“Wen Hanshan!”
Although Lou Xingyao had long known that he’d transmigrated into a novel and had even crossed paths a few times with one of its female leads, He Wanqing.
He still hadn’t expected that, under circumstances like this, he’d suddenly hear the name of the “White Moonlight” villain himself.
In his mind, scenes from the original novel flashed by in quick succession. Wen Hanshan, the once in a millennium single-spiritual-root genius, cautious by nature, never giving his true heart to anyone.
Cold and distant, surrounded year-round by an aura like the unmelting ice atop a lonely mountain peak. He was the very embodiment of the emotionless Dao.
A man without desire, without fear, moving through the world like a blade in human form.
Even if Mount Tai were to crumble before him, not a flicker of emotion would cross his face.
……
But the man sitting across from him now, this Zhou Hanshan, other than sharing the same single spiritual root and guarded nature, where on earth did he resemble the original at all?
In the novel, Wen Hanshan was always like a glacier, his expression forever calm and impassive.
Yet Zhou Hanshan… in the past few days alone, Lou Xingyao had never once seen that faint smile leave his lips!
Could it just be someone with the same name?
That thought flickered by, but he quickly dismissed it. According to the novel’s timeline, the protagonist was three years older than the first female lead, He Wanqing.
The villain, Wen Hanshan, was the same age as the protagonist, meaning, he too should be three years older than her.
He Wanqing was sixteen this year. Which meant Wen Hanshan like Zhou Hanshan was nineteen. The ages matched perfectly.
And a single spiritual root wasn’t some common trinket that appeared on every street corner.
To have two such talents emerge at once? Impossible.
Even the male lead, Ye Hantian, had only been a dual root before his great fortune cleansed and refined him into something purer.
Same age. Same origin, both from Canglan City. Same single spiritual root, even the same lightning attribute and now, the exact same name.
When so many coincidences aligned, there could only be one conclusion left, Zhou Hanshan was the Wen Hanshan from the novel!
“Why? Is there some problem?” Wen Hanshan asked casually, though his keen instincts didn’t miss the change in Lou Xingyao’s expression.
“…No,” Lou Xingyao said quickly, forcing a laugh,“Just didn’t expect you to have changed even your surname.”
He couldn’t exactly blurt out that they were all fictional characters in a book, could he? So he could only brush it off with a flimsy excuse.
“I wanted to change it, so I did,” Wen Hanshan replied coolly, letting out a quiet huff,“It’s hardly a big deal.”
He picked up the half-read journal on the table again, his tone light, indifferent. Yet that very line carried the kind of effortless arrogance befitting a true villain.
Watching the faint smile playing on his lips, Lou Xingyao suddenly thought, this version of Wen Hanshan looked alive in a way the one in the novel never had.
And for the first time, he found himself curious about a part of the story the author had never written.
In the original, the male lead first met Wen Hanshan when he was twenty-two. By then, the villain had already become that cold, emotionless figure everyone feared, an untouchable being beyond mortal joys or sorrows.
People in the book said that was simply his nature. But the man before him now… clearly wasn’t born like that.
From nineteen to twenty-two, just three short years. What could have possibly happened in that time to turn this warm, almost mischievous man into the ice-bound monster the book described?
The story had never mentioned it, and Lou Xingyao had no way of knowing.
After pondering for a while without finding an answer, he could only press the question down in his heart. After all, Wen Hanshan was sitting right here, alive and breathing.
They’d be spending plenty of time together in the days ahead, if there were any secrets not written in the original, he’d see them unfold himself.
Only then did Lou Xingyao realize something else, the man before him wasn’t just any character.
He was Wen Hanshan, his “White Moonlight.”
The one who had once haunted his dreams, the one who lingered in his heart long after the game ended.
Even though the Wen Hanshan before him was entirely different from how the book described him, he was still the White Moonlight!
