The Villainous Senior Brother Doesn't Want to Wash White [Transmigration] - Chapter 17

Ji Yanqing couldn’t be certain who exactly hated him. With this question in mind, he began to discreetly observe the other people in the temple.

Qi Ye had been silent for a while, but the moment Ji Yanqing looked at him, he seemed to sense the gaze and looked straight back.

He noticed that quickly? Does Qi Ye have radar installed on him?

Startled, Ji Yanqing quickly looked away, pretending nothing had happened, and turned his attention to the remaining three.

Liu Ningyun had stopped the purple-clad woman, who was on the verge of fury, and was whispering some advice to her. Meng Xingchen, on the other hand, sat to the side hugging his sword, his gentle expression truly resembling someone facing their Dao companion.

In short, none of them looked like the type who would provide 50 points of Villain Value.

Ji Yanqing was thinking this way, preparing to find another chance to test them, when suddenly, the damaged and faded deity statue in the ruined temple emitted a dazzling light.

Three rays of light also emanated from Qi Ye, Liu Ningyun, and Meng Xingchen, intertwining with the light from the statue. The three sword cultivators present exchanged glances, instantly understanding that the Yunjian Secret Realm was about to open.

The three of them simultaneously channeled their sword qi. Just as Shen Xiao had said, the Yunjian Broken Jade only functioned for sword cultivators. As the four lights grew increasingly brilliant, a silver-white light portal slowly appeared before them, with spiritual energy overflowing from within.

This should be the entrance to the Yunjian Secret Realm.

However, facing that light portal, even Meng Xingchen, who was closest to the entrance, did not move. Ji Yanqing thought for a moment and could guess their concerns. The first person to enter might face unknown dangers, but those who followed might miss the chance to obtain artifacts or treasures.

Who goes first and who goes last was a new problem.

“I will enter first,” Liu Ningyun took the initiative to step forward. He was, after all, a family head, and with his Gold Core cultivation, he had the highest realm among them, so he took on the responsibility of scouting.

Everyone watched without blinking as Liu Ningyun entered the portal. Fortunately, no abnormalities occurred.

“Fellow Daoists, pardon me.”

Ji Yanqing breathed a slight sigh of relief. Before the others could act, he dropped that line and impatiently followed through the portal, putting on a perfect display of cowardice and greed—if he wanted to be hated, he had to be consistent to the end.

Upon entering the light portal, a path that seemed to have no end appeared before Ji Yanqing, with thick fog permeating the roadsides. As he walked forward, the fog dissipated, and various illusions gradually emerged: peerless beauties and all sorts of rare cultivation methods and treasures, tempting those who passed by.

Clearly, this should be the first trial, testing the state of mind of those entering the secret realm.

Whether it was beauties or treasures, Ji Yanqing wasn’t particularly interested. He walked forward without looking sideways, thinking only of passing the first trial quickly. But just then, a voice reached his ears.

“Ji Yanqing, congratulations on completing your mission!”

Hearing the words “mission complete,” Ji Yanqing couldn’t help but slow his pace. He looked toward the source of the voice and indeed saw a person with an obscured face, wearing a sharp western suit, standing beside a podium.

Ji Yanqing’s gaze was instantly drawn to that podium. The person reached out and whipped away a red cloth covering the podium, revealing a miniature apartment model.

“Ji Yanqing, this is your reward for perfectly completing the mission this time—an apartment located within the 12th Ring Road!”

Ji Yanqing knew, of course, that everything happening before him wasn’t real, but he had to admit that this scene was exactly what he dreamed of. He swallowed hard, and his forward steps even veered an inch toward the podium…

Right then, a hand grabbed him.

“Fellow Daoist Zhang, be careful.”

The voice was like the sound of gold and jade clashing, snapping Ji Yanqing back to his senses instantly. The illusion before him vanished like smoke, and he saw clearly that he was standing in a dark space. The person who had just grabbed him was Liu Ningyun.

“Thank you.”

Realizing he had almost been blinded by the “reward,” Ji Yanqing thanked him somewhat awkwardly. Fortunately, Liu Ningyun didn’t know what Ji Yanqing had actually seen; he merely nodded faintly but did not let go of Ji Yanqing’s hand.

Just as Ji Yanqing was wondering why only he and Liu Ningyun were here, the surrounding space suddenly distorted, and a third person appeared—it was Qi Ye, his expression still a bit dazed.

“Senior Brother.”

Heaven knows what Qi Ye had seen in the illusion, but upon seeing Ji Yanqing, his dim eyes suddenly lit up, and he walked quickly toward them. However, upon seeing Liu Ningyun and Ji Yanqing’s hands held together, Qi Ye’s footsteps stopped, and even the gaze he cast toward Ji Yanqing turned cold.

Ji Yanqing even felt that if he held Liu Ningyun’s hand for a bit longer, he would hear the sound of Villain Value increasing again. But meeting Qi Ye’s eyes, he suddenly lost the urge to farm points. He instinctively let go of Liu Ningyun’s hand and explained, “I was almost deluded by the illusion just now; Fellow Daoist Liu grabbed me in time.”

