Villainous Junior Chapter 17
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 17: Outer Robe
"This... was this still human!?"
"To actually make living people accompany the dead for burial, these people were simply numb and heartless!!"
"To let their own daughter die for money, beasts!!!"
The disciples were all hot-blooded young people. After hearing Ah Chu's words, each of them was furious and indignant. Two female disciples were so angry that tears burst from their eyes.
Meng Chen: "So you took away these brides to save them from harm."
Ah Chu nodded: "Marrying them off would be death. If I sent them home... they might be sold again in the future. I couldn't think of any other way, so I could only hide them here first to keep them alive."
The disciples couldn't help but fall silent.
The ghost thought of saving people, while humans were willing to harm their own flesh and blood for profit. This completely overturned their inherent understanding.
In this world, some people were truly more terrifying than ghosts.
Ah Chu called out towards the depths of the cave a few times. Soon, three girls wearing red wedding dresses came out hand in hand, cautiously. They were Er Feng, Gui Hua, and Er Ya. After Ah Chu introduced the identity of the strangers in front of them, they couldn't help but shed tears and knelt down to bow to them. "Please, Immortal Lords, help us!"
They had homes but couldn't return. They really didn't know where to go from here.
The disciples quickly helped the girls up, feeling both sympathetic and angry. They all turned their gaze towards Meng Chen, waiting for his next instructions.
Meng Chen pondered for a moment and said, "According to the rules, cultivators should not interfere excessively in mortal affairs. Although that County Magistrate Zhao disregarded human life, we can't directly kill him."
Upon hearing this, the disciples were suddenly doused with cold water, unable to suppress the disappointment on their faces.
"However, we can scare him a bit," Meng Chen continued, his tone changing. "Let Miss Ah Chu go meet him, then throw him into a coffin to sleep with his son for a night. Release him before he suffocates. Afterwards, report this matter to the superior prefecture. According to mortal law, he will be stripped of his official position and exiled. Since he blames others for having a lowly life, let him deeply experience this taste himself."
The disciples looked at their Senior Brother Meng's gentle and harmless face, inhaling sharply with trembling hearts.
Killing someone was merciful compared to this. Senior Brother Meng's move would make that dog of a county magistrate wish he were dead!!
Well done!!
They immediately sprang into action. Besides County Magistrate Zhao, the Zhang, Li, Wang families, and those parents who sold their daughters couldn't be let off either. The disciples split into four teams and, that night, accompanied the four girls to pay visits.
–
County Magistrate Zhao was sleeping soundly in his warm, cozy bed when he suddenly felt an eerie chill on the back of his neck. He shivered and jolted awake, thinking a cold draft had entered through an open window. He grumbled in dissatisfaction and rolled over, preparing to get up and close the window.
As soon as he turned, he came face to face with a woman.
The woman was crouching by his bedside, wearing a bright red wedding dress. Her long black hair was disheveled, her face pale and stiff. Her eyes stared straight at him, then slowly her mouth stretched into an eerie smile.
"Ah--!!!"
County Magistrate Zhao suddenly let out a great roar, rolling off the bed in utter terror. He recognized the face of the woman before him, his eyes filled with disbelief as he stammered. "You-- you are--"
"Didn't you want to keep my soul here? As you wished." The female ghost smiled at him grimly, grabbing his hair. "But more than me, your son wants you to accompany him."
Her nails were as sharp as knives, forcefully carving five bloody gashes on County Magistrate Zhao's scalp. Zhao screamed in pain, but what terrified him more was that the female ghost was dragging him towards the door by his hair!
"What are you doing..." Recalling the ghost's words, Zhao's face turned purple with fear. "Let me go, let me go-- Someone, come quickly--!!"
Strangely, the vast county magistrate's mansion seemed empty. No matter how he shouted, no one came to his rescue. He was dragged like this to the grave on the back hill. The previously buried grave had already been dug up, the coffin lid pried open. In the dark night, he could vaguely see the corpse lying inside, and a faint smell of decay permeated the air.
"Please... spare me, spare me!" Zhao knelt on the ground, kowtowing forcefully. His fat face was distorted with extreme fear, tears and snot smeared all over. "I was wrong, I shouldn't have harmed you. Please spare me this once!!"
The female ghost looked at him coldly. "I begged you like this back then too. Did you spare me?"
She grabbed Zhao's neck and threw him into the coffin.
Zhao let out a scream, trying to rush out, but the coffin lid was already firmly pressed down on him. His vision turned pitch black, the smell of decay growing stronger. He tried to hold back the urge to vomit while frantically pushing against the coffin lid. Just then, he sensed something move beside him.
