Blame the Villain – Chapter 153

Villainous Malevolent Ghost (7)

Song Xuyi was woken up the next day by Xu Juan.

Xu Juan was holding a tablet charger. Xu Juan glanced at the playback history and looked at the sleepy-eyed Song Xuyi, and couldn’t help but laugh out loud—

“Ah, Xuyi, you watched this movie last night! No wonder you slept so late today and didn’t wake up. The first time I watched this movie, I also had insomnia the whole night, wondering if I might bend…”

Song Xuyi was startled, and the remaining sleepiness immediately vanished as she widened her eyes: hadn’t she already deleted the playback history? How did Xu Juan still know?

Song Xuyi responded with a “mm,” pretending to be calm as she got up, walked into the bathroom, and suddenly covered her burning face—this was all just too embarrassing!

“Xuyi, maybe you forgot to delete it! It’s nothing; Xu Juan also watched it many times, didn’t she?” The system, as Bai Yu’s accomplice, recalled Bai Yu fleeing and leaving behind the tablet last night, and feeling guilty, it gritted its teeth and continued to fool Song Xuyi: “You’ve been really tired lately, so you remembered wrong. Have fun today and rest…”

Is that so?

Song Xuyi splashed a handful of water on her face, patted her still burning cheeks, and a few traces of confusion passed in her eyes: this was already the second time; was her stress really so great that even her memory had worsened this much?

It took Song Xuyi a long time to calm the heat on her cheeks.

After coming out of the bathroom, Xu Juan was applying makeup. Seeing Song Xuyi casually put on a barrier cream and wanted to go out, Xu Juan sighed, pressed Song Xuyi into a seat, and gave her a pinkish makeup: “We have to take photos these two days; how can you not wear makeup?”

Xu Juan’s skill was very good and she quickly finished the makeup. Looking at Song Xuyi with her makeup done, wearing a white down jacket and looking even more pink and pretty, Xu Juan couldn’t help but sigh out loud: “Xuyi, your skin is really good, making people want to kiss it. I always feel like you’ve become a lot prettier recently; did you secretly go for a beauty treatment?”

As soon as she finished speaking, Xu Juan, not knowing why, inexplicably felt a chill on her back and couldn’t help but shrink her neck.

“Really? Maybe it’s because the exam went okay yesterday, so I’m in a good mood!” Song Xuyi blinked, thinking in her heart that it might be due to her recent ‘symbiosis’ with Bai Yu, but she didn’t know how to explain it, so she could only change the topic: “The boys are probably already waiting, let’s go downstairs first!”

Xu Juan just casually praised her and didn’t care about Song Xuyi’s answer. She touched her neck and looked back, but the room’s windows were closed well, and there was nothing unusual around, so Xu Juan didn’t think much and followed Song Xuyi downstairs.

As soon as they got downstairs, they saw Xu Juan’s boyfriend waiting in the hall. The boy seemed to have waited for a long time, his face looking obviously a bit haggard. Upon seeing Xu Juan, he immediately looked eagerly over, his face full of apprehension, following behind Xu Juan and going with her to the corner…

Huang Feng came over and made a joke, probably because his gaze was all stuck on Song Xuyi and he didn’t notice the surroundings, so when he sat down, he took a big fall. Yet even so, Huang Feng still insisted on wanting to sit at the same table with Song Xuyi.

“Xuyi, girls shouldn’t wear makeup; those who truly like you will also like your bare face.” Huang Feng saw the light makeup on Song Xuyi’s face, his expression full of earnestness.

Song Xuyi turned a cold eye and didn’t want to deal with him. She picked up two steamed buns and walked out, but who knew Huang Feng would also stand up and grab Song Xuyi’s bag: “Xuyi, I’ll help you carry your bag; we’re going to climb the mountain today…”

Whether it was due to static electricity or some other reason, before Song Xuyi had time to refuse, Huang Feng suddenly exclaimed, as if shocked, and shrank back the hand that was grabbing Song Xuyi’s bag—

“No need.” Song Xuyi didn’t even glance at Huang Feng and walked out of the restaurant.

After several people intermittently came out to eat, all eight finally met in the hotel lobby, boarded the travel minibus at the hotel entrance, and drove towards their destination, Ming Mountain.

Ming Mountain is a famous mountain range in the neighboring city. Among its features, the sea of clouds, holy light, fairy statue, and sunset are the four major sceneries of Ming Mountain. The group departed relatively late, so the morning holy light was missed, but according to today’s weather, the other three sceneries were still possible to see.

