The Villainous Senior Brother Doesn't Want to Wash White [Transmigration] - Chapter 42

Qi Ye never expected that the cloud carriage in the Ghost Realm would encounter “traffic control” halfway through its journey. The carriage was forced to land and wait for the restrictions to end before it could proceed.

Anxious and impatient, Qi Ye couldn’t afford to wait. Noting that there were few ghost cultivators around and knowing that he would likely have to fight once he reached the Fengdu Ghost Palace, he asked the carriage’s attendant for the route. He then transformed into a streak of white sword light and vanished before the ghost’s eyes.

The speed of a sword cultivator is naturally lightning-fast; in a mere moment, Qi Ye arrived before the Fengdu Ghost Palace.

His thoughts mirrored Ji Yanqing’s earlier assessment: this was the residence of the Emperor of Fengdu, so entering wouldn’t be easy. Just as he was contemplating a forced entry, the Spirit-Gathering ghost cultivator walked out.

The ghost recognized Qi Ye instantly and stepped forward. “Are you a friend of Young Master Ji?”

Hearing Ji Yanqing referred to in such a manner made Qi Ye’s heart sink, and a wave of discomfort washed over him.

Senior Brother… has indeed been forcibly detained in this Ghost Palace.

Worried and hurried, his Heavenly-grade spiritual sword hummed within its scabbard, as if ready to unsheathe at any moment, and a faint sword intent radiated from his body.

But before he could strike, the ghost added, “Young Master Ji is currently in the palace. Do you wish to see him?”

This caused Qi Ye to restrain his sword intent as he scrutinized the ghost. Although ghost cultivation levels differed from humans, this ghost’s True Qi was restrained, suggesting a cultivation level at least equivalent to the Golden Core stage. Furthermore, they were at the gates of the Ghost Palace; a rash attack might not only fail to reach his Senior Brother but would certainly cause a massive disturbance.

Since the party offered to lead the way, he decided to play along and make his move after seeing Ji Yanqing.

After a moment of deliberation, Qi Ye retracted his sword intent and spoke with a cold but polite tone: “Yes. Please lead the way.”

The ghost nodded, seemingly oblivious to Qi Ye’s internal conflict, and led him into the palace.

As they walked through the long corridors, the decor shifted from gloomy and dim to luxuriously extravagant. The floors were covered in thick spiritual-beast carpets, and the walls were inlaid with luminous pearls the size of pigeon eggs.

Everything confirmed the rumors Qi Ye had heard: the Emperor of Fengdu was indeed looking for a “substitute.”

Finally, the ghost stopped outside a side hall and turned to Qi Ye. “Young Master Ji just left the Emperor’s presence and is resting inside.”

The doors were open, and the scent of faint incense drifted out. Seeing the surroundings, Qi Ye felt it radiated the vibe of a “golden house for a hidden lover.” Hearing that his Senior Brother had “just left the Emperor,” his heart skipped a beat.

Left… resting…

Could it be that Senior Brother has already been… by the Emperor?

Qi Ye’s hands clenched tightly inside his sleeves, barely suppressing his rage and unease. He didn’t answer the ghost and walked directly into the side hall.

The room was a standard bedroom, looking much more normal than Qi Ye had imagined. He took a step forward and suddenly felt something fluffy brush against his feet.

He looked down and met a pair of deep blue eyes.

Lei?

Qi Ye froze for a moment, recognizing the little white fluffball. It was clutching a spiritual stone in its paws, happily rolling on the floor before rolling away again.

At that moment, Ji Yanqing finally noticed the person in the room. He sat up straight and asked warily, “Who is it?”

Qi Ye recognized the voice—it was indeed Ji Yanqing. He looked ahead but could only see a blurry figure behind white silk curtains. Ji Yanqing appeared to be sitting on the bed.

He seemed surprised that someone had appeared, and his voice carried a hint of panic.

What is Senior Brother afraid of? Or rather, whose arrival is he dreading?

Qi Ye didn’t stop to think; he reached out, pulled back the white curtains, and appeared before Ji Yanqing.

To his relief, the scene he had imagined hadn’t occurred. Ji Yanqing looked perfectly normal, his clothes neatly in place.

Seeing it was Qi Ye, Ji Yanqing finally relaxed, though he was confused as to how the youth had found him.

“You…” He started to ask, but Qi Ye grabbed his wrist firmly.

“Senior Brother, I’m taking you away,” Qi Ye said with absolute determination.

In those few seconds, Qi Ye had already made his decision. He knew this would likely mean facing the Emperor of the Ghost Realm, but his only thought was to get Ji Yanqing out.

Ji Yanqing stared at Qi Ye’s hand on his wrist, his eyes downcast as if he were hesitating. Finally, he shook his head and refused: “No, I can’t leave yet.”

