Transmigrated as the Villain and Driven Crazy by the Vengeful Male Lead - Chapter 76

Chapter 76: It’s Been a Long Time Since We Slept Together — I Am Not Your “Good Disciple”!

In the side hall, the people were lying sprawled across the communal sleeping mats in a messy heap.

“I’m telling you, the Second Young Master isn’t a good person, but is the Eldest Young Master any better? They brought us here saying they’d get a doctor to treat our wounds, yet it’s the middle of the night and there’s still no sign of anyone…” A middle-aged man clutched a hand with two severed fingers, looking resentfully at the man leaning in the corner. “A-Jie, say something!”

Another woman said, “At the very least, we don’t have to look at those torture devices every time we open or close our eyes… I thought I’d never make it out alive. I thought I was the next one to be thrown into the furnace… sob… Thank heavens, thank heavens!”

A half-grown child nestled in her arms, timidly sniffling and occasionally whimpering, “Mother, my body hurts so much.”

The woman lamented, “I just hope the Eldest Young Master truly wants to help us…”

Just then, the door opened, and someone stepped in, cloaked in the silvery glow of the moonlight.

The crowd looked up and immediately huddled together in terror. “S-Second Young Master!”

Su Cheyue sat elegantly on the edge of the mat, a faint smile on his lips. “You’re still willing to call me Second Young Master. It seems you don’t hate me that much.”

The man with the severed fingers was closest to him and was currently trembling violently. Su Cheyue reached out a palm toward him. “Give me your hand.”

The man pressed himself against the wall like a gecko. “Don’t come near me!”

Su Cheyue tilted his head. “You are all so soft-eared, believing whatever others say. Why won’t you believe a single word I say?”

The man argued, “That tunnel was a secret room! If you weren’t the mastermind, how did you get in?”

Su Cheyue replied, “As you said, the people who tortured you in the past wore masks. If it were truly me, would I make such a primitive mistake?”

A-Jie argued back from the corner, “You were disabled back then, so of course you wouldn’t come personally! Those masked men were your lackeys and lapdogs! You used living souls to refine demonic pills to restore your cultivation. Now that you think you can rule the world, you do whatever you want without any scruples! This time, you came to dispose of us all. If we hadn’t fought back, we’d be dead without a grave by now!”

Su Cheyue said coldly, “You seem to know me quite well. Could you be an old acquaintance?”

A-Jie let out a low huff.

“Unfortunately, you don’t know me completely,” Su Cheyue said. “If I wanted to do that, why bother with mortals? I could just kidnap cultivators from the great sects. They have spiritual power—using them to refine pills to restore myself would be much more efficient, wouldn’t it?”

As the crowd whispered in fear, A-Jie spat, “Hypocritical sanctimonious bastard!”

“I never claimed to be a gentleman.” A clear blue spiritual light erupted from Su Cheyue’s palm.

“What—what are you doing?!”

Su Cheyue curled his lips. “Forcing my will upon you.”

He forced open the hand of the man with severed fingers and channeled spiritual energy into it. The man let out a terrified scream, and the others wanted to stop him but didn’t dare. After a moment, the light faded. The man stared blankly at his hand, turning it over and over.

Suddenly, he turned to the person behind him. “…What did I just scream for?”

How the hell should we know?

“Doesn’t it hurt?” someone asked tremblingly.

The man looked confused. “It doesn’t hurt.” Not only did it not hurt, but it felt far better than the dull, burning itch he had endured for days since losing his fingers.

Su Cheyue spoke, “The wounds weren’t treated in time and had already begun to fester and rot. You would have died if this continued.”

“So…” the man stuttered, unable to process it. “You helped me treat the wound?”

Su Cheyue’s gaze moved past his bewildered face. “Next.”

Even though the man said it didn’t hurt, the rest had suffered trauma no less than losing a finger. How could they easily trust these cultivators who held the power of life and death?

Su Cheyue waited for a moment, then sighed softly. “Actually, I do not like to force people. Not with him, and not with you.”

Sitting there, he suddenly looked a bit lonely. A young man, who had previously claimed Su Cheyue saved his father’s life, crawled out from the back. “I’ll go, Second Young Master.”

Su Cheyue’s eyes flickered. He said nothing but turned his hand to inject spiritual energy into him.

An hour later.

Most of the people were in tears, thanking Su Cheyue and admitting they had misunderstood him. They called themselves blind and heartless for trying to hurt him. Su Cheyue stopped their excessive self-flagellation and looked toward the corner at the man with a ruined face and one missing eye.

“What about you?”

A-Jie asked coldly, “Second Young Master is so capable, can you give me back my eye?”

Su Cheyue: “I cannot. I can only guarantee you won’t suffer from phantom pains in the future.”

