After Escaping From Death, He Went Even Crazier By Criticizing Black Lotus Chapter 1

“Clang—”

The sharp dagger scraped past his neck and plunged deep into the hard wall made of dark wood. A sudden stinging pain flared at his neck. Su Huan raised a hand to touch it, his fingertips coming away with blood.

A drop of cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

It was broad daylight, the scorching sun overhead making the ground steam, yet Su Huan felt cold all over, his heart chilling.

He struggled to pull his lips into a smile, forcing a look of geniality onto his face: “Junior Brother, listen to my explanation…”

“Clang—” Another sword strike came.

Su Huan frantically dodged, wishing he could curse the version of himself who had stayed up all night chasing the novel update.

If he wasn’t going to drop dead from staying up until four in the morning, who was!

Even more unfortunately, he had transmigrated, becoming the cannon fodder villain from the novel he had been reading—a character who was outwardly gentle and kind but secretly jealous and greedy.

In the novel, the villain was assigned the task of recruiting disciples for the sect. Midway through, he discovered that the protagonist possessed the world’s only Heavenly Spiritual Root, but out of jealousy, he chose to conceal this from the sect, causing the protagonist to be relegated to a menial disciple. On the surface, the villain pretended to be a caring Senior Brother, but behind the scenes, his jealousy led him to repeatedly plot against the protagonist.

After accidentally obtaining a secret evil cultivation manual, the original host immediately developed wicked intentions. He lured the protagonist to an abandoned wooden hut in the Back Mountain, knocked him out, and planned to perform a secret technique to swap their spiritual roots.

However, the protagonist, who appeared reserved and pure, was actually a dark-hearted black lotus. Sensing the villain’s malicious intent, he seized the opportunity to counter-kill him. This was witnessed by Eldest Senior Brother, who happened to be passing by the Back Mountain. As a man of integrity, Eldest Senior Brother immediately reported the incident to the sect after learning the truth.

The exceptionally talented protagonist was thus discovered by the Sect Master and subsequently became the personal disciple of the world’s foremost Sword Venerable, while the original host became the first stepping stone on the protagonist’s long path to godhood.

Su Huan, having unfortunately transmigrated, was filled with regret and remorse.

Transmigrating was fine; he could use his knowledge of the plot to cling to the protagonist’s thigh. Becoming a villain was also acceptable; he could find a way to whitewash himself, escape a tragic death, and embark on the path of immortality, achieving a good life.

But why, the moment he transmigrated, did he land right in the middle of the protagonist’s counter-kill scene, facing a direct threat of death?!

Inside the small wooden hut, the already dilapidated tables and chairs were made even more chaotic and broken by the fight. Dust billowed everywhere. The black lotus protagonist’s cold sword sliced through the floating dust motes, his gaze sharp as he looked at Su Huan, his voice cold: “No need for nonsense. Give me your life!”

The original description of the villain being crippled by the protagonist’s sword, having his spiritual root destroyed, and being thrown off the Cliff to be smashed to pieces made Su Huan shiver uncontrollably.

Quickly dodging another strike, Su Huan wanted to cry, an inappropriate thought popping into his head: He runs, he chases, he cannot escape even with wings.

“Junior Brother, I truly didn’t intend to kill you!” Su Huan cried out in despair.

However, the black lotus protagonist, Xiao Jianming, didn’t believe his explanation at all. He sneered and swung his sword toward him: “If I hadn’t been prepared, I would probably be lying in a pool of blood right now.”

After several consecutive misses, Xiao Jianming gradually lost patience. His sword moves became increasingly fierce and swift, each strike aiming for a fatal blow.

It’s over, it’s truly over for him!

Su Huan forced himself to calm down, urgently and rapidly recalling the spells from the original host’s memory, while continuously pulling talismans and artifacts from his storage pouch and throwing them all at Xiao Jianming.

