The Villain Is The True Beauty [Quick Transmigration] 12

12:

Noisy sounds filled her ears, and a foul smell permeated the air, forcibly waking Yan Chao.

She snapped her eyes open. As she breathed in, the thick odor filled her lungs, clogging her entire chest. She could only inhale, not exhale.

Her eyes were dry, her body ached, and her head felt like it was being churned by an electric drill, with sharp pains shooting through it. Her chest was so heavy it felt like a giant rock was pressing on it. The slightest effort to breathe made her choke, the air trapped in her throat, an indescribable agony.

Her eyes darted around. Yan Chao realized her vision was upside down. All she could see were the blinding experiment lights of the research institute and the variously colored nutrient tanks.

Were they treating her as a test subject?

Yan Chao wanted to see if she had been exposed, but she couldn’t move her body.

Except for her eyes, every other part of her was firmly restrained. Even her breathing rate was controlled within a certain range.

—This was the kind of treatment reserved only for test subjects.

Yan Chao’s heart sank. Her breathing quickened involuntarily, but her body was being controlled, unable to regulate the excess oxygen. As a result, her vital signs became unstable, and a piercing alarm began to sound.

The nutrient solution turned murky. Illusory, mottled lights flashed before her eyes, as if she had fallen into a bizarre world full of unknown dangers.

Yan Chao’s struggles were fruitless and only alerted the institute staff. Amidst the surreal chaos, she heard the sound of a metal door opening.

A corner of a white coat entered through the blinding light pollution. The specially made titanium steel door slammed shut with a bang, and the figure strode toward her.

The piercing alarm stopped. The nutrient solution rushed into her mouth and nose, choking her, her lungs aching, as if she were about to explode from the inside out.

Yan Chao often assisted Li Ting and knew what was in these nutrient solutions. Besides maintaining the basic life functions of the test subjects, they also contained toxins that paralyzed and destroyed the nervous system. The elements were perfectly safe when not mixed, but if the system detected a risk of the test subject going berserk, it would trigger an emergency alert, forming a venom to suppress the subject.

That was exactly what was happening now.

Yan Chao was truly out of options.

Her limbs felt like they were being pierced by thousands of needles. The bone-deep, sharp pain made it difficult to stay lucid. Her head was splitting, and the feeling of being drilled into intensified.

Yan Chao felt a pang of regret. If she had known, she wouldn’t have come ashore so early. Maybe she could have changed the course of the plot and avoided this crisis.

But if death was inevitable, then no amount of effort could avoid it. It was just a matter of dying sooner or later. After all, the plot of this world had already changed the moment she saved the mermaid.

The person in the white coat walked up to her, their figure distorted and ghost-like. Although she didn’t know what this person would do next, she was sure it wouldn’t be good.

The thought that she was about to die filled Yan Chao with sorrow. She shed tears of cyber-regret. If she had known she would die so soon, she wouldn’t have bothered with this damn mission. She would have kept the mermaid in the sea and had her fill.

Xiao Yun had been taken by the orca; her fate was likely grim. If the protagonists didn’t end up together after they died, this world would collapse.

Thinking about it that way, it wasn’t a total loss.

With Li Ting’s personality, once she found out what the orca had done, she would never be with her. Even if the orca forced her, it would be useless, because the story was supposed to end with the protagonists having a “meeting of minds.” As long as Li Ting gave up on her, no amount of coercion from the orca would work.

She was just afraid that Li Ting would be soft-hearted, and even more afraid that she would be controlled by the world’s will, gradually becoming unlike herself and drifting toward a happy ending with the orca.

Yan Chao’s mind grew hazy. Before she completely lost consciousness, she saw the blurry face clearly. Almost instantly, her body and mind relaxed, and she drifted off to sleep peacefully.

Li Ting stared at the large tail at the bottom of the fluorescent green water, her long-held understanding shattered. It took her a long time to calm down. She methodically turned off all the monitoring equipment and replaced the solution with clean, pure water to nurture the large fish.

“It hurts…”

The large fish turned over with a pained expression. The dorsal fin on its back lay limply, the long gash split open, leaking dark red blood that soon stained half the tank.

Li Ting sighed and painstakingly helped her turn over. Then she deleted the data from the monitor and the surveillance footage from the lab.

No one could know that Yan Chao was a shark.

