Villainous Junior Chapter 44
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 44: Heart-Devouring
Meng Chen appeared calm and composed in front of Bai Bi, but it was impossible to say that there wasn't a slight tremor in his heart.
However, that tremor was only momentary, the ripples dissipating before they could spread.
Whatever feelings Zhongli Jing had for him, whether as master and disciple or anything else, didn't matter anymore—Zhongli Jing's purpose in taking him as a disciple hadn't changed, nor had the fact that in the previous life, he wanted to kill him to achieve enlightenment. Including this life, the time when Zhongli Jing would make the firm decision to eliminate him was not far off.
He frowned slightly, deep in thought, and then belatedly realized that this path out of the dungeon seemed much longer than the one they had taken to enter.
Meng Chen suddenly halted his steps and looked around. Indeed, how could this still be the Taixuan Sect's dungeon?
An elegant palace shrouded in an eerie atmosphere, ghostly blue flames dancing in mid-air, decorative pieces made from white skulls...
This was clearly the place he had seen in his dream last time!
His sword rang out as it was unsheathed, but just as he grasped it in his hand, a wave of heat mixed with stabbing pain exploded throughout his body. Meng Chen's wrist trembled, and he powerlessly released his grip on the sword.
—The Silk Binding had flared up.
The Silk Binding was not only a love gu but also paralyzed one's strength to some extent, weakening cultivation and reaction speed. As Meng Chen desperately reached out to pick up his sword, pale gray mists silently surged from all directions, layer upon layer entangling his limbs, excitedly dragging him to an ornately carved pillar and binding him tightly.
As the gray mist dissipated, Yin Chi appeared before him with a smile, reaching out to caress his reddened cheek.
"Senior Brother," he smiled with childlike joy and satisfaction, "Look, this time, I can finally touch you."
Meng Chen abruptly turned his head to avoid his palm, closing his eyes in disgust, struggling to suppress the turmoil of the curse within his body. Yin Chi admiringly observed his restrained expression for a while, but in the end, couldn't bear to see him suffer so much, so he controlled the gu to temporarily lie dormant.
"Senior Brother, I didn't mean to make you feel so uncomfortable," he said, taking out a clean handkerchief and carefully wiping away the cold sweat that had seeped from Meng Chen's temples while cautiously apologizing, "It's because Senior Brother is too formidable. If I didn't do this, I couldn't catch you."
Meng Chen was too tired to comment on his ridiculous words. After closing his eyes to slightly alleviate the pain, he finally looked up at Yin Chi.
It had been a long time since Yin Chi had seen Meng Chen face to face like this. Now, even though Meng Chen wasn't doing anything, just looking at him with that cold gaze made an uncontrollable, eager tremor run through Yin Chi's body. He couldn't help but move closer and call out, "Senior Brother..."
"I don't deserve that title," Meng Chen mocked, "I'm not capable enough to accept a ghost clan member as my junior brother."
Yin Chi was slightly stunned and said softly, "You knew?"
Meng Chen indifferently averted his gaze, as if tired of looking at his face.
Earlier, after Yin Chi had invaded his dream to place the curse, he had known.
Because this situation hadn't occurred in his previous life, the unusual change had alerted Meng Chen. Afterwards, he immediately went to the library to consult a large number of books and discovered an interesting term—Ru Gou.
Ru Gou was a technique unique to the ghost clan, and ordinary ghost cultivators couldn't use it. Only those with royal ghost lineage could employ it. Lower-level Ru Gou techniques allowed one to enter others' dreams with their spiritual form, while higher-level Ru Gou techniques could turn the virtual into reality, replacing heaven and earth, imperceptibly bringing the target into the netherworld, hence the name "Ru Gou".
(TL: "入彀" (rù gòu) is a Chinese idiom that literally means "to fall into a trap" or "to be ensnared.")
"I didn't want to do this originally," Yin Chi lowered his eyes and murmured, "Senior Brother, before this, even I didn't know that ghost clan blood flowed in my body... and impure blood at that."
Yin Chi was an orphan Meng Chen had picked up from the mortal world, who knew neither his parents nor his background since childhood. Later, he was accepted into the Taixuan Sect, entered the immortal path, and further severed his worldly ties, never thinking about turning back to seek his parents.
However, a year ago, his biological father had actively sought him out. His father turned out to be the Ghost King of the Underworld; and his background was both cliché and pitiful: he was a hybrid born from a one-night stand between the Ghost King and a human woman. His father looked down on him, his mother was too afraid to keep him, so he was heartlessly abandoned at birth. It was only due to luck and his powerful bloodline that he managed to survive to that age. In the end, the Ghost King's pure-blooded sons fought for power, killing each other off. The Ghost King, heartbroken, fell gravely ill. He wanted to sire another heir to inherit the throne but lacked the ability. At his wit's end, he suddenly remembered his hybrid son.
