The Villain is Soft and Clingy [Transmigration] - Chapter 1
In the early morning, water droplets clung to the leaves. When mortals hurried past, they would rustle and sway, carrying a chill that brushed against their clothes.
“Where did she go? I can’t find her anywhere.”
Lu Guo rushed along the bluestone path. She had searched the entire Shuijing Peak, up and down, but there was no sign of that person.
The surroundings were quiet and empty. The small wooden house at the end of her sight had its window slightly ajar. Two small, bobbing flowers grew in front of the door, looking quite languid.
“Aha, here she is. No wonder I couldn’t find her,” Lu Guo sighed. “Why does she spend all day cooped up indoors?”
She took big strides, pushed open the door, and saw a girl leaning by the window, holding a strange little booklet.
The girl, sixteen or seventeen years old, had clean-cut features and wore an ivory-white robe. Her long hair was loosely tied, falling over her shoulders like dark clouds, tinged with the clear golden color of the morning sun.
She was slightly raising her head, her slender white fingers holding the yellowed pages, engrossed in reading the booklet’s contents.
Seeing someone push the door open, Xia Zhitiao turned her head, snapped the small booklet shut, quickly tucked it into her embrace, and smiled, “Senior Sister Lu.”
Lu Guo sighed, half-supporting her waist. She glanced at the booklet, which was firmly hidden behind the other girl’s back, and rubbed her brow. “Zhitiao, Grand-master wants to see you.”
“Me?” Xia Zhitiao was a little surprised. She smoothly tucked the booklet into her embrace, patted her sleeve, “Is something wrong?”
“You’ll know when you get there.” Lu Guo kept her guessing. She asked Xia Zhitiao to follow her, and the two walked down the path they had come from.
The journey was silent. Lu Guo grew increasingly bored, and couldn’t help but slightly tilt her head, scrutinizing her junior sister beside her. Although her spiritual cultivation was low, she was exceptionally favored by their grand-master.
Xia Zhitiao didn’t notice the inquiring gaze beside her. She lowered her head slightly, lost in thought.
—It was the 266th year of the Immortal Calendar, her sixteenth year transmigrated into this book.
.
Due to her profession, Xia Zhitiao was usually either dizzyingly busy or bored out of her mind.
She didn’t usually read web novels, but that day a recommendation suddenly popped up on her phone. On a whim, she clicked on it and took a look.
Who knew that once she started, she couldn’t stop? She stayed up all night, devouring the entire novel with relish.
Unfortunately, the beginning was brilliantly exciting, the middle part grand and sweeping, but by the end, the novel actually—
Had a terrible ending!
The author, “Banana Peel King,” casually abandoned the novel after dropping a note saying, “Found a girlfriend, stopping here.”
Not a single plot hole was filled, the protagonist’s fate was unknown, and the author had simply gone off on sweet dates with his girlfriend, leaving behind a crowd of tearful readers who diligently refreshed the comment section every day, lamenting the author’s irresponsible behavior.
As one of the unfortunate readers who fell into the pit, Xia Zhitiao stared coldly at the small green text in the author’s note for a full five minutes, then angrily closed the page.
So what if he had a girlfriend? How could that be a reason to abandon a story?!
Closing the page wasn’t enough. Xia Zhitiao kept thinking about the ending, growing more and more furious. She simply shoved her phone into her pocket, changed into sneakers, and went downstairs to the convenience store to buy something to drink.
As a result, that one-in-a-million chance happened to her.
As usual, she opened the freezer to grab a can of milk. The shelf wasn’t properly placed, and another bottle of milk fell down, hitting her head with a *clang*.
Xia Zhitiao’s vision went black. She raised her hand to rub the spot that had been hit, but when she opened her eyes again…
She had suddenly become a tiny infant, lying in the arms of a woman, waving her limbs about.
Xia Zhitiao: ?
Who am I, where am I, I can’t live like this anymore.
.
After she despairingly accepted that she had inexplicably transmigrated just by buying milk, the following days were incredibly tough.
When others transmigrated into a book, they came with cheat codes and systems. She, on the other hand, had nothing but a small, tattered book.
It was a yellowed booklet that broadly outlined the novel’s plot, but all the detailed content had been deleted and replaced with a very concise timeline listing approximate events.
For example, “Year 234: Xinyue Incident, Collapse of Jiang Kingdom,” “Year 265: Demon Sect Massacres Shura Sect,” and so on.
This book was very mysterious; it couldn’t be damaged in the slightest by fire, water, or even knives. Moreover, it used modern text, so besides Xia Zhitiao, probably no one in this world could understand it.
Xia Zhitiao looked at the tattered booklet with a heavy heart, only able to comfort herself: “Though it’s not very useful, if I ever get stranded on a deserted island, at least I can burn it for warmth.”
Recycle and reuse, clean and environmentally friendly.
She didn’t remember much about when she first arrived; her memory seemed to have been wiped clean. She only vaguely recalled using that small booklet to predict a catastrophe, and then taking her family away from the village early.
But she hadn’t expected the people who invaded the village to pursue them. At the critical moment, an immortal saved them.
The immortal wore a white silk sash over their eyes, looking cool and aloof, yet they were extremely gentle towards the farmer’s family, especially Xia Zhitiao, the second daughter.
