On the sect leader's orders, Ji Yunzhao leads her fellow disciples to wipe out a sect that has allied itself with fallen demons.
After three days and nights of fierce fighting, the clouds over the demon realm are stained red with blood. Holding her long sword, Ji Yunzhao parts the thick petals of a flower demon and finds a beautiful little demon hiding inside. A few drops of blood on his porcelain-white face only make him look more alluring.
This one must not be allowed to live!
Ji Yunzhao thrusts her sword at him.
With a clang, the rebound numbs her palm. Ji Yunzhao quickly adjusts and attacks with talismans, axes, halberds, spears, and hammers, but the little demon inside remains completely unharmed.
With no other choice, Ji Yunzhao gives the little demon a name, brings him into her sect, and makes him her junior fellow disciple. She teaches him herself and keeps him close under strict supervision.
Of course, her plan to assassinate her junior brother doesn't end there.
Every night, while he's asleep, Ji Yunzhao conceals her presence and sneaks into his room, trying out crossbows, poison needles, and whips, one after another.
Sometimes she makes enough noise to wake him up.
Ji Zhaochan, bleary-eyed, turns his arm into a flower branch and wraps it around her wrist, speaking with innocent delight: "Eldest Senior Sister, are you here to prune me again?"
*
Unconvinced, Ji Yunzhao trains her way up to the Ninth Heaven, determined to get an explanation.
She happens to encounter the God of Fate, who leaves after saying, "You two have long been bound by the God of Marriage. You are destined for each other."
Ji Yunzhao: "You could have told me sooner."
God of Fate: "You never asked."
*
Ji Zhaochan has been feeling troubled lately.
He was brought back by Eldest Senior Sister herself, given his name by her, and follows her everywhere, day and night. She treats him very well, often giving him delicious pastries and pruning his branches.
Ever since Eldest Senior Sister went to the Ninth Heaven, she hasn't pruned him anymore.
That night, Ji Zhaochan knocks on Ji Yunzhao's door.
He deliberately musses himself up, then looks down at Ji Yunzhao with a pitiful expression. "Eldest Senior Sister, my branches are all tangled."
From Ji Yunzhao's perspective, her junior fellow disciple, who is destined to be her partner, is standing at her door in disheveled clothes, eyes shimmering.
Ji Yunzhao: "..."
Perhaps this one can be allowed to live.
* Extensive author-created lore
* See the author's note in Chapter One for specific content warnings
Theme: Always choose kindness
