The Villain Saint is my secondary account

What kind of abstract task is this?

No, I need to calm down. The system sometimes issues free tasks, but this one probably isn't that simple.

"Fluorescence technique." Ye Xiao decided to observe the surrounding environment first.

A blue light shone in the darkness, and the surroundings were not dark, empty rock walls, but rather black stone walls with obvious signs of human intervention, polished smooth.

Beneath your feet are wide, sloping stone steps, with a water channel carved along the center of the steps, from which the gurgling sound of water comes.

The water, however, was dark red for some reason, but it wasn't viscous, so it probably wasn't blood or anything like that.

Next, should we go up or down?

Ye Xiao was still hesitating when she heard a soft female voice call out.

"Is...is there anyone?"

He looked up slightly; the voice came from above the steps.

Ye Xiao was certainly not foolish enough to respond to a voice of unknown origin in such a strange place. He simply extinguished the glow on his staff, leaned against the wall, and carefully walked up the steps.

Seemingly noticing the sudden disappearance of light, the voice trembled slightly, "Is anyone there!?"

Upon hearing it a second time, Ye Xiao recognized the other person's voice.

Dong Muge?

Before Ye Xiao could even consider whether to respond, the girl suddenly screamed, and then with a "splash," it sounded as if she had fallen into a ditch.

Ye Xiao quickly lit the fluorescent light on the tip of his cane and grabbed the girl who was rushing down from above the ditch.

"Cough...cough..." Dong Muge, covered in red liquid from the ditch, reeked of a fishy smell. After coughing a few times while holding Ye Xiao's hand, she looked up slightly, paused for a moment, and then her eyes widened in surprise. "Ye...Ye Xiao!? What are you doing here?"

"I also want to know why you're here?" Ye Xiao said irritably.

"I don't know either, I woke up here..." Dong Muge coughed a few more times, covering his mouth, as if he had swallowed a lot of liquid from the ditch. "Thanks..."

Ye Xiao raised an eyebrow slightly. "No need."

As they were talking, something suddenly rushed down from the ditch and splashed into the darkness.

“Was that… a person who just slid down…” Even though his face was covered in red liquid, Dong Muge’s face looked somewhat pale.

"Not sure, we'll have to see to know." Ye Xiao couldn't see clearly either. His physical attributes didn't allow him to have such fast nerve reflexes. Now, when fighting against enemies with high agility, he mainly relied on the prediction of his Grandmaster-level consciousness. "Can we get up there?"

"Above the steps?" Dong Muge looked up. "I'm not sure... Before I fell into that waterway, it was almost completely dark in front of me, and all I could touch were walls."

"Hmm..." Ye Xiao waved his staff, and the fluorescent light at the tip of the staff flew out as if it had a life of its own.

Like a glowing firefly, it slowly flew to the top of the steps.

Similar to Dong Muge's description, there was only a square space above, with walls on three sides and a staircase leading to it on the other. The water channel extended from a very narrow hole in the innermost wall. The hole was only big enough for an adult to crawl through, but considering that water was constantly pouring out of it, it would probably be very difficult to crawl diagonally upwards inside.

Just then, with a whoosh, another thing rushed out of the hole.

This time, Ye Xiao saw it clearly; it was indeed a human figure.

The moment the figure slid past him along the canal, he grabbed it, then remotely extinguished the firefly that had been thrown far away, and lit another one on the tip of his staff.

"Ah..." As the light came on, Dong Muge saw what Ye Xiao was holding and covered his mouth.

It was a corpse covered in cracks, pale and bluish, but its swollen and bubbly skin was covered in red liquid and emitted a strange stench of decay.

Ye Xiao quickly wiped his hands on the wall next to him. It was annoying; he hadn't even finished the bread he had just stuffed in his pocket. How was he going to eat it now?

"Ugh... Ugh..." Dong Muge finally couldn't hold back and vomited on the floor to the side. It was a mess of white and yellow stuff, with all sorts of smells mixed together. Even Ye Xiao, who thought he had full resistance, couldn't hold back and took a few steps back, but his eyes were still fixed on what Dong Muge had vomited into the ditch.

It wasn't that Ye Xiao had any special fetishes; he was just a little puzzled. Dong Muge had only eaten a little roast goose back at the tavern, and it seemed like he hadn't eaten anything since following him.

It's been at least 30 hours now, where did this guy get anything in his stomach to vomit?

And... it looks like it hasn't been digested for very long.

A little weird.

The girl was also wearing that brown cloak... but she wasn't carrying a longbow; it's alright if the bow might have fallen off.

It was mainly this person who gave Ye Xiao a sense of unease.

Ye Xiao glanced at the corpse again. Although the clothes on the corpse were torn, they were somewhat similar to those of the people in that noble mercenary group.

But he couldn't be sure if it was him or not. He rarely made a conscious effort to remember the faces of people he considered unimportant, and the corpse's face was twisted in that way, making it really difficult to judge.