Qi Ye’s heart sank. He opened his mouth to ask why, then realized the answer was likely obvious. Not only did they need the Cloud Pendant to leave the Ghost Realm, but even if they had it, the one detaining him was the Emperor. With a meager Soul Manifestation cultivation, how could he stop an Emperor?

In this situation, his Senior Brother had no choice but to compromise and endure.

Qi Ye gazed at Ji Yanqing. Under the flickering candlelight of the side hall, Ji Yanqing’s profile was tinged with a drunken red, his eyelashes trembling like the wings of a fragile butterfly.

Memories of his Senior Brother flooded Qi Ye’s mind: the cold and mocking Ji Yanqing, the tsundere and awkward Ji Yanqing, and the charmingly intoxicated Ji Yanqing from that night…

And yet, someone else had seen all these facets at once—and perhaps many more he had never seen.

Qi Ye had always been calm and steady in his cultivation, seeking stability over speed. But now, for the first time, he felt the utter helplessness of being suppressed by a higher realm.

At this moment, a fierce desire for power surged within him, alongside a terrifying thought: he would do anything, at any cost, just to keep his Senior Brother by his side forever.

Just then, Ji Yanqing spoke in a low voice: “Actually, I didn’t want to give it to him either.”

“I know, Senior Brother. This is all my fault…”

Hearing this, Qi Ye felt as if his heart were being squeezed. He choked up, trying to comfort Ji Yanqing. If only his cultivation were higher, how could his Senior Brother be subjected to such humiliation?

Ji Yanqing shook his head and looked at Qi Ye guiltily. “It has nothing to do with you. It’s just that the spiritual stones he offered were simply too many, so I agreed to lend him the Golden Phoenix Hairpin for three days.”

“By the way, you must not let anyone else know.”

After some bargaining, the Emperor had offered an astronomical amount of stones to borrow the hairpin for three days. When Qi Ye had walked in, Ji Yanqing was busy counting his new fortune.

He knew his short-tempered Second Uncle (Ji Qidan) would be furious if he found out, so he urged Qi Ye to keep the secret.

Qi Ye fell into a long silence. Eventually, he asked with difficulty, “Senior Brother, are you saying… you gave the Emperor the Golden Phoenix Hairpin?”

“What else?” Ji Yanqing answered as if it were obvious.

Qi Ye finally confirmed: everything he had just imagined was a complete misunderstanding. His Senior Brother was fine—even better, he was significantly wealthier.

“It’s nothing.”

A faint smile appeared on Qi Ye’s normally icy face. The smile was like a ray of winter sunlight melting snow. Ji Yanqing stared for a moment before turning back to the mountain of stones on the bed.

How did I get distracted by Qi Ye’s looks again?

Ji Yanqing scolded himself internally, muttering: “If there’s nothing else, don’t interrupt my counting. Because you showed up, I forgot which bag I was on…”

He went back to counting.

On the other side, Ji Yanhui had also been forced to stop on his way to the palace. But he wasn’t a sword cultivator, and using the Flying Star Carriage in the Ghost Realm would be too conspicuous.

He told the attendant coldly: “Ten times the fare.”

The attendant suddenly sprang to life and took Ji Yanhui through a secret route. Although slower than Qi Ye, he eventually reached the Ghost Palace.

He wasn’t as lucky as Qi Ye; the Spirit-Gathering ghost was nowhere to be found. The guards were a group of Soul Manifestation and Initial-stage ghosts. Seeing a human cultivator approaching with a bone-chilling aura, one guard tried to ask, “Who are you—”

But before he could finish, the ice-blue True Qi enveloped him, turning him into an ice sculpture.

With his high-grade Golden Core, Ji Yanhui had no trouble dealing with these lower-level ghosts. As he advanced, he froze every ghost who tried to stop him. Remarkably, he didn’t encounter a single Spirit-Gathering stage ghost on his way.

He arrived before the Emperor’s main hall. Sensing the powerful pressure radiating from within, he paused for a second and then walked in.

The doors opened, revealing a man sitting at a desk, lost in thought.

“I am here for someone,” Ji Yanhui said coldly. Despite the vast difference in their realms, his attitude made it clear he wouldn’t leave without the person.

The man looked up at Ji Yanhui. His expression was calm, his power deep and unfathomable. Noting that Ji Yanhui’s face shared a resemblance with Ji Yanqing, the Emperor guessed their relationship.

He realized that the information he couldn’t get from Ji Yanqing might be obtained from this man.

The Emperor spoke: “The person is indeed here. But before you see him, you must answer a few questions.”

