The Reincarnated Villain Can Break the Fourth Wall!

[You want boss battles? Don't worry. I got you.]

And indeed—

Even Shan Baixu, who was mid-air, mid-exit, and mid-pretending-he-didn't-give-a-shit—

Froze.

Mid-step.

In the sky.

As if a cold draft of karma just slapped the back of his neck.

Because he had heard it.

Su Xiaobai's very curious, very disrespectful, very potential-flag-of-doom question:

"If the two of us fought—who would win?"

Of course he heard it.

He was Shan Baixu—an ascendent-level mystic cultivator, the Silent Daoist, rumored to have heard a heavenly voice scream when someone once bad-mouthed him three cities away.

Bai Yujian had once told Su Xiaobai over breakfast:

"I can hear you making out with Qingqing from 3,000 meters away..."

So Su Xiaobai knew spiritual hearing was a thing.

He just didn't give a single fart..

Why? Because now he had backing.

Not just backing—absurd backing. A Sword Fairy, cursed fox elders, a demonic Qingqing, and an entire sect.

If anyone from the Yue Country's high ranks wanted to touch him now?

They'd need heavenly insurance and a posthumous title ready.

But little did Su Xiaobai know…He didn't have to provoke Shan Baixu.

Because he already had.

In the past.

Sort of.

You see, Su Xiaobai had already met Shan Baixu.

Well—"been witnessed by" was more accurate.

It was months ago. Back when Bai Yujian, the infamous Sword Fairy, took Su Xiaobai on a very polite little visit to the Yue Royal Capital.

What did she do?

Parked her celestial sword in the main palace courtyard like it was a spirit taxi, made a scene, insulted a prince, drank wine without permission, and demanded all high officials bow to her.

Shan Baixu had been tasked with defending the capital that day.

And what did he do?

He sat on a mountain, brewed tea, and said:

"Ah. She's back. Have fun."

When she left?

Only then did Shan Baixu realize the sword fairy had brought a new disciple

That night?

Shan Baixu played the zither of regret until 3:00 AM.

Witnesses said his melody echoed with a sadness not heard since the Empire fell during the Ninth War.

You see—

There is one sacred rule in Yue Country:

You do not fight the Sword Fairy.

Not because she's the strongest.

There are, technically, stronger cultivators.

But because—

She's never lost.

Not once.

Not in duels, not in wars, not even in drinking contests.

Even when she fought Master Qingxuan and Saint Wuji of the Golden Buddha Sect—together—she almost won.

How?

Because she's not a solo player.

She has a sword spirit, a second consciousness. Fighting her is like fighting two top-tier monsters wearing the same dress.

And Shan Baixu?

He fought her once.

Just once.

He survived, yes.

But his ego never fully recovered.

So now?

When Su Xiaobai—clearly that same disciple—dares to even speculate on the outcome of a duel between him and Su Xiaobai? Could the Sword Fairy's disciple have already reached ascendance? It can't be!

His spiritual PTSD activates.

His brows twitch his beard sways unnaturally.

"This man… here…" he mutters to himself.

Recognition flickers in his ancient, weary eyes.

No. Not again. He shouldn't be allowed to lose face twice in this lifetime.

Still completely unaware that Sword Fairy was once the reason Shan Baixu composed a musical piece titled "Suffering Has Many Forms, But Not All of Them Wear Swords."

"Father, what's wrong? Do you know him?"

Lady Yansha's voice was soft, inquisitive, dangerously feminine—like honey dipped with soul-numbing poison.

She noticed Shan Baixu's expression had shifted—the usual calm of a sage replaced by something... awkward.

Something like a bad flashback wrapped in resentment and incense ash.

Shan Baixu coughed. Not because of Qi deviation—because of emotional trauma. He realized he had misunderstood; he thought the Sword Fairy's disciple was still young and weak, with no chance of winning.

But then he remembered... and glanced at his beautiful daughter's face, then at Su Xiaobai. A young man with potential? Sure. He could still lose to Su Xiaobai—just in a different way. And this one would definitely hurt more than just his ego!

He forced a calm tone. "That man over there… see him? The one standing like he owns the sky?"

Lady Yansha blinked toward Su Xiaobai.

"…Yes?"

"Stay away."

His voice dropped.

"He looks like some kind of bastard."

He didn't elaborate... He didn't need to.

His finger pointed—and with it, a glimmer of his soul energy condensed into a dart.

A soul probe. Non-lethal. Just a warning.

He flicked it through the air with the precision of a sage.

And then—

SLAP!

It was intercepted.

An ethereal hand—translucent and elegant, clearly female in shape—appeared behind Su Xiaobai.

With no fanfare, it simply batted the dart aside like it was a rude fly.

Su Xiaobai blinked.

The hell?

He turned, feeling the pulse of an attack that never landed. His eyes met Shan Baixu's across the spiritual space.

The old man was now... studying him.

Like one would observe a strange insect they thought they squashed last season.

Su Xiaobai felt a cold sweat down his back.

Oh no.

Not again.

Why is it always old men?

First the Xu Tianran, now this ancient fossil?

Is being handsome a fucking crime in this world?

If Shan Baixu could read Su Xiaobai's thoughts, the earth might split from the fury.

Luckily for the universe, he couldn't.

Instead, he nodded solemnly to himself.

"As expected… from her disciple."

And just like that—

He vanished in a breeze of light blue mist, slipping into the sky like a regretful page in a history book.

But Lady Yansha?

She didn't leave. Not right away.

Her gaze on Su Xiaobai. Her lips curled slightly. And her eyes? Smiled. Because there's one universal truth of the cultivation world:

"Tell a woman not to look at something… and she will stare until it becomes her destiny..."

Before, Su Xiaobai had been a name she hadn't even heard.

Now?

Now he was the man her father called a bastard.

"Interesting…" she thought.

Her smile twisted unnaturally.

Very interesting.

Su Xiaobai had already turned to leave.

He wasn't about to duel an old man just to prove a point. The dart hadn't even been deadly.

Just a test.

A poke.

A warning.

But he never looked back.

If you stare at the drama long enough, it thinks you want to join the cast.

No thank you.

But Lady Yansha's eyes never left.

And her smile?

What no one knew—not even Su Xiaobai—was that Lady Yansha wasn't just some noble princess.

She was, in secret—

The only daughter of Shan Baixu.

Her identity was hidden under layers of sect titles and imperial affiliations. And if that truth got out? The entire Yue Country's political foundation would start shaking.

Why?

Because Shan Baixu wasn't just a guardian. He was the main cog of Yue Country's inner structure.

And yet…

He was known to have been "seen" traveling with a woman from the mainland, sharing clouds and spiritual chambers.

A woman who sat in his lap while disguised as a disciple.

And even had a scandalous affair to give birth to her daughter?

If the truth spilled—

Was Shan Baixu a Yue loyalist… or a secret imperial sympathizer?

Double agent? Romantic traitor? Divine sugar daddy?

No one knew.

But what everyone felt?

Was that this moment just birthed a storm.

And Su Xiaobai?

Might just be at the eye of it.