This Villain Ch.194

Chapter 194: God said, “Let there be light!”

[Mr. Yu Guang, have you understood the current situation?]

“Yes, I understand. I’m heading to a special world with a rather complex situation.”

[That’s correct. Originally, this world was not assigned to our team, but based on the evaluations of your brothers in several other worlds, it ultimately landed in your hands.]

Due to his brothers frequently breaking the plot, altering endings, killing main characters, and stealing the spotlight, they had been constantly reported.

After evaluating the task completion rates in several worlds, the main system threw this mess to the last remaining host.

Mr. Yu Guang, who had been set up by his brothers, didn’t sound the least bit displeased—in fact, he sounded a little pleased. “It seems they’re making an effort to live seriously. Not bad!”

In the system’s slightly choked silence, he cheerfully asked, “My task is still to monitor the villain, correct?”

[Yes, just try your best to complete it. I’m the auxiliary system, mostly just responsible for recording things. In this world, I probably won’t be able to help much.]

“No problem! I’m very experienced in monitoring villains. I’ll make sure to complete the mission!” Yu Guang responded confidently and cheerfully.

As he entered the new world, the system transmitted some memories and the storyline to him.

…

The sky was gloomy, dark clouds rolled overhead, and the water of the river had turned a murky black.

The riverbank was filled with various boats, with the largest cargo ships occupying the main dock.

Beautiful pleasure boats, belonging to the head courtesans of various red-light establishments, were anchored at dedicated piers.

Meanwhile, the fishing boats of the poor were haphazardly docked at the makeshift, rundown wild piers, far from the grand cargo and pleasure boats.

In the depths of the reeds and wild grass, on a shabby little boat, a young man suddenly opened his eyes.

A red dragonfly flew past his eyes, set against the gloomy sky.

The boy’s dark eyes followed its flight as he sat up on the swaying little boat.

Dressed in a worn-out short jacket, his hands were rough and calloused, a sign of someone used to hard labor.

After examining this body, Yu Guang stood up from the boat.

The original owner was only sixteen, an orphaned simpleton who earned food by helping unload goods at the docks. He usually slept on this little boat.

This shabby little boat, hidden in the reeds, was his only possession, gifted to him by a kind old fisherman who had left it to him after passing away, giving him a place to call his own.

“Hey, fool! There’s work to do, get to the dock and help unload!” a man shouted from afar.

Everyone around the docks knew that a simple-minded boy lived here. No one knew his name; they just called him “fool.”

The fool always grinned with a silly, cheerful expression, speaking with difficulty.

If anyone wanted his help, they just had to offer him a bit of food. The men unloading goods liked calling him over for this reason.

At the end of the day, they didn’t need to pay him—two big steamed buns were enough.

The man shouted as usual and saw the familiar fool emerge from the reeds.

The boy’s face bore a smile, but that usual vacant, silly look was gone, and he looked clear and bright, as if washed clean.

When those eyes, once unfocused, now fixed steadily on him, the man shivered involuntarily.

The urge to hurry him along—“fool, we’re on a tight schedule”—was swallowed back.

“Master Wang’s cargo ship has arrived at the dock. We need to get the goods unloaded before it starts raining,” he explained, somewhat uneasily.

The “fool,” who had come up to him, simply replied, “Alright.”

Yu Guang now had the original owner’s memories. They were scattered and incomplete, with the clearest recollections being of eating and working.

Following these memories, he slipped in among the other laborers, skillfully stepping onto the side of the cargo boat and delivering goods to the designated spots.

An overseer stood on the boat, shouting orders, while the strong laborers, mostly shirtless and dripping with sweat, moved the cargo like ants, one after another.

No one paid attention to any change in the “fool.”

Then a heavy rain began to pour, bringing with it the muddy smell of the river, soon covering everything and transforming the riverbank into a vast, watery expanse.

The goods were unloaded just in time, and many workers crowded under a shelter onshore, taking their tags to claim their wages.

Yu Guang calmly lined up to claim his own.

The man in charge of handing out wages gave him a second look, pulling his hand back from the money strings. “Isn’t this the fool? Why’s he here to get his own pay?”

Previously, someone always collected the fool’s wages on his behalf. If no one did, the overseer would often pocket the fool’s earnings.

Many of the workers knew this dock’s resident fool, and someone in the crowd shouted, “The fool did the work; everyone saw it! You can’t just not pay him!”

“Yeah, who doesn’t know how hard he works?”

The overseer, looking slightly embarrassed, snapped, “As if I wouldn’t pay him! It’s just a few coins.”

He counted a few coins from the string and tossed them forward.

They should have hit the ground, but the fool, usually so slow to react, quickly raised his hand and caught them mid-air.

The man who had called the fool over earlier squeezed through the crowd, dripping with a mix of sweat and rain, eyeing him curiously. “Fool, why don’t you look like a fool anymore?”

“Oh, suddenly woke up,” Yu Guang replied with a smile.

The people gathered around noticed something unusual and began pushing forward, intrigued. “Whoa! He really can talk now!”

“What happened? Hey, he actually seems pretty normal!”

“Yeah, what did you do to get better? Eat something special?”

Yu Guang glanced at the heavy rain outside, pushed his way out of the crowd, and said, “I’m leaving.” Then, he turned back briefly. “Oh, and thanks, everyone.”

