Transmigration:The Villain Wants A Happy End Without His BeastHusbands-Chapter 57: A Death Wish

Morning came slowly.

The sun cast pale light over the clan, illuminating half-destroyed buildings and cracked ground smeared with blood-tinged snow. Snow foxes moved through the ruins, helping one another in silence.

Wuhen oversaw everything.

Ningyan stayed behind.

He sat in the middle of the bed in the chamber they were meant to share, a single black scale resting between his fingers. The one he had torn from the creature hours earlier.

He turned it over slowly, staring at it as though willing it to vanish.

But it didn’t. It didn’t even feel dark nor did it pulse with corruption.

It was just a scale.

Ningyan frowned, his thoughts drifting to Lan Meishan. To the silver-masked figure who had stolen the head of a clan lord.

No one had noticed yet. Not with the city in ruins and survivors to tend to.

And Ningyan didn’t know if he would tell them.

In the novel, Book Ningyan had been familiar with Lan Meishan. The calm, nerdy, shy version of him. But he had found no use for that side.

So he forced the other personality to remain.

The bold one. The confident one. The obsessive one.

That version of Lan Meishan was more efficient. More ruthless. He knew everything the calm Meishan knew and more.

At least, that was what Book Ningyan had believed.

Even after he achieved everything. Power, dominance, fear, even great divine beast kings as his husbands, he still had a bad end. Tragic.

Ningyan had always liked the calm Meishan. He was gentle. Intelligent. Cute.

He remembered being angry at the author for discarding that side of him so easily.

Ningyan sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Will Lan Meishan become evil?" he murmured. "His father is the villain... which means he should be evil, but—"

He dragged his fingers through his hair. "I can’t let it be like this."

He was certain now. Lan Yunlai was behind this. That much was clear. But Lan Meishan...

"I need to find a way to tame his split personality," Ningyan said quietly.

The door suddenly clicked shut.

Ningyan’s heart skipped. He shoved the scale beneath the pillow and jumped off the bed just as Wuhen stepped fully into the room.

He wasn’t smiling.

Ningyan felt instantly like a kicked puppy.

Was he really that angry?

"H-How is... everything?" he asked carefully.

Wuhen studied him for a long moment. His gaze traveling slowly from Ningyan’s head to his feet.

Then he raised a hand.

Ningyan stiffened instantly and shut his eyes.

But instead of striking him, Wuhen merely brushed away the snowflakes clinging to his brows and lashes. Nothing more.

He walked past Ningyan, removed his robe, and set it aside before sitting at the edge of the bed.

Ningyan slowly turned to look at him.

"Repairs are underway," Wuhen said quietly. "The wounded are being tended to."

The calmness made Ningyan feel even more uneasy.

He was used to Wuhen being clingy, intense... overbearing, even. This restraint told him far more clearly that he had done something wrong.

"...Any records of deaths?" Ningyan asked.

"Twenty," Wuhen replied evenly. "It was inevitable."

He lifted his gaze.

Ningyan swallowed and looked away.

"And Qinghe?" he asked carefully.

"She’s unconscious again. She’ll be taken back to the Vermilion Fox Clan for—"

"No!" The word tore out of Ningyan’s throat.

Wuhen paused, finally looking at him fully. "No?"

Ningyan exhaled shakily. "Last night... I found Lan Meishan in the shrine chamber."

Wuhen’s eyes sharpened.

"He took the head," Ningyan continued. "Yu Feixue’s head."

Yan Wuhen’s expression shifted instantly. He rose in one smooth motion, seized Ningyan by the arm, and dragged him into the bathing chamber.

The door slammed shut. Sealed.

Wuhen pressed Ningyan back against the wall, bracing his palms on either side of his head.

Ningyan stared up at him, wide-eyed, heart hammering violently in his chest.

Wuhen’s gaze bored into him, searching, assessing. Then his lips curled into a faint, amused smile.

"Lan Meishan took Yu Feixue’s head?" he murmured. "What does he intend to do with it?"

Ningyan shot him a flat look. "This isn’t funny. That creature—"

"It was created by someone cultivating demon qi and beast qi simultaneously," Wuhen finished calmly.

Ningyan blinked, then nodded slowly. "...Yes," he breathed.

Only then did he realize how close they were.

"The reason I’m hiding this conversation," Wuhen lowered his voice, "is so no fox overhears and reports it to my father."

Ningyan’s lips twitched.

"If that happens, it would trigger an unnecessary war," Wuhen said. "And if war begins now, we won’t even know what we’re fighting."

"I thought you’d like a war right now," Ningyan smirked faintly. "Considering how much you enjoy threatening every beast with one."

Wuhen leaned back, running his fingers through his loose crimson hair. He scrunched his nose slightly.

"I do," he admitted. "But this is different. I want Qinghe cured and that won’t happen if war breaks out."

Ningyan nodded. "That makes sense."

Wuhen studied him for a moment. "Lan Meishan really took Yu Feixue’s head?"

Ningyan nodded again.

Wuhen exhaled slowly. "Now that I know what I’m dealing with, I’ll place another protective talisman over the clan. I’ll report what happened to my father excluding Lan Meishan’s involvement, the missing head, and anything that would spark suspicion of the abyss serpent clan."

Ningyan listened carefully.

"Yu Xuanli will be announced as clan lord," Wuhen continued. "That will close this incident officially. I just hope there won’t be another attack."

His gaze darkened. "And once we arrive back at the academy, we’ll abduct Lan Meishan and force him to heal my sister."

He smiled. "If he refuses, I’ll drive my claws into his chest and tear out his heart."

Ningyan stared at him, his expression tightening as the image formed vividly in his mind.

"I... it’s not his fault," he said, his throat suddenly dry.

Wuhen tilted his head, studying him. "No one is ever truly at fault in life, Yan’er."

He reached up, slowly brushing Ningyan’s hair aside, his fingers lingering as if handling something precious.

Ningyan felt goosebumps rise along his skin. "I’m still not going to apologize."

Wuhen nodded, his red-gold fox eyes glowing faintly. "I can see that."

Without warning, he grabbed Ningyan’s chin and tilted his head back sharply.

"And they call me reckless." He grinned, teeth and canines fully bared.

Ningyan seized his wrist with both hands. "Let go."

Wuhen chuckled and leaned closer, his breath warm against Ningyan’s skin.

"Why would I?" he murmured. "When you seem determined to add to my suffering, Yan’er?"

His voice dropped. "My cousin wants me dead. My sister is corrupted by something I can’t fix. And my lover has a death wish."

Ningyan’s jaw clenched. "Let. Go."

Wuhen locked eyes with him. "No." Then he crashed his lips against Ningyan’s.

At the same time, he released his chin, wrapped a hand around Ningyan’s throat possessively and slammed him back against the wall.