The Villain

Chapter 127: The Villain

“Why?” Li Huowang’s cold voice echoed through the room again. “Those self-torturing madmen have reduced you to this, and you’re still helping them come after me? Why! I told you I’d take you away from this damn place. Haven’t I been good enough to you? Do you even have a heart? Or have these four years here completely brainwashed you into one of them!”

“Hah…” Faced with Li Huowang’s accusations, Yingzi suddenly laughed.

Amidst the low laughter, Yingzi slowly raised her head.

This was the first time Yingzi had met his gaze. Tears traced slowly down her cheeks even as she laughed.

In those light-brown pupils of hers burned a hatred so tangible it seemed condensed into matter.

The hatred in her eyes was so absolute that she looked ready to lunge at him at any moment, to devour him alive.

In that instant, Li Huowang finally understood why Jiang Yingzi had never once met his eyes before: because she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from attacking.

Almost simultaneously, both their scrolls of the Thousand Greats Record unrolled across the ground.

With the Record’s blessing, Li Huowang watched his own flesh expand rapidly through the air like a net, surging forward.

Jiang Yingzi’s blood-colored pinky finger, which had transformed into a long bone-spike, was swiftly wrapped in Li Huowang’s spreading flesh and dropped uselessly to the floor.

Seeing what lay on the ground, Yingzi instantly understood. Both of them were attacking with the Thousand Greats Record—same roots, same origin.

If she wanted to kill him, she would have to offer more than he did.

With a wet thunk, Yingzi didn’t hesitate. She stomped her right foot onto the Record.

The moment the special characters from the red bamboo slips crawled over her foot, Li Huowang’s scalp tingled with a sharp premonition.

“No! Serious danger!”

He retreated instantly, leaping from the room out into the cavern beyond.

Just as the mutilated, half-crippled Yingzi stumbled out after him, a piercing bell-sound split the air.

Before she could react, a Wandering Lord formed from countless lines erupted from the ground.

She struggled with all her might, but the entity still passed halfway through her body.

The half of her body went numb instantly. Jiang Yingzi crashed heavily to the ground, but she didn’t give up. Clenching her teeth, she fought to rise again.

The next second, a sharp blade touched her throat. The victor was decided.

But Li Huowang did not strike immediately. Instead, he stared hard at Yingzi’s face.

Through clenched teeth, he demanded, “Why! I need to know why! Is the Ao-Jing Sect threatening your family or something?”

He heard footsteps approaching from all directions. The Ao-Jing sect members inside the cave had clearly heard the commotion.

As Li Huowang turned around, he saw Shou San making his way toward them.

“Do you think this is funny?” Li Huowang snarled. “Breaking your promise again and again! You have to send Yingzi after me? If you’ve got the guts, face me yourself!”

By now, Li Huowang was utterly disgusted with the entire Ao-Jing Sect. These backstabbing, insidious, self-torturing lunatics.

But the expression on Shou San’s face caught him off guard. The charred-black man wore a look of mild confusion.

“I know not what you speak of. This old man never ordered Er Jiu to move against you. In fact, acting against you does us no good whatsoever. On the contrary, it is quite a dangerous prospect.”

“You’re still lying to me!” Li Huowang’s voice rose. “The proof is right in front of me, and you’re still lying!”

Just as Li Huowang was about to voice his disbelief, a female voice cut in abruptly.

He whirled around, looking down at Jiang Yingzi.

The girl was still lying prone on the ground, staring up at Li Huowang with venomous eyes.

“Hah… you asked me why earlier, didn’t you? Fine. I’ll tell you why.” Yingzi gnashed her teeth as she locked eyes with him.

She slipped off her robe, exposing her ruined body to the air.

“Because you slaughtered my entire family! Every single hardship I’ve suffered is your fault!”

Li Huowang’s first reaction was intense disbelief, quickly followed by the conviction that this woman had completely lost her mind.

Yingzi’s trembling fingers swept in a circle, pointing at the Ao-Jing sect members gathering around them.

“You keep calling them villains! You say they’re inhuman beasts! But compared to you, they don’t even come close!”

Yingzi’s voice grew hoarse as she screamed with all her might. “Four years ago, you were the one who massacred the entire town! Tens of thousands of people! You butchered them all! Beside you, what have they really done? They don’t deserve to be called villains!”

The words hit Li Huowang like a thunderclap exploding inside his skull.

“No. Absolutely not!” he refuted instinctively. “I am not like you trash! I’m a good person!”

“Hahahaha!! A good person? Sure! You’re a great person!” Yingzi’s finger trembled as she pointed at his face, laughing wildly. “The old woman selling tofu! The neighbor’s baby who hadn’t even had its first-year ceremony! My father and my mother! You killed every single one of them without even blinking! And then you have the nerve to call yourself a good person!”

Seeing the unwavering hatred in her eyes, a crack appeared in Li Huowang’s certainty.

He frantically searched his memories, scouring everything from four years ago. He found no evidence of a transmigration. No evidence of an episode.

The clearest memory he had was going to a sports meet, sweating it out on the lively field with everyone else.

“No, I didn’t! It’s impossible! Four years ago, I hadn’t even transmigrated yet… or had I?”

Suddenly, Li Huowang sensed something.

Hearing the faint waver in Li Huowang’s voice, Yingzi’s expression twisted. Her palm moved, and a thin, leaf-shaped silver blade drifted out.

Just as her two fingers pinched the blade, the sword at her neck jerked sharply. Jiang Yingzi’s body went rigid.

Bright red blood sprayed from Yingzi’s neck. Her body swayed slightly, then went limp as she collapsed to the ground.

After several breaths, Li Huowang seemed to snap back to reality. He rushed forward, trembling hands pulling her into his arms, pressing desperately against the spurting wound on her throat. His other hand fumbled for the Blood-Moistening Pill and tried to force it into her mouth.

“Don’t die! You don’t get to die! Explain yourself first! What the hell is going on?!”

“Cough… good person…” Yingzi looked up at Li Huowang holding her, an expression of deep, bitter mockery crossing her face. “Good person…”

Her hands went limp. Her pupils gradually dilated.

Li Huowang’s breathing was ragged. He stood up, still holding Yingzi’s body, and shouted at the Ao-Jing sect members surrounding him. “Are you done playing games?! What do you even want?! You cruel, twisted, bloody lunatics! If you want the Heart-Element, just take it! Do you think lying to me is fun?!”

Shou San listened to Li Huowang’s outburst, a faint, knowing look crossing his face.

“It seems you truly do not remember what happened four years ago. On that day four years ago, you did indeed butcher the entire town. Men, women, old, young—you killed anyone you saw. The whole town ran with blood.”

“Our Elder Xijian attempted to intervene to stop you, but instead you stormed our sect, smashing quite a few of our cruciform temples. It took a great deal of effort on our part to send you away.”