Villainous Junior Chapter 27
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 27: Red Bean
Although cultivators had long ago abstained from eating, not needing mortal food, perhaps due to the excellent atmosphere, everyone happily ate until they were stuffed. Patting their round bellies, they comfortably lay down on the small grassy hillside.
The cool breeze blew gently, and the fragrance of flowers wafted through the air. The beautiful and tranquil environment was excessively comfortable, causing people to forget that this Taixuan Secret Realm was actually a place fraught with hidden dangers.
"Hee hee, welcome to the Nightmare Corridor~"
A childish voice sounded in their ears. The drowsy crowd jolted awake, and were suddenly shocked to find that they had all been transported to another space. Here, the light was dim, with clusters of pale blue flames dancing in mid-air. Two small imps with horns on their heads stood before them, hands on their hips, wearing mischievous grins.
The disciples were startled and asked nervously: "Wh-where is this place?"
"How did everything change in the blink of an eye!?"
"What kind of monsters are you? Confess quickly!"
"We're not monsters, we're sprites," the two sprites said seriously. "Don't be afraid, this is a good place. We're responsible for guarding the golden treasury. As long as you can complete the challenge, you can freely choose from the gold, silver, spirit stones, magical treasures, and pills in the treasury!"
Upon hearing this, the disciples didn't feel happy at all. There was no such thing as a free lunch, and the challenge mentioned by the sprites surely wouldn't be easy to complete.
The "Nightmare Corridor" or whatever sounded very scary, didn't it?
"Actually, this task isn't difficult!" The two sprites seemed to guess what the disciples were thinking from their expressions. They smiled and stepped aside, revealing a deep, long corridor behind them. "There are many hidden traps along this corridor, but they're all child's play for you. As long as you successfully reach the end of the corridor, you'll have completed the challenge!"
As they spoke, the sprites opened some of the traps for the disciples to see. Indeed, the traps were quite common, such as crossbows, revolving floor panels, and hanging rocks. Although they looked dangerous, everyone present was a cultivator with reactions much quicker than ordinary people, so passing through wouldn't be difficult.
Some disciples secretly sighed in relief. Meng Chen looked at the deep corridor thoughtfully for a moment, then asked, "Are there any additional conditions for the challenge?"
Hearing this, the sprites looked at Meng Chen and giggled again. "This beauty is not only good-looking but also very clever! That's right, the condition is that you must enter the corridor in pairs, and one person must have their hands bound, eyes blindfolded, and spiritual power sealed. Only when both people successfully reach the end will the challenge be considered complete!"
Upon hearing this condition, the disciples exploded into an uproar.
"Seal the spiritual power? Wouldn't that turn them into an ordinary person? You must be joking, absolutely not!"
"Forget about sealing spiritual power, even without that, what can one do with hands bound and eyes blindfolded? Wouldn't that be suicide?"
"Exactly. What kind of ridiculous challenge is this? It's impossible to complete!"
The two sprites shook their heads. "We said that two people go in together, only one needs to have their hands bound, eyes blindfolded, and spiritual power sealed. So, the other person can guide their companion through, and that's it."
The disciples of course understood this logic, but the problem was—
Who would be willing to be the person with their spiritual power sealed?
Or rather, who would be willing to put themselves in a vulnerable position, completely entrusting their life to another person?
Even though they were fellow disciples, even though they had just been sitting together laughing and chatting happily, when it came to completely trusting each other, everyone hesitated and fell silent.
The atmosphere suddenly became awkwardly quiet.
Meng Chen, however, realized that this challenge was actually similar to the deep well he and Pei Yuzhe had fallen into when he last entered the secret realm.
Taixuan Sect not only emphasized improving disciples' martial arts and cultivation, but also particularly focused on tempering their mental fortitude. Trust and mutual assistance between fellow disciples were also very important. This so-called "Nightmare Corridor" had this purpose.
