Villainous Junior Chapter 12
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 12: Picture Album
"Eldest Senior Brother," Xue Lang finished speaking, then asked Pei Yuze with a worried expression, "Senior Brother Yin seemed very angry just now. He won't hold a grudge against me, will he? I really didn't mean to."
"...Of course not." The corner of Pei Yuze's mouth seemed to twitch slightly. He coughed once and comforted, "He has always been like that. You needn't take it to heart."
"That's good, that's good..." Xue Lang heard this and breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, his gaze focused, staring at the robe on Pei Yuze's lower body. "Chouchu! I've been looking for you for so long and couldn't find you. How did you get there!"
Meng Chen and Pei Yuze's gazes simultaneously turned to look. They saw that on the hem of Pei Yuze's robe, a small toad had attached itself at some point. The toad was entirely purple-black, covered in bumps of various sizes, ugly in a very distinctive way. Being stared at by three people at once, it also seemed a bit nervous. It opened its mouth and gave a strange hiccup, and some light yellow, viscous liquid of unknown nature flowed from the corners of its mouth, all of it sticking to the hem of Pei Yuze's robe.
Pei Yuze's face subtly began to turn blue.
"Eldest Senior Brother, I'm so sorry!" Xue Lang gasped, hurriedly calling the toad back. "Well, you might not believe it, but Chouchu is actually quite clean..."
(TL: Chouchu ‘丑丑’ actually means “Ugly Ugly” )
Pei Yuze looked like he didn't want to say another word. Without even glancing at Xue Lang, he said to Meng Chen, "I'll wait for you at Qixue Residence," then left quickly with a stiff face, holding up his robe.
The room finally returned to peace. Xue Lang let out a breath, just about to say something to Meng Chen, when his gaze shifted and he froze.
Meng Chen was smiling.
Although Meng Chen had not been stingy with smiles in front of him before, this was the first time Xue Lang had seen the other person laugh so heartily, with corners of his mouth raised high, eyes curved, filled with bright, sparkling light.
Meng Chen finally managed to stop laughing and reached out to support the dazed Xue Lang back to the bed. "Go lie down. Did the wound from earlier reopen? Let me see..."
"Wait," Xue Lang came to his senses, looking somewhat anxious, "Um, when you go back later, if they want to check your wounds, if they, if they want you to take off your clothes or something, you, you—"
"I know." Meng Chen looked at the incoherent youth, his gaze soft, and gently patted the other's hair.
"I'll take care of myself. Don't worry."
****
When Meng Chen returned to Qixue Residence, Yin Chi and Pei Yuze were already waiting for him in the courtyard. Looking at their clothes, they had obviously changed into new ones.
Meng Chen couldn't help but let the corners of his mouth rise again. Yin Chi, whose face had been so gloomy it could drip water, brightened when he saw Meng Chen and immediately ran over to him. "Senior Brother!"
He replayed the image of Meng Chen's earlier smile in his mind, and the hidden unease in his heart finally subsided a little. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but during this period, Senior Brother's attitude towards him seemed to have cooled a lot, and he had hardly smiled in front of him. Now that he smiled like this, it must mean he was no longer angry with him, right?
"Senior Brother, does your back hurt?" Yin Chi pulled his arm and walked towards the house. "I brought some Purple Gold Blood Coagulation Pills. Let me help you check quickly!"
"No need." Meng Chen softly refused, pulling his arm out of Yin Chi's embrace. "It was only ten lashes, it didn't leave any marks. Don't worry."
Yin Chi looked at his empty embrace, and a sense of anxiety, irritation, and deep helplessness surged up from the bottom of his heart again.
Senior Brother had rejected him once more.
Why? What exactly had gone wrong!?
A nameless evil fire burned inside him, making him want to recklessly drag the other person into the room and force him to cooperate with his injury check—but he couldn't do it.
At least, he couldn't do it for now.
"Alright, your Senior Brother knows his own condition, so there's no need to worry excessively." Pei Yuze then turned to Meng Chen and said, "However, things like trespassing into forbidden areas, don't do that again in the future. I have many copies of books in my collection. If you need anything else, you can come to me."
Meng Chen faintly responded with a "Mm" sound, "Thank you, Senior Brother."
Pei Yuze smiled and patted the reluctant-looking Yin Chi. "Let's go. It's getting late, let your Senior Brother Meng rest early."
Before leaving, Pei Yuze seemed to remember something and turned back to ask gently. "Don't you like the jade pendant I gave you? Why did you take it off?"
"I haven't had the chance to apologize to Senior Brother yet," Meng Chen replied, his gaze falling to his waist. "The jade pendant you gave me, I accidentally lost it."
Pei Yuze's expression paused, and he said softly, "Lost it?"
"Yes. It probably wasn't tied securely. When I noticed, it was already gone. I went back to look but couldn't find it." Meng Chen looked up. "I'm sorry, I wasted Senior Brother's kind intention."
Pei Yuze looked at him for a while, then smiled lightly. "It's nothing. If it's lost, it's lost. It's just a jade pendant after all."
"Besides, this isn't Ah Chen's fault," Pei Yuze said slowly. "If there's anyone to blame, it's only me for not tying it securely for you in the first place."
****
Cultivators' bodies were much stronger than ordinary people's, and they recovered faster. Two days later, Xue Lang could move on his own, and in four or five days, his wounds had scabbed over and were no longer a major concern.
