Everyday I Get up to See the Villain Stealing the Show 108

Han Changsheng opened his eyes and looked at everything in front of him blankly.

Huh? Wasn’t he dead? He died so handsomely, in such a touching way, having resolved all his debts, and it was enough for everyone to hate him. He even almost moved himself to tears as well.

But what stood before him was the hall of Tianning Cult. The person standing in the hall… Whom else, if it wasn’t An Yuan?

Han Changsheng touched his chest in surprise. Did An Yuan save him? No, why was the wound gone? Wait a minute. When he was stabbed just then, he focused all his attention on whether he was handsome enough to die, as if…  he didn’t feel the pain? The wound didn’t hurt, which meant…

Everything that happened just then was a dream!

He had been working tirelessly. He thought about how to make An Yuan kill him through days and nights, and thus couldn’t sleep well. He actually fell asleep sitting in the main hall just then! And he had such a dream!

“Ah!” Han Changsheng held his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

An Yuan silently watched the changing expressions on the face of the man sitting in the main hall, not paying attention to himself at all. 

Whether or not it was a dream, it was a rehearsal in advance. Han Changsheng cheered up, grabbed the long knife placed by the seat, and walked down from the throne one step after the next.

“Are you the leader of Tianning Sect?”

“Yes.”

“What is your name?”

“Huh?” it startled Han Changsheng. Should he be asked that, if he was about to be killed?

“I am the leader of Tianning Cult, Han Changsheng!” Han Changsheng raised his head and puffed out his chest, his voice sonorous and forceful as he answered the question. 

An Yuan asked, “Why are you wearing a mask?”

Han Changsheng: “…” He was a little crazy, why isn’t An Yuan saying things according to the script he had in mind?

“You trespassed into my Tianning Cult, didn’t you come to take revenge? Why do you speak such nonsense?!” Han Changsheng took the knife in his hand and said, “Since you dared to come here, don’t think you can just retreat. Come on! Let me see the true skills of the man who can turn the spirit and soul of my men upside down!”

An Yuan was silent. He lowered his eyes to look at the sword in his hand and muttered, “Han Changsheng…Changsheng…” Something on his mind was about to come out, but it was shrouded in haze. He couldn’t see through it, hear, or touch it.

When Han Changsheng saw he did nothing for a long time, he felt somewhat urgent, a bit under his foot. He waved his knife at An Yuan!

An Yuan blocked his knife and stared into his eyes, as if trying to see something inside them. Han Changsheng felt guilty when he saw him, and the attack became more fierce. However, An Yuan was hesitant and let Han Changsheng, who was not familiar with knives, have the upper hand.

After all this time, heaven, do not play with me, ah!

Han Changsheng was heartbroken and offered a killing move. An Yuan startled and naturally he responded seriously. In a short while, An Yuan’s sword stabbed Han Changsheng, but the knife in Han Changsheng’s hand suddenly loosened. He accepted the blow sent by An Yuan. An Yuan’s pupils contracted, and he wanted to retreat in a hurry, but it was too late–

“Bang!” 

A dart shot out from the side and made the sword in An Yuan’s hand miss. The sword brushed against Han Changsheng, but did not stab him.

Han Changsheng turned his head back incredulously——at that time, almost all the people from the Tianning Cult were gone. Who was there?

An Yuan was also startled and hurriedly retracted his sword, not daring to fight again. “Are you…”

Han Changsheng ignored him. “Who? Who is there? Come out!”

After a while, Gu Mingxiao stepped in from the back of the hall with a smile. “Leader.”

Han Changsheng was surprised. “Gu Mingxiao? You didn’t leave?”

As soon as the voice fell, five more people filed in from the back of the hall. They were none other than the two guardians of the Tianning Sect and the hall masters.

Han Changsheng stared in surprise. “You all! Didn’t you all leave?”

Seeing that it was Gu Mingxiao, An Yuan gasped and retreated. He had repeatedly checked the head in the box and there was no trace of disguise, but now there was a person who was supposed to be dead standing there. Was this place haunted in broad daylight?! Looking at the others… Shit! What was going on?! They were all old acquaintances, and there are two faces he’d had intimate relations with, they’d done this and that…

Hua Xiaoshuang’s gaze turned on An Yuan’s face before returning to Han Changsheng. “My guess was pretty accurate.”

That afternoon, everyone had read Han Changsheng’s letter.

Hua Xiaoshuang said, “It seems that the temptation of being the leader of the Wulin is really great. The leader is going to treat the Tianning Cult as a sacrifice.”

