(The full manuscript is complete. It will start once everything is saved. Current progress: 12,000+ words.)
[Heroine's Blurb]
In her previous life, Zhao Suzhi cultivated desperately, yet she never managed to rid herself of the demonic mark.
She scattered all her cultivation in exchange for death, but when she opened her eyes, she had returned to the day she first joined the sect.
Everything was as it had been before, except that images would occasionally flash before her eyes.
The images showed the future and her fellow disciples.
She saw...
Her carefree, chatterbox junior brother had become a cruel, bloodthirsty murderer, and in the end he was beheaded and put on public display amid the jeers of the crowd.
Her gentle, kindhearted second junior brother, as compassionate as a bodhisattva, had become a black-hearted schemer who toyed with people's feelings. He provoked a war between humans and demons, and was ultimately sacrificed to the Xuanming Tower by his own kin.
Her spoiled, outspoken junior sister, as fiery as a pepper, had become the villainess who framed the heroine in a popular romance, and was ultimately stabbed through the heart by the man she loved on her wedding night.
And her most fair-minded, selfless, and just senior brother had overturned the world for his own selfish desires, only to die under Heaven's thunder punishment.
-
That's right. Every one of her fellow disciples was evil.
But before she went into seclusion in her previous life, they hadn't been like this at all.
Zhao Suzhi tried everything to stop it.
Just when she thought she had succeeded, her junior sister's sword was thrown down in front of her.
They said a sacrificial furnace was just a sacrificial furnace, and it had died after only a few rounds.
They said it was far too good for that murderer to be beheaded and put on public display.
They also said it was true that half-demon flesh and blood nourished the body and helped one's cultivation.
Zhao Suzhi smiled, picked up her sword, and slaughtered them all.
She killed her way from the mortal realm to the demon lands, then stormed the immortal sects.
By the end, even Zhao Suzhi thought she might as well become a demon.
The demonic mark was about to take shape when heavenly thunder suddenly flashed.
Demonic markings covered her senior brother's face, and demonic energy surged behind him,
while she remained unharmed.
Only then did Zhao Suzhi understand that her senior brother had died under Heaven's punishment because he had defied fate to change her destiny.
And the thing she most needed to rebel against was Heaven itself.
-
[Hero's Blurb]
In fact, Pei Ji had met Zhao Suzhi a long time ago.
The first time, she was the only daughter of the eldest princess, outstanding in learning and brilliant in strategy. Dressed in red, she rode past on horseback, stirring up a wave of gasps and admiration.
At the time, he was the least noticeable person among those admiring her.
The second time, she was the Junzhu Zhaohua, appointed by imperial decree and sent to put down a rebellion.
He was one of the few survivors of that rebellion.
Amid piles of corpses, she spotted him at a glance and pulled him out of the dead.
She gave him food and clothes, allowing him to go on living in the world without purpose.
When they met again, she was being hunted and had nowhere to go.
-
He had seen Zhao Suzhi in her bright, confident finery, riding spiritedly and radiating brilliance. He had also seen her bleeding, gritting her teeth, and refusing to yield even in the face of death.
Pei Ji thought she would bloom among the thorns like a wild rose.
So he followed her, for many years.
Until, in the end, she died by his sword.
She said, "I'm so tired. Let me die."
And later, and after that... what happened?
He vaguely remembered setting up a formation and drawing down heavenly thunder, all for the sake of being reborn.
Note:
◎ This is not a power fantasy or a story about a strong female lead. The early pacing is slow and leans toward everyday life.
◎ Romance takes up a large part of the story. The hero is the senior brother, and the junior brothers and sisters will each have their own couples.
◎ It should count as an ensemble cast (?). The main couple's romance develops slowly.
◎ The main and secondary couples are tentatively all getting happy endings.
(The story idea took shape on October 29, 2022. This version of the blurb took shape on February 14, 2023.)
Theme: They all once found salvation in their darkest moments