But just as he finished speaking, Ji Yanqing felt something was wrong. Didn’t Qi Ye already know that Liu Ningyun was a cross-dresser? What was with that inexplicable feeling of guilt just now?

Perhaps because of the explanation, the coldness in Qi Ye’s eyes softened slightly. He gave an “mhm,” appearing to choose to believe Ji Yanqing.

Soon, Liu Ziyi and Meng Xingchen also appeared one after another. Liu Ziyi’s face looked a bit pale, while Meng Xingchen looked around and nodded, saying, “It seems you all passed the first trial.”

Ji Yanqing noticed that among them, Liu Ningyun and Meng Xingchen didn’t seem to have been affected by the illusion at all. Was it because their state of mind was exceptionally firm, or did they simply know what they would encounter after entering this secret realm?

After his previous analysis, Ji Yanqing had narrowed down the source of those 50 points of Villain Value to either Liu Ningyun or Meng Xingchen, so he naturally became a few degrees more wary of them.

“The immortal masters have finally arrived.”

Not long after the five had gathered, the previously dark space suddenly brightened, and a voice accompanied by footsteps approached. Ji Yanqing could finally see that the place they were in was… indoors??

This time, Ji Yanqing was certain everything around them wasn’t an illusion—even if it were, it was a very high-level one. The mahogany tables and chairs placed in the center, the side tables, the calligraphy and paintings hanging on the walls, and the potted flowers lined up on the floor were the perfect decoration for a mansion’s main hall, without a trace of falsehood, as if they truly existed.

The person who had spoken earlier was a middle-aged man dressed in lavish clothing, accompanied by a pale-faced young girl.

This eerie scene didn’t look like something that should appear in a secret realm at all. The purple-clad woman, who had just experienced the first trial, turned even paler. She asked with a trembling voice:

“An illusion?”

Ji Yanqing replied, “Likely not.”

Though he said that, he didn’t lower his guard, staring unblinkingly at the two people before them. The others were also in a state of high alert. However, looking at the suddenly appearing scene and characters, Ji Yanqing had an inexplicably familiar feeling.

The middle-aged man seemed unable to sense their vigilance, continuing on his own, “Since the immortal masters were not deceived by the fox demon’s illusion, you must all be extraordinary. That fox demon is lurking outside the city; the matter of rescue is left to you.”

Ji Yanqing finally understood why he felt familiar. A suddenly appearing scene and an NPC who starts issuing a quest immediately—isn’t this just an immersive “Escape Room” game!

Although Ji Yanqing had guessed that this temporary secret realm might be quite rudimentary and didn’t expect it to have the luxurious sets of the original plot’s secret realms, making it exactly like an escape room was a bit too simplistic, wasn’t it?

After the middle-aged man finished, the young girl beside him added: “By the way, if there are Dao companions among you, you must be extra careful. That fox demon seems to love breaking up couples the most; my dear Chen was taken away by her just like that.”

It appeared! A side quest!

Ji Yanqing reacted almost immediately. It seemed this fox demon was a member of the “Anti-Couple Squad” (FFF Brigade), so the condition for triggering the side quest was likely being a couple.

But were there any couples in their group?

Hearing the girl say that, Meng Xingchen almost instinctively hugged the sword in his arms tighter.

Ji Yanqing: “…”

Even if that fox demon had terrible eyesight, she likely wouldn’t pick this man and his sword to burn.

According to Ji Yanqing’s previous experience, after introducing the background story and mission, the next step should be a preview of the mission rewards.

Sure enough, after the girl finished, the middle-aged man spoke again: “If the immortal masters can successfully bring back Chen Jia, the reward will naturally not be small.” The man paused slightly, waved his sleeve, and two rows of spiritual treasures and artifacts suddenly appeared in mid-air. He continued, “You may choose any two items.”

Ji Yanqing’s gaze quickly swept over the reward items, hoping to find the thing he wanted. But to his disappointment, among the various treasures and artifacts, he didn’t see a Heaven-grade spiritual sword.

Thinking about it, a beginner rescue mission likely wouldn’t give legendary “orange-tier” equipment like a Heaven-grade sword as a reward. He likely still needed to trigger a side quest…

Ji Yanqing withdrew his gaze, calculating this in his heart, only to see Qi Ye’s eyes suddenly light up as he looked at the two rows of rewards. His gaze was fixed on a certain spot, as if he had seen something he very much desired.

Something Qi Ye wants…

Ji Yanqing smiled secretly. Perhaps Qi Ye had seen some interesting treasure. He perked up and followed Qi Ye’s gaze toward the mission rewards, only to see that in an inconspicuous corner of the second row, a glazed lamp was shimmering with golden light, as if tempting the cultivators who came to the secret realm to finish the mission quickly and take it home.

Ji Yanqing froze for a moment.

Then froze again.

Wait, isn’t this the Golden Light Retrograde Glazed Lamp?

The very artifact he was desperately trying to avoid had appeared right here. Ji Yanqing’s vision went dark, his heart full of despair—”Forget not having a Heaven-grade sword, why on earth did this jinxed thing appear in the reward list!!”