Gu Mingxiao asked, “He wants to be the leader of the Wulin?”

Hua Xiaoshuang said, “No, according to my guess, he wants An Yuan to be the leader of the Wulin Alliance. I am afraid this letter is not for Lu Honghua, but for us. He probably didn’t expect me to find it so early. He probably wanted to wait until we got back to Xiushan.”

Gu Mingxiao frowned. “Then Huangfu Fengxuan Xichen, who is he? Does the leader like him? If he likes him, wouldn’t he just bring him back to the Tianning Cult? Why would he go through all this trouble?”

Hua Xiaoshuang replied, “I traveled with them for a while. There’s no doubt that the leader likes An Yuan, but whoever the leader is, no matter how much he likes someone, he still has a sense of discretion. I suspect he was threatened and had to do things in such a way.”

Du Yuefei was surprised. “Who can threaten the leader?”

With a heavy face, Luo Xin asked, “Why didn’t he talk to us?”

Hua Xiaoshuang smiled bitterly. “Perhaps… he thinks that even if he said something, we couldn’t do anything about it.”

Luo Xin stood like a wooden stake. What on earth could make Han Changsheng feel helpless?

Du Yuefei buried his face in his palms and murmured, “The leader has changed. Once upon a time, when he was stabbed by a needle, he’d roll around and make an unreasonable scene so we’d know. Now he refuses to tell us anything.” 

Luo Xin turned and left. “I’ll ask him!”

“Wait!” Hua Xiaoshuang said, “He doesn’t know we read the letter…”

Luo Xin said angrily, “I wanted to ask him a long time ago, but you kept standing in the way! You said that you want to see what kind of demon he became. Now, are you happy you found out?”

Gu Mingxiao sighed. “Enough. Whatever the leader was willing to say, he has already said. If you ask now, will he tell you anything else? He didn’t come up with this idea just in a day or two. If it had been exposed earlier, wouldn’t he have changed his plans?”

Du Yuefei stood at a loss. “Then do I have to go to Wan Ai Valley?”

Hua Xiaoshuang squinted, and a meaningful smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. “Go! Don’t you know him? He distracted everyone, only to weaken the defense of Xiushan, so that someone can easily go up the mountain. I’m afraid it’s also his good intention to earn us a living, so that we won’t get involved.”

Gu Mingxiao smiled bitterly. “Yes, since he meant this, it’s better to follow him and live up to his ‘good intentions’.”

Du Yuefei was stunned, as if he didn’t quite understand.

Hua Xiaoshuang knocked on his forehead. “Idiot, do you want me to make it clearer? At least let him think we are gone, so he will think he has free rein over his work.”

Du Yuefei’s head lit up at once and he shouted, “Okay, okay, I will ‘go down’ right away. Let’s meet again later!”

Over the past month, Hua Xiaoshuang and the others never left Xiushan, they always laid dormant behind the mountain. Even Lu Qingqian, Lu Baibi, and others who were sent out earlier, Hua Xiaoshuang ordered them not to go far. They arrived back in a few days. The cult members laid down near the mountain and did not stray far away. Only Han Changsheng thought he had emptied Xiushan until that day. An Yuan went up the mountain alone, and Hua Xiaoshuang and the others finally showed up.

Han Changsheng trembled.”You all… you all…”

Hua Xiaoshuang said, “We read the letter you wrote to Lu Honghua.”

It startled Han Changsheng. With a bitter smile, he said, “I see… Is it because you were worried that I would sell out Xiushan, so you hid nearby like a guard watching over treasure at night, standing guard?”

Gu Mingxiao gave a gentle smile. “If you wrote such a letter, would we believe you?”

Han Changsheng had a sour nose. They said they didn’t believe him, in fact, they could not trust his words anymore.

Hua Xiaoshuang said, “You’ve changed since you sneaked into the Yuehua Sect as Li Jiulong. Are you still reluctant to say what happened?”

Lu Qingqian, with his hands on his hips and his elbows turned outwards, angrily pointed at An Yuan. “Say, is he the vixen who haunts you?”

Lu Baibi’s steamed bun face also made a rare, fierce expression. “Leader, Xiaoshuang said that someone might threaten you, who is it? I will smash him into pieces!”

An Yuan calmly looked at Han Changsheng. Suddenly, he stretched out his hand and grabbed the golden mask on Han Changsheng’s face.

Han Changsheng grabbed An Yuan’s wrist with his hand and dragged him out of the hall. An Yuan was startled, Han Changsheng said, “Come, I have something to tell you!”

