I'm A Minor Villain In A Martial Arts Novel (38 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 7

Yao Lan nodded her head with a pitying look, as if wondering what I was thinking.

“You probably need some time alone to think….”

“…….”

“But please be careful. It hasn’t been long since your serious illness.”

As she spoke, Yao Lan wrapped a fur scarf around me.

“I hope you recover quickly so you can resume your training.”

“…….”

“If anything happens, please let me know right away.”

I stroked the fur scarf wrapped around my neck with a strange expression.

The new servant, Yao Lan, treated me with utmost care.

‘Who sent Yao Lan, I wonder?’

I shook my head and hurriedly quickened my steps.

I didn’t have time to get lost in thought.

The original story’s protagonist, Ji Tianwu, would enter the Nangong Clan around this time.

That was because Grandfather had found him lying by the roadside, looking like a beggar, on his way back.

Nangong Jintian had checked Ji Tianwu’s pulse as he lay collapsed and frowned.

“He’ll be dead soon.”

Those were the words Grandfather had uttered upon seeing Ji Tianwu.

Indeed.

Ji Tianwu, the protagonist of Heavenly Demon Sovereign, suffered from Nine Yin Vein Blockage.

‘The clichéd illness of a wuxia protagonist….’

It was a condition granting exceptional intellect at the cost of a shortened lifespan. Everyone believed Ji Tianwu wouldn’t live long—so much so that even Ji Tianwu himself thought he wouldn’t survive much longer.

But true to his role as a wuxia protagonist, Ji Tianwu overcame the Nine Yin Vein Blockage and eventually became the strongest under heaven.

His Nine Yin Vein Blockage was merely a stepping stone to his strength.

‘Everything that happens at the Nangong Clan is the same. Ji Tianwu will overcome it all.’

A protagonist always needs trials to grow stronger.

Both the Nine Yin Vein Blockage and the events at the Nangong Clan were nothing more than temporary trials for him.

‘But even so… that’s too harsh. To beat him so badly he injures his leg.’

Ji Tianwu had much to accomplish in the future.

Had it not been for the incidents at the Nangong Clan, he could have grown even stronger.

I intended to do my best to prevent the trials awaiting him.

‘And while I’m at it, I’ll stop the Nangong Clan’s destruction too.’

And prevent my own death as well.

[What pathetic fellows.]

At Uncle Dagger’s voice, I halted in my tracks.

Thud!

Footsteps echoed nearby.

I held my breath and focused on the sounds approaching.

“This guy can’t even learn martial arts, can he?”

“Lucky for him if he can’t—apparently, he won’t live much longer anyway.”

“Wow, how utterly pathetic.”

“He’s even an orphan, isn’t he?”

I stopped walking.

I’d realized who the voices belonged to.

‘Nangong Huashu!’

It was Nangong Huashu, son of Nangong Xianzong.

He’d always sneered at me whenever he got the chance, so I couldn’t possibly forget his voice.

Nangong Huashu was mocking someone.

Hearing his voice brought back all the taunts he’d regularly hurled at me.

I quickened my pace even more.

There was no need to guess whom Nangong Huashu was mocking. Soon enough, I saw him right before my eyes.

His face wore a thoroughly malicious sneer.

Though talented, Nangong Huashu was among the most ill-natured of my cousins. Beneath his feet lay a disheveled boy.

The boy’s face was already swollen, clearly having taken several blows.

I held my breath.

‘Nangong Huashu… are you really so eager to die…?’

The boy he was stepping on was none other than…

The Heavenly Demon Sovereign.

The protagonist of this novel.

And the future strongest under heaven.

Ji Tianwu.

The boy didn’t look well at all. Ji Tianwu had been wandering the streets like a beggar before Grandfather took him in.

But Grandfather’s kindness ended there.

Perhaps because he’d been taken in without proper care, the boy still appeared unkempt.

His hair hung loose, his shoulders slumped—making it hard to imagine him as the imposing Ji Tianwu from Heavenly Demon Sovereign.

“Damn it! He’s just a pathetic wretch. His body hasn’t been trained at all. And yet….”

Nangong Huashu couldn’t contain his frustration.

He despised those without talent and refused to even acknowledge them.

He disliked me, but rather than tormenting me, he mostly chose to ignore me.

That was something Nangong Huashu often muttered, his voice dripping with disdain.

He hated even coming near me, as if my lack of talent might somehow infect him.

But Ji Tianwu was an exception.

‘Even with Nine Yin Vein Blockage, his flashes of brilliance couldn’t be hidden.’

