This Villain Ch.61

Chapter 61: Feng Xuexiang: Pull and Poke

It seemed that the magnetic field in this place was off; the data couldn’t be displayed, and the system was also interfered with.

Yu Shi thought to himself and, after pausing briefly, continued to wash off the mud from Feng Xuexiang.

He crouched down, lightly gripping Feng Xuexiang’s knee, and observed the festering redness on his leg.

Ignoring the still unwashed dirt and ugliness, he gently inquired about Feng Xuexiang’s feelings.

Yu Shi preferred cleanliness, but he could not be squeamish while working as a caregiver. He had cared for elderly patients who could not take care of themselves, dealing with illness, vomiting, and recurring inflammations and ulcers.

Some of the patient’s children couldn’t bear it, but Yu Shi could handle it calmly and keep the person clean and tidy.

“This injury is a bit severe. It’s best not to wear pants for now; let it air out, otherwise the pants will rub against the wound and cause pain,” Yu Shi advised.

Feng Xuexiang allowed him to lift his leg for inspection, but his gaze did not focus on his own leg; instead, it lingered on Yu Shi’s face for a long time.

Suddenly, he reached out and touched Yu Shi’s cheek.

Yu Shi flinched slightly. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s mud splattered on your face.”

“It’s fine, I’ll take care of it later,” Yu Shi said.

The mud washed away slowly, flowing off the platform as if it had a life of its own, returning to the muddy lake.

After instructing Feng Xuexiang to sit on the platform and not move, Yu Shi went back into the muddy lake to catch butterflies, occasionally pulling out some items from the mud to bring back to the platform.

Feng Xuexiang let his long legs air dry, using a water ladle to wash the items he had collected. From time to time, he would shake the fine chain on his hand, feeling the swaying vibrations transmitted from Yu Shi.

Yu Shi felt that he had stayed here for too long and was exhausted, so he had to return to the platform to rest.

After tidying himself up, he lay down to the side and said, “I’m going to sleep here for a bit.”

“Are you tired? The ground is too hard. You can lie on my leg,” Feng Xuexiang offered.

“No need,” Yu Shi declined.

He could assist his employer in cleaning up or hold them for other reasons, but he preferred not to become too intimate with his employer during idle moments.

Seeing Feng Xuexiang’s eyelashes tremble and his dejected look after being refused, Yu Shi added a gentle piece of advice: “You have an injury on your leg. It would be uncomfortable with weight on it.”

When Yu Shi felt very tired during the day, he would take a thirty-minute nap. This duration was short enough not to fall into a deep sleep but sufficient for him to regain his energy.

Out of habit, he usually kept track of time well. However, this time, as he closed his eyes, his internal clock seemed to malfunction, and it felt as though he had slept for a long time, losing all sense of time.

Remembering that last time he stayed here for a while and only a short time had passed when he returned to the lake house, Yu Shi wasn’t too worried.

During this brief period when he had just woken up and his mind was still a bit unclear, he idly wondered about a few things.

— If the passage of time here was different from outside, wouldn’t learning here be incredibly efficient?

— If time outside passed quickly but it felt like a long time here, how long had Feng Xuexiang been trapped here alone?

Feeling the tips of his hair and the edges of his clothes being gently moved, Yu Shi finally opened his eyes.

Feng Xuexiang was lying next to him, his long body slightly curled on its side. After fiddling with Yu Shi’s clothes, he focused on Yu Shi’s hand.

He poked at Yu Shi’s fingertips and then placed his own hand next to Yu Shi’s, comparing them.

After Yu Shi arrived, he took care to maintain his hands, but they still couldn’t compare to Feng Xuexiang’s “natural beauty.” His hands, like his body, were perfectly unhuman.

It seemed like Feng Xuexiang treated him as a toy, pulling and poking at him. When Feng Xuexiang tried to continue poking at his fingertips, Yu Shi lifted his hand to avoid it, pushing himself up from the ground.

The surface of the platform was indeed very hard. Yu Shi usually maintained a steady sleeping position, and lying there for too long only made it more uncomfortable.

“You’re finally awake. Look, my leg is much better now, right?” Feng Xuexiang said. “I didn’t move around or put any weight on it.”

“Hmm, you did well,” Yu Shi said as he checked his knee, noticing that the frightening redness on his leg had significantly faded.

He turned to see Feng Xuexiang’s eyes crinkled with a smile and asked, “Aren’t you tired? Don’t you want to sleep?”

Despite the visible bloodshot in his eyes, Feng Xuexiang shook his head. “I’m not tired.”

Yu Shi didn’t say anything further. He stood up, tapped his shoulders and waist to loosen up his stiff body, and then continued with his work.

He considered himself a boring person, often immersing himself deeply in a task. Once absorbed, he would focus solely on what he was doing and rarely pay attention to anything else.

Those who wanted to build a life with him would eventually realize that he had quite a few shortcomings.

As he went back and forth catching butterflies, Feng Xuexiang watched him eagerly each time, trying to seize the moment to talk a little more.

Yu Shi responded politely each time, which made Feng Xuexiang happy as he waited for Yu Shi to return.

Noticing Feng Xuexiang’s evident fatigue, Yu Shi quietly continued his work, waiting for him to finally succumb to sleep.

Standing near the lotus leaves, there was less mud here compared to the platform, and the water on the surface was more abundant.

The butterflies resting on the water surface and leaves knew that he was there to catch them. They were no longer as naïve as before and didn’t just wait to be caught.

Whenever Yu Shi approached, they fluttered into the sky. However, Yu Shi had a rare talent for catching them; with his net, he could still capture these beautiful and delicate little creatures.

As he was walking back with the net in hand, he suddenly experienced a sense of weightlessness.