Most of the disciples present hadn't experienced the secret realm test from ten years ago and couldn't understand its true meaning. Even if Meng Chen told them, they would still harbor doubts. Now, only if someone personally set an example would the others know what to do.
So he tapped Xue Lang's arm and asked, "Shall we go first?"
Xue Lang had no objection. He stepped forward, extended both arms to the sprites, and said frankly, "Tie me up."
The two sprites looked at Xue Lang and then at Meng Chen, saying, "If you two are a pair, we need to tie up the other beauty."
Xue Lang was fine with being tied up himself, but when he heard they wanted to tie up Meng Chen, he immediately exploded. "Why!?"
The sprites replied, "The beauty's strength is too great. If he leads you through, there's no challenge at all."
"Where do you get all these requirements from!" Xue Lang said angrily. "If you're going to tie someone up, tie me. If you don't agree, I'll—"
"Then tie me up," Meng Chen interrupted, voluntarily extending his hands.
Come to think of it, in both his lives, what he hated most was being helpless and at others' mercy. Power and cultivation were the only things that gave him a sense of security. Sealing his spiritual power precisely stepped on his bottom line. If it were anyone else, he would never agree.
But if it was Xue Lang, this condition wasn't so hard to bear.
He turned his head and asked the young man beside him, "You won't abandon me halfway and escape on your own, will you?"
His eyes were smiling, his tone clearly joking, but Xue Lang looked at him steadily and answered with unusual solemnity. "I won't."
One of the sprites took out a black cloth strip and tied Meng Chen's wrists together. The moment the strip was tied, Meng Chen felt the spiritual power in his body vanish completely. The familiar feeling caused an uncontrollable shudder and unease to rise from the bottom of his heart. Just as the negative emotions were becoming stronger, he heard Xue Lang's very dissatisfied voice beside him. "Why are you tying it so tight? Can't you see it's leaving marks?"
The sprite glanced at him, seeming to find this person's constant complaints annoying. It rolled its eyes without responding and took out another black cloth strip to blindfold Meng Chen.
Xue Lang: "Tch, did you hear what I said? I told you to tie it more gently. Did you hear me—"
Listening to the familiar voice beside his ear, Meng Chen's rapid heartbeat slowly returned to normal. The anxiety and panic in his heart suddenly calmed down. Even as he listened to the young man's exasperated voice, he inexplicably felt like laughing.
The sprite ignored Xue Lang's chatter, tied it securely and made a "please" gesture, indicating they could begin. The other disciples were also very nervous, and they advised from the side. "Xue Lang, Senior Brother Meng, please be extremely careful!"
Xue Lang walked up to Meng Chen, carefully took his hand, and said softly, "Don't be afraid. I will definitely get you across."
The young man's eyes were covered with a black cloth strip about a finger wide, revealing the lower half of his handsome and elegant face. Hearing this, the corner of his lips curved slightly, and he nodded. "Alright."
Xue Lang led him to the entrance of the long corridor, carefully observing the ground. He had some knowledge of mechanism techniques, and quickly identified several small traps. For each step, he would first step on it himself to ensure safety, then turn back to tell Meng Chen how to walk.
The two successfully advanced three to four meters in this way. Then, when Xue Lang's next step landed on a piece of ground that looked completely normal, the air stagnated for an instant, and countless silver needles suddenly shot out from the walls on both sides!
Xue Lang cursed inwardly, no longer caring about anything else. He let go of Meng Chen's hand and instead wrapped his arm around his waist, holding him tightly as he flew up, nimbly leaping a few steps in the air to avoid this wave of hidden weapons.
The disciples outside the corridor watched with fear and trepidation. Only when they saw the two safely land back on the ground did they pat their chests and collectively breathe a sigh of relief.
After landing, Xue Lang first checked on Meng Chen's condition. "Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Were you scared?"
Meng Chen paused slightly.
In fact, given his realm and cultivation, having experienced countless dangerous situations, there was no way he could be scared by such minor hidden weapons. Over the years, he had also become accustomed to the roles of senior brother, senior, and protector. Everyone trusted him and relied on him, but no one had ever asked him questions like "were you scared?"