After hearing the Ghost King's tearful account, Yin Chi merely laughed coldly, tossed out a "dream on" and left.
Someone who had discarded him like an old shoe from the beginning, now pretending to want to make amends, wouldn't move him; it only made him feel sick.
Moreover, he didn't care at all for the Ghost King's throne, lordship of the Underworld, or supreme power.
He only wanted to stay at Tianji Peak, to stay where his senior brother was.
But things didn't go as he wished. He discovered that no matter what he did, he couldn't win his senior brother's heart. Not to mention the constant emergence of ill-intentioned people, one after another, all wanting to compete with him.
Seeing Meng Chen slipping from his control, growing further and further away, Yin Chi finally realized that only by possessing absolute power could he make his senior brother completely his own.
"So you willingly became a ghost cultivator, abandoning your status as an upright disciple," Meng Chen nodded and said, "I truly admire that."
"Senior Brother, you needn't mock me like this," Yin Chi smiled. "I know you've always been upright and honorable, looking down on my actions. But I'm different from you. I've never had any sense of righteousness or morality in my heart. As long as I can achieve my goal, I'm willing to do anything."
"So this is your goal?" Meng Chen said, "Bringing me here to play house with you?"
"It's not playing house," Yin Chi told him with unusual seriousness. "Senior Brother, I'm serious about you. I want to marry you."
Meng Chen's gaze was full of incredulity.
"I'm about to inherit the throne. When that time comes, Senior Brother, you'll be my consort," Yin Chi said eagerly. "The Underworld is its own domain, no worse than any place in the three realms. As long as you want something, I can get anything for you, and I absolutely won't let anyone bully you. Isn't staying here with me good?"
"It sounds nice," Meng Chen continued as Yin Chi's eyes suddenly lit up, "But I don't like it."
The light in Yin Chi's eyes dimmed bit by bit.
"What do you like?" he asked, enunciating each word. "You like being with Xue Lang, is that it?"
Meng Chen remained silent.
"Senior Brother, don't even think about it," Yin Chi leaned in close, like a venomous snake flicking out its dangerous tongue, whispering in his ear, "You'll never see him again in this life. You'll spend the rest of your days with me, only, with, me."
Meng Chen: "If I'm unwilling, do you plan to keep me tied up like this for the rest of my life?"
"You will be willing," Yin Chi said gently. "Senior Brother's will is strong; even the Silk Binding couldn't subdue you. I truly admire that. But it doesn't matter, we have one more thing we can try."
As he spoke, like a child showing off a treasured collection, he gently waved an incense stick in front of Meng Chen's eyes.
"The Bone-Melting Heart-Devouring Incense, Senior Brother should have heard of it, right?" He lightly snapped his fingers, and the incense began to burn. White smoke curled upwards, and a unique, sweet fragrance gradually spread through the air.
Meng Chen's pupils gradually lost focus, the white smoke and Yin Chi before him began to blur bit by bit, finally disappearing.
When he next had sensation, someone was viciously whipping him.
He opened his eyes to find himself rolling on the ground, clutching his head. Around him were a group of silent servants, and before him was a pair of gold-trimmed boots. The owner of the boots was a pot-bellied man, wielding a horsewhip, striking him heavily again and again.
"Scream! Why don't you scream!" The man grew increasingly angry as he whipped, lifting his foot to kick him violently, sending him tumbling. "You dog slave, are you mute? Why don't you scream? Why don't you cry and beg me!?"
Meng Chen raised his hand to block an incoming lash of the horsewhip, and immediately a fiery red welt appeared on his exposed forearm.
He suddenly remembered where this was.
This year he was nine, having just been sold by his parents to this wealthy household. The master of the house was violent, often whipping servants for fun, and particularly enjoyed hearing their screams and pleas for mercy. Meng Chen was the weakest one, but he never made a sound when beaten. The less noise he made, the angrier the master became, whipping him even more viciously.
The whip came slashing through the air again, this time aimed at his face. Meng Chen instinctively raised his hand to block it, but someone else's hand was faster, grabbing the whip and flinging it back, sending the middle-aged man flying.
He looked up and saw a smiling, beautiful face.
"Don't be afraid, no one will beat you again," the person extended their hand gently, coaxing, "Will you come back with me?"
