The Villainous Senior Brother Doesn't Want to Wash White [Transmigration] - Chapter 41

Ji Yanqing looked at Lei, who seemed to be cautiously admitting its mistake. After a moment of thought, he reached out and grasped its front paw.

Lei’s paw was soft and fluffy, looking as if it were wearing a tiny white boot.

“Meow-wu.”

Ji Yanqing couldn’t resist giving it a gentle squeeze. As if a switch had been flipped, the little white fluffball let out a soft cry.

At that moment, a gentle white spiritual light slowly enveloped Lei’s body. The various wounds, both deep and shallow, began to heal gradually under the influence of that light.

Throughout this process, the little fluffball remained exceptionally quiet, save for that initial low whimper.

“There, it’s done.”

Once the wounds had mostly closed, Ji Yanqing retracted the spiritual light and let out a long sigh of relief. Using magic in the Ghost Realm was inherently taxing on one’s spiritual energy, but fortunately, Lei was finally out of danger.

Despite Ji Yanqing’s words, Lei still didn’t stand up. It tilted its tiny head to stare at him, its deep blue eyes as clear as sapphires.

“Meow.”

Seeing that Ji Yanqing hadn’t moved, it let out another soft cry. It sprawled on the ground, nuzzling Ji Yanqing’s palm, its throat vibrating with a low purr. Its aggrieved expression seemed to say: “It hurt so much just now; I need kisses and hugs before I can get up.”

“What… what exactly is going on?” Having witnessed the entire scene, the ghost cultivator finally snapped out of his daze and asked, dumbfounded.

He had originally thought Ji Yanqing was a dead man for sure. He never expected that with just a single command of “Come here,” a ferocious beast could transform into a “moe” pet.

Ji Yanqing casually ruffled the white fluffball, which had turned into “liquid” on the ground, and explained, “It was frightened before. You have to appease it with patience for it to return to normal.”

But I didn’t see you being patient just now; you went straight for the magical artifact.

The ghost cultivator opened his mouth to speak but ultimately didn’t dare to voice his internal thoughts.

However, even if the ghost said nothing, Ji Yanqing wasn’t about to let him off easily. Without turning his head, he asked the ghost, “Do you have any spiritual stones?”

Having spent so much time with Lei, Ji Yanqing was well-versed in the routine required to make it behave.

The ghost cultivator had no idea what was about to happen to his fortune. He froze for a second before honestly producing a bag of spiritual stones and handing them to Ji Yanqing. “This is all I have.”

Although the Ghost Realm had achieved nearly full coverage of electronic payments, as an innkeeper, he habitually carried a small bag of physical stones.

“That should be enough.”

Ji Yanqing weighed the bag in his hand and took out a single stone.

Lei, who had been limp on the ground, suddenly sensed something. Its tiny pink nose twitched sensitively. Its previous attitude of “I’m absolutely not getting up without a hug” vanished instantly as it scrambled to its feet. Its sapphire eyes were fixed intently on the stone in Ji Yanqing’s hand, filled with longing.

Hah, I knew it.

Ji Yanqing sneered inwardly. No matter how much this creature acted cute or played spoiled, its nature as a glutton would never change.

Still, Ji Yanqing didn’t resent Lei for its appetite; it was in its growth phase, and it needed stones to continue growing larger.

After Lei crunched through the entire bag of spiritual stones, it quickly became lively and energetic again. Its body even seemed a fraction larger than before. It stretched its front paws, looking completely satisfied with its meal.

Ghost Cultivator: “…”

Watching his savings vanish into the stomach of such a small cat so quickly, the ghost cultivator stood frozen. He looked as if he had been turned to stone.

Ji Yanqing patted his shoulder and comforted him, “Don’t worry about it. Once I get the reward from the Emperor of Fengdu, I’ll pay you back.”

Just as he spoke, the guard who had gone to report the news to the Emperor finally returned.

Accompanying him was a ghost cultivator at the Spirit-Gathering Stage (聚靈期 – Jùlíng Qī).

The Spirit-Gathering Stage for ghosts was equivalent to the Golden Core Stage for human cultivators. The only difference was that Spirit-Gathering lacked grades; it simply involved re-gathering spiritual energy to reshape a physical body, with power roughly equal to a mid-grade Golden Core.

