The Villain is Soft and Clingy [Transmigration] - Chapter 23.2

She distractedly twirled the petal in her hand, explaining to Xia Zhitiao, “The atmosphere in this forest isn’t right. Just now, when I investigated, there were actually ten high-tier demon beasts in the surroundings. No matter how I think about it—”

Her words were cut short. Zhang Kuang stopped.

“What’s wrong?” Xia Zhitiao was just getting into it, but the other person suddenly stopped talking. She tilted her head, wondering, “Aren’t you going to continue?”

“You, you little girl.”

Zhang Kuang “hmph-ed,” returned to her original position, turning away from Xia Zhitiao, her voice rising a few notches: “Quite bold, aren’t you, trying to trick me into talking?!”

Xia Zhitiao: “…”

*Still putting on airs, huh? Your stutter was too obvious just now; I heard it.* She pouted sullenly, protesting softly, “You still haven’t said why you came over.”

Zhang Kuang paused, then said, “…I, this Venerable One was simply bored, wandering around, and unexpectedly ran into a few Yashan little ones. It’s truly quite interesting.”

Xia Zhitiao rested her chin in her hand, kindly reminding her, “Demon Leader, I should be older than you.”

Zhang Kuang was stunned: “No way?”

Xia Zhitiao was speaking the honest truth. According to the original text, Zhang Kuang’s age was actually quite young, a world apart from the thousands or tens of thousands of years rumored on Yashan.

And she herself had already graduated from university and worked for many years in modern times. After transmigrating to this fantasy world, she had lived for so long. By any calculation, she should be a whole generation older.

Zhang Kuang awkwardly “coughed.” She stood up and walked around, then, very spinelessly, quietly circled back to the tree she had been sitting under.

She twirled the petal in her hand, trying to maintain her image: “In short, Yashan and I are sworn enemies. Having finally encountered some, I can’t let them off easily without making myself happy!”

Xia Zhitiao said a bland “oh,” thinking: *’Keep talking. I’ve already seen through you.’*

Although still half-skeptical, Xia Zhitiao felt that the junior sister who constantly clung to her must be inextricably linked to the Demon Sect Leader.

She carefully observed the two, finding that upon closer inspection, Zhang Kuang and the junior sister indeed shared some similarities.

Their facial features and contours were roughly the same, but the junior sister’s cheeks were soft, like a little steamed bun, very pleasant to pinch.

Zhang Kuang’s cheeks, however, were thin, with sharp, distinct contours and a smooth jawline, giving her a sense of aloofness that kept people at a distance.

*…Although their cheeks both looked quite soft, Xia Zhitiao didn’t yet have the guts to pinch the Demon Leader’s face.*

Moreover, compared to the junior sister’s watery big eyes and her personality that bloomed like a sunflower when she smiled, Zhang Kuang was much colder.

Her features were clearly beautiful, yet she rarely spoke or smiled. She was always frowning, looking weary, as if deep in thought.

Xia Zhitiao rested her chin in her hand, intently studying Zhang Kuang. The other person became restless under her gaze, uncomfortably turning away and standing up.

The Wang siblings were like radars; the moment Zhang Kuang made any slight move, they immediately detected it.

Wang Yan was restrained by her brother, glaring at Zhang Kuang with full vigilance, gripping the long sword in her hand. Wang Ze’s expression was also grave. Although he had been silently observing, his nerves remained taut, closely monitoring Zhang Kuang.

The two were tense, but Xia Zhitiao wasn’t afraid.

She watched Zhang Kuang circle in place a few times, preparing to walk away, and asked curiously, “Your Excellency, Demon Leader, where are you going?”

Zhang Kuang’s body stiffened. Her back to Xia Zhitiao, she muttered, “I’m going to check the situ—This Venerable One is going to take a look around and will be back shortly.”

Xia Zhitiao asked, “Will you be gone long?”

“Don’t worry,” Zhang Kuang said, “I won’t go far.”

