Transmigration Bureau, Negative 321st Floor, Anomaly Processing Department.
The door ahead was tightly shut, even the neon light above it glowed red, signaling no entry.
A blond young man paced anxiously back and forth in the corridor. After what felt like an eternity, the door finally opened.
“How is Host 10006 doing?” he immediately asked, rushing toward the person who emerged.
The newcomer was a red-haired girl who patted the blond youth’s shoulder reassuringly. “015, she’s still not doing well.”
“Still unconscious after all this time…” 015 stared blankly at the closed door. “10006 was the first host I ever guided. She’s survived harsher war worlds and endless horror worlds before. Why… why did it end like this?”
The red-haired girl carefully considered her words. “Every year, we receive several hosts who’ve been corrupted by their mission worlds.”
“Those are all inexperienced rookies!” 015 snapped, shaking the red-haired girl’s shoulders. “Let me make this clear—Host 10006 is different from those failures! 003, you simply don’t understand!”
003 truly didn’t understand.
To her, 10006 was no different from any other corrupted host.
Rumors said 10006’s last mission was to become the white moonlight of a villain named Xie Rong Jing.
With tight deadlines and a target notorious for being unyielding, 10006 took an unconventional approach.
She was clever and decisive, mastering persuasive rhetoric with ease. Shortly after transmigrating, she efficiently uncovered the mission target’s current circumstances. She convinced several disciples to serve her, then swiftly eliminated thirty to forty Outer Sect Disciples who had bullied the young Xie Rong Jing.
10006 presented their heads to Xie Rong Jing and, seeing his favorability rise by over ten points, thought she had secured her success.
She believed herself perfectly rational: gaining his trust and making him see her as an ally was a viable way to control the plot.
Besides, a dark moonlight was far cooler than a white moonlight.
If the villain wanted to kill, she helped him kill; wherever he pointed, she struck.
To earn Xie Rong Jing’s deeper trust, 10006 even personally killed her own father and helped him massacre the Tian Zhao Sect—after all, he wasn’t her real father, so it didn’t matter.
…Time flowed differently in the small world compared to the Transmigration Bureau. By the time 015 finally noticed something was wrong with a host, 10006 had already forgotten who she was and what she was supposed to do.
Instead, she had been brainwashed by her mission target, becoming a sharp blade in Xie Rong Jing’s hands.
Or perhaps, just a soulless dog.
Thinking this, 003 found 10006 even less remarkable.
“You’re wrong, 015. The hosts lying here are all overconfident veterans, not newcomers.”
015’s data processing center confirmed this was the truth.
Unable to refute it, he could only scoff.
Cowards, the lot of them.
“Better prepare yourself for a new arrival,” 015 said, his expression turning peculiar as if recalling something. “Have you heard? That mission was mistakenly assigned as a beginner’s task by that fool 023.”
“What!?” 003 was first greatly shocked, then calmed down. “Perhaps the situation isn’t that bad. If a newcomer encounters a task they can’t handle, they’ll just fail—it shouldn’t reach the point of being corrupted.”
But 023 is really outrageous—who knows which unlucky host they sent over.
The unlucky host, Yu Sui Sui, was currently staring face-to-face with Xie Rong Jing, completely unaware that she was the center of the discussion.
Having slept all day, her bun had loosened, and a strand of hair fell over her forehead, tickling her.
Xie Rong Jing naturally reached out and tucked that strand behind her ear.
“Then it’s settled. I’ll start preparing tonight.”
His eyes were gentle, his tone lingering, and he idly played with her hair, his fingers occasionally brushing against her cheek—cold to the touch.
Even though he was clearly planning something wicked, the way he said it made it sound like he was preparing for some extravagant, debauched banquet.
“Wait.” Yu Sui Sui looked utterly bewildered. “You’ve misunderstood. I didn’t mean for you to kill her.”
Xie Rong Jing grinned and drew out his words: “The young lady is noble and open-hearted. It is I who wish to share your burdens.”
Yu Sui Sui: …Really? I don’t believe it.
Not causing trouble would be enough, thank you.
She had no choice but to explain clearly: “It’s like this—don’t kill anyone for my sake. I don’t want anyone to die.”
The smile on Xie Rong Jing’s face faded.
“If she dies, it would only benefit you.”
Ah… what benefits?
