Chapter 12

The bright moon hung high in the sky, and the evening breeze whispered softly.

The door was slightly open, and light glowed from inside the room.

As Yu Tao approached the door, she immediately saw Zhu Mingyu lying on the couch, holding a book, deeply engrossed in reading with a serious expression.

She looked in good spirits, so it seemed like there was no major issue.

Yu Tao relaxed a bit and softly pushed the door open, asking, “Classmate Zhu, are you alright? How do you feel now?”

Zhu Mingyu didn’t seem to hear her and didn’t even lift her head.

Yu Tao had no choice but to approach and, standing beside the couch, spoke louder this time, “Classmate Zhu?”

Only then did Zhu Mingyu notice someone beside her, put down the book, and upon seeing it was Yu Tao, she froze for a moment.

“How come you’re here…”

As she spoke, her expression suddenly changed. In a swift motion, she closed the book and placed it inside the bed’s edge, her face showing signs of tension.

Yu Tao: … Huh?

That guilty, hidden movement—how much it resembled the reaction of a classmate being caught sneaking peeks at a picture book in early class, only to be caught by Senior Shishu Lin Lin.

Once, Senior Shishu Lin Lin had confiscated a picture book, placing it on her desk while he was busy teaching. Out of curiosity, Yu Tao had secretly flipped it open for a look.

That one glance had been a mistake.

The picture book was titled “How to Seduce a Cold Immortal Lord.”

The page Yu Tao opened depicted two people, a man and a woman.

The scene appeared to be in a study, with the man holding the woman in his arms, sitting on a desk. His strong arm wrapped around her slim waist, while the woman’s clothes were half undressed, leaning on his arm with a flushed face, both of them locked in a passionate kiss.

The artist’s skill was remarkable, with just a few strokes vividly capturing their expressions.

From that moment, Yu Tao spent the rest of the early class red-faced. When Senior Shishu Lin Lin took the picture book back, he kindly asked if she was feeling unwell.

Yu Tao still blushed when she thought about it. And now, with Zhu Mingyu’s book in hand, the cover of this book looked a bit like the one she had secretly peeked at before…

Yu Tao suddenly understood, her almond-shaped eyes wide with shock. She hurriedly stammered, “Zhu… Classmate Zhu, I called you at the door but you didn’t respond, so I came in.”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t see anything! I won’t tell Senior Shishu Lin Lin!”

But she was lying.

In fact, she hadn’t completely failed to see anything—she had caught a glimpse, just a tiny bit, of the title on the cover. She had only glanced at the words like “White Moonlight,” “Immortal Lord,” and so on.

However, Yu Tao felt that it was better for her not to have seen anything at all in this situation.

As soon as Zhu Mingyu saw her blushing face, she knew that Yu Tao must have misunderstood. She opened her mouth to speak: “You…”

Forget it. It’s better to let her keep misunderstanding, Zhu Mingyu decided, giving up on explaining. She then asked, “But what does this have to do with Senior Shishu Lin Lin?”

Yu Tao froze for a moment.

That’s true—it’s not early class time now, and Senior Shishu Lin Lin wouldn’t be involved in personal matters.

“Anyway, don’t worry, I didn’t see anything!”

…Idiot.

Zhu Mingyu sighed. “I know, no need to repeat it. Actually, there’s nothing to hide. It’s just that I need some time to confirm it.”

Yu Tao nodded repeatedly, feeling guilty.

Zhu Mingyu raised her head. “So, what brings you to see me so late?”

Finally, the key question. Yu Tao nervously fidgeted with her fingers. “First, I wanted to check if you’re feeling better, how your condition is.”

Zhu Mingyu replied, “I’m fine. Senior Brother Hua Lian’s medicinal pills are really effective. I can move around without any issues today.”

“That’s good.”

Yu Tao let out a sigh of relief. “And second, I wanted to ask you about tomorrow. You know, we agreed to go to Qingdeng Peak tomorrow… Will you still be able to go?”