Xia Tian’s plan was for the group to first take a sightseeing car to halfway up the mountain, then view the sea of clouds from there, have lunch at a restaurant, and in the afternoon take a cable car to the mountain top to overlook the famous fairy statue, view the sunset, and then catch one of the last few cable cars down the mountain.

The group quickly arrived at the foot of the mountain.

Since most people hadn’t started their winter vacation yet, there weren’t many people at the foot of the mountain. Huang Feng finally seemed to realize his unpopularity and volunteered to take the booking QR code to the window to collect tickets. Although the queue wasn’t long, he murmured with the window staff for a long time, taking quite a while before returning to the group.

“He can’t accomplish anything, I don’t know how he has the face to pursue you,” even though they were only at the foot of the mountain and hadn’t started climbing, the winter mountain wind was somewhat cold, and Xia Tian couldn’t help but lean over to Song Xuyi to murmur: “I really regret agreeing to bring such a burden, hope he doesn’t cause any trouble.”

And Xia Tian’s words proved prophetic.

After finally getting the tickets and sitting on the sightseeing car, Huang Feng suddenly started continuously shouting that his stomach hurt. Since they were on a group outing, they couldn’t ignore him. Xu Juan’s boyfriend, who was secretly pinched by Xu Juan several times, probably regretting his decision deeply, could only take care of Huang Feng with an exhausted face, handing him both medicine and water.

Listening to Huang Feng shouting there, the other passengers one after another put on headphones to block the noise.

Song Xuyi also put on headphones, and then intently began to open her camera to film the sea of clouds hovering on the roadsides.

If it weren’t for the tight schedule this time, Song Xuyi really wanted to take Bai Yu on this trip. But since they couldn’t make it this time, and the days until the next visit to the old residence aren’t far, Song Xuyi thought of recording the beautiful scenery along the way to show Bai Yu when they meet.

After about half an hour, the group finally reached halfway up the mountain.

The car stopped at an open space in the middle of the visit, and the group started to rest there. It was originally suggested that Xu Juan’s boyfriend stay here to take care of Huang Feng, yet Huang Feng’s stomachache miraculously got better at this time.

Huang Feng once again ingratiatingly smiled and moved to Song Xuyi’s side, not caring at all about Song Xuyi’s impatient gaze:

“Xuyi, you can rest assured, the mountain has many dangers and accidents, but no matter the situation, I will protect you…”

Xia Tian couldn’t stand it and used the excuse of discussing things with Song Xuyi to drive Huang Feng away, finally bringing some quiet to Song Xuyi’s ears.

Song Xuyi carefully reviewed the videos she had shot along the way. Her phone’s resolution was good, capturing the rolling, boundless sea of clouds with great clarity.

However, the video’s background sound was filled with Huang Feng’s cries of stomach pain, disrupting the harmony of the entire video.

Song Xuyi frowned and removed the video’s original sound, then added a piece of classical, ethereal music, thinking that Bai Yu would probably like this video. Her tightly furrowed brow then relaxed—

The scenery halfway up the mountain was very good, although the food in the scenic area could only be considered barely satisfactory, and there was also the annoying presence of Huang Feng. But Song Xuyi saw and recorded many beautiful scenes, and felt the trip wasn’t wasted.

After eating, the group climbed a section of the road to digest, then took the upward cable car.

The cable car was a ten-person cable car, with two additional unknown tourists boarding. Xia Tian chatted a bit with those two tourists, while Huang Feng suddenly started dryly howling about stomach pain. Song Xuyi frowned and put on her headphones; even Xu Juan’s boyfriend darkened his face, as everyone present wasn’t foolish—Huang Feng was very likely pretending, as he continuously claimed his stomach hurt, but his expression didn’t change at all.

Song Xuyi didn’t know Huang Feng’s motive for pretending to have a stomachache and didn’t want to investigate; she only wanted Huang Feng to stay as far from her as possible.

By the time they reached the mountain top, it was already past four in the afternoon, and it was the same routine: almost as soon as the cable car landed, Huang Feng stopped his dry howling, touched his head awkwardly and said, “I feel better. I probably have some fear of heights, so sitting in transport makes my stomach hurt, but on the ground, I’m fine. But after all, I’m a big man, even if I have difficulties, I need to overcome them, can’t drag everyone down, luckily I endured…”

No one continued his conversation, as Huang Feng had inserted himself into this team, disrupted everyone’s interest, and yet presented a strong facade, which was truly shameless.

