The Villain Is Soft and Clingy [Transmigration into a Book] - Chapter 5

“Mm, I came to watch you.” Xia Zhitao nodded. She glanced at the dead knot tied around Zhang Lan’s waist and could not help feeling a little puzzled. “How are you planning to pass the trial?”

“Oh, this?” Zhang Lan looked down, tugged at the rope without the slightest panic, and said, “Jump down, then climb back up along the rope.”

The white-robed master and Bearded Grandmaster also noticed them, and the two walked over together. Qin Zhi frowned and said, “What was this newcomer’s name again… In any case, her situation is somewhat strange.”

“She was already at Foundation Establishment when she first arrived. Her aptitude is passable,” Qin Zhi sighed and said. “Unfortunately, she can’t circulate spiritual power.”

Zhang Lan did not even pay attention to that so-called Master Qin Zhi. She stealthily tugged at the corner of Xia Zhitao’s clothes and quietly shuffled closer to her.

“That can’t be right. Why can’t she circulate spiritual power?” Bearded Grandmaster was very surprised. Avoiding the many disciples, he transmitted his voice to Qin Zhi through his sea of consciousness. “Could Zhang Lan have a furnace constitution?”

Qin Zhi: “…”

Furnace, my foot.

She shook her head with great firmness. “No. If she really had that kind of constitution, there’s no way I wouldn’t be able to tell.”

“This newcomer is fairly clever. In ordinary calligraphy and written lessons, she’s among the best,” Qin Zhi said. “It’s just that her spiritual power really won’t move.”

Xia Zhitao could not quite hold herself back and carefully asked, “If she really never manages to use spiritual power…”

Bearded Grandmaster hesitated somewhat, but Qin Zhi answered without any mercy at all, “Either she rolls down the mountain, or she goes to the outer sect.”

Xia Zhitao froze and subconsciously looked toward Zhang Lan. As a result, her little junior sister was rubbing against her shoulder, her voice utterly unconcerned. “As long as I pass the trial, won’t I be able to become an inner disciple like Tao—cough, like Senior Sister?”

Seeing this new disciple’s idle, careless manner, Qin Zhi felt displeased. She pointed at the cliff and reprimanded her. “Easy for you to say. If you don’t return before half the others, then tomorrow, pack your things and leave the mountain!”

Zhang Lan was clearly startled by the master’s scolding. She could not help shrinking back, then turned to look at Xia Zhitao, her big eyes staring without blinking, looking terribly pitiful.

Why are you looking at me…

Her little junior sister’s eyes were watery, and she simply looked at her without speaking, instantly making Xia Zhitao feel a little pressured.

She let Zhang Lan hang aggrievedly against her shoulder and hesitated for a long while, unsure of what to do. In the end, she could only test the waters and say, “Then… Junior Sister, do your best?”

That was exactly what Zhang Lan had been waiting for. Her small face immediately changed from cloudy to clear. She nodded heavily and said seriously, “I will!!”

She straightened up, pulled the rope, and walked toward the cliff. Xia Zhitao had roughly guessed her little junior sister’s method by now, but she still felt somewhat uneasy. “This is too dangerous.”

“What are you dawdling for?” Qin Zhi said helplessly. “If you’re going, hurry up.”

Zhang Lan nodded, turned her head, and smiled sweetly at Xia Zhitao. “Wait for me.”

Xia Zhitao opened her mouth, but the words at the tip of her tongue never came out. She could only watch as Zhang Lan held the rope and stood at the edge of the cliff.

She was such a small figure, standing beside that ten-thousand-zhang abyss. The cold wind around her was sharp and biting, whipping the corners of her clothes into disarray.

Xia Zhitao clenched the edge of her clothes. Unconsciously, she took a step outward, suddenly wanting to pull the other girl back, but it was already too late.

Zhang Lan let go of the rope in her hand and took a step forward. With no support beneath her feet, she suddenly stepped into empty air and fell into the abyss, her figure gradually blurring within the endless darkness until she disappeared completely.

As the rope was pulled, the bundle coiled on the ground rapidly shrank. In the end, the rope’s end snapped taut with a “pa,” tightly fastening around that protruding rock.

The rope was stretched so tight it looked as though it might snap at any moment. Xia Zhitao hurried forward and carefully used spiritual power to protect that rope holding a life in midair.

“This one is quite smart. Doing it this way is actually faster than quite a few people.” Compared with Xia Zhitao’s nervousness, Qin Zhi appeared much calmer.

She glanced at the disciples below, who were carefully building “steps” with spiritual power, then touched the rope with the back of her finger and said calmly, “That little girl should have reached the bottom by now. Now it depends on how she gets back up.”

Time passed second by second. The batch of outstanding disciples Qin Zhi had praised had already returned one after another. They rode their swords upward, stopped respectfully before Qin Zhi, and presented with both hands the wooden tablets Grandmaster had distributed at the bottom of the mountain.

Qin Zhi checked whether the wooden tablets were real, then looked at them with satisfaction. “Not bad.”

“Thank you, Grandmaster!” The disciples bowed and thanked her, then stood to the side. Although all of them stood properly and did not dare speak, their excitement was still hard to hide.

The first to come up were two people, a young man and a young woman. Both of their sword-control techniques were masterful, and it was actually difficult to tell who had arrived first.

“Wang Ze, Wang Yan,” Qin Zhi said with a smile, “I know you two like competing, but this time, even I can’t tell who won.”

Hearing their names, the first place finishers were actually a pair of siblings?

