The Villain Saint is my secondary account

As expected, the night in Liangqiu Village was bleak.

After sunset, the distant mountains sank into darkness, leaving only a huge and oppressive shadow.

The path paved with gravel was sparsely populated, with a few oil lamps hanging on the tree trunks by the roadside flickering slightly.

The autumn wind swirled the leaves, causing them to fall and land on the shoulders of travelers on the path.

Ye Xiao brushed the leaves off her clothes and quickened her pace: "This place does feel a bit uncomfortable as soon as you come in."

“It’s alright inside the tavern, but after the epidemic, the villagers don’t come out much after sunset,” said the man in the trench coat who was with them, tightening his collar. “By the way, my name is Wengerman, what’s yours?”

"Call me Ella... oh no, just call me Ye Xiao." Ye Xiao hadn't quite gotten used to it yet and almost misspoke.

"From the Eastern Yang Continent?"

"You actually know about the Dongyang Continent?" Ye Xiao was somewhat surprised. The Meiya Continent was not the only continent in this world, but even in his previous life, he hadn't had much contact with the other continents. He didn't expect to meet a native who knew about other continents here. "But no, I come from another world."

"Heh, you're quite humorous." Wengerman stopped and pointed to the sign overhead in the distance. "We're here."

"Salted Fish Bar?" Ye Xiao couldn't help but smile as he read the name of the bar and pushed open the door.

The warm firelight shone through the doors of the tavern. Although there weren't many people, the lively clinking of glasses and chatter still gave Ye Xiao a sense of human presence.

"Bartender, two honey beers," Wengerman patted Ye Xiao on the shoulder, "put it on his tab."

"No, why is it on my tab?"

"I just saved your life, so it's not too much to ask for a drink, is it?"

"Did I look like I needed saving back then?" Ye Xiao said, getting angry, but still managed to pull out two cups of wine coins and place them on the bar.

"Don't be so stingy. Judging by the style of your inner armor, this amount of money isn't something you can just throw away." Wengerman took the two beers, handing one to Ye Xiao. "Want to have a drink?"

"A toast to the old man who sneers in the back." Ye Xiao lightly touched her glass and took a sip.

"Ha! Petty." Wengerman downed his beer in one gulp, his chest rising and falling slowly with each sip. "Phew...warming."

"Speaking of which, the plague has been spreading here for so long, and the Imperial City Temple is right next to it, yet no one comes to take a look?" Ye Xiao frowned.

“You’re here. Why didn’t you come?” Wengerman waved his hand. “You’ll still do the pretense. Recite a few scriptures, cast a few holy light spells, leave a sentence like ‘Oh, we have prayed to the God of Light, and the Father of the Gods will bless you,’ and then you’ll just leave.”

"Uh, is that all...? Was it even useful?"

“What’s the use?” Wengerman cursed. “Those delicate priests turned pale when they saw the animal hair on the patient’s face. I really suspect they would be scared to death if they encountered a corrupted person.”

"Just a priest? Doesn't the Holy Temple hunt down the Dark Cult very strictly?" Ye Xiao asked doubtfully. "Where are the Templar Knights?"

“My God, please, the Templars, don’t come.” Wengerman shook his head, his voice low. “Most of the villagers have just contracted the plague and need treatment, not slaughter.”

"Thanks to the Holy Temple's mercy, if they had sent Holy Knights, this village would probably be almost completely burned down."

Ye Xiao no longer needed to ask why they didn't send an elder.

He recalled the words of the two young nuns in the holy spring: the God of Light divided living beings into nine classes, and those beings classified as inferior by the God would naturally not receive the God's favor.

"Goodness, it seems you're quite dissatisfied with the Holy Temple." Ye Xiao's lips curled up. This is a kindred spirit. In his previous life, he was also very unhappy with the Holy Temple. If Ella hadn't become the Holy Maiden, he would probably still be fighting with the Holy Temple in this life.

“You can’t say that. Who would be dissatisfied with the Holy Church if they were living a good life, and who would dare to be dissatisfied with the Holy Church if they were living a bad life?” Wengerman snapped his fingers, signaling the bartender to bring him another drink.

"Your thoughts are surprisingly profound." Ye Xiao took another sip of wine. Having been hunted down for many years in his previous life, he had become accustomed to drinking in this way. This way, if he were poisoned, he would have time to use the magic power in his body to sense the dosage and not die instantly from one sip. "I have a different opinion of you."

"What, you thought I was shallow-minded before?"