But the young man asked, and he asked very seriously. It wasn't meant to mock or provoke, but out of genuine concern for him.
So Meng Chen also gave a serious answer. "No."
This was the truth. The young man's arms weren't particularly muscular, but they were steady and strong. In all these years, it was the first time Meng Chen had allowed himself to be held in someone else's arms, with their back shielding him from hidden arrows.
It was then that he realized, Xue Lang's embrace was, apart from cultivation, the second place where he felt a sense of security.
Xue Lang felt relieved but didn't let go of his waist, holding him tightly as they continued forward. From behind, the two looked intimately close, almost to the point of being ambiguous, but Xue Lang had no mind to think of anything else. There was only one thought in his mind: he must not let the person beside him suffer even the slightest harm, not even a scratch!
On the rest of the path, mechanisms like flip boards and rolling stones appeared in succession, all of which Xue Lang and Meng Chen avoided with close calls. The remaining distance grew shorter and shorter. Finally, after dodging a hanging stone, the two successfully reached the end of the long corridor.
The disciples outside were as excited as if they had passed the challenge themselves, jumping and shouting excitedly, enthusiastically clapping each other's hands. But suddenly, there was a dull sound, and the entire ceiling of the long corridor suddenly flipped over. It was densely covered with sharp knives, their points facing downwards, flashing with terrifying cold light, slowly pressing down towards the ground!
The disciples were scared to the point their hearts almost stopped. "Be careful——!!"
Xue Lang immediately raised his hand and struck several palm strikes upwards in succession. The power contained within was fierce and profound, not to be underestimated. However, when it hit the cluster of knives, it seemed to be absorbed, having no effect at all. Xue Lang refused to give up, mobilizing all his power to strike out several more palm strikes, but it was still like a stone sinking into the sea. The ceiling full of inverted knives continued to descend at a uniform speed, showing no signs of stopping at all!
Cold sweat seeped out on Xue Lang's forehead, but he didn't panic. He calmly tried every method he could think of. Seeing that the dense knife points had already descended to above their heads, about to pierce them into sieves, he had no other options left. Without caring about anything else, he pushed Meng Chen down to the ground, using his own back to protect him completely.
"Xue Lang!!"
"Senior Brother Meng!!"
The disciples' eyes were about to pop out of their sockets. Just as countless knife points were about to pierce into Xue Lang's back, the ceiling full of sharp knives suddenly stopped, then inexplicably disappeared.
"Congratulations to both of you for successfully completing the challenge!"
Two sprites appeared out of nowhere, smiling and clapping their hands. The disciples came back to their senses from their terrified despair, each feeling weak in the knees, and for a moment, they felt their eyes stinging a bit.
Xue Lang's back was also covered in cold sweat. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief, inwardly cursing that this Taixuan Secret Realm was indeed thrilling. He used his arms to support himself on the ground and slowly raised his body.
In that critical moment between life and death just now, his mind was fully occupied with how to keep Meng Chen alive, with no attention to spare for anything else.
But now it was different.
He raised himself up, intending to pull Meng Chen up, but suddenly found that the scene before him made him a bit dizzy.
Meng Chen was lying beneath him. Perhaps also infected by the tense atmosphere just now, his hands bound by the black cloth tightly grasped the collar of Xue Lang's chest, his slightly cool fingertips lightly touching the skin of Xue Lang's neck.
His hair was jet black, his eyes covered with a black strip of cloth, and he was wearing black outer garments. The color of pure black to the extreme set off his skin as dazzlingly white.
Except for one place.
Xue Lang's brain buzzed, his throat involuntarily swallowed, and he moved his gaze to Meng Chen's lips.
The color of those lips was originally somewhat pale, but set against the background of black and white, it became increasingly vivid, like a red bean fallen in the snow—
Red enough to drive one mad.
