Villainous Junior Chapter 28
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 28: Master
Xue Lang stared at that thin red line with an almost obsessed look. His eardrums were pulsing, and his throat felt as dry as if flames were burning inside. Just as he had almost forgotten where he was, he felt the person beneath him carefully reaching out to touch his shoulders and back, anxiously asking, "Xue Lang? Are you injured?"
Although Meng Chen couldn't see, he could imagine the dangerous scene that had just unfolded based on the sounds and his intuition. When he realized danger was descending from above, he instinctively grabbed Xue Lang's collar, intending to turn over and shield the other beneath him. But he had forgotten he had no spiritual power, and his strength was not as great as Xue Lang's. His pull didn't move the other, and instead, he ended up being firmly protected.
Now that the crisis had passed, Xue Lang still remained motionless. Meng Chen became a bit alarmed, worried that the other had been seriously injured. He hurriedly stretched out his hands to examine, checking if there was any blood or similar on the other's back.
As those slender hands touched him, Xue Lang nearly lost his soul and expired on the spot. He scrambled off Meng Chen in a fluster, then helped the other up and untied the cloth from his wrists and eyes.
"I-I'm fine," Xue Lang said, his ears reddening as he turned his head away, not daring to look at him. "It was just a false alarm."
Seeing that there were indeed no wounds on the youth's body, Meng Chen finally relaxed. They walked back together. He had wanted to say something to the other disciples, but looking at their expressions, he felt there was no need to say more.
Liu Xuanxuan said to Wan Qiu, "If we encounter a situation like just now, I'll hug you and shove your face into the ground, okay? After all, we can give up our lives, but we absolutely can't mar our faces!"
Wan Qiu clenched her fists and nodded vigorously.
Xiao Guan hooked his arm around Zhao Jingchen's neck, "Although your Senior Brother Xiao usually doesn't seem very reliable, he can be counted on in critical moments."
Zhao Jingchen smiled and said, "Senior Brother Xiao is very dependable at all times."
The disciples lined up in pairs and began to pass through the challenge. They gradually discovered that the difficulty of the mechanisms in the corridor would change in real-time according to the challenger's cultivation level, generally staying within the disciples' manageable range. In other words, the only thing they needed to control was their self-serving instinct to abandon their companions and save only themselves in life-or-death moments.
Fortunately, all the disciples managed to suppress this instinct, choosing to protect their companions at the first moment. In the end, they all reached the end of the corridor safely, though not without some close calls.
"Congratulations, everyone!" Two sprites bounced up and down nearby. "The Golden Treasury has been opened as a reward for your courage and trust in each other!"
The surrounding scene changed once again. The deep corridor disappeared, and a dazzling golden treasury rose from the ground, slowly opening its doors.
Directly facing the doors was a mountain of gold so high that its peak couldn't be seen. The disciples were almost blinded by this dazzling light, staring in amazement for a long while before walking in stiffly.
Although they marveled at the enormity of the gold mountain, gold and silver treasures weren't of much use to cultivators. Everyone was more interested in various magical tools and pills. Xiao Guan picked out a few magical treasures suitable for himself, then casually picked up a gold ingot from the gold mountain and tossed it in his hand. "I've heard that these things are especially valuable in the mortal world. Is it true that many people would break their heads trying to grab them?"
Zhao Jingchen nodded, "To mortals, they probably view these the same way we view top-grade magical treasures."
"Take two, take two." Xue Lang picked up a few gold ingots and stuffed them into his clothes. "I've heard that the food in the mortal world is especially delicious. Maybe one day when we go down the mountain for a mission, we can buy some tasty treats..."
As he spoke, he suddenly felt the ground tremble.
"What was that?" Xue Lang paused, uncertainly asking, "Did the ground move?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than the earth shook violently again. Some disciples lost their balance and fell on their backsides, looking up in bewilderment.
They saw the entire treasury shaking more and more severely. Then, accompanied by a terrifying roar, the massive gold mountain collapsed with a thunderous crash, and an enormous creature suddenly burst out from within!
The thing had a sheep's body and a tiger's head, with a ferocious face and a mouth full of sharp teeth. Its voice was like thunder - it was actually a Taotie!
And it was a Taotie at the peak of God Transformation stage!
Everyone was stunned. Xiao Guan turned to the sprites and shouted angrily. "How dare you deceive us!! So there's actually a deadly treasury after the nightmare corridor!!"
The two sprites were also dumbfounded, shaking their heads frantically in denial. "No, no, no, we didn't know there was a Taotie in here!!"
The Golden Treasury had a long history, and the gold inside had accumulated into a mountain over decades or even centuries. Who could have imagined that such a creature was buried underneath!
The Taotie was an ancient evil beast, violent and greedy by nature. Clearly, it had been living in this treasury for years and had come to see all the treasures as its own. Now, seeing a few small human cultivators daring to disturb its golden mountain, it became furious. Its blood-red eyes, as big as copper bells, glared at them fiercely, and it immediately spat out a huge ball of light!
The change happened too quickly. The power of a peak God Transformation stage was beyond anyone present to contend with. In that instant, everyone felt the fear of death, until a water-blue barrier suddenly opened up in front of them—
"Mount your swords!" Meng Chen shouted to everyone, "Quick, run!"
What he had thrown out was a top-grade defensive treasure that could block attacks below the Mahayana stage, but it could only hold for a moment. In this life-or-death situation, everyone mounted their swords and desperately rushed out. Seeing them about to escape, the Taotie's fury grew even more intense. It roared and charged, ramming its head against the blue barrier!
