After Transmigrating To The Villain’s Lowest Point - Chapter 4

Lian Xuehe was already weak to begin with, and forming the contract pattern had consumed his blood and qi, making his complexion even more sickly pale.

Tao Xiao hesitated, then could not help advising, “Your Highness, why don’t I go brew another bowl of medicine?”

Lian Xuehe knew the “medicine” he meant was Yin Cai’s blood. He brushed the damp hair on his forehead behind his ear. “Drinking blood, eating flesh—what am I, some uncivilized beast? Since medicinal blood is useful, why don’t you just take out his heart and let me gnaw it raw, then stew his spiritual bones into soup with mushrooms? If I ate that, wouldn’t I live for a thousand years and rival an old turtle?”

Tao Xiao froze, attempting to understand His Highness’s preferences, then swore loyalty to the turtle unto death. “Yes!”

Lian Xuehe: “…”

The medicine attendant puppet watched coldly.

Lian Xuehe pointed, signaling for Tao Xiao to get lost.

Tao Xiao did not understand. “You said before that keeping him alive would be very useful. Wasn’t it for taking his medicinal blood?”

Lian Xuehe was afraid this idiot would really go take Yin Cai’s heart, skewer it, and turn it into a feast, so he tried hard not to sound too sarcastic.

“All my prescriptions over the years were written by Ge Ci. Today, he incited me to abandon my Ziwei body and possess the medicinal human. Clearly, he must be plotting something. Use the broken tofu curds in your head and think about it. Can his prescriptions still be trusted?”

Tao Xiao looked thoughtful. “Then I’ll go kill him.”

“…” Lian Xuehe wanted to curse him out, but was afraid Tao Xiao would not understand his superior sarcasm, so he could only say weakly, “Ge Ci is easy to kill, but what about his elder brother?”

Tao Xiao laughed heartily. “Your Highness doesn’t need to worry about that. His brother’s cultivation is high, yes, but his spiritual root is damaged. He has to chew on medicinal humans all day just to prolong his life. He won’t amount to anything. At worst, I’ll perish together with him, hahahaha!”

Lian Xuehe: “…”

What exactly was he being so cheerful about?

Lian Xuehe pointed at him. “You are not allowed to kill anyone, and you are even less allowed to take Yin Cai’s blood again. That is an order.”

Tao Xiao was obedient and immediately said, “Yes!”

Yin Cai watched coldly from the side.

He did not believe a single word this man said.

Lian Xingsong had a face that looked as if it would save all living beings, yet when he carved open Yin Cai’s heart to take his blood, he had shown no mercy at all.

Not to mention, he was the noble Third Highness of Hongpan, and his twin younger brother was the crown prince. With such a precious, golden-boughed, jade-leaved status, if he had been unwilling, could that man surnamed Ge really have forced him to eat people and commit possession?

The poison curse’s self-destruction had been stopped. Most likely, his original body was now riddled with wounds. Lian Xingsong was afraid he would die, making it impossible to keep taking his blood for medicine and prolonging his life. That was why he had changed his attitude.

A sanctimonious beast.

As Yin Cai was silently cursing him, Lian Xuehe brushed his sweat-damp hair behind his ear and beckoned to him.

“Come here. Take me to bathe.”

Yin Cai had not learned from punishment and pretended to be deaf. Only after being shocked did he unwillingly step forward and pick him up.

This body had been on medicine since childhood and had never stopped. When held, it was as light as a thin sheet of paper, as though it could be crushed with a casual squeeze.

The hard touch of a body that was not flesh and blood gave Lian Xuehe an immense sense of security. The only problem was that the puppet’s simulated heart kept thumping nonstop. Lian Xuehe reached out and knocked on it. “Don’t beat.”

Yin Cai: “…”

Someone who even humiliated puppets—what good thing could he possibly be?

The back courtyard of Zhiji Tower leaned against a small mountain. At the place where it met the lotus pond, there was a hot spring bubbling with water, steam rising from it, carrying a faint smell of sulfur.

Yin Cai placed him on a stone chair by the shore.

Lian Xuehe lifted his chin slightly. “Undress me.”

Yin Cai: “…”

Lian Xuehe was used to giving orders, and he did not treat puppets as people either. Ordering it around was about the same as yelling, “Siri, edit ‘idiot’ and send it to everyone in my contacts,” during the holidays.

With a dark face, Yin Cai helped him loosen his clothes.

Lian Xuehe’s body had gone without sunlight year-round and was dazzlingly pale. Yin Cai’s gaze swept over his neck, chest, and waist one by one, without the slightest romantic thought. His mind was filled only with poisonous methods to make this man die without a whole corpse.

Lian Xuehe was helped onto a warm stone in the water. His too-long ink-black hair spread out and soaked in the water, drifting like strands of algae, as if painted in ink.

Yin Cai stared gloomily at Lian Xuehe’s back.

His black hair was scattered everywhere. The man reached up, gathered his hair into a bundle, and pushed it over his left shoulder to hang there, exposing the slender nape of his neck.

…With just one reach, he could snap that neck, fragile as a lotus stem.

