Chapter 1

Spring in full bloom, March on the mortal world.
The clouds rose like towers, dusk gathered and the afterglow faded. Branches snapped silently; birds streaked through the sky, crying as they passed the clouds.
Long lashes flickered; Jiang Yu opened her eyes but hadn’t yet made out where she was. She looked up and met the gaze of a drooling green-eyed wolf; terrified, her heart raced and she turned and ran on instinct.
A slender crimson figure tore through the bushes; coarse branches ripped her fine cloth, thorns cut her cheek and beads of blood rolled down, her pace slowing.
She braced against a tree and watched the wolf demon drawing closer; crystalline saliva dripped from its mouth and its flame-red tongue licked its sharp teeth.
It snarled and leapt, and a shadow loomed above it.
Oh heavens! How can they make her risk her life at the very start!
Her right eyelid twitched uncontrollably; Jiang Yu rolled once on the ground, crawling and scrambling to change direction, and set off running another way.
“Aaaah, Big Wolf, my horoscope says I’m bad for the stomach! I’m skinny and stringy, if you eat me you’ll get something stuck in your teeth!” Jiang Yu ran until black spots danced before her eyes; her university 800m fitness time was 4 minutes 35 seconds, just barely passing.
In the face of danger she somehow had several close calls without being caught; the wolf demon’s attempts failed.
She paid no attention to what lay ahead, where there were no branches to block her, there she ran.
She skidded to a halt.
The red-clad girl stopped, shaken with lingering fear.
In broad daylight she had run to the edge of a precipice.
There was probably no one more doomed than her, the transmigrated supporting female about to meet her end.
Jiang Yu instinctively held her breath and carefully peered over, the drop was bottomless. Her face drained of color and her legs went weak.
A cliff’s edge, the perfect place for a protagonist to jump. What did that have to do with her, a mere cannon-fodder?
The wolf demon stopped and circled, excited saliva dripping from its big white fangs, savoring the thrill of a trapped prey before tearing it apart.
Seeing the wolf poised to pounce, torn between leaping off the cliff to die and making a desperate stand, Jiang Yu, powerless, chose to believe in the supernatural.
Could the wolf be made to fall off in a single bound?
She glanced back and forced a dry laugh: “Big Wolf, I really don’t have much meat…”
Heh.
The air fell silent for a moment.
A cold, teasing chuckle came from behind, like a flash of golden light along the cliff.
Someone, maybe there’s hope!
Jiang Yu looked toward the sound.
The last slanting rays of the sun cut through the clouds and fell on dark-gold boots; he strolled out with a sword in hand. The youth idly toyed with a copper coin, flipping it and catching it in his palm.
The coin spun in the air and flashed gold; the youth’s narrow phoenix eyes fixed on her with jet-black pupils, and he suddenly curved his lips into a cold smile.
Leaves swayed as they stared at each other; their gazes met and time seemed to freeze for a moment.
The youth wore a dark round-collared robe with slits at the hips, black wrist guards, the hem patterned with a fierce beast treading on auspicious clouds, a dark-gold belt cinching his waist, accentuating his tall, slender frame with broad shoulders and a narrow waist.
With that height, his legs looked longer than her life.
His voice held a smile; his cold gaze swept her as he asked evenly, “Senior Sister told me to be easy to find. Senior Sister, can you guess, heads or tails?”
The line was familiar; she froze, every hair on her skin standing up.
Senior Sister, the youth, the coin…
She was suddenly shocked, this was the villainous second male from the original novel: Shen Anzhi.
In the book Seeking Demons, the second male antagonist had joined the Crane Sect last, yet hid himself deepest and was extraordinarily gifted.
The original said his background was tragic: born with the Sacred Yin immortal constitution, his blood and flesh could be used to refine pills and raise cultivation; dual cultivation would be immensely nourishing.
Ten years later, after his identity was exposed and he was framed and hunted, he turned dark, overturned both righteous and villainous paths, and reveled in bloodshed to dominate the world.
Outwardly gentle and pure, exorcising demons and driving out ghosts, a righteous persona. In truth he was obsessively pathological, mercurial, and bloodthirsty.
