Cloudveil Mountain, in the western suburbs of the capital, was a well-known scenic spot. Clouds and mist swirled around it, the bamboo groves were lush and green, and the view was lovely.
But it was midsummer. Even this early in the morning the sun blazed overhead, and the back of He Yunqing’s shirt was already soaked with sweat. He had no interest in admiring the scenery.
With a basket on his back and a shovel in his right hand, he walked leisurely through the mountains.
This was his third day after transmigrating into this historical romance novel. He had died after pulling an all-nighter for final exams in the modern world. He had finished reading this book a little over a month ago, and now he had ended up inside it, in the most miserable way possible.
He had transmigrated into a bestselling historical romance novel from a website, dressed up as a mystery. He had become the junior-most fellow disciple, a sidekick to the book’s hugely popular male supporting character, Su Jun. He studied under the Sect Master of Cloudveil Sect, at the foot of Cloudveil Mountain, and learned medicine.
Su Jun was nineteen, the Sect Master’s first disciple at Cloudveil Sect, the youngest son of the head of the Surveillance Court, an agency under the imperial court, and the chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard in the Criminal Interrogation Division of the Surveillance Court. He was handsome, but impartial and unyielding when investigating cases. In everyday conversation, he could be sharp-tongued. He was clueless about romance, kept away from alcohol and women, and always carried himself like a cold, aloof iceberg.
Although the female lead had been quite fond of him early on, he had turned a blind eye to her affection. In the end, she had been heartbroken and gone to the male lead instead, while he stayed single to the very end.
But there were readers who loved that kind of character, so he was very popular. At one point, he had even seemed likely to surpass the actual male lead in popularity.
The original host’s background, by contrast, was pretty miserable. He was an orphan and a terrible student. In the end, the villain had cut him down with a single slash while he was investigating a case. He had made so little impression that, even though his name was pronounced the same as He Yunqing’s, He Yunqing didn’t remember there being any character like him.
On the day he transmigrated, a baffling system had attached itself to him and told him a whole lot of strange things.
[system: “Readers are very dissatisfied with Su Jun’s ending, where he grows old alone. They think Su Jun needs a romantic pairing, and your task is to romance-target him.”]
[He Yunqing: “Huh? Do I look gay to you? Why do I have to be the one to do it just because he needs a partner?!”]
[The system was silent for two seconds. “It’s because you have the same name as a character in this book. You probably don’t know this, but the original host was killed by the villain while investigating a case. Don’t you want to cling to Su Jun and save your own life?”]
He Yunqing really didn’t remember how the original host’s story ended. When the system said the original host had died, he panicked a little, too. The system told him that as Su Jun’s affection points increased, he would receive life points from the system in return.
If he successfully romance-targeted Su Jun, his life points would reach their peak and never decrease, which would be like getting a get-out-of-death-free pass.
But what gave He Yunqing a headache was that, although he didn’t want to die, he wasn’t gay either. Making him flirt with Su Jun would be no different from taking his life. He ought to think of a way to stay alive without having to sacrifice himself.
Although he had only been in this world for three days, he had thought it over and knew he couldn’t put this off. It would be best to deal with it as soon as possible.
As it happened, he had studied traditional Chinese medicine. He couldn’t exactly call himself a top student, but during his first two years of college, he had at least managed a 3.0 GPA.
For the past three days, he had been studying medical texts in earnest. The author of this book had a wild imagination and had invented some medicines that didn’t exist in reality, but fortunately, He Yunqing had some foundation in the subject. Reading this world’s medical texts wasn’t too difficult for him, and his Master and fellow disciples had treated him fairly well, since his attitude toward studying was completely different from before.
As for staying alive, he still needed to plan carefully and come up with a foolproof strategy.
That day, his Master sent him up the mountain to gather herbs. He kept an eye on the roadside as he thought of a plan.
He couldn’t remember some of the original novel’s plot, especially how someone with the original host’s intelligence had managed to get to Su Jun’s side and investigate cases with him.
Right now, he was still at Cloudveil Sect and hadn’t gone with Su Jun. He Yunqing suddenly had an idea. If he prepared to run away now and didn’t investigate cases with Su Jun, then he wouldn’t die. But as soon as he had that thought, the system popped up.
[system: “Hey, hey, hey, are you thinking of running away? What about your life points?”]
[He Yunqing: “I just have to avoid going with Su Jun. When I get back, I’ll tell my Master I want to leave the mountain and travel to gain experience. If I don’t run into him or get involved in anything dangerous, then naturally I won’t die. By the way, do you know when he’ll come?”]
