『Dual Male Leads | 1v1 Romance
This story features a ruthless, yandere junior brother paired with a fiercely determined senior brother. The junior brother is written as a true “bad seed”, so if dark, toxic characters aren’t your thing, you might want to skip this one!
The senior brother’s natural charm attracts plenty of attention, leading to a lot of entertaining love-triangle chaos. Our leads go through a classic role-reversal: the senior brother goes through a lot of pain early on, but the shameless junior brother eventually realizes his mistakes and suffers just as much trying to win him back.
Please note that this is a romance-first story! The plot exists to serve their relationship, so try not to overthink the logic of the world. Just sit back, don’t analyze it too closely, and look forward to the satisfying payoff when the junior brother finally faces the music. Happy reading!』
The night was eerie; the faint crescent moon lay hidden behind a bank of dark clouds, and the meager light filtering through barely provided any visibility.
“Senior Brother.”
A ghostly voice drifted from somewhere behind him, its almost intimate tone reaching Ye Zi’an’s ears and making him freeze mid-motion.
As Ye Zi’an stood rooted to the spot, the footsteps behind him kept closing in.
Just as they were about to press against him, the youth’s steady steps slowed. He bent down, his breath brushing the side of Ye Zi’an’s neck, and a voice like a death knell rose, slow and deliberate.
“It’s the middle of the night. Why is Senior Brother here?”
Ye Zi’an glanced down from the corner of his eye and saw the magical artifact in Liu Huaiyuan’s hand giving off a warm, ivory-white glow under the moonlight.
It was so bright it nearly blinded him.
God knows he had only been bored at night and had gone out to kill some time.
If he’d known he would stumble onto Liu Huaiyuan secretly colluding with the demon clan, he would never have gone out. Besides, he had already been here from the start; Liu Huaiyuan was the one who had insisted on leading that demon over.
In that situation, he couldn’t exactly step out and tell the two colluding parties to stop chatting. What else could he do but crouch down and eavesdrop?!
“I couldn’t sleep, so I just… came out for a walk.” Ye Zi’an carefully put some distance between them.
“What did Senior Brother just see?”
The youth leaned slightly forward, his lips brushing Ye Zi’an’s earlobe as if by accident.
A chill crawled up his back, setting off alarm bells in Ye Zi’an’s mind. He was too scared to move, letting Liu Huaiyuan rest a hand on his shoulder, light and slow, in a gesture that looked far too intimate.
Seeing the wariness in his eyes and that he refused to speak, Liu Huaiyuan lowered his gaze and said in a muffled, affected voice, “I have my reasons, Senior Brother.”
“None of this was what I wanted. We’ve cultivated together for decades. You should know my character better than anyone, Senior Brother. I had no choice but to do this.”
“Could you… give me a chance to explain? I’m not trying to defend myself. Wrong is wrong… but there’s still something I want to tell you.”
Liu Huaiyuan’s voice was full of remorse and repentance, with a faint thread of pleading woven through it.
Used to the gentle, well-behaved Liu Huaiyuan of everyday life, Ye Zi’an looked at the youth’s dejected expression and reddened eyes and couldn’t help letting his guard down.
He really couldn’t be blamed. Ever since he transmigrated and met Liu Huaiyuan, this youth with the warm, sunny smile had always seemed understanding and selfless, no matter the occasion.
Even if he really had ties to the demon clan, surely he must have his reasons?
In the end, Ye Zi’an was completely fooled by Liu Huaiyuan’s gentle facade and overly delicate face, led around by the nose.
Not only did he make excuses for Liu Huaiyuan, he didn’t even notice the other man quietly steal the item at his waist that he used for self-defense, until the cold dagger sank fully into his chest.
Liu Huaiyuan let him lean against his shoulder, then gently held his body as it trembled from the pain. The night wind lifted the youth’s bangs, revealing the calm, utterly dead black eyes beneath.
After a pause, the hand holding the dagger ruthlessly drove it another inch deeper.
Blood poured out.
Ye Zi’an instinctively clenched Liu Huaiyuan’s sleeve, and in the last moment before he lost consciousness, he seemed to hear Liu Huaiyuan whisper a few words by his ear.
“Senior Brother, I really don’t want to kill you… Please don’t be angry with me… After all, you like me so much. I’m sure you’ll understand me, won’t you…”
『Host death detected!
Mission to redeem the villainous supporting male lead failed!
