Villainous Junior Chapter 24
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 24: Reconciliation
If Yin Chi's actions shocked and angered Meng Chen, Pei Yuze's appearance plunged him into complete bewilderment, even making him doubt if this was all just an absurd dream.
His disappearance from the dungeon would surely cause a huge commotion in Taixuan Sect. Fearing exposure of his whereabouts, Yin Chi didn't dare stay with him long. After setting up a barrier at the cave entrance, he left.
Meng Chen tried to find a way out but couldn't—his internal strength had been sealed by the elders when he was imprisoned in the dungeon. Now he was completely an ordinary person, unable to break through the barrier Yin Chi had set. All his magical items that could contact the outside world had been taken away when he was imprisoned. He was truly helpless now, only able to suppress his anxiety and wait patiently.
Three days later, someone finally came—not Yin Chi, but Pei Yuze.
"Senior Brother!" He excitedly went to greet him, greatly relieved that Pei Yuze had found this place. "What's happening outside? Is the sect looking for me? Quickly take me back. This matter is too strange. I can only find out the truth if I go back!"
"You can't go back anymore." Pei Yuze sighed. "Everyone has determined that you've turned to demonic cultivation and boldly escaped from Taixuan's dungeon. Even if you go back now, who would dare to believe you?"
Meng Chen said firmly, "Master will believe me. As long as he returns—"
"Master is in secluded cultivation, for months at least, possibly decades. Are you prepared to wait for him in the dungeon for decades?"
Meng Chen gritted his teeth inwardly and grabbed Pei Yuze's hand. "Senior Brother, then help me."
Pei Yuze looked at him silently.
"Take me out. I'll investigate myself," Meng Chen said quickly. "That person knows me well and can use Taixuan sword techniques. He must be someone from our sect. Give me time. I can definitely find him!"
Pei Yuze looked at him for a while and asked, "Do you remember when we first met?"
Meng Chen was stunned, his eyes full of confusion, not understanding why he had changed the topic to this.
"I told you then that the cultivation world is a place where the strong prey on the weak. People who are too naive cannot survive here." He grasped Meng Chen's hand in return, gently pulling him closer. His eyes seemed to hold pity. "Don't you understand this principle even now?"
Pei Yuze remembered when he first saw Meng Chen. The other was thin and small, covered in dust, not much more presentable than when Yin Chi had arrived. He must have endured much hardship in the mortal world, yet those eyes remained pure and clear, unbelievably clean.
He glanced at him with little interest, smilingly perfunctorily calling him "Junior Brother Meng". He was used to pretending, even he could barely distinguish between truth and lies anymore. But he didn't expect that child to see through his hidden impatience at a glance, and in the days that followed, never came to actively bother him.
Until that time in the secret realm, when they were thrown into the same deep well. On the brink of desperation, that child threw his sword to him and said, "Senior Brother, you go."
He felt no particular emotion of being moved, and even found the other's actions foolish and laughable.
No matter when or where, never admit defeat or give up—this was a principle he had known and adhered to for a long time.
He got up and picked up the sword, walking towards that child. Days of dehydration had made the child look even more frail, leaning against the wall half-dead with his eyes closed. Hearing his footsteps, that small face didn't show the fear and resistance to death like most people would, but rather displayed a calm, relieved smile as if having a sweet dream while asleep.
Looking at that quiet smile, somehow his killing intent gradually faded. He threw down the sword, woke the other up, and continued to search for an exit.
It seems incredible, but this was the first time in his life he had softened towards someone.
Later they found a hole in the wall. That child was overjoyed, saying, "Senior Brother, wait for me. I'll go out right away to find someone to rescue us."
In that instant, he once again had the urge to kill—after getting out, would he really be willing to come back?
He had already guessed the purpose behind this secret realm to some extent, knowing that on the other side of the hole, there might be countless temptations waiting. When faced with unimaginable benefits beyond one's wildest dreams, would a person still remember what they had said?
While he hesitated for a moment, that child had already eagerly crawled out through the hole. He waited for a short while, and the other came back, carrying a package of food in his arms, showing it to him with a face full of joy.
