The Villain Saint is my secondary account

Like waking up from a nightmare, escaping the bizarre and terrifying scene, and returning to the lounge to see the warm scene of everyone standing together, Li Cheng finally breathed a sigh of relief and barely recovered.

"This...this isn't the future, is it?" he asked cautiously. "I would rather die than face such a fate."

“Well, that’s the danger of parallel history,” Gladys said, waving her paw. “A bright future might make you yearn for it too much and try too hard to achieve it, leading you astray. A terrible future might make you worry unnecessarily and cause you to make mistakes that were originally correct.”

"But don't worry, what we observe from the Ring of Fate is the altered course of history. In other words, it's not the predetermined future of our current timeline, but rather something that will happen in a similar historical period. The future that will actually happen in this timeline is unobservable. Otherwise, wouldn't the Ring of Fate become a loophole that can accurately predict the future and interfere with the normal operation of the world?"

"So seeing bad scenes is actually a good thing, because it means that you have actually avoided these bad outcomes."

"There's no need to worry about those bizarre possibilities. If you're really scared, you can take another look. Understanding the cause and effect might alleviate your fear of the unknown."

“Uh…” Li Cheng looked at his hands, then at Ye Xiao.

"It's alright, let's see how it goes." Ye Xiao shrugged. "I'm also quite curious, what could possibly drive Ella to the stake and ruin our relationship like this?"

Of course, the main reason Ye Xiao wanted to see it was because of that line, "The evil witch who killed His Majesty."

This might have some subtle connection to the upcoming events of the king's death and the struggle for succession among the five princes. If we are afraid to look into the causes and consequences of this matter because of the fear of the outcome, we may miss important information.

“But Brother Ye, I’m afraid I might see something I shouldn’t,” Li Cheng said hesitantly. “Human nature can’t withstand the test. It would be bad if this vague and illusory thing caused a rift between us.”

I may be confident in my own character, but who knows what my parallel historical self might do?

“Your consideration makes sense.” Ye Xiao nodded. “However, the information revealed here may be quite important. How about this, we all avoid this and just the two of us watch this part.”

Maturity means understanding human nature while still maintaining one's original intentions. Ye Xiao has already walked the path of being hurt, and looking back at many things, they seem so ordinary. He feels that they are not a big deal.

As long as he can see the result is correct, he is not afraid of any twists and turns in the process.

So even if the scene ultimately shows him being slashed by the other party, he would understand the cause and effect and would not hold any grudge against Li Cheng.

But Li Cheng is still young at heart compared to Ye Xiao, who has already lived a lifetime, so he naturally worries about these things.

But it doesn't matter.

Because Ye Xiao knew how resilient the people who grew up here in the Seven Stars Society would be in the future.

Interlude Explanation

As is customary, first of all, thank you all for your support, hahaha!

I'll consider making a separate chapter to explain this—I've noticed that many experts are still quite concerned about the content of the forum chapter. Actually, there's no need to worry so much. I understand that you've been through a lot of toxic plots and are so easily agitated by similar developments that you might have some PTSD. I sometimes feel the same way when reading books or watching anime, because there are indeed quite a few authors and screenwriters who like to let loose like this and are harming people's mental health.

However, the book has already reached 600,000 words, and the author's writing style still follows a relatively traditional approach. Therefore, the first and most important principle the author follows is that the content and atmosphere of the plot must match.

In other words, there won't be a sudden transition from comedy to tragedy, nor will there be a random humorous plot added to a serious story or tragedy. I understand that many books and anime have this tendency to go off the rails and mess around. The overall tone is lighthearted, but suddenly becomes very depressing and upsetting because of something, just like Ode to Joy suddenly turning into a dirge while playing.

But please rest assured, this kind of pacing will not appear in this book. If there is a relatively depressing plot, it will definitely be foreshadowed or prelude to a serious plot, and the atmosphere will be laid in advance. For example, the thick fog rising at the entrance to the Howling Mountains, the mystery shrouding the village in the Fog Forest, the disappearance of the delegation, and the strange fishmen. It will not suddenly jump from a lighthearted plot to a terrible one. Even when the boss first appears in Volume 3, there is a detailed description of the protagonist's premonition. And although they are all gatherings, the atmosphere is always tense and not relaxed. The protagonist is also in a state of vigilance, which is significantly different from the description of the protagonist's guild's internal gatherings.

Therefore, this book will not contain abstract works with disjointed atmosphere and narrative, such as "On a gloomy, rainy day with a cold wind, I was so happy eating ice cream at the amusement park" or "The sun was smiling at me, but I was screaming in pain under the wheels of a car." These would be unacceptable even in elementary school essays.