Meng Chen stared at this face, feeling it was somehow familiar, but unable to recall why. So he cautiously asked, "Who are you?"
The person replied, "My name is Yin Chi."
He went with Yin Chi. The other brought him to a magnificent palace, many times larger than that wealthy household. Yin Chi treated him very gently, healing the various wounds on his body, dressing him in soft, warm cotton clothes, and feeding him delicious food he had never seen before.
Gradually, he let down his guard and settled comfortably into life in this palace. One day, Yin Chi took his hand and asked gently, "Meng Chen, will you marry me?"
He was startled and turned to look at a bronze mirror beside him, discovering that he had somehow transformed from a child into a young man.
But he still asked in confusion, "Marry?"
"Yes. After we marry, you can stay with me forever," Yin Chi patiently explained. "We can live here together forever. You won't have to worry about being cold or hungry, or about someone whipping you, or being homeless on snowy days. I will protect you, take care of you, and never let anyone bully you again."
This way... Meng Chen thought, seemed quite good.
So he nodded, "Alright. Let's get married."
...
Yin Chi watched as the young man's expression became vacant in the white smoke of the Bone-Melting Heart-Devouring Incense, and his lips curved into a slight smile.
The Bone-Melting Heart-Devouring Incense could create illusions based on the user's intentions, trapping the subject within, unable to distinguish between illusion and reality.
Yin Chi had investigated Meng Chen's background and knew he had suffered greatly in his childhood. So he recreated Meng Chen's childhood experiences, then inserted himself into the illusion, rescuing him from suffering and torment, keeping him close and caring for him tenderly. Over time, Meng Chen would naturally lower his guard, seeing him as the closest and most trusted person, and eventually as the most intimate lover.
Meng Chen's willpower was exceptionally strong, beyond ordinary people. Even the Bone-Melting Heart-Devouring Incense might not be able to completely subdue him in just one or two attempts.
But it didn't matter. He could light one every day, making Meng Chen repeat this illusion over and over again.
Five days, ten days, a hundred days... By then, Meng Chen would completely lose the ability to distinguish between illusion and reality, and then follow his words, staying forever in the Netherworld, thoroughly becoming his possession.
Thinking of that scene, the smile at the corner of Yin Chi's lips kept expanding, his eyes bursting with intense expectation and joy, as he impatiently entered Meng Chen's illusion once again.
In the illusion, he and Meng Chen were about to get married.
Even though everything was still an illusion at present, Yin Chi was not willing to be careless at all. He ordered his subordinates to prepare the most solemn ceremony, and chose the best embroiderers to sew two sets of bright red wedding clothes. On the wedding night, after drinking the wedding wine, he eagerly entered the bridal chamber, trembling as he lifted Meng Chen's bridal veil.
Under the veil was a flawless face like jade, with eyes like water, gentle and clear, lowered as if containing countless affection.
He was unable to control himself under the other's gaze, and couldn't help but blurt out that form of address. "Senior Brother..."
Meng Chen didn't find it strange at all, just smiled faintly and reached out to pull him.
Yin Chi's heart was beating so fiercely it almost leapt out of his chest. His lips were dry, his eyes burning almost red, his breath trembling as he allowed Meng Chen to grab his collar and lean towards him.
The next moment, a chill went through his chest, and his violently beating heart suddenly stopped.
He looked down and found a dagger had been plunged hilt-deep into his heart.
"Happy to marry me, aren't you?" Meng Chen was still smiling faintly, his fingers gripping the knife handle, telling him gently, "I feel the same."
"I've been waiting for so long, so long, to kill you with my own hands on this day."
Impossible...
Yin Chi stared blankly at the face before him, staggering back a step.
Impossible!
Senior Brother should have fallen in love with him already, why would he do this to him!?
Something must have gone wrong... something must be wrong!
With reddened eyes, ignoring the intense pain in his chest, he asked word by word: "Why? Senior Brother, don't you like me anymore?"
Meng Chen tilted his head, looking at him with a very strange gaze. "Haven't I told you before?"
"Yin Chi, I will never like you."
"Even in an illusion, I will never like you."
"No——!!"
Yin Chi's heart felt as if it had been torn apart by hand. He shouted loudly, opening his eyes with a face full of despair and pain. His gaze was lost for a good while before regaining focus.
Then he was startled to find that the situation was not right.
He was actually bound to a pillar by a chain, while Meng Chen had already freed himself from restraint and was standing in front of him, holding a lit incense in his hand.
"Junior Brother." The young man's eyes revealed mockery as his thin lips parted slightly, "How does the taste of the Bone-Melting Heart-Devouring Incense feel?"