An Yuan hesitated, then followed him out.

Lu Qingqian, Lu Baibi, and the others hurriedly chased after him, but Han Changsheng had the internal strength given to him by the old man Xuanji. His lightness skill far surpassed theirs. He ran around half a mountain, around seven turns and eight by-passes, and threw away all the pursuers behind him. 

On the top of the mountain, Han Changsheng released An Yuan’s hand.

“Aren’t you taking off the mask?”

Han Changsheng slowly turned around and faced An Yuan.

An Yuan said, “For more than a year, you were the one by my side.”

Han Changsheng showed a smile that was uglier than crying. When things came to this point, no matter how cunning he was, it was meaningless to quibble. 

An Yuan paused and said, “Han Changsheng, was it fun? You keep playing with me with various identities, toying with me, and all for what?”

Han Changsheng had never seen An Yuan show such an expression. An Yuan had always been gentle, that is, except to Yue Peng. At the last moment, he still couldn’t bear it, but now the emotion in his eyes was as strong as a fire, and he was about to burn Han Changsheng to ashes.

Han Changsheng trembled and laughed. “All for what? I’ve just been the leader of the demon cult for a long time, and I’m so idle, I wanted to have some fun for myself!”

An Yuan was startled, an incredulous expression appeared on his face.

Han Changsheng said, “I have always lied to you! Our demonic cult killed your father. Yue Peng colluded with our demonic cult, and our demonic cult taught him his martial arts! Otherwise, how else would I know all about that year? I pushed him out at the Wulin Conference, but treated him as a castaway for my own amusement!”

An Yuan’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He stared into Han Changsheng’s eyes, trying to see the truth from inside.

Han Changsheng continued to roar, “I killed Elder Lan Fang and old man Xuanji. Otherwise, why would Lan Fang give me the Longyin Sword, which represents the identity of the head of the Yuehua Sect?! You thought I was possessed by Qi deviation that night? I did it on purpose! I was playing with you! I just wanted to see if you would run away, but you idiot, you were fooled again and again!”

An Yuan’s breathing trembled. He tried his best to control his emotions. “Why do you say that?”

Han Changsheng said, “I’m telling the truth! Don’t be self-righteous, did you really think I liked you?! My subordinates are also stupid, and they thought I was threatened. Which mortal in the world could threaten me?! Ha, ridiculous! Everyone is just playing my game, to my applause!”

An Yuan trembled more and more. His eyes turned red and his face paled. “Han… Chang… Sheng…”

Han Changsheng drew his sword and pointed it at An Yuan. “I’m tired of playing with you. Now that I have already said everything, I won’t let you go down the mountain alive. Come on, let me see how good my apprentice is!” This is his last chance. If An Yuan killed him, the leader of the Demon Cult, with his merits and his own ability, he might still have a chance to sit as the leader of the Wulin Alliance in the future.

An Yuan slowly drew out his sword.

Suddenly, the color of the sky and the earth changed. Han Changsheng’s vision flickered, his body lightened, the weight and strength of his body were gone, and he fell lightly to the ground. Han Changsheng was shocked——this feeling was not unfamiliar. He felt it once, more than a year ago! It was the spiritism of the nether world! Last time, he kicked An Yuan down the cliff and his soul fell out of his body. Why did he feel it now?

Sure enough, but for a moment, the scenery of the underworld appeared in front of Han Changsheng. A man with a look of astonishment on his black face sat before him in the temple. He was the magistrate. And whom else if not Black and White Impermanence deities stood beside the magistrate?

Before the three of them could speak, Han Changsheng immediately said, “I know I was wrong! No, it’s not all my fault. Many things that happened were misunderstandings. I don’t know why they happened. Anyway, I have tried my best to make up for it! Let An Yuan kill me. With such achievements, coupled with his own ability, he will definitely be able to become the leader of the Wulin Alliance in two years! Although the order is different, the result is the same, right? Give me another chance, immortals!”

Black and White Impermanence deities looked at each other. 

“Cough,” The magistrate cleared his throat and said, “You cannot die.”

“Huh?” Han Changsheng was stunned. Wasn’t An Yuan supposed to use his own hand to kill him? He was the leader of the demonic cult, how could he carry on the great cause of supporting the right way of the Wulin?