Xia Zhitao sized them up curiously. She saw the elder brother, Wang Ze, smile helplessly. As for the younger sister, Wang Yan, she puffed her cheeks and angrily glared at the brother beside her, muttering something under her breath.

The third was a woman named Mu Si. She did not have the flamboyance of the Wang siblings. Instead, she restrained her aura and stood quietly to the side.

With those few leading the way, more and more people came up. Seeing that many of the disciples who had gone down the mountain had already returned, the number was gradually approaching the halfway point Qin Zhi had set.

Xia Zhitao stared tightly at the edge of the cliff, her heart rising to her throat. Beside her, Qin Zhi was still counting slowly. The voice falling by her ear made her feel even more urgent. “Forty-seven, forty-eight. Out of one hundred disciples, removing half means there are only two spots left.”

That fast? Where is little Junior Sister? If she doesn’t get one of the last spots, what am I supposed to do?

Whether her little junior sister passed the trial or not had no conflict of interest with Xia Zhitao at all. In fact, if Zhang Lan really failed, then Xia Zhitao would even be spared the trouble of worrying about her other trials in the future.

But for some reason, Xia Zhitao suddenly panicked. Her thoughts were in chaos. She lightly bit her lower lip, her breathing quickening.

Just then, another disciple came up.

She was gasping for breath, the spiritual power in her body already nearly exhausted. She was clutching a hook condensed from spiritual power and had climbed up with great difficulty.

“Forty-ninth. Congratulations.”

Qin Zhi announced it unhurriedly. Her voice was as calm as always, yet to Xia Zhitao’s ears, it sounded like thunder exploding. “There is only one spot left.”

The forty-ninth disciple let out a long breath. She no longer cared about her disheveled clothes or the sweat dripping from her, and simply sat down on the ground, gulping down air.

Little Junior Sister might be in danger.

Anxious, Xia Zhitao could no longer care about the surprised gazes of the others. She quickly walked to Bearded Grandmaster’s side and carefully said, “Grandmaster, there’s only one spot left. Zhang Lan, she…”

Bearded Grandmaster shook his head helplessly and said softly to Xia Zhitao, “Although I was the one who brought Zhang Lan into the sect, if she cannot pass Master Qin’s trial, there is nothing I can do.”

“But, but…” Xia Zhitao was frantic and argued as best she could. “Little Junior Sister entered late. She had far less cultivation time than the other disciples. Isn’t that unfair to her—”

“Zhitao.” Bearded Grandmaster interrupted her.

“I have no other way. Although the situation is indeed unfavorable for Zhang Lan, if I were to make Qin Zhi take her as an exception, would that not be unfair to the other fifty who failed to be selected, and unfair to the disciple who truly comes up fiftieth?”

He let out a long sigh, patted Xia Zhitao’s shoulder, and said in a deep voice, “Although Yashan is the number one immortal sect under heaven, it has never accepted useless people. And among the countless matters of this world, is it not the same?”

Xia Zhitao knew she had misspoken. She lowered her head. “I’m sorry.”

Because her back was turned to the cliff, Xia Zhitao could not see the scene behind her.

She faintly heard Qin Zhi quickly step forward. That voice, which had always been calm, suddenly carried a slightly surprised rise and fall. “…Fiftieth. Congratulations.”

“What a coincidence,” the fiftieth disciple said as she patted the dust from her sleeves. Her voice was clear and bright, full of vitality. “Good thing I moved fast.”

That voice could not have been more familiar. Shocked and delighted, Xia Zhitao turned around and saw Zhang Lan standing perfectly fine not far from the cliff.

Unlike the other disciples, who were exhausted, her expression was normal, her breathing steady, and her complexion excellent.

“Hmph.” Qin Zhi gave a faint smile and handed the token back to her. “Nothing but good luck.”

Zhang Lan shrugged noncommittally. “Master, you promised. As long as I passed the trial, you can’t drive me away, right?”

Qin Zhi gave a slight nod. “Naturally.”

The rope had only been for show in the first place. Earlier, Zhang Lan had randomly tied a dead knot, and now, no matter what, she could not untie it. She was pondering over it when, unexpectedly, her shoulders suddenly sank, and someone threw herself straight into her arms.

Zhang Lan froze completely. She even forgot about untying the rope and said blankly, “Se-Senior Sister?”

Xia Zhitao held her whole body in her arms, circling Zhang Lan’s slender white neck. Her voice was both urgent and annoyed, but more than anything, it was joyful. “Really… It’s good that you came back. It’s good that you came back.”

Zhang Lan let the other girl hold her. Her small face was translucent and fair, her expression calm, but her jade-like ears had long since turned bright red, as if scorched by flames, burning with strands of heat.

“I made it in time, didn’t I?” Zhang Lan said softly, sniffling.

Xia Zhitao sighed, released Zhang Lan’s shoulders, and stood properly in front of her. Her posture was straight, and she truly did have a bit of an elder’s bearing.

She said earnestly, “You cut it far too close. I waited for so long and thought you wouldn’t make it. You also know the consequences. If you were assigned to the outer sect, trying to enter the inner sect again would be as difficult as climbing to heaven.”

Her little junior sister blinked at her and did not make a sound, simply listening to her obediently.

Did she actually take any of it in? Children in their teens inevitably had their own thoughts.

After thinking for a moment, Xia Zhitao added another reminder. “Next time, listen to the master’s instructions and set off together with the other disciples. With more time, you won’t have to rush so much.”

Zhang Lan said very seriously, “Mm.”

Then she lifted her head slightly. Her dense, long lashes fluttered, and her eyes were sparkling.

“Senior Sister, are you… caring about me?”