The observation deck likely required another half-hour walk, and Huang Feng occasionally covered his stomach, forcing the group to walk slower to accommodate him.

Huang Feng, however, didn’t seem to notice everyone’s disdain for him. He had clearly done some research about the scenic spot and, while walking up, introduced: “This fairy statue actually has a prototype. Everyone has heard of the legendary metaphysics founder Celestial Master Bai Yu. Perhaps everyone only knows her for her major contributions to metaphysics and has seen the ugly character illustrations in history books, yet very few know that Celestial Master Bai Yu herself was an extremely beautiful woman…”

Amidst the clouds’ embrace, the woman’s statue was vividly lifelike, as if in the next moment, she would ascend.

“So beautiful!” The chattering Huang Feng, whose stomach no longer hurt, deftly took out his phone, taking photos while flaunting what he knew: “Legend has it that Celestial Master Bai Yu didn’t die at the hands of evil spirits, but that the emperor coveted her beauty and forcibly took her into his harem. However, the emperor, with high status and power, was like any man; even a celestial being becomes ordinary over time, so after obtaining Celestial Master Bai Yu, it wasn’t long before the emperor transferred his affections to another favored concubine. Celestial Master Bai Yu, having lost favor, became depressed, fell severely ill, and died untreated. The emperor, suddenly repentant, built this statue to express his regret…”

At this time, Song Xuyi felt a bit glad she hadn’t brought Bai Yu over: Bai Yu definitely couldn’t possibly marry the emperor; if she married the emperor, Bai Yu would no longer be part of the Bai family and naturally couldn’t become the Bai family’s guardian deity.

If Bai Yu heard how later generations’ unofficial histories arranged her story, she might be extremely angry.

However, Song Xuyi for a moment couldn’t imagine what Bai Yu would look like when angry: Bai Yu was always obedient and gentle beside Song Xuyi, and Song Xuyi had never seen her angry expression.

“If it were me, I wouldn’t be like the emperor; with a wife and children, I would definitely be devoted…” Huang Feng again turned the topic to himself, began self-praising, and took off his safety helmet, finding a good angle for Xu Juan’s boyfriend to take a photo of him.

Song Xuyi frowned tightly, imperceptibly moving further away from him, and at that moment, the mountain wind suddenly increased. Just then, a small stone fell from above and coincidentally hit Huang Feng’s head…

Huang Feng’s head immediately started bleeding!

The accident happened too suddenly, and no one expected this change. After regaining their senses, Xu Feng quickly dialed the scenic area’s phone.

However, probably because the mountain signal was poor, the call couldn’t connect. Huang Feng immediately panicked, no longer caring about his pretended demeanor, and burst out scolding the scenic area’s security personnel for being irresponsible, completely ignoring that it was because he took off his safety helmet that caused this accident.

Song Xuyi really couldn’t stand Xu Feng’s uncouth behavior, and having been a doctor with a healer’s heart, Song Xuyi called on the male lead Bai Jin to help, instructing Bai Jin to help Xu Feng clean the wound.

Xu Feng’s wound looked like it bled a lot, but the situation wasn’t actually serious, and the bleeding stopped soon.

“Xuyi, I didn’t expect you to have research in medicine.” The surrounding people watched Song Xuyi skillfully direct Bai Jin, clicking their tongues in wonder, but Song Xuyi glanced at the gradually darkening sky and frowned tightly: “We should quickly head down, or we’ll miss the cable car. His wound should best be treated at a hospital after descending the mountain.”

The rest of the group only then felt the urgency of time, and Huang Feng, having thought of something, his eyes flickering a few times, suddenly stood up and strode quickly toward the cable car station, showing none of the weakness he displayed earlier, clutching his stomach after just a few steps.

However, even though the group hurried, by the time they reached the cable car point, it was already too late. The last cable car had gone down the mountain ten minutes ago, and the staff had already closed the gate, suggesting the group stay at a nearby small inn.

“Then what about my injury?” Huang Feng, with a rogue expression, angrily spoke: “I got injured at your scenic area and need treatment. Shouldn’t you be responsible? If anything happens to me, who can bear the responsibility?”

“Young man, your wound here clearly shows you didn’t follow the rules and didn’t wear a safety helmet,” the staff, obviously not easy to fool, immediately pointed out the reason for Huang Feng’s injury: “We have a first aid kit here and can treat you first.”

“But didn’t the ticket say the last cable car is at six in the afternoon?” While the staff bandaged Huang Feng, Xia Tian tried to communicate with them: “There should be one more car.”