The magistrate rubbed his hands together and spoke with a smile, “Brother Changsheng, don’t worry. Listen to me carefully. Immortal Lord of destiny originally thought that the Immortal Lord An Yuan went down to the world to endure his mortal tribulations. Because he was in the battle to eliminate demons, he lost a piece of his immortal bone, and his cultivation was damaged… But recently we found… found this…”

When Han Changsheng heard him hesitate, the warning bell in his heart screamed. “What? Say it!”

The magistrate shot a look to the Black and White Impermanence deities, and the White Impermanence deity answered, “In fact, we can’t blame Mingge, nor ourselves… Well, it is actually the Immortal Lord An Yuan who concealed something. What was the process? You’ll know about it one day, but we won’t go into details today. All in all, in short, Immortal An Yuan did not go down to receive a heroic tribulation, but a love tribulation.”

“Love tribulation?” Han Changsheng’s brows furrowed so deeply they could’ve knotted. “What do you mean?”

The Black Impermanence deity said, “It means that it doesn’t matter if the fate was skewed. The immortal lord is in the mortal world. He must experience love and hatred, gratitude and grudges, coming together and separating, and the pain of sorrow in the world… You have already let him experience these, and the last part is to let him appreciate being born, growing old, getting sick, and dying, the ultimate fate of humankind.”

The White Impermanence deity continued, “And if you get to stay with the one you love in this life, this love tribulation will be considered complete.”

Han Changsheng began to tremble. “What do you mean…”

The magistrate licked his lips and chuckled twice. “It means, we will send you back in a moment. As long as you help the immortal lord get through this life’s love calamity, he will be able to return to his position smoothly, and you will also be successful.”

Han Changsheng took a deep breath in order to calm himself down. “Me, help him, get through a love tribulation? Me, stay with him for life, accompany him to live all my life, through old age, sickness, and death?”

“Yes!” The magistrate said, “I like to talk to smart people. As long as you understand, I will send you back now!”

Han Changsheng felt that he was about to leave the underworld. He was anxious to catch something to stop his body, but unfortunately his soul had left his body and he couldn’t grab hold of anything. At the last moment, there was no time to talk nonsense, and he roared, “What about the Tianning Cult?”

“As long as you don’t do evil, you may remain the leader.”

“What about my people?”

“They were originally blessed. If they can help you overcome the tribulation, they are also considered to have merit. They will be blessed in the next life.”

“I……”

It was too late. The scene of the underworld disappeared in front of him, and in an instant, Han Changsheng’s body was heavy. His soul had returned.

An Yuan looked at him with red eyes. Just then, Han Changsheng stopped moving as if he suddenly lost his soul. He was also shocked, but soon Han Changsheng’s spirit seemed to return to his body. He was excited and recovered as usual.

Han Changsheng looked down at his hand——his sword was pointed at An Yuan. He quickly retracted the blade. “Uh…”

“Leader!”

His two guardians and four hall masters came to them and ran towards him desperately.

“Han Changsheng!” An Yuan gritted his teeth. “How long are you going to play tricks on me!”

“Cult head!” Everyone shouted, “Put down the sword, we can talk this over!”

Han Changsheng’s eyes went black. Son of a bitch, was it An Yuan or him that was being tested to ascend for immortality?! Why was he always unlucky?! The stinky gods overthrew everything with a few words, leaving him with such a mess, how could he clean it all up?!

Heaven made a big joke out of him!!

But in an instant, Hua Xiaoshuang and others ran to him. An Yuan was still grinding his teeth.

“Oh, ha ha ha.” Han Changsheng smiled and backed away, “I’m kidding everyone, don’t be angry, don’t be angry. What do you say, come sit down and speak… you will get wrinkles when you are angry…”

“Oh oh, don’t stare at me. What I just said was sleep talking, really, really! I’ll go to sleep and everything will be fine! I swear to God, I love you the most. Don’t be angry, right? XOXO…”

“Don’t hit me!! Murdering your own husband, murdering the leader!! Help!!”

Han Changsheng decided that next time he went to the underworld, he must destroy it!!

—

Time flew. Spring went and Autumn came. Birth, old age, sickness, and death were only for a lifetime. It was short but not short, long but not long. It was perfect. 

That night when the immortal lord returned to his place, Han Changsheng smiled and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he went to the former place in the underworld to revisit.

He followed the wandering souls to the Naihe Bridge, but he was reluctant to drink a bowl of Meng Po’s soup. At the time of the stalemate, he heard someone hurriedly shouting behind him, “Wrong, wrong, you don’t go this way.”

Han Changsheng looked back and smiled. “Dog Magistrate, I didn’t smash your underworld, but you still have the face to call for me.

