I Failed to Reform the Protagonist [Transmigration] - Chapter 7

After walking only a few steps forward, Pei Jing spotted the well.

Surrounded by withered grass and overgrown weeds, the abandoned well looked quite eerie under the overlapping shadows of the trees. The bottom was a void of pitch black; nothing could be seen.

Pei Jing braced himself against the edge, leaning half his body over as he called out, “Chu Junyu, are you in there?”

There was no reply.

Pei Jing picked up a branch at his feet, and with a flick of his finger, he lit it. Holding the torch, he leaned further in and called again: “Chu Junyu!”

A teenager’s indifferent voice drifted up from the well.

“Shut up.”

Pei Jing finally saw the situation below.

Chu Junyu was standing in the center of the well, looking up. The heavy firelight reflected in his eyes, tinting them with a hint of crimson that looked exceptionally demonic—eyes like pale glass.

Pei Jing thought to himself: This kid really has a future. To be in this kind of mess and still act so arrogant. He’s only just entered the Foundation Establishment stage; there’s no way he could fly out of there. Does he even realize who’s the only one who can help him right now?

Clinging to the mouth of the well, Pei Jing said in a tone that sounded a bit like he was fishing for credit: “I saw those four acting suspicious just now and followed them secretly. As expected, they weren’t planning anything good. I just didn’t expect the person they were targeting was you—how about it? I dressed as a ghost to scare them off for you. Does that count as saving your life once?”

Chu Junyu said nothing. He stared up at him in silence, showing neither joy nor sorrow.

Pei Jing grinned again: “Do you remember me? I’m Zhang Yiming.”

Pei Jing continued, “Last time you carried me across the bridge; this time I’m rescuing you from a well. We’re even now. Wait a second, I’ll go find a rope.”

Chu Junyu finally spoke again: “Do you enjoy meddling in other people’s business that much?”

Pei Jing: “…What?”

Chu Junyu pursed his lips, then lowered his gaze, his voice cold and flat: “Never mind.”

Pei Jing: “???”

Pei Jing looked around and tore down a few vines about two fingers thick from a tree, tying them together into a very long “rope.” Returning to the mouth of the well, he dropped one end down and shouted, “Catch it! I’ll tie the other end to a tree, then you can use it to climb up. Understand?”

The vines fell into the well. Chu Junyu reached out and slowly grabbed them. His expression was hidden in the interplay of light and shadow—shifting, mottled, and surreal.

Once Pei Jing had secured the rope around a tree, he gave it a tug and felt resistance.

The youth’s clear, bright voice called from above. “I’ve tied it. Come on up!”

Chu Junyu looked up.

The boy at the mouth of the well had a fair, tender face with two dimples. His eyes were dark and clear, seemingly glowing when he smiled.

Outside the well was the cool breeze and bright moon, but the world inside the well was an absolute slaughterhouse of an Asura hell.

Ghosts bred in the darkness, and poisonous snakes coiled; this grave, prepared for a murder, had now lost its meaning.

The murderous intent in his heart, which had needed blood to be appeased, dissipated because of that single look.

Seeing that he hadn’t moved for a long time, Pei Jing urged him: “Did you hear me?”

Chu Junyu lowered his head and said, “I heard you.”

“Then hurry up and come out!”

Chu Junyu braced his feet against the edge of the well and began to climb. However, his fingers were searching for a specific point. One, two, three—his eyes turned cold, and his fingers suddenly yanked.

A wave of cold air surged along the vine.

Pei Jing was outside waiting for him to emerge. Seeing him almost at the top, something suddenly went wrong.

There was a faint sound—the snapping of a vine. At the spot where it was tied to the tree, a knot had accidentally slipped loose.

Caught in mid-air with nothing to hold onto, Chu Junyu plummeted straight down right before Pei Jing’s eyes. Falling from this height, he would be crippled if not killed.

Stunned, Pei Jing reacted instinctively and grabbed Chu Junyu’s hand. But before he could even process it, a powerful, irresistible force yanked his entire body downward.

The rim of the well wasn’t high, and he tumbled straight in.

Pei Jing was utterly bewildered. He couldn’t understand why the vine had snapped or why he couldn’t hold onto a mere child.

As they fell, Pei Jing hugged Chu Junyu, using his hand to protect the back of the boy’s head. However, his current body was also that of a youth—even thinner than Chu Junyu’s—and he couldn’t protect him much at all.

“Don’t be afraid, I’ll protect you,” Pei Jing said with difficulty.

Chu Junyu seemed to smile slightly. He reached out and hugged Pei Jing back. “Alright then.”

Just before they hit the ground, Pei Jing shouted, “Close your eyes!”

Expressionless, Chu Junyu slowly closed his eyes, which were filled with hidden thoughts. The scent of green grass and early snow from the other boy was just as he had imagined.

Pei Jing couldn’t expose his cultivation level, so he had no choice but to act as a human cushion for Chu Junyu.

Although the body of a Golden Core cultivator is different from that of a mortal, he still felt a surge of intense pain when his back slammed into the cold, hard floor of the well. It hit him so hard he saw stars.

How long had it been since he’d felt such pure physical pain? This move was a total loss.

Chu Junyu stood up off of him and asked, “Are you alright?”

Pei Jing propped himself up with one hand and replied, “I’m okay. I’m thick-skinned. Wait!” His gaze locked onto a single point as the faint moonlight illuminated the area behind Chu Junyu.

On the wall of the well, a pale hand covered in cadaveric spots was slowly emerging—trembling and grotesque. And at the bottom of the well, a poisonous snake was coiling.

Pei Jing’s scalp went numb. You’ve got to be kidding me.

He was terrified of snakes!

Snakes were his psychological trauma. In his modern life, he had been bitten by one when he was very young, and ever since then, he would lose his mind at the sight of one.

What kind of cursed well was this? First ghosts, and now venomous snakes.

Chu Junyu started to turn his head to follow his gaze.

Pei Jing acted quickly, yanking him back. He sucked in a breath of cold air and said, “Ow, man! I think I really hurt myself in that fall!”