“Why are you following me?” Ryuk asked, moving towards the garden area, away from the broken library where several family members had gathered to sort things out. He looked back to see Esme and Yao Lian following him.
“You are on the same path as I am,” Esme said. Even though she had already told him to go away inside her room, she still followed behind him, making excuses as she shrugged her shoulders and gazed at him blankly.
“And I want to collect evidence that you broke the library,” Yao Lian said as she moved behind him, thinking of ways to gather proof that he was responsible for the library’s destruction so she could confront him about it or confirm that he had that book from the top floor.
Ryuk, on the other hand, while moving through the garden area, observed several cultivators, mostly men, looking at him with jealousy while murmuring to one another. Thanks to his senses, he could hear every detail of what they talked about along the way, and those people were showing the peak of jealousy, envy, and hatred toward him.
To them, he appeared as a man clad in black robes, walking with a calm and confident demeanor, his hands clasped behind his back. Behind him trailed two women, nothing short of exquisite jade beauties, with flawless skin and their gazes locked on him, openly displaying their fondness for him in full view of others.
[Host, kill all these people; they are cursing you.]
‘….Just create a hard copy of that book,’ Ryuk said, ignoring the system’s words. He focused on his priority and instructed it to create a hard copy of the book it had analyzed and stored from the top floor of the Wei family’s library. Since the hard copies were destroyed along with the library, the system had stored a soft copies of it.
While it was indeed true, Ryuk didn’t foresee that the method he would learn from that book would benefit him. Still, if something awaited a destined individual, as that ghost mentioned, it was obvious that the book was likely to hold something significant, and who knows if Ryuk could get his hands on something strong.
“Young Master Rui ke, where are you going?” Yao Lian asked as she observed they had passed the individuals standing around and were moving toward an empty area surrounded by trees. It was the garden area where the density of trees was increasing as they moved further in.
“You both wanted to accompany me, didn’t you? Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Ryuk said, slightly tilting his head. He clearly reminded both of them, though he could easily pass by them and leave them behind; for now, he wanted to deal with Yao Lian in another manner.
[Keke, tell them you are here to pee and take out your dic—I will just do my job; have a nice day, Host.]
While the system was about to produce gibberish again, it suddenly came across some information that prompted it to retreat slightly. Ryuk noticed this unusual behavior, expecting the system to complete its thought, but it retreated before doing so.
After much anticipation, they finally reached the heart of the forest. Ryuk retrieved Thesis—a hefty tome gifted to him by the founder of Titanorea—from his inventory. He placed it on the ground, but its immense weight of one ton caused it to drop heavily, sending a slight tremor through the earth. Yao Lian’s eyes widened in awe, as this was her first encounter with something so large and substantial; the book was thick and reached up to her waist, its width impressive.
‘What is this?’ Yao Lian wondered, looking towards the book in astonishment while glancing back and forth between it and Ryuk, trying to understand what it was. But her eyes widened the moment she saw him taking out another book. This time, it was small and appeared normal.
‘Is it done?’ Ryuk inquired about the hard copy he had instructed the system to prepare, causing it to materialize a hard copy book in mid-air. The moment the small book arrived, Thesis automatically began to devour it, pulling the entire small book within it.
As it turned to dust, even though it was a hard copy prepared by the system, it was as if Thesis had absorbed all its knowledge.
It was a confusing sight for Yao Lian as she watched the large book on the ground automatically absorbing the smaller one as if pulling it inside.
“Tell me, Yao Lian, what did you want from the library?” Ryuk asked her calmly, making Yao Lian slightly flinch as her eyes met his.
“I don’t understand; I just wanted to ask for the truth,” Yao Lian replied, looking into those cold eyes. For a moment, she felt as if she was being tested. But controlling herself, she answered honestly, revealing she just wanted to know the truth behind the library’s destruction.
“You are a selfish woman who could even poison your future fiancé. Stop the act and tell me what you were searching for,” Ryuk could have ignored her entirely and not bothered to have a conversation, but his motive was simply to hear her reasoning. Though he had already guessed that it was most likely about that book. But by getting the confirmation, he could at least give her that book as a gift, a reflection of his merciful heart.
Added with her apparent hatred for the son of destiny and her title of villainess, he believed he could use her against the other sons of destiny as a meat shield, aside from Liu Wei.
“….where is that book?” Yao Lian asked, seeing Ryuk’s composed look, she decided to answer him clearly about what she wanted, stretching her hand out as she asked for the book, knowing well that it must be with him.
She had some doubts that he wouldn’t have any interest in that book, but just seeing how he had taken out both a small book and a large one, she could understand that he likely had a habit of collecting books.
And this was exactly what Ryuk wanted, as he allowed her to witness this phenomenon to make her realize he was definitely interested in books.
‘System, create another hard copy of that book and embed a grim worm in it,’ Ryuk commanded, looking at her enthusiasm as she asked for the book. He saw this as an opportunity to tame this villainess, even forcing her into eternal loyalty by making her submissive.
There were already several women who were far better than Yao Lian, but his interest was piqued because she, apart from Bella, was the only one holding the title of villainess at that moment.
The plan was to ally with the enemy of your enemy, despite their inferiority, merely to exploit them as expendable pawns later on.
Once again, a hard copy of that book formed in mid-air as Ryuk grabbed it and offered it to Yao Lian while observing how the system didn’t reply for a few moments. Not caring, as he was now more relaxed considering there wasn’t any more gibberish, he added, “Yao Lian, do you want this book? Take it, but you need to promise eternal loyalty to me.”
‘?!’
The moment Yao Lian laid eyes on the book she’d been hunting for, her eyes widened in surprise. Just as she began to gather her thoughts, a hand landed close to her shoulder. Turning to see who it was, she caught sight of Esme with a sly smile and narrowed golden eyes as she addressed her.
“Come on, you just need to make a simple promise and that book will be yours, do it.”