This high-level ghost cultivator possessed the body of a dignified youth. Upon entering the garden, his piercing gaze swept directly over Ji Yanqing and the innkeeper. His voice was deep and resonant, echoing like a drum.

“Was it you two who subdued this… vicious beast?”

However, when he saw that the beast—which even he couldn’t have subdued without killing it—had turned into a tiny white fluffball perched obediently on Ji Yanqing’s shoulder, his eyes widened slightly and his tone shifted in surprise.

Fortunately, he quickly regained his composure. After scrutinizing Ji Yanqing—and although he couldn’t see clearly through the disguise—the Spirit-Gathering ghost vaguely guessed something.

He returned to his normal expression and asked Ji Yanqing, “Where is the item that was on this spiritual beast?”

Only then did Ji Yanqing remember what the innkeeper had told him before coming to the Ghost Palace.

The reason the Emperor of Fengdu had put out a bounty of 100,000 high-grade spiritual stones was that he wanted something that was on Lei.

Ji Yanqing had initially assumed Lei had eaten something important belonging to the Emperor. He figured that since the fluffball had regained its senses, with the help of a powerhouse like the Emperor, extracting the item wouldn’t be difficult.

Hearing the ghost’s question, Ji Yanqing reached a realization. To confirm, he asked, “The item your Emperor wants—is it this Golden Phoenix Hairpin?”

“Yes.” The Spirit-Gathering ghost nodded, his gaze toward Ji Yanqing becoming quite meaningful.

Ji Yanqing’s heart skipped a beat.

An item desired by the Emperor of the Ghost Realm would not be easily relinquished, but the Spirit-Severing master of the Ji family was equally difficult to deal with.

Ji Yanqing was momentarily conflicted and wanted to negotiate with the Emperor of Fengdu in person. He was also curious as to why the Emperor would go to such great lengths, even offering 100,000 stones, just for a seemingly ordinary hairpin.

Before Ji Yanqing could speak, the Spirit-Gathering ghost added, “Furthermore, the Emperor wishes to see you.”

This was exactly what Ji Yanqing wanted. He had no reason to refuse and immediately replied, “Fine.”

The ghost cultivator who had brought Ji Yanqing from the inn did not follow. He received his portion of the spiritual stones and left the palace. Ten thousand high-grade stones were enough for him to cultivate from the Qi-Leading stage all the way to the Soul-Manifestation stage.

After the ghost departed, Ji Yanqing followed the Spirit-Gathering ghost toward the hall where the Emperor resided.

Actually, having seen Ji Yanqing’s Golden Light Retroactive Glazed Lamp and his intimate relationship with the spiritual beast, most of the ghosts in the palace had already guessed his identity as a living cultivator.

Fortunately, the ghosts in this palace were cultivators in their previous lives. Unlike those who grew their power by devouring living souls, they held no great hostility toward a living person like Ji Yanqing; instead, they watched him with curiosity.

Feeling the burning gazes from his surroundings, Ji Yanqing instinctively touched his face, feeling strange. My disguise is still active; what are they looking at?

Noticing his movement, the Spirit-Gathering ghost replied, “Don’t mind them. They just haven’t seen a living person in a very long time.”

A long time…

In other words, living people had indeed visited the Ghost Realm before.

According to Path of the Demon Immortal, ever since the Ji family built Jingtian Prefecture to seal the connection, no cultivators except for those at the Golden Immortal level should have been able to enter. The Ji family had been there for a millennium, but the ghost’s tone made it sound as if a living person had visited within the last century.

Who could that person have been?

Ji Yanqing had a vague feeling that the person who visited might be the key to the current state of the Ghost Realm.

He was just about to ask when they arrived at the Emperor’s private chambers.

“The Emperor is waiting for you inside.”

As the ghost spoke, the door before Ji Yanqing slowly opened.

What appeared before him was a bedroom suite decorated with magnificent splendor. The floor was covered in a thick white carpet, and luminous pearls suspended in the air illuminated the entire palace with absolute clarity.

However, the entire chamber was permeated with an emotion Ji Yanqing couldn’t quite put into words.

It was, perhaps… loneliness.

For a ghost cultivator to be titled “Emperor,” besides ruling a city, it meant he had survived at least four Heavenly Tribulations. After the fourth, a ghost faced a choice:

Continue to the final tribulation to become a Ghost Immortal.

