Everyone knew that the young master of Biyue Manor was closest to his junior sister, Meng Jinjin.
Among all the martial arts disciples, only the two of them were close in age, having grown up together since childhood and practicing martial arts and swordsmanship side by side.
When he was little, Lin Guanqing loved to follow closely behind his senior sister and always listened to what she said. Although his junior sister did not have the easiest temper, their bond was the closest of all.
However, this recent argument was also the most intense one they had ever had.
It all started when, faced with a situation where they could only save one, a tree demon had injured people and taken both his junior sister and another young woman hostage.
In that critical moment, without a second thought, Lin Guanqing turned and rescued the woman he had known for less than a month, leaving his junior sister to fend for herself.
On the way back, Meng Jinjin did not say a word. But once they returned to the manor, the two of them erupted into their most severe fight yet.
When Shen Xiu regained consciousness, the argument was already over.
As she absorbed the memories continuously transmitted into her mind, she gained a general understanding of the kind of world this was.
This was a fantasy sub-world derived from a book, a world populated by mountain spirits and ghosts, though it was difficult for them to attain true enlightenment. The cultivators here were merely ordinary mortals with a few more tricks up their sleeves; they could not truly cultivate immortality.
The main plotline revolved around the romance between the male and female leads, featuring heartache, personal growth, and, of course, a happy ending.
There was no doubt that Lin Guanqing loved his junior sister, but there was also a valid reason for why he chose to save the other woman.
He knew that his senior sister’s martial arts skills were exceptional, whereas the other woman was unarmed and knew no martial arts at all. Saving her was the safest and most prudent choice.
Furthermore, he considered his own skills quite decent and was confident he could guarantee his senior sister’s safety after rescuing the other woman. However, since the event had already occurred, offering explanations afterward would only sound hypocritical, so there were some things he preferred not to say.
His feelings toward his senior sister were somewhat complicated.
As a fellow disciple and senior sister, Meng Jinjin had always maintained a strict, disciplinary attitude toward her junior brother Lin Guanqing, and Lin Guanqing had been quite happy to be kept in line by her.
Yet, as they grew older, their relationship was no longer as close and completely unreserved as it had been in childhood. Lin Guanqing’s temperament was no longer as obedient and compliant as before, causing him to feel exceptionally annoyed whenever he was disciplined by the female lead.
He hated her attitude toward him.
Especially when Meng Jinjin used the tone of an elder to tell him that the young woman’s background was unknown and that he shouldn’t get too close to her, even demanding to know if he had fallen for the girl.
Lin Guanqing had snapped on the spot, staring darkly at Meng Jinjin as he uttered hurtful words word by word:
“So what if I do like her?”
He had no idea why he was feeling so exasperated.
“Can’t I like her? What right do you have to interfere in my business? Miss Shen is kind-hearted, gentle, and considerate, and she is a hundred times better than you! So what if I like her?”
Perhaps it was because she had always looked at him with the eyes of an older sister viewing a younger brother, or perhaps due to some other reason, as there were many reasons in total.
In the end, Lin Guanqing simply gave up caring. Driven by a mixture of spite and annoyance, he blurted out:
“Are you my mother? You nag at me all day long! If you do not find it annoying, my ears are about to grow calluses! I have already apologized to you, so what else do you want? I was capable of saving her, which naturally means I am capable of keeping you safe and sound. By interrogating me over and over again like this, do you think I am useless, or have you never trusted my abilities in the first place?”
Finally, Lin Guanqing asked her with a cold expression:
“Senior Sister, can’t you tell? I am long past the days of being a little kid trailing around behind you! Have you ever truly regarded me as a real man?”
Because of this argument, the two parted on bad terms. In the end, neither was willing to back down, and their relationship grew increasingly strained.
One could say this was a very typical ancient-style chasing-the-wife romance novel, with the female lead pursuing the male lead in the first half, and the male lead pursuing the female lead in the second half.