The novel repeatedly describes him asking whether the coin is heads or tails; what seems like a trivial joke actually shows he has murderous intent.
A textbook black lotus, black to the core.
His smile belonged to a spirited young man, yet his bearing was that of a demon-warrior.
Striding in dark-gold patterned boots, Shen Anzhi’s Adam’s apple rolled in shadow; his callused fingertips leisurely traced the coin-sword’s blade pattern, and in a low voice feigning patience he called, “Senior Sister”
Jiang Yu’s lips trembled, pale; her voice quivered:
“Heads”
“Sorry, Senior Sister, you’re wrong.” He smiled faintly, full of mock regret as if making a trivial joke, and continued, “I’ll just have to send you and the wolf demon to die under my sword.”
The wolf demon, enraged, hurled itself forward to tear him apart.
Without anyone blinking, the coin-forged sword-light flashed; the wolf demon let out a howl and its tormented cries turned to powder.
Shen Anzhi’s mouth curled in a cold smile, his gaze bone-chilling; he looked at her coldly: “Jump, or shall I see you off?”
The oppressive scene hit too hard, Shen Anzhi advancing step by step like a disembodied cold blade, and Jiang Yu, utterly spineless, collapsed to the ground.
Any desperate resistance would be useless. Jiang Yu slowly lifted her eyes, whimpering quietly before the glaring sword, and said in a low voice, “I’ll only say one thing.”
Shen Anzhi gripped the sword hilt with interest, tilted his head to get a clear look at the blood on her cheek, and surprisingly patiently savored the expression of utter despair on her face before death.
Tears rimmed her eyes; she covered her face and, giving up, shouted, “Screw you, Shen Anzhi.”
The moment she finished speaking, a sharp gust struck from behind them. As the gale rose, fissures split the cliff; with a thunderous roar that shook the heavens, Jiang Yu shivered, before the pain came there was a sensation of weightlessness.
The next moment, the two of them fell together.
In the panic and sorrow she only had time to grab a corner of the black robe to hold onto.
Sharp pain struck; Shen Anzhi slashed the back of her hand with his sword. Jiang Yu gasped and hissed.
The intense pain she expected never arrived.
Feeling weightless and dizzy, Jiang Yu opened her eyes to find herself in a specter-like state.
Below the cliff the north wind cut like a knife; withered yellow grass swayed and jagged rocks lurked like countless crouching beasts.
Daylight split the steep rock face into shards; Jiang Yu stood beside two overlapped bodies stained with blood.
Shen Anzhi’s old scar across his chest had torn open, a broad patch of fresh blood seeping from his chest. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed the metallic-sweet taste in his mouth; brow furrowed, he shut his eyes to hide the dark ferocity within.
When Jiang Yu turned away in bewilderment she glimpsed Shen Anzhi collapse and close his eyes; his thin lips trembled as if to murmur something.
In any case, whatever he said certainly wasn’t anything nice.
Clearly, ten minutes before all this happened she had just been an ordinary freshman.
Having just finished finals and the CET-4 and a mixed-doubles match, she lay sprawled like a salted fish in her empty dorm and opened a reading app to the book Seeking Demons.
Just moments ago she was writhing like a maggot over a perfect love, and the next moment the story's tragic ending launched her into outer space.
A sudden, unbearable pain in her chest, she died.
She was dead, but soon encountered a spirit.
Wiping the non‑existent cold sweat from her face, she said, "What a coincidence, you’re called Jiang Yu too."
The original character explained that, with the world's consciousness collapsing, the Jiang Yu from the book‑world would take her place to complete the mission.
Jiang Yu was still astonished that the book’s original looked exactly like her. The original "Jiang Yu," her blood‑streaked clothes mottled, eyed her with a sharp, sullen stare, like a red‑robed ghost risen from hell, lightly hovering across from her.
She said, "Win over Shen Anzhi and stop him from destroying the world. Succeed and you can go home; fail and your soul will be obliterated, barred from reincarnation."