“Didn’t the ticket window staff tell you? These days the scenic area is under equipment maintenance, and the cable car round trip isn’t announced over loudspeakers. The last cable car was also moved half an hour earlier…”

Ticket window?

For a moment, everyone’s gaze fell on Huang Feng.

Avoiding the gaze of everyone looking over, Huang Feng’s eyes flickered: “Wasn’t my stomach really too painful all the way, so I forgot to tell you these things?”

“You are really something, able to boast and flaunt some unofficial history you heard from who knows where, but you forgot the important things!”

Xia Tian could no longer endure Huang Feng and couldn’t help but sternly say: “Classmate Huang, to be honest, our group consists of relatively close friends traveling together. I originally didn’t agree to you joining, and it was reluctantly that you were allowed into our group. Now, because of you, we are in this situation, and tomorrow’s schedule will also be affected. Considering your past behavior, after we descend the mountain tomorrow, it’s best if we each go our own way and not interfere with each other…”

Huang Feng obviously didn’t expect Xia Tian to speak like that. He looked around and found that no one spoke up for him, not even Xu Juan’s boyfriend, who also averted his gaze. He finally realized he had already provoked public anger.

After handling the wound, more than ten minutes passed.

The mountain top was already very windy, and with the low winter temperatures, although the staff pointed out a small inn not far away, walking there still took thirty or forty minutes. By the time the group finally reached the small inn, the sky had completely darkened, and everyone was shivering from the cold.

Huang Feng fell again on the road, his face scratched several times, and with the forehead wound, he indeed looked somewhat pitiful and embarrassed.

But he seemed to finally understand that no one wanted to see him, so he kept his head down without a word all the way.

The small inn’s conditions weren’t good, typically accommodating backpackers, with the room pillows all yellowed, and some of its rooms under repair, leaving only two guest rooms available.

The group calculated, with the boys in one room and the girls in another.

The small inn’s bed couldn’t fit so many people, and since no one was sleepy, they simply got up and went to the living room, bought some food from the owner, and began playing Werewolf there.

This time, Huang Feng seemed to finally have some insight and quietly stayed in the room without coming out. Song Xuyi, not too accustomed to overly lively occasions, played a few rounds with them before returning to her room.

Outside, the mountain wind roared, causing the windows to clang loudly. In such an environment, Song Xuyi had no sleepiness at all. Lying in bed, she couldn’t help but start pondering all her recent experiences…

Previously, she had been so focused on exams that she didn’t notice, but thinking carefully, Song Xuyi realized her recent life had been too smooth. Besides reviewing, it seemed she hadn’t encountered any difficulties in life…

What troubled Song Xuyi more was what happened two nights ago. She clearly remembered deleting her browsing history and also remembered that after someone came to cause trouble, Bai Yu suddenly appeared beside her…

All this felt incredibly real, not like an illusion.

The more she thought, the more Song Xuyi found strange aspects in her life. A thought vaguely flashed in her mind, and just as she was about to think deeply, she suddenly heard knocking at the door.

The shop owner’s voice came from the door: “Girl, that boy who came with you and is sleeping in the room feels uncomfortable. Your other companions have already gone over, and they asked me to get you to take a look…”

Perhaps due to the strong wind, the shop owner’s voice sounded somewhat eerie and strange.

Song Xuyi didn’t suspect anything, as everyone had become used to Huang Feng’s sudden antics along the way.

Even though she didn’t want to pay attention to Huang Feng’s antics, thinking that after all, it was a life, Song Xuyi reluctantly opened the door and followed the shop owner.

The corridor was very silent, so quiet that she could only hear her own footsteps. Song Xuyi always felt something strange, subconsciously grasping the bead on her wrist. She hadn’t reacted yet when she already reached Huang Feng’s door.

“Go in!” The shop owner’s voice sounded behind Song Xuyi, still hollow and eerie.

As she got closer, Song Xuyi smelled a kind of rotting odor coming from the shop owner, a smell that seemed familiar, as she had once smelled it on Song Zhi…

Song Xuyi also noticed something eerie about the corridor: it was too quiet, so quiet that she couldn’t even hear her own footsteps!

Song Xuyi widened her eyes and silently stepped back two steps, and the shop owner seemed to notice that Song Xuyi had discovered his abnormality. He lifted his head, curling his lips eerily at her, then forcefully restrained her hand and pushed her into the room.

As Song Xuyi had anticipated, there was no one else in the room. This evil spirit must have blocked the sounds from the corridor, and the others were probably still in the living room playing cards.

