I Failed to Reform the Protagonist [Transmigration] - Chapter 18

“Pei Yuzhi?”

The man in black repeated the three syllables softly, his voice raspy and low, carrying a trace of an unreadable tone.

The starlight and moonlight fell upon his white hair, giving it a delicate luster, like a thin layer of frost and snow. His features were as beautiful as a painting, yet the painting was rendered in gloomy, icy colors. He seemed to think of something and let out a faint smile; his blood-red eyes ebbed and flowed with emotion. In a voice as light as the moonlight he broke, he said, “Mmm. I know of you.”

Pei Jing frowned. When speaking to this person, he found it impossible to lower his guard. He replied simply, “Since I have given my name, shouldn’t you return the courtesy, Daoist friend?”

The man in black countered with a question: “Do you truly wish to know who I am?”

Pei Jing stated directly: “Yes.”

The man in black glanced at him with a cold gaze. His excessively gloomy, pale face remained expressionless as he said, “Perhaps in the future.”

Pei Jing was stunned. This was the first time he had encountered such a person, especially in this blood-soaked ghostly forest. No matter how he looked at it, something felt wrong. However, since the young man before him clearly didn’t want to elaborate, Pei Jing didn’t push further.

The man in black walked closer, stepping past the mangled corpses on the ground. His expression grew colder with every step as he stared toward the depths of the mountain forest. Because of his arrival, the entire forest became even more bizarre. Previously, it was merely eerie and bloody; now, one could clearly sense the terror and agitation of the monsters lurking in the depths.

Suddenly, a fierce gale swept through. The wailing of infants, sounding like the shrieking of cats, rose and fell—grotesque, terrifying, and ear-piercing.

Pei Jing thought to himself: These monsters really don’t know the meaning of death.

But before he could locate the source of the sound, the trees in the forest began to writhe like living things. The leaves turned blood-red and detached from the branches, dancing through the sky. The earth turned scarlet, and the ground was littered with dark, sinister corpses. The blood-red, maple-like leaves wove dazzling streaks of red light in the air. Though beautiful, the moment they touched the ground, they dissolved into blood-water, corroding the grass.

One touch from these leaves meant death. Before Pei Jing could react, he turned to find an umbrella already held over his head, shielding him from the rain of red leaves.

He tilted his head and saw the young man’s profile—his nose as straight as a jade mountain, his face handsome yet icy.

The surroundings were shrouded in an ominous crimson; the night was heavy, and the scarlet earth was pelted by the rain of red leaves. Amidst the chaos, the young man’s silver hair and his long, pale hand holding the umbrella were the only bright spots.

This scene felt strangely familiar.

A poem of wind and snow on a broken bridge; a tapestry of blood and rain in a mountain forest.

Pei Jing whispered, “Thank you.”

The man in black didn’t look at him. He walked forward slowly, his black robes sweeping past the scattered red leaves and the flowing blood. Inside the forest, ghosts howled and laughed with shrill voices. Yet, under the umbrella, it felt as if all sound had been shut out; only the two of them walked quietly between heaven and earth.

Seeing him head toward the heart of the forest, Pei Jing asked, “Are you here deep at night to slay the demon as well?”

The man’s fingers tightened slightly on the umbrella handle. “No. I am here to take something.”

Pei Jing was taken-back. “Something from that monster?”

“Yes,” the man replied. A faint smile appeared on his lips—distant and ethereal, like the mist in the woods. “I need it alive. So, I’m afraid you won’t be able to kill that creature.”

Pei Jing’s gaze turned cold, and he frowned. “My apologies, but this demon has committed countless atrocities and murdered many. I will not let it go today.”

Expecting this answer, the man in black lowered his eyelashes and said calmly, “But you are not my match.”

Pei Jing didn’t want to start a fight. If an ordinary person said this to him, he wouldn’t believe it. But facing this man, Pei Jing’s heart sank. “Let’s find out.”

The man in black, having anticipated his response, asked coldly, “Is it worth it?”

Pei Jing: “What?”

The man leaned in, his aura as cold as deep snow, a bloody murderous intent suppressed beneath the surface. He spoke word by word: “To make an enemy of me for the sake of those mortals at the foot of the mountain who are nothing to you? You should know that if you anger me, I truly will kill you.”

He raised the umbrella higher. The bright moonlight flowed over his fingers—well-defined, strangely white—and his eyes, pure as blood-jade, were clear and cold.

