If You Won't Save Me, I'll Die for Love

Bo Li was a feared, loathed great demon who trampled the masses and defied Heaven’s will. Life had grown dull, with no one able to stop him, until one day, while battling Heaven, he got struck by lightning. Everything went black, then bright, and he found himself five hundred years in the past. Five hundred years ago, his disciple had yet to rebel against him, his friends had yet to betray and abandon him, the elders had not defected and sold out their sect, and the people had yet to kick him while he was down… In that case, he’d just kill them all. Bo Li beamed with delight. His disciple, standing closest, would be first. But when Bo Li swung his blade, the disciple emerged unscathed, and someone was standing in front of him. The immortal Venerable Fu Heng, who had cherished all under Heaven and been as pure and aloof as snow five hundred years ago, frowned at him with a face identical to his own. Tsk. He was the most sickening of them all. * Bo Li had been crushed to pieces and had his soul shattered before being cast into the Ghost Realm. The person he couldn’t stand most wasn’t anyone else. It was his former self, so solemn and self-righteous, a gentleman at heart who would rather die than wrong anyone. What a waste of all that cultivation. If becoming a demon was inevitable, he’d make Fu Heng turn now. So when Fu Heng invited him to join the sect, Bo Li smiled and agreed. Then he turned around, ripped off an elder’s head, and presented it to Fu Heng as a token of gratitude. “Look, he’s the one who later severed the tendons in your hands and feet.” Fu Heng fell silent for a moment, then calmly stood up and took the blame, accepting the punishment in his place. Bo Li watched him with scorn, yet that unyielding figure kneeling in a pool of blood looked so beautiful he wanted to break him. Fu Heng tried every means to bring him back to the right path, even taking him to the place where he had first established his Dao. Bo Li smiled as he raised a hand and razed it to the ground, savoring Fu Heng’s momentary fury before sneering at everything he held dear. They fought fiercely. Fu Heng tried to lock him up, but neither of them could do anything to the other. No, Fu Heng couldn’t do anything to him. Fu Heng couldn’t stay attached to him every second, so whenever he got the chance, Bo Li could run wild, shift the blame onto Fu Heng, and smugly watch as Fu Heng was condemned and cursed. Bo Li waited, full of confidence, for Fu Heng to step into his world. Instead, Fu Heng held a sword to his own throat. ??? * Fu Heng met his future self five hundred years later: shrouded in ghostly energy, betrayed by everyone, and loathed by all. The hardest person to persuade is yourself. Bo Li said, “You’re going to betray me too?” Fu Heng said, “Either you save me, or we go to Hell together.” Bo Li fell silent. Bo Li didn’t want to die. An unruly great demon and an incorruptible, cold immortal Venerable Reading Guide: Selfcest, switch, essentially one person at two different points in time in the same timeline. If you’re passing by, please add my other historical danmei novel, Did Your Majesty Realize His Mistake?, to your reading list! Blurb: Li Ji was a disgraced crown prince, hated by everyone and abandoned even by dogs. In his third year living in the Cold Palace, Lu Wei dragged him out and put him on the throne. Lu Wei was regent in all but name, using the title of Imperial Tutor. He held power over the entire court, second to none. The twelve-year-old emperor had his meals withheld by Lu Wei, was beaten and berated at the slightest excuse, made to kneel until he froze like an ice statue in the dead of winter, and left to faint under the blazing summer sun. Anyone with eyes could see that the empire might still bear the Li name, but it had long since become the Lu family’s domain. * Lu Wei was a shadow that loomed over Li Ji’s world, blotting out the sky. But during his three years in the Cold Palace, when he refused to eat rotten leftovers and was on the verge of starving to death, Lu Wei brought him fresh food. When his doors and windows were broken and his clothes too thin to keep out the winter cold, Lu Wei drew him into his arms and gave him hot broth. When assassins surrounded him and his life hung by a thread, Lu Wei took an arrow for him and shielded him with his body. Every time he thought he had only one breath left, Lu Wei reached out to him. But later, when he was at death’s door, all Lu Wei did was ask gently and sympathetically, “Your Majesty, have you realized your mistake?” Li Ji thought Lu Wei simply had too much. The power that came with marrying off noblewomen, money that flowed like water, even the fox-fur coat sent from the borderlands: everything was better than having nothing, like he did. He should lock Lu Wei up, so that Lu Wei would have to rely on him for everything he needed and wanted. * Lu Wei had raised a wolf cub who was obedient to his face and defiant behind his back. The cub would stamp the imperial decree granting Lu Wei’s requested marriage, then recall it halfway and arrange for the woman to marry someone else. He would curry favor with Lu Wei’s people, investigate his secret businesses, and wait for a chance to destroy them. He would falsify reports from the front, just to see which generals Lu Wei was close to, then replace them one by one with his own men. Everyone could see that the young emperor was trying to strip him of his power, but Lu Wei didn’t mind. The arrow he had taken for the young emperor had poisoned his lungs. So he decided to put himself in the game and teach the young emperor the arts of ruling. He was convinced that this wolf cub would become his finest student. Then, on the day everything was finally accomplished, he happily drank the poisoned wine the young emperor poured for him. When he woke, chains bound his hands and feet. In a bridal chamber beneath a sky ablaze with evening clouds, his finest student held him tight and said with relief, “Teacher, I’ve finally waited for this day.” “…” Lu Wei wanted to kill the emperor. [A cruel, ruthless, sickly Imperial Tutor who receives, and a dark, lovesick wolf-cub emperor who pursues] Blurb dated August 15, 2025 Theme: Accept yourself