Wretched Bones

[A dark, complicated villainess and a reverse harem romance. Please read the content warnings first.]

Li Ying was an orphan who spent years living as an ordinary mortal at the foot of Human Realm Mountain.

Her left leg was lame, making it difficult to walk. She had poor natural aptitude for cultivation and could not become an immortal. She could barely even leave town, and had never dreamed of entering a sect.

Then one day, a cultivator claiming to be her clansman came looking for her and insisted on taking her "home."

It turned out she came from the Li family, an immortal sect clan. She was one of a pair of twins born amid wondrous portents.

Her elder brother had been born with a sword bone and was a prodigy who could slay ten thousand souls with a single strike. She had been born only moments after him, yet she was a disabled waste who could not retain a trace of spiritual energy.

That day, she met her twin brother for the first time.

Though their faces were alike, he looked like an immortal untouched by the mortal world as he held out a hand, his long fingers faintly cold. His eyes were so detached as he said, "Little sister, it's time to come home."

At last, she could return in peace and become the young lady of an immortal clan, the sister of the Sword Immortal of the Nine Provinces. Her father, remorseful over the choice he had made years ago, showered her with rare treasures. Her dazzlingly talented brother indulged her in everything and did as she said.

From then on, the past was behind her, and everything went her way.

The countless resentments and malice in her eyes became a smile as light as falling snow.

These favored children of heaven pitied her for her wretched bones, which meant she could never become an immortal.

They could not bear to see her mortal life of a hundred years pass in the blink of an eye.

So even after they learned that she was built on lies, absurd and cruel, they still tried every possible way to guide her back to the right path. They tirelessly found excuses for her, convinced that she was not at fault.

Each one believed they would be the person who ultimately saved her.

Only she knew that beneath her immortal facade, her wretched bones remained unchanged.

Content warnings:

I'm still bad at writing blurbs. The story itself is what matters.

A gloomy female ghost and a beautiful tyrant heroine.

Dark from beginning to end. Plot-focused, a traditional long-form progression fantasy, with a world built on my own assumptions.

The story centers on the protagonist, with plenty of messy family drama, a beautiful and powerful but deeply tragic heroine, and indulgent personal tastes. Updates whenever possible.

Theme: Live as your true self.