Sacrifice

[Writing extra material outside the main story these past few days. Expect to return on the 10th]

☆ The Past Lives arc is complete. Feel free to dive in~

The full character relationship chart and worldbuilding have been posted and pinned in the Weibo supertopic for Sacrifice.

/vb: Your Autumn Is Here QAT

☆ Make sure to read the official version on Jinjiang! My next novel will be a pure-love urban mystery, Tracing the Walls [Book One of the Mystery Trilogy], a beautiful, strong, tragic revenge story. See the end for the blurb.

☆ Thank you, my loves, for enjoying the Bibo Wanquing couple~ Comments on each chapter are open, so please leave lots of comments~

Blurb for Sacrifice:

[Reverse Time Setting / Nemesis Romance / Ruthless O x Devoted L]

In his previous life, Li Xiyin, second son of the Li family, kept himself out of the fray and vowed never to side with any faction.

Unfortunately, things did not go as he wished. Branded "the greatest under heaven," he became the target of everyone's suspicion.

That day, deep in the mountains, he was surrounded and hunted by the Ghost Clan, the great families, and the imperial clan.

In the end, he died there.

But he never imagined that the one who plunged a sword through his heart and killed him with his own hands would be Cao Li, the eldest son of the Cao family and an old friend from many years ago.

Reborn, Li Xiyin would never forget the pain of that sword through his heart.

He now knew that in troubled times, no one could stay out of the conflict.

If the Ghost Clan, the great families, and the imperial clan all wanted him dead,

then he would settle accounts with them one by one...

He would make those hypocrites wish they were dead, yet be unable to die.

As for his mortal enemy, Cao Li, eldest son of the Cao family,

there was a long road ahead and plenty of time. He could destroy, bit by bit, everything Cao Li held dear...

Later, all the world knew was that the power-hungry eldest son of the Cao family had been driven out of his clan, reduced to a discarded pawn and left covered in blood.

What Li Xiyin never expected was that he had misjudged what Cao Li cared about.

The more he "settled accounts" with Cao Li, the more Cao Li seemed to enjoy it.

How did his nemesis end up climbing aboard his ship just like that??

-

What Li Xiyin did not know was...

Years later, so Li Xiyin could break free of the fate written for him, avoid becoming another sacrifice to this world, and live past the year he was destined to die,

Cao Li, at the time when he loved him most, fought his way through the encirclement alone and finally found Li Xiyin in the mountains, gravely wounded and on the brink of death.

To keep Li Xiyin alive, he had no choice but to raise his sword and send his beloved away with his own hands.

And so Li Xiyin was reborn at the beginning of the story.

"Long time no see."

He cast aside his bloody sword and held the cold body in his arms.

"As long as you're alive... hate me."

Cao Li lowered his eyes. The old scar on his chest, where a dagger had once pierced him, still ached faintly.

Amidst the chaos, everyone had to play a part.

But...

He missed him so much.

Li Xiyin x Cao Li (li)

"Li Tingxu x Cao Yuren"

Seemingly carefree and unrestrained, with deep-seated grudges, but inwardly warm and outwardly cool, devoted to the world, and devastatingly strong O

x

Seemingly obedient and willing to do anything, but in truth capable of shouldering great responsibility, devoted to his beloved, and deeply loving L

-

[Short Scene 1]

On their wedding night in the Ghost City, the two are attacked.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Li Xiyin secretly stabs Cao Li with a dagger.

Afterward, he pretends to "rescue the hero," saving Cao Li.

He even thoughtfully applies medicine to Cao Li's wound.

Cao Li: Thank you.

Li Xiyin, thinking: He ought to be thanking me.

[Short Scene 2]

After being expelled from the Cao clan, Cao Li has nowhere to go,

but at least he can hold Second Young Master Li as he sleeps every night.

Li Xiyin: 🖕🏼

Cao Li: (slips a ring onto the middle finger 💍)

Li Xiyin: In the end, I set my own trap. Wait, where are you putting your hand, nemesis? Nemeses aren't allowed to... Ah.

P.S.:

1. Both leads are strong, both are virgins, with an older top, one-on-one romance, O and L are evenly matched and dote on each other. No melodrama or forced angst. Happy ending.

2. This is a fantasy novel with an ancient setting, but it is not traditional xianxia or cultivation. It includes political intrigue and an ensemble cast.

The story has a serious tone and profound themes, with the plot and romance progressing side by side. The title itself is the central premise.