Fortunately, she had arrived at Yan Chao’s house first that day. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

In the silence, she heard a deep, resonant call, each sound lingering and intimate, like lovers whispering sweet nothings. She subconsciously recoiled, but the feeling of disgust vanished in an instant, more elusive than the wind.

Her mind hadn’t made a decision, but her feet were already walking in the direction of the orca’s tank.

Li Ting felt it was strange, but she couldn’t put her finger on what was wrong, as if she was supposed to tolerate the orca without limit, unable to bear even scolding her for her mistakes.

After an unknown period of unconsciousness, in the darkness, Yan Chao suddenly heard Xiao Yun’s voice, calling her name with a gentleness she had never heard before.

Yan Chao’s eyes snapped open. The pressure on her chest disappeared at the same time. She greedily gulped down air, her chest heaving, her forehead and nose covered in fine beads of sweat.

This was… Li Ting’s house?

Yan Chao looked around, and after confirming her location, she relaxed. Right now, there was no safer place than Li Ting’s house.

No matter how insane the orca was, she wouldn’t dare to harm her under Li Ting’s nose. She would impose for a few days and let her injuries heal.

Every part of her body ached. Her temples throbbed, and her throat was dry and sore. She didn’t even have the strength to sit up. She tried, then fell back weakly, defeated by any difficulty.

The system was silent, which meant Xiao Yun was still alive. She just didn’t know how she was doing. She hoped her tail was intact and that she hadn’t been hurt.

Her head was spinning, and the discomfort made Yan Chao extremely irritable. She even wanted to rush to the institute and kill that vicious orca.

Why should others have to pay with their lives for her selfish desires? Why?!

The agitation made her dizzy. She took several deep breaths to calm down, so she wouldn’t faint again. In her heart, Yan Chao knew she couldn’t do anything to the orca.

Putting aside the difference in strength, just her status as the protagonist of this small world already guaranteed her superiority. What could she, someone who risked her life for missions, do to the protagonist?

Even if she wanted to target the orca, it would be futile.

A huge sense of loss suddenly washed over Yan Chao. She felt this world was utterly meaningless.

Just then, the door creaked open, and Li Ting came in with a tray of food.

“I figured you were awake.” Li Ting closed the door and walked slowly toward her. “Are you uncomfortable anywhere else? If not, eat first. That’s the only way to recover faster.”

Her tone was neutral, like she was talking to a colleague. Yan Chao felt awkward and forced herself to sit up to look at her.

“Senior Sister, I…”

“Eat first. We’ll talk about the rest later.”

Yan Chao didn’t dare to say another word. She endured the discomfort and finished a bowl of porridge. Then, under Li Ting’s cold gaze, she received an injection and soon felt drowsy.

And so, she stayed at Li Ting’s house for a week. During this time, they rarely spoke, and because of her physical condition, she was rarely awake. Every time she woke up, Li Ting was not there.

Whenever she resolved to apologize, Li Ting would always scare her off with an indifferent expression. But to say Li Ting hated her wasn’t right either, as she was more concerned about her health than anyone.

A week passed. Yan Chao’s injuries were mostly healed, and a thin scab had formed on her dorsal fin. It was no longer inflamed or festering.

Yan Chao felt it was time to go home.

That night, she told Li Ting her thoughts. Li Ting said nothing, just quietly looked at her. Yan Chao couldn’t gauge her thoughts and tentatively started to walk out.

“Then… I’m leaving?”

Li Ting grabbed her arm and pushed her back onto the bed. “Stay here obediently,” she said coldly. “You’re not going anywhere without my permission.”

Yan Chao rubbed her sore arm, too meek to make a sound, only complaining in her heart: She looks so small, but she’s surprisingly strong.

The window rattled lightly. Both of them turned to look at the same time. Outside, there was nothing but the deep darkness of the night.

Li Ting got up from the bed, elegantly straightened her clothes, and walked toward the door. The second before the door closed, she said softly, “Get some rest.”

Yan Chao was stunned for a moment, wondering if this was her offering an olive branch. After all, they had been truly distant these past few days.

Not long after she lay down, the window rattled a few more times. Yan Chao stared at it for a while, but there was still nothing. She thought it was just the wind blowing sand against it and paid it no more mind.

The moment she turned off the light, a figure suddenly appeared before her, making her breath catch and her heart skip a beat.

Warm breath fanned across her face, and a deliberately lowered, clear voice entered her ear:

“Living with your pretty senior sister, you must be having so much fun you forgot all about home, huh?”