She quickly added, “I’m not forcing you, though. If you’re not feeling well, we can reschedule. We can wait until you’re fully healed.”

Zhu Mingyu’s expression suddenly froze. She stared at the girl for a while, as if trying to see through her thoughts.

There was an inexplicable emotion in her eyes. After a moment of silence, she slowly said, “We already made the appointment, so I won’t back out.”

She had originally thought that Yu Tao might have some tricks up her sleeve over the past twenty days, but until today, Yu Tao had only reached the fifth level of Qi Refinement. There was still a significant gap in their cultivation levels.

The difference between Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment was as vast as the sky and the earth, not to mention the much greater gap between them. Even though Zhu Mingyu had been injured, there was no way Yu Tao could defeat her.

But she didn’t understand.

Yu Tao didn’t seem to hate her. She had even saved her from the Void Realm. So why was she so stubborn about wanting to fight her to the death?

If there was truly a deep grudge, she could have simply left her to die without lifting a finger. Yu Tao would have quietly died in the Void Realm, unknown to anyone.

Zhu Mingyu hesitated for a moment before finally asking, “What exactly…”

Before she could finish her sentence, Yu Tao suddenly took out a glaring white ticket from her storage bag and placed it into her palm.

Zhu Mingyu froze for a moment as she recognized what it was. “…The access pass to the Library Pavilion?”

“That’s right.”

The girl in the white dress slightly lowered her head, smiling shyly: “After all, I invited you to hang out, so you’re just accompanying me to read. I shouldn’t let you spend any money. Inner sect points are hard to accumulate, you know.”

Zhu Mingyu: ?

Hang out?

Wasn’t this supposed to be a life-and-death duel???

Zhu Mingyu thought back carefully to the way Yu Tao had challenged her to a duel and suddenly froze.

“Do you have time to go to Qingdeng Peak after twenty days?”

“You’re only at the fourth level of Qi Refinement.”

“I’ll work hard!”

Looking back at it now, it seemed like Yu Tao hadn’t directly said she wanted to fight her to the death—Zhu Mingyu had just assumed that was the case.

Thinking back, Yu Tao was at the fourth level of Qi Refinement at the time, and the Library Pavilion had a requirement of being at least at the fifth level…

Zhu Mingyu took a deep breath to calm herself and opened her eyes. “So, from the beginning, you just wanted to invite me to the Library Pavilion to read?”

Yu Tao looked at her in confusion. “Yeah, what else would we do at the Library Pavilion if not read?”

Zhu Mingyu: …

With the tense atmosphere back then and the constant jeering from those around them, of course, she had thought it was a life-and-death duel!

And it wasn’t just her who thought that. There were already thousands of posts discussing their duel on the Spirit Network!

Who would’ve known that the person who issued the challenge had no idea she was supposed to duel.

“Then it’s settled. We’ll meet tomorrow morning!”

Yu Tao glanced at the moon outside the window, her eyebrows soft as she said, “It’s getting late. You should rest soon. I’m going to sleep now, too. Good night, classmate Zhu.”

Once she understood it was all a misunderstanding, Zhu Mingyu’s furrowed brows relaxed. It seemed that Yu Tao was just a simple-minded fool after all.

She nodded. “Mm, good night.”

Watching Yu Tao walk out with light steps, she kindly closed the door behind her.

Suddenly, Zhu Mingyu thought—if she could be friends with Yu Tao, it might not be so bad?

Halfway through closing the door, Yu Tao suddenly poked her little head back in.

Her gaze flickered, and with a red face, she whispered, “Classmate Zhu, um, even if it’s really good-looking, don’t look too long, okay? Make sure to rest well.”

Zhu Mingyu: “…Okay.”

The sound of footsteps disappeared outside the door. Zhu Mingyu paused for a moment, then took the book from the inner side of the bed and gazed at the cover with a solemn expression.

The book was titled: “After My Death, I Became the White Moonlight of the Immortal Lord.”