She replied too smoothly, not realizing she had once again fallen into the trap. The Demon Sect Leader’s aloof facade was being slowly dismantled by Xia Zhitiao.

—

Zhang Kuang left the barrier. She adjusted her black robe behind her and slowly walked through the scattered, withered branches.

A biting wind swept through the forest from the sky, making a “rustling” sound, like the mournful wailing of a trapped beast, sharp and piercing.

Not far away, there should be another demon beast.

Earlier, because her spiritual power hadn’t fully recovered, she had only roughly scouted the area. The ten high-tier demon beasts in the forest were not all of the same rank.

She had killed a fifth-tier Devouring Wheel Black Python, and if her perception wasn’t wrong, there should be another demon beast of a higher rank than it.

The others idled inside the barrier. The Wang siblings spoke in low voices. Jin Li, after laying down her rug, had already pulled out roasted chicken and was gnawing on it with relish, looking perfectly at home on a picnic.

She even tore off a piece, attempting to feed it to the little red fish floating beside her.

The little red fish adamantly refused, not eating it at all. Jin Li had no choice but to withdraw her hand, saying regretfully, “This shredded chicken is so delicious.”

*She’s a fish! Why are you so insistent on feeding her roasted chicken?!* Xia Zhitiao sighed inwardly, looking at her unreliable teammates. She tightened the clothes around her junior sister and looked outwards.

Zhang Kuang had been outside the barrier for a while now. Though her figure was visible, she hadn’t come back in.

Just then, a colossal roar, like a peal of thunder, suddenly ripped through the quiet air.

From afar, a massive “mountain-like” body swayed violently. Countless birds and beasts shrieked and scattered, as if chased by some terrifying creature.

“—Stay in the barrier and don’t move!”

Zhang Kuang’s voice suddenly rang out. She shouted sharply, “It’s here! I can’t protect you if you move!”

The moment her words fell, a terrifying shriek swept over. The huge sound wave spread in layers, as if solidifying, and violently struck Zhang Kuang.

Zhang Kuang slightly raised her hand to block. Countless petals surged forward, “thump,” crashing against the sound wave. Using her own body as a medium, she actually swallowed the immense impact.

Everyone watched, dumbfounded.

Compared to the black python’s attack earlier, this shriek was even more terrifying. It seemed to engulf mountains and rivers, surging powerfully, forcefully snapping the massive old tree that required ten people to embrace it in half.

Even more terrifying was that, under such an attack, the barrier Zhang Kuang had set up remained calm and still.

The group couldn’t even feel a trace of the sound wave’s power. They could only see trees outside the barrier falling one after another, instantly clearing a large open space.

Zhang Kuang slightly frowned, looking at the collapsed trees and coldly asked, “Who’s there?”

From the smoke and dust, a slender figure emerged.

The person was unsteady, stumbling out of the forest. Her clothes were disheveled and covered in gruesome wounds. She rushed to Zhang Kuang, but then suddenly stopped.

The few inside the barrier peered out. Xia Zhitiao glanced at them twice and thought, *Why is it another familiar face?*

She said to the Wang siblings, “Isn’t that the top-ranked disciple of your batch?”

Wang Yan nodded vigorously, surprised: “Senior Sister, that person is Mu Si. She was supposed to be in a team with the senior brother from Jingting Peak. Why is she appearing here in such a state?”

Wang Ze said gravely, “Looking at the demon beast’s attack just now, they probably got separated, and as for Senior Brother… it’s hard to say.”

Mu Si clutched her profusely bleeding abdomen. A demon beast was clearly chasing her from behind, yet she stubbornly refused to take another step forward.

She gritted her teeth, coughing up some bl00d: “You are—”

“The Demon Sect Leader, Zhang Kuang,” Zhang Kuang finished her sentence, coldly. “Now get back there. I don’t have time for you!”

Mu Si panted heavily. Her injuries were severe, her own small team had already fallen apart, and a demon beast was chasing her from behind. She was already at her wit’s end.