The spiritual energy from the barrage of talismans and artifacts collided violently. The small wooden hut, abandoned for years, suffered what it was never meant to endure. The rafters began to shake precariously, scattering years of accumulated dust and momentarily obscuring their vision.

In a flash of light, Xiao Jianming was caught off guard and bound hand and foot by an Immortal Binding Rope, crashing heavily to the ground.

When Su Huan, bewildered, finally saw the scene clearly, he let out a huge sigh of relief.

Xiao Jianming was tied up on the ground, his eyes dark, sinister, and ferocious like a wolf, as if he could bite a chunk of flesh off Su Huan, but he couldn’t turn over.

Su Huan tried hard to ignore the fierce gaze, took a deep breath, his heart pounding like a frantic drum, or perhaps like a clap of thunder in his ears.

The protagonist appeared to be at the Qi Condensation stage, but was actually a hidden Nascent Soul expert, while he was only a small Golden Core cultivator, completely defenseless.

Fortunately, the original host hadn’t initially uttered any grand, villainous monologues; he had only tricked the protagonist into the hut and attempted to knock him out.

Good, good, he still had a chance.

Su Huan slowly crouched down, his fingertip lightly touching Xiao Jianming’s cheek. His voice was extremely soft, deliberately infusing his words with a hint of obsession, “How could I bear to kill you? I clearly like Junior Brother so much…”

That’s right, he needed to switch to the script of obsessive, yandere, forced love!

This way, the original host’s villainous plot—appearing gentle and caring while secretly instigating others to harm the protagonist—could also be whitewashed…

Hearing this, a look of realization flashed across Xiao Jianming’s face: “So Senior Brother harbors affection for me, which is why you lured me here, intending to commit a transgression.”

Su Huan nodded deeply and affectionately, mentally agreeing fiercely. That’s right, brother, this is all because of love!

But then, Xiao Jianming’s spiritual energy suddenly surged violently within his body. The Immortal Binding Rope snapped instantly and scattered on the ground.

He flipped over, regaining the upper hand, and pressed the sword tip against Su Huan’s throat, smiling maliciously: “But I don’t believe you.”

Su Huan: “!!!”

Wait, why didn’t the Immortal Binding Rope work?!

Su Huan was on the verge of collapse. Controlling the urge to flee, he instinctively grabbed the sword tip, his scalp tingling, forcing himself to act like a true extremist of love. His laugh sounded quite deranged: “I originally wanted to dig out Junior Brother’s spiritual root, so that Junior Brother could only rely on me alone, and stop seeking help from those mediocre people…”

Blood trailed down his pale arm, staining his sleeve red.

Pain, pain, pain!

Su Huan regretted impulsively grabbing the sword, but his acting was good enough to disguise his trembling voice of pain as if he were enjoying the sword’s touch. His whole body shook uncontrollably, punctuated by a slight gasp: “But now that I think about it, I was wrong. To die by Junior Brother’s hand can also be considered… an entanglement of life and death with Junior Brother.”

The lingering sound of his voice trailed off into a moan. His eyes, usually falsely smiling, seemed to gain a new intensity, filled with a fiery, extreme affection that was hard to ignore.

Xiao Jianming watched his performance with interest, but the sword tip pressed forward inch by inch, forcing Su Huan to let go: “Is that so?”

Su Huan was suddenly seized by the chin, forced forward, and fell to his knees in the dust. Tears that had been clinging to his eyes finally dropped.

Pain, too painful.

Damn black lotus, talk if you want to talk, but please don’t hurt his knees!

Xiao Jianming smiled ambiguously, pinching his extremely pale face: “How could you, a noble personal disciple, fall in love with a lowly, disgraced menial disciple? Senior Brother should at least come up with a better lie.”

Su Huan tried to struggle again: “I-I am telling the t-truth…”

Hearing this, Xiao Jianming let out a disdainful scoff, his tone mocking: “Even if it were true, so what?”