More cultivation resources?
Or more favor and glory?
But none of these things were of any use to Yu Sui Sui. Firstly, she had no ambition to cultivate immortality; secondly, she had no desire to develop a deep father-daughter bond with someone else’s father; as for becoming more popular… that was even less necessary. To be honest, if too many people paid attention to her, she would feel uncomfortable.
So without a second thought, she replied, “I don’t need any of that.”
Xie Rong Jing stared at Yu Sui Sui. She didn’t seem to be lying or playing hard to get.
Having spent so many years at North Peak, he had seen plenty of humans turn against each other for treasures and resources.
Her expression showed not a single flaw—as if… as if she truly had no interest whatsoever in taking a life.
This realization did not please him in the slightest.
Xie Rong Jing turned the girl’s face toward him, forcing her to look directly at him.
“What if I insist that you kill her?”
Yu Sui Sui: ?
Why was he forcing her to agree?
Oh, she suddenly understood.
He was having another episode.
Come to think of it, whether in this immortal world or with Xie Rong Jing, a demon, they all had their own set of rules.
Yu Sui Sui was just a passerby and had never thought of changing anything. She didn’t believe she had the ability to act like a morning drama heroine, coaxing the great villain into putting down his sword and reciting Buddhist rap.
…Just thinking about it felt utterly unrealistic.
But by the same token, she didn’t impose her standards on others, nor did she want others imposing theirs on her.
Once the mission period ended, they would go their separate ways without interfering in each other’s affairs.
Xie Rong Jing clearly didn’t see it that way.
The carriage was rather small, and he had practically pinned Yu Sui Sui against the corner, a cryptic smile playing on his lips.
“Answer me.”
“What if I insist that you kill Yu Chuchu?”
Yu Sui Sui looked at the great villain. His pitch-black pupils were filled with her reflection.
By now, she had some understanding of Xie Rong Jing. She knew that when he was like this, he was in an episode where he recognized neither friend nor foe.
Despite his cheerful appearance, he was undoubtedly angry inside.
But so what?
Yu Suisui had no intention of humoring him, just like how she disliked eating celery. One year, her mother refused to believe it and finely chopped celery into the dumpling filling. In the end, Yu Suisui would rather go hungry and secretly get up in the middle of the night to cook instant noodles than take a single bite of those dumplings.
“Then I won’t kill her either,” she said.
Xie Rongjing patiently explained to her, “I’m not asking you to do it yourself, young lady.”
Although he was visibly in a bad mood, he still wore that gentle expression, as if Yu Suisui were the one being unreasonable while he was trying to placate her.
Yu Suisui wasn’t buying it.
That was still her stance, and it made little difference whether she did it herself or not.
Perhaps her resolve was too firm, leaving Xie Rongjing momentarily at a loss.
He turned her head to face him, but she turned it back on her own shortly after.
Xie Rongjing: …
Seeing her remain silent, Xie Rongjing’s slender fingers traced the side of her face, stroke by stroke, as if teasing a cat.
He seemed determined not to give up until he got an answer.
“Why don’t you want to kill her?”
“I just don’t want to.”
Yu Suisui turned her head away. She didn’t care if Xie Rongjing was a lawless troublemaker, and he shouldn’t torment her, a delicate flower of the nation.
This wasn’t the answer Xie Rongjing wanted to hear. Aside from his handsome face, he was, in reality, a severely disturbed individual—the kind whose episodes were unpredictable.
When he was unhappy, he would go out of his way to make the other person in the carriage unhappy too.
“If only one of you and Yu Chuchu could survive, who would you choose?”
Yu Suisui: ?
She found the question familiar, like an upgraded version of “If your mother and I fell into the water at the same time, who would you save first?”
At this, Yu Suisui grew angry too.
Even if you’re the big villain, there should be a limit to your unreasonable behavior!
Her own mother had never forced her to eat celery dumplings.
“Anyway, I don’t want to kill anyone. Do whatever you want.”
To defeat magic with magic, the only way to counter “your mother falling into the water” was with “think whatever you want” and “if that’s what you think, then there’s nothing I can do.”
After saying this, Yu Suisui turned to look at the stars and clouds outside the window, refusing to spare another glance at the big villain.
The carriage fell silent for a few minutes.
Wait, it was too quiet.
