This Is What a Villain Is Like

Chapter 157: Chapter 90: The Old Tropes Win Hearts, and the Heart-devouring Disease Makes a Great Scapegoat

"That man Ye, his origins are unknown. Yet back at the Drunken Immortal Residence, he managed to escape safely from right under the noses of many powerful experts. His methods are anything but simple..."

His tone was casual, but he spoke with great seriousness.

"Does Young Master Jiang suspect that Ye is a member of the Blood Immortal Sect?" Ling Zhuyun asked.

She finally understood why, back at the village, Jiang Lan had insisted she be the one to personally search Ye Ming’s Sumeru Ring.

But she still refused to believe that Ye Ming had any connection to the Blood Immortal Sect.

"If I were the only one who was suspicious, then perhaps I’d be wrong. But what if everyone is suspicious? Saintess Zhu Yun, how long do you plan on deceiving yourself?"

"There are quite a few members of the Blood Immortal Sect who have infiltrated Purple Mist Mountain. If you let your emotions guide you, you won’t even know what killed you when the time comes," Jiang Lan said.

Ling Zhuyun fell silent, at a loss for words. In truth, she also knew that members of the Blood Immortal Sect had infiltrated the area.

She had faced formidable enemies on two separate occasions—the first time, it was a disciple from the Nether Abyss Sect, and the second, it was someone from the Blood Immortal Sect.

Although she had slain them both with her sword, she had been injured in the process.

Just then, Ling Zhuyun’s delicate body trembled. The injuries she had been suppressing for so long suddenly flared up.

A trickle of crimson blood seeped from the corner of her mouth, staining her gauze veil.

Jiang Lan looked at her, seemingly in great surprise.

But Ling Zhuyun’s vision blurred and swam. Her body swayed, and then her eyes gently closed.

"Saintess Zhu Yun?"

"Don’t you die on me. If you die, who’s going to protect me...?"

Before she lost consciousness, she felt Jiang Lan catch her. But his words made her unconsciously clench her slender hand into a fist.

...

When Ling Zhuyun woke up again, she found herself in a damp, natural cave. Drops of water dripped from the ceiling above.

Not far away, a fire crackled, made from some dry branches.

The purple mist outside was still thick, but the sky had clearly darkened. Night had fallen.

A rocky stream flowed through the cave, its gurgling waters lending a slight chill to the air.

Beneath her was a bed of dry, soft pine needles, covered by a slightly torn, moon-white outer robe so she wasn’t lying directly on the needles.

...

Ling Zhuyun gently pursed her lips. Looking at the thoughtful scene before her, she felt a little dazed, and even more so, at a loss.

She could tell it was clearly the outer robe Jiang Lan had been wearing earlier; it was torn in several places.

’But where did he go?’

When a gust of cool, eerie wind blew in, Ling Zhuyun felt a chill on her face. She reached up to touch her smooth, flawless cheek, only to realize her veil was gone.

She froze. Her gaze fell upon her veil, which was draped over a nearby stalagmite. It seemed to have been washed, likely because of the bloodstain, and was now being dried by the campfire.

Ling Zhuyun’s mind went blank for a moment. Thinking of the various rumors about Jiang Lan, she wondered, ’He didn’t do anything to me while I was unconscious, did he?’

Her dress was intact, her black hair was smooth, and her body felt no different than before.

Even her blood-stained veil had been washed clean and set aside to dry by the fire. He had even thoughtfully spread his own outer robe over the bed of pine needles for her.

’I really have been too prejudiced against him.’

"You’re awake?"

"Good that you’re awake. If you didn’t wake up soon and some mountain spirit or wild monster attacked, we’d both have ended up as their next meal."

Just then, the sound of footsteps came from the cave entrance.

Jiang Lan walked in wearing only his under-robes. He held a simple wooden fish spear, sharpened at one end, with several still-flopping fish skewered on it.

’A cave, roasted fish, a man and a woman alone together, plus a healing session—with all these factors in place, what saintess couldn’t be won over?’

In truth, Jiang Lan didn’t want to resort to such playbook moves, but he’d found that this method yielded the most fortune.

’In these degenerate times, I guess only the old playbook can win hearts.’

Ling Zhuyun sat up halfway, her long, slender, jade-like legs hidden beneath her skirt.

Even in the dim light, their fairness was dazzling, seeming to shimmer with a pearly white luster.

She stared blankly as Jiang Lan approached, seemingly unable to believe that the notoriously pampered and hedonistic Jiang Lan would ever have a day where he’d roll up his pants and sleeves to catch fish with a wooden spear.

The contrast left her stunned for a good while.

"If I had known you were about to wake up, I wouldn’t have wasted my time personally catching these fish."

Jiang Lan walked over, tossed the homemade spear on the ground, took the fish off, cleaned them in the stream, and then began to roast them over the campfire.

"I have some Fasting Pills here. If Young Master Jiang is hungry, you can take a few."

Ling Zhuyun thought for a moment, then held out her slender hand, a small white porcelain bottle appearing in it.

Jiang Lan glanced at her from the side but didn’t take the bottle, simply saying, "I’ve already caught the fish, so there’s no need for Fasting Pills."

He had already seen her true face while she was unconscious, but now, seeing it up close...

Her otherworldly beauty was exquisite and flawless, like heaven’s most perfect work of art.

Her eyelashes were long, her brows were like dark jade, and her misty eyes made her seem like a mountain spirit, exuding a celestial Dao Rhyme.

This beauty was so profound it felt unreal, as if it shouldn’t exist in the mortal world.

"Saintess Zhu Yun truly is a peerless beauty, the likes of which are rarely seen in this world."

Jiang Lan praised her sincerely, his gaze open and appraising, as if he were admiring a beautiful painting.

Ling Zhuyun found his gaze a bit much to bear. She turned her face away, took a new gauze veil from her Sumeru Ring, and put it on. Only then did she feel her heart calm down a little.