feet away, also taking shelter from the endless rain. She was small, curled up outside a closed door under the eaves. Her pink skirt was soaked into a dark, blood-red color. She was talking to a youth sitting beside her.

They looked like they had been there for a long time. Their faces were covered in water, and their shoes were soggy and deformed. The youth gently wiped the water from her face, but it was useless; new droplets struck her one after another.

The rain had truly lasted too long.

Lü Shuyao and Su Cheyue weren’t surprised that others were trapped in the rain; they were shocked by the face the girl lifted.

It was Jiang Zhiqing!

Specifically, it was Jiang Zhiqing’s face, but not her body.

The youth said, “Soon. Qingqing, just hold on a little longer, okay?”

The voice was clear, bright, and gentle. It sounded familiar, like something they had heard many times recently.

Lü Shuyao said, “Miss Jiang.”

Jiang Zhiqing and the youth didn’t seem to hear him. Lü Shuyao assumed the rain was too loud and shouted again: “Jiang Zhiqing! Miss Jiang!”

“Okay, I believe Brother. But I’m so hungry, and cold. Brother, I want to sleep again.”

They still didn’t hear him. Jiang Zhiqing’s voice grew fainter. The raindrops on her lashes seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, preventing her from opening her eyes. Her head tilted and fell onto the youth’s shoulder.

“Qingqing? Qingqing! Don’t sleep… don’t sleep! Wake up and talk to Brother. Just wait a little longer, the rain will stop soon!” The youth frantically supported her, holding her shoulders and face, trying to pull her consciousness back. Lü Shuyao’s heart skipped a beat, and he stepped forward directly: “Jiang Zhiqing?!”

Strangely, even though he was right in front of them, the youth acted as if he didn’t exist, never looking up. But when Lü Shuyao saw the youth’s face, he was shocked again!

…Two almost identical faces, except the man’s features were sharper and more masculine, covered in water and appearing exceptionally handsome.

Looking at his age, he was only about twenty, roughly the same age as Lü Shuyao.

Lü Shuyao realized and turned to Su Cheyue. “This is Jiang Zhiqing’s brother!”

The brother’s eyes remained fixed on his sister, deaf and blind to the newcomers. Seeing his unconscious sister, he was at a loss, his eyes turning red with panic. “Qingqing!”

He laid her flat under the eaves, pressing her philtrum and her chest, but nothing worked. Lü Shuyao said, “Miss Jiang is just too weak. He’s a mortal with no spiritual power; let’s help him.”

Lü Shuyao tried to circulate the spiritual energy in his body, but there was nothing in his palm.

What’s happening? Did the system strip his cultivation again?!

Su Cheyue suddenly spoke: “He can’t see us.”

“What?”

Su Cheyue looked at the curtain of rain. “Have either of us been gotten wet by the rain?”

Prompted by this, Lü Shuyao realized with a start: the rain was pouring down, and they had run all this way, yet they weren’t wet at all!

“Yes, how is that possible…”

“It’s an illusion,” Su Cheyue realized. He instantly understood that the return of sensation to his legs wasn’t real either, and his gaze fell in disappointment. “This is the effect of the Bounty Order.”

The Bounty Order can create illusions??

Seeing Su Cheyue’s immediate disappointment, Lü Shuyao felt a prickling pain in his own heart.

“The illusion… how do we get out?”

“Perhaps we can leave once we’ve finished seeing what it wants to show us.”

Lü Shuyao was confused. “What does it want us to see?”

Suddenly, the sky went black. The grey, rainy daylight looked as if a bucket of ink had been poured over it, becoming pitch black in an instant.

“It got dark so fast!”

Jiang Zhiqing’s brother looked up in terror. Thunder suddenly boomed in the distance. The sky became an abyss, with lightning snaking out from within like whips—shifting shapes like howling demons from hell.

“What’s happening?” Lü Shuyao stepped in front of the siblings, forgetting it was an illusion.

Su Cheyue stood beside him and said solemnly, “Evil spirits invading. This is a common occurrence in Huailing.”

This place is that cursed??