The magistrate wiped his sweat away and respectfully said, “Immortal lord, you should return to your place.”

Han Changsheng was startled. “Me?”

The scene before of him changed, and his soul floated up to the sky again. In an instant, thousands of years of memory poured in.

Yes, he was not a human, but a catnip grass demon who had cultivated for thousands of years. Once, the Immortal Lord An Yuan’s immortal foot was stained on it when he descended to the earth and his immortal shoes were brought back to heaven. From then on, he gained the aura of heaven and earth and turned into a demon. Because he had the most contact with cats when he was in the mortal world, after learning to transform, the first thing he transformed into was not a human body, but a cat body. Therefore, he was accepted as an immortal pet by the Immortal Lord An Yuan. They spent hundreds of years together in the immortal court.

A hundred years ago, An Yuan fought in a battle against the demons to destroy the Demon Lord, but was invaded by evil Qi and almost fell. An Yuan turned his immortal bone into a treasure mirror and forced the evil Qi into it. He practiced daily, hoping to conquer the evil Qi. Han Changsheng couldn’t bear to watch him suffer the backlash of it each day. He thought that as long as he destroyed the immortal bone, An Yuan would be detached, so he swallowed the immortal bone while An Yuan was unprepared. After obtaining the immortal bones, his skill increased greatly, but because of his insufficient cultivation, he could not restrain the evil Qi and almost became a devil. The immortals regarded it as the devil’s path, and if they wanted to eradicate it, An Yuan had to be amongst them.

In the end, he died in An Yuan’s hands. However, An Yuan used his own cultivation to protect his soul and sent it to the reincarnation path. That’s why he became Han Changsheng, so his previous life could not be found in the book of Samsara. The tribulation of this life was not only An Yuan’s, but also his own. The tribulation of the first life had refined his evil Qi, and he had gained the mana of the immortal bone. Now, he was ranked in the immortal class.

Han Changsheng went to the heavenly court and received the gift from the Jade Emperor. From then on, he was the Immortal King, at the end of the immortal throne.

The Jade Emperor said, “You are in heaven for the first time, you don’t know everything. Your cultivation is not enough, so I will send you to the seat of the Immortal Lord An Yuan, to serve him first.” 

An Yuan was an immortal with his own immortal island. Out of the main hall, a small elf led Han Changsheng to the Immortal Island, Fengxuan, where An Yuan lived. However, Han Changsheng was not in a hurry, and carefully asked the little elf “Little brother, how long has Immortal Lord An Yuan been back?”

The little elf said, “The immortal lord and you are harmonious. That is, you’re like the space between one step and the next.” 

Han Changsheng rubbed his hands and smiled dryly. “Well, did he ever say anything after he came back?”

The little elf said, “I haven’t heard of it. I only know that after he came back, he seemed to have gone to the underworld and returned in a blink of an eye.”

“Then…” Han Changsheng asked, “When he returned to the throne, does he remember what happened when he crossed the calamity?”

The little elf shook his head and said, “I don’t know about that. When you arrive in a little while, just ask the immortal lord yourself, no?”

Han Changsheng could only pucker his lips.

When they arrived at the immortal island, An Yuan was sitting in the middle drinking tea, and the little elf took them to meet.

Han Changsheng stood a few meters away and did not dare to approach. He saluted and said, “I have seen the immortal lord before.” 

An Yuan, like a gentle breeze, pointed to the position beside him. “Come and sit down.”

Han Changsheng laughed, but didn’t step forward.

An Yuan was not only an immortal, but also a god of war. He could make Han Changsheng rank in the immortal class with a single immortal bone. With a wave of his hand, he was afraid that the immortal island would turn to ashes.

Seeing Han Changsheng refusing to come forward, An Yuan smiled slightly and said, “When did you become so restrained? I remember when you were in the mortal world…”

When Han Changsheng heard the word mortal, he turned and ran.

However, he only ran out only a few steps when the roadside vines entangled his hands and feet. They suspended him in midair.

An Yuan put down his teacup unhurriedly and walked towards Han Changsheng step by step. “Changsheng, I vaguely remember two times when I was in the mortal world. As soon as it turned light, you would…”

Han Changsheng was quick witted, and immediately decided he wanted to turn into his original catnip grass demon form, but it failed. Instead, he became a big cat with a tiger’s essence.

An Yuan was stunned. Slightly, with little effort, he grabbed his tail. “This is fine. There’s plenty of time, so let’s slowly settle the account.”

“Ouch, help!!”

The cry for help hovered on the immortal island for a long time.