He thought the child was still so foolish and naive. With countless treasures and immortality pills within reach, he had picked up the least valuable snacks.
But strangely, he no longer disliked this foolishness as much.
He ate the snacks the child handed over, and they left the secret realm together. Later, perhaps sensing his softening attitude, the child grew increasingly close to him. His feelings towards the child also changed, from initial indifference, to caring, to treasuring, and finally to seeing him as an indispensable part of his life.
He watched with his own eyes as that frail child slowly grew into a handsome and clear-minded young man. His appearance, cultivation, status, and reputation changed year by year. The only thing that remained unchanged was that heart, which stayed pure and kind regardless of time or circumstance.
He was fascinated by this purity, yet at the same time hated it immensely. He hated himself for being entangled in desire, pining and complaining like the most ordinary and vulgar speck in the mortal world. Meanwhile, the other always hovered outside the mortal realm, his eyes filled with the world, the common people, the path of cultivation, and the sect, but never showing any ripples born of love.
That calmness made one feel powerless and desperate, hateful and crazy. He wished he could deeply carve his own mark on that purity, the deeper the better, the more painful the better. He wanted to teach that person to never be indifferent again, to never forget in this life and the next.
"Although I didn't expect Yin Chi to act so soon, this place is indeed the most suitable for you right now," Pei Yuze said gently. "There are still many people looking for you outside, but I've reinforced the barrier. They won't be able to find you."
Meng Chen looked at him as if he had never known him before, pushing him away and slowly retreating two steps.
"Senior Brother," he asked with a dry throat, still clinging to a last glimmer of hope, "are you joking?"
Pei Yuze's silence told him the answer.
He watched the young man's expression gradually crumble, his eyes showing some pity and heartache, as if watching a carefree bird crash into a hunter's trap, still unwilling to believe the reality.
Meng Chen understood his gaze, and for a moment he couldn't even feel anger or pain. What flooded his heart was only a tide of bewilderment.
He asked one last question. "Then what about all these years of our friendship?"
Pei Yuze was silent for a moment, then answered him. "Then you should just forget it."
—
Meng Chen stayed in this cave for a month.
Yin Chi and Pei Yuze would come to see him every few days. The two maintained a delicate balance. They both wanted to get rid of the other as soon as possible, but neither had absolute confidence. Although Yin Chi's cultivation was lower than Pei Yuze's, he seemed to hold an important trump card. The two could only maintain surface peace, waiting to grasp each other's fatal weakness.
Meng Chen only felt that he had been blind, never noticing the oddities of these two for so many years. He had firmly believed in the brotherly affection between the Tianji Peak senior and junior brothers.
But it turned out this friendship was thinner than paper. No one really cared about it. Only he had foolishly cherished it, vainly imagining he could hold onto it for a lifetime.
He might be naive, but he wasn't entirely foolish. After seeing through these two, he no longer harbored any illusions and only secretly thought about how to leave this place. Although the elders had sealed his cultivation, it was time-limited. Finally, one day when the seal was lifted, he immediately took advantage of the moment when no one was guarding and broke through the barrier to escape.
But he didn't expect that outside the barrier, a trap was waiting for him.
"I always knew Ah Chen would try to escape." Pei Yuze slowly emerged from the shadows, looking at him lying powerlessly on the ground after being caught in the formation. His eyes were bottomlessly dark, with a hint of blood-red that made one's heart tremble. "Why couldn't you just obey?"
Sword light flashed, and blood stained the full moon. From then on, he could never hold a sword again.
When Yin Chi found out, he became almost crazy, fighting a life-and-death battle with Pei Yuze. He stumbled to Meng Chen's side, looking at his scarred hands and feet, and said with a trembling voice. "Senior Brother, I will definitely cure you. Wait for me. I will definitely find a way to heal you..."
He lay on the bed, motionless, not listening or responding, no matter how Yin Chi called or begged.
There is no greater sorrow than the death of the heart. He couldn't even feel hatred anymore.
Pei Yuze disappeared for a few days and returned covered in wounds. He sat silently by Meng Chen's side for a long time, then said hoarsely. "Ah Chen, I'm sorry. That day, I don't know why, but it felt like I couldn't control myself."