He released his grip, tilting his head with a smile that was both innocent and vicious, “Senior Brother’s dirty intentions only make me feel disgusted… so I’ll just have to ask Senior Brother to die.”

He had seen too many people with such filthy intentions, calculating how to gain something from him.

*

Xiao Jianming raised his sword high, aiming it at the young man on the ground, the disgust in his eyes almost overflowing.

“Ugh…” Su Huan couldn’t help but whimper in fear.

Wuwuwu, Mom, he would never stay up late reading novels again…

The spiritual energy in his Dantian uncontrollably floated out, surging into the air in wisps.

Xiao Jianming paused, and the sword tip missed its target.

Su Huan’s eyes widened. Relieved, he immediately fled backward.

But the sword was instantly placed against his neck again, threatening him: “Don’t move.”

Xiao Jianming frowned and grabbed his wrist, feeling strange. Why had the malice in this hypocrite’s spiritual energy suddenly vanished?

A thread of spiritual energy emerged from his fingertip and drilled into Su Huan’s body, stirring up his Dantian and causing his spiritual energy to leak out chaotically.

Su Huan’s eyes were teary. Although he didn’t know what the black lotus was doing, he could feel his spiritual energy constantly draining away.

Su Huan was terrified. He couldn’t help but think of a well-known martial art in China—the Star Sucking Great Skill.

However, he couldn’t break free from the grip on his wrist, and Su Huan gradually lost strength.

Finally realizing that he had no chance of escape, and driven by the desperate courage that comes from knowing death is imminent, Su Huan cried genuinely, venting his frustration by cursing: “You’re right! How could I possibly like a cold-blooded monster like you… Even, even if the world collapses and only you are left, I would never fall for a heartless…”

Before the word “slayer” could leave his mouth, there was a sudden “boom!” and dust immediately filled the air—

The overburdened rafter had finally fallen, hitting Xiao Jianming squarely. It smashed him, burying a third of his body into the floor tiles, causing him to collapse and cough up blood.

Su Huan froze, then his heart filled with surprise and excitement. He immediately seized the opportunity and fled the small wooden hut.

Hahaha, heaven always leaves a path! Fate decreed that he should not die!

Eldest Senior Brother, come save me!

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

Su Huan rushed into the Dense Forest and suddenly saw a flash of white amidst the tree shadows ahead. His eyes instantly lit up, and he sprinted toward it: “Eldest Senior Brother, save me!”

Eldest Senior Brother, who was just passing by, looked astonished and instinctively reached out to catch him.

The young man was still catching his breath, his face filled with lingering shock and fear. His dark eyes were brimming with tears, the corners red from crying. His white robes were stained, his collar was disheveled, revealing pale skin, and a purplish-red bruise on his neck was particularly noticeable, making him look as if he had been abused—a pitiful sight.

Looking up again, he saw the roof of a small hut, abandoned by some previous generation of Senior Uncles, had collapsed. A person slowly walked out of the hut, their face covered in bloodstains.

Eldest Senior Brother immediately understood. He raised his hand to shield his Junior Brother behind him and said sternly: “Junior Brother, don’t worry. With me here, he cannot harm you again.”

Hearing this, Su Huan nodded tearfully in gratitude, genuinely feeling that Eldest Senior Brother’s back was warm and reliable.

But the next second, Eldest Senior Brother said something astonishing, pointing at Xiao Jianming with a look of disapproval: “This Junior Brother, how could you coerce Junior Brother Su?”

Xiao Jianming: “…”

For a moment, the forest was silent.

Su Huan was stunned: “Coerce?”

Eldest Senior Brother patted his shoulder reassuringly and comforted him: “You two young men are alone in this deep forest, and you are… ahem, in such a state. Isn’t it obvious that he bullied you? Don’t be afraid, Junior Brother Su, just tell me everything, and Eldest Senior Brother will uphold justice for you.”

Su Huan was shocked. He quickly looked down at his own disheveled appearance, realizing that Eldest Senior Brother had misunderstood.