He became aware of himself and found himself back at the lake house.

“Zhou Shi? Zhou Shi! Are you okay?” Jiang Mang shouted from outside the door. “I’m coming in!”

“It’s fine, I’m okay,” Yu Shi thought, realizing that whenever Feng Xuexiang fell asleep in that world, he would leave that place.

Before entering the illusion, Yu Shi had been standing by the bed. Now, he was lying on the bed, with Feng Xuexiang, who also had his eyes closed, beneath him.

The real world and the illusion seemed to be synchronized.

Yu Shi lifted himself from the soft, white bedding, looked back at the anxious Jiang Mang, and waved to signal that he was alright.

He covered Feng Xuexiang with the blanket and walked over to Jiang Mang. “What just happened?”

“You walked over and called him. Suddenly, Ninth Master grabbed your arm. You both stood there motionless, and then suddenly you fell forward and ended up on top of him.”

“I saw you both fall onto the bed and almost had a heart attack. I thought something serious had happened!”

Yu Shi asked, “How long was it from when he grabbed my arm to when I spoke just now?”

Jiang Mang showed him the watch. “It was about nine minutes, not even ten.”

“It’s only ten minutes. I felt like time was dragging and my heart was racing. If you hadn’t reacted soon, I would have gone in to save you!” Jiang Mang said, clearly still shaken.

“It’s okay, there’s no need to be worried next time. I wasn’t in any danger,” Yu Shi reassured his colleague.

“Alright, Ninth Master Feng is asleep now, so he shouldn’t wake up soon. Let’s clean up and then go rest,” Jiang Mang suggested.

She pushed him aside, saying, “You rest. I’ll take care of it!”

However, Yu Shi didn’t actually rest. He fetched water and began cleaning Feng Xuexiang.

Cleaning him was quite simple. He didn’t have the natural oils that a normal person would secrete, so cleaning his face was not much different from polishing a clean bottle.

Yu Shi specifically examined Feng Xuexiang’s legs. From the knee down, there was a faint red, starkly contrasting with the paleness above.

It seemed that whatever happened in the illusion also manifested in reality.

Noticing that his calf felt a bit warm, Yu Shi took a half-wet large towel and approached Jiang Mang. “Jiang Mang, could you make this towel cool?”

“Huh?” Jiang Mang responded, puzzled.

Yu Shi explained, “I think the ability you’ve gained needs practice to become more effective, right?”

Jiang Mang agreed, “I think so too. Wait a moment, I’ll give it a try!”

She began working on the towel, while Yu Shi stood by offering suggestions.

After leaving the illusion, the system functioned smoothly again. The unstable signal had been quite frustrating.

Yu Shi asked the system how to train this non-human power, and it tried to provide information from the world line.

He then used this information to guide Jiang Mang.

“It really works! Zhou Shi, you’re amazing! How did you know this?” Jiang Mang exclaimed, successfully covering the large towel with a layer of frost, her excitement evident.

She had tried for a long time the previous night without success, but with just a few suggestions, she managed to do it.

“You still need to practice on your own,” Yu Shi said with a smile as he took the towel.

Jiang Mang looked at Yu Shi with admiration as he walked toward Feng Xuexiang.

She didn’t want to lose her job, but remembering the terrifying nightmare, she was still afraid to get too close to Ninth Master Feng.

She didn’t fully understand what being pulled into an illusion really meant, only roughly interpreting it as Feng Xuexiang being able to make those who came close experience nightmares.

Jiang Mang thought to herself, ‘I’m still too weak. Look at Zhou Shi, he isn’t afraid at all!’

Yu Shi covered Feng Xuexiang’s slightly warm calf with the cool towel.

…

In the evening, the two of them had dinner together in the cafeteria. Since awakening her power the day before, Jiang Mang’s appetite had increased significantly, surpassing Yu Shi’s.

Every passerby glanced at her more than once. Some were amazed by her appetite, while others snickered quietly, but no one dared to openly provoke her.

The incident where Alin and others had a dispute with her, leading to Feng Zaiyin punishing them, had already spread, isolating Jiang Mang and Yu Shi within the Feng family.

In such crowded settings, no one came over to speak to them.

“Am I eating too much?” Jiang Mang asked, feeling embarrassed.

“No,” Yu Shi suddenly laughed. “I have an older brother with a huge appetite. He eats a lot at every meal. Compared to him, you’re actually eating less.”

“Wow! Is he one of those people who is as tall as a small mountain, very strong and imposing?” Jiang Mang asked.

 “Not exactly. My older brother works out a lot, eats a lot, but also burns a lot of calories, so he has a well-proportioned figure,” Yu Shi said, his smile becoming more genuine when talking about his brother.

“The grandpas and grandmas in our neighborhood always praise him for being handsome and charming whenever they see him. Occasionally, when he and I go grocery shopping together, girls can’t help but look at him, and the aunties at the vegetable and meat stalls will give us extra items.”

Jiang Mang’s expression turned wistful as she clasped her hands together. “Bodhisattva, is there a photo of your brother that could be shared with a devout believer like me?”

Yu Shi: “…………” Where would I find a photo of my older brother now?’

…

Later that night, Jiang Mang’s door was knocked on.

A familiar girl, looking anxious, said, “Ninth Master Feng suddenly fell ill, and the lake house is a complete mess. We can’t go in. The steward sent me to fetch you both. Hurry and take care of Ninth Master Feng!”

Jiang Mang, jolted awake from her dream and still groggy, recognized the girl as a Feng family servant who had checked their belongings at the house by the lake. She immediately snapped to attention.

“Wait here. I’ll go wake up Zhou Shi, and we’ll go together.”

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