“Well… Dong Muge, since there’s no road up there, let’s head down first,” Ye Xiao said softly.

“Okay…” Dong Muge leaned against the wall, his body trembling slightly, and followed Ye Xiao’s footsteps after walking around the waterlogged corpse.

"Oh, right, I have some dry bread on me." Ye Xiao tore off a strip of cloth to dry her hands and took out a whole piece of dry bread from her ring. "You've vomited so much, if you're hungry, you can eat some."

"Ah... okay, thank you." Dong Muge took the bread, took a bite, and said, "Ugh, why is it so hard?"

Ye Xiao didn't reply, but quietly placed his hand on the hilt of the sword under the cloak.

Chapter Fifty-Eight: Red Holy Spring

The steps were long, and the sound of water became more intense as you got closer to the bottom, suggesting that there was more than just the canal beneath your feet.

Although Dong Muge was scouting ahead with his back to him, Ye Xiao also kept half of his attention on what was behind him, and would occasionally glance back.

Unfortunately, the "Mind's Eye" skill, which allows a Grandmaster-level swordsman to sense the surrounding environment without looking, requires an increase in agility to be used. Right now, he can only use small movements to sneak peeks to simulate an incomplete version of the effect.

As he walked, he suddenly realized that he had reached the last step. With the next step, Ye Xiao stepped onto a flat piece of ground.

The canal, which had been sloping, became horizontal at the end of the steps, but it continued to extend forward.

In the darkness, Ye Xiao could vaguely see many similar water channels extending forward, seemingly converging in the depths where the faint light could not reach.

The rushing sound of water was dense and loud in this area at the bottom, as if hundreds of rivers were surging at the same time.

He controlled the fluorescent light to fly slightly upwards, but found that this space seemed to be very tall and wide. The fluorescent light flew upwards until it could no longer see the surrounding objects, and it did not reach the top.

Ye Xiao briefly assessed the airflow around him, then lit a small flame with the tip of his staff. After a pause, he raised his staff high and softly called out, "Fireball!"

A massive, blazing fireball arced through the air and exploded into a dazzling display of fireworks, scattering countless sparks trailing behind it.

Now he could see the area in front of him clearly.

It was an enormous pool surrounded by black stones. In the center of the pool was a statue of a young angel carved from black stone, holding an earthenware pot from which dark red spring water gurgled.

In the center of the spring, countless corpses were piled up, densely packed like a towering hill, while the rushing water channels around them continued to transport new corpses to the center.

Ye Xiao's eyes widened. The scene was bizarre, but more importantly, the layout of the large room was strange.

If you ignore the water channels used to transport corpses, the layout of the buildings here is almost identical to that of the sacred spring in the Loren Church, especially the statue of the angel holding a clay pot.

The ones here are just many times larger.

"What...what the hell is this?"

Ye Xiao couldn't help but whisper.

Holy crap, don't tell me this place is also used for bathing. Did the ancestors of miracle mages like to do such crazy things?

"Ye Xiao...that...that pile of corpses...it seems to be moving..." Dong Muge's trembling voice came from behind.

Ye Xiao stared intently, and sure enough, the small mountain of corpses seemed to be slowly writhing, like a giant heart made of human flesh, throbbing rhythmically.

"I think we should find another way to leave." Even the experienced Ye Xiao felt something was amiss.

This shouldn't be the tomb of some miracle sorcerer. To dare build a sacred spring in one's own tomb, and in such a bizarre way, is something even Emperor Loren might not have the audacity to openly blaspheme.

Although he didn't understand the purpose of this red holy spring, it was definitely not something that could be easily dealt with. No wonder the mission reward was so generous; Ye Xiao was probably going to die here before he could figure things out.

"It's you again!? What are you doing here?"

Just as Ye Xiao was preparing to retreat, an angry shout came from the side.

Ye Xiao turned around and saw a man wearing a walrus leather trench coat walking towards him with two men dressed as mercenaries on the steps where a water channel was located.

Arnold? Ye Xiao recalled the name of the man in front of her.

"I don't think I need to report to you about being here, do I?" Ye Xiao frowned. He noticed that the three people walking towards him were all dressed in tattered clothes, as if they had just gone through a fierce battle. "But it doesn't matter, I'm leaving anyway."

"Leave? Where do you think you're going?" Arnold's figure began to dim, as the fireball Ye Xiao had just hit in the air was gradually dissipating.

But Ye Xiao could see that Arnold's eyes were bloodshot, and his pupils even had a faint blood-red tinge.

"You can't go anywhere, this is mine."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Ye Xiao gripped the hilt of his knife, feeling that the guy in front of him seemed to have lost his mind.

An expert swordsman, along with a proficient hunter and a proficient swordsman beside him, would be a tough opponent to fight here.

There was also a writhing mountain of corpses nearby. I don't know what that thing is. It's quite quiet now, but who knows what will happen if this goes on for too long.