He stiffly turned his neck, only to see the corpse of his long-dead son gradually emitting a faint glow. Then, the corpse slowly sat up. Its face, rotted beyond recognition, turned towards him and suddenly opened its eyes.
"Aaaaaaaah!!"
Zhao's hair stood on end as he screamed like a madman!
"Father, I miss you so much..." The corpse leaned towards him, reaching out with hands rotted to thin skin, white bones faintly visible, grasping for his neck. "Come keep me company, won't you? Come down and stay with me--"
"No-- get away-- get away aaaah--"
On the ground, Meng Chen and Xue Lang crouched side by side outside the grave pit. Xue Lang held a lit incense stick, occasionally blowing on the ash to make it burn brighter, casually listening to the endless throat-tearing screams from the coffin.
The incense he held was called "Bone-Melting Heart-Devouring". When lit, it had a sweet fragrance, but its effects were terrifying. It could create all kinds of hallucinations according to the user's will. The victim would be deeply trapped, unable to escape, and the mental torture was no less than severe physical torture.
Xue Lang looked at the person beside him, his expression suspicious. "How do you have something like this?"
Although the Bone-Melting Heart-Devouring incense was remarkably effective in interrogating great villains, it could also be used for evil purposes and was explicitly forbidden in the Taixuan Sect. How did Meng Chen, the model disciple of the sect, possess such a prohibited item?
Meng Chen: "I confiscated it from a demonic cultivator during a previous mission down the mountain."
"Oh." Xue Lang responded. It was midnight now, and this grave was deep in the wild forest. The temperature was much lower than outside, and when the wind blew, it was quite chilly.
He glanced at the thin clothes of the person beside him, and the strip of frost-white wrist exposed under the wide sleeves. Feigning casualness, he said, "Look at how thin your clothes are, a gust of wind could blow you over. How can you call yourself a Taixuan Sect disciple, huh."
Meng Chen was long accustomed to his sarcasm and nodded good-naturedly. "You're right."
Xue Lang choked for a moment, then said resentfully after a while. "I mean, if you catch a cold from a gust of wind, it would be embarrassing if word got out! So, if you're cold, I can reluctantly lend you my outer robe."
Although Meng Chen looked somewhat thin, his constitution wasn't weak. A little cool wind wouldn't make him ill no matter what. But seeing the young man beside him pretending to be impatient while secretly observing him out of the corner of his eye, a hint of amusement seeped into his eyes. He played along. "Then thank you, Junior Brother."
Ah Chu crouched opposite them, watching the two interact back and forth. Suddenly, she felt a bit superfluous.
Fortunately, after the handsome immortal lord put on the robe, he seemed to realize he had neglected her. He looked over with gentle eyes and asked, "Miss Ah Chu, what are your plans for the future?"
No matter what, the other girls had at least saved their lives, but she was a lone wandering ghost who could never return home.
"I've already decided," Ah Chu tidied her disheveled hair and smiled at him, her face faintly revealing the charm of a young girl. "There must be other places in the world where girls are forced to marry the dead. I want to travel around, and if I encounter such situations, I'll rescue the girls and scare away the bad people."
Meng Chen looked at her for a while, then took out a jade green talisman and handed it to her, while also telling her an incantation.
"If one day you grow tired of wandering, burn this talisman and silently recite the incantation. Your ghost will be freed to reenter the cycle of reincarnation and be reborn as a human."
Ah Chu accepted the talisman with both hands, tears in her eyes, and solemnly bowed deeply to them.
****
In the latter half of the night, the disciples gradually gathered here, each looking energetic with pleased smiles on their faces.
"That old owner of the Zhang family pawnshop was truly a coward, he actually fainted with foam at his mouth, haha!"
"The Li family was even worse, they wet their pants!"
"And those beasts who sold their daughters, we spread their misdeeds throughout the village. The villagers nearly drowned them in spit, cracking their heads open with those gold and silver ingots. It was truly satisfying!!"
Meng Chen had already sent a message about the case to the superior prefecture. Given that cultivators were involved in this matter, they didn't dare to be careless or neglectful. They immediately replied, stating that all those involved in the case would be severely punished according to the law.
The matter was finally resolved satisfactorily. The disciples' nerves, which had been tense for two days, finally relaxed. Now, as the cold night wind blew, they suddenly felt a sense of fatigue and dizziness.
"What's happening..." A disciple shook his head. "Why do I suddenly feel so sleepy..."
However, Meng Chen keenly sensed something amiss—
A thin, light gray mist had imperceptibly spread through the air, subtly yet dangerously enveloping them layer by layer.
Meng Chen's expression changed as he sternly commanded, "Everyone, cover your nose and mouth, silently recite the Clear Mind Incantation!"
This familiar aura hidden behind the thin mist—
It was demonic energy!
