A serious illness turned Yu Zhizhen from the princess's companion, envied by all, into a frail invalid recuperating in the inner chambers. Her grandmother treated her as a bargaining chip for a marriage alliance, and her fiance came to break off their engagement in the middle of the night.
The one thing she could be grateful for was that she still had three brothers who treated her wonderfully.
Then an old man in white appeared, holding a book of fate.
He told her this was a world inside a book, and that her three brothers were all wicked villains who were destined to be killed by the male lead. If she did justice on Heaven's behalf and killed her brothers, she could escape her illness and extend her life.
As soon as the old man finished speaking, a dagger pierced his chest.
Yu Zhizhen slowly drew back her Demon-Slaying Blade, then drove its black-mist-stained edge into his heart once more.
"Even if I have to cling to life by any means, I, Yu Zhizhen, will never betray my own blood."
As for the book of fate...
It revealed that the real culprit who would behead her three brothers in the future was an immortal lord who had descended to the mortal realm to undergo a trial.
And that immortal lord was currently no more than a menial student at an academy, sweeping floors to pay his way, with little hope for the future and a hard life.
Yu Zhizhen stared at the words "immortal lord undergoing a trial," lost in thought.
Half a month later, a wealthy young lady moved to Qingshui Town and took up residence next door to Zhou Fuyan.
*
As a child, Zhou Fuyan had a chance encounter that gave him the ability to talk to ghosts and command evil spirits.
He thought that if he worked hard enough in the future, he could become a Ghost King who ruled a city.
Then his newly moved-in neighbor told him, her eyes shining, that one day he'd ride a crane up the heavenly steps, shatter the gates of Heaven with a single sword stroke, and become the supreme ruler of the Celestial Court...
Zhou Fuyan was so frightened that he ran home in the middle of the night.
What the hell? This woman was even scarier than a ghost. She actually expected him to storm the Celestial Court as a mortal and fight the Heavenly Venerable for the throne.
*
Later, after the battle at Cangling, Zhou Fuyan became a God of War personally appointed by the Heavenly Venerable.
A little immortal from the Celestial Court asked him how he had achieved the Great Dao.
Zhou Fuyan thought: If you had a wife who spent every day thinking about how to improve, surpassed her limits whenever you let your guard down, and was surrounded by love rivals...
You'd forge ahead through every obstacle and refuse to fall behind, too.
After all, only then could you become the one and only man beneath her skirt.
PS: One-on-one. A gloomy one and a slow-and-steady one.
Not a powerful heroine.
Theme: My heart holds the Way, and the long night shines bright.
