Transmigrated as the Villain and Driven Crazy by the Vengeful Male Lead - Chapter 44

Chapter 44: Huaichen, Forever in Mind – I Will Never Leave You.

His body was like a swimming dragon, vanishing into the crevices. Following closely behind his sword, driven by the power of the dreamscape, were the onlookers Lyu and Su.

Leaving Zhuohua Palace only confirmed what the person in the voice transmission had said.

In broad daylight, the ground was a mass of darkness.

There was more smoke-like black mist than they had seen during the fierce battle with the ghosts that night. It was called mist, yet it possessed an indestructible, flowing solidity, drifting wantonly in every direction and attacking indiscriminately. Everywhere it stopped, bone-chilling screams rang out.

It was those evil ghosts again!

No wonder no one accepted the bounty; everyone was too busy trying to stay alive!

Why were so many powerful ghosts suddenly emerging?!

Chang Huaichen muttered a low “seeking death.” Just as he was about to brake and dive, the sky ahead suddenly darkened, and a massive vortex swirled high in the air. The vortex was like a black hole, greedily sucking in the surrounding air and light. Its center was a blood-red crimson, and sharp, long cries echoed from it, making one’s entire body go cold.

…A familiar sense of dread instantly spread. Lyu Shuyao shuddered and instinctively cried out: “Su Cheyue!”

It was the Ghost Hell!

“The Ghost Hell has opened… it’s open!”

Lyu Shuyao suddenly recalled the day he first crossed over—how he had been forcibly transported to this hellish place by the system, how he had been coerced into pushing Su Cheyue down, and how he had lost consciousness from the system’s agonizing punishment.

But here in the dreamscape, Su Cheyue, facing the hell that had stripped him of everything, was unnervingly calm.

“This is the Ghost Hell within the dreamscape. The dreamscape represents the past. The only times the Ghost Hell opened… besides this time, was twelve years ago.”

He paused, his eyes snapping upward. “Twelve years ago… Father? Mother?”

Twelve years ago was exactly when Su Cheyue’s parents had sealed the Ghost Hell!

Lyu Shuyao’s heart pounded wildly!

Was this the final meeting??!!

Could it be… could this dreamscape be forcing Su Cheyue to witness the agony of his parents’ death all over again?

Chang Huaichen stood in the air. Tao Yao shot out from beneath his feet, plunging straight into the bloody maw at the center of the vortex.

After a chaotic period of stabbing, it hit nothing.

Chang Huaichen frowned and said, “This is cheating.”

He glanced at the ground again. Realizing he didn’t have time to play along, he clapped his palms together decisively, as if intending to use the Soul-Rend Slash to end it quickly.

At that moment, someone sent him a voice transmission.

“A-Chen, do not use the Soul-Rend Slash. This ghostly qi originates from the Ghost Hell. Unless the Hell is sealed, no matter how many of you there are, it won’t be enough to feed them.”

Chang Huaichen froze, then responded with joy: “Master! Where are you?”

Su Chen stopped speaking.

Su Cheyue looked at Chang Huaichen. When he spoke again, he was no longer steady; his voice carried a tremor he couldn’t suppress: “Father doesn’t want him to take the risk…”

Chang Huaichen reacted immediately: “Master, Master, where are you? I’m coming to help!”

“Master,” he said in a rare, anxious tone, “Your disciple begs to see you! I miss you so much. I have so much to tell you, and someone I want you to meet…”

“Your disciple is untalented, but I have some skills now. I only wish to help you! If you do not answer, I will kill every ghost I find and ask every one until I find you! If I die on the way, you will never see me again!”

The master-disciple bond was moving; even Lyu Shuyao felt his eyes sting. Su Chen finally transmitted: “Three hundred miles west of Huailing City, the true form of the Ghost Hell. A-Chen, promise me, act within your limits.”

Without a word, Chang Huaichen grabbed his sword and flew.

…

It was over.

Lyu Shuyao already foresaw what would happen next, his throat tightening with fear.