And that was what “White Moonlight” meant, wasn’t it? Someone who didn’t even need to do anything, just standing there quietly was enough to outshine the whole world.
In the novel, he’d only existed as words on a page, a name in ink. Under normal circumstances, Lou Xingyao could’ve spent a lifetime without ever seeing him for real.
Yet now, by some twist of fate, his White Moonlight was sitting right in front of him, breathing, smiling, real.
How could he not be overwhelmed?
Of course, that same excitement also made his gaze a little too intense, so much so that Wen Hanshan finally noticed and frowned, “What are you staring at?”
Lou Xingyao blurted out without thinking, “Looking at you. You’re good-looking.”
From the very first moment he’d seen him seven days ago, Lou Xingyao had thought this man hit every one of his aesthetic preferences perfectly. At the time, the situation hadn’t allowed him to stare, but now…
Now they’d signed a contract and shared a level of trust. And with the glow of his “White Moonlight filter” over everything, the more he looked, the more beautiful Wen Hanshan seemed.
Even Wen Hanshan, normally calm and unruffled, was left speechless for a moment. Then he said dryly, “Thank you, Brother Yao, for the compliment.”
Lou Xingyao caught the deliberate reminder in his words that they were now sworn brothers and only smiled wider, “You’re welcome, Brother Han.”
Even after realizing that Zhou Hanshan was truly his long-lost White Moonlight. Lou Xingyao didn’t regret for a second that they’d gone from pretending to be a couple to becoming real brothers.
After all… having his White Moonlight by his side, even as family, was still better than never seeing him at all.
Even putting aside the strange twist of fate that had made him and Wen Hanshan a “married couple” in name, Lou Xingyao never truly regarded that relationship as real.
After seven days of living side by side, he had come to understand one thing with absolute clarity that Wen Hanshan was Wen Hanshan.
A real, living, breathing person, not the paper-thin character who had once existed only in his imagination, brought to life by an author’s pen.
Yes, he found Wen Hanshan fascinating. Yes, he admired him. But Lou Xingyao would never allow the feelings he’d once held for a fictional “White Moonlight” to be projected onto this man before him.
That would not only be a betrayal of the sincere affection he’d once given that distant, imagined figure but also a profound disrespect toward the man standing before him now.
Since the two were not the same, his emotions could not, and would not, transfer over. He might feel the urge to draw closer to Wen Hanshan but there was nothing improper in that desire.
To Lou Xingyao, brotherhood was the most fitting relationship they could possibly have.
“Don’t envy me,” Wen Hanshan said suddenly, his mood unusually good. “You’re not bad-looking yourself, justtoo thin. Once things settle down, eat properly and rest a while, and you’ll recover soon enough.”
The words might have sounded casual, but they weren’t mere comfort. Even in his current state, Lou Xingyao’s face held a kind of delicate beauty that his frail body could barely conceal.
He was fifteen years old now, yet from a distance he looked no more than twelve or thirteen, his cheeks thin, the lines of his bones faintly visible beneath his pale skin.
And yet, even that couldn’t hide the elegance of his bone structure. Lou Xingyao had taken a good look at himself after transmigrating and couldn’t help but admit that this “Little Lou Five” really might be another version of himself from a parallel world.
Their features were nearly identical to how he’d looked at thirteen or fourteen back in his past life.
The only difference was the eyes. Back then, his were long and narrow peach-blossom eyes, slightly sharp, slightly fox-like.
The kind girls used to call “eyes that could make even a dog feel loved.” His colleagues at the bureau, however, had another opinion, “Every time Professor Lou’s eyes so much as flicker, I feel a chill down my spine as if he sold me off, I’d probably help him count the money myself.”
Whatever the case, there was no denying that Lou Xingyao had been handsome all his life.
He’d been the campus heartthrob in school, and later, the most admired face in the bureau.
As for Lou Xiao-Wu, the body he now inhabited, his eyes were rounder, softer, like a young deer’s. They only added an innocent charm his previous life had lacked.
