Chapter 1

The day the heroine crawled back from the Demon Realm, wounded and alone, happened to be the day I was getting engaged to the senior brother she loved most.

Red silk draped every peak. Peach blossoms swirled through the air. The entire sect was steeped in celebration.

Just as our master cheerfully called for us to swear our vows, the heroine, Xu Youchan, returned.

Her white robes were soaked in blood and her black hair hung loose around her shoulders. Blood covered her face, yet her back remained straight. Leaning on her sword, she forced herself forward one step at a time until she stood before us.

Our master stared at her in alarm, but what came out of his mouth was a rebuke.

“Youchan! Today is your senior sister and senior brother’s joyous day. How did you end up like this?”

“How could you ruin such an important occasion for them?”

Dressed in red, I stood beside Senior Brother Chen Yuan and gave her a triumphant smile.

When I spoke, however, my voice was gentle.

“Junior Sister, I know you’ve always loved Senior Brother, but the feelings between him and me are mutual.”

“You…”

I covered my face as if overcome with emotion, leaving Chen Yuan to finish the sentence for me.

“Junior Sister, Qiu Ci is the only woman I will ever love.”

“She ventured into the demon caverns alone to rescue me and never abandoned me. In this life, she is the only one I will marry.”

“You mustn’t -”

Before Chen Yuan could finish, the girl collapsed.

Perhaps her sword could no longer bear the weight of her exhausted body. As she fell, all I saw were her bloodstained eyes.

And the tears spilling from them.

It was a sight that made the heart tremble.

Our master and senior brother, who had been scolding her only moments ago, immediately panicked. They rushed over and caught her.

“Fairy Qinghe! Send for Fairy Qinghe to treat Youchan!”

The assembled guests scattered and the ceremony descended into chaos.

Chen Yuan and our master carried Xu Youchan away.

They left me standing there alone in my brilliant red ceremonial robes.

I lowered my eyes, hiding the sneer that covered my face.

“Is he a pig? Is he a pig? Is he a pig? Is he a pig?”

I shrieked inside my head.

“How can someone this stupid be the male lead? He can’t even tell who saved him! If I say it was me, he believes it was me.”

“If I told him some filthy scavenger named Wang Ermazi had rescued him, would he marry that man too?”

“I – you – he -”

The system censored the rest of my profanity before replying at its usual leisurely pace.

“It’s a female-protagonist power fantasy. Have some patience. Besides, he barely qualifies as a male lead. There’s also the little junior brother, the vice leader of the Demon Cult, the elder from Mount Sanqing…”

“Every one of them can spot a scheming woman from a mile away, so be careful. In a few days, you’ll run into Little Junior Brother when you deliver the poison.”

Furious at that worthless man, I kicked at the ground and hurled several stones into the lake.

Through the window, I caught a glimpse of the person inside struggling to sit up and look out.

Half her face was hidden.

Her beauty appeared and vanished like a night-blooming cereus.

“How can my precious girl be this beautiful?” I sighed blissfully.

The window creaked.

I fled before Xu Youchan, recuperating inside, could see me.

“Pathetic,” the system scolded.

I had transmigrated here.

This was a cultivation novel about a powerful heroine. Xu Youchan was its protagonist. After surviving countless trials, she would defeat monster after monster, save the world, and pick up several men along the way.

The plot was thoroughly predictable.

But the heroine was simply too adorable.

She was aloof and expressionless, yet unexpectedly innocent and softhearted.

When I first arrived in this world, I had appeared in the martial training grounds.

Xu Youchan had only just entered the sect. Jealous of her extraordinary talent, the original Qiu Ci had meant to teach her a lesson and break her pride.

But when I was transported into the arena, I did not know a single technique. My attack dissolved halfway through.

The young woman swept past my cheek with her sword.

I stumbled backward and nearly fell. She reached out, caught me around the waist, and sheathed her sword in the same smooth motion.

Her expression was calm. Her smoky-gray eyes were as cold as a blade, and the force of her sword aura sent her black hair flying.

A few strands brushed my cheek, tickling my skin.

Her beauty was almost overwhelming.

She was like a sword that had been tempered but not yet sharpened.

My heart pounded wildly. Blood poured from both nostrils, and my vision went black.

So… so beautiful.

The heroine was alive, right in front of me.

When I awoke, I learned that I had become the story’s vicious supporting woman.

The system said I could leave as soon as I completed the plot.

It did not sound difficult. All I had to do was keep courting death.

I was to seduce the heroine’s men, destroy her reputation, obstruct her cultivation, and crush her spirit.

I happened to be exceptionally good at playing a shameless wretch.

Several decades passed in the blink of an eye, and my exit scene was finally drawing near.

I clicked my tongue, surprised to find that I was a little reluctant to leave the heroine.

I wanted so badly to see her rise in power and sweep away every enemy in her path.

Distracted, I pricked my fingertip with the sewing needle. A few drops of blood bloomed like red plum blossoms on the Dawn Brocade.

