The Villain Is Soft and Clingy [Transmigration into a Book] - Chapter 18

Judging from the way Yashan’s masters had clearly been badly frightened by the Shuijing Lake incident, the restriction they set up was enormous. Everything within ten meters of Shuijing Lake’s shore was covered by the restriction. Forget disciples—even a mosquito could forget about flying in.

The distance was a little too far. Xia Zhitao strained to look for a long while, but never mind the person’s face or expression, even the figure’s back was blurry and indistinct.

That person wore thin black robes and stood coolly by the shore. Her waterfall-like long hair was lifted by the wind, like a fine-brush painting in ink, using the blue sky as a scroll while the brush spread out delicate branches and leaves.

Yashan loved pale colors. The masters and grandmasters wore white, and most disciples also wore light or bright-colored clothing. Dark colors were rare, let alone someone dressed entirely in black.

Xia Zhitao had been in the sect for so long, but she had never seen anyone wearing all black. Looking at the other person from afar, she pondered inwardly: That should be the person who saved me, right?

Human curiosity was endless. The more something was hidden and covered up, the more curious people became. They had to get to the bottom of it before they could feel at ease.

She stood beside the restriction for a long while, hesitating and wanting to go in, but unfortunately, her realm was too low. She could only watch eagerly as the woman in black circled Shuijing Lake twice, bent down to stir the lake water, then abruptly vanished.

In the end, she still failed to meet her. Xia Zhitao was very disappointed, and at the same time, she became even more curious about the woman in black’s identity.

Since her realm had been stagnating lately and she was too lazy to push through the rank, she found some time and specially made a trip to Wanzong Hall, where all the portraits of Yashan’s grandmasters and masters since the establishment of the sect were kept.

But after searching bitterly through thousands of portraits for half the day, she still could not find that woman in black. There was not even anyone dressed similarly. In the end, she could only return empty-handed.

She kept feeling that the person was very familiar, as if she had seen her somewhere before, but no matter what, she could not remember.

Xia Zhitao felt stifled inside. Even when cultivating, she was gloomy and unhappy, making Lu Guo unable to resist asking, “Junior Sister Xia, are you all right?”

Xia Zhitao sighed. “Mm, I’m fine… Thank you for your concern, Senior Sister.”

“You look so worried,” Lu Guo said. “Is something troubling you?”

After weighing it for a moment, Xia Zhitao said, “To be honest, I wanted to ask about someone.”

“Asking about people is easy. Just come to me,” Lu Guo said proudly, lifting her head. “I can be called Yashan’s know-it-all. In these vast thirteen peaks, aside from the outer disciples, there aren’t many people I don’t know!”

Xia Zhitao smiled. “Then I’ll have to trouble Senior Sister.”

“Black clothes, well-proportioned figure, wearing a beast-fang necklace.” Xia Zhitao thought for a moment, then added, “Very beautiful.”

The moment she said this, Lu Guo’s expression changed drastically. She grabbed Xia Zhitao’s hands. “Junior Sister Xia, did you see that person in Yashan?!”

Her reaction was too intense and startled Xia Zhitao. Subconsciously, she said, “No, I only happened to, uh… see a portrait.”

“Junior Sister, are you muddled?” Lu Guo’s expression was agitated. “The person who matches your description—no matter how I think about it, there’s only that evildoing, tyrannical, utterly heartless beast, right?”

What kind of person was this impressive, to make Lu Guo use so many idioms, and all of them completely derogatory?

“Huh?” The more Xia Zhitao listened, the more she felt something was wrong. Confused, she asked, “So who exactly is it?”

“—The Demon Sect Leader, Zhang Kuang!”

Lu Guo looked furious and spoke endlessly. “That hateful beast wears black from head to toe and is cruel by nature. Who even knows whether the thing around her neck is really a beast fang? Maybe she pried it straight out of someone’s mouth!”

Xia Zhitao froze at once.

