After Transmigrating as the Scumbag Alpha in an Otherworld Novel, I Ended Up with the Villain - Chapter 17

Ye Hai and his two companions reached the building’s edge, and Su Xinge stopped her movements the moment she heard the mechanical twang of the attacks cease on the other side.

Ye Hai cast a wary glance behind him, then cautiously and swiftly crept toward the entrance of the two-story building. Since the opponents had just finished firing their arrows, they were almost certainly still on the second floor. Sneaking in from the first floor now would catch them completely off guard.

Ye Hai pushed the door carefully. It wouldn’t budge. He stepped back and rammed it with his shoulder, forcing it open after two heavy strikes.

Holding his blade in his right hand, he stepped through the entrance and signaled the other two to guard the doorway to prevent an ambush from any of the opponents’ other comrades. He moved past the reception desk. The first floor was filled with rows of dusty tables and chairs, surrounded by service windows—it looked like a cafeteria. To the side was a staircase leading up.

As Ye Hai approached the stairs, he heard the sound of someone descending. He quickly and silently ducked into the alcove beneath the staircase. However, the footsteps on the stairs stopped halfway down.

Ye Hai held his breath, remaining motionless. He could hear the other person’s breathing and pinpoint their location, but he wasn’t sure if they possessed any strange abilities. He decided to rely on the element of surprise; what followed was a contest of patience.

On the other side, seeing Ye Hai rush out, Zhang Tian suggested, “Should we head over to help?”

Su Xinge shook her head. “There’s definitely still one person aiming at us. The moment we show our heads, we’ll be sniped.”

Lin Yuxuan looked at Su Xinge and nodded with a smile. “The enemy will definitely keep us pinned here to prevent us from helping. The more people we have over there, the smaller their chances of winning.”

She couldn’t help but feel that Su Xinge’s style of doing things was different from before. It was as if two different souls occupied the same mind. Emotions could be faked, but what about thought patterns?

The arrogance and vanity of the past seemed to have been replaced overnight by entirely different traits. It was as if… a new soul had suddenly taken over.

Seeing the logic in their words, Zhang Tian shrugged. “Then we wait.”

The sky, originally a somber blue-white, was gradually stained with an orange-red glow, as if the horizon were being split in two. Su Xinge gazed at this strange yet familiar sky. The faint orange-red interlacing with the pale blue-white felt like a tapestry of a broken dream. A massive hollow opening in her heart made it feel as if she could barely breathe.

“Is it beautiful?” The voice drifted close to her ear. Su Xinge turned; Lin Yuxuan was smiling brightly, her beauty enhanced by the twilight.

Su Xinge answered instinctively, “It is.” In this fractured void, the beauty before her was the only thing that felt real.

As it grew later, the two colors merged into one. The dark green vines on the walls stopped shimmering and grew dim, as if wanting to become part of the darkness to swallow everything. No one spoke; only the chirping of insects and birds proved that time hadn’t frozen, but was stretching infinitely forward.

Even later, the chirping faded. The blue-white and orange-red fought a final battle, but eventually, the blue-white gained the upper hand, driving the orange-red away. The sky filled with deep blue-white until only the darkest blue-black remained.

In front of the teaching building, two figures—one large, one small—were crouched, sharing food. Since they had to wait anyway, Zhang Tian decided to recover his energy. He gave food to An Le, and she accepted; the two ate in harmony.

As the night deepened, waiting was no longer an option. Su Xinge picked up the tattered hat from earlier and fixed it to a branch. She carefully extended it past the wall. The hat’s shape was visible, but no attack came. Worried they couldn’t see it, she moved it a few times, but still, nothing. She withdrew the branch and the ruined hat. “Get ready to move out,” she told the others.

Lin Yuxuan, who had been observing Su Xinge, snapped out of her daze. Zhang Tian wolfed down the last of his food and stood up. Beside him, An Le mimicked him, eating with a heroic gusto and swallowing her last bite in seconds. Su San stood by piteously, watching them eat while salivating, his mind clearly not yet back on the mission.

The group packed up, but as they took their first few steps, Ye Hai appeared in their vision, backing out of the building while holding a woman at knifepoint.

The woman wore a white headscarf. Her hair was messy but she didn’t look disheveled. There was no fear of being a hostage in her eyes; instead, they were filled with resolution. Ye Hai dragged her backward, followed by two burly men who emerged in front of him, their bodies tense and blades ready as they retreated.

“You bastards, let her go!” A voice roared from a distance, filled with obvious rage.

Ye Hai remained unmoved, stating calmly, “Put down your weapon first, then we’ll talk.”

“Don’t worry about me! Go take care of the teacher!” the captive girl struggled to say.

Ye Hai paused, puzzled. “What teacher? Who the hell are you people?”