So the higher-ups assigned him a task.
The Blood Demon Fiend hadn't been able to stop the stage exam from being completed. Now that the results were out, disciples who failed were to be punished by doing various manual labor jobs. Xue Lang, because he had been directly dragged to the Disciplinary Hall to be whipped, hadn't been able to finish writing the "Entry Rules" from memory, so he was honored to become one of them.
The assigned work was to clean up Xiushui Mountain. Xiushui Mountain was behind the main peak, named for its beautiful scenery and clear waters. It was a good place for disciples to relax and unwind outside of their daily cultivation, and also a sacred dating spot for many disciples to meet secretly behind the elders' backs.
There were more than a dozen disciples going to Xiushui Mountain together this time, from various peaks. Xue Lang didn't know most of them, but they clearly all knew him, occasionally casting glances at him and then whispering among themselves.
Xue Lang didn't need to listen carefully to know that they weren't saying anything good. After all, nine out of ten disciples in this sect were admirers and worshippers of Meng Chen, yet he had dared to slander Meng Chen and even caused him to be punished. These disciples would certainly not look kindly upon him.
"How unlucky!" an angry male voice rang out, full of strong dissatisfaction. "To be assigned with such a despicable thing, truly the worst luck!"
Although no names were mentioned, the speaker was staring at Xue Lang with hatred while speaking, almost as if he wanted to shove the word "scum" in Xue Lang's face. Xue Lang picked up a banana peel from a pile of grass and threw it into the bag, then looked up. He saw that the speaker was a young male disciple, slightly chubby, with a face like a white steamed bun and features that looked gentle and kind. He should have been a person with a good temper, but unexpectedly, his words were so unforgiving.
Seeing Xue Lang looking at him, the person became even more furious. "What? Did I say anything wrong? Senior Brother Meng kindly invited you to join Tianji Peak, what a great honor that was! Not only are you ungrateful, you even dared to bite the hand that fed you! How could Senior Brother Meng have taken in such an ungrateful wretch!"
He became more and more agitated as he spoke, his face turning red. He stepped towards Xue Lang, looking as if he wanted to personally teach this ungrateful person a lesson. Other disciples hurriedly came forward to hold him back. "Junior Brother Tong, calm down! Fighting is forbidden within the sect. Do you want to go to the Disciplinary Hall to be whipped too?"
Several people dragged that disciple away, while another male disciple came over to explain to Xue Lang. "Tong Zhong is just like that. He's known as Senior Brother Meng's number one fan in the sect, and after what you did, his attitude is a bit... excited. Don't take it too seriously."
Although Xue Lang had falsely accused Meng Chen that day, he had also voluntarily admitted his mistake and accepted punishment. So some disciples felt that while he might be a bit petty, he at least had the courage to own up to his actions, and were still willing to associate with him. Xue Lang thanked the person and voluntarily separated from the other disciples, going to clean up garbage in another direction.
By noon, the cleaning work was almost finished. Xue Lang was about to find a place to sit down and rest when he unexpectedly encountered Tong Zhong again.
Tong Zhong hadn't noticed him. He was sitting alone on a shaded rock, holding something and looking at it with a focused, almost obsessed expression. Xue Lang was about to turn and leave, but with his good eyesight, he inadvertently glimpsed the contents of the book and found that something seemed off.
Tong Zhong was engrossed in looking at the album in his hands when suddenly it was snatched away. He was startled, then jumped up in a rage as if his most beloved and precious treasure had been stolen. "Give it back to me!!"
Xue Lang blocked his punch and stared intently at the album—he hadn't seen wrong earlier, the person drawn in it was actually Meng Chen!
The artist's technique was exquisite, portraying the fairy-like figure vividly. It was clear that they had observed the subject for a long time to be able to capture the spirit in the eyes and brows so thoroughly. But somehow, Xue Lang felt a chill rise from the bottom of his heart. He quickly flipped through the album and saw that every picture was of Meng Chen—standing with hands behind his back, writing with a brush, lowering his eyes in thought, turning back with a faint smile...various poses, one after another. Further on, two people suddenly appeared in the picture, under a peach blossom forest, smiling and drinking together. One was Meng Chen, and the other was Tong Zhong.
But this wasn't right. Xue Lang thought quickly. He had never seen this Tong Zhong before, nor had he ever seen Meng Chen interact with him in any way. How could they be as intimate as shown in the picture?
So, all the content in these pictures was fantasized by him!
"This is mine, give it back to me!!"
Tong Zhong's eyes were bloodshot, like an enraged lion, charging at Xue Lang as if to fight to the death. But he was from Yuhua Peak, not skilled in combat, and his cultivation level wasn't high. No matter what, he couldn't get near Xue Lang.
Xue Lang felt an even deeper sense of foreboding. He quickly flipped another page with a furrowed brow, and his face immediately turned ashen.
The picture was still of Meng Chen, but his upper body was unclothed, his long black hair cascading down his back, surrounded by mist. He was... bathing.
Amidst Tong Zhong's screams, Xue Lang used a fire talisman to burn the album to ashes. Then he suddenly turned and grabbed Tong Zhong's collar, throwing him to the ground. His right hand clenched into a fist and swung fiercely upwards!