He strode into the rain. The once-boisterous crowd of laborers fell silent, watching his retreating figure.

The “fool” had been living around this dock for years. He had started out sleeping under a bridge, begging for food. One day, a dock worker had pitied him and let him help unload cargo in exchange for some food. Eventually, this became his way of making a living.

Though his mind was unclear and anyone could trick him or make fun of him, he managed to survive to sixteen thanks to the kindness of those around him. Even when there was no work, someone would often give him a few bites to eat.

This was a time when most people’s lives were difficult.

The poor still endured hunger, and more people died from starvation and cold than from terrible monsters or evil spirits.

[Mr. Yu Guang, I’ve received additional information about this world,] the system chimed in.

[This world is one that was once destroyed and later reset. The time you entered isn’t when the main storyline begins but a few years before that.]

“Alright, got it,” Yu Guang replied, scanning the rainy scene, as if searching for something.

[Mr. Yu Guang, there’s also some bad news,] the system’s voice sounded grim.

[The villain you need to monitor has already been reborn.]

This villain was the one who had clashed countless times with the protagonist, a figure who had lived through the destruction of worlds.

The so-called “danger value” of this world was already off the charts.

No wonder it had been shelved and left unassigned to a host before now.

“Understood,” Yu Guang responded as usual.

The system marveled at Yu Guang’s calm and steady demeanor—no wonder he was the big brother of the Yu brothers.

[Mr. Yu Guang, are you currently looking for the villain? Would you like me to provide their initial location?]

“Oh, no,” Yu Guang replied straightforwardly. “I’m just looking for a place to eat—I’m starving.”

This body was that of a growing teenager, blessed with great strength but also requiring more food than most, so he’d never been full in his memories.

Used to a big appetite himself, Yu Guang didn’t mind; he had a good appetite, too.

Finally, in the rain, he found a small noodle stall nestled under an awning. The stall was run by an elderly couple, who, seeing him sit down at a small table, damp from the rain, quickly got up to boil noodles and even handed him a bowl of warm water.

“Drink some hot water first. Why’re you out in this rain?” they asked.

“Haha, I was just hungry, looking for something to eat. I’ll need five bowls of noodles, please.”

Yu Guang casually wiped the rainwater from the table, then reached up to easily adjust their poorly secured awning, sheltering the small table and the noodle stall.

The steaming bowls of noodles were generous in portion. Yu Guang ate with focus and speed, making the meal look unexpectedly appetizing.

Outside, the rain poured down, the streets were empty, and steam rose from the small stove, its gentle bubbling sounds filling the quiet.

Yu Guang finished the last bowl and still felt he could eat more, but unfortunately, he was out of money.

Amid the steady rain, a strange, thick, ominous sound emerged from a nearby dark alley.

The elderly couple behind the noodle stall didn’t seem to hear it, their hearing not what it once was.

Yu Guang took the last sip of broth, paid for his noodles, and turned to enter the dark alley.

The elderly woman watched Yu Guang’s retreating figure and remarked to her husband, “That boy looks thin, but he sure can eat.”

In a nearby dark alley, Yu Guang was now facing a grotesque creature emerging, swelling out of a corpse.

“So, this is an ‘evil spirit,’ huh?”

In this world, some people occasionally turned into “evil spirits” after death. The more painful and resentful the death, the greater the likelihood of transformation.

Unlike the ghostly figures from folklore, “evil spirits” had a physical form; they could be seen, touched, and killed.

These spirits, reeking with foul odors, were mindless and had a hunger for human flesh.

Fighting one was beyond an ordinary person’s ability; such tasks fell to specialized “exorcists.” However, exorcists were rare and often arrived only after the spirit had caused mayhem and claimed lives.

The evil spirit, newly born from the corpse, would soon follow the scent of fresh human presence—leading it straight to the noodle stall nearby if left unchecked.

Yu Guang picked up a sturdy stick from the alley, testing its strength, and walked toward the drooling, ravenous creature.

…

The rain had come down in a sudden, refreshing downpour, washing away the oppressive clouds until they faded to gray.

In the aftermath, a murky puddle in the alley reflected the corpse’s blue and purple, terror-stricken face, surrounded by the foul, black residue left by the slain evil spirit.

The rain had stopped, and the elderly couple was pushing their noodle cart back under the eaves when a strange smell caught their attention. Glancing into the deserted alley, they froze.

Their hands shook as they held onto the cart, one of them gasping, “An… an evil spirit! There was an evil spirit!”

This minor disturbance in the poor district didn’t reach the more affluent southern part of the city.

In contrast to the crowded slums, this area was neatly paved with blue bricks, with tall walls enclosing courtyard mansions adorned with fragrant blossoms. Branches of apricot blossoms spilled over the walls, signaling the presence of Zhuzhou’s famed pleasure district, where hundreds of high-end and modest brothels were clustered together.

Underneath a wooden corridor in a small building, a person curled up in the dim, damp basement opened his eyes.

Where was he?

The air held a familiar blend of earthy staleness mixed with the faint scent of orange blossoms.

Those dark, sinister eyes—reminiscent of the viscous blackness of a spirit’s decay—closed again.

How amusing, he seemed to have returned to his teenage years.

<< _ >>

**TN

Our last arc. The sunny and vibrant eldest brother, Yu Guang!