Meng Chen kept his eyes closed quietly, as if he were asleep.
Pei Yuze coughed twice, his face pale, his voice carrying a hint of pleading. "Ah Chen, can you say something to me?"
Since the day his cultivation was crippled, Meng Chen hadn't spoken a single word.
Yin Chi was also driven mad by this attitude, kneeling beside him and desperately begging over and over. "Senior Brother, please acknowledge me? I'll take you out, I'll take you to Plum Blossom Valley to find a divine doctor to heal you, okay?"
"Senior Brother, say something, look at me."
"Senior Brother, did I really do wrong?" Yin Chi looked at the young man's face, dazedly shedding a tear, asking in confusion, "I just like you, did I do something wrong?"
The withered heart, upon hearing these words, slowly rose with a sense of sarcasm.
So this was called liking someone.
It turned out that some people's way of liking made the person they liked wish they were dead.
—
Forced to revisit countless memories he wanted to forget but never could, Meng Chen felt waves of disgust and nausea surging up in his heart. He bent down to pick up the gold chain tied to his ankle, expressionlessly drew his sword, and forcefully chopped at it.
In the later days of that period, those two were driven increasingly mad by his constant indifference. Yin Chi used many methods on him, while Pei Yuze found this vajra chain to tether his ankle, saying this way they would never lose him again.
Meng Chen hacked at it sword strike after sword strike. However, without cultivation and internal strength, even the best sword in his hands became just a piece of ordinary iron. After several strikes, not even a scratch was left on the chain.
"It's all fake," Meng Chen muttered, swinging down another strike. "This is just an illusion. It's all fake."
The Heartless Formation, also known as the Heart-Locking Formation, would present the darkest, most disgusting, and most fearful memories from the depths of the person who entered it. It made people's hearts sink into it, losing themselves. If they couldn't walk out of it, both body and mind would gradually be devoured by nightmares.
The young man gripped the sword hilt tightly, ignoring the increasingly obvious pain throughout his body like being stabbed by needles. His gaze was stubborn and fierce as he stared at the chain, striking it with all his might again and again.
Cold sweat slid down his face, dripping onto the ground drop by drop. With a "clang", the sword blade hit the chain and was violently deflected the next instant. Meng Chen stared blankly at his violently trembling hands. His body had reached its limit and could no longer lift the sword.
The chain still lay there undamaged, giving him a malicious, mocking smile.
Meng Chen looked at the chain, and an uncontrollable, desperate thought floated into his mind.
Was this his fate?
No matter how hard he tried, no matter how much he struggled, was the outcome awaiting him still the same?
—
It was only after Xue Lang ran out that he realized he had no idea where to find Meng Chen.
The secret realm was so vast, how could he possibly know where the other had gone?
Just as he was feeling lost, something restless moved in his sleeve. Xue Lang reached in and took out the small white paper crane.
The small paper crane anxiously circled twice in the air, flapping its wings and hurriedly flying in one direction. Xue Lang suddenly realized and immediately followed, arriving at a domain marked with a black label.
He hesitated almost not at all, immediately drawing his sword and walking in, seeing the black pond.
Xue Lang had also heard rumors of evil beasts in the black pond. He was just alertly approaching to investigate when his sharp eyes caught sight of a blood-stained white garment floating in the center of the pond.
His mind exploded with a "boom", and in an instant, Xue Lang cared about nothing else. He rushed into the water, trembling hands retrieving the outer garment. He observed it intently for a while, then brought it to his nose to smell. The tense nerves that were about to snap suddenly relaxed.
Thankfully, it was stained with beast blood, not human blood.
Xue Lang exhaled, his knees weakening, almost kneeling in the pond water. He threw down the bloody garment and quickly crossed the pond, following the path to discover a cave, which he immediately ran into.
"Meng Chen, are you here!?"
The cave was empty, with no response.
He continued deeper, calling out while searching. "Meng—"
The next moment, his breath caught, his gaze suddenly frozen. At the end of the cave, several vines were crawling out from the ground, entangling Meng Chen's hands and feet. The vines were greedily writhing, winding tighter and tighter, climbing up to the young man's chest and neck, dragging him into the dark depths.