The ghostly shadows were overwhelming. The “dragon” chased the plum blossoms into the clouds and vanished. Usually, Chang Huaichen was lazy, strolling out to hit ghosts as if taking a walk. Only now, when he was serious, did they truly realize the sword-riding strength of the Zhuohua Palace Master.

He was a hundred times faster than when he sparred with Lyu Shuyao. In the blink of an eye, before Lyu Shuyao could even speak to Su Cheyue, they arrived west of Huailing.

The sky was deep as an abyss; no one dared approach for miles.

The one in the sky was a phantom; the true bloody maw was beneath their feet. The hell-pit churned with a crimson liquid—it was hard to tell if it was a sea of blood or lava.

As soon as they landed, they saw Su Chen again, along with his wife and Su Cheyue’s mother, Xin Yi.

Ten or twenty years had passed since they last saw them in the dreamscape. Su Chen’s features were still handsome, though his temples were touched with frost. He held his sword, half-hovering in the air, locked in a relentless slaughter.

Behind him, the green-robed Madam Xin also held a sword, warding off attacks from his back.

Though her face was grim, it couldn’t hide her beauty, which was like a pear blossom in the moonlight. Lyu Shuyao was right; Su Cheyue’s mother was a great beauty.

But now was not the time for appreciation. Su Cheyue reacted faster than Chang Huaichen: “Father! Mother!”

He rushed straight toward them before Lyu Shuyao could even stop him!

The moment he saw Su Chen and Xin Yi, he forgot this was a dreamscape! One would want to scream at him to wake up, but then again, who could remain calm upon seeing their deceased loved ones?

Just like a dream, whether it is fear or joy, nightmares and beautiful dreams are the easiest ways to lose oneself and forget that one is sleeping.

He won’t get hurt anyway, just let him go.

After all, this might truly be the last time he sees his parents.

Chang Huaichen couldn’t see Su Cheyue. The red glow of Tao Yao arrived at Su Chen’s side: “Master! Mistress!”

Xin Yi cleaved through a massive ghost shadow: “Why did you call him here?!”

When she spoke, her voice was fierce, contrasting with her appearance: “Seeking fun all the way here? You’re seeking death!” She struck another ghost.

Chang Huaichen was startled, casually slaying a shadow to his right. His voice was so gentle it sounded aggrieved: “Mistress, of course I didn’t come to…”

“Enough talk! Building a palace like that—don’t you know what your reputation is like outside?!” Xin Yi didn’t look back. “Go back where you came from! Go back to your own palace!”

Chang Huaichen said, “I won’t, Mistress.”

“You brat!” Xin Yi cursed. Su Chen said in a deep voice: “Enough talk, focus on the enemy! A-Chen, remember not to be reckless.”

Su Cheyue stood on the other side. The four of them formed four solid walls, each defending against the enemy and guarding the safety of those behind them.

Unfortunately, Su Cheyue was a phantom.

He didn’t even have a sword, and he couldn’t cast spells. He could only watch helplessly as ghost after ghost passed through his body to attack his parents.

Hateful and furious, he turned back to find Lyu Shuyao: “Give me your sword!”

Lyu Shuyao: “…What sword?”

“Your sword!” His phoenix eyes were red. “Give it to me!”

“It’s useless, this is a dreamscape.” Lyu Shuyao shook his head. “Calm down.”

“I don’t care where this is, I only know my parents are here!” Su Cheyue pried at his wrist. “Give it to me!”

Lyu Shuyao sighed.

The Zhanquan Sword borrowed a bit of its master’s spiritual power, making it easier for Su Cheyue to take to the air. But as expected, no matter how hard he slashed or hacked, he couldn’t injure the ghosts in the slightest.

He was merely asking for suffering, experiencing the battle before his parents’ death firsthand.

But precisely because he knew this was the source of the evil that killed them, he was so broken he lost his reason. If Lyu Shuyao could stop him during the fight with Liu Lu, this time there was no stopping him.

“Waaaa—yaaa—”

The clear cry of a baby rang across the ground!

