Deep in the bamboo forest, the wind suddenly picked up.
A woman in black, her face veiled, moved like a phantom. Her long whip tore through the air with a sharp crack, the tip lashing toward Bai Ruoyao, who was picking flowers. Bai Ruoyao turned at the sound, but it was too late to dodge—her pupils contracted sharply—
At the critical moment, a gust of fan-driven wind swept in from afar.
“Whoosh—”
The current struck the whip’s body with precision, knocking the black-clad woman back several steps and forcing the whip aside. The powerful gust exploded outward, sending bamboo leaves flying from their branches in an instant—like shattered gold, like broken butterflies—spinning and dancing in the moonlight.
Before the leaves had even settled, Chu Wusu was already approaching at an unhurried pace. He seemed to be strolling leisurely, yet in just a few steps he had closed the distance.
Only then did Bai Ruoyao come to her senses. She scrambled up from the ground and ran toward him, flowers in hand, both startled and frightened. “Wusu! That scared me to death!”
Chu Wusu lifted his eyelids slightly and looked her over. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. Good thing you got here in time.” Bai Ruoyao gave a soft huff, then pointed at the black-clad woman to lodge her complaint. “Wusu, this woman came out of nowhere and attacked me the moment she saw me. Hurry up and punish her for me!”
At that, Chu Wusu gave a light laugh and spoke lazily. “Punish her how?”
“Do you even need to ask me that?” Bai Ruoyao stomped her foot, somewhat displeased.
The corner of Chu Wusu’s mouth curved up slightly, his tone as casual as if he were deciding what to eat for lunch. “Then let’s cripple one of her arms.”
Hearing this, the black-clad woman froze mid-flight, panic giving way to pain and jealousy in her eyes. Ignoring Chu Wusu’s presence entirely, she attacked Bai Ruoyao once more.
A flicker of impatience crossed Chu Wusu’s eyes. His folding fan snapped shut with a sudden motion, the fan’s ribs tapping lightly against his palm twice. With a low, soft sound, he prepared to strike again.
At that very moment, space itself trembled faintly at a frequency impossible to detect. The black-clad woman’s movements paused almost imperceptibly, her expression shifting rapidly.
Ji Shu had a headache. Of all times, why did she have to transmigrate in at this exact moment?
Ji Shu was a damaged Divine Artifact.
She could no longer remember what she had originally looked like. Even where she came from and why she had shattered had become blurred fragments, scattered across endless rifts in time and space.
All she knew was that she had to survive—so she drifted through countless worlds, targeting the Child of Fortune of each one, siphoning a wisp of Karmic Fortune from them to repair her broken self.
Unfortunately, her damage was far too severe. She didn’t even have the strength to choose which world to travel to. She could only passively fall into worlds where, due to collisions of Spatial Turbulence, the original female supporting character had unexpectedly vanished, and take over that person’s identity.
This time, the timing was convenient—the female supporting character had just vanished, and she had arrived. But this particular moment was not a good one.
In the original plot, the female supporting character, consumed by jealousy of the female lead, tried to attack her, only to have one of her arms crippled by the male lead.
Ji Shu was no masochist—she had no desire to get hurt. But backing out now would be far too abrupt… Just as she was wondering what to do, the male lead made his move.
Chu Wusu stepped forward, positioning himself vaguely in front of Bai Ruoyao. His well-defined fingers curled around the handle of the Jade-Bone Fan, the fan tilted slightly downward. He looked utterly careless, but the fan’s tip had already quietly pointed toward Ji Shu.
Ji Shu’s heart leapt with joy. There—wasn’t that her excuse?
Her eyes misted over, and as her long lashes trembled, a single crystal tear rolled down from her flushed eye corner, silently vanishing beneath her veil.
She stared stubbornly at Chu Wusu, looking as though she couldn’t believe he had blocked the whip with his own body for Bai Ruoyao’s sake.
Moments ago she had been a villainess intent on killing, yet now her features revealed a flickering vulnerability, like a young beast driven to the brink, still clinging to its last shred of pride.
Chu Wusu paused slightly, his mind seized by this strange contrast, and his assault faltered for an instant.
Ji Shu’s eyes flashed. Seizing the moment of his distraction, she hastily withdrew, her long whip coiling back in a flash.