The story uses a reverse-time setting: O's past is L's future. This is not a double rebirth. The premise is incredibly romantic. Thank you for your interest~

3. Important characters all have courtesy names, so please pay attention~ They are noted in the author's notes and on Weibo!

* L's courtesy name comes from the Analects, "Shu Er": "Is benevolence far away? If I desire benevolence, it is here."

This name is closely suited to the character himself. Please do not overinterpret it.

4. A heads-up: One character in the story, not a member of the main couple, has intersex physical characteristics and identifies as a man. He has a child with his beloved.

This detail was not designed as a gimmick to grab attention. The author only realized this subplot existed after the story had reached 800,000 words, so it is being noted here on the blurb page.

(The character kept this secret from 2018 to 2026. They finally couldn't keep it hidden any longer and confessed to me... even the author was shocked.)

Rest assured: The author will not write any scenes related to childbirth in the main story. There is simply a child of mysterious origins in the story, and the text will not identify the child's biological parents.

5. If you are interested in the story behind the creation of Sacrifice, check out the essay One Day, Three Autumns.

6. Special thanks to illustrator Hua Shu Dinnie for the illustration event!!!

7. My next novel will be a pure-love urban mystery, Tracing the Walls [Book One of the Mystery Trilogy].

[Screenshot of the blurb taken on 2024.11.21]

Pre-release: pure-love urban mystery Tracing the Walls. Please add it to your collection.

Blurb:

[Beautiful, Strong, Tragic Undercover Agent L x Scheming, Money-Throwing, Dominant O]

On a night of torrential rain seven years ago, Jiang Su was attacked and fell from a bridge, where he drowned. He disappeared from this glittering metropolis forever.

The police issued a notice confirming that the missing person had been murdered, closing the case. Everyone else seemed to have agreed to keep silent, accepting his death without question.

It was as if he had always been some strange person who could disappear at any moment.

-

Seven years later, a man named Qiu Yuan came to Jiang Su's grave with a bouquet of flowers.

"What's it like to visit your own grave?"

He asked himself.

That year, several undercover agents in the organization had their missions compromised. To protect more agents, the provincial department arranged for him to fake his death and leave Yuanzhou City immediately to lie low.

He absolutely could not let anyone follow the clues and destroy the undercover network the police had spent twenty years building.

Unexpectedly, after a series of personnel changes, he, Jiang Su, had returned.

The only thing that had not changed was that he was living under another false name.

After twenty years of living anonymously and apart from the world, he no longer knew which version of himself was real...

-

When Jiang Su was young, he had a happy family.

His parents were directors at a pharmaceutical group, and he and his little sister lived in comfort and luxury.

But it all vanished when he was nine.

His parents were killed in a major pileup on National Highway 289 in H Province while traveling for work.

That same night, his two-year-old sister was abducted by someone within the company, and her fate remained unknown.

The consecutive tragedies were deeply suspicious. Every lead went cold, and the case became an unsolved mystery.

In private, people called it "the High Wall."

Jiang Su heard them.

It was the criminal organization about which nothing was known except its name...

-

From then on, he carried alone all his hopes and memories of the family he had as a child.

Years later, Jiang Su became an undercover police officer in the H Province Department. It was as if he had been born for that major case, and he devoted himself entirely to investigating "the High Wall."

But the misfortune of his youth weighed on every step forward, and countless people were always ready to drag him back into the abyss.

Jiang Su clung to life by sheer will, determined to uncover the truth for those who had died unjustly.

He told himself that he only had to wait until the day "the High Wall" fell. When the sky blazed with light, he could bury himself without regrets in the year he was nine.

To live was to move toward death. There was no need to keep pretending.

-

Who could have known that Jiang Su, returning to Yuanzhou this time to bring down "the High Wall," would clash with one man,

yet find the meaning of life.

Jiang Su x Lin Yi (yi)

Seemingly kind and easygoing, like a caring older brother, but inwardly exhausted and always ready to sacrifice himself, an undercover agent L

x

Seemingly a carefree, money-flinging, useless playboy, but actually a shrewd, calculating, sweet-on-the-outside, ruthless-on-the-inside domineering CEO O

-

This is the blurb for the pre-release pure-love urban mystery Tracing the Walls. Thank you for your interest.

Theme: Calm and composed, with lofty ambitions; a heart that embraces all under heaven, and a path without limits.