The Cult Leader Thinks I'm a Substitute for Their First Love

Love Contract | I'm My Own Substitute | Married First, Love Later | Light Suspense

Coming soon: After I Revealed My True Form, the Immortal Sect Was Left in Ruins. An aloof, detached, airheaded immortal lord VS an overbearing, arrogant, wicked demon lord. Please check it out. Here's the blurb for this story:

The young master of the Nie family had been the martial world's beloved moonlight for ten years. But because of his terminal case of adolescent delusions, he ended up abandoned by everyone. His old enemy ran him through the heart, and he died with regrets. If he got another life, he would butcher that bastard who took his life and all those ungrateful wretches.

After waking in someone else's body, the beloved moonlight turned into a sickly little black lotus. Then he discovered that his old enemy was standing right in front of him, eyes red.

"Who are you, exactly?"

Those icy claws seized the throat of fate once again... I really should have cut them off.

"Lord Feng... do you like me like this?"

The black lotus smiled with malicious glee. "I know what you want. That person is gone, so how about I be his substitute?"

He leaned in and breathed against the young man's ear, watching shock and confusion surface in those blood-red eyes.

"You can be my backer, and I... will be at your disposal. How does that sound?"

The young man wearing a bronze ghost mask stared at that astonishingly familiar face. His heart pounded, and at last he pulled the moon he had gazed up at for years right into his arms.

In that moment, wicked thoughts sprang up in his heart.

"Deal."

*

The wedding in the City of Evernight stretched a hundred miles with fireworks and shook the world. The frail, delicate eldest son of the Nie family married his enemy. They shared a bed, while he plotted to sharpen his knife against his husband.

"What are you thinking about, my wife?"

The young man was tall. He bent over him like a taut bow. Though he hadn't touched him, he had already taken complete control of his body.

I'm thinking about how to kill you.

Nie Siyuan looked up with a cold smile, trying to ignore the nose nudging and rubbing against his Adam's apple. Slowly, he wrapped an arm around the other's neck.

"You said you liked me?"

"Yes."

"So, do you like me, or the young master I used to be?"

The other man froze completely, staring at that familiar yet dangerous smile without daring to speak. He would either have to admit he'd changed his heart or contradict himself on the spot. There was no way out.

"...The sea may dry up, but my love won't."

"Speak plainly."

"You have to follow your husband wherever he goes."

*

One day, Nie Siyuan shoved his gorgeous, devoted little puppy to the ground and narrowed his eyes.

"Tell me, did you know who I was all along? No wonder you agreed to the deal so readily, then tricked me into marrying you!"

The other man looked completely innocent. "Aren't you the eldest young master of the Nie family?"

Nie Siyuan glared. "I'm the young master of the Nie family!"

Then the other man pounced on him and pinned him down. The handsome, uncanny young man clamped a hand around his neck without squeezing, slowly stroking it like a beast that had stalked its prey for ages, finally baring its fangs.

The young man smiled dangerously and lowered his head to kiss him. "No. If I say you're not, then you're not."

Reading Guide:

1. A free-spirited, scheming, sickly little black lotus VS a powerful, domineering, gorgeous little puppy who is hopelessly devoted

2. Substitute trope. The top knows the bottom's identity from the start. The bottom: I'm my own substitute. The top: I'll just watch you act. Reincarnation in another's body; the original body is dead and gone. Please don't read if that's not for you.

3. Married first, love later; mutual healing; no angst for the leads; one-on-one romance; sweet and doting, with a happy ending and no angst.

4. Not traditional wuxia. Some light suspense and locked-room elements. Includes familiar tropes such as stand-ins, secret crushes, marriage before love, amnesia, and a cross-dressing top. No unsolicited writing advice. Even if you guess the truth, please don't spoil it. Mwah!

5. The bottom is a well-rounded talent in both the literary and martial arts, and starts out dark before shedding his old trappings and finding himself again. The top is gorgeous but not very educated, so he's a little insecure. A powerful couple. The leads aren't perfect, so please don't judge their humanity.

6. Cover design by Meigong Zaoshui; cover art by Yuechi384

------- Coming Soon: After I Revealed My True Form, the Immortal Sect Was Left in Ruins

An aloof, detached, airheaded immortal lord VS an overbearing, arrogant, wicked demon lord

Wen Qi was the young master of the Sixteen Courts of Mingshan. He didn't learn he wasn't human until the day he underwent his tribulation. Beneath the heavenly lightning, he revealed his true beast form. The sect branded him a calamity and an aberration, and even planned to sacrifice him to summon the legendary auspicious beast.

Blind in both eyes, his spiritual roots destroyed,

he lay alone on the sacrificial altar like a discarded pawn, calmly preparing to die. But at the very end, he vaguely glimpsed a pair of golden, slit-pupil eyes. They looked like they belonged to an enormous black panther.

The man looked at the little beast curled up in fear. After a moment's silence, he tucked it into his arms and carried it away.

The thunderous tribulation crashed down, but the tall, stern figure shielded him from it all. Even with his skin torn and his flesh covered in blood, he refused to abandon the warmth in his arms.

What he picked up was his to keep.

The immortal sect's despised calamity was carried off to the demon realm. Beneath the blood moon, the aloof immortal lord sat on the ground with his eyes covered, looking fragile and lost, enough to stir a desire to torment him. Before him stood the supreme ruler of the demon realm.

The Demon Lord studied the slender, pale figure he had brought back to his lair with an amused look. He never expected the man to reach out to him first.

"Pan... panther..."

A hug?

The Demon Lord stood, an eager, greedy curve on his lips. He hadn't expected his prey to be so obedient, or to show no fear of him at all.

His burning arms opened and drew the man tightly against him, settling him on his lap. His fingertips brushed the slender waist, ignoring the immortal lord's shocked expression and feeble attempts to push him away.

"You can have a hug. You can have one every day."

From now on, I'm the only one you can rely on.

*

The immortal sect soon discovered they'd made a mistake. The young master they'd abandoned and sacrificed wasn't an aberration, but the true auspicious beast. They rushed to the demon realm, willing to do anything to take him back.

The immortal lord, who should have been reduced to ashes with his powers destroyed, was protected by the Heavenly Dao. He walked slowly toward them, not even glancing at the bodies strewn across the ground or the man's bloodthirsty, cruel smile. He only stared at the wound on his forehead.

"You can bully me if you want, but how dare you hit my cat?" The immortal lord's sword gleamed coldly, lightning blazed, and the might of heaven bore down.

"Did you really think an auspicious beast can't kill?"

*

That night, Wen Qi was pinned down on the bed.

"Your cat?" The man narrowed his eyes. He coldly tugged on the fluffy little tail trembling beneath the white robes, forcing the person trying to escape to fall onto his lap.

"Then should I meow for you, too?"

The other man shook his head frantically, the corners of his eyes red and wet. The man tugged his short little tail again. "Then what should an auspicious beast be called?"

The immortal lord trembled all over, his face flushed with desire, unable even to sit up straight.

Only after a long while did a succession of soft cries finally ring through the room.

One-on-one romance. Lighthearted, sweet, and angst-free, with a happy ending. Not a serious drama or traditional cultivation story.

The bottom is an aloof beauty, but is soft and easy to tease around the top. He lets him pinch and hug him.

Theme: Love is a light that can dispel the fear in everyone's heart, helping us press on alone through the dark road before dawn.