In the Lou family, it was precisely those eyes that made Lou Shaohui feel a pang of guilt every time they met, a perfect weapon for pretending to be harmless while scheming in silence.
If his frail body could already give off that kind of effect now, then once he recovered and matured the result would be devastating.
But since Wen Hanshan had mentioned “settling down,” Lou Xingyao’s curiosity stirred again.
“By the way,” he asked, “Where exactly are we heading?”
“I was wondering when you’d ask,” Wen Hanshan replied, smiling faintly. “To Xilin County.”
At those words, a place name flashed through Lou Xingyao’s mind. Before he could think, he blurted out, “Endless Forest?”
In the original story, the Endless Forest had been one of the key training grounds for the protagonist, the place where he advanced from Qi Refinement to the late Foundation stage, and also where he’d obtained the rare Spirit Cleansing Herb that washed away one of his dual roots, transforming him into a single-root prodigy.
As the nearest settlement to the Endless Forest, Xilin County had been mentioned countless times in the novel.
“You actually know of it?” Wen Hanshan gave him a brief, surprised glance.
On the Tianming Continent, Xilin County and Pingyang County sat at opposite extremes, one in the far east, one in the far west.
“…I heard an elder mention it once,” Lou Xingyao said, half-truth, half-lie.
“The same elder who married into the He family, I presume?” Wen Hanshan asked casually. He didn’t doubt him, after all, the Endless Forest was famous in Canglan City.
For the Lou family to be connected by marriage to the He family, knowing such common local lore was nothing unusual.
Lou Xingyao nodded. “Mn.”
He didn’t bother to deny it, already guessing the real reason Wen Hanshan had chosen Xilin County.
In the novel, because of its proximity to the Endless Forest, Xilin had been a chaotic “no man’s land” a place where rogue cultivators and countless small sects gathered.
No single faction could dominate the others. That same lawless nature was precisely what made it a paradise for wandering cultivators.
For someone like Wen Hanshan, it was the perfect place to disappear.
Lou Xingyao couldn’t help but feel grateful for his earlier decision to travel with him. Xilin might be ideal for cultivators, but for ordinary mortals, it was practically forbidden ground. Without Wen Hanshan’s protection, he wouldn’t even survive the journey there.
By following him, he’d not only gained safety but also saved himself many detours.
But then another thought struck him, if Xilin County and Canglan City were that far apart…
“How long will it take us to get there?” he asked cautiously, a faint dread rising in his chest.
“At our current pace,” Wen Hanshan answered, “about a month.”
Lou Xingyao’s heart sank instantly.
A month. He was immediately reminded of the endless, bone-shaking ride he’d endured traveling from Pingyang County to Canglan City before.
His face paled on the spot. Wen Hanshan noticed the change in his expression and said, “If we could ride a third-tier beast, we’d cut that time in half. But third-tier beasts can only be controlled by Foundation cultivators. Traveling with one would draw unwanted attention and likely, a lot of trouble.”
The Endless Forest was a popular training destination, and there were indeed public beast-drawn carriages that ferried travelers from Canglan City to Xilin County.
However, Wen Hanshan’s current situation was too delicate for that. He needed to leave Canglan before the Zhou family even realized he was gone. To avoid pursuit, he had chosen to travel alone and quietly.
Still, seeing Lou Xingyao’s uneasy expression, he hesitated for a moment. “Alternatively,” he suggested, “We could detour through Fufeng County and hire a flying beast there, third-tier.
It’d take about six days.”
Lou Xingyao shook his head immediately. “Let’s stick to your original plan.”
He didn’t want to disrupt Wen Hanshan’s arrangements and truth be told, the month-long ride on the Swiftwind Falcon last time had already traumatized him enough.
Compared to that, traveling on the ground atop the gentle Blueflame Horned Horse sounded far more tolerable.