Even so, she stubbornly stood her ground, refusing to take another step forward.

Zhang Kuang couldn’t be bothered with her. She gripped her light sword, took a long stride, and directly strode past Mu Si.

She focused her gaze forward, sensing the approaching movement, and sharply called out, “Come out!!”

A continuous roar echoed in response. The ground shook violently, and a massive black shadow extended, cutting off a large swath of light, as if engulfing the entire world in darkness.

Wang Yan was still young. She couldn’t help but tug on Jin Li’s sleeve, dumbfounded: “How did Mu Si provoke such a thing…”

The demon beast had a pair of enormous wings on its back. Its body resembled a rhinoceros, its head an eagle. Its beak was long and slender like a blade, and its sharp claws were deeply embedded in the rocky ground.

It opened its beak and let out a piercing shriek. The sound was incredibly desolate, scraping against eardrums like a blunt knife, chilling one to the bone.

Mu Si tightly frowned, unable to support herself any longer. She spat out a mouthful of fresh bl00d and collapsed onto the ground.

Facing the massive demon beast, Zhang Kuang’s expression became more serious: “Pointed-Beak Rhinoceros Eagle, eighth-tier.”

“Quite the ruthless method, indeed,” she sighed. “No matter who it is, the one who lured this demon beast is likely trying to cut off all loose ends, leaving no one behind.”

—Eighth-tier?

*A fifth-tier Devouring Wheel Black Python was one thing, but how could an eighth-tier demon beast appear on the first layer of the forest?*

Eighth-tier demon beasts were extremely rare. Such cultivation strength would probably be even higher than some of Yashan’s lower-ranked peak masters.

Xia Zhitiao’s heart suddenly felt an inexplicable unease, like stepping into empty air off a cliff, adrift with no place to return. She looked at the barrier beside her, unconsciously reaching out her hand.

The petals didn’t block her; they gently brushed her fingers, leaving a slight coolness.

From the very beginning, that person never intended to harm them.

Xia Zhitiao looked at the figure blocking the barrier, and couldn’t help but clench her fingers.

*It’s just an eighth-tier demon beast, for Zhang Kuang, it should be very simple… right?*

Xia Zhitiao knew Zhang Kuang was strong, and the novel had repeatedly emphasized her strength, but it never said she couldn’t get injured or tired.

She felt a little anxious, and softly said, “Zhang Kuang…”

Zhang Kuang tilted her head and looked back, seemingly noticing the worry on Xia Zhitiao’s face. She smiled faintly: “It’s alright. A mere eighth-tier demon beast can’t do anything to me.”

The Rhinoceros Eagle was incredibly fast. Shrieking, it flapped its wide wings, kicking up sand and stones, creating gusts of fierce wind.

Zhang Kuang seemed unconcerned. She calmly turned and walked back, letting the Rhinoceros Eagle rapidly approach her from behind, not taking it seriously at all.

She grabbed Mu Si, who was lying on the ground, by her collar, and threw her into the barrier: “Watch her.”

In just these few steps, the Rhinoceros Eagle was already upon them, only a few feet from Zhang Kuang.

A foul wind swept past. Wings covered the sky, a vast black shadow enveloped everything, and shrieks vibrated through the trees.

“If you had come a little earlier, you might have had a chance,” Zhang Kuang said nonchalantly. “But now it’s too late.”

The moment her words fell, a massive spiritual power suddenly exploded, surging like a tide. The dense forest seemed to boil, its branches and leaves swaying precariously under the terrifying spiritual power, almost bending and breaking.

The Rhinoceros Eagle shrieked. Its fully spread black wings seemed to be twisted by invisible fingers, bending and squeezing little by little, until they were finally forcefully slammed to the ground.

The Pointed-Beak Rhinoceros Eagle, which had been holding its head high just moments before, was now forcibly suppressed, its body taut like a bowstring.

