My Disciple Always Thinks He's a Substitute

At the height of her power, Chao Jiuning once took on a disciple.

She rescued him from the jaws of a beast, taught him to read and write, and trained him in swordsmanship and cultivation. They went everywhere together, almost never apart.

Everyone knew Jiang Lanyue was Chao Jiuning's beloved disciple and the heir to the Sword Saint of Ziwei Peak. No one dared look down on him.

Until the day the Demon-Sealing Seal broke. Chao Jiuning held the line at the front, but her disciple transformed into the leader of the demonic cultivators. With Fuguang, the famous sword she had personally carved with a powerful sword intent and given him as a gift to help him break through, he pierced her chest.

Betrayed by the disciple she trusted most, Chao Jiuning saw the Canglan Sword break and her life star fall. The Ziwei sect was branded as traitors who colluded with demonic cultivators, reviled by all, and reduced to a handful of scattered members.

When Chao Jiuning opened her eyes again, a hundred years had passed.

With a woodcutter's knife in hand, she dug Si Lian, covered in wounds, out of a ravine.

He was cold and solitary, his cultivation had also fallen, and he had suffered betrayal. Only his features bore a faint resemblance to Jiang Lanyue's.

Out with the old, in with the new.

Chao Jiuning decided to get back up where she had fallen.

"Would you be willing to become my disciple?"

When Si Lian met Chao Jiuning, he was at his lowest and most wretched. He had lost an eye, his star meridians were ruined, and he was being hunted.

Chao Jiuning saved him, treated his wounds, took him as her disciple, and led him back onto the path of cultivation.

At first, Si Lian thought this was a blessing meant for him alone. He kept his feelings buried and under control, never daring to look up at her, asking only to stay by his master's side.

But later, he learned his master's name, her glory, her past, and... her beloved disciple.

He was only a stand-in.

If being her substitute meant he could have her affection, so what?

Si Lian didn't care.

Until he saw Jiang Lanyue, kneeling before his master, and clearly saw the resentment, obsession, love, and madness in his eyes.

Only then did Si Lian realize he couldn't hold back at all.

Love gave birth to desire, and desire was a bottomless pit.

He had already fallen, longing to take another's place and overstep the bounds between master and disciple.

Bonus scene:

Chao Jiuning: Back to the top, and clean house!

Si Lian: Master is my master, but Master can also be my wife.

Blurb written on 2024.4.20

My next novel will be "Brother, Long Time No See." Tap the announcement or my author page to add it to your collection:

Because she bears a striking resemblance to the late legitimate daughter of the Shen family, Su Yuyan was taken in by Madam Shen after her parents died and given a permanent home in the manor, where she was cherished dearly.

That very night, Su Yuyan met the Shen family's eldest son, Shen Junzhuo.

Just as the rumors claimed, he was exceptionally handsome and as refined as a jade tree. Though aloof and seemingly beyond reach, he was renowned in the capital for his strict self-discipline and impeccable manners, a gentleman as pure as moonlight.

Su Yuyan didn't dare look at him for long. Following etiquette, she addressed him: "Elder Brother."

Living under the same roof, Su Yuyan saw him every day. Though she knew he was far beyond her reach, she couldn't help developing a young girl's feelings for him.

Until the day of a banquet at the marquis's residence, when Su Yuyan and Shen Junzhuo were both set up and, through a twist of fate, ended up in the same bed.

When she woke, Su Yuyan's clothes were disheveled and her mind was completely blank.

Shen Junzhuo's eyes were cold as frost as he said icily, "Even resorting to such a despicable trick won't get you through the Shen family's gates. You are not my sister, and you will never become the mistress of the Shen household."

Furious, Su Yuyan smashed a teacup against his head.

From then on, she gave up on him, took her leave of Madam Shen, and left the Shen manor without looking back.

Shen Junzhuo once believed he despised Su Yuyan.

She loved putting on an act. Though she was crafty and brazen by nature, she insisted on imitating his late younger sister, pretending to be quiet and gentle, and impeccably well-mannered.

Yet after Su Yuyan left, Shen Junzhuo began dreaming of her again and again.

He dreamed she was nestled in his arms, her eyes reddened and her temples damp with sweat, calling him "Elder Brother" over and over.

Shen Junzhuo thought it absurd.

Three years after they parted, when he saw Su Yuyan again, she had become the younger sister of the newly prominent General Su. She stood in the middle of a busy street, with a handsome young man by her side.

Using what little reason he had left, Shen Junzhuo asked her, his gaze darkening, "Who is he?"

Su Yuyan linked arms with the man beside her and smiled brightly. "He's my husband."

Shen Junzhuo thought he was going mad.

Theme: Walk your own path