When the Villain is Bound to the Female Lead System

Chapter 67

A sharp chisel flew towards Yu Yi, accompanied by Du's Father's curse, "What kind of creatures are you? Stop spouting nonsense at my doorstep! Get out! Get out now!"

Yu Yi shifted her gaze and reached out, effortlessly catching the chisel that had been aimed at her face.

Xue Chenjing glanced at the chisel, and rage instantly surged to his head. He rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward menacingly, demonic energy swirling in his hands as he roared, "You old fool, I'll slaughter your entire family today and end your Du bloodline forever!"

System: "..." It knew that the host couldn't maintain the facade for long before revealing their true nature. *weeps*

Yu Yi grabbed Xue Chenjing, saying calmly, "They're not real people, why are you getting worked up over them?"

Her fingertips twirled the chisel, spinning it between her delicate fingers. The blade erupted with intense sword fire as she flung it with a wave of her hand. With a thud, it pierced the Du family's gate, penetrating the wish paper attached to it.

The flames instantly licked at the golden ink on the wish paper, and the entire Du family courtyard along with the people inside began to distort, like a painting being consumed by heat waves.

Du Qian held the dazed Zhao Zhi and their child in his arms, while Du's Father and Du's Mother cried out in terror, "No, my grandson, my grandson!"

As the wish paper was consumed by sword fire, the Du family vanished from sight.

Xue Chenjing, with nowhere to vent his anger, curled his fingers back around his demonic energy and snorted, "This is a realm formed by human desires, reflecting their truest wishes. So you see, if you interfere with the Du family's wish for a male heir, they won't be grateful—they'll only resent you."

Yu Yi responded indifferently, "What does their resentment matter to me? It means nothing. I only know that Zhao Zhi was kept in the dark, and her wishes weren't on that paper."

That was enough. As long as Zhao Zhi didn't want to trade her daughter's soul for a male heir, what others thought didn't matter—not even Du Qian's thoughts were important.

Fengsheng County was too large for them to go house by house burning wish papers. They needed a reason to gather all the wishers in one place. The best reason would be the Moon Goddess.

Yu Yi pondered, "I wonder if there's a Moon Goddess Temple in this illusion. Since they worship the Moon Goddess so devoutly, wouldn't the whole city come running if they saw the temple on fire?"

Xue Chenjing followed her line of thought and nodded, "There must be one. The worship of the Moon Goddess is the nexus that concentrates everyone's spiritual energy in this realm of human desires."

Yu Yi smiled gently, "Then let's give it a try."

She removed the talisman from Crane Senior Brother, and a palm-sized bird rose from her hand, its talismanic light flashing before condensing into a beam. When the light dissipated, a large crane with broad wings stood before them.

Crane Senior Brother spread his wings and flapped them, letting out a long cry and lowering his back, clearly happy to have work to do again.

Yu Yi nimbly jumped onto Crane Senior Brother's back and reached back toward Xue Chenjing, saying, "Let's go."

Xue Chenjing paused in reaching for his flying carpet, joy spreading through his heart. He quietly tucked the carpet back into his storage pouch and took Yu Yi's hand. She pulled him up lightly, and he settled behind her on the crane's back.

Crane Senior Brother spread his wings and took a few running steps with his long legs before taking flight.

The initial running steps were somewhat bumpy, like riding horseback. Xue Chenjing's mind turned, and he pretended to stumble forward, conveniently wrapping his arm around Yu Yi's waist.

"What are you doing?" Yu Yi reflexively slapped his hand. She was very wary of anyone suddenly touching crucial areas like her waist and dantian.

Xue Chenjing's hand stung red from the slap. He withdrew it but stubbornly grabbed her sleeve instead, complaining pitifully, "Crane Senior Brother took off too fast. I'm afraid of falling."

Hearing this, Crane Senior Brother made two "ga ga" sounds and deliberately shook his body, getting revenge for being squeezed earlier.

Xue Chenjing played along, crying out dramatically and sliding backward. Yu Yi instinctively grabbed his wrist to pull him toward her, but catching sight of his outstretched arms and triumphant expression, she suddenly released her grip.

