The Villainous Senior Brother Doesn't Want to Wash White [Transmigration] - Chapter 4

Ji Yanqing was held by the wrist by Qi Ye and couldn’t get up for a moment. The two of them were tumbled together, the atmosphere awkward yet laced with a hint of ambiguity.

They were so close that Ji Yanqing could see every minute detail of Qi Ye’s features and expressions.

Qi Ye was truly handsome.

Unlike Ji Yanqing’s own somewhat flamboyant beauty, Qi Ye’s features looked as if they were carved from frost—aloof and cold, like a mountain topped with perennial snow.

However, right now, the corners of Qi Ye’s eyes were tinged with an unusual redness, and a sliver of burning heat seemed to have entered the deep dark depths of his eyes as he looked at Ji Yanqing.

It’s over, it’s over. Looking at Qi Ye’s reaction, it seemed the passion poison truly had flared up again.

Meeting Qi Ye’s face, Ji Yanqing’s heart first raced for a moment, then he grew nervous.

He did indeed like Qi Ye’s face; usually when he saw Qi Ye, his mind was full of “White-clothed youth? Yes, please!” But now that it had actually come to this, Ji Yanqing chickened out.

Ji Yanqing’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly as he spoke with some difficulty: “Junior Brother, let’s talk things out properly. There’s no need to be this close, right?”

At this moment, even though Ji Yanqing was the one pinning Qi Ye down, the arrogant aura in his tone had completely extinguished. He sounded more like the one being pinned down instead.

Qi Ye also realized their distance was too close. He slowly released his grip on Ji Yanqing’s hand, but those deep eyes remained fixed on him.

Ji Yanqing felt goosebumps from being stared at. The moment he regained his freedom, he sprang off the bed and scrambled to a safe distance away, his movements as fluid as a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

Having done all this instinctively, his expression shifted slightly.

Wait… do I seem a bit… cowardly? And from a positional standpoint, shouldn’t the cowardly one be Qi Ye!

Although Ji Yanqing told himself this in his heart, his body involuntarily shrank into a corner not far from the bed. If it weren’t for the chain still bound to his hand, he would have fled the room by now.

He tried to undo the annoying chain trapping him while simultaneously peeking at Qi Ye with wary little eyes. He was exactly like a cat trapped in a corner—utterly helpless, yet still extending his claws to put on a “very fierce” act.

Ji Yanqing didn’t know that the more he acted like this, the more it made one want to tease him until he meowed.

“It seems Senior Brother still refuses to believe me.”

Seeing Ji Yanqing’s wariness, Qi Ye’s gaze darkened slightly, and a hint of grievance actually entered his tone.

“Junior Brother Qi, you can just stay right where you are and talk!”

Seeing that Qi Ye seemed prepared to walk toward him, Ji Yanqing instinctively took a step back, his entire back pressed against the wall.

Qi Ye showed no intention of stopping, continuing to speak with a wronged air: “Why does Senior Brother say that? Just now it was Senior Brother who was so certain in his suspicions; now, I am merely trying to prove my innocence.”

Ji Yanqing’s heart skipped a beat, terrified that while Qi Ye proved his innocence, Ji Yanqing’s own “purity” would be gone.

At this point, he couldn’t care less about his villain persona and hurriedly explained: “Actually, actually I just saw that you were acting a bit abnormal during the match so I came to see how you were doing and since you’re fine I’m relieved!”

After saying this all in one breath, Ji Yanqing nearly choked, but the effect was surprisingly good.

Qi Ye stopped in his tracks. A flash of astonishment crossed his eyes as he asked in disbelief, “Is what Senior Brother Ji says… true?”

After all, in Qi Ye’s memory, Ji Yanqing had always been at odds with him. Even when Qi Ye had actively helped Ji Yanqing during the Sect Competition earlier, Ji Yanqing had still met him with harsh words.

Thinking carefully, this seemed to be the first time Ji Yanqing had taken the initiative to show concern for him. Aside from astonishment, there was a hint of pleasant surprise in Qi Ye’s heart.

He couldn’t help but take another step forward.

Just then, Ji Yanqing finally managed to open that wretched chain. The moment the chain hit the floor, Ji Yanqing instantly became arrogant again, the villainous bluster returning to him.

He glanced at the incense burner, estimating that the antidote was well-placed. A smile of “successful conspiracy” appeared on his face. Then, with a sweep of his long sleeve, a streak of spiritual light shot toward Qi Ye.

Qi Ye instinctively drew his sword to block. The moment the spirit sword collided with the true qi, it scattered into a brilliant gold light that made it impossible to keep one’s eyes open.

Using the gold light as cover, Ji Yanqing fled immediately. Only his triumphant voice drifted back from outside the light.

“Silly Junior Brother, of course I was—lying to you!”

Once the golden light dissipated, Qi Ye regained his vision, but Ji Yanqing’s figure was long gone from the room.

Qi Ye stood in the empty room, his hand tightening slightly, his expression unreadable.

Just then, a strange, faint scent wafted from the incense burner. Qi Ye vaguely felt it smelled different from usual—there seemed to be an additional fragrance of a spiritual pill?

