The Villain Saint is my secondary account

"Where are your other companions?" Ye Xiao asked calmly.

“They…sigh, they don’t have any other companions.” Zhu Jun paused. “In such a vast wilderness, it’s already very lucky to run into someone you know.”

"That's true." Ye Xiao nodded.

"So let's go together, Ye Xiao. It'll be much safer with the three of us," Zhu Jun invited again.

Ye Xiao took a sip of mead, the wooden cup making a soft thud as it hit the edge of the table.

"Zhu Jun."

"how?"

"The eyes of someone who has killed someone will change."

Zhu Jun stopped using his fork, his gaze fixed on the roast goose that had been mashed into a paste. The smile on his lips disappeared, but then returned slightly upward.

“This damn world is full of monsters and bandits,” he said, picking up a piece of meat and stuffing it into his mouth. “See the scar on my nose? If it had gone two centimeters deeper, I would be gone. What can I do, Ye Xiao?”

“You’re right,” Ye Xiao shrugged, “but I can choose not to trust.”

So you'd rather walk alone?

"How do you know I'm a person?" Ye Xiao smiled and looked into Zhu Jun's eyes.

Zhu Jun raised his head slightly, his gaze meeting in mid-air, and then he laughed, "Hahahaha."

"Hehehehe."

Their laughter was as bland as plain water, as if laughter was simply a natural consequence of the conversation reaching this point, and no one cared about the feelings involved.

"I thought you would be happy to be with Muge. Didn't you have a crush on her before?"

"Oh, is that so?" Ye Xiao put down her cup expressionlessly. "I should probably leave now."

Having seen beautiful girls in the mirror every day, Ye Xiao's aesthetic threshold has been raised to an extremely exaggerated level. He had already forgotten what the girl he just saw looked like in the blink of an eye.

"Alright, have a safe journey." Zhu Jun sighed and continued turning the roast goose. "It's only been a few days, and you've changed so much."

"Really? I feel pretty much the same as before." Ye Xiao slung his bag and staff over his shoulder and walked toward the tavern entrance.

Just as he was about to leave, a burly man suddenly pushed the door open and entered, shoving Ye Xiao aside like a moving wall.

"Can't see the road, kid?!" The burly man pressed his large, fan-like hand against Ye Xiao's chest and pushed him away.

Ye Xiao slightly stepped aside and remained silent. He wouldn't beat up everyone who provoked him; most of the time, he chose to avoid them.

"My God, this place stinks like a pigsty." A shrill voice came from behind the big man. It was a girl with shoulder-length beige hair. The white fur cloak she wore had delicate light blue patterns embroidered on the edges, and two pink and white pom-poms decorated the bow tie under the hood.

Those who like to add flashy but useless things to their travel clothes are either gamers or nobles.

Judging from the other party's luxurious attire and the fact that he was surrounded by bodyguards, he was undoubtedly a nobleman.

As expected, the middle-aged man in the black walrus leather coat next to the girl bowed slightly to her and said, "Miss, please wait here for a moment."

Then, the burly man walked to the bar, knocked on the table twice, and said, "Looking for your guide, Dunlop Blaise."

"Um... Mr. Blaise has already been hired and should have just left town..." The bartender, who looked rather young, held the glass he was wiping with trepidation.

"Bring him back," the man said in a deep voice.

"But..." The bartender was about to speak when the tavern owner, who had a big belly, quickly came up behind him and pushed the young man, who couldn't see the situation clearly, behind him. "Ah, esteemed guest, Mr. Blaise just went out. Sending someone to find him now might not be able to catch him in time. We have other guides here. Why don't you take a look? They all spend their years gathering herbs and hunting in the mountains."

“I just want Dunlop Blaise,” the man whispered. “I don’t care how you do it, get him back now, right now.”

"This……"

The tavern owner took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead. This was simply too unreasonable! Everyone else had run off into the mountains; where was he supposed to find them now?

Just as the innkeeper was pondering a solution, he suddenly caught sight of the person by the door out of the corner of his eye, and his face immediately lit up with joy. "Ah, wait a minute, dear guest! Mr. Blaise should still be at the town entrance and hasn't left yet. I remember now, the gentleman who hired him is still at the tavern."

“Hmm? Who hired Dunlop Blaise?” the man frowned.

The boss chuckled and pointed to the doorway.

As the boss's round fingertip pointed at him, everyone's eyes followed. Ye Xiao had a curse in his mind, but he didn't know whether he should say it or not.

