Pure Yang Lord was jolted awake, coughing up water from his lungs.
He opened his eyes to find a beautiful lady of about 15 years of age staring at him with her large and expressive blue eyes, framed by long, dark curvy eyelashes.
She had a delicate, heart-shaped face, cherry lips, and a firm nose with a fair complexion hinting at a gentle blush on her cheeks. She stood at an average height, with a slender and graceful build that hints at a well-developed body despite her young age.
Pure Yang Lord had encountered many beautiful women in his lifetime but he still felt an inexplicable tug in his heart as he looked at her.
Before he could think through, his ear was grabbed by a surprisingly firm yet soft, small hand.
"Why did you jump off the cliff?" she asked, pinching his ear.
Caught off-guard by this gentle attack, he could only make a bitter face. "Oei, Oyi! Take it easy…"
His body was exhausted and was at its weakest. He couldn't even shake her hand off.
"Speak! Why were you trying to commit suicide?" the lady was looking at him with a threatening face.
Watching her immature ways of handling a person trying to commit suicide, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"I uhh… I wasn't trying to commit suicide… My leg slipped and the cliff stone broke…" he explained weakly.
But an explanation like this could only make things worse.
In matters related to girls, Pure Yang Lord had zero experience. He had spent his entire life dedicated to pursuing higher cultivation using his Pure Yang physique as the foundation, avoiding any contact with women. In fact, this might be his closest experience with a female in his entire adult life. His mind didn't work as usual and words seemed to be stuck in his mouth.
"Why are you lying to me? Why did you consume poison if you didn't want to commit suicide?" the lady released his ears and flicked his head.
"Ahh!"
Suddenly, he felt a jolt in his body as if zapped by electricity when a black light appeared on her hands as her fingers made contact with his head.
A strange expression appeared on her face as she didn't expect to lose control of her energy while giving a small flick.
An apprehensive and hostile look appeared in the Pure Yang Lord's eyes as he realized this energy all too well—Pure Yin energy.
Before he could react, she hurriedly apologized, trying to diffuse the situation.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."
He was going to retort with some harsh words, but the system's familiar voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
[Pure Yin Physique Detected!]
[Mission: Enslave Princess Sara through any means possible.
Duration: One day
Punishment for failure: Death…]
'Who is Princess Sara?' he asked internally for confirmation, though he already had a guess.
[The girl in front of you is Princess Sara.]
He furrowed his brows in anger.
'System, you are damned evil, alright? You want me to enslave a benefactor who just saved my life?' he snarled in his mind, but the system coldly added three more words:
[Punishment for failure: Death of Princess Sara]
'You...' he sighed knowing he had no way to deal with this system right now. He didn't even know the extent to which the system could influence him or his surroundings.
As he processed the information he got and the familiar-sounding name of the princess, his mind was suddenly jolted by a certain realization.
'Same name as the Evil Tyrant… Beautiful princess Sara… similar childhood' he thought as his eyes widened.
"Oh shit!" he exclaimed, startling the lady in front of him.
'Hey, evil system. Tell me, did I transmigrate into the past era? Into this body of the real Evil Tyrant?' he asked, growing more frantic.
[The system doesn't know about the future. But based on the hostage's thoughts and the current event. There is a high chance that the hostage's conjecture is accurate.]
'Damn you to hell system! Stop reading my thoughts!' he seethed internally.
'Did I really end up in the body of the luckiest and most notorious badass in history?'
Pure Yang Lord's mind whirled as he compared all the information about this body and the stories related to the Evil Tyrant. He had a strong impression of this character—being his most hated figure in history due to his evil deeds. He also had extreme jealousy towards him due to his absurd luck.
While nurturing his righteous nature, he dreamed several times to go back in history and slay the Evil Tyrant before he could grow and destroy the world.
Ironically, he arrived at the same era of the Tyrant, not to slay him—but to live in his body. Fortunately, he could now, enjoy both his absurd luck and correct all his evil deeds.
He was almost sure that this was truly the case and he rejoiced, laughing boisterously.
"Ha! Hahaha!" his laughter rippled along the riverbank.
Watching him frown in anger at one moment, sighing at another, then exclaiming and finally laughing loudly, Princess Sara became really scared.
"My goodness! Did I really hit him so hard that he became senseless and lost his mind?" she exclaimed with wide eyes, clearly distressed.
"What do I do? How do I save him?"
She panicked trying to find ways to bring him to his senses.
Her panic amused Pure Yang Lord and he laughed even more loudly clutching his stomach.
Suddenly, she jumped and flicked him hard on the same spot, this time with even more force.
He yelped and rolled on the ground for a few meters before stopping.
He snapped, "Ow! What was that for?"
"Looks like it worked, you're back to normal now. (hehe)" Princess Sara giggled, pleased with her quick thinking and ideas.
He became speechless at the action of this immature girl in front of him, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. In all his thousands of years of living, he had never faced such amusing and awkward situations.
"Now will you answer my questions?" she said, her expression returning to being serious.
A cunning glint flashed across Pure Yang Lord's eyes.
"I'm really telling the truth. I accidentally consumed poison, thinking it was an elixir," he insisted. "I didn't come here to commit suicide."
"Then, why did you come to the edge of the cliff?" she pressed on, not convinced by his words.
Pure Yang Lord fidgeted as if struggling to tell the truth.
She gestured with her eyes, urging him to reply.
He took a deep breath and said with great struggle, "I… came here in search of a great treasure."
"You came in search of a treasure? In this raging river?" she repeated his words in an amused tone, not believing his excuses. "Tell me, what is it, and how did you find out about it? Perhaps, I'll help you find it."
"I can't tell you how I learned of it," he replied in denial.
'Because I myself am not sure if it's real, just based on those shitty history books,' he added in thoughts.
"But, it's a bead-shaped treasure… Please help me find it. It's very important to me. I'll be forever grateful to you if you can find it for me," he pleaded in a helpless tone.
If the people from the Crimson Flame World saw him right now, they wouldn't believe their eyes—the proud and arrogant Pure Yang Lord asking for help in a humble tone.
"Alright," she said with a smirk. "I'll help you find it."
Still suspicious, she was going along with him for now, planning to expose him later.
She released her spiritual sense to scan the flowing river but strangely, she couldn't perceive things beyond a few meters.
Her expression turned grave as she realized he might not be telling lies after all.
She flew and plunged into the river, determined to find the cause of this anomaly.
Based on the stories about the major events in the early years of Evil Tyrant, Princess Sara and his childhood circumstances matched. The only thing missing was the godly treasure that Evil Tyrant had discovered in a raging river.
With his current cultivation level, he knew that finding it in this treacherous river was nearly impossible so he urged Princess Sara to help him find it.
If she succeeded, he would kill two birds with one stone: not only secure the treasure but also confirm his conjectures about the body being that of the real Evil Tyrant.
He stared at the spot where she dived in with great excitement, silently praying for her to find his treasure.