The second principle of this book is equal strength. Those who can cause trouble for the main characters must be characters of equal importance in the plot. Their combat power may not be equal, but their presence in the story and the relevant plot points will definitely be strong.

So, as some big shots have said, if a minor character tries to manipulate the protagonist, why doesn't the protagonist just kill him? Hahaha. And a baseless rumor about a "late-night snack" is actually the top-ranked player's little secret, so it can't really manipulate the protagonist at all. This is also the principle that the author follows. So, the character "Xia Lian" was designed from the beginning as a catalyst, not a troublemaker.

If you look closely at the beginning, you'll find that she didn't initially intend to mention the protagonist's name. She only went up to hint at it after seeing the protagonist being criticized by another player. Then, when the protagonist replied to her, she wondered if she could take the opportunity to ask for a friend.

So when I see some experts saying that the author changed the later plot based on comments, well, first of all, if there is negative feedback, the author definitely has to make adjustments. If everyone feels that this is a bit toxic, and the author is still stubborn and writing it, isn't that just asking for trouble? Hahaha.

Secondly, the author wants to say that the character was intentionally designed with details that foreshadowed her friendliness, implying that she was not as aggressive as she appeared in private messages. Therefore, the terrible plot that everyone had anticipated did not actually happen.

Of course, people might find this guy annoying because he lacks boundaries, and there are indeed such people, haha, but this behavior isn't necessarily related to good or evil.

Finally, there's the third principle. As you've seen so far, the protagonist's personality is such that while they might show some emotional reactions in small matters or romantic scenes, they never exhibit panic or hesitation when faced with real trouble or major events. They also never make any foolish mistakes due to nervousness. Whether it's Ella or Ye Xiao, even when imprisoned and facing despair or even total annihilation, they always calmly think and search for the optimal solution.

If I say this too early, the big shots might not believe it, and it feels like I'm praising the protagonist's childishness. But since we've already reached the fourth volume, it's actually quite easy to figure it out by comparing it with previous plot points. It's just that the author has always felt that this is a normal setting in novel writing and hasn't made any special effort to explain it.

However, there have indeed been too many terrible anime or novels in the past, where a character would suddenly become idiotic and disappointing at crucial moments. Therefore, the author is considering explaining this to everyone, hoping to gain your trust. When you see the protagonist in any "panicked" or "conflicted" situations, don't worry, it's mostly Isla being cute or Ye Xiao adding some humor. At these times, the writing atmosphere will definitely be relatively light, and it won't lead to any frustrating or depressing plot points...

After all, when writing slice-of-life or lighthearted scenes, it's a bit of a pain if the protagonist always has a straight face, constantly analyzes and is suspicious, and never makes a mistake... Of course, the author has actually written about a purely rational, obsessive-compulsive character in other books before, but not the one in this book.

Therefore, the protagonist of this book does occasionally lose his mind and make mistakes when it comes to things he doesn't really care about. But it's precisely because he genuinely feels that the matter is nothing, just a bit troublesome—for example, as mentioned earlier, even if the protagonist's dual-body identity is exposed, he doesn't care at all, and he doesn't care about his status as the number one on the leaderboard, let alone trying to force him to do something irrational.

Therefore, in essence, this matter is like you "wearing your clothes inside out" to the protagonist. You don't care if your classmate makes a joke about this and just laugh it off. But if your classmate says to you, "If you don't give me 100,000 yuan, I'll expose the fact that you're wearing your clothes inside out," then you'll just feel that your classmate is somewhat involved.

Therefore, the author exaggerated the protagonist's descriptions for dramatic effect and atmosphere, but some readers may agree with such descriptions while others may not. It's true that it's impossible to please everyone.

As Chen Peisi once said, the core of comedy is actually tragedy. Therefore, some comedic sketches may be relatable tragedies for some people who have experienced them firsthand.

Just like the skit performed on the Spring Festival Gala that had a "hit-and-run" plot, some viewers found it quite amusing that the protagonist, who was driving a Mercedes-Benz, was hit and could only ride a bicycle. But some viewers who had actually been scammed out of 40,000 to 80,000 yuan by a hit-and-run would definitely not find it funny.

This is mainly related to the viewer's experience, so it is difficult to cater to every viewer and achieve a perfect balance.

Therefore, whether you find this plot funny or not, it's all reasonable. I just hope that if you feel unhappy, you can be a little more tolerant of this book after expressing your opinion.

Furthermore, this point is indeed due to the author's poor handling or insufficient foreshadowing, which makes everyone lack confidence in the protagonist. However, everyone can rest assured that such a troublesome plot will not occur. Based on the three principles mentioned above, it can be seen that the character Xia Lian is not designed to create trouble for the main plot.