Chapter Fifty-One: Noble Mercenaries

“Mr. Blaise is yours now.” Ye Xiao raised one hand. “I can hire other people.”

Even so, the tall man still stood before Ye Xiao like a mountain. "Where does this gentleman intend to go by hiring Blaise?"

"It's just going to climb mountains and dig for some ore." Ye Xiao shrugged. "I don't mind if I change my guide."

"Don't worry, sir. We're not nobles who like to oppress commoners. We won't just take your guide for ourselves," the man smiled, but the smile didn't look friendly. "Perhaps we can travel together."

"No need for that. I'll be back early, and I don't want to delay your schedule." Ye Xiao turned to walk through the crowd and left.

Unexpectedly, the man grabbed Ye Xiao's shoulder and said, "Don't rush, sir."

Eight skilled warriors, two proficient hunters, two proficient swordsmen, one expert swordsman, one priest of unknown rank, and one noble mage of unknown rank.

Ye Xiao glanced around and, with his rich experience, instantly judged the battle situation. With his current physical attributes, he had no chance of winning by fighting head-on, but the opponent's positioning was loose, so he could kill the weak one on the side with one strike and rush out the door.

He sighed and placed his right hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist.

"What happened? How many of you?" Just then, Zhu Jun walked through the lobby to the door and stood next to Ye Xiao. "We're in a bit of a hurry, and our companions are waiting outside, so we can't talk for long."

This unexpected move surprised Ye Xiao.

"It's nothing, just a polite greeting." The man smiled and casually tossed two gold coins. "We'll hire Mr. Blaise; this is compensation."

"Let's get out of here, Arnold. I really can't stand this place any longer," the young lady behind him said, arms crossed and brows furrowed.

Ye Xiao grabbed the gold coin in mid-air and watched the group of people leave the tavern in a large group.

"Sure, Zhu Jun, I owe you a favor." Ye Xiao's expression was much more relaxed this time when facing his old classmate.

When Ye Xiao first discovered that the other party had killed someone, he was still mainly on guard.

"Oh, it's nothing. Please take care of me in the future. I haven't finished my meal yet, so I'll head back now." Zhu Jun patted Ye Xiao on the shoulder, said nothing more, and then walked back.

Ye Xiao left the tavern, glanced at the group of people who had already reached the end of the street, and then turned and headed towards another corner.

How could they possibly change guides? Blaise was the only guide familiar with the Lyra Peak route. Ye Xiao had inquired and found that the tomb he was looking for was most likely on that mountain.

He had to get there before the group reached the town entrance, grab the guide, and run away.

However, he had only taken two steps when a figure rushed out from beside him and grabbed his arm. "Ye Xiao!"

"Dong Muge? What's wrong?" Ye Xiao frowned slightly as he looked at the girl who was pulling him.

"Can...can you take me with you? I...I'm afraid to go back..." Dong Muge's face was pale, and tears seemed to be welling up in the corners of her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I prefer to be alone." Ye Xiao tried to pull his hand away from the girl's; he was in a hurry.

"Please, don't leave me." Unexpectedly, Dong Muge gripped her even tighter. "I'm so scared. You don't know, Zhu Jun... killed his own companion before."

"What do you mean?" Ye Xiao was stunned.

"When we were in the valley, we were chased by monsters and hid in a cave, but the entrance collapsed," Dong Muge said in a barely audible, trembling voice. "We were trapped for two days... We didn't have any universal points to exchange for food... so he killed the classmates who were with us..."

Later on, Ye Xiao could no longer hear what the other person was saying.

He vaguely sensed something amiss in the girl's words, but despite the fact that she had just helped him, he still didn't quite understand the true nature of his old classmate, Zhu Jun.

After all, good and bad are not written on one's face, and a person's good or bad qualities are not defined so that they will show the same behavior in every aspect.

In this situation, it seems inappropriate to simply send Dong Muge back.

More importantly, he doesn't have time to get entangled with this girl right now.

So Ye Xiao could only say helplessly, "Alright, you keep up, I'm in a hurry."

The two rushed to the town entrance, but perhaps because of the earlier delay, when they arrived, Ye Xiao already saw the noble lady and her companions riding horses and surrounding a dark-skinned old man.

“Mr. Blaise, money is no object.”

"No, it's not about the money," the old man said, looking terrified. "We can't go to that mountain!"

