Transmigrated as the Villain and Driven Crazy by the Vengeful Male Lead - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Young Master Su Can Speak. His temperament has changed; he is not as he was before.

Lu Shuyao nearly tripped over his own feet. He spun around abruptly.

The person on the bed remained seated, already draped in the coat Lu Shuyao had tossed to him. Lu Shuyao walked back suspiciously. “Just now… was that you speaking?”

Su Cheyue did not look at him. His lips parted slightly, his breath like a soft mist: “Who is it?”

Lu Shuyao jumped back in fright. “You, you, you—!”

Wasn’t he mute?!

“You can talk?! Then can you hear me? Can you see me??”

Lu Shuyao hopped around frantically in front of him, but Su Cheyue, receiving no response, appeared somewhat displeased. He slowly raised a hand, groping through the air: “Is someone still there?”

Lu Shuyao hesitated. “Then last night…”

Were all those unhinged things I said last night overheard?!

Su Cheyue: “Li An? Is someone there? Why is there a man in my bed?”

…

The two were separated by barely half an arm’s length, yet they spent the next fifteen minutes in a state of total disconnect—one giving “seen” but chaotic replies, the other giving “unseen” stubborn inquiries.

Finally, Lu Shuyao confirmed: Su Cheyue could speak, but he was still deaf and blind.

What on earth is going on!

While Lu Shuyao was racking his brain, he failed to notice the growing irritation on the face of the man on the bed. A sharp crack pulled his drifting soul back to reality.

Su Cheyue had violently smashed a glass lamp against the bedframe. Shards scattered, and as his hand hung over the edge of the bed, blood immediately began to seep out.

Lu Shuyao froze. “You…”

Su Cheyue, holding a sharp shard between his fingers, suddenly pulled open his collar and sliced toward his porcelain collarbone.

“Are you crazy?!” Lu Shuyao rushed forward to stop him. Su Cheyue spat: “Get lost.”

“Hey, you—”

Blood meandered down his shoulder, staining his chest.

“Oh, my ancestor! What happened now?” The door was suddenly pushed open. A disciple with a narrow, shifty face ran in. Seeing the blood on Su Cheyue’s chest, he panicked: “Second Young Master, why are you injured again? If the Sect Leader finds out, I’m dead!”

The newcomer, Li An, did not look like an honest person. He stepped forward and tugged at Su Cheyue’s sleeve. “Second Young Master!”

Knowing someone had entered, Su Cheyue dropped the shard. “Wasn’t the one who came last night Lady Lu? Why was there a man in my bed?”

The disciple laughed upon hearing this. He raised his hand and performed a hand seal. Su Cheyue suddenly began to cough violently, the veins in his elegant neck bulging.

Frowning, Su Cheyue said coldly, “Understood. Is Uncle coming today?”

He continued to cough—a heart-wrenching sound that made Lu Shuyao feel physically uncomfortable just listening to it. After the fit, Su Cheyue let out an abrupt, mocking laugh. “If I didn’t do this, would you even come? I know you and Uncle can’t bear to let me die.”

The tone was strange and full of hidden meaning.

A flash of awkwardness crossed Li An’s face. As if racing against time, he dragged a medicine box from under the bed, wrapped Su Cheyue’s wound like a mummy, and prepared to leave.

“Wait a minute,” Lu Shuyao said.

“What else does the Young Master want?” the disciple asked impatiently.

“What is your name, and how old are you?”

“My name is Li An, I’m nineteen.”

“Sect Leader Su sent you to care for the Second Young Master?” Lu Shuyao asked.

“Correct.”

“Oh? And is this how you care for him?”

Li An was confused. “What?”

Lu Shuyao pointed at Su Cheyue. “His hand is bleeding, didn’t you see?”

“And these shards on the floor—you don’t plan to clean them? What if someone gets cut?”

Li An glanced at them. “The Second Young Master’s room is cleaned once every three days. Today isn’t the day. As for the bleeding hand, it’s not a serious injury; the Second Young Master can handle it himself.”

Lu Shuyao was shocked by his nonchalance. “…Does he do this often?”

Li An gave a one-word answer: “Pretty much.”

What do you mean ‘pretty much’?!

A fire of anger rose in Lu Shuyao’s heart. How could the Su family send such a person to care for Su Cheyue? Li An said, “If there’s nothing else, I’m going to go practice.”

“There is. Why can he suddenly talk?”

Though he knew the protagonist would eventually recover, Lu Shuyao couldn’t handle being startled like that.

“The Second Young Master lost his five senses after returning from the Ghost Purgatory, but a few days ago, he suddenly started speaking occasionally. The sect’s medical cultivators say it might be the turbid energy from the purgatory slowly dissipating.”

So that was it.

“Since the Sect Leader sent you to care for him, I hope you’ll pay more attention.”

Lu Shuyao thought that because of his status and age, he could pressure the disciple into behaving. To his surprise, Li An gave a mocking smile.

“If I did everything perfectly, why would the Young Master need to be married off to come here? You’ve only shared a bed for one night and you’re already thinking about the ‘way of the husband-serving wife.’ I’m impressed.”

The sarcasm was thick. Lu Shuyao hadn’t expected such audacity. Li An continued: “Besides, Sect Leader Su sent me. Since the Sect Leader hasn’t expressed dissatisfaction, if the Young Master thinks I’m doing a poor job, feel free to ask the Sect Leader to replace me.”

With that, he dashed off as if his life depended on it.