Reincarnate to survive the fifth tribulation and the Decay of the Dao Heart to become a Golden Immortal.

However, from the guards’ gossip, Ji Yanqing learned that this Emperor seemed interested in neither. In a hundred years, he had neither plotted for reincarnation nor shown any intent to undergo further tribulations.

So, what exactly is this Emperor interested in?

Walking across the white carpet, Ji Yanqing finally saw the true face of the Emperor of Fengdu.

While cultivators generally had high aesthetic standards, the Ghost Realm had been isolated for years, and most ghosts were somewhat “uniquely” featured. As the Emperor, he was expected to set an example in both cultivation and appearance.

Before meeting him, Ji Yanqing had imagined either a terrifying monster with fangs or a majestic figure like the Spirit-Gathering youth.

However, the man sitting at the writing desk was completely different from his expectations.

He was very handsome, his slender fingers flipping through pages of paper, his focused gaze carrying a hint of melancholy. He didn’t look like an Emperor ruling all of Fengdu; rather, he looked like a scholar fretting over a line of poetry.

If the man weren’t alone in this chamber, Ji Yanqing would never have believed that this person—who looked even weaker than an ordinary human cultivator—was the Emperor of Fengdu, a four-tribulation master only one step away from becoming a Ghost Immortal.

This is… the Emperor of Fengdu?

Ji Yanqing’s footsteps faltered, his breath hitching.

The man at the desk seemed to sense his arrival. He set down the papers and slowly raised his head to look at Ji Yanqing.

His eyes were pitch black, like an endless night or a bottomless abyss, calm to the point of showing no emotion.

However, upon seeing Ji Yanqing, a flash of surprise crossed the Emperor’s eyes. He stood up abruptly and stared intently at Ji Yanqing’s face.

Ji Yanqing snapped out of his shock and bowed: “Greetings, Emperor.”

The Emperor of Fengdu shifted his gaze slightly and spoke softly: “Apologies. Your face… reminded me of someone.”

Ji Yanqing wasn’t surprised that his disguise had been seen through; after all, the Emperor was a four-tribulation master. Even if the disguise was cast by Ji Qidan, Ji Qidan had only survived two tribulations.

Based on the golden hairpin and the Emperor’s comment, Ji Yanqing guessed that the person he reminded the Emperor of was likely the “Little Sister” of the Ji family. When he had seen the portrait in the tomb, he had noticed he shared a thirty-percent resemblance with her.

Seeing Ji Yanqing’s look of realization, the Emperor confirmed that the youth was indeed related to the person he was thinking of. He asked directly: “I searched for you because I wanted to ask… the owner of this Golden Phoenix Hairpin, how is she… faring now?”

This man was a four-tribulation powerhouse and the Lord of Fengdu, yet when he asked about that person, his tone was exceptionally cautious, almost humble.

For some reason, Ji Yanqing found this tone strangely familiar. It was quite similar to how a certain someone had been speaking to him lately…

Stop, stop! Why am I getting distracted? Answer the man!

Ji Yanqing could see that the Emperor loved the Ji family sister. To prevent the man from being too devastated by the truth, Ji Yanqing chose his words carefully to be euphemistic.

He replied: “She has already perished.”

“Is that so?” Hearing this, the Emperor’s frame shook. He murmured to himself, a flash of agony appearing in his dark eyes. He closed them, and when he opened them again, his expression had returned to calm.

The Emperor continued: “It is good that you were able to retrieve this hairpin. I have seen you now; leave the hairpin here, and you may depart.”

Ji Yanqing felt conflicted. “I ask for the Emperor’s understanding, but I cannot give you this hairpin.”

“Why?” The Emperor didn’t get angry; he was merely puzzled. He knew that since she was gone, the hairpin had no practical meaning; it was just a memento to soothe his longing.

Ji Yanqing explained: “It is like this. Even if the owner has perished, this hairpin is a beloved item of a family elder. If I am to give it to you…”

He paused, intentionally trailing off.

But before he could continue, the Emperor of Fengdu interjected: “I need to add more spiritual stones?”

Ji Yanqing: “???”

Did the Emperor of Fengdu just finish my sentence?

Wait, something is wrong!

After his initial shock, Ji Yanqing sensed an abnormality. Based on their brief interaction, the Emperor definitely didn’t seem like a transmigrator, nor did he seem like the type of… ghost… to say such a thing.