The brother hugged his sister tightly, looking helplessly at the terrifying scene.

A clear, sharp whistle echoed through the dark night, cutting through the wind and rain. The youth looked toward the sound in panic.

The barrier of rain should have blocked all sight, but they could clearly see a person sitting on the neighboring roof. The person was clad in red, appearing like a flaming lotus blooming in the darkness—carrying a charming yet dangerous curse.

This curse, like destiny, lit up the youth’s eyes.

The youth asked, “Who are you?”

the red-clad figure replied, “And who are you?”

The youth answered politely out of habit: “My name is Jiang Zhiqing.”

The red-clad figure said, “Oh. My name is Chang Huaichen.”

They were separated by a long street in Huailing, yet they could hear each other clearly. Chang Huaichen must have been using some sort of magic to act as a medium.

Did he come here on purpose?

Chang Huaichen sat high up, forcing Jiang Zhiqing’s brother to crane his neck to see him. He asked, “What are you doing here?”

Thunder mixed with rain, rain mixed with thunder; heaven and earth roared incessantly. Chang Huaichen pressed a finger to his lips and whistled again.

Jiang Zhiqing’s brother said, “I—the rain is too heavy! My sister and I can’t leave!”

Chang Huaichen chuckled softly—a light but clear sound. Hearing him laugh in such a bizarre and terrifying situation, the youth asked blankly, “What are you laughing at?”

“This rain has lasted for half a month. The roads in Huailing are flooded, the bridges have collapsed, the ships are docked, and the city is sealed. Every household is hiding from the flood. Why are you two stranded here, so pitifully?”

His tone was relaxed as he sat on the roof, as if watching a play. Seeing his lack of sympathy, the youth couldn’t help but feel angry. “We are pitiful, yet you treat it as a joke!”

“Why shouldn’t I laugh?” Chang Huaichen said. “You aren’t from Huailing. What did you come here for?”

“We were… just passing through. We didn’t intend to stay.”

“But now you can’t even make it out of Huailing alive.” Chang Huaichen lazily looked at the girl in his arms. “She’s dying.”

The youth shuddered, hugging his sister tighter in terror. “No… it won’t happen… No!”

“Do you know how this rain started?” Chang Huaichen tilted his head, resting his chin on his hand, appearing as relaxed as if he were telling a bedtime story to the person below.

“Many years ago, there was a little girl in Huailing. She was very cute and lively, climbing trees to catch birds every day, sitting on her garden wall waiting for her parents to come home. The neighbors saw her going to such high places alone and said, ‘Come down quickly! It’s too dangerous to climb so high. If you fall, we won’t be able to catch you!'”

“The little girl smiled and picked the sweet oranges from the high branches one by one, tossing them to the people below. She said, ‘I’m not afraid of heights, I won’t fall! I’m giving oranges to the uncles and aunts!’ The neighbors ate the sweet fruit and were all smiles, teasing her, ‘Then what are you afraid of?’ The girl said, ‘I’m not afraid of anything!'”

“How could anyone in this world be afraid of nothing? Everyone wanted to laugh at her naivety, but having eaten her oranges, they didn’t want to dampen her spirits. They only praised her good nature, saying she was as brave and passionate as a boy, and that she would surely do great things when she grew up.”

“Then one day, it rained in Huailing. The river rose, and many boats docked early. The little girl’s parents were raft workers and didn’t come home on time that day. The rain was heavy, and the girl was worried. She took two small umbrellas and went to the riverside alone.”

At this point, Chang Huaichen suddenly stopped. The youth asked, “And then?”

Chang Huaichen: “Do you really want to hear more? The ending of the story is very frightening.”

The youth said, “If it concerns this rain and my sister, please, sir, speak quickly!”

“The little girl rarely went to the river and didn’t know how quickly the water rose after rain. She saw her family’s raft bobbing by the shore and tried to climb up with her umbrellas to find her parents. But the waves were too big and fast. The surging water swallowed her in one gulp. There was no girl on the shore, and no girl on the boat.”

The youth’s eyes widened.

