Chapter 1: A Little Sun Falls from the Sky

“Today is the grand recruitment ceremony of our Qingyun Sect. If we weren’t stuck here guarding this wretch, we could have gone to watch the excitement too.”

“Exactly. I even heard that they’ve recruited a highly talented female disciple this year, said to be on par with Senior Brother Song. It’s such a pity we can’t witness it ourselves.”

“They say Senior Brother Song treats the new junior sister very differently. I bet Junior Sister Yun Zhao will end up fighting with her!”

The two outside the door were chatting merrily, while inside the dungeon, Qi Yan was shackled in chains with someone sprawled on top of him.

“Aren’t you going to get up? Do you plan to stay on top of me for the rest of your life?”

Qi Yan’s eyes were dark and brooding as he stared at the girl lying on him.

Their hair was tangled together, forcing Qi Yan into close proximity with the girl, her warm breath scorching him, making his heart involuntarily tremble.

Discomforted, Qi Yan tried his best to lean away.

“Wait, just a moment, I’m almost done.”

Unable to untangle their hair, Yun Zhao simply took out a pair of scissors and, with a crisp snip, cut through the strands binding them. She hadn’t expected that digging a tunnel to rescue Qi Yan would lead her to fall straight onto him.

Seeing Qi Yan, already injured, suffer further under her weight, Yun Zhao felt a bit embarrassed. She asked carefully, “Are you alright?”

Qi Yan closed his eyes and circulated his inner spiritual energy. “Not dead.”

How could he possibly be alright?

He had only just been reborn, and learning from his past life’s lessons, he had immediately succumbed to demonic cultivation, boosting his strength and planning to break free from the dungeon to take revenge on his enemies.

Who would have thought his enemy would drop from the sky, nearly crushing him to death, and interrupting his demonic transformation, leaving his cultivation sealed.

Qi Yan opened his eyes; he could not muster even a sliver of spiritual power.

A metallic taste rose in his throat, but he forced it back down.

Yun Zhao breathed a sigh of relief. “If you’re alright, then come with me. I’m here to rescue you.”

Qi Yan shook her hand off, sneering, “Miss Yun, are you here to toy with me again? This trick is already worn out.”

His words gave Yun Zhao pause, but soon she remembered.

Qi Yan had been imprisoned here for as long as the original Yun Zhao had accompanied him. Even though their conversations were few and brief, for the imprisoned Qi Yan, her presence had been a great comfort.

But months ago, the original Yun Zhao had appeared in the dungeon, promising to help him escape. He had believed her.

He never expected that the moment he stepped out of the dungeon, he’d be caught.

“Senior Brother Song, see? As I said, this wretch is so easy to fool. I just came to tease him every day to pass the time, and he actually believed me.”

“He dared to escape? Senior Brother Song, let me teach this wretch a lesson on your behalf!”

He had seen her as his salvation, yet she had pushed him deeper into the abyss.

All the hundred lashes scarring his body were thanks to her.

Qi Yan curled his lips bitterly. “If you want to hit me, just do it. I won’t believe your lies anymore.”

The sins of the original owner had come back for her to bear, leaving Yun Zhao with a headache.

Seeing Qi Yan’s favorability toward her stuck at zero only made it worse.

In fact, she was here to win Qi Yan over.

Yun Zhao was someone who had transmigrated into this book.

Her current identity was that of a vicious supporting female character in a cultivation novel. She was now bound to a system, and her task was to win over the villain, Qi Yan.

Qi Yan was a mad and sinister figure, infamous for patricide, fratricide, and countless other atrocities. In the future, he would annihilate the protagonists, causing the collapse of the novel’s world.

Yun Zhao’s mission was to raise Qi Yan’s favorability toward her to one hundred, and guide him toward the right path.

Earlier, when she first arrived, she’d mistaken the protagonist, Song Zhiyuan, for Qi Yan, almost wasting precious time.

Song Zhiyuan, the protagonist, was Qi Yan’s half-brother. Yet their statuses were worlds apart.