It struggled unwillingly, its tearing wings falling everywhere. Its cries were sharp and piercing, reverberating in layers. Even the petals forming the barrier shook violently.

Zhang Kuang’s breathing quickened slightly. Her outstretched fingers suddenly tensed, faintly revealing blue veins.

She whispered, “…Again.”

Zhang Kuang pressed her hand downwards. The pressure suddenly increased by several layers, slamming the Rhinoceros Eagle, which was trying to get up, back to the ground.

This time, the pressure’s fluctuations were too great. Even those inside the circle also vaguely sensed something.

The semi-circular barrier enveloped them. The dome above them now seemed to be pressed down by an invisible heavy weight, trembling continuously, almost collapsing.

Let alone new disciples like Wang Yan, even Xia Zhitiao had never witnessed such a display of power. Only Jin Li watched with relish.

Jin Li chewed on fried chicken, marveling, “Such a clash is rarely seen in a century. Hurry up and watch more!”

She instinctively poked Wang Yan, who was clutching her arm and curled up in a ball: “What are you scared of? Don’t cover your eyes! It’s too much of a shame to miss!”

Wang Yan tightly shut her eyes, half her head buried in Jin Li’s shoulder, her voice trembling like a sieve: “No, I won’t.”

Jin Li said, “Don’t be afraid. Open your eyes boldly! Seeing it is earning it!”

The Rhinoceros Eagle didn’t hold on for long. Under the immense pressure, its body gradually collapsed, finally crashing to the ground with a thud, kicking up a cloud of dust.

At the same time, Zhang Kuang’s face lost some color. Her figure was slightly unsteady, and she stumbled a few steps back before regaining her balance.

A golden crystal condensed above the demon beast, shining brilliantly as if it had absorbed the sun’s radiance, making it impossible to look away.

The brilliant golden crystal floated down, landing in front of Zhang Kuang.

Zhang Kuang casually took it, then quickly rushed back into the barrier.

Her expression was hurried. She didn’t mind the others’ expressions. She walked directly to Xia Zhitiao, her voice urgent and full of apology: “It’s all my fault. I was unstable just now and didn’t control my strength—are you alright? Are you uncomfortable? Are you injured?”

Xia Zhitiao was stunned: “…”

*Why are you asking me? I was protected by a spiritual barrier. How could anything happen to me? But you, fighting an eighth-tier demon beast while also diverting attention to protect us, are you really alright?*

Xia Zhitiao nervously clutched her sleeve, looking up quietly at Zhang Kuang, and faintly shook her head.

Zhang Kuang breathed a sigh of relief. She reached out to touch the other’s shoulder, but paused mid-air for a moment, slowly withdrawing her hand to her side, clenching her fingers into her palm.

“Recently… the situation is special, and my spiritual power is unstable,” Zhang Kuang whispered. “If it were a normal day, that demon beast wouldn’t even dare to move.”

*Fighting two high-tier demon beasts without changing expression, maintaining the barrier for so long, and this isn’t even her peak state—as expected of the novel’s designated number one villain BOSS!*

Just as Xia Zhitiao was marveling inwardly, Zhang Kuang took a very shallow breath, her voice trembling slightly: “What’s wrong?”

Xia Zhitiao snapped back to reality, bewildered: “What?”

“The bl00d, what’s wrong?”

Zhang Kuang frowned, staring intently at the red on Xia Zhitiao’s white robe, her voice slightly unstable, “Where did you get hurt?”

“What bl00d…” Xia Zhitiao looked down and saw that her clothes were stained with patches of bl00d, dying her white robe in large, chaotic red splotches, looking very frightening.

But this wasn’t her own bl00d; it was from holding the junior sister’s body earlier.

Xia Zhitiao didn’t know what to say for a moment. She instinctively looked down at Zhang Lan, who was lying in her arms with an “=o=” expression.

Zhang Kuang followed her gaze and understood.

