[Naturally dark and clueless about love × lovesick, scheming yandere]
Yu Xianyi was adopted as a child by Tianyu Mountain, a great sect of the immortal clans. When she grew up, she was ordered to infiltrate the demon realm.
Three years undercover, five years in hiding, steadily rising through the ranks.
One day, she happened to come across a cultivator whose entire family had been wiped out by demon cultivators, now seeking revenge.
Yu Xianyi immediately assessed the situation: That sword would cause no more than a minor injury, making this a rare chance to prove her loyalty!
The position of Grand Protector was hers today!
She resolutely leapt in front of the Demon Lord, Pei Zhiyou, to take the sword for him. She never expected the attacker to self-destruct, sending her soul flying apart along with the blow.
By a stroke of luck, Yu Xianyi glimpsed what would happen next while her soul was adrift:
Although she would rise to become Grand Protector thanks to her many achievements, Pei Zhiyou had deliberately arranged it to use her to pass along false information.
Later, the immortal sects would suffer heavy casualties because of the intelligence she provided.
She would return to Tianyu Mountain to beg forgiveness, only for the sect leader to berate her as the worst of the 999 spies he'd sent out, bringing shame upon the sect. As he spoke, the usually gentle sect leader crushed a magical artifact in his hand, and her soul nearly shattered on the spot.
That was when Yu Xianyi learned that the sect leader had always controlled her life and death with a secret technique. Beloved disciple and teacher-student romance? Not a chance.
She was just one of countless disposable pawns.
In the end, Yu Xianyi would be branded a disgrace to the immortal sects, have her tendons and bones ripped out, and her flesh ground to pulp. She would die a horrific death.
Once her soul returned to her body, her first thought was that she couldn't keep doing this job.
She used to be desperate to prove herself. Now, she'd never stand out.
The immortal sects were toxic and the demon realm was crazy, but if she kept both sides in balance, she could survive one day at a time.
Demon Lord Pei Zhiyou decided the time was right to play along with the plan, only to discover that his once-loyal immortal sect spy was doing nothing. She was about to become indistinguishable from the rest of the demons.
She didn't take a sword for him anymore, and now she wanted him to take one for her?
She stopped offering plans, and casually exposed two or three spies from the cultivation world?
She stopped sending reports, and snapped her communication token in half?
And she wasn't even sleeping with him anymore. She used to try to seduce him, but now she kept herself completely covered.
Was this for real? If she gave him one more chance to show her worth, she could be promoted to Right Protector, and he could reel in a whole school of big fish.
Pei Zhiyou was very troubled. He shook Yu Xianyi awake beside him. "Can't you go back to how you were before?"
Yu Xianyi immediately grew wary. "How was I before?"
Take a sword for him? Absolutely not.
Pei Zhiyou's ears turned pink, and his voice sank into the night. "Ahem, seducing me..."
Yu Xianyi was startled. She looked him up and down, then considered his feast-for-the-eyes good looks and her own status as a spy whose identity might be exposed. Hesitantly, she said, "Let me think about it."
After watching the sunrise together, Yu Xianyi warned him, "We're even now. Just pretend you don't know who I am, and don't try to use me to wipe out the immortal sects."
She'd learned the hard way that once the rabbit was dead, the hounds would be cooked, and once the birds were gone, the bow would be put away.
The Demon Lord, his clothes in disarray, embraced her from behind and gently rubbed his chin against the hollow of her neck. "...Mm. Catching one is enough."
Yu Xianyi wondered if she should remind him that there should be another 990 spies like her left in the demon realm.
[Blurb written on 2024.01.29, screenshot and video archived]
(Traditional xianxia setting)
(Also known as "Still Bringing Shame to My Sect Today")
Theme: Never forget your original aspiration