The bead on her wrist once again began to heat up.

Song Xuyi remembered that last time it was the same; when Song Zhi was possessed, she initially had no ability to resist, and it was only after she fainted that the bead exploded with energy…

But how could the bead time its effect so precisely? Why would it only work after she passed out?

For the first time, Song Xuyi began to doubt the system’s words.

Inside the room, Huang Feng was nervously sitting on the bed, playing with a small bottle in his hand. Seeing Song Xuyi come in, he immediately showed a relieved expression and looked at the shop owner behind her: “What do I need to do next?”

The shop owner’s face revealed an eerie smile as he looked at the bead on Song Xuyi’s wrist.

“This curse stone is a bit troublesome, as it can protect her from being harmed by us, but it has no offensiveness. As long as you remove this curse stone, I can, as previously agreed with you, confuse her mind, make her infatuated with you, and you can consummate the relationship…”

It seemed the shop owner was already certain that Song Xuyi had no ability to resist, so he spoke without avoiding her.

No offensiveness?

Then… how was the painting burned that night?

Song Xuyi’s eyes widened, and at that moment, a guess suddenly flashed in her mind. The more she thought about it, the more she felt this guess was correct. She couldn’t help but look complexly at the curse stone in her hand.

“Xuyi, don’t blame me,” Huang Feng’s face revealed obvious smugness as he turned the small bottle in his hand and slowly approached Song Xuyi: “With great effort and cost, I closed the distance and stayed on the mountain. I was originally worried about how to drug you, but I didn’t expect heaven to favor me. After I fell, a deity possessed me…”

“Even a deity is willing to help me achieve my wish!” Huang Feng, full of pride, extended his hand: “In the future, as long as you obediently listen to me and let me manage your Song family’s property, I will definitely marry you…”

This was Huang Feng’s happiest moment. Addicted to online gambling, he had incurred a large debt, and knowing that Song Xuyi’s family was wealthy, he planned to pursue her to become a wealthy son-in-law, even preparing some despicable drugs in advance.

He originally thought he could see the panicked look of this rich girl who had always ignored him, but he didn’t expect Song Xuyi to sarcastically curl her lips and coldly speak—

“Bai Yu, are you still not coming out? Are you still pondering how to make me faint?”

Bai Yu, what does this mean?

Huang Feng frowned.

However, before Huang Feng could ponder this familiar name, his abdomen ached, and his body instinctively shrank back, followed by neck pain—

Does Song Xuyi actually have skills?

This was Huang Feng’s last thought before he fainted.

Song Xuyi withdrew the hand that had attacked Bai Yu.

And almost at the same moment, the evil spirit within the shop owner let out a miserable scream, turned into black smoke trying to escape, but was grabbed by Bai Yu, who appeared in the air, and was crushed into black ash…

The room instantly became quiet.

Song Xuyi pressed her lips together, expressionlessly examining the suddenly appearing Bai Yu: Bai Yu pressed her lips tightly, head lowered, not daring to directly meet Song Xuyi’s gaze.

“So, have you actually been by my side this whole time?” Song Xuyi’s heart was extremely chaotic, but seeing Bai Yu’s anxious expression, she inexplicably calmed down: “Don’t you think you should explain some things to me?”

Facing Song Xuyi’s increasingly cold gaze, Bai Yu’s hand by her side nervously curled twice. After a while, she seemed to gather the courage and lifted her head to directly look at Song Xuyi—

“You—” Song Xuyi widened her eyes in astonishment, the questions she had prepared getting stuck in her throat: Bai Yu’s eyes were red.

Under the dim light of the small inn, the woman’s face looked astonishingly beautiful, with eyes full of tears, pitiful and extremely endearing.

“Don’t cry!” Song Xuyi’s heart ached, and she unconsciously softened her voice: “We can talk slowly, I… I’m not blaming you. After all, you saved me so many times, and I’m not someone who repays kindness with enmity. I… know you have your reasons…”

“I have not married an emperor!”

Seemingly soothed by Song Xuyi’s words, Bai Yu finally spoke. Her reddened eyes looked at Song Xuyi, and she voiced aggrievedly: “Although I lost my memory, in this life, I will only have one partner…”

So, Bai Yu is upset because of such an unimportant rumor?

Song Xuyi widened her eyes!

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The author has something to say:

——Is this still not important?

Xiaobai (crying angrily): (ㄒoㄒ)

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LP: Re-translated on September 14, 2024

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