Chapter 1: The Melodramatic Immortal Xia

Chapter 1: The Melodramatic Immortal Xia

[Mission Initiated: Please complete this world before the end of your life. Friendly reminder, once the heart-wrenching level of the scoundrels reaches its peak, you can leave this world early.]

Accompanied by a mechanical electronic voice, the dizziness in her head intensified.

When Nanyan woke up, a sharp pain throbbed in her forehead, as if she had hit a cold, hard pillar.

The pain darkened her vision, causing dizziness, and she barely managed to maintain consciousness by biting her tongue.

Instinctively looking up, she first noticed a pair of black boots with golden embroidery, then slowly traced her gaze upwards to see the person's face.

The man before her was handsome and distinguished, yet his expression was dark as ink. Despite wearing a red bridal robe, there was no joy in his aura, only an undeniable presence of deadly seriousness.

Nanyan's eyes widened, a mix of fear and love from the original body’s heart flooded her chest. Unable to bear the pain, she clenched her fists tightly, realizing tears were uncontrollably streaming down.

What kind of joke was this, playing such a scene with her?

This man had no sympathy, pinching her chin with a flick of his finger and coldly uttering, "Excellent! The He family has some nerve, sending a fake bride on the wedding day to deceive me."

"What are you? Do you even deserve to wear these clothes?"

"What, you think just because you have a face similar to hers, I wouldn't dare lay a hand on you?"

"Guards, strip her of these clothes."

Nanyan’s face turned deathly pale upon hearing this. Before she could react, a group of demon guards roughly tore off her bright red bridal robe, even ripping her hair in their brutishness.

Unable to dodge, Nanyan was stripped of her bridal clothes and collapsed to the ground, shivering from the cold.

The more Chu Liyue stared at her face, the angrier he became, his eyes full of mockery, "Who do you think you are? Nothing but a counterfeit. Don’t you understand? No matter how much you resemble her or mimic her every move, you will never match up to even a finger of hers."

A counterfeit? A fake?

What kind of nonsensical farce was this?

Before Nanyan could recover, the man in front of her disdainfully inspected her chin, then snorted coldly and flung it away as if touching something filthy, wiping his fingers disdainfully on a silk handkerchief.

The incident rapidly merged into Nanyan's memories.

The plot remained as melodramatic as ever, with the original owner of the body, He Nanyan, being the twin sister and proxy bride of the female protagonist, He Nanwan.

The story is about a modern city office lady, He Nanwan, who, after a car accident, transmigrates into a world where everyone cultivates immortality.

Nanwan is exceptionally gifted with an extraordinary spiritual root. Intelligent from a young age, she becomes the pride of her family and a refreshing personality in the cultivation world. Admired by disciples of various sects, she also captures the hearts of both the male protagonist and the second male lead.

As the twin sister of the protagonist, He Nanyan lives in the shadow of her sister’s life.

Unlike the confident and smart Nanwan, the original He Nanyan in the story has a rare spiritual constitution, unable to cultivate but possessing a unique spirit body. Besides having a face identical to her sister, her personality and fate are entirely different.

Yet, it is this identical face that makes her the stand-in for her sister, a mere sacrificial pawn used to prove the unbreakable love between the male and female leads.

The cruel and tyrannical Yu Du Demon Lord, Chu Liyue, is the male lead of the original story. A real madman, born rebellious, he harbors affection only for Nanwan.

Half a year ago, Chu Liyue abandoned the path of righteousness for that of a demon, established his reign in the Yu Du demonic realm after defeating numerous righteous cultivators, and founded his demonic sect.

After his fall, Chu Liyue insisted on marrying He Nanwan.

Naturally, Nanwan was unwilling. She never knew ancient men could be so traditional and conservative. Had she known how troublesome he was, she never would have provoked him.

Though she had a slight liking for the handsome man, that didn’t mean she wanted to marry him.