Everyone present was startled. Chang Huaichen asked, “Who is crying? A baby? There’s a baby here? What kind of parents would leave a child here—are they blind or heartless?”

Xin Yi: “Shut up!”

Su Chen: “Be quiet.”

The crying continued. Chang Huaichen said: “Master, Mistress, was that some Silence Spell I haven’t learned yet? Why didn’t it work?”

“…”

Even at a time like this, he had the heart to joke solemnly. Xin Yi was actually angered into a laugh. Before Chang Huaichen even pulled back his sword, he didn’t forget to take the chance to grin and flatter her: “Mistress, you look so beautiful when you smile.”

Beside them, Su Cheyue looked at his mother: “Mother looks beautiful all the time.”

Xin Yi couldn’t hear her own child. She said: “If Che-er grows up to be as glib as you, I won’t even want to see my own son.”

At this time, Su Cheyue was only fifteen. Lyu Shuyao didn’t know if he remembered this moment or what he was doing at fifteen. Regardless, the twenty-seven-year-old Su Cheyue’s eyes turned red upon hearing those words.

“Mother, I am not glib.”

“Can you come back to see me?”

Lyu Shuyao’s heart felt a dull thud.

“This baby has been crying for too long; it isn’t normal.” Su Chen looked down, staring at the source of the sound in the ghost pit. “I’m going down to look.”

“No,” Xin Yi said. “The shape and position of this pit are unpredictable. We don’t know what strange things are down there. It’s too dangerous!”

“If it really sucked a child in, we must save them.”

Xin Yi said, “Then I’ll go down with you.”

Chang Huaichen: “And me.”

“And you what?” Xin Yi finally glanced at him. “Are you going to hell to seek pleasure and smiles?”

“Mistress knows why I founded Zhuohua Palace,” Chang Huaichen lowered his eyes piteously. “Why do you still scold me?”

“I know, but does anyone else? You guard such a controversial territory alone, having to defend against both humans and ghosts. One day, you’ll slip up! Why haven’t you listened all these years and come to Yangshuo?”

“I cannot leave Huailing, Mistress knows this.” Chang Huaichen looked up with a smile. “Besides, Master and I haven’t seen each other in so long and you’re already annoyed by me. If I went to the Baoshan Sect and hovered in front of you every day, what if you got so angry you left home? If you left, wouldn’t Master worry to death? And Cheyue—”

“Fine, shut up. Stay here if I tell you to stay!”

Xin Yi grabbed Su Chen’s arm. With their twin swords clearing the way, they plunged together into the sea of hell.

The moment the blood-light of the pit submerged their bodies, the crying stopped abruptly.

“I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.” The childish crying suddenly changed into a sinister male voice, deep and cold. The sea of blood on the surface of the pit surged with his voice, appearing excited.

Everyone was shocked!

Chang Huaichen shouted: “What monster is this?!”

“The Soul-Rend Slash injured so many of my children, and yet Palace Master Chang turns his back on me so quickly?”

The voice shot from the ground into their ears, making one shudder. Whether it was a hex or not, Lyu Shuyao felt the voice was strangely familiar.

Chang Huaichen thought for a moment and said, “So there really is a so-called Hell Lord. I thought they were just posturing.”

Before Liu Lu fled and before he killed those ghosts, they had all mentioned the name “Hell Lord.”

“So many years have passed; you’re only coming out now?”

There was blatant mockery in his tone. The voice below paused, then laughed: “Chang Huaichen, you still don’t know what kind of situation you are in.”

The sound of a sword clanging rang out. Chang Huaichen’s eyes snapped shut: “Where are my Master and Mistress?”

“Swallowed by me, of course,” the male voice responded provocatively. “Is the Palace Master not coming down to save his mentors?”

It was an obvious provocation. Chang Huaichen frowned, appearing to be seriously discerning the truth.

However, while Chang Huaichen could stay calm to think of a strategy, Su Cheyue didn’t care. He dove straight down!

Someone caught his wrist.

That hand held on very tight, causing Su Cheyue’s wrist bone to hurt. It was this pain that made him realize this was a dreamscape.

