Jiang Che had a keen intuition that Gu Lingfei’s best friend was absolutely no ordinary person!
As a villain, he possessed the Villain’s Aura, which greatly increased his chances of encountering protagonists of destiny.
Having dealt with so many protagonists, Jiang Che had developed a sharp instinct.
"Lingfei-jie, who is this best friend of yours?"
Gu Lingfei answered reflexively, "My best friend has quite the background..."
Halfway through her sentence, she suddenly narrowed her eyes with suspicion. "Hmph... What’s the matter, Xiao Che? Aren’t there enough flowers at home for you to pluck? Now you’ve set your sights on my best friend?"
Her tone dripped with jealousy.
"Of course not! Lingfei-jie, I was just asking. Since I’m going to pretend to be your boyfriend, shouldn’t I have all the information?"
Gu Lingfei covered her mouth and chuckled. "Don’t even think about it, kid. She’s already married. What, do you have the heart of a Cao Cao?"
"What do you mean ‘heart of a Cao Cao’? It’s called the Jian’an literary style, the legacy of Emperor Wu of Wei," Jiang Che joked.
"Uh-huh, sure~" Gu Lingfei’s eyes held a teasing glint.
Jiang Che sighed inwardly. It seemed he had misjudged the situation. Being a villain for so long had conditioned him to associate everything with protagonists of destiny.
"By the way, Lingfei-jie, you seem exhausted lately. Want me to give you a massage?"
"You little pervert, I’ve seen right through you." Gu Lingfei shot him a seductive glare before pulling up her nightgown, revealing a pair of sheer black stockings underneath!
The stockings clung to her flawless long legs, with just the right amount of pressure leaving a tantalizing indentation on her thighs.
Clearly, Gu Lingfei had come prepared.
Just then, the blanket on the bed trembled slightly—a movement Gu Lingfei immediately noticed.
"Huh? Xiao Che, did the blanket just move?"
"Did it? Maybe your eyes are playing tricks on you. Don’t worry about it."
"Oh~ Maybe I’ve just been working too hard lately." Though she said this, her eyes sparkled with mischief.
Meanwhile, Yu Wan’er, hiding under the covers, was utterly dumbfounded.
[Jiang Che, you bastard! I just want to sleep! ┗|｀O′|┛]
......
At the same time, inside the Association of the Chosen.
"Pavilion Master Xu, I can’t see! I CAN’T SEE!!! My X-ray vision is gone! You have to help me!"
Yang Ming collapsed on the floor, wailing in despair.
A white cloth covered his eyes, stained with two distinct bloodstains where his eyes should have been.
His pitiful state sent chills down the spines of the other protagonists in the association. Having one’s eyes gouged out sounded unbearably painful.
Xu Rong’s expression was icy as he glanced at Yang Ming, then at Chen Hao beside him.
"Chen Hao, you’re a grandmaster. How could something like this happen?"
Chen Hao felt a hint of pressure. "Pavilion Master Xu, I swear it wasn’t intentional. When Yang Ming got hurt, I was in a VIP room on the third floor getting a spa treatment. I was so relaxed that... I forgot about Brother Yang."
Yang Ming nearly spat blood in fury upon hearing this.
I treat my brother like family, and my brother kicks me into the ditch.
"Chen Hao, you—"
The room erupted in murmurs.
"Brother Yang, I’m really sorry. I didn’t know. There were two blonde masseuses working on my back, so I was late... How about this? I’ll give you 10,000 association points as compensation."
The others gasped.
10,000 points? That could buy a lot of good stuff!
But compared to X-ray vision, it still fell short.
Yang Ming was devastated. "Pavilion Master Xu, what do I do now? Our association is so powerful—surely there’s some miraculous elixir that can restore my eyes, right?"
Xu Rong pondered. "There is, but most are in the system stores of the Earth Pavilion and Heaven Pavilion. You can’t afford any of them..."
His words were a death sentence.
"No—"
"But don’t lose hope. You’re a chosen one. Go out and explore—maybe you’ll stumble upon a special opportunity."
"The organization won’t abandon you. Take the 10,000 points and exchange them for survival skills or other abilities in the system store. We’ll also deposit 1 billion yuan into your account..."
The Association of the Chosen lacked many things, but money wasn’t one of them. The headquarters had several chosen ones with godly wealth—a few trillion was pocket change.
"Rest assured, we won’t let that casino get away with this either."
After placating Yang Ming, Xu Rong turned to Chen Hao.
"Come with me."
Once inside the office, Xu Rong cut straight to the point.
"How much ‘scumbag points’ did you earn this time?"
Chen Hao grinned. "Not much, just around 150,000. After conversion, that’s about 30,000 headquarters points. Giving Yang Ming 10,000 is more than enough."
Xu Rong nodded. "Yang Ming is useless now. Give him three years. If he doesn’t find a special opportunity by then, bring him back and let him retire."
Chen Hao frowned. "Why not just kill him? A worthless waste is better off dead, no?"
Xu Rong shot him a cold look. "You never know how absurd a chosen one can be. Even a crippled one shouldn’t be killed lightly. If he reincarnates and comes back for revenge, it’ll be a nightmare."
"They can reincarnate?!" Chen Hao was stunned.
"Of course. Once, a former Pavilion Master of the ‘Human Pavilion’ schemed against a chosen one. That chosen one reincarnated into another world, cultivated for 3,000 years, then returned and slaughtered the entire Human Pavilion. Back then, the barriers between realms hadn’t been sealed yet, so this madman even fought his way into the Earth Pavilion. In the end, a big shot from the Heaven Pavilion had to step in and annihilate him for good."
Chen Hao sucked in a sharp breath.
"That hardcore?!"
"So remember—no matter how weak a chosen one seems, never scheme against them outright. Even if you do, make sure they’re well compensated."
"Chen Hao, transfer 5,000 points to me later. We’ll split it 50-50—you keep 15,000."
With that, Xu Rong left without another word.
Chen Hao’s lips twitched.
"Fifteen thousand, fifteen thousand, fifteen thousand my ass! Just wait till I milk you dry, you bastard. Then I’ll screw over that idiot Pavilion Master too. I’ll take the seat myself—you’re all just my livestock!"
He had just preached about giving chosen ones fair treatment, and the next second, he was fleecing him?! Screw that!
Xu Rong had no idea that Chen Hao had already turned to the dark side—losing his Protagonist’s Aura and gaining the Villain’s Aura instead.
One of the key abilities of Jiang Che’s Villain’s Aura was that any chosen one killed under its influence could never reincarnate or resurrect. And now, Chen Hao shared that same power.