She didn’t usually read novels, but this book had appeared in front of her a few days ago, when she had lost too much blood in the snow and was unconscious. A flash of white light suddenly appeared before her, and some inexplicable intuition told her that this book was very important. Despite the pain, she had stuffed it into her storage bag.

It wasn’t until yesterday when she regained consciousness that she had a chance to open the book. To her surprise, the female lead of the book turned out to be someone she knew.

Su Liuli, the daughter of the Su family, who had tragically passed away a few years ago.

At first, she thought it was just a coincidence—same name, nothing more. But the further she flipped, the more astonished she became.

The male lead’s master was Xuan Yuzi, and he had two senior brothers, Hua Lian and Jiang Xingjing.

The male lead’s sect was called Wuchang Sect, and every character in the book, from the sect leader to the new disciples, seemed to correspond to someone she knew.

The male lead’s name was Yu Li.

Zhu Mingyu began to realize something was wrong. Even someone who knew Yu Li wouldn’t be able to write such detailed information.

The plot of the book wasn’t particularly complicated.

The female lead, Su Liuli, was the youngest disciple under Xuan Yuzi, and she was very close with her senior brothers, especially Jiang Xingjing. She was the beloved “little sister” of the sect.

The one involved in a romantic entanglement with her was the male lead, Yu Li. Su Liuli was bold in pursuing love, but Yu Li remained aloof and indifferent.

It wasn’t until one day when the female lead met with an accident and died that the male lead finally realized his feelings for her. He was consumed with regret and sorrow, but it was too late.

Time skipped ahead a few years, and a new disciple who resembled the female lead was suddenly accepted by Xuan Yuzi.

Yu Li took her as a replacement for Su Liuli, showering her with all the affection he had wished to give to the original, compensating for his past mistakes.

The little stand-in, who had been constantly bullied by her classmates, soon fell in love with Yu Li under these circumstances. She was simple-minded and wholeheartedly devoted to him.

Though Yu Li didn’t have feelings for her, he was gradually moved by her sincerity. Just when he was about to be with her out of pity, the female lead was resurrected.

This sparked a series of tragic love conflicts between the male and female leads, eventually leading to them ending up together.

Meanwhile, the little stand-in, who had been deceived and filled with hatred, took revenge on the couple, and in the end, she died tragically without leaving a whole body.

Zhu Mingyu realized that she also had a part in this story, though it was brief. She was the villainous female supporting character who bullied the little stand-in. Apart from her interactions with the female lead and tormenting the replacement, she had no other role.

Her ultimate fate was to be assassinated by a vengeful demon cultivator, dying in the Water Mirror with no one knowing.

This plot had occurred just two days ago.

The sensation of the sword piercing through her chest still lingered painfully in her memory. The white cloth wrapped around her chest now clearly told her that this was the truth.

She was the cruel female supporting character who bullied the little stand-in.

Thus, the identity of the little stand-in was obvious.

—Yu Tao.

Zhu Mingyu rubbed her aching temples. She didn’t know where this book had come from, but the events described in it aligned perfectly with what had happened in reality.

Su Liuli had died in an accident a few years ago.

Yu Tao, who resembled Su Liuli, was suddenly accepted as a disciple by Xuan Yuzi.

She had bullied Yu Tao, and two days ago, she had been assassinated by a demon cultivator.

With all this, she couldn’t help but believe in the authenticity of the book.

The good news, however, was that due to an unexpected turn of events, Yu Tao had unknowingly passed by the swordsmanship training field and happened to save her, changing the course of the story.

So now, Zhu Mingyu was wondering: ‘since the plot could be altered and she had already learned about it in advance, could she change the tragic ending of Yu Tao being deceived and dying miserably?’

After all, someone as simple-minded as Yu Tao would be better off living a joyful and carefree life.

Zhu Mingyu pondered seriously.

For example, by helping her start by staying away from that scumbag?

—

Word Count: 2,270