So, she fled the marriage, decisively leaving the He family.

Protected by her senior brother from the sect, Ye Qingsong, she fled southward to the safety of her sect. With the protection of the immortal sect, she didn't have to worry about being forced into marriage, but this left the He family in a dangerous situation.

After her departure, the Demon Lord Chu Liyue sent his emissaries to propose marriage. The He family, out of desperation, went to the sect to bring Nanwan back, only to be refused.

Nanwan was torn and pained, but she had little sense of belonging to the He family and couldn't imprison herself beside a man of unpredictable character for the sake of the family.

Ye Qingsong, unable to see his beloved in distress, suggested the idea of a proxy marriage. He knew that Nanwan had a twin sister named He Nanyan, who, unlike Nanwan raised in the sect practicing magic, was brought up in a noble family due to her inability to cultivate. Although identical in appearance, their characters were poles apart.

A sister stepping in as a bride seemed like the perfect solution.

Finally, under Chu Liyue's relentless pressure, the He family decided to let the younger sister, He Nanyan, marry into the Yu Du demonic realm. He Nanyan, filled with hope and caution, accepted the proposal, embarking on her journey to the Yu Du.

As expected, on the night of the wedding, the male protagonist discovered her identity as an imposter.

Chu Liyue was furious, his anger at being deceived instantly boiling over. The dignity of the Demon Lord could not be challenged.

He never imagined that the He family would dare send him a fake, playing a farce of deception and truth with him.

For her, the wedding night was a nightmare. Instead of a groom's tender care and love, her journey from the He family to Yu Du was met with anger and disdain on the day of her marriage.

Ironically, the original owner of the body was genuinely in love with this mad male protagonist.

Feelings of love, fear, and resentment tangled in her chest, Nanyan's headache worsened, and tears fell uncontrollably, like beads off a broken string.

In truth, He Nanyan was willing to be the proxy bride, even harboring a faint hope.

In her earlier years, before Chu Liyue fell into demonhood, he had saved He Nanyan's life at the foot of the sect's mountain. Back then, Chu Liyue wasn't as mad as he was now, just somewhat indifferent. Saving her was merely an accidental act.

It was also an unfortunate day when she went to the sect to find her sister but encountered a beast attack at the mountain base. Her guards were devoured by the beasts, and she was on the brink of death.

At the critical moment, the male protagonist descended from the sky, rescuing her from the clutches of the beasts. It was then that He Nanyan began to harbor feelings for him.

The act of a hero saving a damsel in distress is indeed a beautiful thing, but unfortunately, she isn't the heroine, merely a disposable supporting character.

According to the plot, He Nanyan was given to the demon lord's guard on the night of her wedding.

As a discarded pawn, she undoubtedly suffered terribly.

……

Chu Liyue, having been outwitted, was not one to let things go easily. Upon learning that He Nanwan planned to flee with Ye Qingsang, he was furious and sent people to track them down, determined to bring He Nanwan back at any cost.

When Ye Qingsang heard this news, he suggested to He Nanwan that if they pretended to be married, it might end Chu Liyue's obsession.

Afterwards, they acted as a fake married couple, which saved them a lot of trouble, and he did not restrict her freedom.

This was a good idea, preserving her safety without actually having to marry. He Nanwan immediately agreed, grateful for her senior brother's genuine help. However, only Ye Qingsang knew the selfish motives hidden within.

But they both underestimated Chu Liyue's madness. On the wedding day, the male protagonist forcefully arrived with his men. He genuinely liked He Nanwan and couldn't bear to hurt her, even though she had fled the wedding.

Thus, his full fury was unleashed on Ye Qingsang. Chu Liyue crippled Ye Qingsang's cultivation and legs, yet left him alive, eventually giving him a quasi-bride.

That bride, of course, was the very counterfeit he had once suggested as a substitute, a fitting turn of fate.

He wanted to get married, right? Perfect, a counterfeit matched with a cripple, a natural pair.