Xue Chenjing opened his eyes wide in disbelief that she had actually let go. "Yi'er?"

Crane Senior Brother was still ascending, his back tilted. When Yu Yi released her grip, the playacting became real—Xue Chenjing slid all the way to the crane's tail and nearly got thrown off by Crane Senior Brother's wildly swaying tail.

His wish to embrace Yu Yi thoroughly dashed, he could only grab onto Crane Senior Brother's tail with both hands and feet. Transparent tentacles shot out from both his sleeves to wrap around the crane's body, barely preventing him from being thrown off.

Crane Senior Brother felt the sudden constriction but didn't know what ghostly thing had wrapped around him. He cried out in panic, wings flapping chaotically as he plummeted, bouncing off rooftops throughout the city and heading straight for Fengsheng County's city wall.

Yu Yi lay flat on the crane's back, feeling like last night's dinner might come up from the turbulence. She snapped irritably, "Xue Chenjing, withdraw your tentacles! You're scaring Crane Senior Brother!"

"Master." Xue Chenjing called out pitifully but obediently withdrew his tentacles. As soon as the constricting force released, Crane Senior Brother beat his wings furiously. A fierce wind formed beneath them, lifting his body back into the air, barely scraping over the top of the city wall.

Before Xue Chenjing could fall from the crane's tail, Yu Yi reached back and grabbed him.

Xue Chenjing looked up, his eyes sparkling as he stared at her.

Yu Yi warned, "If you dare act up again, I'll throw you off."

Xue Chenjing immediately apologized, saying docilely, "I won't move around anymore."

Only then did Yu Yi pull him back up onto the crane's back.

The crane's cry echoed far across Fengsheng County, but it didn't draw much attention from the townspeople. However, someone at the Yuan family residence in the western part of the city noticed the stumbling crane in the sky.

The Yuan family's eldest son had achieved the rank of top scholar, and they were hosting a three-day feast to celebrate. While guests were drinking and offering congratulations, a young man in white martial attire stood out from the crowd.

Wen Li looked up at the crane flying away in the distance. He gripped the sword at his waist and hurriedly pushed through the crowd into the house, shouting, "Senior He, something's wrong! There are other cultivators in this realm."

Inside the house, Yuan Zeng, Fengsheng County's first top scholar in a hundred years, was being held at swordpoint by a man forcing him to compose poetry.

He Yungeng glanced at Wen Li, gesturing for him to be quiet, then turned back to continue his mockery: "You spent over a decade studying, yet you struggle to compose a simple piece when given a topic. With skills like these, you dare call yourself a top scholar? You'll be the laughingstock of scholars everywhere."

Yuan Zeng clutched his brush, cowering behind the desk, his face red as he shouted, "I-I am the top scholar appointed by His Majesty himself!"

He Yungeng laughed loudly, "Oh? So has the emperor assigned you any official duties? Given you any rank? What gives you the right to call yourself 'this official'?"

Confusion flickered across Yuan Zeng's face, but he quickly became resolute again. "Once I return to court after visiting my family, His Majesty will assign me duties."

He Yungeng slashed through the paper on the desk, which barely had three or five lines written on it, showing slight impatience as he said, "Aren't you awake yet? With your mediocre talents, forget about being top scholar—you couldn't even pass the provincial examinations, let alone become a basic scholar."

The words "couldn't pass the provincial examinations" seemed to strike a nerve in Yuan Zeng. His eyes suddenly widened, and he furiously slammed his brush on the desk, screaming, "I am the top scholar! I passed! No, impossible, I became top scholar, how could I possibly fail the provincial examinations..."

Seeing his words having an effect, He Yungeng pressed harder: "You relied on crooked methods to seek the title of top scholar. If your wish comes true, you'll be stealing the position from someone truly talented. You're nothing but a thief. Not only is your ability lacking, but your character is also despicable. Do you have any of the integrity a scholar should possess?"

"No, I didn't steal anyone's..."

Each accusation struck Yuan Zeng's weak points, shattering his beautiful dream.

Above Yuan Zeng's head, a wish paper faintly appeared. The sharp-eyed man looked up and swiftly slashed it in half with his sword, his sword energy completely destroying the golden ink upon it.