Therefore, on the contrary, if the protagonist starts to get serious, carefully observing, thinking, and deliberating, that's a sign that real danger is approaching and a tense plot is about to unfold—like what's coming next, haha.

But online novels are all about immersion, so the author understands the readers' frustration when they encounter difficulties or setbacks after identifying with the protagonist. This shows that they've truly gotten into the story to feel this way. But let's think a step further—you might be worried about your current predicament, but this is your future self, twenty years from now, after weathering many storms. Doesn't that make you feel much more open-minded and resonate more with the protagonist? Hahaha

However, readers shouldn't think that the author feels it's wrong to express doubts or dissatisfaction with a certain plot point. The author welcomes all opinions, whether positive or negative, and feels free to express them. To be honest, if it weren't for this chapter, the author wouldn't have realized that the book still has a little bit of popularity, haha. You can even send the author a private message to discuss it; the author will research, think about, and reply when they have time.

Just avoid using overly aggressive or unfriendly language that might negatively impact the reader experience. If you flip back to the beginning, you'll see a lot of critical and sarcastic comments, but the author didn't really care if they didn't contain profanity.

Finally, I'd like to clarify that I just hope the readers can have more trust in the author's writing style. Also, here's the result of this long buildup: I'm taking a short break tomorrow because I have an urgent trip to take, so I can only update one chapter tomorrow, hahaha (?????)

Chapter Thirteen: The Black Forest

They moved to a slightly smaller room, and this time only Li Cheng, Ye Xiao, and Greta on his shoulder remained.

Ella took Lucyville to the baking room to make cakes. They were both demons, but this one didn't seem to be of much use.

Artoria stroked Sia's hair, but also asked with a smile, "Should I also excuse myself?"

"Haha, no need for that." Ye Xiao waved his hand. "There's no need for so many concerns. Li Cheng, are you ready?"

The reason for asking the Seven Stars Society members to stay away was simply to prevent some information from causing them to overthink things. Artorina wasn't a member, so she wouldn't have any particular thoughts if she saw it.

Forcibly diverting her attention might make Atorina overthink things, so there's no need for that.

Li Cheng wiped the sweat from his brow, nodded, and then extended his hand.

He felt inexplicably nervous, with a sense of unease as if he were about to step into the examination hall.

A white halo slowly unfolded, and a new scene appeared on it.

The scene that appeared this time was unusually dark, with the view blocked by several iron bars, and the background seemed to be a dungeon.

"Why do they always show such annoying scenes?" Li Cheng muttered, feeling a bit traumatized. "Can't you show some heartwarming scenes, something about everyone eating, drinking, and having a good time?"

"There's nothing we can do about it. The images are usually associated with key historical turning points," the kitten explained. "Eating and drinking have nothing to do with turning points, so they won't appear."

As they were talking, a furtive figure walked up to the railing and grabbed the iron bars with both hands.

"I'm speechless. What am I doing here again, you idiot?" Li Cheng recognized himself at a glance. "Can't you do something decent?"

Ye Xiao was inexplicably amused by Li Cheng's scolding, "Hey buddy, it's not that serious, it's not that serious."

"Holy Maiden... Holy Maiden?" Li Cheng's voice was extremely low in the video, as if he were calling out to someone in the cell through the iron bars.

The scene then shifted, and sure enough, in the corner of the drab prison cell, a saintess in shackles and dressed in white sat with her eyes slightly lowered.

The surrounding gray bricks were covered in dust, and bluish-black mold spots spread along the base of the wall, but Ella remained spotless.

Upon hearing Li Cheng's voice, Ella slightly raised her head, seemingly surprised by the arrival of the newcomer: "Mr... Mr. Li?"

“Your Majesty, Brother Ye has already gone to find the Second Princess,” Li Cheng said in a low voice. “She will have a solution. I will open the door for you now, and we will escape first.”

"Thank you for your kindness... but that's not the issue, Mr. Li."

"It's not this problem, there's no other problem! Your Majesty!" Li Cheng gripped the railing, his expression seemingly anxious. "If you're executed, everything is over!"

"……Will not."

"How could it not be!? Your Majesty! You can't give up the fight just because of Ken Betis's baseless accusations. If he's gone, everything else is gone!"

“No, Mr. Li.” Ella’s eyes were firm. “I can’t explain it to you right now, but you have to believe me.”

"I don't understand, why... Brother Ye didn't have any rescue plans, and you just gave up and surrendered... Doesn't this... Doesn't this just do what that bastard wanted?"

“I will come back, but not now…” Ella smiled faintly. “You know very well that what he is really waiting for is my resistance. When that happens, he will be the one who can’t sit still.”

"Then...then resist!? At worst, we'll fight our way out. Why should we be afraid of that damned prince?" Li Cheng's voice was already getting out of control.