A bold thought popped into Ji Yanqing’s head. He asked the Emperor, “How did you know I was going to say that?”

The Emperor of Fengdu smiled slightly, his eyes full of tender affection.

He replied: “Because… she once said the exact same thing to me.”

Back at the Ghost Realm inn, Qi Ye and Ji Yanhui finally discovered that Ji Yanqing was missing.

It all started when Qi Ye went to deliver the pastries.

After leaving Ji Yanqing’s room earlier, Qi Ye had produced various cooking artifacts from his storage bag and got to work. With his improved skills, it only took the time for a stick of incense to burn for all the requested pastries to be finished.

He brought the box to Ji Yanqing’s room and knocked, but there was no response.

Is Senior Brother… asleep?

Qi Ye hesitated, then pushed the door open gently. A figure was already standing in the room, but it wasn’t Ji Yanqing—it was Ji Yanhui.

“Third Young Master Ji, what are you doing in Senior Brother’s room?” Qi Ye frowned.

Being caught, Ji Yanhui stiffened slightly. Fortunately, his back was to Qi Ye, so his slightly guilty expression was hidden. He answered in a perfectly normal, composed voice: “Just looking around. Where is Ji Yanqing?”

Qi Ye shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Actually, when he first met Ji Yanhui, he had instinctively felt the man’s hostility. But according to Ji Yanqing, their relationship as brothers was not good.

So… was Ji Yanhui really just ‘looking around,’ or did he come specifically for Senior Brother?

Hearing Qi Ye’s answer, Ji Yanhui fell silent for a moment and walked out. Qi Ye thought a bit, set the box down, and followed him to the inn’s front hall.

The ghost cultivator who had been in the hall was gone. On one of the tables lay a note left by Ji Yanqing:

“I’ve gone to claim 100,000 high-grade spiritual stones. If I’m not back by the end of the day, come find me at the Emperor of Fengdu’s palace.”

The Emperor of Fengdu?

Qi Ye looked at the note. From those vague words, he guessed that his Senior Brother had run off to the palace for the sake of those spiritual stones. Since his Senior Brother seemed so confident, he decided to wait for his return.

Ji Yanhui’s expression was equally calm; he likely shared the same thought.

However, just as the two were about to return to their rooms, a voice from a nearby restaurant reached their ears.

“They say the Emperor’s one true love was a mysterious beauty.”

Hearing the title “Emperor” and knowing Ji Yanqing had gone to see him, Qi Ye stopped and looked toward the sound. On the second floor of the restaurant across the street, a ghost cultivator was addressing a crowd.

The ghost continued gossiping: “But before they could spend much time together, the beauty mysteriously vanished. The Emperor searched in vain, eventually offering a staggering 100,000 high-grade spiritual stones just to find someone who resembles that mysterious beauty.”

100,000 high-grade spiritual stones.

In the Ghost Realm, that was a fortune.

The other ghosts marveled. One asked curiously, “How beautiful was this mysterious person to make the Emperor spend so much?”

The gossiping ghost clearly hadn’t seen the person either, but he replied confidently: “Since they were a ‘mysterious’ beauty, no one but the Emperor has ever seen their face. All we know is that they had a cinnabar mole between their eyebrows, so vivid it could steal one’s soul—ah, no, I mean steal a ghost’s soul.”

Though they didn’t know the real appearance, the description alone was enough to make the listeners’ imaginations run wild.

A cinnabar mole… between the eyebrows.

Qi Ye and Ji Yanhui suddenly realized something. They looked at each other, the shock clear in their eyes.

The ‘substitute’ the Emperor is looking for… isn’t it a beauty just like Ji Yanqing?

Visions of Ji Yanqing having his identity exposed and being forcibly imprisoned by the Emperor flooded Qi Ye’s mind…

Without a moment’s delay, both Qi Ye and Ji Yanhui flagged down a nearby cloud carriage and spoke in unison: “To the Fengdu Ghost Palace!”

What they didn’t know was that the moment they boarded the carriage, the ghost on the street stopped talking. He pulled out a book and added:

“The above was an introduction to the latest work by the great author ‘Shipping CPs in the Sect,’ the sequel to Falling in Love with My Icy Junior Brother—titled The Tyrant Emperor’s Cinnabar Mole Substitute. I hope you all will support it!”