Wen Hanshan saw that Lou Xingyao wasn’t forcing himself and said nothing more. Instead, he reached into his storage pouch, took out another book, and tossed it across the campfire, “Here. Take it.”
Lou Xingyao caught it reflexively. “What’s this?”
“I’ve noticed you’re quite ignorant,” Wen Hanshan said dryly, not even looking up from his own reading.
“Read more. It’ll stop you from daydreaming all the time.”
Lou Xingyao glanced down at the book’s cover, four bold characters written in elegant calligraphy:
“Overview of the Tianming Continent.”
✦ ✧ ✦
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
(´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡ a little coffee would be lovely
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 1 · Crossing OverChapter 2 · Lu XioaWuChapter 3 · UncleChapter 4 · Substitute MarriageChapter 5 · Travelling Through BookChapter 6 · SpaceChapter 7 · InheritanceChapter 8 · ExplanationChapter 9 · He familyChapter 10 · CompensateChapter 11 · WeddingChapter 12 · LeavingChapter 13 · SuspicionChapter 14 · Change SurnameChapter 14 · Change SurnameChapter 15 · SummaryChapter 16 · Family BusinessChapter 17 · ResettlementChapter 18 · DeterminationChapter 19 · TreatChapter 20 · Enter the TaoChapter 21 · Private TrainingChapter 22 · BreakthroughChapter 23 · ExperienceChapter 24 Part 1 · Questions and AnswersChapter 24 Part 2 · Questions and answersChapter 25 · GiftChapter 25 Part 1 · GiftChapter 26 Part 1 · Sword IntentChapter 26 Part 2 · Sword IntentChapter 27 Part 1 · SelectChapter 27 Part 2 · SelectChapter 28 Part 1 · PastChapter 28 Part 2 · PastChapter 29 Part 1 · ConfessionChapter 29 Part 2 · ConfessionChapter 30 Part 1 · TradeChapter 30 Part 2 · TradeChapter 31 Part 1 · Male LeadChapter 31 Part 2 · Male LeadChapter 32 Part 1 · LuckChapter 32 Part 2 · LuckChapter 33 Part 1 · GuessingChapter 33 Part 2 · GuessingChapter 34 Part 1 · SystemChapter 34 Part 2 · SystemChapter 35 · OpportunityChapter 36 Part 1 · LingquanChapter 36 Part 2 · LingquanChapter 37 Part 1 · Hundred Flowers PartChapter 37 Part 2 · Hundred Flowers PartChapter 38 · Worth itChapter 39 · SaintessChapter 40 · ExperimentChapter 41 · Vampire SystemChapter 42 · NotesChapter 43 · WarningChapter 44 · PlanChapter 45 · Fellow VillagersChapter 46 · AssimilationChapter 47 · IlliterateChapter 48 · Pak WahChapter 49 · Sudden EnlightenmentChapter 50 · Wen ZhiChapter 51 · CarrierChapter 52 · LeavingChapter 53 · Follow UpChapter 54 · OutrageousChapter 55 · OnceChapter 56 · TeasingChapter 57 · Playing aroundChapter 58 · Beast fireChapter 59 · Watching a PlayChapter 60 · Extermination of the entire clanChapter 61 · ChoiceChapter 62 · PossessionChapter 63 · CalculationChapter 64 · GuaranteedChapter 65 · Grand OpeningChapter 66 · Grand OpeningChapter 67 · Protecting one’s ownChapter 68 · Secret RealmChapter 69 · BetrayalChapter 70 · DetailsChapter 71 · FramedChapter 72 · MeetingChapter 73 · KillChapter 74 · MapChapter 75 · FoundationChapter 76 · Strange Phenomenon!Chapter 77 · ExchangeChapter 78 · LetterChapter 79 · ShortcutChapter 80 · God of Slaughter!Chapter 