【GB warning | Nontraditional xianxia setting | Folk horror | A buoyant, force-ceiling martial arts genius and accomplished practitioner of the Unfeeling Dao / A seemingly aloof flower who is actually a vicious, two-faced would-be dragon-arrogance protagonist】
【One-on-one | Turning evil toward good | Love and hatred intertwined | The unfeeling female lead comprehends the Great Dao of All Living Things and is revered by all | The hypocritical male lead sacrifices himself for love and finds an anchor in life | Reincarnation】
A love-and-hatred battlefield between master and dog / “The bright moon shines high, but never on me” literature / Both nightmares and sweet dreams wear someone’s face
⚠️ This is a nontraditional xianxia setting. Characters of all genders develop one-sided feelings for the female lead. She is a true star graduate of the Unfeeling Dao, entirely without romantic feelings, and ultimately does not fall in love with the male lead. The male lead’s hatred stems from jealousy and fear, and love grows from his twisted hatred. He seems to spend the whole story throwing himself at her.
Chu Qiongqiu hated Yue Tingshuang with all his heart.
His life was worth less than a feather. Every time, he failed to withstand even a single move beneath that pitch-black heavy sword. No matter how the world praised his graceful character, his heaven-given talent, his rise to become head of the Chujiang Sect before twenty, his peerless looks in white robes, his tender eyes, or his far-reaching reputation as a gentleman, none of it could hide the jealousy and loathing he harbored for that woman.
The more he watched the sword techniques he could never master, the more he saw that red figure flowing like a dragon, her three-foot blade’s icy gleam dimming the heavens and shaking gods and demons alike, the more resentful and agitated he became. Perhaps it was because Yue Tingshuang had never once looked at him.
There seemed to be nothing in her eyes. Whenever Chu Qiongqiu stared into those long, indifferent eyes, he would suddenly feel that he was no different from a weed on the ground, a drop of dew, or an ant. He could not even glimpse his reflection in them, which only made him more unwilling to accept it.
Chu Qiongqiu was nothing like the noble image his appearance suggested. On the contrary, he might not be the most vicious person in the world, but he was a true villain among hypocrites, someone whose skin could be peeled off and bones scraped clean without revealing half an ounce of sincerity. He spread rumors, fabricated accusations, and framed Yue Tingshuang for abusing her elders and slaughtering her fellow disciples. He tricked her junior brother into danger, leaving him crippled and blind, and caused her junior sister to fall from a cliff, her fate unknown. He did everything he could to sow discord, all while prancing around in a handsome face.
At last, this time, he saw his own reflection in Yue Tingshuang’s eyes.
She disappeared for half a month. When she returned, she fixed him with a cold stare and cast all the evidence before the crowd at yet another alliance assembly, destroying everything Chu Qiongqiu had painstakingly built. The tables turned. He was pinned to the ground, hair disheveled, all his vile deeds dragged into the open. Overnight, he became a disgrace.
Then the cold blade pressed against his neck. His head spun, and his warm blood splashed over the white lotus in the middle of the river, sticky, stinking, and bitter.
For some reason, Chu Qiongqiu woke up again, back before any of it had begun.
This time, he was more cautious, but Yue Tingshuang still saw through him and killed him with a single sword thrust.
He soon realized that he kept returning to the past, yet never once got what he wanted. That ancient, razor-sharp sword clung to him like a maggot in his bones, following him like a shadow. Whenever Chu Qiongqiu closed his eyes, he saw the clothes soaked with his blood and Yue Tingshuang’s cold gaze. The sight of red robes made him tremble.
He began to suffer from one nightmare after another. He dreamed of struggling helplessly, of how no scheme or ambush could stop him from being pinned to the ground and executed like a dog.
The last time, Chu Qiongqiu weighed his options and decided to start over by taking a different approach. He ingratiated himself with her junior sister first, then coaxed her junior brother, and finally sat obediently by her legs, smiling as he put on his most respectful expression without fawning. He tilted his chin up and asked what she thought of him.
Yue Tingshuang: …?
She had no idea what was wrong with this man, or why he kept throwing himself at her just to get beaten up.
Later, the two traveled south through Minyue and into the southern borderlands, facing life and death together.
The mountains were high and the roads treacherous. Night fell, and ghost fires drifted through the Sanlü Yinshen Temple, while countless demons and monsters roamed the pitch-black darkness. Plagues spread through Minyue, famine raged, and people were driven to exchange their children for food. The royal boats that usually carried prayers and drove away epidemics drifted upstream to Wuxi, causing corpses in desolate graves to burst through their tombs and leaving everyone terrified. The Lan River burst its banks, washing out countless pale, skeletal remains of people buried upright… Watch as the Night Wandering God lights his lantern, illuminating every face in the mortal world; those bound by fate drift through a sea of hatred for half their lives.
After the most outstanding graduate in the history of the Unfeeling Dao furthered her studies in the Great Dao of All Living Things, she had a sudden realization. After thinking it over, she decided that this person might still be redeemable in this life, and resolved to drag him onto the right path. But Chu Qiongqiu refused to change, stirring up trouble between the martial world and the imperial court even as she kept him on a leash.
Yue Tingshuang was utterly disappointed. She watched coldly as he made his own “flawless plans,” then turned around and prepared to cut him down with her sword. But just as the ambush closed in, the vicious hypocrite stepped in front of her…
The people of the world are but pieces in a chess game played by those seated in the great halls.
Those who cast off form and sit in oblivion, unfeeling toward the Great Dao, dare to lead the way.
Throughout the world, let evil demons be banished.
Theme: Walk toward the light