I Became the Villainous Senior Brother and Got a Happy Ending with the Protagonist

Cen Yuan transmigrated into a book. He became the cannon-fodder villainous senior brother who opposed the protagonist in a cultivation novel about a male lead who grows ever stronger. The first time he saw the protagonist, Zhu Feng, in the secret realm, he looked into those eyes filled with hatred and murderous intent and understood at once: one of them was going to die at the other's hands. Cen Yuan refused to sit around waiting for death. To protect himself, he had no choice but to strike first. He never expected Zhu Feng to see through his possession at a glance, much less to help him cover up the truth after they left the secret realm. When he confronted Zhu Feng, the man's amused, intrigued smile suddenly made Cen Yuan change his mind. They each had their own agenda, wary and testing one another, neither willing to yield. As time passed, warmth found its way into their hearts. Neither noticed when their masks quietly began to slip. Cen Yuan never expected that one day, looking at Zhu Feng's face would stir feelings of a different kind. He knew every detail of the original story, including that man. So he understood how absurd his hidden feelings were, and that they could never become reality. An unexpected attack exposed the secret he had kept for so long. Zhu Feng grew resentful, and the two argued. Cen Yuan went along with it, and their relationship broke apart for good. Then circumstances forced them apart. In a deceptive illusion, by the banks of the River of Three Crossings where souls passed through reincarnation, Cen Yuan's last words to Zhu Feng before they parted were a confession with little meaning. It gave his unrequited love, which had come to nothing, a hasty end. After that, one began years of endless wandering, while the other was trapped in a gilded cage atop a towering palace. They never met again. Five years later, they reunited, now on opposing sides, with immortals and demons following different paths. Times had changed, and everything was different. Circumstances brought them together once more, but things could never be as they had been. As for that laughable, inconsequential confession, it too vanished without a trace in the river of time. Much later, Cen Yuan accidentally discovered that Zhu Feng had carefully kept the maple leaf he had given him, and even a seemingly insignificant pear blossom. He also heard from disciples of the Immortal Alliance that Zhu Feng had spent five whole years frantically searching for a sect traitor who had vanished without a trace. Rumor had it the missing man was either an enemy Zhu Feng wanted to tear limb from limb, or the beloved he loved deeply but could never have. The culprit, Cen Yuan: "..." Only at last did Cen Yuan realize that at the lantern festival in Ren City, on the bridge, beneath the sky filled with glowing lanterns and fireworks, he hadn't been the only one to fall in love. [PS: They switch roles! They switch roles!] At first: One who seems carefree but sees through everything x one who is sharp-tongued and calculating, yet says one thing and does another Later: A villain who seems harmless but is perceptive and shrewd, seven parts insight and three parts cunning x a cool, aloof, incredibly powerful true protagonist Divider Next book coming soon: historical danmei, gong's perspective, The Rival Who Died a Hundred Years Ago Yu Shangjiu first met Mu Weichen when he was twelve. The old city lord brought the man home and took him in as a disciple, then pointed to him and told Yu Shangjiu to call him "Senior Brother." The young master Yu was reckless and arrogant, with his nose in the air. He refused to accept this cheap senior brother of unknown origins. It took three years before he could willingly call him "Big Brother." Then disaster struck. The old city lord went missing, and Mu Weichen wielded his Frostfall Sword against all comers, protecting Yu Shangjiu as they fought their way through one ambush after another. Beneath the flash of blades, Mu Weichen's bloodstained eyes were breathtaking, leaving a deep impression on Yu Shangjiu's heart. Years later, Yu Shangjiu saw a similar expression on his senior brother's face. Flames blazed into the sky. Mu Weichen stood against the light amid the wreckage before Cangyuan. The crowd roared around him, condemning him as a "traitor" and a "patricide," yet no one dared step forward. Yu Shangjiu had regarded only two people as family in his life: the late old city lord, his father, and Mu Weichen, the senior brother he had called "Big Brother" for years. His senior brother had killed his father. And years later, he himself had forced Mu Weichen to his death atop the Spirit Altar. The city lord died, and the once-prosperous City of Dawn and Night fell into decline. There was no longer a young master of the City of Dawn and Night, only Hall Master Yu of the Floating Life Sect, an unpredictable man who stood as an equal to the sect leader. Everyone across the Nine Provinces knew that Mu Weichen, city lord of the City of Dawn and Night, had murdered his master and betrayed his ancestors. His reputation was in ruins. He had seized power with an iron fist for years, before dying at the hands of his own junior brother, Yu Shangjiu, once the young city lord, during the upheaval at the Fuguang Terrace. No one could have predicted that a hundred years later, this man, whose name had become taboo, would awaken inside a puppet body of unknown origin. It was said that Yu Shangjiu, the enemy who had killed him, had spent all these years searching for traces of him. More rumors followed. One day, the mercurial Hall Master Yu unexpectedly brought an ordinary man back to the Floating Life Sect. According to those in the know, the man bore some resemblance to the late city lord of the City of Dawn and Night. People were saying that Hall Master Yu had brought home a "replacement" for his former enemy. Only Mu Weichen knew that Yu Shangjiu was trying to kill him a second time. His schemes and disguise were quickly exposed. With a sword pressed to his throat, Mu Weichen remained composed, his teasing tone impossible to read. "Shangjiu, you've changed quite a bit." Yu Shangjiu laughed, but his eyes were ice-cold. "I learned it all from you, Big Brother." (Mu Weichen's perspective, Mu is the gong and Yu is the shou) Theme: Struggle through adversity, break free and be reborn. After weathering countless storms, remain untouched by the world's grime.