Before Dawn

Complete. My completed historical baihe novel: "My Archenemy Insists She's My Dao Companion" (sword cultivator × demon cultivator). Coming soon: my modern baihe novel, "Childhood Friends Can Fall from the Sky Too", with a childhood-friend-and-sudden-newcomer trope~

Nine-year age gap | Unrequited love becomes mutual

Sharp-tongued but proactive older woman × younger woman determined to keep a clear head

Tang Tang experienced the cruelest kind of unrequited love coming true.

She and Yan Xi, the idol she'd loved for years, were trapped in a room they couldn't leave until they completed an intimate act.

At last, she could kiss her, hold her, and touch the person who had always been out of reach.

But the more she received, the less she dared to believe it.

Because every time Yan Xi drew close, it could be explained away by the rules.

Every tender gesture might be nothing more than a way to get out.

When it was over the first time, Tang Tang thought everything would go back to the way it was.

But ten days later, the room appeared again.

The second time, the third time, the tenth time...

Tang Tang was forced to get the person she wanted most again and again, each time reminding herself:

This isn't love.

Until Yan Xi was the first to lose control.

She kissed Tang Tang in the real world, where there were no rules. She let her move into her home, saved a place for her in the guest room, and then held on and refused to let go when Tang Tang was getting ready to leave.

Tang Tang almost believed it.

But just then, the room presented them with the final choice:

Erase their memories and leave for good.

All they had to do was confirm, and they could forget everything and return to the lives they had led before.

Tang Tang hesitated.

Yan Xi, however, lost control completely for the first time. She pulled Tang Tang back from the exit, her eyes red as she said:

"You don't have to love me."

"But you can't forget me."

Only then did Tang Tang realize that she hadn't been the first one in this relationship to lose control.

They had once blamed every step closer on the rules.

Only later did they realize that once the rules were gone, neither of them could bear to let go.

Next novel: "My Archenemy Insists She's My Dao Companion", about a scheming, seductive, mad demon lord × a cool-headed, protective, sharp-tongued sword sovereign. Enemies become Dao companions.

1.

After the battle between the righteous and demonic factions, the demon lord Pei Zhaoye was defeated and imprisoned in the Cold Prison.

Everyone wanted her dead, but when the sword sovereign Yun Tinglan interrogated her, she would always change Pei Zhaoye's bandages afterward.

The Cold Prison was bitterly cold. Yun Tinglan lowered her eyes as she bandaged the wound on Pei Zhaoye's shoulder, her fingertips cold as snow. Bound by chains, Pei Zhaoye still managed to tease her: "Sword Sovereign, you weren't this fierce when you used to change my bandages."

Yun Tinglan assumed she was babbling to stay alive and remained cool and indifferent. "The demon lord's words aren't worth believing."

Pei Zhaoye gazed at her as a smile slowly spread through her eyes.

"That's true. You've even forgotten me."

2.

Ten years ago, a battle in a secret realm shook both worlds. Rumor had it that the demon lord was bloodthirsty, and that she slaughtered dozens of genius disciples from both the righteous and demonic factions to seize a lotus.

But the more Yun Tinglan investigated, the more she realized that several of the fatal wounds on the bodies looked like sword marks left by her own blade.

And Pei Zhaoye revealed more and more details.

She knew Yun Tinglan hated bitter things and would secretly keep a piece of candy in her mouth whenever she had to take medicine. She knew Yun Tinglan had a scar on her lower back and, once asleep, always liked to clutch the sleeve of the person beside her.

Not even her own sect knew these little things.

Yet Pei Zhaoye merely looked at her and asked softly:

"Suishui, do you really not remember anything at all?"

3.

Later, the demon lord broke free in a blaze of fire.

Yun Tinglan pursued her three thousand li with sword in hand, only to watch that dark-robed figure disappear at the edge of the snowy horizon.

Three months later, she was ordered to enter the demon realm alone to negotiate peace.

On the throne sat the woman who had once been locked in the Cold Prison, her dark robes trailing to the floor as her red-gold eyes regarded Yun Tinglan with casual indifference.

By day, they stood their ground over old cases between the two realms.

At night, Pei Zhaoye leaned over to straighten Yun Tinglan's rumpled collar, her fingertips slowly moving down to rest over her heart. Through the thin fabric, Yun Tinglan's heartbeat was unmistakably unsteady.

Pei Zhaoye chuckled. "Sword Sovereign, you were much calmer when you interrogated me before."

Yun Tinglan grabbed her wrist, but Pei Zhaoye used the chance to catch her fingers instead.

Pei Zhaoye didn't force her. She simply lowered her head and guided Yun Tinglan's hand to her own chest, where her heart beat fiercely.

She leaned close to Yun Tinglan's ear, her voice gentle and low.

"It's all right if you've forgotten. I'll pursue you again."

Yun Tinglan's fingers stiffened, but the heartbeat beneath her palm grew faster and stronger. The next moment, the golden bell in her sleeve rang softly.

Pei Zhaoye lowered her eyes and smiled. "Did you hear that? It still remembers you."

Blurb archived on June 6, 2026.

Theme: Learn to truly know yourself through love.