A Debt of Passion

[Print edition information: @Shui Mang Is Busy, this year!] Before the patriarch entered seclusion to cultivate, he left Gu Yao a lost secret technique from the Buddhist sect: Blissful Union Meditation. “If you can cultivate with a Mahayana cultivator, you'll form your core in ten years and reach the Divine Transformation stage in a hundred!” But there are only two Mahayana cultivators in the entire cultivation world. One is a decrepit old fiend from the demonic path, a wicked, vicious man whose hobby is refining people into oil for lamps. The other is Rong Ji, sect master of a top sect in the upper realm, a sword cultivator who practices the Ruthless Dao. Word is he's even more savage and cruel than the old demon! Gu Yao accidentally trespasses into Sect Master Rong's pocket world, transforms into a little fox, and is picked up by the amnesiac Sect Master Rong, who is cultivating his mind there. The little fox is freezing. Thinking he's about to eat it, it whimpers pitifully and begs for mercy. “...Forget it. I won't kill today. Go sleep on that meditation cushion.” A hundred years pass in the blink of an eye. When Gu Yao wakes, only a year has passed in the real world. Then an enemy comes after him, and Gu Yao hurriedly packs up and runs. Not long afterward, he hears that Sect Master Rong has emerged from seclusion and is offering a rare treasure as a reward for capturing a fox demon! Gu Yao tucks his fox tail between his legs. “A reward? What?” “Say that again? A million spirit stones?!” Gu Yao: QAQ Could I turn myself in and claim the reward??? In short, the shou enters the little world where the gong is cultivating his mind and undergoing tribulations in his original form. While the gong has amnesia, the two spend a hundred years together. This is a one-on-one romance with no love triangle. [Before reading, try repeating three times: The shou is a fox, a demon, not a human. Don't hold little animals to human standards of law-abiding behavior. Even Bai Suzhen made mistakes in her thousand years of life, and so will a little fox.] [The Lu guy in Chapter 1 is not the gong! The gong appears late, in Chapter 11. Feel free to skip ahead if you don't have the patience.] The new blurb was revised on June 5, 2021. The old working title was *After Picking Up the Male Lead's Fortuitous Opportunity*. My completed advance preview, *The Peach Blossom Decree*, is in my author column. Come check it out! Blurb: [A short story, 150,000 characters, planned for 2022] The year Lin Zikui passed the provincial examination, his father arranged an excellent match for him. The young woman had gone to the capital with her family. Three years later, after his father died, Lin Zikui went to the capital to take the imperial examinations. Remembering the engagement, he took the marriage contract and went to find her. She wasn't at all what he had imagined. She was taller and more handsome than he was, with broader shoulders and bigger feet. Lin Zikui said tactfully, “If you don't want this, my family won't force you. We can call off the engagement. I'll tear up the marriage contract, and you can find yourself a good match.” The other person looked him up and down. “I'm not being forced.” Lin Zikui: “...All right, then.” On their wedding night, Lin Zikui realized something was wrong. “Wait, why are you a man, my wife?” “I was a man all along.” With that, his “wife” flipped him onto his back. Later, Lin Zikui passed the metropolitan examination. On the day of the palace exam, the young emperor sat on the dragon throne, with the powerful regent seated beside him. Lin Zikui didn't dare look directly at the emperor, but the regent's cough sounded very familiar. Unable to resist, he lifted his head. A familiar figure appeared through his blurred vision. He trembled with fright, couldn't answer a single question, and finally fainted on the spot The regent summoned the imperial physician. “When he wakes, send him to my residence.” P.S. The protagonist is nearsighted in an ancient setting. Years of studying have left him severely myopic; he can only make out someone standing in front of him as a blurry outline. [They say Li Bai was nearsighted.] Theme: Nothing falls from the sky for free. Hard work is the only way to make your dreams come true