How did things go so wrong?
Gu Yuan stared at the two women standing before him, each possessing a beauty more exaggerated than the other, as a heavy sigh escaped his lips.
In his previous life, he had been diagnosed with a terminal illness not long after getting married. Believing he had married for love, he was devastated when the wife who had once claimed she loved him more than anything abandoned him the moment his future turned bleak.
He died alone.
Perhaps because of that, after transmigrating into this world, Gu Yuan decided he would live for himself. No marriage. No entanglements. Just a long, peaceful journey of cultivation.
Yet now... his goals were crumbling before his eyes.
The two most beautiful women in the entire sect had just proposed to become his Dao companions.
Despite only being inner disciples, the twin sisters stood at the absolute center of attention. Rumors had spread throughout the sect that both would soon be accepted as personal disciples by the sect leader himself.
Beauty paired with monstrous talent. Accepting them as Dao companions wasn’t a blessing. It was a straight ticket to endless trouble.
"Is this brat really the one we were searching for?"
Ji Yan frowned openly, not bothering to hide the skepticism, or even the faint disgust, in her golden eyes.
With her striking red hair and fiery temperament, she was infamous throughout the sect as a battle maniac who never turned down a challenge.
"There’s no mistake," her twin sister replied calmly. "He’s the one."
Unlike Ji Yan, whose pride seemed woven into every word she spoke, Ji Yue carried herself with a quiet gentleness. Her silver hair framed a face as serene as still water, while her purple eyes carried a mysterious depth. Despite being an ice cultivator, a path renowned for producing cold and aloof cultivators, Ji Yue was famous for her gentle personality.
She shifted her gaze from her hot-tempered sister to the silent young man standing before them.
Then, in a voice gentle enough to soothe a frightened child, she asked,
"What’s your name?"
...
You proposed to me without even knowing my name?
Gu Yuan kept the thought to himself. Instead, his eyes quietly swept over the surroundings, wondering if it was already too late to run away.
After a brief moment of deliberation, he answered, "Ye Fan."
He had no intention of getting involved with these two dangerous women, and hoped this would be both their first meeting... and their last.
So he simply gave the first fake name that came to mind.
Ji Yue lightly clapped her hands, a bright smile blooming across her face.
"Gu Yuan. That’s a wonderful name."
"We’re Ji Yue and Ji Yan... though I suppose you’ve already heard of us."
"Huh?" Gu Yuan stared at her blankly. He was certain he had said Ye Fan, so why had she called him Gu Yuan?
More importantly, she didn’t seem to care about the lie at all. She simply met his bewildered gaze with that same gentle smile and continued as though nothing had happened.
"You don’t have to feel inferior."
Inferior? Why? Because my cultivation realm is lower?
"I know this must be difficult for you to accept, but that’s alright too."
If you know it’s difficult, then why don’t you just leave me alone?
"You are the person we have spent countless years to find. The only one worthy of standing beside us as our Dao companion."
What... is wrong with this woman?
Gu Yuan had countless arguments ready for every line she spoke, yet something in her eyes told him they would be useless... and he was right.
"It’s alright if you don’t understand yet. You will, in time." Ji Yue’s voice carried absolute, unshakable certainty, as though she were stating an immutable truth. "After all... you were always destined to belong to us. We simply found you a little earlier than fate had planned."
It’s confirmed. There’s definitely something wrong with her brain.
Gu Yuan silently came to the conclusion that both twins had deeply problematic personalities.
Yet that wasn’t even the biggest problem. Ji Yue suddenly began walking toward him with unhurried steps as she said, "Anyway, we need to go through the sacred ceremony..."
"Wait." Ji Yan suddenly reached out and caught her sister by the wrist, stopping her.
"I’m still not convinced."
For the first time since this meeting began, the gentle smile never leaving Ji Yue’s lips faded away. Her expression turned cold as she looked at her twin.
"...You don’t believe the result of my divination?"
Knowing her personality, Ji Yan quickly shook her head.
"It’s not like that. It’s just... I want to test him. If he’s really the one we’ve been searching for, if he’s truly the right person, then nothing should faze him, right?"
Ji Yue fell silent for a moment before slowly nodding.
"Well... that’s true."
Neither of them seemed to care about his opinion in the slightest.
Gu Yuan felt the corners of his mouth twitch. He could feel his patience being tested. Still, he forcefully suppressed the urge to say something, reminding himself over and over that the two women standing before him were far, far stronger than he was.
"Alright, Gu Fan."
Mixing his fake name with his real one, Ji Yan looked at him and asked, "You’re currently an outer sect disciple, right?"
"Yes?"
"Then you have until the next Outer Sect Competition to become an inner disciple." Her tone left no room for negotiation. "If you want me to acknowledge you as my Dao companion, you should at least be capable of that."
So I just need to fail in the competition, right?
A relieved sigh escaped Gu Yuan before he could stop himself. For the first time since the twins had appeared, he finally saw a way out of this ridiculous situation.
Unfortunately, Ji Yan hadn’t finished speaking.
"Oh, and if you fail..."
She looked at him as though she were merely stating an ordinary fact.
"I’ll kill you."
"..."
"What are you talking about, Yan?" Ji Yue asked, sounding genuinely puzzled. "There’s no way he’ll fail."
Gu Yuan silently looked at the two unreasonable women for a moment before letting out a long, weary sigh.
Then he forced a polite smile onto his face.
"I understand."
"I’ll do my best to reach the inner sect as soon as possible."
With nothing else left to say, he excused himself and quietly left. Fortunately, the twins made no attempt to stop him, allowing him to disappear deeper into the forest.
In the quiet forest that followed, Ji Yan couldn’t hold back her dissatisfaction any longer. "I still can’t believe it."
"Yan, you’re still saying that?"
Ji Yan folded her arms across her chest and frowned.
"Really... we preserved our purity for millions of years, only to give it to a brat like him? Does that make any sense?"
For a brief moment, Ji Yan’s usual arrogance melted away. In its place appeared the sullen expression of a wronged girl being forced into an unwanted marriage.
Seeing that, Ji Yue could only smile helplessly before gently trying to coax her once again.
"Don’t say it like that. He may not look like much right now, but he’s the key to our ascension. And besides..."
Her voice remained as gentle as ever.
"It’s our fate to marry him. No matter where we go..."
"We can never escape that."