Chapter 8 Villain and Protagonist

Chapter 8: The Villain and the Protagonist

Chu Ji stared blankly at Jun Xueyi. Was this man perpetually masked because he was too shameless to show his face, or because he was too unsightly to be seen?

Jun Xueyi feigned a sigh. "My whole side is numb with pain. Even unbound, I couldn't run."

Chu Ji advanced, sword in hand, step by step.

[???]

[No, it's just the beginning! Is the protagonist going to die at the villain's hands already?]

[How did the plot derail so badly?]

[Don't you think the protagonist's character is also ruined?]

[Where's the cool, distant savior we were promised? Where's the aloofness? Where's the distance?]

[Impossible. The villain definitely can't kill the protagonist.]

[If the villain appears early, shouldn't the protagonist's cheat ability also appear early?]

[I remember a mid-story plot point where one of the protagonist's cheat abilities was obtained right here.]

Chu Ji read these lines, his movements quickening as he lunged with his sword.

A cheat ability?

He'd kill Jun Xueyi today and see where any cheat ability would come from.

Bound by the Spirit Binding Rope, Jun Xueyi couldn't use his spiritual power. He could only dodge with brute force, allowing the sword to pierce his left shoulder.

His left shoulder was already numb from pain, so he didn't even feel the strike.

Chu Ji's hand was stained with blood. Disgusted, he dropped his sword and immediately wiped the blood away.

"Go on, why stop talking now?"

He was so talkative, even mocking Chu Ji for not knowing how to curse. Whether Chu Ji could curse wasn't important; knowing how to kill was enough.

Jun Xueyi looked at his left shoulder, which continued to bleed profusely.

This spot had been injured at least three times today. The one who hurt him before now lay motionless in the forest, and the one injuring him now intended to continue.

He glanced up slightly. The other was wiping his hands, a scowl on his face.

Was it just because he saw a pair of ears?

To be precise, he only saw one; the other was in his blind spot. He only felt that the fur was soft, and the ear was soft too.

And why wasn't Chu Ji gritting his teeth in anger now? His cheeks weren't puffed up either.

Chu Ji wiped his hands clean and went to retrieve his sword.

Jun Xueyi quietly asked, "Are you so particular about cleanliness even when killing?"

Chu Ji recalled the other saying that if he didn't even know how to curse, he should just stay home. This wasn't much different.

He sharply pulled his sword free. This time, he would pierce Jun Xueyi's throat.

Jun Xueyi's neck brushed against the fruit of a poisonous flower, and he tilted slightly.

The sword swept past Jun Xueyi's neck, leaving a bleeding graze on the side, then pierced the poisonous flower fruit below.

The fruit instantly burst open, purple pollen scattering like smoke.

Jun Xueyi held his breath.

Chu Ji pulled out his sword, and as he raised it, Jun Xueyi seemed to double before his eyes.

He shook his head and plunged his sword into the ground.

"What is this thing...?"

[What a terrible waste!!!]

[It takes who knows how many millennia for the Cold Purple Flower to gather enough pollen to grow such a fruit!]

[Wait, are you saying this pod is the fruit of the Cold Purple Flower? Isn't this the cheat ability the protagonist uses later for a life-saving escape?]

[Aaaahhhh! Where has the plot gone off to?]

[If this is gone, what will the protagonist do when the villain later causes him to suffer heavenly punishment?]

[Think about now first! The villain showed up hundreds of chapters early and is about to kill Jun Xueyi!]

Chu Ji was quite pleased reading this, but the dense text made him even dizzier, so dizzy he couldn't stand and began to fall.

Jun Xueyi saw him falling towards him and scrambled aside.

He watched the other hit the ground hard.

He closed his eyes at the sound. That looked painful.

Chu Ji gritted his teeth in pain, barely propping himself up to sit. His white-gold robes were stained with flower sap and mud, along with Jun Xueyi's blood splattered on the flowers. The cold sensation on his face made him shiver, and he struggled to raise a hand to wipe it away.

Just this motion nearly made him lose his balance.

"You bastard."

Jun Xueyi watched as the other smeared mud on his face. The man who was always pristine was finally dirty today.

Much more agreeable.