A-Jie burst into laughter and said to the man with the severed fingers, “He cut off your fingers and dug out my eye, and now he plays the saint by stitching us up? You’re going to be grateful to him? What a joke! A massive joke!”

“I would rather die, I would rather be thrown into the furnace than accept your hypocritical charity!”

Su Cheyue’s patience ran thin. Seeing that the wound wasn’t fatal, he said indifferently, “Suit yourself.”

Then, he got down to business. “Tell me. What exactly did you experience in that tunnel?”

“I’ll tell you!” the young man said. “We were all traveling when we were harassed by evil spirits. People from the Baoshan Sect came to save us, claiming they would take us back to the sect for treatment. We’re just commoners who haven’t seen the world. Who wouldn’t want a chance to visit a famous cultivation sect? We came here happily!”

“And the result?? After arriving, we were taken to your Su family’s ‘Medical Hall’ at night by masked men. Everything went black, and when we woke up, we were locked in that dungeon!”

Su Cheyue asked, “They wore masks. Didn’t you suspect their identities?”

“Who knows what kind of weird quirks you cultivation people have…”

The woman from earlier started crying again. “My poor child is so young, yet he had to suffer this! Stabbing, whipping, burning… you people are insane and inhuman! You call yourselves Immortals? You aren’t even fit to be human!”

Su Cheyue showed no outward emotion and continued questioning, “What kind of people are thrown into the furnace, and when?”

The crowd was stunned by the question. For a moment, no one could answer.

“There didn’t seem to be a pattern…”

“The people torturing us were a bunch of lunatics. There was no logic or sanity to speak of!”

They cursed and ranted some more. Seeing that he couldn’t get any key information, Su Cheyue stood up. “It’s late. Everyone should rest. I brought some pills. Apply them daily, and your wounds will heal quickly.”

“Thank you, Second Young Master! You must catch those people soon and kill them—kill them all!”

As he was leaving, two chubby little arms wrapped around his thigh. Su Cheyue looked down to see the child who had been in the woman’s arms.

“Brother, you’re so handsome! I want to go with you.”

The woman hurried to pull him away. “What are you doing! This is the Second Young Master of the Baoshan Sect. Your dirty paws haven’t been washed in days, don’t get the Second Young Master dirty.”

“It stopped hurting when Brother came. I want to play with Brother!”

Su Cheyue picked him up and said, “I’ll take him to sleep at the Moon-Resting Pavilion. I’ll bring him back in a few days when he’s better.”

“How could we trouble the Second Young Master…”

“It’s no trouble,” Su Cheyue said softly to the excited child on his shoulder. “What is your name?”

“Xiao Shan!”

…

Late into the night, the stars filled the sky. In the main courtyard of the Moon-Resting Pavilion, the scent of pear blossoms drifted as a strong wind rustled the trees.

A purple long whip glowed with flowing light, sweeping through every pear tree in the yard. The white buds and pink stamens on the slender branches shook violently. Even though the handsome young man wielding the whip tried his best to control it, he still ended up crushing several flower petals.

The flower branches were in chaos, and his heart was even more so.

He gradually felt it was pointless and frustrating. He pulled back his strength, and the light gathered on the whip behind him slowly dimmed. Just as it was about to fall lonely to the ground, the other end was suddenly caught by a powerful yet gentle force.

Lyu Shurao felt the pull and looked back to see the master of the pavilion standing under a tree, covered in the white of pear blossoms. He had caught the spiritual weapon with one hand, as well as Lyu Shurao’s restless emotions and chaotic thoughts.

“Lyu Shurao.” Su Cheyue stood tall a few paces away. His voice was faint, as if he had no strength, but the grip on the other end of the whip was firm. “Come here.”

Lyu Shurao felt a bit of resistance. He felt that if he got any closer to Su Cheyue, some other bizarre and ridiculous thing might happen.

Anyway, the Hatred Value was already at zero, so he didn’t have to be submissive to Su Cheyue in everything anymore. If he didn’t go… what could Su Cheyue do?

Seeing him not moving, Su Cheyue’s cold gaze lifted slightly to meet his eyes. He put one hand behind his back while the other gripped the tail of the Duan-you whip, slowly winding it around his hand.

The purple light flickered weakly, dying out and lighting up again in Su Cheyue’s palm, back and forth, struggling. Lyu Shurao dazed out, his steps moving involuntarily as the person on the other end of the whip drew him closer and closer.

He felt both thrilled and terrified. Looking at Su Cheyue’s quiet, unhurried way of luring his prey, if there were still any Hatred Value left, his life would surely be in the palm of Su Cheyue’s hand, toyed with in a hundred or a thousand perverted ways until he wished he were dead.

He tried to re-inject spiritual energy into the whip. The spiritual power followed his pulse and surged along the whip’s patterns. Halfway through, he clearly felt the warmth and aura of Su Cheyue flowing from the other end.

