Because I’ve been asked concerning this translation showing up on a non-aggregate site, this bears saying:
This site is the only place where I post translations. If you see my translation of Villain Rehab Plan posted anywhere else, that’s 100% not me.
Honestly, I’m…really tired. Of thinking about this, worrying about this, and losing motivation to do even other things because of this. I really wanted to cry and immediately delete this site when I did another search and found my translation reposted in even more places?? Some sites just blatantly grab everything, which really makes me despair, especially when reading the comments where people thank the aggregators for their hard work…
I’m not m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.tic enough to continue when this is the level of disrespect I have to deal with so. I’m just. Done.
During these two months, I’ve spent a lot of time mulling over whether I should continue translating this novel, aside from the reposting issue. Tbh, the fact that VRP’s original author has locked this story on their official page has always bothered me, and it’s not like I have permission to be sharing a translation of this publicly.
Would you be happy if some random person started translating a story you took down? It’s a question I’ve been asking myself, and the answer is probably a no. The author was last active in 2014(?) and I have no idea how to contact them to ask, so…
With both these issues piling on stress that I really don’t need, the best solution I can currently think of is to switch to posting detailed summaries instead of direct translations. Summaries won’t infringe on an author’s IP, and since it’s not a translation, even if aggregators continue to steal it, at least it’ll never legally become an issue. Besides, I’m pretty sure they’ll stop at that point b/c how extra do you have to be to steal summaries.
For now, I’m going to try and plow through the rest of vol. 1 as fast as I can, and then, well. I’ll do a poll next post to gauge public opinion, since if people aren’t interested in things other than direct translations, then there’s no need for me to do the extra work.
Sorry for being absent for so long and then dropping this disappointing news, but now you guys have a heads-up. I hope you’ll enjoy the (relatively) faster releases, and thanks for the support thus far <>
Since it’s been so long, here’s a short recap of what happened last chapter:
Ling Xia fought in the final examination round, got beat up really badly, and wakes up inside the sect. He found out he was a.s.signed to Immortal Welcoming Pavilion (where Song XiaoHu originally went and suffered in the novel), while Song XiaoHu and Yu ZhiJue were both taken in as direct disciples under the sect master.
Chapter 17:
Thejsmalliroom LingjXiawas!currentlylstaying in!was aitemporaryiresidence usedlto helpjsettle inithe!sectjmaster’s new!disciples, and theiothers had, onejafter another, alreadylgonejto!where theyiwerela.s.signed. Inotheriwords, being ablejto wholly!recuperate herewas himbasking in the reflected!glory ofiSongiXiaoHujandlYulZhiJue.!
Ling Xia was still concerned about the people from YunXiao City, but not wanting to stir up Yu ZhiJue’s bleak memories, he surrept.i.tiously asked Song XiaoHu instead. Song XiaoHu immediately replied, “I heard from Feng Luo that those people didn’t leave, saying that…their youngest junior brother disappeared nearby, and they’ll stay until they find him.”
The more this translation gets reposted, the less motivation I have to translate.
Of course, Ling Xia didn’t know that Cui Yu also had a hand in this decision. After the exam ended, Mo Dai had to coax her for quite a while, explaining that right now, Yu ZhiJue had just entered ShaoYang Sect so requesting Feng ShuMing to hand him over wasn’t appropriate, etc. At long last, Cui Yu compromised and a.s.serted that they’ll talk again after she goes back and pleads with her daddy. Even though she was unruly, Cui Yu wasn’t stupid and also knew that this matter wasn’t so simple. She couldn’t have hoped more for Shang Yan’s timely disappearance, as it just so happened to give them a reason to stay.
Ling Xia felt a violent s.h.i.+ver. Perhaps it would have been better if he had hardened his heart to completely destroy the body and all other traces at that time, but it was too late for regrets now. What’s more, even if he was given another chance, he still wouldn’t have be able to do so… …He can only pray that Shang Yan’s corpse won’t be discovered. Then, he carefully warned Song XiaoHu again, stressing that he must not ever let anything slip and such, and the other boy expressed his compliance.
Feng Luo and Song XiaoHu had already become very familiar, and in seeing Ling Xia, she also politely nodded in greeting, albeit faintly maintaining a sense of distance. Ling Xia knew that this world’s ranking of seniority wasn’t based on age, but rather on one’s strength and when one joined a sect, not to mention, the status of being the sect master’s direct disciple was even more distinguis.h.i.+ng. According to the rules here, it seems that he actually needed to deferentially call Feng Luo as ‘Senior sister’, and Yu ZhiJue and Song XiaoHu as ‘Senior brother’… …
LinglXia felt!hislb.a.l.l.siache!with grief.j
Moreover, during his rest here, it was clear to see that one can accurately determine another’s rank solely by looking at their apparel, truly the epitome in ‘judging people by their appearance’. Within this batch of disciples of the Pin generation, the sect master’s disciples wore black with a gold trim, the personal disciples of the other ShaoYang Sect elders wore black with a silver trim, the slightly inferior third rank disciples wore long, grey robes, and finally, the outer disciples like Ling Xia could only wear dark blue servant-like clothes.