He leaned over, his bound hands twisting, and retrieved a pill from his belt. Pinching it with his fingers, he tried to force it into the other's mouth.

Chu Ji raised a hand to knock the pill away, but his hand landed weakly on Jun Xueyi's wrist, completely devoid of strength. He couldn't use any spiritual power.

He turned his head away and weakly cursed, "Get lost."

Jun Xueyi half-knelt, supporting the other man's head, and waited quietly.

After fifteen minutes, the purple smoke in the air dissipated. Most of it had been inhaled by Chu Ji, who could no longer maintain his sitting posture. His back gave out, and he collapsed to the side.

Right onto Jun Xueyi's propped-up leg.

Jun Xueyi, as he fed the pill, said, "Next time you bind someone, remember to tie their hands behind their back."

The Spirit Binding Rope had only bound his upper body, not even his legs.

Chu Ji glared at him, wanting to curse but held back upon seeing the pill in the other's hand, his lips tightly sealed.

Jun Xueyi's fingers brushed against the other's lips, the warm, soft touch making him pause for a moment before he forcibly pried his lips apart and met with tightly clenched teeth.

Even like this, he wouldn't open his mouth.

Jun Xueyi raised an eyebrow slightly. So stubborn, still clenching his teeth even with no strength left.

After a moment's thought, he used his ring and little fingers and thumb to pinch the other's cheek, forcing his mouth open, while his index and middle fingers held the pill to feed it to him.

Chu Ji's eyes were filled with fury, glaring with wide eyes at Jun Xueyi.

If looks could kill, Jun Xueyi felt he would have been stripped to the bone by now.

Before being stripped to the bone, the other might have wanted to bite him.

Seeing that the medicine still hadn't been swallowed, he slipped his finger inside and pressed down on the base of the other's tongue.

Instantly, tears welled up in Chu Ji's eyes. The earthy taste from the pressed tongue made him nauseous, yet he reflexively swallowed the medicine.

As he regained his senses, he angrily bit down on the finger in his mouth.

Compared to the pain elsewhere, Jun Xueyi simply disregarded the bite.

He deliberately asked, "Aren't you afraid my hand is dirty?"

Chu Ji froze, releasing the bite while feeling like he might vomit.

Jun Xueyi looked at his finger, now covered in the other's saliva and with only a faint tooth mark after being bitten for so long, and wiped it clean on the other's clothes.

"Don't worry, I think you're dirty too. We're the same."

Chu Ji was forced to swallow the saliva that had just been touched by Jun Xueyi's finger, disgusted beyond words.

But the Little Demon King wasn't in the habit of spitting.

Instantly, it felt no better than swallowing a fly.

"What did you make me take?"

Jun Xueyi, seeing that the other had fully absorbed the pollen, knew this person would soon regain his strength and spiritual power.

He remained half-kneeling, generously offering his own numb leg as a pillow, and gazed gently at the other with a smile. "Poison."

Chu Ji sneered. He was a demon—what poison could possibly affect him?

Moreover, he could feel his strength and spiritual power gradually returning.

He stared at Jun Xueyi, certain that Jun Xueyi was doomed.

As soon as he could move, Chu Ji leaped up, summoned his sword, and prepared to chop off the hand Jun Xueyi had used to pinch his cheek.

Jun Xueyi didn't dodge or flinch.

Before Chu Ji's sword could strike, a wave of dizziness hit him again.

He could only sink to his knees, leaning on his sword planted in the soil.

Again?

He glared fiercely at the other. "What exactly did you make me take?"

Jun Xueyi met those moist eyes and said, unsurprised, "I told you it's poison. Soon you'll feel very hot."

Chu Ji tugged at his collar, staring bewildered at the other. He truly felt hot.

How many years had it been since he last felt heat?

Even in a volcano, he never felt hot, but now it was as if a fire burned inside him, so intense that he could only breathe rapidly to cope.

Not only hot, but it felt strange.

Very strange.

He wanted to rip off Jun Xueyi's clothes...

The moment this thought surfaced, Chu Ji instantly staggered back two steps.

What was wrong with his mind? He shook his head vigorously, dislodging his crown, but couldn't shake off the thought.

Did this poison affect the brain too?

Gripping his sword tightly, he panted, unable to believe that a poison could actually affect him.