She sighed and said, “Why did you come back for her? That was a fifth-tier black python earlier, equivalent to a human cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage. You couldn’t have defeated it no matter what.”

Xia Zhitiao shook her head and said, “I’m her senior sister. No matter what, I had to come back.”

As a senior sister and elder, she had an undeniable responsibility to take good care of all her team members and protect everyone.

And now, with the situation as it was, her junior sister injured and everyone trapped, a large part of it was due to her dereliction of duty.

“Just leave her there. She’s fine, she won’t die. She’ll wake up in a bit anyway,” Zhang Kuang said with a hint of disdain, “In any case, don’t get yourself hurt.”

*…But I can’t do that.*

Say honestly, if it were strangers from another team, Xia Zhitiao would have long since fled with her own team, not bothering to save anyone.

She understood very clearly that this was not modern society under legal protection, but a fantasy world where the strong preyed on the weak, and the strong were respected.

Here, survival was key.

But to make her abandon the junior sister who loved clinging to her, who obediently called her “Senior Sister,” she simply couldn’t do it, no matter what.

Xia Zhitiao looked at the lifeless junior sister in her arms, her once shining eyes seemed extinguished, and a pang of sadness filled her heart.

She lowered her head, her voice unconsciously carrying a hint of a sob: “But…”

Upon seeing her like this, Zhang Kuang panicked. Her voice became even softer and gentler, cautiously saying, “Don’t be sad, it’s all my fault.”

She was extremely anxious, her hands hovering in the air, her slender fingers slightly opening, then closing again.

Her palm was empty, grasping nothing.

“Don’t be afraid. I’m here. Nothing will happen,” Zhang Kuang looked at Xia Zhitiao, her voice a little nervous. “She… she’ll be fine too. You should rest a bit.”

Xia Zhitiao whispered, “Mm.”

Zhang Kuang looked at Xia Zhitiao’s thin ivory-white robe, reached out to touch her own black robe’s button, as if wanting to unbutton it, but then paused.

She hesitated for a long time, then finally waved her hand, turning her back to Xia Zhitiao, and walked away irritably.

—

Zhang Kuang stood leaning against the tree, constantly twirling a clear petal in her hand, staring blankly outside the barrier.

Her long hair, already loosely tied, had loosened even more during the fight. It cascaded over her shoulders like ink wash, falling softly.

Just then, a clear, pleasant zither melody resounded from the forest, ethereal and vast, coming from afar.

Zhang Kuang seemed to have anticipated the arrival. She coldly looked up, then continued to cross her arms, leaning against the ancient tree, closing her eyes to rest.

A man dressed in a bamboo-green robe, elegant and otherworldly, flew above them on an ancient zither, sharply shouting, “Demon Sect Leader!!”

Upon hearing that address, everyone knew that people from Yashan had arrived.

Jin Li lazily looked up twice, chewing on fried chicken, and mumbled, “Master.”

The newcomer was none other than one of Yashan’s thirteen peak masters, the master of Jin Li’s Yuwan Peak, Zheng Luoyi.

He looked at the Yashan disciples “trapped” within the barrier and instantly flared up in anger. His azure-edged long sword sharply unsheathed.

Zheng Luoyi held his sword, pointing it directly at Zhang Kuang’s face, his voice trembling with rage: “Despicable wretch, how dare you use such low-handed tactics to imprison my Yashan disciples!”

Zhang Kuang, having been cursed a few times and now having a sword pointed at her, showed no reaction.

Her long sword dispersed into petals. She sighed, “Too slow. Why are you only coming now?”

Zheng Luoyi’s expression stiffened: “…What do you mean by that? Release them at once!”

Author’s Note:

Xia Zhitiao’s Diary 1: The Demon Leader is too thin. She definitely won’t feel comfortable to pinch. Junior Sister’s plump little cheeks are better.

Xia Zhitiao’s Diary 50: I found out some things you just have to try yourself to know. Zhang Kuang’s cheeks are not only soft, but other places are very soft too 😉