Archrival, You've Forgotten Your Roots

[The blurb and story were written entirely by me. I have never used AI. The cover was a free one kindly gifted to me by a forum user several years ago, before AI-generated covers existed.]

[The seme loves only the uke from beginning to end]

Because he was frail and often ill, Li Qiao had always lived cautiously.

But no amount of caution could protect him from an accident.

When he woke again, he had transmigrated to ancient times and found himself in a lake, with someone holding his head underwater. He was about to drown.

At the crucial moment, Luo Yun saved him.

Grateful for the life debt, Li Qiao resolved to protect Luo Yun at all costs.

When someone harassed Luo Yun, he sent people to beat them up. When someone tried to force Luo Yun into marriage, he pulled him right behind his own back.

People mocked Li Qiao for being so frail and sickly that he couldn't give Young Master Luo a happy married life. Li Qiao wasn't worried. Everyone said he liked Luo Yun, but the two of them knew it was only repayment for saving his life.

Then Sheng Yantang showed up.

This lecherous playboy made Li Qiao furious time and again, but Luo Yun had fallen deeply for him, all because he had an exceptionally handsome face.

Hmph, Li Qiao thought. The things Sheng Yantang gave Luo Yun were all stolen from him!

Enemies, pure and simple!

But this enemy treated Luo Yun wonderfully, caring for him whenever he fell ill and always finding fun places to take him. Luo Yun brought Li Qiao along every time, of course, and then Li Qiao and Sheng Yantang would start fighting all over again...

In the end, Sheng Yantang even helped Luo Yun find his biological father, Qiao Shen, the leader of the martial arts alliance.

The token he produced looked oddly familiar to Li Qiao.

But it didn't matter. He didn't need a father who looked down on him, and this was a good chance to repay his debt for saving Luo Yun's life.

When Luo Yun said he was going to marry Sheng Yantang, Li Qiao sincerely wished them well, then downed an entire jar of wine and left in the dead of night.

But when his nemesis's life-bound sword pierced straight through him, Li Qiao still heard the sound of his heart breaking. Before he could make out the cold, resolute look in his enemy's eyes, he was shoved off a cliff.

Having survived the ordeal, Li Qiao set out for revenge. But this time, all he had to do was crook a finger, and his nemesis came running over. He had no memory of what happened that day and swore time and again that he had loved only Li Qiao from the very beginning...

This was not how the story was supposed to go, was it?

Theme: Face the future with courage, and never back down