"They say that when Ning Yao Ren was alive, he turned the world into a den of corruption. He wantonly kidnapped handsome and talented disciples from the righteous sects and used them as furnaces for dual cultivation. No one has ascended in the Immortal Continent for a thousand years, and Ning Yao Ren preyed on the prized successors whom every sect had placed its hopes in. His wickedness was enough to outrage both gods and men!"
"Evil deeds always meet their comeuppance. Five years ago, the great villain Ning Yin Lou finally died at the hands of his younger brother and a group of righteous heroes he had kidnapped. He was pierced by ten thousand arrows, leaving no trace of his body. He got what he deserved. Good riddance."
Ning Yin Lou, the villain who raised hell in the guise of a bewitching beauty, had been "dead" for five years, but his reputation still haunted the martial world:
Kidnapping prodigies, practicing wicked arts, even turning his own brother, at least in public, into his cultivation furnace.
After his death, people cursed him. "Pah! That infamous villain deserves to be the lowliest beast of burden in his next life!"
Enough, enough. You're like a flock of crows. Keep cursing me and you'll make it come true...
He opened his eyes to find himself in Ji Lian Town as Lou Er, a lowly, lame waiter.
With a face of two mismatched halves, a hunched back, and a limp, he was expected to crouch down and serve as a footstool for customers, only to hear, "Get away, you ugly thing!"
That night, the great hero staying at his inn tipped back his head and drained the last of his wine. A glistening thread of liquid ran from his chin and slipped beneath his collar.
The creditor tossed aside the wine jar and stood, walking over to Lou Er. His wine-scented breath brushed Lou Er's ear.
"Ugly or not, we'll have to strip you and take a closer look."
What should a great villain do? When in doubt, there's a whole wide world out there. Better run!
The great villain smiled wickedly and pulled out a brand-new secret identity, a thoroughly practical disguise.
A little eunuch appeared in front of him, speaking in a high voice with his rear end sticking out. Go on, tell me you don't recognize him!
Days later, a whole crowd of creditors was trailing the great villain.
Anyone else would run, but the great villain was different.
He donned one practical secret identity after another and went out of his way to provoke them in no time at all!
"Still not enough?" The great villain asked when you didn't answer right away.
He pulled out a whole stack of new secret identities. Pick today's best buddy:
Peddler A, beggar B, servant C, soldier D, blind fortune-teller E, theater clown F...
The great villain donned a rainbow of secret identities and matched wits, magic, and wiles with a bunch of powerful creditors.
"Wait, what was that weird thing that just floated by?" You hurriedly interrupted. This absolutely can't be broadcast!
The great villain chuckled. Ahem, ahem.
Well, the Thirty-Six Stratagems include the beauty stratagem, too.
Later, after pursuing creditors for miles, the great villain grew tired.
Ning Yin Lou stood at the center of the formation, a golden mark on his back wound around him like chains.
"People worship the Son of Heaven. But if the Son of Heaven has to take the Heaven's Chosen's destiny to become emperor, then to hell with being emperor!"
At the final moment, all the creditors heard his low laugh.
"In this game of chess, I ultimately beat Heaven by half a move."
"I'm not faking my death this time. This time, I'm really dead."
*
Scheming villain bottom + a whole cast of obsessive creditors
The creditors get pursued in reverse! The villain turns out to be the savior! The great villain's journey of being shrewd (and clearing his name).
Each creditor gets a separate side-story arc.
A creditor is a creditor, and the love interest is the love interest.
*
Creditor 1: Childhood friend, the great hero (love interest)
Breaking news! Why is the sword prodigy, usually as plain and restrained as clear soup, fighting with a streetwise rogue in the middle of the street?
Creditor 2: The actor prince
Breaking news! Why is a noble prince working as a musician in the red-light district?
Creditor 3: The creditor leader's younger brother (adopted by his parents, no blood relation)
Breaking news! He's supposedly Ning Yao Ren's biggest creditor, but secretly harbors strange feelings for the debtor?
Creditor 4: Lord of the Liyan Sea
Breaking news! Ning Yao Ren is a force to be reckoned with, and the sea lord is so starstruck that he walked right into the trap. Rumor has it that Lord Qi is the one on the bottom?
Creditor 5: A sobbing genius craftsman
Breaking news! Is the only genius in a century from the Mo clan with the talent to ascend actually a cat in disguise, swapped at birth?
Creditor 6: ...
Breaking news! ...
The storyteller at Yifang Tavern clutched the stack of shocking newsletters in his hands and trembled, weeping with joy.
After five years, all the good-hearted people of the martial world had finally brought him fresh material!
*Plot-driven
Theme: Every ordinary person in the bustling streets makes the everyday world around us all the more precious and lovable.