Yin Cai silently stretched his hand forward, his fingertips drawing closer inch by inch…

Suddenly, Lian Xuehe turned around. Seeing the medicine attendant puppet’s hand stretched flat toward him, he raised his hand and took the dry towel draped over Yin Cai’s forearm. Raising a brow, he said, “Quite considerate.”

Yin Cai: “…”

Lian Xuehe turned back around.

Yin Cai looked at him coldly and reached out to commit murder again. But the instant his fingertips were about to touch the back of Lian Xuehe’s neck, a fierce pain suddenly swept through his limbs and bones.

His divine soul felt as if it had been bound and tightened by countless dense chains.

That was the master-recognition contract pattern restraining him.

Yin Cai exhaled soundlessly. Only after he forcibly restrained that violently murderous intent did the binding chains rooted deep in his divine soul slowly loosen, and the pain abruptly vanished.

Lian Xuehe knew nothing of this and was still scooping up water to wash the sweat from his forehead while chatting with 024 about everything under the sun.

Yin Cai narrowed his eyes.

Since he could not do it himself, he could only find an opportunity to kill with a borrowed knife.

Perhaps it was because he had just arrived in an unfamiliar world, but after Lian Xuehe returned from bathing, he did not sleep peacefully the entire night. His consciousness was hazy. One moment he was doing parkour on the edge of a cliff, and the next he was racing in KartRider.

By the end, Lian Xingsong came into his dream with blood streaming from all seven orifices, seeking revenge and chasing Lian Xuehe until he howled and fled everywhere.

“Give me back my body!”

“Hate hate hate hate hate hate!”

“You deserve to die, die, die, die, die—!”

Countless malicious words repeated hundreds of times. It was far too sanity-draining, and Lian Xuehe was frightened awake.

The sky was bright, and the rain had already stopped. A sweet, fresh scent after rainfall lingered at the tip of his nose.

Lian Xuehe’s lips were slightly parted as he gasped nonstop. He rested the back of his hand against his forehead and spent a long while calming himself before finally recovering.

Everything he had seen and heard last night seemed like a fleeting dream. Lian Xuehe’s head was still dizzy, his brain yet to receive enough oxygen. Feeling his ten fingers move as usual, he showed a confused expression, tilted his head, and tried making a series of hand gestures.

Forming the Lingguan seal, Flying Soul Across the Sea Art, Specium Beam, circling around the eye sockets, finger hearts against the cheeks…

024: 【……】

024: 【What are you doing?】

Lian Xuehe stiffened. Then he calmly lowered his hands, and the instant he opened his mouth, it was an attack. “Was your core processor dug out by a pig’s snout? If you’ve got nothing better to do, go find a flaming hoop at the circus and jump through it. Earn some energy on the side and block the remaining 5% of my pain too. Just now, when I turned over and bumped my toe against the wall, I actually thought it felt good. What proper system? A crash course in masochism?”

024 tried to protest: 【You’re the one who’s secretly sultry. You even know nine ways to make girl group finger hearts. Maybe your personal kink is originally—】

Lian Xuehe smiled. “Are you sure you want your last words to be meaningless nonsense discussed with me?”

024 stopped speaking.

Outside, faint crackling firecracker sounds could be heard. Looking out through the window lattice, the towering Butian Tower in the distance was decorated with lanterns and colored banners. Golden talismans and red silk dozens of zhang long fluttered in the wind.

Lian Xuehe’s head hurt from the sound of firecrackers. “What’s all that noise outside?”

Tao Xiao seemed to have been waiting already. Hearing that he was awake, he lifted the bed curtains. “Your Highness is awake. These few days are the Heavenly Dao Festival. The whole city is celebrating.”

Lian Xuehe had just woken up, his hands and feet weak, and even his reactions were very slow. The usual sharp mask of cutting cruelty and indifference had not yet been put on, revealing a kind of dazed confusion.

Tao Xiao summoned the medicine attendant puppet to dress His Highness.

Tao Xiao waited at the side and said, “Your Highness, yesterday I settled Yin Cai in the lotus array in the side courtyard. When I checked this morning, I found that more than half of his injuries had already healed. But for some reason, he still hasn’t woken up.”

Yin Cai’s hands paused slightly as he tied the sash.

Lian Xuehe was still dazed. “Was his head injured?”

“No. His internal organs and head are both fine. Only his spine is broken. The middle section is snapped like lotus root threads, and that is where the spiritual bones are located. I’m afraid it cannot repair itself freely.”

“Mm. I know.” Lian Xuehe grew even dizzier. Only after a long while did he react. He reached out and smacked the puppet’s wooden claw. “Stupid and blind. Does your family tie hair ribbons around the neck?”

Yin Cai untied the hair ribbon strangling Lian Xuehe’s neck.

Tao Xiao looked at the puppet suspiciously.

By the time Lian Xuehe’s brain finally received oxygen and he woke up properly, Yin Cai had already finished dressing him.

Lian Xuehe lowered his head to look.

His lapels were wide open, revealing a large expanse of bare chest. The fabric over his long legs barely covered his body, exposing the two golden rings around his ankles and thighs. Even the collar had split all the way down to his belt.