Su Xinge stepped out from the building’s blind spot and saw another woman wearing a black headscarf. Her face was flushed a dark red with anger and her gaze was icy. She held a bow aimed at Ye Hai, slowly inching forward.

“Is it any of your business who we are?” Xiang Tiange saw someone else emerge, and her gaze toward Su Xinge grew even more wary.

Su Xinge noted their attire, which matched the descriptions in the novel, and asked tentatively, “Wang Qingyue?”

The hostage, Wang Qingyue, was stunned. She looked at Su Xinge and asked suspiciously, “How do you know my name?”

The voice came from the side. Su Xinge turned and realized she had addressed the wrong person. She wasn’t embarrassed; the two were dressed identically and both were skilled archers, so a mistake was natural. She turned back to the woman aiming the bow and asked, “Are you Xiang Tiange?”

Xiang Tiange slowly shifted her aim, her gaze growing even colder. “How do you know our names?”

Su Xinge suddenly broke into a friendly smile. “Your cousin sent us to find you.”

Xiang Tiange’s expression didn’t change. Still wary, she asked, “What is my cousin’s name?”

Su Xinge maintained her warm smile. “Isn’t your cousin named Xiang Tianhai?”

Everyone on the field was stunned. Zhang Tian walked over and asked Su Xinge, “How do you know them? Are you close with Xiang Tianhai?”

Su Xinge’s mouth twitched. The original host likely hadn’t made a connection with Xiang Tianhai yet. She explained, “Not close, but that doesn’t stop me from knowing things. I remember him mentioning his cousin was on the branch campus archery team.”

Beside her, Lin Yuxuan grit her teeth, clenching her fists. There were two people she hated most: one was Su Xinge, who was truly evil, and the other was Xiang Tianhai, who was truly a hypocrite. By extension, she naturally disliked Xiang Tiange and Wang Qingyue, who would eventually join his faction—they were all phonies.

Zhang Tian nodded in understanding, then glared at Xiang Tiange. “Since the Haida faction wanted us to find you, why the hell did you attack us for no reason? I almost kicked the bucket by your hand, you know that?”

Xiang Tiange showed no embarrassment, still questioning, “How can you prove you know my cousin? Why didn’t he come himself?”

Their eyes met, both fuming, sparks practically flying between them.

Ye Hai tried to play peacemaker. “Maybe he’ll come in person later. We’re just the scouts sent to find the path first, right?”

Xiang Tiange sneered. “Let her go first. Only then will I believe you.” Few people knew she had a cousin, and even fewer were still alive to tell of it. These people didn’t seem to be lying.

Zhang Tian strode boldly up to Wang Qingyue, mocking, “Now isn’t the time for you to decide whether to believe us. It’s time for you to figure out how to take responsibility for almost killing me.”

Ye Hai still didn’t release her, asking as well, “Why did you attack us so indiscriminately?”

Seeing that Ye Hai wasn’t moving and fearing for Wang Qingyue’s safety, Xiang Tiange finally explained, “We thought you were with the group that’s been trying to steal our medicine.”

Seeing the misunderstanding cleared, Su Xinge spoke up quickly, “We’re all friends here. Why don’t we put down the weapons and talk properly?”

Ye Hai lowered his knife but kept a firm hold on Wang Qingyue. “I’ve stowed my blade. You put yours down too.”

Xiang Tiange finally lowered her bow. If they were truly enemies, she couldn’t take on this many people with a single bow anyway.

Ye Hai let go. “Since it was a misunderstanding and no one actually got hurt, there’s no need for a life-and-death struggle. We’re all friends from here on.”

Wang Qingyue, suddenly released after being held hostage for so long, stumbled forward. Xiang Tiange hurried to support her, asking anxiously, “Are you okay?”

Wang Qingyue shook her head. “I’m fine, just a bit tired.”

Zhang Tian turned to Ye Hai in a huff. “Why did you let her go so easily? I was almost hit by an arrow!”

Xiang Tiange snapped back, “I didn’t actually hit you. Why are you being so petty?”

Lin Yuxuan stood to the side with a dark expression. She hadn’t expected this mission to lead right to her old enemies. Consequently, her gaze toward Su Xinge grew increasingly sour. Her hatred for Su Xinge had been mixed with confusion and curiosity, but now, it was pure rage. She felt as if she were seeing her past self again—the version of her who stood against the world, enduring every misfortune for no reason.

Su Xinge didn’t notice Lin Yuxuan’s mood at all. “We definitely won’t be able to make it back to the base today. Those things at the tunnel won’t disperse anytime soon.”

Ye Hai picked up the conversation, asking Xiang Tiange, “Is there a safe place around here where we can stay for the night?”

Xiang Tiange didn’t hesitate. “There is, but you have to promise me one thing.”