It took Chao Tiao seventeen years after arriving here to realize she had transmigrated into the female supporting character of a cultivation novel, a character whose name had never even been mentioned.
The good news: She had become the daughter of Kunlun's sect leader and the youngest disciple of the greatest sword cultivator under heaven. Everyone in Kunlun doted on her.
The bad news: The Blood Tide, a tide of skinless horrors, had reached the foot of Kunlun Mountain. There were only thirteen days left until the massacre that would destroy the sect.
Thirteen days from now, the protective formation around Kunlun would fall. The sect's seven thousand cultivators would defend the continent's spiritual leyline to the death, slaughtered to the last by the Demon God's kin. Not one would retreat, and not one would survive.
When the time came, her father would play his zither to rally them, then cough up blood; her master's sword bones would be shattered, yet he would fight to his last breath; her senior brother would place the sword tassel she had given him against his chest, then be pierced through the heart by ten thousand needles and vanish into dust. A sea of corpses and blood would swallow the pompom at the end of her little junior sister's braid.
Chao Tiao gritted her teeth and polished her sword until it gleamed. "You all said you'd protect me and make sure my life was happy and carefree. Liars, every one of you."
On the night a crack appeared in the protective formation, the blood mist that had shrouded Chao Tiao's dreams for seventeen years finally dispersed. Chaotic baleful energy surged like a storm. The bloodthirsty Demon Lord fell to his knees, his low, hoarse voice choked with sobs as he cried, "We welcome the Demon God!"
Beneath the Nine Hells, demons prostrated themselves, and a million ghosts wailed.
Chao Tiao: "..."
What on earth was going on?!
It seemed she'd somehow become the ultimate villain, with a... clan that had waited for her for thirty thousand years.
The Demon Lord bowed his head to the dust and reverently kissed her ankle. His lowered red eyes dripped blood, filled with an obsession carved into his very bones.
"...This time, we won't let you abandon us again."
"Never."
=
Later, countless people would love Chao Tiao.
They would revere her as a saint, a heavenly demon, the savior of all and the one true god.
In truth, they need ask nothing of her.
All she wished for in this life was that the righteous would not be broken, those driven by conviction would see their efforts bear fruit, and those who gave their lives for a cause would die for something meaningful. She hoped that those who risked everything would not die in vain amid wind, frost, rain, and snow.
[Reading Guide]
0. The heroine's name is Chao Tiao. Chao is pronounced zhao, with the first tone.
1. No characters acting stupid for the plot. At its heart, this is a story of healing, being doted on by everyone, and an ensemble cast. Everyone loves our precious girl.
2. Includes some Chinese folk-horror and Lovecraftian elements.
3. Ordinary people forge ahead for what they believe in. There are no flawless good people and no utterly irredeemable villains.
Theme: When the long road ends, there will always be a way home.