Yu Suisui turned back. Xie Rongjing was still beside her, but his head was bowed, his eyes tightly shut. The Talismans on his forehead glimmered with a golden light, and blood continuously trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Even so, he made no sound and did not seek help from the young lady beside him.
Yu Suisui: …
What was going on?
Xie Rongjing had ignored her before, and nothing had happened.
She had only ignored him for less than five minutes, and now this problem arose. It wasn’t fair.
Yu Suisui looked at the big villain and thought he was truly good at enduring.
She had seen him injured several times before, some instances even more severe than this. He almost always held on until he could no longer stand—but before collapsing, he never let anyone see any sign of vulnerability.
Just like now, she had no idea that Xie Rongjing’s condition was far worse than she had imagined.
To be able to act unreasonably while suffering like this—he really was something.
Though Yu Suisui was angry, seeing Xie Rongjing in such a weakened state made her feel she couldn’t completely ignore him.
But this time, his injury was different from before. He had been hit by a spell, and she was completely clueless about such matters. All she could do was take a handkerchief and wipe the blood from Xie Rongjing’s lips.
Xie Rong Jing’s blood seemed to carry a peculiar scent, somewhat like candy overloaded with artificial flavorings, permeating the cramped carriage and giving her a headache.
Not good, motion sickness.
A carriage should count as a vehicle too, right…
Yu Sui Sui’s mind felt muddled as she stood up to open the window wider.
Standing by the window, she glimpsed a red dot flying closer and closer from behind.
The light caught up to her carriage—it was that massive Vermilion Bird, carrying her cheap sister and Gongsun Lan.
The Flying Horse and the Vermilion Bird hovered mid-air, facing each other across the wind and clouds.
“Are you here to help Xie Rong Jing break the spell?” she asked.
Gongsun Lan’s smug smile froze for an instant.
How could that be? He had merely followed the Second Young Miss in pursuit.
“Oh, so concerned about him, are you?” Yu Chu Chu looked down at her sister from her perch on the Vermilion Bird.
Yu Sui Sui worried she might wake the great villain—not only was his noble body unwell, but his mind wasn’t quite right at the moment either.
She tried to change the subject: “Well… actually, I’m concerned about you.”
Yu Chu Chu: ?
“Concerned about what?”
Yu Sui Sui wasn’t being dismissive; she was genuinely a bit curious… no, concerned—about how far along the little cannon fodder was with Xia Ling.
“How are things with you and Xia Ling?” she bluntly voiced her confusion.
Yu Chu Chu’s expression instantly turned vivid.
“Say that again?” Her voice shot up an octave, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on: “I warn you, don’t you dare compare me to that good-for-nothing.”
Yu Chu Chu tossed her long hair: “Is he even worthy? I already called off the engagement right in front of him and gave him a piece of my mind—you should’ve seen the look on his face—” She cut herself off, eyeing Yu Sui Sui suspiciously: “You’re not thinking of tattling, are you? Let me tell you, Father knows about this, and he didn’t even scold me much.”
Yu Sui Sui once again looked at her with a “good luck” expression.
The original host had dearly loved this sister. Having made a deal with the Transmigration Bureau, this sister could roughly be considered Yu Sui Sui’s client.
For the original host’s sake, Yu Sui Sui was still pondering: Should she offer some appropriate advice to the little cannon fodder, as a sort of after-sales service?
Of course, not to change the plot, but just to suggest that this cheap sister be a bit more tactful when breaking off the engagement—no need to be so absolute.
As the saying goes: Leave some room for maneuver, and you’ll meet again another day.
That way, when the Tian Zhao Sect eventually fell, given the male lead’s character, even without a romantic subplot, he might still lend a hand to Yu Chu Chu.
…What a pity.
In this situation, big sister can’t do anything about it.
Just… bless your heart.
Just as Yu Sui Sui was lighting a candle for the little troublemaker, she caught sight of Xie Rong Jing in the carriage out of the corner of her eye.
The great villain had opened his eyes at some point, his expression calm, showing no signs of having just lost consciousness.
He was quietly staring at Yu Sui Sui with a detached, probing gaze.
Yu Sui Sui silently blew out the candle she’d lit for someone else.
How could she have forgotten? Compared to her cheap sister, she herself seemed to be the one more in need of a lit candle.