After Transmigrating as the Scumbag Alpha in an Otherworld Novel, I Ended Up with the Villain - Chapter 12

Feeling the slenderness in her grip, Su Xinge was momentarily at a loss for words. It felt as though she might break it if she applied even a little too much force; thus, she held on lightly, unable to bring herself to tighten her grasp by even a fraction.

Lin Yuxuan didn’t look like the skeletal type, yet there was almost no flesh on her wrists. Su Xinge felt a wave of self-reproach; she should have made Lin Yuxuan eat more before they came out.

As the light faded from bright to dim, Su Xinge quickly adapted to the environment. When the gloom swallowed their vision completely, the sounds of the outside world vanished, and the vibrations of the earth stopped abruptly. It felt as if the inner and outer worlds were entirely isolated from one another.

The silence in the passage was eerie. The only sounds left were the rustle of clothing and the soft thud of footsteps.

Ye Hai walked in the position just behind Liu Lindong. In the darkness, he relied on his ability to see the road clearly. Even though Liu Lindong also had sensory-based awakening, his vision wasn’t as sharp as Ye Hai’s; therefore, Ye Hai needed to provide cues about danger or directions at critical moments. In this unfamiliar and unknown dark zone, they didn’t dare use light sources for fear of attracting unknown threats.

Their field of vision was a mess of chaos. Junk was strewn everywhere: long umbrellas full of holes, electronic devices with shattered screens, and open, dusty, empty suitcases. The team pointedly avoided these obstacles to prevent those in the back from tripping on something they couldn’t see and screaming in terror. In the dark, humans always have a habit of scaring themselves.

Suddenly, Liu Lindong at the very front stopped. Like a chain reaction, the entire team ground to a halt. Liu Lindong pointed toward a corner diagonally ahead, signaling to Ye Hai behind him. Even in a newly formed squad, there was a certain level of unspoken understanding between the Awakened.

Ye Hai looked in the direction of the finger, and his pupils dilated instantly. Darkness can infinitely amplify human fear; even though Ye Hai could see, he still couldn’t entirely resist the psychological weight of the gloom.

Ten meters away in the corner sat the silhouette of a humanoid creature. It was hunched over and motionless as a statue, blending into the shadows, its front invisible. For a moment, the only sound in the air was the varied breathing of the team members—some rapid, some steady, and some so slow they sounded like corpses.

Unable to see clearly what it was, Liu Lindong whispered to Ye Hai, “Is that a person or a ghost?”

Ye Hai shook his head. “Can’t see the front, so I can’t judge. But a normal person definitely wouldn’t just stay there like that.”

“If it’s a ghost, it can’t be that strong. We’re this close and it hasn’t attacked,” Liu Lindong said, forcing himself to stay calm as he slowly inched forward. Ye Hai remained where he was.

After two steps, Liu Lindong realized something was wrong. He turned back to see that the rest of the team hadn’t followed him. He gestured to Ye Hai to come along, but Ye Hai shook his head and waved his hand outward, signaling for Liu Lindong to take the lead. Most of the people in the back had no idea what was happening and simply waited in uneasy silence.

Standing in the quiet dimness, Su Xinge’s mind was clearer than ever before.

Liu Lindong’s behavior seemed eccentric, but it all pointed to one goal: forcing them into this passage. Su Xinge wasn’t sure if the zombie horde outside was related to Liu Lindong’s presence, but judging by his actions—distracting the zombies to the opposite street and then leading the way inside—it was clear he didn’t want the group dead. The truth likely lay within this passage.

“Don’t be afraid. If there were real danger ahead, a fight would have broken out by now. It’s just a small hiccup,” Zhang Tian’s voice drifted back from the front.

An Le whispered back, “I’m not scared.”

Listening to the conversation, Su Xinge fell back into deep thought. Zhang Tian was never mentioned in the novel, and given his unique ability, she deduced he was likely the type to die early. She just didn’t know if he was fated to die during this mission.

A tug on her hand snapped Su Xinge out of her thoughts. Before she could react, Lin Yuxuan had jerked her wrist away.

Lin Yuxuan turned her head and whispered, “The team has stopped. We don’t need to hold hands for now.”

Su Xinge replied instinctively, “I wasn’t holding your hand anyway.” It was just a wrist, it’s not like we were ‘holding hands.’

Lin Yuxuan turned away, pointedly refusing to look at her. Her wrist still felt the lingering warmth, and her face felt a bit hot. She couldn’t tell if it was out of anger or something else.

At the front, Liu Lindong moved with light, slow steps, holding his heavy blade close to his chest in a defensive posture. When he was two or three meters from the hunched figure, he extended the iron rod in his left hand to probe it. He whispered with a tremor, “Hello?”

There was no response from the still air.