"I can only say that being shallow-minded is not necessarily a bad thing," Ye Xiao shrugged.

“That makes sense. I’ll remember what you said.” Wengerman nodded. “In the future, if I call someone an idiot and they get angry, I’ll repeat what you said to them.”

"That's good, you know how to apply what you've learned."

Ye Xiao's gaze wandered to other parts of the tavern.

He noticed that most of the local villagers in the tavern were dressed quite warmly. Although it was autumn, the temperature inside the tavern was actually quite high, so there was no need to wear such thick clothes.

"Are animal fur a characteristic of someone who has contracted a disease?"

“One of them,” Wengerman said, splitting his fingers, “is that the body is covered in fur, another is that the joints of the limbs twist unnaturally, and yet another is…”

“Another characteristic is the eyes; they will become vertical pupils like those of a wild beast.” A slightly light voice suddenly interrupted their conversation. Ye Xiao turned around and saw a girl shrouded in a brown coat and a short woolen cloak sitting on the other side of Wengerman. She wore the same Victorian-style tricorn hat, but with a long gray-gold ponytail.

"Your sister? Minors can't drink alcohol, you need to take care of her." Ye Xiao gestured with his finger.

“Ahem,” Wengerman coughed lightly, “my senior sister.”

"That's all." Ye Xiao waved to the bartender, "Give this lady a honey beer too, on my tab."

"You jerk," Wengerman laughed and cursed. "You're only so stingy with me, aren't you?"

"You're a tenth as good-looking as your senior sister, so I'll treat you too."

"Fine, you're good at putting others down." Wengerman ignored Ye Xiao and turned to the girl who had just arrived. "How's the situation, Senior Sister?"

"We still don't know the source." The girl sighed, a hint of fatigue showing on her young face. "The arrival of this epidemic came almost without warning, and we have no idea how it spreads."

"You were investigating an epidemic?" Ye Xiao raised an eyebrow.

"You two seem to be chatting quite well, but it turns out he doesn't know what you do for a living?" The girl stared at Wengerman.

"Oh, haha, I forgot to introduce you." Wengerman quickly turned back to face Ye Xiao. "Let me tell you your names first. This is Marilyn, my senior sister."

"I am Ye Xiao." Ye Xiao nodded in acknowledgment.

"That's way too brief, bro."

"You're not just going to say my name... Okay, let me introduce myself more. I'm an adventurer from another world, handsome and rich. I also have a younger sister, who is the Holy Maiden of Light."

“He just loves to brag.” Wengerman turned to the girl and said, “Alright, let me just say it simply. We are from the Kingdom of Valen in the west, plague hunters.”

Chapter Thirteen: Plague Hunter

Plague Hunter—this was the first time Ye Xiao had heard this name.

He wouldn't dare say he was extremely knowledgeable, but his experience in another world in his previous life wasn't short either, and this was the first time he had ever seen a profession he'd never heard of before.

"Judging from your name, you specialize in treating illnesses?"

“No, they’re for hunting the plague.” Wengerman’s expression turned serious, his deep blue eyes reflecting the light above his hooked nose.

"This is the first time I've heard of a plague being hunted down," Ye Xiao said, somewhat puzzled.

"The disease itself cannot be hunted. What we hunt are the people who create the disease."

"You mean these epidemics... are man-made?"

“Not all plagues are man-made, but this type of plague that produces corrupted people is all man-made,” Sister Marilyn said, her voice gentle and her eyes like water. “My hometown also had a similar plague. At that time, it was the plague hunters who found the culprit who caused it and executed him that finally stopped the spread of the plague.”

"Is it also a disease that causes animal hair to grow on the body surface?"

“No, it’s the kind of thing in my hometown that makes people grow fish scales on their skin.” Marilyn shook her head slightly. “Let’s not go into too much detail. I believe you’re not interested in those long and complicated stories. In short, all you need to know is that these kinds of epidemics have a source of transmission. Cut off the source and you can stop the epidemic.”

The plague that Marilyn spoke of, that unscientific alienation that violates bioethics, was clearly caused by the pollution of reality by evil gods. Perhaps because they lacked understanding of the power of the gods, they simply regarded it as a plague.

This is understandable. In the previous life, it was only much later that the inhabitants of the Asia-Pacific continent realized that the bizarre disease that swept across the entire continent and caused tentacles and eyes to grow in people's bodies actually originated from the holy city that was revered by thousands.

It wasn't until the final battle that the blasphemous saintess's true identity as an evil god was revealed by her own body.

But what puzzled Ye Xiao even more was why the Holy Temple was so ambiguous about the influence of this evil god, even though it was not affected by the blasphemous goddess.

They are not "superior beings" favored by the God of Light, so they are not saved. But why don't they even attack the evil god's forces that are causing trouble?

"So, if you discover traces of this disease in certain places, you will come to investigate and try to find the source of the disease?" Ye Xiao asked after pondering for a while.

"More or less." Marilyn said noncommittally. "Fortunately, the epidemic seems to have only just begun to spread in this village, and we arrived relatively early."

"Hmm." Ye Xiao nodded knowingly.

Here he could clearly sense that a questline would appear, but this quest involved an evil god on one hand, and on the other hand, he knew nothing about this quest in his previous life.

Before undertaking any mission, players in this otherworld will carefully investigate the mission's background, difficulty, conditions, and rewards. Unlike typical online games with level or combat power restrictions, this system doesn't care whether players can survive the mission; it simply issues the mission as long as the trigger conditions are met.

Therefore, countless players have died after being caught up in some strange missions and events.

Although Ye Xiao himself was formed from Ella's three parts, and could be reborn as one after death, the loss of half of his attributes and half of his soul upon death was real.

This is why Ye Xiao thought this skill was useless in his previous life. Although it was supposed to be a clone, it would cause him to lose attributes and damage his soul if he died, requiring a lot of effort to recover.

He is a reborn individual, with more stable quest lines to reap rewards, and shouldn't waste his time on this pointless endeavor.

"Alright, it's getting late, Brother Ye Xiao." Wengerman downed his drink in one gulp. "We've had a pleasant chat today, but I still suggest you leave early tomorrow morning. You know how strange these diseases are, so it's best not to stay too long."

As for Wengerman and Marilyn, they naturally wouldn't invite Ye Xiao. The profession of Plague Hunter, which involves fighting against evil gods every day, is obviously short-lived and probably yields no benefits.

They are self-aware enough not to try to persuade passersby who are not prepared.

After having a few drinks, Wengerman helped Ye Xiao find a room to stay in the tavern.

Of course, Ye Xiao paid for it himself.

The simple bedroom was small; a bedding roll and a small table took up most of the space. The half-square-meter window let in some drafts, but fortunately, the oil lamp on the table provided some light and warmth, which was a good balance between the cold and the warm.

Ye Xiao was too lazy to take off her clothes. She leaned her staff against the wall, put her shoes on, and lay down on her bedding. She could feel that the blankets and pillows were still stained with oil, which suggested that people who often slept in such places were not very particular about their appearance.

Through the soul link, he sensed that Ella had already settled into the luxurious bed in the private bedroom arranged by the sanctuary and was fast asleep. Compared to his own doghouse, it must be much more comfortable.

As the wind whistled intermittently through the cracks in the wooden planks, Ye Xiao closed his eyes.

……

"Wow……"

"Wow..."

The baby's cries were sharp and piercing, causing Ye Xiao to slightly open her eyes from her daze.

Everything was pitch black; the oil lamp had been extinguished sometime earlier.

"Wow……"

The sound continued; was it coming from the next room? You really can't expect much from the soundproofing of a small bar.

But Ye Xiao felt that he had also experienced a long life on the run, and a little noise would not make it difficult for him to fall asleep.

But this voice was different, and it made him feel uncontrollably irritated.

"Are you up?"

The sudden sound startled Ye Xiao.

He instantly sprang to his feet, half-squatting on his bedding roll, his eyes following the direction of the sound.

That spot was right next to the window beside the bed.

"I can't sleep well."

Another voice came, a gentle and melodious female voice.

Only then did Ye Xiao realize that it was Marilyn's voice.

That voice from before must have been Wengermann.

What are those two doing next to their window?

Ye Xiao didn't have a habit of eavesdropping on other people's conversations, but being near his own room, it was hard for him not to hear.

"You heard the sound?" It was Wengerman who said this.

"Ah."

It was quiet for a moment.

Just when Ye Xiao thought the two had left, Marilyn's voice suddenly rang out again.

"Do you think I'm sick too?"

“No, no,” Wengerman replied, sounding somewhat flustered. “How could that be?”

"Really? Then you should listen too."

"Listen...listen to what?"

"Listen to see if I'm sick?"

"Forehead……"

Even through the window, Ye Xiao felt she could hear Wengerman swallowing.

"Senior sister, it's getting late... Why don't you get some rest? We still have a lot to do tomorrow."