Ji Tianwu’s talent wasn’t something the Nine Yin Vein Blockage could suppress.

Though unable to use internal energy, his extraordinary potential must have unsettled Nangong Huashu deeply.

Nangong Huashu was jealous of Ji Tianwu.

‘Grandfather bringing Ji Tianwu home only fueled that jealousy further.’

Grandfather had never paid Nangong Huashu any attention, no matter what he did. Yet suddenly, some street beggar caught Grandfather’s eye.

Naturally, jealousy was inevitable.

“How did you catch Grandfather’s attention, you worm?”

I recalled why Nangong Huashu was angry at Ji Tianwu.

‘Nangong Huashu provoked Ji Tianwu first.’

He’d shown off his swordsmanship and mocked Ji Tianwu, challenging him to copy it—clearly just to ridicule him.

But Ji Tianwu replicated his technique instantly, even more perfectly than Nangong Huashu himself.

‘Truly the mark of a genius protagonist….’

Nangong Huashu’s face trembled with rage.

“You dare, you beggar! Just because Grandfather noticed you and brought you here, do you think anything will change? You’re still lowborn. And on top of that, you’re a pathetic wretch who’ll never use martial arts in your life!”

Ji Tianwu seemed to have already taken many blows.

But Nangong Huashu showed no sign of stopping.

His foot lifted to kick Ji Tianwu again—That was when I acted.

“Stop it.”

At my words, Nangong Huashu turned his gaze toward me. His foot, about to crush Ji Tianwu, paused midair.

“What’s this?”

He stared at me as if bewildered, unable to comprehend what he’d just heard.

‘Well, I’d never spoken a word whenever he bullied me before.’

I’d always tried to stay out of Nangong Huashu’s sight. Even when he hurled insults at me, I’d simply ignore him and never bothered replying.

“I said stop it.”

Annoyed, Nangong Huashu shouted,

“Now you’re acting up too? First that beggar annoys me, and now his half-wit friend shows up!”

Half-wit friend.

That was Nangong Huashu’s favorite way to refer to me. His eyes flicked between me and Ji Tianwu.

The side-branch kids behind Nangong Huashu giggled and jeered,

“Are they trying to buddy up now, these two idiots?”

“They do seem made for each other.”

Villains always had their lackeys.

These kids had followed Nangong Huashu around even in the original story.

Nangong Huashu’s expression hardened menacingly. A boy two heads taller than me strode forward confidently. Nangong Huashu smirked, clearly pleased.

“This works out well. I was just thinking I wanted to see you.”

He opened his mouth with a threatening look.

“Didn’t you do something ridiculous not long ago?”

That ridiculous act must have been using the Changgong Sword Art.

He shoved his fist toward me arrogantly. His massive fist loomed as if about to smash my head.

“When did you start learning swordsmanship? I thought you always looked miserable whenever you saw a sword.”

I sighed inwardly.

‘Why do villains in novels all act so similarly?’

Nangong Huashu’s words were textbook villainy. I looked down expressionlessly.

‘And… the protagonist really is the protagonist.’

Even pinned under Nangong Huashu’s foot, Ji Tianwu’s eyes burned with undimmed spirit.

His fierce gaze made even me flinch slightly.

Uncle Dagger must have sensed something in Ji Tianwu too, whispering into my ear,

[This kid… he’s no ordinary one.]

Just then, Nangong Huashu’s furious voice rang out.

“What the hell are you looking at while I’m standing right in front of you!”

His fist shot toward me—a cowardly sneak attack.

And then—

[How dare you!]

At the sound of Uncle Dagger’s voice, my body moved on its own.

I grabbed Nangong Huashu’s arm as it flew toward me. A sharp pain shot through my wrist.

It was the price of moving at a speed my body couldn’t yet handle.

[Your body hasn’t fully recovered yet.]

Uncle Dagger’s voice was full of regret.

He was right.

My body was still too weak to mimic Uncle Dagger’s movements.

[Your vessel is still far too small to contain me.]

If Uncle Dagger was the ocean, I was but a tiny bowl.

Pouring the ocean into a small bowl would surely crack it.

For Uncle Dagger to move my body, I needed to grow stronger first.

‘Just one more push.’

I locked eyes squarely with Nangong Huashu.

“Hey.”

Nangong Huashu stood there dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open in disbelief.

He was shocked that I’d blocked his surprise attack.

“H-hey? You’re calling me ‘hey’?”

“Yes. Hey.”