Although he didn’t have many expectations for this world, Ling Xia was still shaken by this kind of status-separated feudalistic system. Recuperating in this place, no matter how one looked at it, wasn’t very appropriate. Furthermore, his wounds were no longer much of a hindrance, so he decided then and there to report earlier to Immortal Welcoming Pavilion.
There were many triflingimatters toisettleiwhen onejfirstjentered a sect, like the!allocation oflrooms,llearningjtheifundamentalirules, etc.jThe thingsithatlneeded tobejdone!weretrulylnolessithan what’s requirediofia!young employeejwholjust got hired, so Ling Xiaididn’tiletjthe two kids accompany him.iHowever,iafterjwalkingiquitelajdistance,ihe!turned around andldiscoveredlthat.i.thoseitwokidslwere still lookingiin hisjdirection,and suddenlyfelt a gushloflwarmth injhisjheart.j
Despite being partof!the same sect,lthe distance between!Stonewood Mountain, wherejthose direct disciples of thelsect mastercultivated,!and Immortal Welcoming Pavilion generally tookjtwo fulljhoursltojtravel. The!other fourldisciples who were a.s.signed alonglwithjLing Xia tojImmortal Welcoming!Pavilion hadjalready followedithe administrative disciple!and departed after theiexam ended. Ling Xiaasked for directionsithe entire waylthere while hurryingjonwards, sometimes fast, sometimes slow.i
His foot waslinjured byjXu Yan in their match, so walking slowlyjwas fine, but moving!more briskly!wouldidisturb the wound!and bring about unbearable!pain. Therefore,iit wasjfour hours later before he reached Immortal Welcoming Pavilion,iand the skyiwas already dark.
Immortal Welcoming Pavilion was located at the foot of a small mountain within the ChongMing Mountain Range. Even if the name sounded nice, its actual position in ShaoYang Sect wasn’t high, and it was mostly in charge of the sect’s medicinal fields, firewood, rice paddies, and other such secondary matters. The disciples here do the heaviest labor, but can only receive the most basic cultivation pointers. Compared to being called a disciple of ShaoYang Sect, they’re closer to part-time workers in charge of the miscellaneous tasks at ShaoYang Sect, and their monthly pay was the lowest as well.
In the past, Ling Xia had basically skipped and skimmed over this part of the story when he read it. After all, this was supposed to be a feel-good novel, and he had zero interest in the descriptions of the protagonist repeatedly being oppressed. Right now, Ling Xia regretted that a lot, because the misfortunes of the protagonist had turned into what he would have to face.
Without further delay,iLing Xia gavela salute and limped away followingalongjthe flightiof stairs,jand going from the front gatelto the topjof the small mountain took him another hour.
Insidelthe hall,jasjexpected, the!otherjnew disciples had naturallyialreadylgone toitheir a.s.signed rooms toitidyiup. The ‘MartialjuncleGuang XuZi’ the twojdisciples at the gatelspoke!of was!this ImmortallWelcoming Pavilion’s overseeing manager. He looked about.i.thirty years old,!andiwitha slimbuild, gloomyjeyes, and!a slight hook nose, he gave off an impressionjof someone that’s hard!tojget!along with.
In seeing Ling Xia bow in greeting, he did not immediately tell Ling Xia to get up and instead, lazily lifted his teacup and took two sips, drinking leisurely while he regarded the other from top to bottom. Ling Xia lowered his head and cursed silently; it couldn’t be that he met a douchebag this quickly?
After a long time, only until Guang XuZi had finished his cup of tea, did he tell Ling Xia to get up while absentmindedly asking, “Since you’ve entered my ShaoYang Sect, you must have some ability, yes?”
Ling Xia promptlyiand cautiously!replied withirespect, “This disciple’s!body contains Herculean Strength.”i
Guang XuZi suddenly let out a chuckle. “Not bad, not bad, they finally sent a useful one. For the time being, you’ll follow Yuan Hui to water that patch of Evening Mist Herbs. Yuan Hui, take your Junior brother Ling to go rest.”