[system: “You’ve got it all figured out, haven’t you? Tsk, tsk, go ahead and try, see if it works. As for when he’ll come, that’s a secret for now.”]
The system’s attitude was a little off, but He Yunqing thought his plan was pretty good, so he ignored its odd behavior. As he thought about how he would live from now on, he dug up herbs with his shovel, and an hour passed just like that.
He glanced at his basket. It was nearly full. When he returned and walked through the main gate, another disciple greeted him. “The eldest senior brother just arrived, junior-most fellow disciple.”
Su Jun was here? This was way too fast. He hadn’t had time to run away, and Su Jun had already arrived. He was still wondering whether he should just make a run for it right then when his Master came out of the house. His eyes lit up when he saw He Yunqing, and he hurried over, took him by the hand, and led him inside.
He Yunqing had no time to pull free and could only let himself be led in. Several orderly rows of disciples stood inside. His Master led him over to stand in front of someone and said, “A-Jun, Yunqing is back.”
His Master had actually taken him to meet Su Jun. What kind of treatment was this? He would have sworn the original host had never received such treatment. Was it because he had worked hard for these three days?
And he hadn’t even had time to say goodbye to his Master before his Master had brought him straight to Su Jun. It looked like running away now wouldn’t work…
The system reminded him at just the right moment: [“You are now close to the target character. Make the most of this opportunity!”]
[He Yunqing: “…Get lost. You deliberately didn’t tell me he was coming today? Are you messing with me?!”]
[system: “I just wanted to give you a surprise. It was fate. You can’t get away.”]
What the hell kind of surprise was this? It was more like a shock. He Yunqing was furious, but he didn’t dare show it on his face and could only do his best to hold it in.
He looked Su Jun over. Su Jun wore an official hat and a robe of embroidered silk. His features were handsome, and his bearing was cool and distant. He really was just like the book described him.
At that moment, Su Jun sat upright, playing with a folding fan in his hand. He glanced at He Yunqing. “It’s been many years. My junior-most fellow disciple has grown so much.”
This completely threw He Yunqing for a loop. In these three days, he had wondered what it would be like if his attempt to run away failed and he really ran into Su Jun, but none of the possibilities had been anything like today’s. This was warm and familiar, like old friends reunited after a long separation.
He noticed a rare plate of crispy fried meat on the table. The food at Cloudveil Sect was light, and these past few days had nearly driven him to catch a wild rabbit in the mountains and roast it for a proper meal. So it turned out that as soon as Su Jun arrived, his Master brought out all the good food?
Su Jun’s mother was from Cloudveil Sect. When he was very young, she sent him there to gain experience. The current Sect Master had only just taken over at the time, and Su Jun became the Sect Master’s first disciple.
But he hadn’t stayed long. At first, he had only spent a few months there each year. Later, when he joined the Criminal Interrogation Division at the age of fifteen, he stopped going there regularly. Now, at only nineteen, he had become the chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Without a doubt, he was the most accomplished person from the sect, so it was no wonder his Master treated him with such deference.
At that moment, all those rows of disciples began calling out, “Sect Master, I can go help the eldest senior brother!”
“I finally got to meet the legendary eldest senior brother after joining the sect. He really is a fine-looking man.”
“Eldest senior brother, look at me!”
……
“Annoying,” Su Jun said with a frown, not even looking at them. He only looked at He Yunqing and asked, “If I remember correctly, my junior-most fellow disciple studies medicine, right?”
Only then did He Yunqing remember that he hadn’t greeted him. He hurriedly replied respectfully, “Yes, senior brother.”
His Master gestured for the others to quiet down, then said to Su Jun, “A-Jun, Yunqing has been studying very hard these past few days. Look.” He pointed at the basket on He Yunqing’s back. “He just went up the mountain to gather herbs, too. He’s the perfect person to go help you.”
Su Jun nodded. “The case is urgent, and a life is at stake. I need someone who knows medicine right now, so it’s settled.”
His Master was instantly grinning from ear to ear. “Good, good, A-Jun, take him with you. Yunqing’s appetite has shot up these past few days. He can eat as much as two people by himself, and we can barely afford to feed him! Oh, right, he had just recovered from a fever three days ago and lost some of his memory, but that shouldn’t get in the way of investigating cases…”
He Yunqing: “…???” He nearly spat up a mouthful of blood. Even back among the guys, he had been one of the lightest eaters. But after just three days here, he had been given the label of a human rice bucket. Damn it, the Sect Master of Cloudveil Sect really was someone who didn’t play by the rules…