The Villain Is Soft and Clingy [Transmigration into a Book] - Chapter 13

Seeing that Zhang Lan had no reaction, Xia Zhitao took the opportunity to rub her head twice more. “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Her little junior sister was still dazed, looking at her without speaking. Xia Zhitao thought it over and realized something was wrong.

Could this child have been frightened?

She had stood nearby and watched for a long while just now. Not a single disciple who came out had been calm. They either cried until they became tearful messes, or their bodies swayed unsteadily. Who knew what terrifying things they had encountered?

She quickly reached out, cupped Zhang Lan’s cheeks, and lifted her face slightly, comforting her in a soft voice. “It’s all right now. Don’t be afraid. Those things were all fake.”

Zhang Lan finally moved. She blinked, her dense lashes lowering slightly. Then she reached out and covered the back of Xia Zhitao’s hand, whispering, “Mm. They were all fake.”

She was silent for a moment, then suddenly bloomed into a huge smile.

“That so-called inner demon wasn’t worth mentioning at all!”

Zhang Lan’s voice became much lighter, carrying a bit of smugness. “I easily destroyed it. Let’s see if it still dares to act recklessly in the future.”

Act recklessly? Do you think fighting an inner demon is the same as beating up bandits?

However, seeing how energetic her little junior sister looked, she should be fine now.

Xia Zhitao breathed a sigh of relief, withdrew her hand, and smiled. “Then congratulations on passing Peak Master Qin’s final trial. Next is the all-peaks trial assembly. As long as you rank near the top, you can choose which peak you want to enter.”

Zhang Lan puffed out her cheeks. “It would be nice if this illusion realm was the last trial.”

Like a thief, she furtively glanced around, then leaned close to Xia Zhitao’s ear and whispered, “I really don’t want to live in that little wooden hut anymore. Those other people get noisy every night. I can’t sleep at all.”

“Your courage has grown, huh? You dare take the chance to tattle to me?” Xia Zhitao reached out and poked her cheek. “I know you don’t like socializing, but you still have to participate when you should. The trial assembly is team-based. Be careful, or when the time comes, you won’t be able to find anyone to form a team with.”

Zhang Lan did not know, but Xia Zhitao had actually secretly asked around a little about her.

She heard that her little junior sister especially loved sleeping. Most disciples rested at nightfall, chatting a little before bed and such.

But this child was different. Whenever she had the chance, she climbed into bed as soon as the sun went down and even complained that others were too noisy. Once, after arguing with her roommates, she had hugged her quilt and bedding and rushed off to sleep under a tree, not even afraid of catching a cold.

“The trial assembly is still a long way off,” Zhang Lan protested softly. “When the time comes, I’ll just randomly join a team. There will always be someone left over anyway.”

Xia Zhitao once again experienced what it meant for the emperor not to be anxious while the eunuch was frantic—

That was Yashan’s trial assembly. It was closely connected to whether the new disciples could formally enter Yashan and begin cultivating proper techniques. It was not something to joke about!

Xia Zhitao had also participated in a trial assembly once and deeply understood how dangerous it was. However, last time, she had done so as a new disciple. In the blink of an eye, she was now going to lead a team as a senior sister.

“How can that do?” Xia Zhitao looked at Zhang Lan and said helplessly, “You still have to think carefully about how you’ll form a team when the time comes.”

Zhang Lan obediently answered, “I’ll listen to Senior Sister.”

Although she said that, Xia Zhitao still could not put her worries down. Zhang Lan was good in every way, except that she did not like socializing. After entering the peak for so many days, she still came and went alone.

As her senior sister, Xia Zhitao would definitely take care of her more, but the amount of time the two of them could meet was still limited. Many times, Xia Zhitao could not look after her.

At a time like this, if she had a good friend she could talk to and get along with, the situation would be much better.

While the two of them were talking, Qin Zhi supported someone and walked out of the grotto.

That person’s steps were unsteady, her face pale, and her sleeves covered in dust. She looked utterly wretched.

Eh, wasn’t that Wang Yan… one of the disciples from little Junior Sister’s batch who ranked near the top and was quite favored by Qin Zhi?

Xia Zhitao looked up in surprise and saw Wang Yan being supported by one arm by Qin Zhi. Even then, she still could not stand steadily. With a “thud,” she fell to her knees on the ground.

Wang Yan covered her face with her hands. Her body trembled nonstop, and she kept saying something under her breath, but because her words were too chaotic, no one could understand her.

Her elder brother Wang Ze had come out a little earlier. His face had also been deathly pale, and his steps unsteady. Only after resting for a while did he recover a little.

Now, seeing his younger sister kneeling on the ground, he hurried over and gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “It’s all right now. It’s all right.”

“Brother, I-I saw that day,” Wang Yan said, her face full of tear tracks and her voice choked. “Those people were wearing beast-head masks, and their skin was covered in blood markings… I was so scared. I was so scared…”

Wang Ze continued comforting her softly. Qin Zhi also sighed, patted Wang Yan’s shoulder, and said, “Rest for a while.”

Was this the meaning of the illusion realm trial? Xia Zhitao looked at the two of them and suddenly felt somewhat uncomfortable.

Unlike the gradual psychological therapy of the modern world, this illusion realm dug out the most hideous wounds hidden deep in people’s hearts, cut them open, and forced them to recall those most unbearable and painful memories.

“Facing one’s inner demon” sounded nice, but in truth, it was just a disguised way of tormenting people.

Scars needed time to heal in the first place, and some pain could never be repaired in a lifetime. Forcing someone to “face it” at a time like this would only tear the wound open even wider and make things worse.