Qi Ye walked over and picked up the Mind-Concentrating Incense to inspect it. Although the traces were nearly invisible, he could faintly see that someone had added a Three-Soul Purifying Pill to the incense.

Qi Ye recalled being intercepted by rogue cultivators on his way back to the sect. One of them had fired a “Three-Needle Passion Poison” at him. Fortunately, he had dodged in time and wasn’t actually poisoned.

And this Three-Soul Purifying Pill happened to be the cure for that very poison.

As Qi Ye held the incense and pondered the connection between the two, footsteps sounded outside. The Taoist attendant rushed in, looking panicked: “Uncle Qi, just now Uncle Ji…”

Qi Ye set down the incense and turned around. “No need to panic, it’s fine.”

Seeing his calm expression, the attendant breathed a sigh of relief. “You scared me. I thought you two had started fighting again.”

Qi Ye didn’t respond, his gaze returning to the incense burner by the bed. “Where did this incense burner come from?”

Most items in Qi Ye’s room were handled by the attendant. Hearing this, the boy immediately answered with a tone of seeking credit: “To answer Uncle Qi, I bought this at the foot of the mountain six months ago. The shopkeeper said it’s called the ‘Languid Affection Burner.’ It originally sold for 500 spirit stones, but there was a massive discount then, only 5 stones. It has many uses; supposedly, if it encounters someone who has ‘lingering affection’ for the owner, it triggers a hidden mechanism and adds a bit of ‘bedroom atmosphere’…”

Qi Ye: “…”

An image of the scene just now flashed through his mind, and a strange expression appeared on his frost-cold face.

The attendant, innocent and wide-eyed, asked: “But Uncle, what is ‘bedroom atmosphere’?”

Qi Ye coughed lightly. “Children shouldn’t ask so many questions.”

He then added, “Don’t buy random things just because they are cheap or on sale. Be careful when traveling the world.”

The boy was confused, not knowing what had gone wrong.

Qi Ye said, “Everything is fine here. Go practice now; don’t be lazy and oversleep again, or you’ll catch a cold like last time.”

The boy gave a cheeky grin. “Definitely won’t happen. After I fell asleep this time, it felt exceptionally warm all over…”

He only realized after blabbing that he might have exposed his laziness and hurried to find an excuse to slip away.

“Uncle, I’ll go back to practicing now!”

The attendant ran out, failing to notice Qi Ye’s thoughtful expression.

Once the boy left, Qi Ye walked slowly to the bedside. With a slight focus of his mind and the injection of true qi, a silver chain connected to the incense burner became visible.

In truth, when Ji Yanqing was trying to unlock it earlier, Qi Ye had already seen the chain and recognized it as a method used by the He Huan (Acacia) Sect. He thought Ji Yanqing was playing some new trick, and a flare of nameless anger had surged in his heart, leading to his out-of-character behavior toward Ji Yanqing.

But he hadn’t expected the incense burner to have such an origin and explanation.

Someone with lingering affection?

Qi Ye repeated the phrase silently in his heart, his mood quite complex.

Qi Ye had exceptional natural talent and a quiet nature. Since joining the Qingmen Sect, he was recognized as prime material for a sword cultivator and viewed as a role model by his peers. Only Senior Brother Ji Yanqing’s attitude toward him was exceptionally cold; he never looked him in the eye.

Yet Qi Ye always remembered the day he first joined the sect. He had accidentally wandered into Ji Yanqing’s Peach Blossom Illusion Array and met that god-like person amidst the fluttering rain of petals.

Back then, Qi Ye thought that as long as he practiced hard, he could make Senior Brother Ji look at him with new eyes. But when he broke through to the Soul Realm in just ten years—becoming the fastest cultivator in Qingmen history to reach that stage—what he received was only increasingly intensified suppression and cold words from Ji Yanqing.

People in the sect said that before Qi Ye appeared, Senior Brother Ji was the fastest-rising genius in Qingmen, adored by most disciples and a likely candidate for future Sect Master. But with Qi Ye’s arrival, the spotlight originally belonging to Ji Yanqing was stolen. Naturally, Senior Brother Ji would be displeased with Qi Ye; he might even want to eliminate him entirely.

Qi Ye didn’t believe such talk at first. He felt Senior Brother Ji was just a bit proud and didn’t truly hate him, let alone want to harm him.

Until that one time…

“Qi Ye, it’s all because of your appearance that I’ve become this miserable.”

Ji Yanqing had told him this over and over. He glared at Qi Ye with bloodshot eyes, his expression nearly manic, unable to hide his hatred.

Only then did Qi Ye realize that Senior Brother Ji… truly seemed to hate him.

And it was on that very night that Ji Yanqing moved away from Tianshu Peak and became the First Seat of Yaoguang Peak.

Gently stroking the incense burner before him, Qi Ye felt it was somewhat laughable.

So this Acacia Sect artifact actually believes Senior Brother Ji has lingering affection for me?

Qi Ye told himself this was absolutely impossible, yet he couldn’t help but recall the voice that had suddenly sounded in his ear earlier on the platform, just as he was about to sever ties with Ji Yanqing and break off completely.

Ding! Favorability System activated. Ji Yanqing’s Favorability: 35 points. This person thinks you are quite cute.