Pei Jing believed him. This man truly could kill him. Yet, for some reason, he wasn’t afraid. He felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity and trust toward this stranger, as if they had met a long time ago.

Pressing his hand against the Lingyun Sword, the snow-robed cultivator frowned. “It’s not for them.”

The man in black’s fingers tightened. He let out a very low, ambiguous chuckle. “Then for what? Is it the ancestral teachings of Yunxiao to slay demons, or your own self-righteous sense of justice?”

Pei Jing: “…” He was a bit angry, but he really couldn’t beat him.

The man’s expression turned cold again. He looked ahead and said with a half-smile, “Put away your unnecessary justice. Otherwise, you won’t even know how you died.”

Pei Jing’s temper vanished. He had been famous since youth, and his path of cultivation had been smooth sailing. It was quite a novel experience to be lectured like this. He didn’t know whether to be angry or to laugh. Deciding to stop suppressing his true nature, the elegant, snow-robed youth smiled at him. “Is that so? But I think I’ll live to be a hundred.”

Unsurprised, the man in black lowered his eyes and simply said, “I hope so, too.”

Pei Jing initially thought it was sarcasm, but upon closer reflection, it didn’t seem like it. The man’s voice was soft, carrying a trace of emotion beneath the cold detachment.

What a strange person.

The red leaves continued to flutter, and the blood-aura stained the earth. After sensing that the man truly harbored no ill intent, Pei Jing paused and spoke seriously.

“Perhaps the ‘Dao’ we follow is simply different. Since its founding, Yunxiao has upheld the righteous path. As the Head Disciple of Yunxiao, I must lead by example. Slaying demons is a responsibility, even a duty. Moreover, I am admired by the world; behind such honor must come the willingness to bear the weight of it.”

Besides, I’m invincible. Of course, Pei Jing was too embarrassed to say that last part out loud.

They reached the end of the forest. The rain of red leaves stopped. Looking back, the path was silent and grim—a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. The man in black closed the umbrella. His sleeve slid down slightly, revealing a pale wrist like a river of white jade. He didn’t agree or disagree with Pei Jing’s words; he simply stood there quietly.

At the end of the forest lay a cave, its entrance shrouded in an eerie green light.

The silver-haired man stopped and pointed ahead. “Follow the cave. It is in the depths.”

Pei Jing was confused. “You’re not going in?”

The man looked at him. His face was pale and handsome, his silver hair outshining the frost. At this moment, there was no emotion in his eyes. “I’ll let you kill it.”

Pei Jing hadn’t expected him to give up just like that. He had prepared for the worst. After a moment of hesitation, he asked, “What is it that you want? If it’s the inner core or something similar, I can retrieve it for you before I kill it.”

“There is no need.”

The man pulled his hood back up, concealing himself in the shadows. Just as he had arrived, he turned to leave. With a single step, he vanished.

Pei Jing’s mouth twitched. “Could it be he was actually moved by my speech?” It seemed impossible.

He stood at the cave entrance and looked back one last time. The moon and stars reflected each other; the blood and soil were mottled. In such a bizarre scene, the journey they just shared had felt strangely poetic because of that man.

Now, it was time to face the monster.

Inside the cave, a thick smell of blood hung in the air. The path was muddy and difficult to traverse. Pei Jing took out a glowing pearl to light the way. Bats hung from the ceiling, and a strange resistance hindered his steps.

In the center of the cave was a pool of blood. It was filled with infants—plump, white, and so pale their skin looked like it would burst at a touch. They huddled together like giant maggots. Small red streams flowed down the cave walls into the pool.

A woman crouched by the pool. Her hair was black, long enough to trail on the ground. She was humming a raspy, unpleasant, and eerie tune. Her hand was stirring the blood pool; she hadn’t noticed Pei Jing’s arrival.

By the time she sensed danger, Pei Jing’s sword was already against her back.

Her body stiffened, and then her head snapped around—a full 180-degree turn. She was grotesque; she had no facial features. Instead, her head was covered in over a dozen faces, overlapping and distorted. As she turned, seven or eight faces from the outer layer peeled off, shrieking as they lunged at Pei Jing.

Pei Jing didn’t even need to exert much effort. With a thrust of his sword, the ghostly faces vanished into ash.

