Chapter 2: The White Peony Antagonist

Chapter 2: The White Peony Villain

Lin Su opened his eyes again, and what met his gaze was a run-down shack.

The earthen walls were overgrown with mushrooms and weeds that looked ordinary in size and color.

Whether this was heaven or hell, it was...

Way too poor!

The mud walls let the wind in from every crack, the thatched roof had a hole, and thatch hung down like a waterfall, mixing with moss and streaks of sunlight, while the roof beam was half-broken, barely holding on.

Lin Su had never lived in such a shabby house in his whole damn life.

"Mm~"

A short, urgent moan by his ear pulled back his thoughts. Lin Su realized he was gripping a living creature in his hand; the pulse throbbed distinctly against his palm.

A sharp glint flashed in his eyes. He grabbed the living thing and lifted it up. The moment he saw it clearly, a flash of amazement crossed Lin Su's listless eyes.

The person in his hand had bold, striking features, with clean and sharp facial lines, which combined to give a unique air of cool aloofness. With slightly furrowed brows and fever-flushed cheeks, he was as beautiful as a pink-white peony, trembling and delicate.

The white peony flower's face was stained with some dirty water, making his porcelain-white skin appear flawless. A few strands of wet hair stuck messily, and water traces slid down his chin, across his restrained fragile neck, through the crook of Lin Su's thumb, disappearing into the hollow of his collarbone—a picture of broken, pitiful beauty.

Lin Su's thumb involuntarily rubbed the soft, plump earlobe of the person in his hand, which had a pink petal-shaped birthmark. After a long while, having had his fill of taking advantage, he finally let go of his grip with relief.

After all, those disgusting high-level freaks couldn't fake such a god-tier face like that of a delicate little flower.

Once released, the flower fairy coughed uncontrollably, as if waking from his coma.

At the same time, a stream of unfamiliar memories flooded Lin Su's mind. He raised his long eyebrows in surprise—he had actually fallen into a novel.

It was the ancient novel he had casually picked up three days before his self-destruction.

A classic revenge-and-rise story: after his family was massacred, the protagonist fled to a remote village, married into a butcher's family as a live-in son-in-law, changed his name, aced the imperial exams and fought his way back to the capital, secretly supported a puppet emperor to overthrow the Regent, and finally had the Regent executed to clear his family's name.

However, after reading the whole story, the one that left the deepest impression on him was the second major villain—the protagonist's younger brother, Fu Yun.

As one of the only two survivors of the family massacre, Fu Yun not only defected to the main villain, the Regent, but also spent his life making his brother's life miserable until his death.

According to the novel, Fu Yun could be described as vicious and twisted.

Fu Yun had superb medical skills, excelling in acupuncture and medicine, but in his hands, these healing arts became nothing but instruments of torture.

Human life was worth no more than livestock to him; countless innocent souls died at his hands, and his infamy spread far and wide.

In the end, he met a miserable end at the hands of his brother's righteous justice.

The reason Lin Su was impressed by him was that the novel devoted large passages to describing this villain as—eerily beautiful and seductive...

White robes stained with blood, long jet-black hair cascading to the ground, a pair of phoenix eyes that could steal souls. Beneath a ferocious demon mask, the beauty lazily lifted his eyes, curved his lips, and slowly ran his tongue along the corner of his mouth...

Thinking of this, Lin Su turned his head to look at the flower fairy lying beside the broken water tank.

This person was undoubtedly the future villain, Fu Yun, from the book.

Because the reason Fu Yun later took a completely different path from his brother and became a twisted, dangerously gorgeous evil doctor villain was ultimately due to none other than "himself."

Back then, the protagonist fled with little Fu Yun, not yet five years old. On the way, he entrusted him to an elderly couple and went alone to lead the pursuers away.

Within a few months, the old couple died in a flood. Little Fu Yun fled with the villagers and, after many twists and turns, was taken in by the original owner's parents as a child bride.

Ten years passed in a blink, and the original owner's parents died unexpectedly.

The original owner was a good-for-nothing lazy bum who spent all his parents' savings within three years. He was lured into gambling dens and lost over a dozen acres of fertile land and a brick house.

The original owner was dumbfounded. On a whim, he ventured into the deep mountains to hunt valuable prey to redeem the land and house. Unexpectedly, he woke a hibernating black bear, broke his leg, and damaged his manhood.

