Chapter 1: Care To Join In?

A noise sounded again from within the cave. Lin Shijin’s palms broke out in a sweat; his back was ramrod straight, terrified that he might make even the faintest sound.

His expression remained composed, but his fingertips trembled and his heart was in utter turmoil.

As for why he was in this state… this matter had to be traced back to several months ago.

Just a few months earlier, he had transmigrated into a book.

At that time, he had been a soon-to-be university student who had just finished his college entrance examinations. During the summer holidays, at the enthusiastic insistence of a female classmate, he read a novel titled “Young Rufei” featuring a character with the exact same name as himself.

He was not an important character in that book. At first, he was simply curious: not only did the character share his full name, but even the descriptions of his appearance, right down to the position of the small mole on his collarbone… were exactly the same. Apart from the personality, the character’s looks might as well have been copied from him.

He thought to himself, bloody hell, and found his curiosity thoroughly piqued.

That female classmate had been his deskmate in secondary school; he naturally knew the sort of novels she usually read. He heard her yap on about seme and uke every day and quickly realised this was a heartthrob-shou* novel.

(*TN: “shou’ is the bottom in a boy-love relationship.)

The protagonist-shou was named Sheng Liuguang, courtesy name Rufei. He was a prodigy in sword cultivation, burdened with vengeance from a young age; blessed with an exceptional spiritual root, he was taken into an immortal sect and devoted himself to cultivation. That was how the story began.

The novel spent the bulk of its time describing the protagonist-shou’s beauty. He skimmed quickly; his female classmate told him this was perfectly normal—how else could the protagonist be a ‘万人迷’, a universal heartthrob?

The book described him thus:

Sheng Rufei was born stunningly beautiful, matchlessly gifted. His talent was exceptional, and after entering the immortal sect he became the disciple of the most brilliant sword cultivator of the age. As his cultivation grew, so did the striking elegance of his bearing.

He was born with white hair and a radiant, handsome countenance. In Guiyan City, he slew demons with the Yinbing Sword, earning the title “A Beauty That Startles Three Thousand Lifetimes”.

His brows and eyes were naturally cool and aloof; his snowy lashes and thin red lips lent him the beauty of a jade palace immortal when he smiled.

His fingers were long and graceful; with his sword, he could cut down monsters within ten steps, not a drop of blood staining his snow-white robes.

……

There followed dozens of pages describing Sheng Rufei’s appearance.

But none of this was the main point. The key was that this was a ‘heartthrob’ novel, with numerous gongs*. All the descriptions of Sheng Rufei’s beauty and strength existed merely to set the stage for these stock-investor gongs**, with each determined to forcibly claim him.

(*TN: “gong” is the top in a boy-love relationship.)

(**TN: “stock-investor gongs” are possessive, competitive, often morally grey love-interests who treats the shou like a resource they must monopolise.)

Even though he could startle three thousand lifetimes with his looks, Sheng Rufei remained helpless before these gongs. He would be thrown about between them, becoming endlessly entangled.

Lin Shijin had transmigrated into a cannon-fodder character in “Young Rufei”, as the male wife betrothed to Sheng Rufei since childhood.

His plotline lasted no more than two lines. He existed solely to spark jealousy between two gongs, and by the third page, one of them accidentally killed him with a stray burst of sword-qi.

The transmigrated him: “…”

He wondered whether there was still time to salvage the situation.

When he landed in this world, none of the plot had yet occurred. To avoid the original storyline, he decisively chose to run away. During his escape, he encountered an immortal by chance and was taken in as a disciple.

He originally thought he could finally distance himself from the epicentre of the Sheng Rufei disaster. In a moment of impulse, he followed the immortal. However, he completely forgot to ask which sect the immortal belonged to. To his shock, the immortal belonged to the greatest sect in the world, Fuguang.

And the shizun* he had bowed to was none other than Sheng Rufei’s teacher.

(*TN: master/ teacher.)

Not only had he failed to avoid Sheng Rufei, he had become Sheng Rufei’s seventeenth shidi*.

(*TN: junior martial brother.)

He was an optimistic person by nature, easy-going and open-minded. He reassured himself that as long as they did not interact, things would be fine. After all, no one knew about their marriage contract.

A month passed, and indeed they barely interacted. Sheng Rufei was naturally cold-tempered; since Lin Shijin did not approach him, he merely treated him as another shidi, maintaining a distant courtesy.

Lin Shijin’s days in Fuguang passed quite comfortably… until this descent down the mountain for training. While hiding in a cave to avoid a demonic beast, he happened to walk straight into a major plot point.

…

The cave was pitch dark. Not far away, a white-haired youth leaned against the wall, his face deathly pale with an unhealthy flush. His sword was stained with the blood of a demonic beast; his cold, pale fingertips trembled, and he could no longer hold the blade.

Even in silhouette, it was obvious that the youth’s looks were remarkable.