Realizing it was outmatched, the creature screeched with its remaining faces. Its hair surged, wrapping itself into a black cocoon.

“Do you think that will work?” Pei Jing asked.

The Lingyun Sword swept across, tearing through the cocoon of black hair. The creature’s clothes burst open, revealing that it wasn’t a human body at all, but a mass of hundreds of stacked faces—suffering, struggling, wailing. Every face was a mask of terror. The “body” disintegrated instantly, and a thousand human faces began scurrying everywhere in the cave.

Pei Jing lowered his eyes. Ice-blue light erupted from the tip of his sword, illuminating the cave as bright as day. His long hair billowed, his snow-white robes fluttered. In the vast spiritual energy, he looked like a celestial being.

“Not a single one shall escape.”

The cave was filled with unending screams. He had placed a barrier at the entrance; there was no way out. A thousand wicked faces turned to ash amidst their desperate wails. When the light faded, a single object fell to the ground with a thud. It landed at Pei Jing’s feet, its evil spirit already dead. It slowly condensed into a mask.

It had dark eyebrows, red lips, and a touch of rouge. It looked like the face of a beauty, eyes closed in peace. Pei Jing knelt and picked it up; the mask emitted a chilling aura he had never felt before.

“What is this?” It looked more eerie the longer he stared.

Pei Jing put the mask into his storage space and searched the cave again. His gaze fell back onto the infants, and he slowly noticed something wrong.

“Why do these infants all look almost identical?”

No infants had been reported missing near Yunlan City. As the old man from Wood Village said, there were barely any women, so where did all these babies come from? Pei Jing’s gaze grew cold and thoughtful. “Perhaps I should ask the person who kidnapped the brides.”

Pei Jing descended the Yunlan Mountains, returning to his youthful disguise. By the time he reached Wood Village, it was already the next morning.

In the courtyard, the old man was cutting wood. When he saw Pei Jing, his eyes widened. He dropped his knife in disbelief. “How did you get down from the mountain? Did you stay up there all night?”

Pei Jing spat out the blade of grass he was chewing and smiled. “That’s right.”

The old man’s face twitched. He sighed, thinking that kids these days really weren’t afraid of death.

Suddenly, Pei Jing asked, “Elder, when is your second son coming back?”

The old man didn’t know why he was asking, but he counted the days. “Soon. About a month from now.”

Pei Jing grinned at him. “Great. I’ll come visit you then.”

The old man was confused. “Why come see me? You’re a cultivator; what do you care about this dump?”

Pei Jing’s smile was unreadable as he glanced at the house behind the man. “Oh, I care a lot.”

If he wasn’t mistaken, many women were imprisoned beneath the second son’s house—though, given the spirits in the forest, they were likely long dead. He couldn’t alert the enemy now; he had to wait for the son to return to clear up some lingering doubts.

When he returned to Yunlan City, he wasn’t scolded by the senior brother in charge, which was a surprise. He later found out that Xu Jing had covered for him. Pei Jing found the kid more and more likable. He sighed to himself: They’re both new disciples, so why is Chu Junyu so difficult?

Xu Jing was horrified to hear he spent the night in the mountains. “How many ghosts did you see in there?!”

Pei Jing gave a vague answer. “It was alright.”

In any case, the most evil ghost was now gone. After the monster died and he left the cave, the forest immediately withered. The blood in the soil evaporated overnight, the ground loosened to reveal countless remains, and the eerie ganoderma all decayed. The forest had originally been a mass grave; with the monster gone, the extreme evil energy dissipated.

Fifteen days passed in the blink of an eye. The ganoderma Pei Jing “borrowed” from the Toad Spirit was enough to finish the task. Sitting atop a Cloud Crane, however, his mind was heavy. The matter of the Yunlan Mountains wasn’t fully resolved, but he needed to return to Yunxiao first.

Tianqian Peak was perpetually solitary, a place where even birds found it hard to cross. His return caused the peach blossoms before the palace gate to bloom in welcome.

Pei Jing returned to his old living quarters and took out a jade pendant. It was pitch black and translucent, with the large character for “Ghost” engraved on it.

He had won this from Ji Wuduan in a bet long ago. He didn’t understand these bizarre, occult matters, but as the Young Master of the Ghost Realm, Ji Wuduan certainly would.

Regardless of whether Ji Wuduan wanted to see him or not, Pei Jing was going to have to pay a visit to the Ghost Realm.