She gave him one deep look—a gaze that seemed mixed with embarrassment, grievance, and unwillingness, as if she could no longer bear this invisible crushing pressure—then turned and fled in haste, her retreating figure carrying a trace of panic and disarray.
“Huh?”
Bai Ruoyao, blocked by Chu Wusu, had missed the exchange of glances between the two. Seeing him standing motionless, she only then noticed that Ji Shu had already run off.
“Why did she run? Did she realize she couldn’t beat you?” Bai Ruoyao asked, puzzled and a little displeased. Why hadn’t Wusu stopped her?
Chu Wusu gazed in the direction Ji Shu had fled, recalling the complicated look she’d given him at the end, and lowered his eyes slightly.
Someone who knows me, hm? How interesting.
—Who could it be?
“Wusu? Are you even listening to me!” Bai Ruoyao raised her voice when he didn’t respond.
Chu Wusu glanced at her, the corner of his lips curving up slightly. With a snap, his folding fan spread open leisurely in his hand, waving lazily from time to time.
He tilted his chin up slightly, his tone casual: “What’s with all the shouting? It’s not as if I’m deaf.”
Bai Ruoyao choked, took a breath, and softened her tone with a hint of coquettishness: “Wusu~ don’t let that woman go, let’s hurry and follow her!”
She had dared to attack her—there was no way Bai Ruoyao would let this woman off!
Chu Wusu gave no clear answer. Only when Bai Ruoyao grew anxious did he speak unhurriedly: “Fine. She can’t have gone far. You go back first.”
“Why can’t I come? I want to go with you!” How else was she supposed to enjoy watching that woman kneel and beg for mercy?
“If I bring you, she really will get away.” Chu Wusu shot her a glance. With Bai Ruoyao’s amateurish skills, bringing her amounted to bringing dead weight.
Bai Ruoyao’s face flushed with mortification. She wanted to argue, but knowing it was the truth, she could only give in: “Fine then. But you have to punish that woman properly for me.”
With that, she left the bamboo grove, looking back every few steps.
This is a wuxia story. The male lead, Chu Wusu, is the leader of the Demonic Cult, while the female lead, Bai Ruoyao, is an orphan adopted by the reclusive master Elder Qingming.
Years ago, Elder Qingming ambushed and killed Chu Wusu’s father. So after Chu Wusu mastered his supreme arts, he had been secretly searching for Elder Qingming to take his revenge.
Upon learning by chance that Bai Ruoyao was closely connected to Elder Qingming, he had hidden his identity and deliberately approached her.
Ji Shu hid in the cave where the original owner had stashed clothes beforehand, stripping off her black night attire as she recalled the plot.
The story had only just begun, and Ji Shu’s current identity was the Right Protector of the Demonic Cult, someone who had grown up alongside the male lead and followed behind him.
According to the plot, she should have had an arm crippled by the male lead in this attack, setting off her descent into darkness…
Ji Shu didn’t think any further, because with her here, the plot could never unfold as it originally had.
And someone had arrived.
The newcomer was Chu Wusu. Even with his aura concealed, he couldn’t hide the immense Karmic Fortune surrounding him.
She hadn’t expected him to actually chase after her. The corner of Ji Shu’s lips curled almost imperceptibly.
With her back to him, her undressing movements had slowed at some point. Her slender fingers hooked onto her collar and gave it a light flick.
The black fabric slid down like flowing water, only to be caught just barely by that full, curving arc, lazily pooling around a slender waist that could be encircled in one hand.
Her jade-white back was mostly hidden beneath a thick curtain of raven hair. Where black tresses and snow-white skin entwined, a striking flash of red appeared and vanished—it was the ribbon of her inner garment, a single thin strand dangling above the crease of her spine, like a petal of red plum fallen upon snow.
Chu Wusu stepped into the cave, and this scene of devastating, bone-deep allure crashed into his eyes.
He had never seen a woman’s…
Though the cave was as dim as ink, his martial arts had reached the realm of mastery, his vision sharp enough to pierce the faintest shadows—every inch, every thread was taken into his eyes, nothing missed.
His Adam’s apple bobbed hard.
The Shadow Breath Technique, already perfected to its pinnacle, shattered in that instant. A heavy, scorching breath was forced from his chest, striking the silent air like a stone dropped into a deep pool, stirring silent ripples.