After I Died, My Swordmaster Senior Brother Turned Dark

(The main story is told in third person.)

Senior Brother was as bright and clear as the moon, gentle and refined, with peerless swordsmanship. He was truly the foremost among the Sword Sect.

Countless female cultivators admired him.

But Senior Brother always kept his distance from others, because he and I had been engaged since childhood.

We grew up together. He was the boy my parents had chosen to be my future husband.

No matter how willful and reckless I was, Senior Brother always indulged and protected me. I came to believe that we loved each other, that we were destined to grow old together, sharing one quilt in life and one grave in death.

-

One day, the Heavenly Dao gave birth to a demon, and Senior Brother was ordered down the mountain to exorcise it.

I tied a peace charm I had sewn by hand onto him and said, "Senior Brother, be careful."

I didn't tell him that I had prayed before the Buddha, hoping he would return victorious so we could marry soon.

Senior Brother must have been happy too. For the first time, the usually reserved and self-possessed Senior Brother kissed my brow.

I heard that he had defeated the demon in one fell swoop. The witch Ji Xi was no match for the sect's sword cultivators and was wiped from the world.

Senior Brother returned, but he had also brought back a badly wounded woman.

I wasn't jealous. I thought there must be a reason, and I had to trust him.

Senior Brother had always been gentle and cared for all under heaven. Perhaps that woman was simply one of the many people who had earned his compassion.

I reined in my willful temper. I watched coldly as Senior Brother did so many things for her that he had once done for me.

He cared for her day and night, fed her medicine, brought her candied fruit, and picked the first flower of early spring from a tree for her...

Senior Brother stopped asking when we would marry. He stopped teaching me and stopped practicing sword moves with me.

I grew uneasy and afraid. I thought Senior Brother no longer loved me.

Until one day, demonic energy poured from that woman. She was the witch Ji Xi.

Senior Brother was a cultivator, yet he had turned his back on all living beings and hidden a witch.

He fled down the mountain with Ji Xi, and when everyone searched for him in vain, they placed their hopes in me.

I activated our Daoist partner's contract and found Senior Brother.

I wanted to persuade him to turn back from the wrong path. I begged him to remember our past love one more time.

But all I heard was the dull sound of a blade piercing flesh.

My hands and feet trembled with pain. I looked down and saw the Heng Tian Sword I had given him buried deep in my chest.

My consciousness grew hazy. I stared silently at the old, faded peace charm hanging from Senior Brother's waist.

My chest hurt so much.

I cried out, "Senior Brother," but this time his tenderness was no longer mine.

-

Only after I died did I learn that Ji Xi was the Heavenly Dao's daughter. She had been ordered to win over the world's most powerful people. Senior Brother had merely been controlled by the System, which muddled his mind and made him kill me by mistake.

But what did it matter? After living again, I no longer yearned for Senior Brother.

In this life, I changed my name and joined another sect.

I knew Senior Brother had his own fate to fulfill, and that he would grow old with the heroine, Ji Xi.

When the day of the demon hunt arrived, the world fell into chaos. My swordsmanship was poor, so I fled through the turmoil.

Once, when I was about to die at the hands of a demon, a fierce sword light split the heavens.

It was Senior Brother, charging in with the Heng Tian Sword.

Demonic energy swirled around him, and he was covered in blood.

Senior Brother pulled me into his arms, trembling all over.

Just like in my previous life, he kissed my brow, his phoenix eyes glistening with tears.

He pulled back his sleeve. Countless sword scars, deep to the bone, covered his wrist. He had been tracing the flower of our Daoist partner's contract, but he could no longer make it shine.

Senior Brother kissed me humbly, then asked through his tears, "Our marriage pact as Daoist partners, will you give it another try with me?"

[Reading Guide]

1. Senior Brother x Junior Sister, unchanged, but there will be a groveling redemption arc.

2. Both leads are sexually inexperienced. Don't worry, Senior Brother was inexperienced even in his previous life.

Theme: Strive for perfection