In the dreamscape, only one person could touch him.

“Lyu Shuyao, let go.”

Lyu Shuyao’s face was obscured by the blood-shadows. His purple wristband was tight, causing the veins on the back of his hand to bulge. Su Cheyue narrowed his eyes: “This is a dreamscape. Let go.”

“You know it’s a dreamscape,” Lyu Shuyao looked over from the edge of the pit. “Then why are you jumping down?”

“It’s different. My parents are down there.”

“I’ve already made a mistake once.” Lyu Shuyao panted. “I’m definitely not letting go this time… damn it.”

It was as if by not letting go, Su Cheyue wouldn’t go down, and if he didn’t go down, he wouldn’t turn into that broken, crippled state.

But this was a dreamscape; it was fake. Reality could not be changed.

Su Cheyue’s pulse throbbed violently in Lyu Shuyao’s palm.

They were at a stalemate for a long time, until a shred of silk suddenly floated up from the bottomless pit. It was green and stained with blood.

“…Mother!!!”

“Mistress!”

No more time for thought. A flash of red leaped down, blown upward by the foul wind.

“Huaichen!”

Lyu Shuyao painfully turned his head. Jiang Zhiqing had actually chased after them. Chang Huaichen stopped at the edge of the pit and looked back.

“Huaichen!” Jiang Zhiqing landed from his sword a short distance away. “Where are you going? I’ve been looking for you!”

“Don’t come over.” Seeing him, Chang Huaichen’s eyes brightened for an instant, then dimmed with deep worry. “Don’t come over.”

He quickly cast a barrier, blocking Jiang Zhiqing several feet away. Jiang Zhiqing hadn’t slept all night and looked haggard, with dark circles under his eyes. He stared at him: “Huaichen… Palace Master?”

The evil ghosts were howling loudly, and the baby’s cry returned. To prevent Jiang Zhiqing from knowing what was happening, Chang Huaichen sealed both the sound and the visuals within the barrier.

Unable to see him, Jiang Zhiqing called out to him over and over from the outside.

Huaichen, Huaichen, Huaichen.

Chang Huaichen gave a low laugh: “I hear you.”

Jiang Zhiqing’s voice was pleasant, clear and elegant, piercing through the boundless, dark terror like a warm breeze.

He called a few more times, then suddenly stopped.

Chang Huaichen murmured to himself: “Why did you stop?”

Jiang Zhiqing said: “I love you.”

Chang Huaichen was stunned.

“No matter what you are doing… I seem to have no way to hate you or leave you. What should I do? What should I do, Huaichen?”

“I only beg you not to hurt yourself.”

Chang Huaichen’s eyelashes trembled violently. He turned to run out of the barrier.

Another shred of white cloth, like burnt ash, floated up and landed right on the tip of Chang Huaichen’s outstretched finger.

Su Cheyue: “Father!”

Chang Huaichen stopped again.

“Huaichen! Huaichen? Are you still inside? Why won’t you come out? What happened? Are you summoning ghosts?”

“Did those ghosts hurt you? Are you injured again? Let me see!”

“…Are you still angry?”

Every word was filled with deep, hopeless affection.

Chang Huaichen looked at him from afar, his gaze sorrowful and filled with grieving love. But very soon, he turned his head and stopped looking.

“Huaichen!” Outside, Jiang Zhiqing seemed to sense something. His voice became increasingly tragic, almost begging: “You can do anything… just don’t leave me.”

Chang Huaichen closed his eyes and whispered, “I will never leave you.”

He took out the Bounty Order again and pressed it to his forehead. Blood seeped into the token. He began chanting something rapidly, his movements and expression becoming increasingly pious.

A moment later, he lowered the token and took a thin, small red object from his other clenched palm.

It was the Twin Lotuses he had just gouged off.

He folded his hands: “Soul. Rend. Slash.”

This time, it wasn’t the sword that split, nor the soul that split; it was the direct separation of the sword’s body from its spirit, and the living soul from the physical body.