Ling Xia didn’t know what kind of herb this was or the size of a ‘patch’, but he could only withdraw for now. He was also afraid of being taken advantage of by Guang XuZi, so he purposefully exaggerated his leg injury. Plus, he was genuinely in pain from exhaustion, so the way he staggered and hobbled was reminiscent of Iron Crutch Li, though he wasn’t sure if Guang XuZi saw or not.
Yuan Hui was a young man who looked honest and considerate, and Ling Xia’s impression towards him was actually a bit favorable. While the other led the way, he took the opportunity and asked, “Senior brother Yuan, where is everyone’s sleeping quarters located?”
Yuan Hui glanced atjhim, thenlanswered very slowly, “Therejaren’t anylmore empty rooms, soiwe can onlyifirst imposeiupon Juniorlbrother Lingito temporarily livelin the firewood shed.jThelhousing in Immortal Welcoming Pavilionlhas alwaysbeen inishort supply,jandjafterjthese busyidayslhave pa.s.sed, Martial uncle will find people toibuild another residence.”
Ling Xia blinked, having no choice but to resign himself to his terrible luck, not suspecting these words in the least. In his panic to arrive here, he had ignored his hunger, so he continued to ask, “Senior brother Yuan, sorry for the inconvenience, but where are evening meals usually served?”
Yuan Hui turned around, pointed to a building not far away, and replied, “In there. Every day, three meals are announced by the sound of a bell. The time for today’s evening meal has already pa.s.sed… …Hmm, I’ll go ask around in the sleeping quarters and see if any junior brothers still have a steamed bun left.”
“...j...Nojneedlto trouble Seniorlbrother,jI’m not reallyjthat hungry.” Nojmatterlhow densejLingiXia!was,lat thisimoment,evenheibecame!awarejof YuanHui‘sjhalf-heartediandjvaguejatt.i.tude towards himself.iHejwashonestly heavilyjwornjout by these past fewldays,jyetlonlyihadla bit of medicine bestowedibyiFengiLuojon him. In any case, he’s!already!fullyexperienced!such feelingsllikeistarvation!by now,landiactually,loncejyouiendure!pastia certainpoint,lthehunger!ceases to be albother.l
Sureienough,iafterjLing Xia’siresponse,!Yuan Hui alsolno longerpayedjthis anyjmind.i
Ling Xia followed the other to the warehouse and received a simple, flimsy mattress. As a cultivator, this kind of thing doesn’t really matter, and together with those two kids, he’d already pa.s.sed many days sleeping on tree leaves and coa.r.s.e straw.
ImmortaljWelcoming Pavilion’s firewood shed wasconsideredquite s.p.a.cious andlhad plenty ofiopens.p.a.ce. LingjXia placed the mattress down andithankedjYuanlHui. Yuan Hui carelessly gaveihimialook, andiwithout sayinglanother!word,turned around and left. Ling Xia sighed; thankfully,ltheifirewood shed alsojhad an oil lamp.
Ling Xia shook out the mattress and spread it out, then after applying a layer of medicine to the wounds on his body and face, blew out the lamp and lethargically lied down.
Even though this place was pitch black and quite chilly, at least it was safe and devoid of both dangerous magical beasts and violent combat… …That said, how were those two kids doing right now? … …He tossed and turned for a long time before falling asleep, and yet for all that, he was jerked awake twice in the middle of the night by bug bites.
Don’t repost this translation. This has been a PSA from [email protected]/* */
The next day, the belloutside wokelLing Xia up very early, andlwithout botheringjto wash up, he hastilylrushed outsideias the the firstirays of sunlightlbarely!stretchediacross thesky.iHe!wasn’tifamiliar withthe way, so by the timejhefoundthe!right place, he was!late again, and the otherldiscipleswereialready standing neatly in rows.
Guang XuZi gave him an extremely harsh glare and yelled, “Ling Xia! Come here!”
LingiXia didn’t knowiexactly!how largeja ‘patch’!really!was,ibutlonce he was!led thereibyjanotherldisciple,jhealmostifainted from anger.Whatjbulls.h.i.+tis this!iHe originallyithought thatla patchlwouldibe,latimost,jaslbig as albasketball!court, but the!reality wasjthatjit’s asilarge aslasoccer field,youiknow? Looks!like this GuangiXuZi was enacting a show ofipower inlfrontoflthe newldisciples,jandhelhappenedtojbe the!haplessiwhippingiboy…i…i
Whenjhelsaw the!twoibuckets!hanging from apolelthat!he haditoiuseifor hauling water,lhelnearly!started tohoplup and downin rage. f.u.c.k!jScrew you!jHow manyltripswould hejhave tojmake to finish wateringjalllthis?l
[1]: in ancient Chinese culture, different generations are a.s.signed certain a word as their generation name