Lian Xuehe: “…”

A question arose in Lian Xuehe’s mind. “Was he really born with a false soul according to my preferences?”

Tao Xiao hesitated and looked at him somewhat strangely. “Yes. The puppets made by City Lord Mo would not be mistaken.”

024 seized the chance to laugh at him. 【Wow, I didn’t expect Host to be so secretly bold and uninhibited inside. You actually like this kind of clothing style.】

Lian Xuehe: “…………”

As an heir, the elite education Lian Xuehe had received since childhood made him dignified and proper on any occasion. In suits and leather shoes, he was cold and abstinent, and the top button of his shirt was always fastened.

How could he yearn to run around half-naked?

Lian Xuehe refused to admit that his inner self was wild.

024 was still talking: 【According to the records of Mohist mechanism arts, a puppet’s “false soul” can directly reflect the host’s hidden personality, preferences, and kinks. Once other people see your puppet, they’ll be able to tell what kind of person you are.】

Lian Xuehe sneered. “Nonsense.”

024 deliberately disgusted him, pinching its voice as it said: 【Host, the transmigration system was also randomly matched according to your preferences, you know! Our compatibility is 92.97%. Even the pheromone compatibility of destined partners in ABO worlds is only so high! I always address Host as “you” respectfully, but it isn’t actually a term of respect. It is an expression of love—“placing you in my heart”! p(////▽////)q】

Lian Xuehe suddenly understood. “So my hidden kink is being attracted to stupidity. Then 92% is an underestimate for us. It should be at least 100% minimum.”

024: 【……】

Tao Xiao took out a new robe and handed it to him, then helped him rinse his mouth. “Your Highness, that man surnamed Ge has come again today. Hypocritically saying he came to check Your Highness’s pulse. His visit this time is probably not well-intentioned. Will Your Highness see him?”

Lian Xuehe gathered up his long hair, wondering if he should find time to cut it short. “See him.”

The original owner’s Ziwei aura had been stolen. For the sake of his little life, he had to find a way to get it back as soon as possible.

Tao Xiao unwillingly said, “Yes.”

Before dawn, Tao Xiao had already been brewing new medicine. It was currently being kept warm on a small stove, bubbling away like a witch’s poison.

Yesterday, Lian Xuehe had been attacked by it. He quickly shifted his gaze away and pretended not to see it. “First take Ge Ci to diagnose and treat Yin Cai. See what’s wrong with him and why he won’t wake.”

Tao Xiao said, “All right. Your Highness should drink the medicine first.”

Lian Xuehe was deaf and remained unmoved.

Just as Tao Xiao was about to advise him, the medicine attendant puppet, who had been silent the entire time, suddenly strode forward and took the medicine bowl, respectfully presenting it in front of Lian Xuehe.

…Successfully catching the flash of panic and avoidance that flickered through Lian Xuehe’s eyes.

Yin Cai suddenly smiled. “Master, drink your medicine.”

Lian Xuehe turned his head aside. “No…”

Before he could finish refusing, Yin Cai took the spoon and directly shoved a mouthful of medicine into his mouth.

Lian Xuehe: “?”

Lian Xuehe was forced to hold a mouthful of it, his entire mouth thoroughly coated once over. That bitter, foul, fishy taste should never have existed in this world, yet it was now singing and dancing on his taste buds.

Lian Xuehe was so bittered that he could not speak. He tried hard to maintain his dignity and attempted to threaten him, saying coldly, “You actually dare…”

Before he could curse him, the medicine attendant leaned in. Its large hand forcibly pressed down on the back of Lian Xuehe’s neck to stop him from escaping. Immediately after, it brought the medicine bowl straight to Lian Xuehe’s lips, forcefully blocking back every attempt to stop it.

The corner of Yin Cai’s lips curled up. “Master, good medicine tastes bitter.”

Lian Xuehe: “…………”

Caught off guard, Lian Xuehe was forced to drink half the bowl. It was so bitter he nearly ascended straight to the heavens. Struggling, he raised his hand and shoved the medicine attendant hard. “Cough, cough… Get away!”

Yin Cai calmly and leisurely stood up, lowering his eyes to stare at that hateful, vicious face now covered in tears. The medicine he could not swallow slid down from the corner of his lips, and his neck and collar were soaked through with dark red medicinal juice.

He was in a sorry state, and Yin Cai felt delighted.

Lian Xuehe pointed at him. “You!”

Yin Cai was a dead pig unafraid of boiling water, still openly admiring his tear-streaked face.

Getting angry at an AI robot was completely meaningless, so Lian Xuehe could only redirect his anger toward Tao Xiao.

He did not even know to stop it?!

…But he saw Tao Xiao standing at the side with a stunned expression, as if his entire worldview had been rebuilt. The way he looked at Lian Xuehe carried a trace of sudden realization and surprise that seemed to say, So it was actually like this.

The medicine attendant puppet and its master’s divine soul were linked. Every word and action of its false soul was derived from the master’s preferences.

Lian Xuehe: “?”

No, wait.

024 said faintly: 【Host, so your hidden kink is being held by the back of the neck and force-fed medicine. Heh. And you still say you’re not a masochist?】

Lian Xuehe: “…………”