The immortal settled the two elderly people, stating that Xia Zhitiao had extraordinary spiritual roots and was destined for cultivation. They led Xia Zhitiao into the immortal sect, where she became a disciple under the Grand-master of Shuijing Peak in Yashan Sect.
Later, she inexplicably became an inner disciple, spending her days cultivating and observing vegetarianism. Her life was calm and uneventful… until today, when the Grand-master dropped a bombshell on her.
.
Immortal pines carried green, cold clouds swirled, and as the road steadily widened, the clouds seemed to gain sentience, voluntarily receding to the side, revealing countless continuous pavilions.
Further ahead was the main hall of Shuijing Peak, one of the thirteen interconnected peaks of their Yashan Sect.
Seeing that they were about to arrive, Lu Guo no longer bothered to hide it. She patted the other’s shoulder, somewhat gloatingly, “Go in. Grand-master and Junior Sister are waiting.”
Junior, junior sister…?
Xia Zhitiao frowned for a moment, then recalled that when she first arrived, she had indeed heard about an unwritten rule on Shuijing Peak.
Every year, when new disciples entered the sect, a senior sister or brother would be assigned to guide them for a period, teaching them various aspects of cultivation. This was intended to help the newcomers adapt better to their new environment.
After all, the new disciples were chosen from among mortals. Suddenly entering the so-called “immortal sect” naturally meant there would be many things they weren’t used to.
The intention was good, but privately, all the disciples were quite annoyed by this.
There were two reasons: among the new entrants, some were too arrogant, believing themselves to have extraordinary spiritual roots; others were too dull, unable even to perform the most basic Qi gathering, thus wasting their own cultivation time.
“Newcomer?” Xia Zhitiao asked, somewhat confused, “Don’t they only recruit once every ten years? How much time has passed?”
Lu Guo shrugged, saying, “There are always exceptions to every rule.”
Xia Zhitiao held some doubts. After bidding farewell to Lu Guo, she stood before the grand stone gate, her fingers resting on the bronze ring, and gently knocked a few times.
“Dong—”
A muffled thud echoed in the air, spreading in layers. Xia Zhitiao waited for a moment, and the heavy stone gate opened in response. Standing in the center of the main hall was the Grand-master of Shuijing Peak.
The Grand-master looked at Xia Zhitiao, laughed heartily twice, and rubbed his bushy beard, repeatedly saying, “Come, come, why are you standing there? Come in.”
Xia Zhitiao respectfully bowed and quickly walked into the main hall. She hadn’t seen earlier because she was blocked, but it turned out there was someone sitting next to the Grand-master.
It was a rather slender young girl, dressed in a blue dyed silk robe, sitting quietly in a chair with her head slightly bowed.
She seemed a little nervous, perhaps because she was new. Her slender white fingers nervously clasped in front of her knees, and she was slightly biting her lower lip.
Upon seeing Xia Zhitiao arrive, she suddenly looked up, her amber-like eyes unblinking and shining a bit brighter.
Xia Zhitiao curiously looked at her twice, and couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.
Where did Grand-master abduct this noble young girl from? She’s so beautiful!
The young girl was fair and soft, with bright and clear eyes, looking shy and timid, making one’s heart soften just by looking at her.
Although she appeared to be only thirteen or fourteen now, and her features hadn’t fully matured, one could already vaguely glimpse her future stunning appearance.
However, sitting quietly aside like a little steamed bun, she made one want to pinch her cheeks and satisfy that urge.
Although it was said that cultivating was better done as early as possible, thinking of Grand-master’s various deceptive acts, tricking such a precious young girl into this desolate place…
It was truly unbearable to witness.
Xia Zhitiao internally condemned him for a moment, then shifted her gaze, stood before the Grand-master, and earnestly asked, “Grand-master, may I ask why you sought me?”
The Grand-master stood up with a smile. The young girl, seeing his movement, also hurriedly stood up, obediently standing behind the Grand-master.
“I’m sure Zhitiao has seen her,” the Grand-master rubbed his beard, patted the young girl’s shoulder, and pushed her forward slightly, “This is our newly initiated junior sister. I’ll trouble you to look after her.”
Xia Zhitiao lowered her head, slightly bent her waist, and said, “Of course, it is my duty.”
“My Zhitiao is truly the best,” the Grand-master exclaimed. “Your senior brothers are all unreliable, busy gathering fruit and catching monkeys all day. Only by entrusting our junior sister to you can I feel somewhat at ease.”
With that, he patted the young girl’s shoulder and said, “I’ve already told you, go with Senior Sister Xia Zhitiao. She will lead you to your residence.”
The young girl shyly nodded. She took small steps to Xia Zhitiao and looked up at her, “Senior Sister.”
Her voice had a slightly muffled trailing sound, like a green fruit, soft and gentle, falling pleasantly on the ear.
“Don’t be nervous,” Xia Zhitiao chuckled, reaching out to stroke the young girl’s hair, her voice softening a bit, “What’s your name?”
The young girl’s hair was soft and silky, like down, caressing her palm. She smiled shyly, her voice soft and sweet: “Zhang Lan, my name is Zhang Lan.”
“Zhang Lan, a good name…”
Xia Zhitiao’s hand, stroking the girl’s head, suddenly froze.