"I refuse." She was just an ordinary mortal. "No, you're rich and beautiful, why not hire someone to kill Shen Anzhi…"
The "Jiang Yu" lowered her head, her narrow eyes slipping into a helpless wry smile: "I've tried many times, never once succeeded. When he dies, the world dies with him." Then, tossing out an olive branch as temptation: "Tsk. You're already dead, can you bear to abandon your family? Complete the task and I can help rebuild your body and return your freedom."
The richer the reward, the tougher the task, the grander the promises.
Jiang Yu fell silent, offering no rebuttal. She couldn't bear to lose her family, couldn't bear to see the life she'd only just begun wither away.
After a long moment, no longer hesitating, she said, "I agree."
Remembering how she'd agreed out of blind luck, Jiang Yu hadn't realized the severity of the problem.
Speechless and choked, she looked up toward the cliff overhead.
The original host hadn't told her, she had to give first blood right at the start!
Like a bucket of cold water dumped from the sky, Jiang Yu oddly calmed. She wasn't going to have her soul scattered, was she…
Suddenly, the warped surroundings began to split and shift.
Like torn canvases of light and shadow, they reassembled into darkness, billowed in the wind, then twisted and unfurled before her.
A blinding beam of light ripped open a seam in the darkness.
Jiang Yu instinctively raised a hand to shield her eyes; her long curled lashes fluttered like butterfly wings.
When she slowly opened her eyes, the first thing she heard was the rustle of footsteps; glancing sideways she saw Shen Anzhi standing not far away.
She held her breath instinctively; her heart sped up.
Oh God, he isn't planning to kill me again, is he?
Gu Shuyu noticed first that Jiang Yu had suddenly frozen in place; her face was pale and drawn, her doe‑like eyes pooled with moisture, staring around like someone half‑lost.
A pleasant, clear female voice like babbling water asked, "Junior sister, are you feeling unwell?"
Jiang Yu looked up toward the voice and, seeing the speaker's face, her eyes widened. In a sea‑blue, ethereal gown, the Crane Sect's standard disciple robe, she radiated a detached, otherworldly grace.
She recognized her at a glance: the cool, elegant exterior, the gentle and kind heart, the heroine whose righteousness practically glowed, Gu Shuyu.
In a daze Jiang Yu dropped her gaze to the back of her hand; it was smooth and unmarked, not a trace of blood.
Yet the ache lingered.
Realizing time had just rewound, she warily scanned the new environment and confirmed she was safe for the moment. No wolf demons were chasing them; they stood intact beneath a tree, halting their steps.
Two others walked with her, equally alert to their surroundings.
Alongside the second male lead Shen Anzhi stood another central figure of the story, their senior sister, Gu Shuyu.
She took a deep breath without thinking, her eyes rimmed with red. Biting her lip to stifle the tremor, she shook her head and bowed, forcing out a dry smile: "I'm fine, Sister."
Seeing her shrink back, Gu Shuyu's brows knitted slightly; suspicion flickered in her eyes as she glanced toward Shen Anzhi's retreating figure.
Beside them, Shen Anzhi crossed his arms and snorted coldly, putting a wide gap between himself and Jiang Yu as he brushed past.
He avoided her as if she were venomous.
Curled bangs at his forehead revealed refined, straight brows and the distinctive handsome vigor of youth. On his left ear he wore a single delicate silver cuff coiling like a dragon, with two gleaming dark‑red tassels dangling and swaying as he moved.
A pale silver hairband, washed nearly white, tied his hair into a high ponytail; the band trailed at the back of his head. The tips of his hair curled naturally and were tinged with a hint of dark red, an inexplicable flicker of rakish, youthful mischief.
Looking at the swaggering youth before her and remembering the terrible face he'd worn moments ago, she bit her lip.
She quickly recalled the book's description: she had become a practitioner of the Crane Sect, skilled in both talismans and elixirs. Her role, naturally, was the vicious, brainless villainess.
Most explosively, Shen Anzhi loathed her utterly, constantly scheming to kill his rival. Only because Gu Shuyu stood before him did he force himself not to strike…
Damn it, heaven seeks my undoing.