The collision of the top-grade magical artifact and the power of the God Transformation stage created a deafening noise that shook heaven and earth. All the disciples in the entire Taixuan Secret Realm felt this terrifyingly powerful energy fluctuation and looked towards this direction in shock and fear.
The Taotie's eyes were red with rage, each ram more vicious than the last. Soon, a crack appeared on the blue barrier, rapidly expanding, until finally, with a crash, it shattered completely!
The Taotie reared its head and roared, then its four legs suddenly exerted force as it charged in furious pursuit!
Its speed was terrifyingly fast, getting closer and closer to the sword-riding disciples. Just as it was about to pounce, ready to open its huge mouth and swallow everyone in one gulp, Meng Chen had no choice but to grit his teeth, turn his sword, and quickly form a protective barrier.
But if even the top-grade defensive treasure couldn't stop it, a barrier from a Nascent Soul cultivator was even less likely to stop this enraged beast. The fierce beast smashed through the barrier with its head and lunged to bite Meng Chen!
At this critical moment, a hand wrapped around Meng Chen's waist and gently pulled him back, while another hand extended smoothly, silently striking out a palm.
No one could see clearly how that palm was executed. They only saw a flash of cold white light, and the ferocious Taotie was already sent flying backwards, crashing into the ground and creating a long trench. It twitched its limbs a couple of times, then ceased to breathe.
With just one palm strike, the ancient evil beast at the peak of God Transformation stage was easily killed.
All the disciples stopped their swords and looked back in utter shock.
Meng Chen's body instantly stiffened. The hand around his waist had not yet let go, and even through his clothes, he could feel a chilling temperature that made one shudder.
And behind him, that familiar aura, like a sky full of cold snow.
Meng Chen finally slowly turned his head, meeting a pair of calm and profound eyes.
— Zhongli Jing.
——
Many people said Meng Chen was heaven's favored child, but only he knew that he was not at all "born in the clouds".
He was born in a most ordinary small village.
He was the child of mortal parents, the third in his family, with a younger brother and sister below him. When he was nine years old, a great drought struck. The fields yielded no harvest, and the family's stored grain gradually dwindled. They simply could not support a family of seven to continue living.
One day, his mother led him before a stranger and said to him, "Chen Chen, go with him."
Meng Chen didn't look at the man, but only stared unblinkingly at his mother.
The woman, after being gazed at by the child for a while, suddenly couldn't maintain her pretense of calmness. She hugged him tightly, crying and choking as she said, "It's mother who has wronged you, but your father and I really have no choice! We're a family, we can't all starve to death!"
Meng Chen patted the woman's back, wiped her tears with his small hands, and said softly, "Mother, I understand."
And he truly did understand. His eldest and second brothers were big and strong, able to help with work at home. His younger brother and sister were only one or two years old, too young to part with. Although he had tried his best to help at home, he ultimately wasn't of much use.
Being sold to exchange for food was perhaps his greatest value.
Everyone in the village knew that the Meng family's third child had always been the most sensible, neither noisy nor troublesome, clever and quick-witted. But he was thin and small, unable to do heavy work. However, his appearance was truly beyond reproach, as if carved from snow and jade, with a good temperament, not at all like someone raised in the village.
Meng Chen's mother was heartbroken. Although reluctant, she was forced to a desperate situation with no choice. Moreover, the man called Zhang Wu had promised them that the child would be sent to the city to be a companion for the young master of a wealthy family. He would have meat to eat at every meal and would go to live a good life, certainly not to suffer.
So she finally stroked her third son's face one last time and let others take him away.
Indeed, as the man called Zhang Wu had said, Meng Chen was sold into a wealthy family and had full meals to eat. But what Zhang Wu didn't say was that the master of that wealthy family had an unpredictable temper and loved to whip people.
Meng Chen was only nine years old and physically weak. After enduring a whipping, he almost couldn't be saved. That family's master was extremely displeased and promptly sold him to another family.
During these four years, Meng Chen was sold to many families. Perhaps born with bad luck, he never experienced any good days, but suffered all kinds of hardships. Later, he was sold to a place called "Huanyi Tower". He had never seen such a place before and didn't know what it was for, but from the eyes and expressions of the people coming and going, he realized that he couldn't stay here.
So, on his first day there, he pretended to be naive and obedient, extremely docile, then climbed out of the window and escaped in the middle of the night.
It was a cold winter, and a heavy snow fell that night. His body was still covered in old and new wounds, he was hungry and cold. He hadn't gone far after escaping when he stumbled and fell onto the snowy ground.
Looking at the snow falling endlessly from the pitch-black night sky, Meng Chen thought, this must be the end of his life.
He closed his eyes and slowly recalled his life in his mind, finding that the only memories worth recalling were the days he spent with his brothers and parents when he was still young.
But those memories were too distant, and even the faces of the people in those memories had become blurred.
Just as he was gradually falling asleep, a hand lifted him from the snow and gently cradled him.
He opened his eyes hazily and saw a man with white clothes and black hair, looking like an immortal from a painting.
That person was indeed an immortal. His face was handsome and indifferent, his eyes calm as he looked at him for a while, then asked, "Are you willing to become my disciple and follow me to cultivate immortality?"
The man's aura was cold, colder than this winter snow, but Meng Chen, nestled in his arms, strangely felt a hint of warmth.
He stretched out his hand, frozen blue-white, and firmly grasped the man's sleeve. "I am willing."
At that time, Meng Chen sincerely believed that the world of immortal cultivation was the place where his wandering would end.
And Zhongli Jing was the person who would give him a home.