While fleeing, the original owner fell into the water and was swept downstream. Coincidentally, Fu Yun was gathering herbs on the mountain and rescued him, saving his life from being devoured alive by the bear.

After this ordeal, the original owner's fragile mind finally shattered.

He stubbornly believed that Fu Yun had refused to marry him for years and would now abandon him. He felt he was going to die anyway.

After the two were driven away by the gambling den and moved to the old house, the original owner suddenly had an evil thought: if he was going to die, he would drag someone down with him. He attacked Fu Yun from behind, knocking him into the broken water tank.

The old house had been uninhabited for over a decade; the broken tank was filled with years-old dirty water. Caught off guard, Fu Yun inhaled filthy water into his lungs.

Worse, his head hit the tank, and he passed out.

This delay prevented him from saving himself. That night, he burned with fever, and when he woke up, he was mentally impaired.

After succeeding in his attack, the original owner grew scared and hesitated to land the finishing blow. Seeing Fu Yun in this foolish state, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He first gained the trust of the simple-minded Fu Yun, then unleashed his true nature and began to torment him.

His sexual impotence made him increasingly perverse, and his methods of torture became endless and nauseating.

A year later, Fu Yun accidentally healed himself.

Once recovered, shock, rage, and disgust overwhelmed him, instantly destroying his sanity.

He had always been delicate and sensitive. The more aloof and unsullied he had been before, the more agony and suffering he now felt.

He turned the original owner into a living doll, unable to live or die, returning all torment a hundredfold.

Yet it was not enough. Nightmarish memories trapped him in a cocoon of his own suffering. Later, he even resented his brother for abandoning him and turned to the enemy out of spite.

Although the later tortures had not yet happened and would not happen now, it was true that he had been turned into a fool and nearly lost his life.

Thinking of the younger villain's petty, vengeful nature, Lin Su didn't think he would let him off after recovery.

Imagining his own miserable later life in the book, Lin Su couldn't help twitching his lips.

He lowered his head again, his gaze repeatedly tracing the younger villain's exquisite face.

After a long moment, he barely managed to suppress the thought of nipping it in the bud.

After all, the little white flower had not yet turned into an evil demon flower; he was still an innocent little pitiful thing.

Besides, he was so beautiful.

He would mercifully let the little beauty off the hook.

As for payback from that small-time villain once he recovered, Lin Su closed his eyes to assess his current body and couldn't help but laugh.

He then realized that his own original body had crossed over too and fused with the host's body.

Maybe he'd come over in the flesh, but the self-destruction was too powerful, causing his body to disintegrate. His instincts made him merge with a nearby corpse to survive.

It works like absorbable stitches: the host's body acted as the thread, stitching his broken form back together. Once Lin Su recovers in the future, that thread will be absorbed by his body.

As for why the original owner, who should have been alive, was dead when he arrived… who knows? Maybe he was caught in the aftermath of his self-destruction.

But who cares? Only a fool passes up a good deal – better him than me, especially since this person is scum.

Lin Su, that scoundrel, felt no guilt about taking advantage.

In short, he still had his original body, which meant his abilities might still work!

Lin Su’s heartbeat quickened for a moment, then he closed his eyes to focus.

There it was – the energy core floating silently in his dantian. The misty blue crystal was covered in cracks, surrounded by a few ghostly blue petals blooming like a lotus.

He extended a finger. Three seconds later, a perfect round droplet formed on his fingertip, then vanished in an instant.

Lin Su pulled back his energy. His current power was too weak, so it was best to conserve it.

After all, his body – including the original owner's shattered leg and mangled crotch – still needed his energy to heal.

Although he wasn’t a healing-type awakened, awakened individuals themselves have strong regenerative abilities; healing powers just accelerate the process.

Given his current state, his body would fully recover within six months.

By then, with his powers in this low-martial arts world, wouldn't he be able to walk all over everyone?

He’d eat well, drink well, and live freely. If that small-time villain sent one, he'd knock him out; if he sent two, he'd take them both down!

A mere small-time villain, easily handled!

“Gurgle~”

A protest from his stomach interrupted Lin Su’s thoughts. He paused, then his listless eyes snapped open, shining as he looked toward the corner.