Lu Shuyao fumed as he grabbed the medicine box. “What a bunch of rotten apples…”

He took out gauze and medicinal powder, lifting Su Cheyue’s hand. Su Cheyue flinched and pulled back. Lu Shuyao let him, then demonstrated by wrapping gauze twice around his own uninjured hand before patting Su Cheyue’s palm: “I’m helping you dress the wound.”

Su Cheyue didn’t offer his bleeding hand back. With a darkened face, Lu Shuyao grabbed his wrist and pulled it toward him. Su Cheyue stopped struggling.

“Who uses self-harm to get attention—” Lu Shuyao’s complaint stopped abruptly as a thought hit him.

Silence returned to the room. Lu Shuyao applied the powder and wrapped the gauze carefully until the wound was protected. “Done,” he said.

It didn’t matter if he spoke; the man couldn’t hear him anyway. Lu Shuyao stood up and looked down at Su Cheyue, waiting for him to speak.

Knowing the hands had let go, Su Cheyue’s brow twitched. Three words followed: “…Lu Shuyao, Young Master Lu?”

Lu Shuyao gasped. How did he know? He instinctively nodded. “Yes.”

His heart began to pound. If Su Cheyue asked about that day at the Ghost Purgatory, how would he explain? In his nervousness, he forgot the man was deaf and blind. However, Su Cheyue didn’t seem to need an answer. He curled his lips into a light smile. “Did I scare you?”

“Young Master Lu is a man of the world. You aren’t even afraid of the Abyssal Ghost Purgatory; would you be afraid of a mere flesh wound?”

As expected. Is he starting the interrogation?

But Su Cheyue’s tone suddenly shifted. “Marrying me… doesn’t Young Master Lu feel wronged?”

The voice had Su Cheyue’s habitual elegant softness, but it no longer felt comfortable to hear. Lu Shuyao remembered their first meeting at the purgatory—Su Cheyue had called him “Junior Nephew” and told him “Don’t worry, stay back.”

Before Lu Shuyao could think of a reply, the man continued: “I am a useless man. I can’t hear, see, stand, or walk. Even if Young Master Lu is willing to submit to me, I fear I cannot satisfy you.”

“I truly feel wronged on your behalf.”

Lu Shuyao realized Su Cheyue didn’t want an answer. He was talking just to humiliate the person standing beside him. And to humiliate himself.

The smile on Su Cheyue’s face was complex: disdain, mockery, self-deprecation—Lu Shuyao even heard a hint of sadness. None of these emotions belonged to the “Number One Gentleman” who was supposed to be as cold and clear as the moon.

His temperament has changed; he is not as he was before.

…It was understandable. To fall from the moon in the sky to the dust of the earth—anyone would break under such a blow.

Lu Shuyao knelt by the bed again, wanting to say something. But after staring at Su Cheyue for a long time, he couldn’t think of a way to communicate. How did Li An do it earlier?

Lu Shuyao picked up the glass shards and walked out, looking around the courtyard but finding no one. He sat under a pear tree to wait.

[Visitor Lu.] The system suddenly came online.

“I thought you were in the repair shop, ‘System-ic Pain.’ Speak, what annoying request do you have now?”

[To lower the Hatred Value, the visitor actually entered the game personally to become a “Male Wife.” I am truly shocked.]

“Go away,” Lu Shuyao rubbed his forehead. “Don’t come out just to annoy me.”

[Fine, I’ll go after this. The Hatred Value System is active. A reminder: when Su Cheyue’s hatred for you hits zero, you can return home.]

Lu Shuyao perked up. “Good! What is the hatred value now??”

System: [2000.]

“Oh?” Lu Shuyao said. “That’s unexpected.”

System: [Too high? It’s logical. After your chaotic ‘250-IQ’ operations, he already knows you’re the one who pushed him—much earlier than in the original plot.]

“No, no, no.” Lu Shuyao shook his head. “It’s unexpectedly low… I ruined him this badly, and it’s not 99,999,999? Young Master Su is quite merciful.”

[…You’re very optimistic.]

“I’ve been optimistic since I was a kid.” Lu Shuyao squinted comfortably. “Is it because I just bandaged him? Did that make up for it?”

[…Are you following the logic of: ‘I only pushed him into an abyss to lose his cultivation, but I gave him a bandage for it!’?] The system was speechless.

After finishing with the system, Lu Shuyao leaned against the tree. By noon, his stomach was growling when Li An finally appeared at the gate.

“Where have you been?” Lu Shuyao asked, eyes narrowed.

A light snow was falling. His purple armor beneath a black coat made him stand out against the snow-dusted withered trees. Looking at him, no one would guess this vibrant youth was willing to be a “wife.”

Li An’s jaw tightened. “Young Master, I was practicing.”

“How diligent,” Lu Shuyao said. “Have you eaten?”

“Thank you for your concern, I have,” Li An said, casually swinging his sword.

“Oh,” Lu Shuyao nodded. “Don’t thank me; I’m asking for the Second Young Master. It’s noon and he hasn’t had his first meal. Since you’re so thoughtful, did you eat for both of you?”

“Ah,” Li An slapped his head, feigning forgetfulness. “I’ll go bring him food right away.”

“Wait,” Lu Shuyao suppressed his anger. “How did you send a message to him this morning?”

Li An thought for a second. “Oh, that.” He performed a hand seal. Lu Shuyao’s chest suddenly buzzed violently, and a voice resonated from within him: [Like this, the Transmission Seal. Did the Young Master receive it?]

The heavy, suffocating sensation felt like a boulder on his chest. Lu Shuyao coughed several times before catching his breath. He asked in disbelief: “You used… what?”