81 · Poison PillChapter 82 · Lou ShuChapter 83 · ProgressChapter 84 · An attemptChapter 85 · Movement and StillnessChapter 86 · Good intentionsChapter 87 · ChangeChapter 88 · Childhood friendChapter 89 · ThoughtsChapter 90 · Old storiesChapter 91 · HeritageChapter 92 · TestChapter 93 · LoverChapter 94 · Heartfelt wishesChapter 95 · MasterChapter 96 · TeachingChapter 97 · IllusionChapter 98 · Mutual RestraintChapter 99 · ObstructionChapter 100 · PalaceChapter 101 · Core TechniqueChapter 102 · OathChapter 103 · Dual cultivationChapter 104 · AccessChapter 105 · VulnerabilityChapter 106 · DensityChapter 107 · WantedChapter 108 · EntrustChapter 109 · RevisitChapter 110 · MonitoringChapter 111 · Secret RealmChapter 112 · NourishChapter 113 · InventoryChapter 114 · Get Rich QuicklyChapter 115 · ElderChapter 116 · Grand FormationChapter 117 · Heaven’s WillChapter 118 · BountyChapter 119 · GainChapter 120 · BlameChapter 121 · ChattingChapter 122 · GuessChapter 123 · Zheng TianChapter 124 · SparringChapter 125 · Sword intentChapter 126 · KenshinChapter 127 · Auditing a classChapter 128 · CoincidenceChapter 129 · ContradictionChapter 130 · RouteChapter 131 · CostChapter 132 · ConfiscatedChapter 133 · Holding a grudgeChapter 134 · SupportChapter 135 · DeteriorationChapter 136 · Unable toChapter 137 · PriceChapter 138 · VariantChapter 139 · Start AnewChapter 140 · ShamelessChapter 141 · Black PotChapter 142 · Benefiting fromChapter 143 · PieChapter 144 · DifferencesChapter 145 · DetoxificationChapter 146 · Current situationChapter 147 · TeasingChapter 148 · IntelligenceChapter 149 · Returned GiftChapter 150 · Old debtChapter 151 · FleshChapter 152 · OpeningChapter 153 · GrudgesChapter 154 · RegretChapter 155 · Gang fightChapter 156 · GentleChapter 157 · ComplaintChapter 158 · ScreamsChapter 159 · GeniusChapter 160 · ConcernChapter 161 · Hidden StoryChapter 162 · StingyChapter 163 · Guilty conscienceChapter 164 Part 1 · StruggleChapter 164 Part 2 · StruggleChapter 165 · Win or LoseChapter 166 · TasteChapter 167 · Shifting The BlameChapter 168 · MoonlightChapter 169 · Past EventChapter 170 · RegretChapter 171 · RetributionChapter 172 · Cause and EffectChapter 173 · BackgroundChapter 174 · FlatteryChapter 175 · HonestChapter 176 · BookkeepingChapter 177 · FarewellChapter 178 · GuidelineChapter 179 · BottleneckChapter 180 · HabitChapter 181 · Casual ChatChapter 182 · Flowing WaterChapter 183 · RumoursChapter 184 · Seeking AdviceChapter 185 · PityChapter 186 · FormationChapter 187 · BasicChapter 188 · Fake TombChapter 189 · BewareChapter 190 · TraceChapter 191 · DiscussChapter 192 · Ancestral preceptsChapter 193 · Loose CultivatorChapter 194 · AllocationChapter 195 · Thank you for your kindnessChapter 196 · ExplanationChapter 197 · ErrorChapter 198 · Culinary skillsChapter 199 · Starry SeaChapter 200 · ComparisonChapter 201 · FrustratedChapter 202 · Don’t watchChapter 203 · LonelinessChapter 204 · NoChapter 205 · Exposing ShortcutsChapter 206 · CraftsmanshipChapter 207 · Bottom LineChapter 208 · StrikeChapter 209 · Ten GoldChapter 210 · Pretentious