Ella sighed, "...It's not the prince's fault. You should go back; the patrolling guards will be here soon."

As soon as he finished speaking, a pool of mud suddenly emerged from the ground, forcibly binding the struggling Li Cheng and carrying him away from the front of the cell.

"Holy Maiden..." Li Cheng's voice was muffled, the image shook a few times, and then began to fade away.

……

"Um... Brother Ye, do you understand now?" In reality, Li Cheng looked at Ye Xiao beside him, completely bewildered.

“It looks like it’s the beginning of the previous scene. It’s easier to understand if you reverse the order. The prison incident happened first, and then the execution happened later.” Ye Xiao stroked his chin. “And the fact that the Second Prince Ken Betis didn’t die in this scene is a bit strange.”

Although rumors circulated that the Holy Maiden was responsible, he clearly remembered that the Second Prince was killed by the steward of the Second Princess, Lilia.

And the reason she said she took action at the time... was it a dream?

Does this mean that the "dream" didn't happen in the parallel history? Or is there some other reason? In any case, the opportunity that prompted Lilia to take action didn't occur.

Based on my own thoughts at the time, I really wouldn't have done that.

Ye Xiao felt that something was connected. The Second Prince was not dead, so the long worm hidden in his spine was not discovered. After defeating High Priest Evans, the mud "Soil of Life" was also put into the Second Prince's head.

Even so, a lot of information is still missing.

"How about this, Li Cheng, why don't we try to see if we can get any other footage?"

"Ah, should we stretch it again?" Li Cheng scratched his head. "Let's take another look."

Li Cheng reached out again and placed his hand on the girl's small palm, and the white halo reappeared in mid-air.

This time, a nobleman dressed in magnificent robes appeared, holding a parchment scroll and loudly proclaiming: "Ella Haviere, as a saintess, you have embraced heresy, secretly practiced black magic to worship evil gods, attempted to assassinate the king, threatened the crown prince, and defiled the corrupted members of the Sanctuary. According to the laws of the Empire, you will be put on trial!"

"fnndp!!!" This furious voice was, unsurprisingly, from Li Cheng.

In the audience section of the video, Ye Xiao pulled back Li Cheng, who was about to rush onto the bench, while most of the people looked at them with indignation and contempt.

In the dock, Ella remained silent, her eyes slightly narrowed, her head tilted back.

"My goodness, things are probably in a hurry here." Li Cheng felt somewhat embarrassed in reality.

"I understand, I understand," Ye Xiao said with a smile.

The scene shifts again, this time showing white stone steps leading to the palace gates on the Valond cliffs.

A group of believers dressed in white gathered at the bottom of the stone steps, facing off against the palace guards in black armor above.

Like a vast snowfield collided with dark, oppressive clouds, the dense crowd of believers surged and charged at the guards, far surpassing the Pisces riots that Ye Xiao and his companions had witnessed in Stormport.

The camera pans down to the cliff, where the entire imperial city appears to be engulfed in an unknown natural disaster. Buildings are collapsing, smoke is billowing, and dark, strange trees resembling withered branches are scattered throughout the streets and alleys.

Then, accompanied by a violent tremor, the roof of the palace located at the top of the cliff suddenly cracked, and a huge, dark, and thick tree emerged from the gap.

Then one could see the branches of the towering tree piercing through the golden-tiled roof of the palace, each branch bearing black fluff like a willow tree, as if a black veil covered the entire palace.

The scene then dissipated into a white halo, leaving Ye Xiao and Li Cheng staring at each other in the real world.

"Those trees... they look like the kind we encountered in Greygold Town, the kind with corpses hanging from them?"

Ye Xiao frowned.

Chapter Fourteen Royal Candidates

Li Cheng had been hoping to see some more scenes, but the white halo shrank back into the little girl's palm and did not react again.

The little girl, Sia, seemed to be fine. She scratched her head, but she couldn't seem to summon the white halo from before.

“Well, this isn’t the complete Ring of Fate, so it’s not possible for you to observe it for an extended period of time,” Greta explained, perched on Ye Xiao’s shoulder.

"How long will it be before we can watch it again?" Li Cheng said anxiously. "It's so frustrating. It feels like watching a suspense movie with no beginning and no end, and the worst part is that I was one of the actors in it."

"I can't give you a definite answer, and I don't recommend watching too much. The threads of your fates have started to become more chaotic than before. Observing too many parallel histories will also start to have a backlash."

"What does this mean?" Li Cheng was a little confused, and then a piece of plaster suddenly fell off the ceiling and hit him on the head. "Holy crap!"

"That means you're going to have some bad luck," Ye Xiao warned.

Li Cheng brushed the wall dust off his head, somewhat speechless.