Her mind was somewhat chaotic for a while. Lu Guo kept talking beside her about Zhang Kuang’s evil deeds, but Xia Zhitao did not hear a single word.

If what Lu Guo said was true, then the woman in black who saved her—wouldn’t that be Yashan’s number one public enemy, the Demon Sect Leader?

…Zhang Kuang came to Yashan and saved her?

No, no, what was she thinking! Xia Zhitao shook her head hard, trying to shake that completely unreliable guess out.

She was the Demon Sect Leader. She was neither family nor friend with Xia Zhitao, nor did they have any grudges. Why would she travel all the way here just to save someone? It was only a few tiny features. Maybe it was someone else.

And besides, she had previously even mistaken Master Qin’s white clothes for black. It was very possible that when she had been beneath Shuijing Lake, she had also seen wrong because the lighting was dim.

That explained it. Xia Zhitao breathed out, went along with Lu Guo’s words for a while, and after Lu Guo calmed down, she began cultivating again.

.

A few days later, the trial assembly arrived as scheduled.

Countless spiritual pearls lit up in crisscrossing patterns, illuminating Yashan until it was bright and clear. Yashan, usually cold and deserted, suddenly became lively. All the disciples had been gathered and brought to Yubai Peak.

The trial assembly was divided into two parts. The first part was a competition between the various peaks to determine the strongest disciple in each realm. The second part was the entry trial, in which two disciples led six newcomers or outer disciples into the Demonic Beast Forest as a team.

A restriction had long since been set up on the Baiyu Altar. A perfect circle at the center served as the combat field. Directly opposite it sat Yashan’s thirteen peak masters in a neat row, while the surrounding area was packed full of disciples from each peak.

“Listen carefully!”

Qin Zhi looked at the pile of little radishes in front of her and instructed, “There are twenty rounds in today’s competition, nearly a hundred matches in total. This is purely a contest between entry disciples and has nothing to do with you.”

As soon as these words came out, the newcomers below, who had originally been on edge, instantly became happy when they heard that they did not have to compete.

“You don’t need to follow me today. Go wherever you like, just don’t cause trouble,” Qin Zhi said, rubbing her forehead. “I still need to go check on my own disciples’ situation.”

After the newcomers shouted “Yes” in unison, Qin Zhi waved her hand and dismissed everyone.

Not every newcomer had a senior brother or senior sister guiding them. Wang Yan dragged her brother along and wandered around the venue rather boredly.

She saw Zhang Lan swiftly packing up her things, holding a bundle carefully wrapped in blue silk-dyed cloth in her arms. Wang Yan could not help feeling curious. “Zhang Lan, what’s that?”

Zhang Lan did not even lift her head. “Nothing.”

The other girl’s attitude was far too cold, and Wang Yan hit a wall. But she still could not quite give up and leaned closer. “Zhang Lan, Zhang Lan, where are you going—”

Before she could finish speaking, Zhang Lan had already swiftly packed everything up in a few neat movements. Hugging that small blue bundle, she ran off in a flash amid Wang Yan’s shouting.

They were still considered disciples who had not formally entered the sect, so their position in the venue was somewhat toward the corner. Zhang Lan hopped upward along the long white jade steps, her target locked and her destination clear: the waiting area of Shuijing Peak, one of Yashan’s thirteen peaks.

Bearded Grandmaster was currently giving instructions to the Golden Core disciples. From afar, he saw a little girl running over and gave an “aiyo” as he smiled. “Isn’t this Zhang Lan?”

He lifted his eyes and sized up this little disciple he had accidentally picked up at the foot of the mountain. The more he looked, the more satisfied he became. Stroking his beard, he said, “What, did you come looking for your senior sister?”

Author’s Note: Bearded Grandmaster: After all my calculations, I thought I’d picked up an obedient disciple from the foot of the mountain. In the end, I picked up an ancestor. Fine, that’s one thing, but this ancestor even set her sights on the cleverest and prettiest little girl on our peak. Truly, the world is declining, and people are not what they used to be!!