He Nanyan, like a battered object, was carelessly handed over to Ye Qingsang.

She thought she had finally escaped, but her fate of marrying Ye Qingsang was just a jump from one wolf's den to another.

Ye Qingsang, having lost his cultivation, underwent a drastic change in temperament, despising the face identical to He Nanwan's.

Seeing her face reminded him of his impotence on the wedding day, his beloved taken by another, and himself forced to marry a substitute with a crippled body. This insult tormented him endlessly.

Ye Qingsang immediately threw her down the mountain of their sect. Because she resembled the female protagonist, He Nanyan was kidnapped by evil cultivators, who wanted to use her to threaten Chu Liyue and Ye Qingsang. But neither would be manipulated for a counterfeit, naturally ignoring the situation.

He Nanyan, with her spirit-nurturing physique, ultimately became a tool for the evil cultivators, passed around and used until her death, a truly tragic end...

He Nanyan wondered what she had done wrong. She only wished to survive in this world, yet even this modest desire became a luxury.

In the original story, He Nanyan met a tragic end, an outcome no one cared about for a minor character.

After the heroine's escape, Chu Liyue realized that his aggressive approach wouldn't win her over.

So, he reined in his possessiveness, gradually got closer to her, and eventually abandoned his demon lord status for her, willingly becoming a mortal. Their actions eventually moved the heroine, and the couple retired to a quiet life together, envied as a match made in heaven.

Just... how outrageous is that?!

For the main characters, this ending was indeed beautiful.

However, their happiness was built on the suffering of others. He Nanyan longed for rescue until her death, a hope that was never fulfilled.

It was truly... a pitiful sight.

After merging her memories, Nan Yan's head throbbed in pain. Such clichéd and melodramatic plots! It would take a decade of brainstorms to concoct such a torturous story, mercilessly tormenting a disposable female character. Aren't supporting characters human, too?

If only she had arrived a quarter-hour earlier, she wouldn't have met such a fate and would have planned her escape.

Damn that wretched system.

Nan Yan was forcefully thrown open, her crimson earrings swinging violently, drawing a sharp arc in the air before her body collided with the doorframe.

Ouch... that hurts!

The intense pain made her breathing stagger, her eyelashes quivering as she slowly opened her eyes.

She instinctively raised her head, her vision blurred and doubled for a moment due to disorientation, and saw the high and mighty demon lord sneering as he withdrew his hand.

"I detest her face, identical to hers," Chu Liyue said coldly, his long, dark eyes revealing an indifferent cruelty. "She's yours now, serve her well."

Even Nan Yan, used to scoundrels, couldn't help but curse at such a bastard!

This male protagonist is truly insane. In his eyes, everyone but the heroine is a worthless ant.

Would he care about the life and death of ants? Of course not.

Nan Yan snapped back to reality just in time to hear the male protagonist utter the exact lines from the original story, matching to the last word and second. It was so painfully accurate it made her teeth ache.

The difficulty level of this mission seemed unusually high.

Nan Yan slightly lowered her eyes, realizing that if she couldn't change the current situation, the subsequent tasks would be impossible to continue.

She was bound to a system designed for defeating scoundrels and winning their hearts, which she found rather pointless. What was the purpose of winning over someone you've tormented?

Nonetheless, she had no choice but to press on. Despite its shortcomings, the system required her to make those who had hurt her taste their own medicine, achieving a high level of emotional torment to complete the mission. But how to inflict such torment was the real challenge.

She arrived too late in the storyline; the plot had already progressed to Chu Liyue falling for He Nanwan and proposing marriage to her family.

This was clearly not an ideal starting point. The best time would have been before Chu Liyue abandoned his path for evil. An earlier arrival might have prevented such a dire beginning.

The experience of being pinned down and roughed up was far from pleasant. But she had no choice; the system had used up all its energy maintaining its mechanisms.

…………