Villainous Junior Chapter 13
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 13: Sending Flowers
"Explain! Why did you two fight in private?!"
In the main hall of the Disciplinary Hall, Fu Yan glared at the two kneeling disciples before him, especially the taller one on the right. He slammed the table hard. "Especially you, Xue Lang! Were the thirty lashes last time too light? Your wounds haven't even healed and you're causing trouble again. Tell me, what exactly are you trying to do?!"
Xue Lang knelt upright. Upon hearing this, anger flared in his eyes, and he said through gritted teeth. "He deserved to be hit."
"You...!!" Fu Yan leaned back in exasperation. "So you think you're justified in beating up a fellow disciple? Then tell me, why did you hit him?"
But Xue Lang fell silent and refused to speak.
Fu Yan had been in Taixuan Sect for many years but had rarely seen such an obstinate disciple. His temple throbbed with anger. He had no choice but to turn and ask the other one. "You tell me! Why did you two fight in private?"
Compared to Xue Lang, Tong Zhong's condition looked much more miserable. His face, originally like a white steamed bun, now looked swollen several times over as if it had fermented, with patches of blue and purple. His eyes were blackened, blood seeped from the corners of his mouth, and he was almost unrecognizable. "Elder, hiss... Xue Lang first snatched my belongings, and then he was the one who hit me first!"
Fu Yan questioned Xue Lang. "Is it as he says?"
Xue Lang remained silent, his demeanor seeming to confirm it.
"I'll ask you one more time, why did you fight with Tong Zhong?!"
Xue Lang still didn't utter a word. Fu Yan's patience finally ran out, and he harshly pronounced his decision. "Twelve hours in the confinement room. Go in there and reflect on your actions!"
The confinement room was a place even more unbearable than Reflection Cliff. Reflection Cliff was just a cliff area - though the environment was austere, one could endure it. But in the confinement room, there was nothing - truly nothing. Once the door closed, not even a sliver of light could penetrate. Staying in a pitch-black, completely silent small room for twelve hours was an extremely difficult ordeal. Thus, being confined to the "little black room" was one of the punishments most feared by Taixuan Sect disciples.
Xue Lang said nothing, only giving Tong Zhong another cold look as he stood up, then followed the guiding senior brother to the confinement room.
Only after entering did he realize that besides the lack of light and sound, the confinement room had another perverse setting - it was impossible to enter meditation.
Entering meditation was a basic skill for cultivators. Once in meditation, one would be fully focused, unable to sense the external environment or the passage of time. Twelve hours, or even ten days to half a month, would pass in the blink of an eye. But in this confinement room, Xue Lang found he couldn't enter a meditative state at all, nor could he feel any sleepiness. In other words, for these twelve hours, he could do nothing but sit idly and reflect.
Xue Lang: "..."
"This is too extreme..." he couldn't help muttering, but there was nothing he could do. He could only grope his way to lean against a wall, fold his arms, close his eyes, and silently count the time in his head.
After about three and a half hours, he began to feel unbearable and was starting to feel restless when suddenly he heard someone softly calling his name. "Xue Lang."
Xue Lang calmly ignored it.
It must be an auditory hallucination.
Otherwise, how could he possibly hear that person's voice?
"Are you asleep? You shouldn't be able to sleep though." That voice sounded again softly, "Xue Lang, can you hear me?"
Xue Lang finally opened his eyes. In the darkness, he saw a pure white, small paper crane gently flying in front of him. As its wings moved, it left trails of silver-white luminescence in the air, like tiny sparkling stars.
"You..." Xue Lang looked at this familiar paper crane in astonishment. "Meng Chen?"
"It's me." The small paper crane flapped its wings, circling around him once. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine... No, wait, how did you get this paper crane in here?!" No, how it got in wasn't the point. The key was, wasn't this definitely against the rules?
The paper crane was quiet for a moment, then casually changed the subject. "I heard you fought with another disciple? What happened?"
Xue Lang turned his face away. "It's nothing. I just didn't like the look of him, that's all."
"I don't think that's it," the paper crane said softly. "You're not that kind of person."
Xue Lang frowned and said irritably. "Why are you so concerned about this? It has nothing to do with you anyway. Just leave quickly, don't disturb my peace."
If you don't leave soon, what if the Disciplinary Elder catches you?
The paper crane's fluttering wings paused slightly, as if a little hurt. "Then shall I go?"
Xue Lang gently clenched his fist in the darkness, controlling his gaze to avoid looking at the paper crane.
Getting no response to stay, the paper crane slowly flew towards the door, turning back to ask softly as it went. "Am I really leaving?"
Xue Lang felt a twinge in his heart, but steeled himself and closed his eyes.
