Why Is My Archrival Like This?

Chi Ruhui and his Dao companion treated each other with courtesy for more than ten years. Then one day, he woke to find himself thrown into the celestial prison and his heart's blood taken by his Dao companion. Only then did he learn that all those years had been a lie.

Perhaps not entirely a lie. His Dao companion rarely came to see him, and when he did, he hardly spoke. His eyes often held pain, his brows furrowed, as if he had deep feelings he was forced to hide and troubles he could not speak of. The old servant who brought meals often shook his head and sighed: Why put each other through this?

Chi Ruhui, scratching lines into the wall with a pebble: ?

Chi Ruhui: Are you sure this isn't one-sided suffering?

After a long wait, Chi Ruhui finally learned the truth just before he died. The seal within him, which held the remnant soul of a demon god, was about to break. Taking his life would let the millions of people in Chuzhou live in peace. Taking the living blood from his heart would help his Dao companion's deeply devoted senior brother and master survive their tribulations and break through.

For the sake of the greater good, and out of gratitude to his sect, his Dao companion had gone undercover by his side long ago and befriended him, all so he could stab him to death today.

Chi Ruhui made one final attempt to save his life: "...So, did you find another solution?"

His Dao companion shook his head.

Then there was only one path left.

Chi Ruhui looked at the sword in his hand and plunged it into himself.

*

A hundred years later, reborn, Chi Ruhui heads straight to Chuzhou. Sure enough, it is a peaceful, prosperous place, and he is satisfied.

With time on his hands, he goes to a teahouse to listen to a storyteller. He discovers that his former Dao companion's sect was never praised by the masses. Few in the teahouse ever praise his former Dao companion for killing her husband for the people's sake, or call him a paragon of selflessness. A century ago, the sect's senior brothers and elders were nearly wiped out by Chi Ruhui's old nemesis, Left Jingyou, the greatest swordsman of the age. The sect has been in decline ever since.

Left Jingyou? Chi Ruhui is baffled. When did he and his former Dao companion become such bitter enemies?

When Chi Ruhui married his Dao companion in his previous life, Left Jingyou had looked as if he were about to die. Chi Ruhui had even thought he was a rival in love!

When they meet again, the once-laughing nemesis has a murderous aura between his brows, his former flamboyant air gone. Chi Ruhui watches him capture a down-and-out demon cultivator, whom he recognizes as a fellow disciple of his former Dao companion. The man kneels on the ground, trembling as he says the former Dao companion's name: "Qi He, Qi He had no choice back then..."

Before he can finish, the man's head bursts open, blood spraying everywhere. Left Jingyou crushes his remnant soul in one hand. Chi Ruhui blinks and wipes the blood spattered on his cheek. Now he understands why no one speaks up for his former Dao companion.

The blurb may be revised later. Screenshot taken July 21, 2025, at 14:40.

Theme: Love needs trust and honesty