His features appeared as though painted in diluted ink. Striking yet austere. Like a peony born to wealth, but made pristine as lotus-blossom water by the icy aura surrounding him. Even with blood on his lips, he looked anything but wretched. If anything, the crimson added a faint, ambiguous allure.

The youth was Sheng Rufei.

And facing him was one of the stock-investor gongs, Xue Ning.

Xue Ning, the sect leader’s chief disciple, had admired Sheng Rufei for a long time. He remained unwilling to accept losing to him in a previous competition, and since Sheng Rufei had repeatedly rejected him, his resentment had fermented. Now, seeing Sheng Rufei injured, he seized the chance to take advantage.

Lin Shijin had only picked the cave at random to escape the demonic beasts. His swordsmanship had been hopeless for the past month. His master insisted he descend the mountain, so he had merely followed the other disciples.

A muffled groan echoed. It was Sheng Rufei. He seemed unable even to lift his sword; the blade clattered onto the ground.

“Still trying to run? So what if you defeated me… in the end, you’re still at my mercy.”

Xue Ning’s voice, dark and sullen, reverberated through the cave. Hiding behind a rock, Lin Shijin panicked.

He couldn’t simply stand by. But he didn’t want to get dragged into this love-triangle battlefield either. Xue Ning’s cultivation surpassed his by miles; if he went out now, he’d probably be cleaved in half.

Neither had noticed him yet. He could still run.

He heard Sheng Rufei’s pained groan. It was likely from injuries aggravated by a surge of qi and blood… he sounded rather pitiful.

Lin Shijin’s palms grew slick. Peering out again, he saw Sheng Rufei slumped against the wall, blood at the corner of his lips, his fingertips stained red.

He looked utterly miserable.

Lin Shijin touched the sword beside him, mentally calculating the chances of knocking Xue Ning out in one go. Meanwhile Xue Ning was already preparing to shame Sheng Rufei.

“So many people want you, and so do I. Now that you’ve fallen into my hands, I’ll make sure you feel it.”

Xue Ning lowered his head to study Sheng Rufei’s face. Meeting Sheng Rufei’s ice-cold, lethal gaze did not frighten him; it excited him all the more.

It was this face, these eyes… The colder and more ascetic he was, the more one wanted to drag him down from his sacred pedestal.

What was the use of formidable swordsmanship when he had ended up at Xue Ning’s mercy anyway?

The drug’s effects had yet to wear off; Sheng Rufei was helpless to resist.

Xue Ning was already worked up. Behind the boulder, Lin Shijin gripped his sword tightly.

They say ruining someone’s marriage invites heavenly retribution… he thought.

But looking at Sheng Rufei’s expression… he clearly preferred death to submission.

No, he was saving a life. Saving a life was a meritorious deed. He had to be brave, just enough to knock Xue Ning unconscious.

“You…” Xue Ning drawled, amusement colouring his voice, “will you do it yourself, or shall I help you?”

He reached out to touch Sheng Rufei’s face.

Now!!

Lin Shijin finally found the perfect opening. He clutched his longsword, already envisioning the sequence. In the past month, he had mastered the Instantaneous Movement Technique; his swordsmanship was still rubbish, but his escape spells were unparalleled.

At the moment Xue Ning touched Sheng Rufei, he would instantly shift behind him, catch him off guard, and slash at the back of his neck with all his might to knock him out.

If he failed, no matter. He carried a Binding Immortal Talisman. He could immediately bind Xue Ning.

Then he could grab Sheng Rufei and run.

The sword and talisman were ready.

A critical moment!

Lin Shijin’s heart thumped wildly. In the distance, Xue Ning’s movements seemed to slow, as though magnified before his eyes.

He took a small step, preparing to recite the Instantaneous Movement spell.

“Who’s there!” Xue Ning barked, snapping his head around. Before Lin Shijin could react, a burst of sword-intent slashed past.

Startled, Lin Shijin kicked a tiny stone, the sound far too loud in the cave. The swordlight missed him, but he was fully revealed.

Both of them turned to look at him.

Sheng Rufei, leaning against the wall, his lips stained with blood, fixed him with a cold gaze, frowning slightly.

Xue Ning recognised him, surprise flickering in his eyes.

He was Changming-jun’s newly accepted seventeenth disciple; everyone knew that. He attended classes on the disciples’ peak daily. Even though he rarely interacted with the other disciples, he often crossed paths with Xue Ning and Sheng Rufei.

The air seemed to freeze. Lin Shijin’s fingers tightened around his sword.

Don’t be embarrassed, he told himself. I’m saving someone, not sneaking about. Don’t be embarrassed. Don’t be afraid!!

The three of them faced each other in silence.

Just as Lin Shijin was about to draw his sword, Xue Ning raised an eyebrow.

His voice held a playful drawl.

“Care to join in?”