Ning Zhixia hates her sworn rival, Dai Wen, more than anyone.
Dai Wen is two-faced and full of hot air. To take first place, he'd rather hurt himself badly if it meant beating her.
They fight every other day and brawl every few days. Sparks fly whenever they meet.
Ning Zhixia thought they'd keep competing like this forever.
Until the secret realm collapsed and its spiritual energy leaked out. Ning Zhixia stepped forward and gave it everything she had, but could only destroy her inner core and perish alongside the realm.
Her body dissipated in midair. In a daze, she saw her detestable rival lose his usual nonchalance and rush toward her in disarray, calling her name in a trembling voice.
*
When Ning Zhixia opened her eyes again, a hundred years had passed. Just as she was preparing to make a dazzling reborn entrance, strange sensations began arising in her body for no reason.
She woke in the morning with aches in her back and waist, unexplained bruises appeared on her body, and now and then, invisible fingertips brushed over her neck, back, and the small of her waist...
Ning Zhixia blushed furiously and was determined to find out why.
After checking every possibility, she discovered she could feel what the doll hanging from Dai Wen's waist felt.
That doll was one she'd made herself. Dai Wen had mocked it, saying it could ward off evil.
Ning Zhixia gritted her teeth.
Dai Wen hated her so much that even a hundred years later he still wore something of hers just to provoke her. He was even using a curse to whip her corpse.
*
A hundred years later, Dai Wen had become the undisputed chief disciple, a respected senior brother admired by everyone, unbeatable with a sword.
To get the doll back, Ning Zhixia made up a new identity and infiltrated his sect. Gritting her teeth, she called the face she'd dreamed of punching "Senior Brother." Even when he hauled her out to reprimand her, she put on a smile and said he was right.
After enormous effort, she finally found her chance.
Ning Zhixia secretly took the doll and opened the door. Outside stood Dai Wen, who had said he'd be gone for a few days.
Dai Wen closed in step by step, eyeing the doll in her hand with casual indifference. "Junior Sister, where are you taking my wife's keepsake?"
*
Dai Wen resented Ning Zhixia for dying so easily. He resented her for leaving him alone in the world.
All he could do was cling to the doll she had left behind.
Every night, eyes red, he bit the doll, breathing in the scent that belonged only to her, and toyed with it over and over.
Then every morning, he would wash it and hang it back on himself.
Until, at the sect's disciple recruitment ceremony, he met a pair of eyes so familiar.
She was a newly arrived junior sister.
Dai Wen thought he was hallucinating. He kept seeing Ning Zhixia in his junior sister.
He keenly noticed that the doll's scent had changed. It was now exactly the same as the new junior sister's.
Later, he noticed something else.
Whenever he touched the doll, why did his junior sister blush, brace herself against the table, and glare at him?
#MistakingHeartFlutterForAHeartAttack
Theme: Keep striving forward.