“I know you’ve been there.” The man in the trench coat named Arnold persisted, his pliers-like hand gripping the old man’s withered arm. “Mr. Blaise, if you take us there, I’ll guarantee you a life of plenty!”

"It's not that simple..."

"He's just a commoner, can't you stop wasting your breath on him, Arnold?" the noble lady said impatiently.

Arnold said no more, simply pulled the old man onto the horse, and the group rode into the valley.

The old man was clearly Dunlock Blaise, the man Ye Xiao was looking for.

Ye Xiao, who had witnessed this scene from the bushes nearby, felt somewhat helpless. It was almost impossible for him to rush over to this open area, rescue the old man, and then escape. However, this noble mercenary team, which was clearly of high status, was not something he could afford to mess with in his current state.

If Ella were here, she could just transform into a beast and charge in with the Scythe of Judgment to mow down the grass. Unfortunately, the Holy Maiden has her own things to do.

Ye Xiao could also activate evil god spells through a contract, but it would consume a great deal of mental energy, making it unsuitable.

In the end, he had no choice but to quietly follow behind that group of people.

Fortunately, they didn't take the main road through the valley, but instead went up the mountain to the side. The horses couldn't exert their full strength, so Ye Xiao was able to keep up far behind on his own two legs.

"No... why did you come along too?" Ye Xiao asked, keeping a low profile as she followed the horse caravan ahead, glancing at Dong Muge, who was following her like a little tail.

"I...I don't know where to go," Dong Muge said timidly.

"Why don't you just ride your horse anywhere near the town entrance?" Ye Xiao said speechlessly. "Did Zhu Jun plant a tracking device on you?"

“I…I don’t know…” Dong Muge sobbed.

Damn women, they're such a hassle.

Ye Xiao couldn't help but curse inwardly.

Just then, Ella, far away in the capital, was looking in the mirror and doing her hair. She stared at her reflection for a moment, stunned.

Um, did I also scold myself?

The autumn sun shone gently through the forest. Following the winding mountain path, Ye Xiao and Dong Muge followed the noble team over several hills until they reached a mountainside.

There is a pool formed by the confluence of surrounding streams, with lush vegetation and deer drinking water nearby.

"Swish"

A feathered arrow struck the deer's head precisely, and the fawn fell, its head submerged in the water, the gushing blood staining the surface red.

"Excellent archery!" "Hahahaha!" "Amazing!"

The mercenaries applauded and cheered, but then Arnold, wearing a trench coat, smiled and handed the bow back to the hunter in the green jacket beside him.

Chapter Fifty-Two: Falling into the Water

(Author's note: This female student's character design might make some readers uncomfortable, but rest assured, she is not the kind of character that everyone thinks she is. Her behavior is just foreshadowing for certain plot points.)

“How cruel…” Dong Muge murmured from the side.

"Just hunting." Ye Xiao frowned. He wasn't overly sympathetic, even though the scene was indeed somewhat bloody.

The noble mercenaries set up camp by the pool to feed their horses, and then began to set up cooking fires, seemingly intending to rest there for the day.

In the clearing outside the bushes, the noble lady was having afternoon tea with her pastor best friend, chatting and laughing. It was quite remarkable that they could carry all sorts of random things in their limited-capacity space rings; anyone who didn't know better would think they were on a picnic or vacation.

Ye Xiao estimated that there were still about two hours until sunset. Setting up camp now would probably mean venturing further into the mountains where the terrain would be less favorable. He figured he should wait until the next day to set off and reach his destination directly.

So, from noon until now, Ye Xiao has been traveling with this team for several hours. He hadn't really felt it at first, but when he opened the system panel, he found that he had already used up nearly half of his stamina.

Looking at Dong Muge, whose clothes were soaked with sweat, Ye Xiao couldn't help but admire how tenacious this female classmate was to have followed him all this way.

"Want something to eat?" Ye Xiao pulled a crumpled piece of bread from his backpack.

Dong Muge looked at the bread, curled his lip, and shook his head.

If you don't want to eat it, fine.

Ye Xiao naturally wouldn't use his precious universal points to exchange for those fragrant hot foods in the mall; being a pragmatist, he could simply eat the dry bread he brought from Liangqiu Village and be done with it.

Of course, another reason is that Ella has been enjoying lavish meals all the time, so she's not as craving them anymore.

They rested leisurely as the sun gradually sank behind the mountains.

……

The moonlight was especially bright at night, so bright and dazzling that the entire forest seemed to be covered in silver frost.

"Woo——"