That living soul was pure white, almost transparent. After leaving behind a final, breathtakingly brilliant smile in this world, it plummeted into the death-pit.

He left his body for his lover, and his soul for his faith.

Jiang Zhiqing could not see that smile, and no one in the world would ever see it, except for Lyu Shuyao and Su Cheyue, who had been transported in by the Bounty Order.

“Huaichen? Huaichen!”

On the ground, only Lyu Shuyao remained, along with Su Cheyue, whom Lyu Shuyao refused to let go of.

“Lyu Shuyao, if you don’t let go,” Su Cheyue’s voice was hoarse with desperation, “I will kill you.”

Unfortunately, the male lead Su Cheyue’s Hatred Value has risen by 50. Current Hatred Value: 550.

Lyu Shuyao didn’t know if he was competing with Su Cheyue, the system, or that idiot Hell Lord below. In short, he gritted his teeth and refused to let go. Fortunately, the system didn’t punish him this time. Lyu Shuyao reached out with his other hand, using both to pull—it looked like he might actually pull him up.

Unfortunately, the male lead Su Cheyue’s Hatred Value has risen by 50. Current Hatred Value: 600. Warning, warning! The male lead Su Cheyue’s Hatred Value continues to rise. The visitor is in imminent mortal danger!

Warn all you want; isn’t it just a few dozen points? I managed to trick and coax it down from two thousand; why should I fear this bit?

Suddenly, a fierce golden light swept upward.

It was the brightness of the Zhanquan sword.

At the moment blunt pain flared on his arm and face, all the scenes began to rewind at high speed. The black sky, the blood-shadows, the Ghost Hell, Jiang Zhiqing, and Chang Huaichen—all of them vanished instantly like falling sparks.

It was like watching a turbulent, long, and somewhat torturous movie, until this moment when the stop button was finally pressed.

The screen went completely black. Before the dizziness took over, the last thing Lyu Shuyao saw was Jiang Zhiqing kneeling before Chang Huaichen’s unawakened body, tears streaming down his face.

Beside him lay the vermillion Bounty Order that Chang Huaichen had left behind.

…

Opening his eyes, he finally returned to the empty Zhuohua Palace, the ice cave as cold as iron. Lyu Shuyao felt utterly exhausted. At the final moment of the dreamscape, the phantom pain from being stabbed in the arm and face by Su Cheyue remained; the sensation was so real he couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat.

Su Cheyue and Jiang Zhiqing (the sister) were both sitting not far away, looking at him with pale faces.

Lyu Shuyao gave a weak smile: “…I see.”

He knew who the body in the ice coffin was.

As the final shadow of the curtain fell, Lyu Shuyao remembered.

He remembered why the name “Chang Huaichen” had felt familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

He remembered that at the beginning of the original book Desire Arrives, there was a passage:

“The Ghost Hell opened, and thousands of evil ghosts escaped to cause chaos in the human world, leaving blood and terror in their wake. Sect Leader Su Chen of the Baoshan Sect in Yangshuo, along with his wife Xin Yi, rushed to the Ghost Hell, pouring out their cultivation in an attempt to suppress it.”

“Palace Master Chang Huaichen of Zhuohua Palace arrived upon hearing the news, joining Su Chen to resist the Ghost Hell. However, the power of the Ghost Hell was immense; only by the three of them simultaneously offering their spiritual cores and souls could they balance the forces.”

“Ultimately, to seal the Ghost Hell and settle the common people, Su Chen, Xin Yi, and Chang Huaichen died heroically, their souls remaining in the abyss, never to return.”

Souls remaining in the abyss, never to return.

So…

The one who died wasn’t Jiang Zhiqing. It was Chang Huaichen.

Lyu Shuyao looked up blankly and asked: “Who are you?”

Jiang Zhiqing (the sister) answered blankly: “My surname is Jiang.”

“Miss Jiang?”

Su Cheyue said: “Perhaps we should call him… Master Jiang.”

Jiang Zhiqing’s tears finally burst forth like long-repressed storm clouds, gushing out in an instant.