The bustling courtyard fell silent in an instant. The banquet tables gradually disappeared, and the shadows of people toasting each other faded away, leaving only an empty courtyard.

Yuan Zeng threw himself at the window, crying, "No, no, my banquet!"

He Yungeng stepped forward and tapped Yuan Zeng's forehead with his finger, scolding, "Still not awake?"

Yuan Zeng slumped to the ground as his dream of becoming a top scholar shattered completely, his figure vanishing from the illusory realm.

He Yungeng reached for the decree at his waist, checking his score for this autumn examination.

Breaking someone's delusion only earned him ten points, making him sigh. However, this realm of human delusions was large enough; if he could sweep through it and break this illusory realm, he should be able to accumulate a considerable score.

In this gathering of disciples from the four sects, he must achieve a good ranking.

He Yungeng sheathed his sword and stepped out, asking, "What were you shouting about earlier?"

Wen Li hurriedly replied, "Senior Brother, I just saw a crane soaring through the sky. There are other cultivators in this realm."

He Yungeng's brows furrowed slightly, "Which sect are they from? Are they from the Flame Splendor Sect?"

Wen Li shook his head, "It was too far away, I couldn't see clearly, but they're definitely not disciples from our Carefree Sect."

After brief contemplation, He Yungeng said dismissively, "If we can enter this realm of human delusions, others naturally can too. Regardless of which sect they're from, we need to move quickly and score as many points as we can."

Wen Li said carelessly, "Well, we needn't worry about that, they went outside the city."

"Outside the city? What for?" He Yungeng asked, puzzled.

Just then, a commotion erupted outside. The two exchanged glances and quickly ran out of the Yuan residence, only to see many people, like themselves, rushing out of their homes and flooding the streets.

He Yungeng looked in the direction where everyone was staring and saw thick black smoke rising from outside the city, with sparks scattered within the smoke. Just from the density of the smoke, one could tell how massive the fire was—it seemed even the forest was ablaze.

Someone ran through the streets, shouting loudly, "Fire! The Moon Goddess Temple is on fire! Everyone come quickly to help put out the fire!"

As the person ran and shouted, the people of Fengsheng County, who had been immersed in their own false delusions and indifferent to other matters, were all roused by his calls.

"It's the Moon Goddess Temple—it can't burn down! I'm counting on the Goddess's blessing for my child's marriage!"

"If we don't help put out the fire, the Moon Goddess will surely punish us!"

"Hurry! Grab something to help fight the fire! We rely on the Moon Goddess's protection; we can't let her temple burn down!"

The person shouting about the fire moved at an extraordinary speed, far beyond normal human capabilities, quickly covering the entire city and causing anxious citizens to rush toward the Moon Goddess Temple with buckets and basins.

After completing his task, he withdrew from the crowd, ducked into the bushes, and crawled on all fours like a wild beast heading toward the Moon Goddess Temple.

Moments later, he passed through the burning osmanthus grove and charged into the depths of the Moon Goddess Temple. The human skin disguise burned away, revealing crimson bones underneath.

The bone demon rushed to Xue Chenjing's side, panting with its long tongue hanging out, nudging its master's hand for a reward.

Xue Chenjing wanted to avoid the pain and shirk his duty of feeding it blood, but the bone demon circled around him, its teeth clicking together noisily.

Yu Yi's voice drifted out from the main hall of the Moon Goddess Temple, asking vigilantly, "What's that sound?"

Xue Chenjing glanced at the bone demon's ugly appearance and kicked it behind a stone statue in front of the temple to hide, then replied, "Nothing, the people of Fengsheng County must have discovered that the Moon Goddess Temple is on fire."

He reached behind the statue, punched the bone demon's head to shut it up, cursed under his breath, and drew his finger across his palm, making a fist above it.

The bone demon tilted its head back and opened its mouth, catching the blood drops from his palm.

As the wound on his palm healed, Xue Chenjing tore off a small piece of fabric from his hem, wiped the blood traces from his hand, and forcefully stuffed it into the bone demon's mouth. "How annoying. Get lost now."

The bone demon, content with its blood-soaked cloth, transformed into black mist and vanished from the spot.