66. To My Surprise, I Am Not the Villain

Chen Sheng helped her steady her head.

Then he walked inside, thinking at first that his role as a “tool master” and “little companion” was being called upon for another round of joint effort. After all, he’d heard her mention that, for reasons unknown, the villa of a certain wealthy businessman surnamed Li had suddenly caught fire, implicating her and destroying the foundation she’d built in the Netherworld.

Yet, what Chen Sheng hadn’t expected was that the matter the little ghost girl wanted to discuss actually concerned him.

Because, out of curiosity that someone dared to provoke Chen Sheng—the notorious madman of the mortal realm—she had gone to the Netherworld to consult a particular fierce spirit.

What she learned changed the way she looked at Chen Sheng.

Just as Chen Sheng was piecing together the events the little ghost girl had recounted, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of a sneaky, pale face. He reached out and grabbed the little ghost girl.

“What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing?”

She flailed her hands and feet, struggling desperately, but her limbs were too short to reach Chen Sheng or his ticklish spots.

“It’s too dark in here,” Chen Sheng remarked casually.

“What does the darkness have to do with me?” the girl retorted, then froze as the words left her mouth. She remembered that in the basement, someone had once picked her up because it was too dim, using her eyes to “illuminate” the place...

Did she really look like a light bulb?

The little ghost girl glared angrily at Chen Sheng.

Malice gathered; a faint green glow instantly radiated from her eyes.

Seeing this, Chen Sheng promptly lifted her a bit higher, so the area illuminated would be larger.

The little ghost girl: “…”

Wasn’t this just shooting herself in the foot?

She felt terribly wronged, but refused to admit it. Instead, she became a temporary telegraph operator in her mind, elegantly cursing Chen Sheng’s ancestors a hundred times over.

Meanwhile, Chen Sheng continued to organize the fragments of information swirling in his mind.

The matters the little ghost girl had revealed concerned his “former self”—the identity he had now assumed, known as “Chen Jue Shen.”

“Chen Jue Shen,” moved by injustice, had stepped in to rescue a girl being bullied by a gang.

The plot was too clichéd, so it hardly needed mentioning.

The leader of the bullies at the time was a man named Feng Yu Hai.

Because of this, Feng Yu Hai bore a grudge against “Chen Jue Shen.” After discovering his identity and address, he brought a group to his door, intent on killing him.

Unexpectedly, “Chen Jue Shen’s” skills far exceeded their expectations, and he ended up sending Feng Yu Hai to the hospital.

This was like stirring up a hornet’s nest.

Feng Yu Hai’s father intervened, planning to have “Chen Jue Shen” killed in prison, but was stopped.

At that time, “Chen Jue Shen” was about to be formally appointed as a police officer, having passed the internship assessment. The newly appointed police chief would lose all authority if anything happened to “Chen Jue Shen.”

So, Feng Yu Hai’s father backed down, proposing an agreement: if “Chen Jue Shen” spent twenty-four hours on Baiyun Mountain, all past grievances would be settled.

Reluctantly, “Chen Jue Shen” ascended the imperial mountain of the previous dynasty—Baiyun Mountain.

Up to this point, the story was straightforward.

But the twist was that “Chen Jue Shen” never came down from the mountain.

Because he never actually went up!

He merely pretended to walk along the mountain path, and halfway up, jumped off the trail. Normally, the fall wasn’t fatal, but with abysmal luck, he landed headfirst…

And so, the clever fellow died on the spot.

He was dead, but never expected to die from sheer misfortune, so the precautions he’d set in place before his death were triggered as planned.

“Chen Jue Shen,” using his identity, bought a train ticket for a most-wanted criminal. According to their agreement, the fugitive would leave by train the next day.

Only “Chen Jue Shen” and the fugitive knew about this arrangement.

Thus, many were shocked that “Chen Jue Shen” seemingly emerged safely from Baiyun Mountain!

Faced with this, Chen Sheng didn’t know what to say—there were so many absurdities, but he couldn’t figure out where to start.

He could only conclude: The game designers behind this healing game must truly enjoy twisting the plot.

Such convoluted storylines were beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

Chen Sheng also learned why he was mistaken for “Chen Jue Shen.”

His guess was largely correct—“Chen Jue Shen’s” appearance was remarkably similar to his own.

One tiny detail needed to be added: “Chen Jue Shen” had been transferred to Upper Sanjiang City, and coincidentally, Chen Sheng was also in Upper Sanjiang City, leading to Yan Shidong’s mistake in identification and subsequent trip to the police station for duty reporting.

Here, there was no need to praise the game designers for their ingenuity, as the plot was not only melodramatic but also thoroughly overused.

It had been worn thin by countless film and television dramas.

“What about Ling Tianquan?”

Chen Sheng was about to ask when he noticed the little ghost girl was once again eyeing him with that sly expression.

“What kind of look is that?” Chen Sheng decided to inquire.

“Are you human or ghost now?” the little ghost girl asked, her eyes wide with genuine curiosity. According to what she’d learned, wasn’t her rebellious disciple supposed to have died from a head injury? Yet here he was, looking entirely alive!

“Human.”

“But… but…”

She was about to speak when Chen Sheng interrupted, “I came back from the dead, because I lived a second life, shedding my old corpse for a new body.”

The little ghost girl was instantly dumbfounded, finding it hard to believe.

Chen Sheng’s explanation was so fantastical—like something out of a novel, dreamy and utterly unreal.

“You haven’t answered my earlier question: how is Ling Tianquan connected to me?” Chen Sheng pressed, improvising a reason for his inquiry, “I lost a lot of memories since dying once.”

“Ling Tianquan is Feng Yu Hai’s boss, but he wasn’t just avenging his subordinate. He was using it as an excuse to mask his real intention.”

“His real intention? What does Ling Tianquan want?” Chen Sheng’s curiosity was piqued.

“Isn’t Ling Tianquan keeping a fierce ghost? That ghost was injured elsewhere, so Ling Tianquan brought it to Upper Sanjiang City to recuperate. The ghost needs to consume humans to heal, and people frequently go missing in Upper Sanjiang City…”

“So, I was actually ridding the city of evil?” Chen Sheng exclaimed in surprise. He’d always thought he was a villain, but now he looked more like a hero.

After a moment’s thought, he asked, “What about Yan Shidong and his uncle?”

“They took bribes to deal with you privately. That’s Feng Yu Hai’s father.”

Chen Sheng’s expression became somewhat peculiar—so he really was a positive character after all!