I put my finger in my mouth. Chen Yuan’s footsteps stopped behind me, and he bent down to wrap his arms around me.

The cloying scent of sandalwood drifted over. My body stiffened, but I resisted the urge to shove him away.

“Ci.” He buried his face against my neck, his voice very soft. “Junior Sister was badly wounded in the Demon Realm.”

“Master says we should postpone our bonding ceremony so she can recuperate properly.”

I nodded meekly. “All right.”

Chen Yuan smoothed my hair, then suddenly said, “The day you rescued me… I vaguely remember the Demon Realm’s Second Elder chasing us. Your swordsmanship…”

“I’ve never seen you use anything like it.”

“Ci, where did you learn it?”

Idiot.

Only now had he begun to suspect something?

I sneered inwardly, then abruptly rose and tore myself out of his embrace.

“You doubt me?”

I stared at him with tears trembling on my lashes, every word soaked in anguish.

“Must I demonstrate the technique in front of you before you’ll believe me?”

I yanked up my right sleeve, revealing the long scar that stretched from my shoulder to my wrist.

“Do you have to remind me over and over that I’m crippled now?”

“Mo Ling destroyed the meridians in my right arm. I will never hold a sword again.”

“Chen Yuan.” Tears streamed down my face, making my voice rise and fall. “You’re in love with Youchan, aren’t you?”

“You wish she had rescued you, because then you could be with her.”

“Fine. Fine! I’ll go tell her right now -”

I staggered toward the door, but a pair of arms caught me.

Chen Yuan held me tightly and bowed his head in apology. “I was wrong. I was wrong, Ci.”

“I should never have doubted you. I have no such feelings for Junior Sister.”

“None at all.”

“You are the only one I love.”

He struggled to force out that last sentence.

Wrapped in his arms, I stared coldly at the beam above us.

Idiot.

I had severed those meridians myself.

The heroine had fallen ill. It was the perfect time for the vicious supporting woman to make trouble.

Tormented by guilt, Chen Yuan had given me a mountain of treasures. I wore every last one.

A hairpin on the left, an ornament on the right. Bangles chimed around my wrists.

Dressed in gaudy splendor, I carried a bowl of poisoned medicine to visit the heroine.

Even as I stood outside her door, the system was still scolding me.

“Why did you haggle over one or two grams of poison? The point is to drive her into demonic deviation. What difference can a little more or less make?”

I curled my lips. “Less is still better. The less poison in my precious girl’s body, the better.”

The system snorted.

“You’re too softhearted. You think I don’t know why you made that Dawn Brocade? It isn’t only beautiful. It keeps the wearer warm too -”

I pushed open the door.

The young woman reclined against the headboard. She wore only a snow-white inner robe, and her black hair spilled around her shoulders. Her long lashes fluttered.

Without the sharp edge she showed the world, she resembled a fragile pear blossom trembling on its branch.

Of course, I did not miss the scowling, handsome young man standing beside her.

It was Little Junior Brother, Yan Ye.

He grudgingly called me Second Senior Sister.

I gave him a brittle smile and ignored him.

“Are you feeling any better, Junior Sister?”

Xu Youchan raised her eyes. With her calm face, she looked like a goddess carved from jade.

“Thank you for your concern, Senior Sister. I am in no serious danger.”

No serious danger, perhaps, but demonic energy had entered her body, and the first signs of deviation were already showing.

I smiled. “I asked Master for an immortal herb and brewed it into medicine for you.”

“I only hope you recover soon.”

Before I could approach, a sword pressed against my throat.

The young man’s eyes were vicious. He was fiercely protective of her.

“Medicine from an unknown source should be inspected by Fairy Qinghe first.”

I bit my lip. My performance as a scheming innocent began at once.

“Junior Brother!”

“Do you truly suspect that I would harm Youchan?”

“She may have ruined my bonding ceremony with Senior Brother yesterday, but she is still my junior sister. How can you think so poorly of me?”

I spoke until tears nearly spilled from my eyes.

Yan Ye remained watchful.

Then the woman on the bed suddenly sat up, took the bowl from my hands, and drained it in one breath.

“Senior Sister!”

Yan Ye frowned.

My precious girl!

I wept inwardly.

Don’t trust this wicked woman so easily!

“I trust Senior Sister.”

Xu Youchan looked up at me. Her smoky-gray eyes were as clear as an untouched lake.

Then she added, “Senior Sister would never hurt me.”

My heart ached and soared at the same time.

I turned away to hide the look on my face.

“Now that you’ve taken the medicine, I won’t disturb your rest.”

I turned to leave.

Behind me came a soft call. “Senior Sister…”

Pretending not to hear, I quickened my steps.

I was afraid that if I turned around, I would not be able to resist patting her head.

Too adorable. Too adorable. Too adorable!

She was like a kitten that trusted humans far too much, padding close without ever wondering whether someone might snatch her away.

“Pathetic,” the system scolded again.

I covered my face and screamed inside my head.

“No one can resist a girl this adorable!”

“No one!”