Xue Lang was furious. He rushed forward, drawing his sword to cut. Several vines were severed, but they stubbornly rewound themselves. Xue Lang released several fire talismans, bright red flames blazing up. The vines feared fire and had to reluctantly release the young man, retreating underground and disappearing.
Xue Lang carried Meng Chen out of the cave, placing him on the ground. Only then did he realize how frighteningly pale the other's face was, his body ice-cold, clothes soaked through with cold sweat, even his breathing had become faint. Xue Lang was scared out of his wits. While transferring spiritual energy to him, he leaned close to his ear and shouted. "Meng Chen, wake up!"
"Meng Chen!!!"
...It seemed someone was calling him.
Meng Chen knelt on the ground, raising his head in confusion.
The voice was familiar, very anxious. Who was it?
"...Meng Chen! If you don't wake up... if you don't wake up, I'm going to hit you!!!"
This childish way of speaking…
It was Xue Lang.
Once the name "Xue Lang" appeared in his mind, it was like a strong dose of adrenaline, suddenly injected into his heart. His heart, which had been continuously sinking and growing colder, suddenly paused, then slowly but genuinely began to beat again.
Yes... this was just an illusion.
He had started over. He was much stronger than before. He now had someone by his side to accompany him on his journey.
This time, he could change the outcome.
He could control his own destiny!
The bewildered look in his eyes gradually returned to clarity. Meng Chen slowly stood up. This time he didn't take the sword, but picked up the gold chain from the ground with his bare hands, grasping both ends and pulling hard!
With a "snap", the gold chain broke in the middle, shattering and falling to the ground.
—
Xue Lang was so anxious he was about to catch fire. Just as he was at a loss, he suddenly heard the young man in his arms cough lightly twice. The pitch-black eyelashes trembled slightly, and slowly opened his eyes.
Xue Lang was stunned, then overjoyed. He immediately asked in rapid succession. "How are you? Are you injured? Does anything hurt!?"
Meng Chen looked as if he had been pulled out of water, his cheeks and long hair damp with cold sweat, even his eyes were misty. His light-colored eyes stared unblinkingly at Xue Lang. Just as Xue Lang was growing increasingly nervous under his gaze, he parted his lips and softly uttered a single word. "...Hurts."
Upon hearing this, Xue Lang's heart felt as if it had been slashed eight hundred times, dripping with fresh blood. He asked, almost helplessly. "Where does it hurt?"
Meng Chen said softly, "Everywhere hurts."
Xue Lang looked like he was about to kneel down. Even his hands holding Meng Chen became much more gentle, afraid of causing the person in his arms even a bit more pain. "Bear with it for a moment, I'll take you out of here right away!"
He wanted to lift the young man, but the other lightly tugged at the hem of his clothes. Xue Lang immediately froze, not daring to move.
"I'm fine, I'll be better soon." Meng Chen's pale, slender fingers held onto his clothes, saying softly, "Xue Lang, just hold me for a while."
For a moment, Xue Lang thought he had misheard. He held his breath and looked into the young man's eyes, but saw they were clear, not seeming delirious at all.
He took a few deep, trembling breaths, extended his arms, and gently embraced him.
"Is this... alright?"
Meng Chen closed his eyes, feeling the reassuring scent and warmth of the young man's body, and softly made an affirmative sound.
Xue Lang's ears were already burning hot, and his heart was frantically jumping in his chest, almost leaping out of his throat. Meng Chen's cheek was resting against his chest, and he was afraid the other would notice something unusual. He could only pretend to be fierce and say, "Look at you, one moment like this, another moment like that. Didn't you just say harsh words earlier, saying you'd never let me take care of you again, saying we had nothing to do with each other anymore!?"
As the seemingly angry words left his mouth, Xue Lang realized his voice carried a hint of reproach and grievance that even he could hear.
Meng Chen naturally heard it too.
"It was my fault." Meng Chen closed his eyes. Perhaps due to weakness, his voice sounded particularly soft, like a gentle breeze, lightly brushing into Xue Lang's heart.
"From now on, I'll let you take care of me, okay?"