“After an unknown amount of time, a few people returned from unfastening their rafts on the river, complaining to each other about how strange the rain was and how eerily the waves were churning. One person said, ‘Today is the Ghost Festival!’ Another said, ‘Who doesn’t know it’s the Ghost Festival?! But all of us depend on the river for our lives, trading our lives for money to put food on the table. We work even if it’s raining needles; what ghost festival is there to fear!'”

“At that moment, someone jumped up and pointed to the middle of the river, screaming, ‘What is that?!’ The others looked over, their faces turning pale! One said, ‘It looks like a person!’ A second said, ‘It is a person! It’s a child!’ A third said, ‘It’s the girl from old Liu’s family! She’s going to drown!'”

“A fourth person said, ‘Is it really that girl? The one who gave us oranges? She can’t swim?!’ A fifth said, ‘It looks like her. She’s afraid of water, she’s afraid of water—she’s really going to drown!'”

“The first person snapped out of it and said, ‘Save her!’ The one who had just said he wasn’t afraid of the Ghost Festival stopped him and said, ‘Today is the Ghost Festival!’ The third person asked tremblingly, ‘Didn’t you say you weren’t afraid?!’ That man said, ‘I’m not afraid, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to volunteer myself!’ The fourth person said, ‘What do you mean, Old Feng?’ The fifth said, ‘Brother Feng means, why would that girl come to the river for no reason and fall in for no reason? She usually stays in her tree!!’ The first person said again, ‘She came to find her parents!’ The second said, ‘Then why is she in the river!’ The third said, ‘Why has she been struggling for so long without sinking? It’s too strange, too strange!’ The fourth said, ‘Didn’t she say she was afraid of nothing? She shouldn’t be afraid of water! There must be a ghost!’ The fifth said, ‘A water ghost! A few years ago, some boys who were good swimmers went into the river and were dragged down and killed by a water ghost! Lulu is a girl; water ghosts like them even more!’ The first person said, ‘Yes, yes, I remember…'”

“They stood by the river, shivering in the rain, gradually losing their strength as they terrified themselves with talk of water ghosts. The second person looked up piteously and shouted, ‘Is there no one to fight the ghost?! She’s going to drown!’ The others also chimed in, ‘She’s going to drown, she’s going to drown!’—They didn’t dare look toward the middle of the river again.”

“Until it was dark. The little girl’s parents came home and didn’t see their daughter. They asked the neighbors and found out their daughter had been taken by a water ghost! The couple crawled and scrambled to the riverside, staring at the rolling waves in the torrential rain. They cried out to heaven and earth, as if the rain from the sky was flowing into their eyes. When the rain stopped and their tears were dry, they supported each other and walked into the river step by step to find their daughter.”

“Later, people said that because it was the Ghost Festival, there must have been a water ghost in the river. Otherwise, why would a tomboy who feared nothing be afraid of water?! Otherwise, why would the Liu couple, who had spent half their lives on the river, end up drowning?!”

The story ended. Everyone under the eaves, whether inside or outside the illusion, fell silent.

Jiang Zhiqing’s brother was the first to snap out of it. “Is this true?”

Chang Huaichen said, “It’s true.”

The youth asked, “Did you tell this story to show me that the people of Huailing are all cold and heartless, people who would watch someone die without helping? Is that why my sister and I have nowhere to go and no one to help us?”

Chang Huaichen let out a long sigh. “No.”

“I wanted to tell you how terrifying ghosts and demons are to the people of Huailing. So terrifying that they forget and violate the natural laws of human kindness. So terrifying that they attribute all misfortune to ghosts and gods, ignoring what humans can do and what human effort can achieve.”

“The ghosts of Huailing haven’t taken them yet, but they have already become incompetent walking corpses themselves.”

The youth questioned: “This is a tragic story. Why did you say it was frightening?”

Chang Huaichen laughed again, his low, lazy voice sounding like a male demon from afar. “Because this rain is the ‘homecoming gift’ that little girl gave to Huailing.”

A whistle sounded. Amidst the thunder and the collapse of the world, a woman’s ghostly laughter echoed through the dark night.