The more Xia Zhitao thought, the farther her mind drifted.

Only when someone gently tugged the corner of her clothes did Xia Zhitao abruptly come back to herself. When she turned her head, she saw her little junior sister looking at her and asking quietly, “Senior Sister, um, what are you thinking about?”

Xia Zhitao had been watching those siblings for a long time, and Zhang Lan, standing beside her, could be said to have been anxious and uneasy.

She wanted to pull Xia Zhitao, but she did not dare disturb her. After hesitating for ages, in the end, she only tugged the corner of her clothes.

Zhang Lan felt terribly wronged. Xia Zhitao had only looked at her for a little while, but when it came to that pair of siblings, she had actually watched them for more than ten minutes. Were they really that nice to look at…

Xia Zhitao had no idea that in this brief moment of distraction, her little junior sister’s mind had already twisted through eighteen bends, coming up with a whole chaotic pile of thoughts.

She gave a somewhat absent-minded “mm,” then said to Zhang Lan, “I’m a little concerned about what those siblings mentioned. Beast-head masks, blood markings on their skin—”

“That is the mark of the Shura Path.”

Qin Zhi’s voice suddenly sounded. She folded her arms and said calmly, “But the Shura Path has already been exterminated. Not one was left. The remaining scattered outer branches also converted to other sects. It’s understandable that you don’t know.”

At this point, Wang Yan, who had finally managed to calm down with great difficulty, suddenly erupted. She bit her lower lip hard, her eyes bloodshot, and grabbed her wooden sword as if she were about to rush out. Her voice was heart-rending. “I-I’m going to kill them—!!”

Wang Ze beside her immediately restrained her, pinning her arm while gently comforting his younger sister in a bitter voice.

Only after Wang Yan finally calmed down again did he bow slightly to everyone and say, “Apologies. Our clan was… overnight, so she became so agitated. We’ve made everyone laugh.”

Although his words were vague, everyone understood what he meant.

They were merely thirteen- or fourteen-year-old youths. To suffer such a change overnight and lose all their family—no matter who it happened to, it would not feel good.

They should have been pampered young masters and young ladies, yet they had come to Yashan, unafraid of hardship as they passed trial after trial. In their hearts, there was probably also a knot they could not untie.

.

The day of the trial assembly gradually approached, and the newcomers’ training became increasingly harsh.

This time, when Yashan recruited disciples, they had started with tens of thousands of people. First, they had passed the most basic spiritual-root testing, then were evenly assigned under three peak masters for the next stage of study and selection.

Layer by layer, the best were chosen and the inferior eliminated. Qin Zhi only kept twenty-five people, including Zhang Lan, while the other two peak masters were relatively more lenient, but they still only kept a little over a hundred.

All the new disciples participating in this trial assembly, added together, amounted to just over two hundred people.

Qin Zhi was already famously strict, and now that the list had been settled, she became even more merciless toward the new disciples. Every day, their training and assignments could practically pile up into a small mountain.

The last time Xia Zhitao saw her little junior sister, Qin Zhi was holding a bunch of “bean sprouts” by their collars and throwing the disciples one by one down the cliff… It was simply inhumanly tragic.

After thinking it over, Xia Zhitao prepared pastries and injury medicine, found out where Master Qin was teaching, and specially crouched nearby to wait, wanting to secretly stuff Zhang Lan some things.

Early that morning, she found a hidden rock. After waiting for nearly an hour, her little junior sister’s figure suddenly appeared in the distance along the road.

Training ended this early today? Xia Zhitao was delighted. She quickly walked over and waved to her little junior sister. “Zhang Lan, over here!”

Who knew that Zhang Lan would lift her head, timidly glance at her, then suddenly turn and run away.

What was wrong with this awkward child?

Xia Zhitao hurriedly followed, but for some reason, her reckless little junior sister, who usually tripped even on flat ground, suddenly seemed to understand spiritual-power techniques. Her figure moved near and far, always maintaining a distance from Xia Zhitao.

The two chased and fled. Finally, Zhang Lan stopped, standing beside the silent lake and looking at Xia Zhitao.

“Senior Sister Xia,” she tilted her head slightly, her voice light and soft. “Were you looking for me?”

Xia Zhitao silently looked at the person in front of her. Then, with a sudden “zheng,” Jiyan abruptly left its sheath, carving a scorching arc through the air.

The cold edge of the sword pressed against her little junior sister’s neck. Xia Zhitao held the hilt, her voice turning colder, the smile gone from her face. “Why did you bring me to Shuijing Lake?!”

“Senior Sister Xia, why are you pointing a sword at me?” The little junior sister’s voice seemed somewhat aggrieved, and she even took a step forward. “I only wanted to spend some time alone with you.”

You think I still can’t tell? Your acting is terrible. When does little Junior Sister ever speak so pretentiously like this?

Xia Zhitao sneered, her long sword still pressed against the other’s throat. “Who are you?”

“Zhang Lan” stared expressionlessly at Xia Zhitao for a long while, then suddenly pulled out a smile.

That smile was truly somewhat eerie, like a marionette controlled by someone, so stiff it was unnatural.

“…You don’t need to know.”

She spoke slowly. The smile vanished from her face, and with an empty grasp of her hand, a pitch-black ram-horn dagger appeared in it. She swung it fiercely toward Xia Zhitao!

Author’s Note: Zhang Kuang: I’m wondering why one after another, everyone likes pretending to be this Venerable One. Looks like I should find an opportunity to take down Yashan after all.