Liu Lindong took another step and prepared to touch the figure with the rod. The moment the metal met the black silhouette, it suddenly wobbled. Liu Lindong scrambled back two steps.

The figure shook a few times and then collapsed with a thud, kicking up a cloud of dust that turned the air murky. Being at the front, Liu Lindong took the brunt of the dust and couldn’t help letting out a couple of soft coughs. As the dust cleared, the dark shape on the ground lay as still as a dead thing, as if the previous movement had been an illusion.

Liu Lindong swallowed, then cautiously inched back toward the shadow. Having seen the situation clearly, Ye Hai followed and patted Liu Lindong on the shoulder.

Liu Lindong’s frayed nerves snapped. At the sudden touch, he jumped like a startled grasshopper. He turned around, and seeing it was Ye Hai, he exhaled in relief—only to turn annoyed. He gasped out a complaint, “Can’t you say something? Do you have to scare me like that?”

Ye Hai explained awkwardly, “Sorry, I didn’t think you’d react that strongly.”

Once Liu Lindong regained his composure, he asked, “Weren’t you afraid to come over? Making me lead the way? Why the sudden change of heart?”

Ye Hai smiled. “Nothing to be afraid of. It’s not a person or a ghost. It’s just the remains of a creature that’s as dead as can be.”

Liu Lindong’s heart settled, but he shot back, “Then why didn’t you say so sooner?”

Ye Hai threw up his hands. “I could only see the back before. I couldn’t tell if it was alive or dead.”

As they spoke, Liu Lindong’s breathing leveled out. They walked together toward the corner. Standing close, Liu Lindong finally saw it clearly, and his skin crawled. The creature had only half a skull left, meaning it was long gone, and its mangled body hinted at the brutality it had suffered.

Ye Hai wrinkled his nose and whispered, “I wonder if it was human or something else before it died.”

Liu Lindong sighed. “It doesn’t matter what it was anymore.”

Ye Hai stepped forward, enduring the stench to crouch down. “That may be so, but let’s see if we can find anything useful.” He searched the corpse’s pockets. The jacket pockets were torn into large holes, useless for holding anything, but the trousers had two pockets—one empty, and the other containing a key.

Ye Hai picked up the key and kept it. He didn’t know if it would be useful. Liu Lindong didn’t say anything, offering only silence as an answer. Awakened individuals habitually collect clues and items in any new setting; even if most things are useless, finding a helpful item is like hitting the jackpot.

The two returned to the team. Zhang Tian laughed from the back, “Hard work, you two ‘bosses.'” They nodded to him and prepared to continue leading the way.

Su Xinge was surprised; Zhang Tian actually didn’t mock them for being slow. She had expected him to follow his usual pattern and max out his mockery skills.

As her mind wandered, Su Xinge’s wrist was suddenly gripped by something cold. She was yanked forward two steps, and a cool voice drifted from in front of her: “I’m afraid you’ll fall behind. Don’t mind me pulling a bit hard.”

Lin Yuxuan emphasized the word “pull” quite sharply.

Understanding the underlying hostility, Su Xinge mimicked Zhang Tian’s fawning tone: “Many thanks to the ‘boss’ for leading the way.”

Su Xinge was particularly sensitive to heat. Although the grip on her wrist was firm, the icy-cool sensation was very much to her liking. She couldn’t help but move her wrist slightly to let the cold friction rub more evenly against her skin. The cool, bouncy texture felt like summer grass jelly. Thinking of grass jelly made Su Xinge lick her lips; even if she couldn’t eat it, feeling it was wonderful.

Lin Yuxuan, agitated by the constant movement of the wrist in her hand, snapped, “Are you walking with your wrists?”

Su Xinge thought, Oh no, she noticed such a tiny movement. She stopped immediately and offered a vague explanation: “I think a mosquito bit my hand. It’s a bit itchy.”

The moment the words left her mouth, a sharp sting hit her wrist. Su Xinge nearly cried out. Sharp nails dug into her tender skin; without looking, she knew there would be scratches.

Lin Yuxuan spoke leisurely, “Is it still itchy?”

Su Xinge replied hurriedly, “Not itchy! It hurts! Stop pinching me with your nails!”

Lin Yuxuan curled her lips. She loosened her grip slightly, but then slowly began to massage and press the pads of her fingers against the wrist, saying, “I’ll rub it for you, then it won’t hurt.”

Su Xinge kept a stiff smile and didn’t dare speak again. She wasn’t actually bitten by a mosquito; her un-bitten wrist was already feeling waves of tingling numbness. She couldn’t imagine how much worse it would be if she actually had an itch. At that thought, Su Xinge shuddered and bit her lip, not daring to imagine the pain further.

They hadn’t gone much further when Su Xinge suddenly stopped. She spoke urgently to those in front: “Stop! Everyone, stop walking!”