Wake Up, I’m the Former Villainess

The room looked dark and shabby, with a small space to walk. Beside the wall, there was an old wooden bed with peeling paint and a rickety cabinet at the head of the bed. The bamboo food box she saw a few minutes ago in the young man’s hand was lying on top of the small cabinet.

On the bed lay a small motionless child, he looked like he couldn’t breath. His body was covered with a patched old thin quilt, stained with blood.

Was this Xiao Yi, whom he was calling?

Nian Nian stepped forward, reached out to check Xiao Yi’s breath and pulse. With a slight frown, she thought to herself, This child’s condition is really bad and if he isn’t treated on time, I’m afraid that he will die sooner or later. I don’t know when the doctor will come to save this youngster.

 Nian Nian hesitated for sometime and finally decided to do nothing. She was just a villainess, it wasn’t her job to save people. In case of accidental collapse of her persona, the completion of the task would be affected.

She averted her eyes and opened the food box which was her original purpose of going there.

Inside the box was a bowl of rice paste and two corn flour steamed buns. The rice paste was cold and the cornmeal buns were coarse and hard, but Ninian didn’t mind. She broke a cornmeal bun into half and ate it with a small bowl of rice paste.

When she heard Xiao Yi’s breathing become weaker, Nian Nian frowned, checked his breath and pulse again. She couldn’t help but feel a twinge in her heart. Without further hesitation, she took out all the remaining wound medicine in her storage space and muttered, “Children have small mouths. Consider the food I ate as payment.”

She lifted Xiao Yi’s chin and planned to feed the medicine, but she suddenly froze.

What came into her view was a very handsome yet child-like face, with cold white skin, delicate contours, a straight nose, long eyelashes quietly covering the closed eyelids, and under the tail of the left eye, there was a small tear mole. 

What a conspicuous beautiful child! It was just that, he was too thin.

 She took the pill and was confused on how to feed it for a while. Xiao Yi was motionless with closed eyes, she didn’t know if he was awake or unconscious. It seemed a bit difficult to take medicine in that position, right?

She called him twice, but the little guy didn’t respond, so she had to pat his only intact skinny face.

No response.

She tried again.

Still no response.

He wasn’t dead, was he? Nian Nian’s heart felt tight, she stretched out her hands, took his two pale cheeks into her hands and pinched them hard.

The little guy’s small mouth was squeezed to form a circle, his teeth opened slightly. She took this opportunity to force the pill into his mouth. Just as she was about to withdraw her hand, Xiao Yi suddenly opened his eyes, a pair of big round phoenix eyes with a dark misty look, met her gaze straight. 

The two of them stared at each other for a moment before Nian Nian returned to her senses and tried to withdraw her hand as if nothing had happened.

Xiao Yi’s pupils shrank and suddenly he snapped his teeth shut, biting her finger in one swift movement.

Nian Nian never expected him to return her favor that way. She let out a cry of pain and almost jumped up, breaking his jaw as she screamed, “Let go, let go, let go!” 

The pain was so intense that she burst into tears and her voice changed tone.

But Xiao Yi was like a wolf pup who had been starving for days, not letting go and biting even harder.

Nian Nian felt that her phalanx was about to break. Anxiously, she reached out and pinched his nose. Xiao Yi couldn’t breathe, and finally let go.

(T/N: phalanx is a bone of the finger.)

Nian Nian’s fingers finally escaped the death hold, but the pill fell out of Xiao Yi’s mouth. She looked at her little finger with tears in her eyes, a conspicuous tooth mark on it was clear, blood gurgled, and it looked terrifying.

Was this guy a dog?

She gasped in pain, and stared at Xiao Yi bitterly, “Are you crazy? I’m saving you!”

Xiao Yi glared at her fiercely, “You don’t need to trouble yourself with it!”

Nian Nian laughed in anger. She didn’t know what his problem was! She didn’t know what kind of grievance the original owner had with Xiao Yi. But even if it was a big grudge, did she have to gamble with her life? 

She took a handkerchief to pad her hands, picked up the pill from the ground and wiped them haphazardly, “Are you going to eat it?”

Xiao Yi’s mouth tightened, his eyes were cold.

Without saying a word, Nian Nian lifted the thin blanket off his body.

Beneath the thin blanket, his tiny bloodstained body was revealed and the tarterred servant’s bugle coat was covered with blood stains.

Nian Nian froze, curbed the smile on her lips and began to strip him of his clothes.

Xiao Yi was stunned by her actions and didn’t react for a while. When he recovered, his pale face flushed red and he was filled with shame and annoyance, “What are you doing?” 

He wanted to escape, but his injuries were too serious, so he couldn’t avoid her.

Nian Nian said in an unpleasant manner, “Behave yourself if you don’t want to die.” 

She lifted his blood-stained clothes. The bloodstained garment was stuck to his back and with only the slightest pressure, Xiao Yi showed a pained expression. Clenching his hands till a blue vein popped up, and a dense layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.

The more she looked at him, the more shocked she became. From his back to his buttocks, he was covered in marks. His flesh was split open and blood was dripping from the wounds.

Nian Nian sucked in a breath of cold air. The wounds on the boy’s body were clearly the result of caning. What a cruel thing to do, that too to such a young child! What a snake’s heart the princess had.

She fell silent for a minute, then took out the external wound medicine. She immediately started helping Xiao Yi with the medicine by applying it to his hands and feet, then picked up the newly dropped pill again and handed it to him.

Xiao Yi calmed down when he realized that the struggle was futile. 

A pair of beautiful phoenix eyes, dark and dull, looked at her quietly. A mole on the end of his eyes was particularly distinct against his pale skin.

This child, pale and beautiful couldn’t be seen as a slave if it weren’t for the clothing on his body.

Seeing Xiao Yi pursing his mouth motionless, she said, “I am done patching up your back. If you want to survive, you should take some medicine even if you don’t want my help, alright?”

Xiao Yi’s long eyelashes trembled lightly, and his lips tightened.

So stubborn, don’t you want your life? Nian Nian pursued her lips and said leisurely, “If you don’t listen, I’ll have to spank you.” 

That was the only way to deal with a disobedient little brat.

Xiao Yi stiffened and looked at her in disbelief. Then he raised his reddish eyelids with a fire in his dark eyes. After a while, his feeble voice rang out, with suppressed anger he recited it word by word, “I didn’t take proper care of the county princess’s horse, I accept the punishment. Your Highness has a precious body, why do you have to come here to torment me in disguise?”

Nian Nian:? ? ?

What? Wait, he called her the princess!

There was a familiar burning sensation in her arm, and the task manual reacted.