No, if he delayed any longer, he'd lose his clarity. Quickly, he pulled his sword back, using spiritual power to drag the half-reclining Jun Xueyi toward him.

Jun Xueyi couldn't evade.

The talismans had spread across his body, and now even his other hand was growing numb with pain. Though his spiritual power was restricted, his Mental Technique continued operating relentlessly, forcing him to stay calm and preventing him from passing out from the pain.

He allowed himself to be dragged over, and then Chu Ji pressed down on him.

He looked up at the person kneeling over him, the other's sword at his neck, his chest pinned under the other's calf. This person's eyes were beautiful, now misty and slightly unfocused, long eyelashes blinking with tiny droplets. Faced with such eyes, anyone would wonder if they had done something wrong to deserve such a gaze.

Jun Xueyi's thoughts drifted, but he remained firm inwardly—how could this be his fault?

After fighting for so long, he was the one constantly getting injured.

Chu Ji gripped Jun Xueyi's neck. "Antidote."

Jun Xueyi's eyelids twitched. He hadn't heard clearly, only now noticing the other's crown had fallen, black hair cascading down, framing a face like a lotus blossom, one that bloomed at dawn, with eyes like dewdrops on petals.

"What?"

Chu Ji closed his eyes, a drop of sweat falling from his temple, landing precisely near Jun Xueyi's unmasked lips.

Jun Xueyi sighed. Even if he was good-looking, he was here to kill him. He said, "Remove the talismans from me, and I'll give you the antidote."

Chu Ji's sword immediately shifted downward an inch.

Jun Xueyi said calmly, "I'm the only one with the antidote for this poison. If you go out like this, you'll go mad tearing off others' clothes and kissing them. It's disgusting. Think about it."

Chu Ji froze.

What froze him wasn't just Jun Xueyi's words, but also the hand gripping Jun Xueyi's neck—it had slid down considerably, already reaching Jun Xueyi's collar.

He had just wanted to rip off Jun Xueyi's clothes...

Here and now, in this situation, he could no longer focus on threats and immediately put distance between himself and Jun Xueyi.

This is some strong poison.

He leaned against the stone wall, blinking rapidly. Even through the mask, he could still see how handsome Jun Xueyi was.

......Chu Ji raised his hand, wanting to slap himself awake, but couldn't bring himself to do it. Instead, he channeled spiritual energy to strike Jun Xueyi from a distance.

Jun Xueyi let out a muffled groan, blood rushing upward. It took him a moment to swallow the blood that had risen to his throat. Suppressing his pained anger, he said, "Release the Spirit Binding Rope. Otherwise, I won't be able to use my spiritual energy to retrieve the antidote—it's in my storage ring."

Chu Ji leaned against the wall, pressing his face to the stone, but felt no coolness from it. He was burning up all over.

He loosened the Spirit Binding Rope slightly but didn't retract it completely. If Jun Xueyi tried anything, he could bind him again at any moment.

As spiritual energy flowed through his body again, Jun Xueyi's pain subsided considerably.

Once his limbs had some feeling back, he forced himself to stand.

He took a pill from his storage ring and approached Chu Ji, preparing to feed it to him but pulling back at the last second. "Remove the spell on me first."

Chu Ji snorted coldly and was about to tighten the Spirit Binding Rope again.

Jun Xueyi abruptly leaned forward.

Chu Ji stared at the mask looming large in front of him, momentarily stunned.

Jun Xueyi's breath was surprisingly cool.

The tip of his nose was almost touching the other's mask.

Without anyone controlling it, the Spirit Binding Rope merely coiled loosely around Jun Xueyi's arm.

Jun Xueyi said, "If you don't remove the spell, I'll kiss you."

Chu Ji froze.

His mind went completely blank.

Jun Xueyi made as if to lean in another inch.

Chu Ji's nose finally touched Jun Xueyi's mask. If he moved his lips even slightly, they would kiss.

He blinked rapidly and quickly turned his head away.

At the same time, Jun Xueyi also turned his head aside, as if he was so disgusted he was about to throw up.

Chu Ji felt like vomiting too—he had almost been kissed by a man!

Ahhhh! He wanted to push the other away, but at that moment, even touching that guy felt like it would make him dirtier!!!

Author's note: