CHAPTER 2: Am i a Villain.
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He slowly breathes out, his breath was shaky and slow.
Suddenly Yin Zhe realized something painful.
"Without guards… without my mother… without the clan protecting me… I'm dead. Anyone who I've offended will take any opportunity to end me"
Deep inside he knew the kind of life he had lived. He had lived like the exact kind of villain the hero kills. The final boss. The kind of villain that the readers cheer for when he dies. He was the "Young Master" people hated in stories "the stepping stone of the protagonist".
"No wonder… no wonder I'm here now," he said quietly, while looking around the wooden cage he was locked in. He lifted his shackled hands and let them fall lightly against his lap. "Clang…"
The sound of the shackles made him shiver.
His memory dug deeper as He tried to remember how he ended up here.
He looked to the side.
That was when he noticed another prisoner in the next cell/cage. It was a bald muscular looking guy with a scar across his eye. The guy was staring at him silently, he could see his eye they looked like cold stones. Yin Zhe blinked twice.
Blink...
Blink...
"Tsk… who is this guy?"
The bald guy didn't say a word. He just continued staring and breathing through his nose with a soft and heavy sound.
"Hmmm… hmmm…"
Yin Zhe licked his dry lips. His throat also felt dry.
He decided to ignore the guy for now and he turned away and forced himself to recall what had happened and how he had ended up here.
He thought hard… "damnit… think, think…"
Then it hit him.
He had furiously stormed out of the Yin Estate that afternoon. after his big sister Yin Lan had beat him up. She had beaten him in front of her visitors: senior disciples from the Heavenly Sword Sect.
He had tried to harass and bully them. Like a foolish villain. Something he always did.
He could still hear his sister's voice in his memory, it was loud and filled with both anger and disappointment:
"Yin Zhe, stop embarrassing our family!" Yin lan said.
His cheek could almost feel the phantom sting of the slap she had given him.
Thud.
The carriage wheel hit a rock as it kept rolling through the bumpy road.
"tsk… she beat me so badly," he muttered.
He remembered running out the gate with anger. He didn't take any guards or escorts with him as he stormed out. He had even forbidden any guards from following him. back then only thing guiding his steps was Just pure anger. He hated the fact that he was weak and couldn't fight back without the power of the Yin clan. He walked straight into the woods outside Yin Town like he had something to prove.
He had gotten to a forest while still overwhelmed by anger. Suddenly he felt a strong hit to his head.
Thud!!!.
He had felt a sharp and heavy pain at the back of his head. The hit was stronger than anything he had taken before. The only thing he saw next was pure darkness.
He woke up in this carriage.
"Hmm.. the shock of that insane hit must have truly knocked some sense into me." Yin Zhe said. Then he paused.
"Maybe that's why my memories of earth have returned." Yin Zhe felt stupid at the moment.
"Nah... I'm not sure if these kinds of things actually work like that".
Yin Zhe thought for a while.
"I think there's more to it" he said while using two fingers to rub his chin.
He shook his head slowly. Looking disappointed.
"…so this is how I'll die? Kidnapped? Sold? Executed? Or used for alchemy and experiments Tsk… all because of one stupid anger and the stupid life I lived."
He looked down.
There was dirt all over him. Then he stared at his fingers. His fingers were bruised. His knees had cuts. And the robe he wore… wasn't even his robe.
He pinched and pulled at the cloth. It tore a little.
"Crkk…"
The cloth was thin, Rough and Old. The color had faded. He had never worn anything as trashy like this before. Not even as a joke.
"My clothes… someone took them," he whispered. "My storage pouch must be gone too… everything was stolen…"
He sighed.
"What a pity…"
His voice broke softly.
Throughout His whole life, he had only worn silk or jade, and expensive fabrics. Even his casual robes were worth more than a guard's yearly salary. Yet now he looked like a street beggar who had crawled out of a ditch.
A low laugh came from his throat.
"Hmph… look at me now. Even beggars are looking better than me"
He tried moving his legs but winced when he felt pain shot through them.
"Ow… hisss… my whole body hurts like crap."
He leaned his head back against the wooden wall. The carriage wheels rolled over another few bumps once again.
Thud… thud… thud…
The sound echoed in his ears like a slow heartbeat.
His memories of Earth which he had just retrieved a while ago was now mixed with his new life in this world. His thoughts twisted between regret, confusion, and fear.
He could die at any moment since he was someone who had a lot of enemies despite his low cultivation. He had no idea where the carriage was headed. Neither did He have any power to break free. He was alone without the Yin Clan's power. He had guards or his family to protect him. And No clan member to hide behind.
It was Just him.
A boy who only had a stolen divine eye and a ruined reputation.
He let out a tiny breath.
"…What a pity…" he said again, quieter this time.
He looked around at the ragged robe on his body.
He could tell that this wasn't his robe… his must have been taken by his abductor or kidnapper and was sold or something. Cuz he had such nice clothes… . What a pity…
The rain of the night dropped against the wooden roof of the carriage with tapping sounds. Tap… tap… tap…
The wheels rolled through mud that had been made after the rain hit the soil, it was a bumpy and shakey ride. The carriage went over rocks that were on the ground every few seconds. Thud… krk… thud…
For a moment, that was all yin zhe could hear. Just the sound of the rain falling on the rooftop of the carriage, he could also hear the sound of the horses breathing hard, and the wheels dragging through wet dirt.
He kept lying on the cold wooden floor of his cage while thinking, his eyes were half-open, and his breathing was slow and steady.
"Tsk… this sound again…"
His ears felt dull, like everything was wrapped in cloth. But when he focused, he could hear more.
Yin Zhe could hear the sound of rain falling on wet leaves. Splat... Splat... splat...
The sound of wind pushing through branches.
Weeezzzzzzz... Wizzzzz.... Whissss..
His ear also heard a strange rumble from far away, it felt like a beast/animal was moving in the dark.
He tilted his head and tried listening even closer.
"These sounds... I think... I can clearly imagine the outside of this carriage with these sounds"