The two spiritual breaths met on a narrow path within the whip, condensing together in the thin space. They seemed to draw close and merge, without either side swallowing or repelling the other.

Su Cheyue pulled him until only a finger’s length of whip remained between them. He asked, “Do you know why?”

Su Cheyue’s skin was as fair as fat, and tonight, for some reason, it glowed even whiter than snow. His deep brown eyes were like melted chocolate, so thick that even in the dim starlight, Lyu Shurao could see his own reflection in them.

By the moonlight, Lyu Shurao’s gaze drifted down and saw the philtrum of Su Cheyue’s lips. As time passed, the red mark from where he had bitten him was becoming more visible.

“…” This is going to be the death of me.

“W-Why what…”

Su Cheyue gave a half-smile. “Why is it that when you use Duan-you, you knock down the pear blossoms?”

Oh, we’re talking about cultivation techniques… okay.

Lyu Shurao’s heart settled. He actually did want to know the answer to this. “Why?”

Su Cheyue suddenly snapped the whip out. Lyu Shurao couldn’t react in time and lurched forward, only to be caught by Su Cheyue from behind, who grabbed his hand and pulled him back.

“Call me ‘Master,’ and I’ll teach you,” a voice like polished jade whispered low behind him.

Lyu Shurao: “…”

“Back at Xifeng Ferry, Sect Master Lyu asked me to teach you, but you never acknowledged our master-disciple relationship.” Seeing he didn’t respond, Su Cheyue repeated in a calm tone, “Call me.”

Hearing this, Lyu Shurao felt as if something hard was stuck in his throat, neither going up nor down, making him feel quite stifled.

Su Cheyue’s grip tightened. “Still won’t say it?”

Lyu Shurao opened his mouth. “Are you… reminiscing about your disciple?”

He wasn’t Su Cheyue’s unlucky disciple at all, and he had never received his teaching. Did Su Cheyue want to hear the original body call him Master? Did he miss the time he spent with the original body? Was he telling him that he preferred and accepted the original Lyu Shurao more?

Lyu Shurao suddenly felt very indignant. Before he transmigrated, Su Cheyue hated Lyu Shurao so much. If he hadn’t been in a wheelchair, he would have wanted to skin him alive a hundred times after returning from the Ghost Prison.

It was he who had been sincere, giving his heart and soul to treat him well. Now that the hate was gone, Su Cheyue was turning around to cherish the memory of someone else—the very person who had actually plotted to break him.

Fine. Great. Just great.

How was this any different from when he was ten years old, taking care of that cat named Juanjuan with all his heart, only for someone else to take all the credit!

At ten, he was a clown, a joke. At twenty, he was still a clown, a joke!

Lyu Shurao forcefully broke free from his grip and looked him in the eye. “I am not your ‘good disciple’.”

His expression was so serious it was almost cold. Su Cheyue was stunned. “You…”

Lyu Shurao simply threw Duan-you back at him and turned to leave. “Give it back to you and your disciple.”

To think that earlier tonight he had been pestering the system to see if he could take something back from this world as a souvenir when he left.

Stupid! Narcissistic! Unreasonable!

“Lyu Shurao.”

He’s calling his disciple, Lyu Shurao thought as he walked.

“…Lyu Shurao!”

Why do I have to have the same name as that rotten villain? Lyu Shurao walked faster and faster.

“If you dare step out of this courtyard, I—”

You what? Go on, Second Young Master!

The Second Young Master didn’t say anything else. He simply used the same old trick and lashed out with Duan-you to bind Lyu Shurao’s waist.

Lyu Shurao narrowed his puppy eyes and for the first time officially gave a command to resist him: “Duan-you, Release!”

Duan-you drooped its head and loosened its grip limply. Before it could fully let go, Su Cheyue commanded: “Duan-you, Bind!”

The poor whip immediately lifted its head and started wrapping again with a huff.

“Release!” “Bind tight!” “…Release!” “Bind tight!” …

After several rounds, Duan-you was tight one moment and loose the next. It was panting from exhaustion and bristled its tassels in protest.

However, a moment later, it suddenly tightened and refused to move no matter what command Lyu Shurao gave.

Su Cheyue said, “This is a spiritual weapon I made with my own hands. Even if I gave it to you, I still hold the ultimate control. Are you still running?”

Yes, yes, yes, you’re the greatest. The protagonist is the boss!

Su Cheyue walked up with a slight frown. “Go back to sleep.”

“I’m not sleepy.”

“I am,” Su Cheyue looked at him helplessly. “Very sleepy. And my shoulder hurts.”

Lyu Shurao: “…” Playing the pity card now??