Ji Yanhui didn’t answer, but he didn’t refuse either, simply staring at the Emperor. After a long silence—the Emperor feeling as if he were staring at an unmelting iceberg—he asked: “Can you tell me more about Ji Yanqing?”

“Why should I?” Ji Yanhui asked icily, his eyes full of wariness. He hadn’t forgotten the rumors about the Emperor. He had remained silent initially to observe the situation. Now he was certain: the Emperor truly wanted to know about Ji Yanqing.

His younger brother really was a source of constant trouble.

The Emperor felt a bit troubled. Why should he tell? Could he tell this man that after hearing Ji Yanqing say the same words as “her,” and checking with his soul-treasure, he suspected Ji Yanqing was his own child?

The Emperor’s soul-treasure was the Life and Death Registry (生死簿). At its peak, it could check the birth and death of all living beings and determine their fates. However, it wasn’t fully refined, so it could only show “connections.” He had confirmed Ji Yanqing was “her” child, but… the Registry showed no connection between himself and Ji Yanqing.

If Ji Yanqing has no relation to me, this would be very awkward.

He pondered for a moment, then his eyes lit up. He remembered Ji Yanqing said they were here for an item. And he happened to know where it was.

The Emperor looked at Ji Yanhui. “If you tell me, in exchange, I can tell you where the Cloud Pendant is.”

When Ji Yanqing and Qi Ye met Ji Yanhui again, they found him and the Emperor sitting at a desk. The atmosphere was eerily quiet. Ji Yanqing noticed the desk looked different than before.

Had they already fought a round?

Seeing Ji Yanqing, Ji Yanhui looked visibly relieved. He instinctively stood up, but realizing he looked too concerned, he regained his composure and coughed lightly.

“Don’t be so impulsive next time,” Ji Yanhui said. If he needed spiritual stones, the Ji family had plenty; why risk coming to the Ghost Emperor for them?

From his conversation, Ji Yanhui learned the Emperor’s bounty was truly just for the hairpin and had nothing to do with a “cinnabar mole substitute”—or so he speculated.

Hearing that the Emperor was willing to trade the Cloud Pendant’s location for info on Ji Yanqing, Ji Yanhui grew wary again. Since the Emperor wouldn’t say why he wanted to know, Ji Yanhui deliberately added several years to Ji Yanqing’s age and the time he was brought home.

Cultivators generally couldn’t tell exact ages. Even if the Emperor asked Ji Yanqing directly, he wouldn’t get a straight answer.

However, hearing this, the Emperor looked shocked, then disappointed. He murmured: “Actually… why…”

The Emperor had considered this outcome, but confirming that his love had been with someone else and had a child after leaving him made his emotions surge. As a powerhouse, his fluctuation was only a flash, but he slammed the desk into powder before regaining calm.

Having his answer, the Emperor stopped prying. As agreed, he had the guards bring Ji Yanqing in so he could tell them the pendant’s location.

Ji Yanqing, unaware of the secret talk, noticed Ji Yanhui looked more caring, while the Emperor… looked at him with a complex gaze. It held pity and affection, but also a trace of something like loathing.

【Villain Points +20.】

The system confirmed the minor loathing. Ji Yanqing was startled. Why does the Emperor resent me now? Did I take too many stones? If that was all it took, he’d gladly lend the hairpin for another day.

Ji Yanhui broke his thoughts. “The Emperor knows where the Cloud Pendant is.”

Ji Yanqing’s eyes fixed on the Emperor. Meeting that gaze, the Emperor dazed; his eyes and face truly resembled hers. Then, remembering the child belonged to someone else, he replied coldly: “Your… father did indeed send the pendant to me for safekeeping. But not long ago, it was stolen by a ghost cultivator.”

Ji Yanqing blinked. “With the Emperor’s power, retrieving it from a mere ghost should be easy, shouldn’t it?”

Ji Yanqing’s “rainbow farts” (flattery) were master-level. The Emperor wanted to sneer and say: “It’s your Ji family’s item; what does it have to do with me?” But the flattery felt good, and looking at those eyes, he couldn’t be harsh.

He stated calmly: “The ghost hid the pendant in a place I cannot go.”

“Where?” Ji Yanqing asked. What place in Fengdu could the ruler not enter?

The Emperor looked deeply at Ji Yanqing. “The Abyss of Qixue (綺雪之淵).”

Ji Yanqing’s eyes widened, as if the name itself carried immense weight for the Emperor.

The Emperor felt a sense of comfort. Even if she ended up with someone else, her child knows how important she was to me.

However, Ji Yanqing was simply rolling the name around his head. Finding no info on it, he asked curiously: “Where is that?”

Emperor: “…”

Ji Yanhui, familiar with this, massaged his forehead. He explained to Ji Yanqing: “Father’s little sister… her name was Ji Qixue.”