"Yes!" Han Jue nodded vigorously, coughing for dramatic effect. 'No! I want to put him somewhere I can secretly bribe him so he doesn't kill me in ten chapters! If he dies now, his "Hidden Master" will probably go nuclear and level the city!'
Han Xiong looked down at his son, a proud, twisted grin spreading across his face. He slapped Han Jue on the shoulder, nearly knocking the wind out of him.
"That's my boy! Cruel, Calculating. Truly a Han!" Han Xiong turned to the elite guards, his voice booming. "Drag this slave to the Water Dungeon! Seal his meridians with Bone-Piercing Nails! My son will handle his 'interrogation' personally!"
Ye Fan didn't scream. Even as the guards hauled him up, his eyes remained locked on Han Jue. "Han Jue... I will crawl out of that hell. I will take your head, and I will burn this clan to the ground. This I swear on my life!"
'Yeah, yeah, heard it in Chapter 1 of every manhua ever,' Han Jue thought, waving a dismissive hand while hiding behind his father. 'Just go to the basement so I can save our lives, you stubborn brat.'
As the guards dragged the swearing hero away, a golden spark ignited in Han Jue's vision.
[System Notification]
Feat Accomplished: Master Manipulator (Tier-3 Expert Fooled)
Reward: 500 Villain Points (Currency for System Shop/Upgrades)
Current Status: Villainous Scum (Rank Rising)
'Villain Points? Now we're talking!' Han Jue's eyes gleamed.
He waited until his father left to go "confiscate" more merchant goods, then he immediately sprinted toward the dungeons. He needed to move fast before Ye Fan's "Old Ghost" mentor decided to stage a jailbreak.
The Water Dungeon was a damp, stinking hole beneath the manor. Han Jue waved off the guards, claiming he wanted "private time" with the prisoner.
He stepped into the cell. Ye Fan was chained to a mossy wall, water up to his knees, looking like a drowned rat with a death wish.
"You've come to mock me?" Ye Fan spat, blood dripping from his lip.
"Mock you? No," Han Jue stepped forward, a strange, hungry look in his eyes. "I've come to suck you dry for these Villain Points."
Ye Fan blinked, his murderous rage flickering into pure, unadulterated confusion. "Suck... me dry? Vil...lian Points? What the fuck are you talking about?"
"Don't worry about the terminology, kid. Just know that your suffering is my paycheck."
Han Jue's eyes shifted to the tattered cord around Ye Fan's neck. Hanging there was a simple, soot-stained jade pendant—the one his brother had supposedly tried to steal. Han Jue reached out and snatched it.
"Hey! Give that back! That's my mother's—"
'System, scan this,' Han Jue thought.
[Scanning... High-Level Soul Fragment Detected. Status: Slumbering/Pissed Off.]
"Thanks for the pendant, kid," Han Jue said loudly, clutching the jade. 'Alright, Old Ghost, I know you're in there. Stop playing dead before I drop this into a vat of acid.'
Suddenly, the jade pulsed with a cold, ghostly green light. A faint, ethereal voice hissed in Han Jue's mind, vibrating with ancient power.
"Impudent brat! You dare threaten a Sovereign? Release the boy, or I shall flay your soul!"
Han Jue didn't flinch. Instead, he felt a wave of relief. 'I knew it. A senile old mentor.'
'Look, 'Sovereign' or whatever,' Han Jue thought back, his mental voice dripping with sarcasm. 'I know you're stuck in a rock. I know this kid is your only ticket out. And I know everyone in this cultivation world is a retarded, pride-obsessed idiot.'
The Ghost paused, stunned by the sheer lack of respect. "You... you can hear me? And you speak to me with such vulgarity?"
'I speak to you with reality. Your "Chosen One" over here is about to get executed. My family is a bunch of brainless thugs. How about we make a deal before the Hero's Journey ends in a damp sewer?'
Ye Fan watched in total silence, seeing Han Jue standing there, staring intensely at a rock while making weird faces.
"Han Jue..." Ye Fan whispered. "Have you finally lost your mind?"
'Shut up, Ye Fan! I'm talking to your jewelry!'
The Old Ghost in the jade fell silent for a heartbeat, his ethereal presence flickering with pure indignation. "You... you dare call the Great Sovereign of the Nine Heavens 'jewelry'?! You insolent, white-haired brat! I should—"
'You should what? Shake a bit?' Han Jue shot back mentally, his eyes narrowing. 'Look, I know how this ends. You wait for the Hero to get beaten to a pulp, then you give him a power-up, he kills my whole family, and you go back to being a hobo in a rock. Boring. How about we change the script?'
Han Jue glanced at Ye Fan, who was still staring at him like he'd grown a second head.
'System,' Han Jue thought, 'If I keep this kid alive and just... mess with him every day, do I keep getting points?'
[System: Correct. As long as you maintain your 'Villain' status and influence the 'Protagonist's' fate, you will generate a daily yield of Villain Points based on his level of frustration and growth.]
'Perfect. A literal cash cow.'
Han Jue turned his attention back to the green glow in the jade. 'Listen, Old Ghost. My brother is a moron and my father is a tyrant. If you try to break Ye Fan out now, the whole clan's guards will swarm you before he can even reach the gate. But if I'm the one "interrogating" him, I can slip him pills, technique scrolls, and keep him fed.'
"And why would a 'Villain' like you help your enemy?" the Ghost hissed, suspicious.
'Because I'm the only one here who isn't a brain-dead NPC,' Han Jue smirked. 'But I need a cover. If I'm too nice, my father will suspect me. So, here's the plan: You flare up your soul power. Act like a mad, demonic entity is attacking the dungeon. I'll "fight" you off, look like a hero to my family, and then I can tell my dad that Ye Fan is "cursed" and only I can handle him.'
The Old Ghost paused. "You want me to play along with your theater?"
'Do it, or I'm dropping this pendant into the clan's latrine. Your choice, Sovereign.'
"...Fine. But if you betray the boy, I will burn your soul to ash."
Suddenly, the dungeon erupted. A terrifying, sickly green mist exploded from the jade, swirling around the room like a cyclone. The temperature dropped forty degrees in a second.
"ARGH! GET BACK!" Han Jue screamed at the top of his lungs, loud enough for the guards outside to hear.
He lunged toward Ye Fan, but instead of hitting him, he leaned in close to the boy's ear. "Listen, you idiot. If you want to live, scream like I'm peeling your skin off. Don't ask questions. Just scream."
Ye Fan's eyes widened. "What are you—"
"SCREAM!" Han Jue punched the stone wall right next to Ye Fan's head, the CRACK echoing through the hall.
The green mist roared, taking the shape of a screaming, faceless demon. Han Jue "struggled" against the air, flailing his arms and falling back into the water.
"STAY BACK, DEMON!" Han Jue yelled, his voice full of fake terror. "FATHER! GUARDS! THE SLAVE IS POSSESSED! HE'S CURSED!"
Outside, the guards began shouting in panic, too terrified by the "Demonic Aura" to enter the room.
Ye Fan, finally catching on to the madness, let out a gut-wrenching roar of agony—partly because he was confused, and partly because Han Jue had just stepped on his foot really hard.
'Hehe,' Han Jue thought as he rolled around in the dirty water, looking like a victim while his bank-account of Villain Points started to tick up. 'Everyone wins. Ye Fan stays alive, the Old Ghost gets to keep his student, and I get to suck this protagonist dry for points every single day.'