“Stop lying, I see it clearly, your greed…” Arnold whispered as he continued to approach, while Ye Xiao protected Dong Muge and slowly retreated.

Damn it, there's nowhere to retreat to.

"...Your desires, your evil thoughts, your madness..."

The last glimmer of light vanished, and everything was plunged into darkness.

"...And your sins, fool, give up the fight."

"God will forgive you,"

"clang"

As soon as he finished speaking, sparks flew from the clash of metal in the darkness.

Ye Xiao's unsheathed blade clashed fiercely with Arnold's thrusting rapier.

However, the difference in physical attributes was too great. Even though Arnold was a rapier swordsman who was mainly agile, the force of this single-handed thrust almost caused Ye Xiao's tiger's mouth to crack as he was holding the sword with both hands.

Ye Xiao made this decision almost instantly: she couldn't afford to confront them head-on.

The firelight flashed and disappeared in an instant. In the darkness, Ye Xiao's keen ears picked up the sound of a bowstring being drawn amidst the sound of flowing water.

He immediately dodged, the sound of a feathered arrow piercing the air whizzing past his ears.

Suddenly, there was the sound of heels lightly stepping on the ground nearby; it must be Arnold's rapier coming through the air.

Ye Xiao bent low and dodged to the side, his knife protecting his right neck as he parried the incoming sword. With a push of his feet, he leaped behind Arnold.

A series of footsteps echoed in the darkness, and the hunters and swordsmen in the back row could tell that Ye Xiao had shaken off Arnold and was heading towards them.

Arnold and his two mercenaries were actually very experienced. They used their strongest melee fighter to engage in direct combat, while another melee fighter protected a ranged fighter to harass and distract from behind. If the visibility was good, Ye Xiao's current strength would be almost impossible to break through unless he risked exhausting his stamina to use a Grandmaster skill.

But in complete darkness, it's a different story.

Ye Xiao, who once stood at the Grandmaster level, was most powerful because of his experience, which far surpassed that of those below him.

In the darkness, the continuous, approaching footsteps suddenly disappeared, leaving only Arnold's footsteps following alone.

The hunter, who was listening to the sound and aiming his bow in the dark, was stunned for a moment.

"He jumped up!"

Arnold shouted a warning from several meters away, but it was too late.

The swordsman protecting the hunter then felt the sharp blade of light in the air through the back of his neck.

Ye Xiao, hanging upside down in mid-air behind him, beheaded the swordsman with a single slash, the swordsman's reaction being only a beat too slow.

Testimonials

Ahhh, it's finally going to be available! Thank you all for your continued support!!!

What's this chapter about? As the author's first book on Hedgehog Cat, and an original work at that, the author feels that getting this far is already pretty good, hahaha.

Of course, the author also encountered many problems while writing the story, such as the pacing, plot structure, and subject matter.

After reading the various complaints and comments from the experts, the author gradually realized which plot points everyone would be more interested in. However, since the outline structure is fixed and the plots are interconnected, the author can only try to control the length of certain plots while writing. There is no way to delete them directly, otherwise it would easily become confusing (blame the author for designing it a bit too complicated when drafting (╥_╥)). This also inevitably makes the story a bit slow-paced (actually, it's mainly the romance that's slow-paced, the main plot shouldn't be too slow, right (?﹏?))).

The author is doing this to create those unique scenes that only happen when one soul has two bodies—a perfectly compatible self who will always appear when you're in dire straits, adventure together, fight alongside you, and uncover the secrets of the world; a perfect understanding where you can be both the Demon King and the Hero, yet still cooperate seamlessly… And of course, most importantly, they can also be inseparable lovers with the same heart, hahaha (?o?o)??

However, this design does make the framework of the book very complex. Explaining the plot and laying various foreshadowing elements to make the plot develop naturally, writing about the dual protagonists' actions in two separate storylines with details, exciting moments, and interconnections, and concisely and realistically portraying the personalities of various characters while also planting subplots—all of these pose a great challenge to the author.

This also makes the book somewhat cluttered and disorganized, lacking a pure essence, a lesson the author will learn from in the future.

Regarding the plot structure, you can tentatively trust the author. While there's room for improvement in tapping into trending topics and reader preferences, the author is still quite confident in the logical design of the plot. (A long time ago, another author wrote a book on a different platform that used ten chapters of logical reasoning, which scared away most readers (?﹏?`。). Because of that, the book flopped, but those who persevered to the end still gave it credit.)

Of course, the author has now learned from past mistakes and will no longer lay out overly complex and tiring plots. Instead, the author will try to drive the plot forward with concise and interesting stories. Once the book is released, there will be a lot of updates until the first volume is finished. In the second volume, the male protagonist will return to the capital and join forces with the female protagonist. There will also be more interactions between them. Readers are welcome to leave any suggestions for the plot in the comments or here. The author will try to make adjustments while keeping the outline the same.