One was the direct disciple of the sect leader, the illustrious senior brother of the Qingyun Sect; the other was his shadow, imprisoned in the dungeon, never to see the light of day—summoned out only when the protagonist was in mortal danger, to take his place in disaster.

Yun Zhao glanced at Qi Yan with pity, thinking he was indeed the beautiful yet tragic villain of the story.

“Believe me or not, since Song Zhiyuan isn’t here, I’ll take you away first.”

Without waiting for his response, Yun Zhao grabbed his hand and led him into the tunnel.

The newly dug tunnel was a tight fit, but Qi Yan’s frail figure allowed them to walk side by side, albeit pressed close together.

Annoyed, Qi Yan said, “Can’t you move ahead a bit?”

Yun Zhao shook her head. “No.”

She was wary of the villain stabbing her in the back.

After all, she was the enemy who’d whipped him a hundred times.

But what she said aloud was, “You’re injured, and if we walk together, I can support you.”

Qi Yan fell silent.

Without any cultivation, he couldn’t break free from Yun Zhao’s grasp and could only resign himself to it.

They were pressed so close that the girl’s delicate fragrance filled his senses. Yun Zhao’s dark hair had somehow come loose, and a few strands occasionally brushed across his face.

It tickled.

Qi Yan tried to dodge without making a scene, but where could he possibly go?

As they walked, Yun Zhao noticed that his favorability had risen by two points.

Was it really this easy? She hadn’t done anything at all. At this rate, she might complete her mission in no time.

But before she could even be happy, the favorability dropped by one point.

Yun Zhao: “….”

“We’re here,” Yun Zhao said, letting go of his hand, hurrying forward to push aside the stone slab ahead.

Suddenly, bright sunlight flooded in, blinding Qi Yan.

He hadn’t seen daylight in so long that his eyes couldn’t bear the sudden glare.

A hand suddenly covered his eyes. “Oops, I forgot you can’t face the light directly. Give it a moment to adjust.”

Once he was accustomed to the light, Yun Zhao let go, quickly running to the exit and striking a pose, turning back against the sunlight.

Their gazes met. She smiled radiantly and extended her hand to him. “I heard you longed for the light?”

“There’s no need to seek the light anymore—because your light has arrived!”

Yun Zhao flew Qi Yan to her residence on her sword, her face clouded with displeasure.

The system analyzed that after so many years in darkness, Qi Yan should have longed for the light. The girl approaching him in radiant sunlight, offering her hand, should have greatly increased his favorability.

It did, at first—an explosive increase. But before she could savor it, it dropped right back to one.

Distracted, Yun Zhao’s flying sword wobbled.

A pair of icy hands landed on her shoulders. Turning back, Yun Zhao saw Qi Yan’s pale face. “Focus,” he said coldly.

He hadn’t yet avenged his great enmity; he didn’t intend to die falling from a sword.

The cold jolted Yun Zhao into alertness. She glanced at Qi Yan, whose face was ashen.

After years in the dungeon, his skin was paler than a ghost’s, his temperature chilling to the bone.

When they’d been pressed close earlier, Yun Zhao had felt as if she was in an icy cavern.

The original Yun Zhao was the granddaughter of the former Qingyun Sect leader, and for various reasons, she lived alone on Qingyun Peak.

There was only one courtyard atop Qingyun Peak. Yun Zhao brought Qi Yan there by sword, but before they could even speak, a crowd poured out from her courtyard.

“Didn’t I say so? Junior Sister Yun Zhao has gone to deceive that wretch again.”

“Who would’ve thought he’d be so gullible, believing your every word.”

“So, how will you punish him this time? I heard you’ve mastered a new whip technique. Are you planning to test its power?”

At the front, Song Zhiyuan stepped forward with a helpless look. “Junior Sister, I know you’ve been bored lately and want some amusement, but haven’t I told you? He can’t leave the dungeon, nor can he appear in the sect.”

Behind Yun Zhao, Qi Yan lowered his gaze and laughed coldly.

As expected, it was all just a joke to them.

This time, he would not show mercy!

A chilling aura surged from behind. Yun Zhao’s heart rang with alarm.

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