When the female lead tried to keep the male lead in check, he found her annoying. Yet, once his senior sister truly stopped caring about him, the male lead began to panic.
Naturally, a little bit of angst adds flavor, so their romantic journey was far from smooth. After all, no matter the genre, every romance requires catalysts to drive the couple’s relationship forward.
And Shen Xiu was one of the obstacles on their emotional journey.
She was also a very typical example of a supporting female character, not necessarily outright malicious, but indeed never having done anything particularly good.
She always stood between the male and female leads like a thorn, giving rise to numerous misunderstandings between them.
When it came to family background and capability, she was truly mediocre. However, she was blessed with an exceptional appearance and a naturally gentle, submissive disposition. Whenever she lowered her gaze and acted submissively, she always possessed a delicate, pitiful charm.
That precisely measured vulnerability and helplessness, seemingly harmless, were precisely what grated on people’s nerves the most.
Such a Shen Xiu could not be called truly evil, but she was certainly genuinely unpleasant.
She came from a humble background within a small merchant family. Merchants had no shortage of things, but they always produced the most daughters.
Over a dozen of her sisters in the household had been married off by their father to wealthy merchants and high-ranking officials upon reaching adulthood. Though called marriage, it was practically no different from being given away.
When her turn came, her biological father, eager to climb the social ladder and gain power, was single-mindedly determined to present the beautiful Shen Xiu as a concubine to a county magistrate who was nearly sixty years old.
Shen Xiu refused. On the day of her scheduled wedding, she eloped with her childhood sweetheart.
Regrettably, she had misjudged her man, for her sweetheart turned out to be no good either.
Through a twist of fate, it was Lin Guanqing who saved her.
Because of this, Shen Xiu developed a strong fondness for him.
She initially approached him to find a refuge for her drifting, helpless self. But after spending a long time together, coupled with overhearing those words he had spoken, the man toward whom she already held a deep fondness slowly became the one in her heart.
If she were the female lead, the two of them might have truly forged a romantic tale of repaying a life-saving grace with one’s heart.
Unfortunately, Lin Guanqing did not actually like her, as the person he cared about all along was his junior sister.
In the plot, Shen Xiu gradually developed deep romantic feelings for Lin Guanqing precisely because she overheard the angry words he said to Meng Jinjin.
Consequently, she schemed behind the scenes, all to secure a place to stay and to remain by the male lead’s side, continuously deepening the misunderstandings between the two and making their relationship increasingly tense.
After accepting the plot information, the mission for this world simultaneously appeared in Shen Xiu’s mind.
[Based on the original host’s lingering obsession, Core Mission: Win the sincere heart of the key character, Lin Guanqing.]
Shen Xiu slowly lowered the hand pressed against her temple.
Yet, inwardly, she calculated that this mission was hardly friendly, because judging from the memories she had just reviewed, this man clearly already gave his heart to another.
The chaotic thoughts in her mind were finally sorted out.
With a clearer footing, Shen Xiu gathered her composure and began to carefully inspect her surroundings.
The furnishings in the room were simple, and the lighting and shadows were quiet, with every detail exuding an unfamiliarity that had nothing to do with her memories.
She looked around the room, her gaze finally falling back upon herself.
Her eyes landed on her hands, revealing slender fingers, fair and delicate skin, and fingertips exuding a faint coolness.
What belonged to this body was a sensation both unfamiliar and familiar, along with a small, crimson mole on her wrist, which was no different from the birthmark on her body in her past life.
Due to illness, her life in her past life had come to an end. But the system had stated that this body was generated based on the essence of her previous life.
Shen Xiu found it both unexpected and miraculous.
Such technology was beyond the reach of ordinary people.
She touched her face again. What met her touch was a patch of warm skin, and the corners of her lips unconsciously curved into a smile.
She felt that using her remaining few years of life to exchange for an entirely different, unpredictably uncertain beginning…
To be reborn was perhaps not such a bad thing after all.