Character Liu Huaiyuan’s personal information has been updated!』
Ye Zi’an had died again!
Counting this time, he had died five times in all!
Not long ago, he had unexpectedly transmigrated and bound himself to this damn system, which demanded that he save a so-called tragic villainous supporting male lead named Liu Huaiyuan from a novel.
The system told him the ultimate goal of the mission: stop Liu Huaiyuan from turning evil and, while he was at it, max out the other man’s favorability.
But the system only gave him the mission and no plot-related information, claiming it was so he could explore on his own, which would help him understand the story and complete the task.
Instead, it sent him down a one-way road of courting death.
The first time, he died in seclusion from qi deviation.
The second time, he went down the mountain for training, was no match for a demonic cultivator, and died.
The third time, he only drank a few cups of fine wine brought by some junior brothers, and the next day he was gone.
The fourth time, Liu Huaiyuan was attacked. Ye Zi’an happened to pass by and kindly stepped in to save him, but he was no match and died again.
As luck would have it, the moment he died, their sect’s reinforcements arrived and saved the gravely wounded, barely breathing Liu Huaiyuan.
When Liu Huaiyuan woke, heard of his death, and saw his corpse, he cried so hard in the mourning hall that he couldn’t catch his breath and even fainted several times. Ye Zi’an had been deeply moved watching it at the time.
So even when the system deliberately reminded him after each death that Liu Huaiyuan’s darkening value hadn’t dropped at all and that his favorability toward Ye Zi’an kept falling, Ye Zi’an stubbornly assumed the system was malfunctioning.
But now he didn’t understand. He was completely confused.
What about their earth-shaking brotherhood as fellow disciples?
Every time Ye Zi’an died, the system backend generated a new plot document for review. He pulled up the plot records, wanting to go over the details he had missed before.
He discovered that not only had Liu Huaiyuan’s character profile changed, but the plot documents generated after his previous deaths had also updated with quite a bit of new content.
It would have been better not to look. The moment he did, he was floored!
The first time, his death from qi deviation had actually been caused by Liu Huaiyuan tampering with his secluded cultivation cave, which led to the deviation.
The second time, while training down the mountain, the demonic cultivator he encountered was the very one colluding with Liu Huaiyuan. Liu Huaiyuan had instructed that person to use the opportunity to kill him.
The third time, the fourth time…
Every one of them was Liu Huaiyuan’s work, all to make him die.
What grudge, what hatred could there possibly be between him and Liu Huaiyuan?! Enough for Liu Huaiyuan to repeatedly strike him down from the shadows!
In daily life, this person acted, if not sweet and lovely, then at least very well-behaved in front of him. Every time he saw him, he’d call him Senior Brother this and Senior Brother that. His closeness to Ye Zi’an was obvious to everyone in the sect.
So it had all been an act?
And to think he had just taken Liu Huaiyuan’s words seriously, believing there must be some hidden reason for his collusion with the demon clan.
Thinking about it that way, no wonder Liu Huaiyuan had been so affectionate before, yet every time he checked his favorability after death, it was lower than that of a stranger. The system hadn’t been malfunctioning; Ye Zi’an was the one with a screw loose, unable to see the trick for what it was.
With anger coiling in his chest, Ye Zi’an opened the auto-saved plot records and pulled up the plot involving Liu Huaiyuan after his death, studying it closely.
He wanted to see what other outrageous stunts Liu Huaiyuan could possibly pull.
It turned out Liu Huaiyuan hadn’t just left his corpse where it fell. After returning, he deliberately created the appearance that Ye Zi’an had secretly colluded with the demon clan and forged a letter that made it look like Ye Zi’an had fled out of guilt.
He had intended to muddle through, but before long Ye Zi’an’s corpse was discovered.
Liu Huaiyuan arrived with the crowd. In front of the cultivators condemning Ye Zi’an, he said with righteous dignity, calm and composed, “Even if Senior Brother really did wrong, he’s already gone now. Please, everyone, go easy on him!”
“I’m sure Senior Brother didn’t want to keep company with those evil demons and crooked paths anymore, and that’s why he ended up like this. Senior Brother, why couldn’t you have told us earlier? You were too foolish!”
??? Ye Zi’an couldn’t help doubting himself. He examined Liu Huaiyuan carefully for a long time and still couldn’t see a single thing about him that resembled a tragic villainous supporting male lead.
Damn it, he was clearly the one who had suffered the most, wasn’t he?!
Ye Zi’an: … Speechless.