We're Best Friends, But I Just Confessed

Xie Yishan had a taciturn friend. To save him, he reincarnated through nine lifetimes in the Heavenly Realm's Tonghui Mirror, but every attempt ended in failure.

A celestial official told him that the mirror could only bear the karmic consequences of ten lifetimes. If Xie Yishan failed again, no one in the world would be able to save Meng Siyan, and he himself would be punished by the mirror.

Just as Xie Yishan was at his wit's end, the old man in charge of tying red strings at the Heavenly Court gave him a terrible idea.

"Bocha," the Old Man Under the Moon said, taking Xie Yishan's hand. "Your bond with him just isn't deep enough. Listen to me: tie on this red string, and you'll be able to save him."

Xie Yishan: Do I look like an easy mark?

But there wasn't much time left. Xie Yishan gritted his teeth, grabbed the red string, and began his tenth reincarnation without looking back.

Xie Yishan: We can undo it afterward, right?

Old Man Under the Moon: Mm-hmm.

Once inside the mirror.

As soon as he first met Meng Siyan, Xie Yishan quietly hid the red string in his sleeve and even untied the knot on his hand.

Xie Yishan: It's all an act anyway. I just have to play along.

So he played along, and ended up tumbling into the arms of the battered Meng Siyan.

Meng Siyan was a black dragon on the verge of completing his transformation from a flood dragon into a true dragon, but a demon-hunting Daoist appeared out of nowhere and cut short his path to becoming a dragon.

He had thought he was destined to be the Daoist's enemy for the rest of his life, locked in an endless feud for generations.

But he never expected that the Daoist would save him in all nine of his lifetimes, and that in every one of them they would become "close friends," drinking and laughing together.

Now, in the tenth life, he had awakened.

He saw the exhausted Xie Yishan, worn down by nine rounds of reincarnation, and finally spoke:

"...I love you..."

Meng Siyan didn't hear what came before or after. All that mattered was that Xie Yishan had confessed first.

Oh, right. Meng Siyan had wanted Xie Yishan for a long time. Xie Yishan just didn't know it.

#Beautiful, Strong, Tragic, Affection-Starved Black Dragon Top × Easygoing, Short-Tempered Daoist Bottom

Meng Siyan × Xie Yishan

Reader's guide:

1. Happy ending. Their relationship goes from friendship to love.

2. The plot leans toward Chinese-style horror, with episodic stories and an ensemble cast.

3. Literary title: Song of Crossing the River.

[2024.5.20]

Theme: I shall smash the Yellow Crane Tower for you., Li Bai