But he certainly couldn’t say that he had malicious intentions and wanted to murder someone to steal their spiritual root.

So, he nodded tearfully, accepting this “fact.”

In the silence, good and evil were inverted.

*

Xiao Jianming was so angry he laughed.

In the quiet forest, this laugh sounded particularly abrupt.

Su Huan shrank his neck, hiding completely behind Eldest Senior Brother.

Xiao Jianming glanced at him but didn’t refute. He simply said, “Eldest Senior Brother, I didn’t bully him. If you don’t believe me, look.”

A wisp of spiritual energy drifted from his fingertip, floating gently toward Su Huan. It lightly wrapped around Su Huan’s finger, and in a moment, easily drew out Su Huan’s spiritual energy. The two energies merged, intimately as if they were one.

Su Huan was dumbfounded. Although he knew Xiao Jianming was lying, how did he manage to merge his spiritual energy with his?!

Was the black lotus not trying to drain him just now, but rather casting an evil spell to turn him into a puppet?

Eldest Senior Brother, who had been wary, lowered his guard upon seeing this: “This… so you two are in love.”

Only Dao Companions who have formed a bond, or disciples who have cultivated using the Life and Death Vow Dual Cultivation Technique, would show such a phenomenon.

But regardless of which it was, the two were in an intimate relationship of mutual affection and devotion, with the latter being even deeper than the former.

Throughout history, cultivators who managed to use the Life and Death Vow Dual Cultivation Technique invariably became famous, loving Dao Companions.

However, seeing that there was no aura of a Heavenly Vow on them, Eldest Senior Brother figured it must be the latter.

Su Huan, who was completely unaware, was greatly shocked. Eldest Senior Brother, what are you talking about?!

Xiao Jianming nodded, a hint of shyness appearing on his face. His words sounded subtle but were actually quite explicit: “Senior Brother… prefers the ‘vigorous’ method. I merely injured Senior Brother accidentally just now, which angered him, and that is why he is sulking with me.”

Su Huan’s eyes widened. He wasn’t, he didn’t, don’t talk nonsense! He didn’t have such a fetish!

Just as he was about to open his mouth to refute, he found he couldn’t speak.

He looked at Xiao Jianming in horror. It was him.

The black lotus had cast an evil spell on him!

Eldest Senior Brother, seeing that Junior Brother Su did not refute, felt a bit awkward: “Ah… so that’s how it is.”

Su Huan wanted to cry without tears.

Fortunately, the situation took a turn. Eldest Senior Brother frowned slightly: “But your method, ahem, was indeed a bit too rough.”

Xiao Jianming appeared to obediently lower his head and admit his mistake: “Eldest Senior Brother is right. I know I was wrong.”

Su Huan’s eyes showed terror.

I wasn’t, I didn’t, Eldest Senior Brother, don’t listen to his nonsense!

Fortunately, although Eldest Senior Brother’s frown eased, he did not lower the hand protecting Su Huan. He only said: “However, I cannot decide this. It depends on whether Junior Brother Su forgives you.”

With that, he turned to look at Su Huan.

Su Huan immediately shook his head frantically.

Wuwuwu, this black lotus is so wicked!

Damn it, Eldest Senior Brother, please take me away!

Xiao Jianming walked closer to him at this moment, smiling intimately: “Good Senior Brother, don’t be angry with me anymore.”

However, seeing Su Huan shake his head, Eldest Senior Brother did not let Xiao Jianming approach. He said disapprovingly: “Junior Brother, Junior Brother Su is currently upset. He might not forgive you easily. Why don’t you come back in a few days to apologize?”

Su Huan immediately nodded profusely, overwhelmed with gratitude. Wuwuwu, Eldest Senior Brother is awesome this time!

Quietly watching Eldest Senior Brother lead the person away, the smile on Xiao Jianming’s lips gradually vanished.

Tsk.

Author’s Note:

Welcome, little darlings, to collect and comment~