Su Cheyue placed his hand over the whip around Lyu Shurao’s waist. Duan-you slowly loosened and fell, but the hand on the whip did not let go.

“Stay with me. Please?”

…He was requesting again, and his tone sounded… almost like he was acting spoiled??

Su Cheyue acting spoiled?? The sun must be rising from the north!

A strange, perverted sense of pleasure rose in Lyu Shurao’s heart, and his previous anger dissipated quite a bit. He cleared his throat and put on an act. “Then the Second Young Master must first tell me, how do I strike the whip without accidentally hurting the flower buds?”

He felt that ever since Su Cheyue returned, he not only loved to smile for no reason, but also loved to stare at him. Right now, Su Cheyue gazed at him with eyes full of brilliance for a while before saying, “Let’s talk inside the room.”

The door to the Second Young Master’s room closed, and the room was silent. Lyu Shurao insisted on sitting on the couch, so Su Cheyue sat down side-by-side with him.

After the lesson from earlier tonight, he felt nervous whenever he was alone with Su Cheyue. It felt as if whenever he was near him, an invisible, powerful magnetic field controlled him, making him do things that were inappropriate and inexplicable.

“Um…” Lyu Shurao said with sleepy eyes. “Duan-you…”

“Let me ask you, what is the difference between using a whip as a spiritual weapon versus a saber or sword?” Fortunately, Su Cheyue went straight to the point.

Lyu Shurao thought for a moment. “A whip has a longer attack range than a sword. A whip is like water, thin and long-flowing, with roundabout and varied attack styles. A sword is like thunder, precise and violent. The former is soft on the surface but focuses on control at the core, while the latter is hard on the surface and focuses on breaking through at the core.”

“Excellent.” Su Cheyue tilted his head, looking at him with admiration.

“…So?”

“During these past few months away, you got used to using Sect Master Lyu’s Zhanquan sword. When you strike, your spiritual energy is often concentrated in your arm rather than your wrist. You’re actually using a sword-control method to control a whip.”

“Huh? Really?”

Men read novels to fantasize about and research these whips and swords, so Lyu Shurao was very interested and listened intently.

“As you said, the whip is a long-range weapon. You are used to generating force from your arm, and when you strike, you make it your goal not to hit the flower buds, so you aim away from them. But that is a method used for close combat. Doing it this way produces the exact opposite effect.”

Lyu Shurao nodded. “That actually makes sense…”

He was focused on recalling his mindset when striking the whip and didn’t notice the person beside him getting closer. Su Cheyue lowered his eyelids, his head gradually tilting down toward him.

“First, the concentration of force is wrong. Second, the anticipation is wrong. With the two combined, the Duan-you you strike toward your intended direction won’t be as controlled as you expect. Before it reaches the target, it will…”

“It will what?”

Lyu Shurao turned his head, and Su Cheyue’s face naturally rested on his shoulder. He startled and said hesitantly, “Su…”

“It will uncontrollably lean toward the place it wants to go,” Su Cheyue said softly.

He had already closed his eyes. The light caught every single one of his eyelashes, making his face look translucent and radiant. Lyu Shurao was silent for a moment before saying, “Go sleep on the bed.”

Su Cheyue seemed to have a refusal ready. “My shoulder is injured; I can’t sleep lying down.”

He buried his face and rubbed it against Lyu Shurao’s shoulder—a very brief rub, almost like an illusion. He said, “I’m so tired today.”

Lyu Shurao didn’t even dare to sigh too hard. He silently recalled everything that happened today.

First, he was called over by Su Xun to sign the divorce papers, then he had to deal with the back-and-forth of the sect disciples. Then he had a tug-of-war with him under the courtyard wall, went together to scout the secret tunnel of the Medical Hall, got stabbed because he wasn’t used to using a spiritual shield, and then got pushed by him on the bed. He hadn’t rested even though it was past midnight…

Even a donkey on a collective farm would cry exhaustion. It was normal.

“I also gave them spiritual energy to heal their wounds,” Su Cheyue murmured. “So tired.”

…So that’s why.

No wonder his face looked even paler than usual tonight.

“But you’ll be uncomfortable like this…”

“No,” Su Cheyue said in a half-asleep state, curling up and rubbing against him like a cat. His warm breath brushed against the side of Lyu Shurao’s neck. “It’s very comfortable.”

Lyu Shurao’s spine felt numb for a long time before he stuttered, “Al… alright. My back injury isn’t fully healed either, so it’s better if I don’t lie down…”

Su Cheyue had already fallen asleep and didn’t reply. Lyu Shurao reached out his hand, originally wanting to put his arm around Su Cheyue’s shoulder. Thinking of the wound, he changed his mind and put his arm around his waist instead, pulling him back a bit so they both leaned against the backrest of the small couch.

The two of them fell asleep like that.