The air returned to complete silence. Xue Lang suppressed the empty feeling of loss in his heart, but suddenly felt an itch on the tip of his nose. He opened his eyes to see that the little paper crane had leisurely flown back, landing on his nose and flapping its wings, like a small, comforting embrace.
"There are still eight hours left," the little paper crane said with a smile in its voice. "It's too hard to endure alone, I'll keep you company."
****
Towards evening, a light drizzle began to fall. In the rain, Xiushui Mountain was lush and hazy, with a captivating clear beauty.
Xue Lang wore a bamboo-woven conical hat, holding a bag in one hand and a shovel in the other, crouching on the ground diligently fertilizing the herb seedlings in the medicinal garden.
He had thought that coming out of the isolation room would be the end of it, but he soon received a message from Elder Fu:
"You'll be cleaning Xiushui Mountain for the next seven days, and the medicinal garden is also entrusted to your care. Since you have inexhaustible energy, you might as well contribute more to the sect."
Xue Lang had no choice but to return to Xiushui Mountain, diligently accepting his task. Because of the rain, not many disciples came here. Only two girls from Cuixia Peak, carrying two bamboo-framed green umbrellas, came to a shaded hillside not far from him, carefully lifting their robes and crouching down.
"I told you to give up earlier, yet you still insist on coming on this rainy day..."
"You'll see, it will definitely work this time! My heart is sincere enough!"
"Alright, alright, then hurry up!"
Their conversation was rather confusing, and Xue Lang couldn't help but glance in their direction. He saw one of the girls, with her hands clasped together and eyes tightly closed, muttering something to a green sprout on the ground. After a moment, she opened her eyes full of hope, but her expression immediately changed to disappointment, as if she might cry from sadness the next second. "Ah, why didn't it bloom again!"
The other girl hurriedly consoled her. "Sigh, I told you earlier, this is just a legend, it can't be taken seriously..."
Noticing Xue Lang's gaze, that girl turned her head and smiled embarrassedly. "We must look silly to Junior Brother."
Xue Lang hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Do you need any help?"
"Ah? No, no need." The female disciple smiled. "Hasn't Junior Brother heard of the legend of the Moonfrost Flower?"
Seeing Xue Lang's puzzled expression, the female disciple continued. "Legend has it that a great demon once fell in love with a righteous immortal lord and tried all sorts of ways to pursue them. Once, he happened to obtain a seed that was said to bloom into the purest and most beautiful flower in the world. But the demon realm's environment was harsh and the soil barren, so the flower couldn't bloom no matter what. The demon searched the entire mainland for precious soil and spiritual water, painstakingly cultivating the flower. Unexpectedly, after three years, the flower actually bloomed!"
"Since then, this legend has been passed down, and the Moonfrost Flower has become a symbol of the truest and purest feelings. It's said that only the most sincere person can make it bloom. Everyone says this young plant beside the medicinal garden on Xiushui Mountain is the Moonfrost Flower. Disciples often come here to try, but no one has ever succeeded, so we don't know if it's true or not."
She finished speaking and took her companion's arm, leading her back. "Alright, don't be sad. Your feelings for Senior Brother Zhao, he surely knows. You don't necessarily need this flower to prove it."
"But I just want to give him something..."
"Isn't a sachet also very nice? Come on, let's go back and I'll teach you how to embroider..."
As the figures of the two young women gradually disappeared into the rain curtain, Xue Lang hesitated for a long while. He looked around, then pushed the brim of his conical hat down a bit more, quietly moved his feet, and came to where the two girls had just been.
****
When the rain stopped, it was already midnight.
Outside the window, the banana leaves, nourished by the sweet rain, looked even more vibrant green. Inside, the lamplight was dim, and someone sat before a desk, engrossed in reading a book.
Suddenly, there was a soft "knock knock" on the window frame. Meng Chen's gaze shifted slightly, and he turned to look.
But outside the window, it was quiet again.
Meng Chen frowned slightly, put down his book, walked over, and opened the window.
Outside was the pitch-black night and a solitary moon hanging high in the sky. There was no sign of anyone, only a small earthen pot on the windowsill, containing a tiny, frost-white flower.
To be precise, it was still just a bud that hadn't fully bloomed, shy and timid-looking, pitiable and adorable. But it was truly extremely beautiful. The petals seemed to be covered with a layer of silver frost, as if bathed in clear, pure moonlight, or perhaps a dazzling star that had accidentally fallen from the sky.
Meng Chen was slightly stunned. He reached out a finger and carefully touched the flower bud. The bud trembled lightly, and then, as if very happy, it actually bloomed a little more.
Meng Chen cradled the flower, looking at the two footprints accidentally left in the flowerbed planted with banana trees outside the window. After a while, his eyes curved slightly, and he smiled gently, from the bottom of his heart.
