After Being Adopted by the Obsessive Male Lead - Chapter 1

The sunset painted the sky in streaks of crimson, casting a reddish glow through the lush mountain forest onto the path. The light was crystal clear, lending the mountain an ethereal, dreamlike quality. It was a stunning sight, one that naturally drew in art students for their outdoor sketching sessions.

Chang Le was among them, and his painting was nearly finished.

However, Chang Le knit his brows, asking in confusion, “So, the female lead just dies?”

“Yeah! She loves someone else and doesn’t love the male lead at all, but he insists on being with her. After a lot of physical and emotional torment, she dies. But the male lead, Jun Wang, is a Demon Venerable, so he might resurrect her later. It’s that classic love-hate, melodramatic angst, so thrilling!” Lin Man stopped her brush, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she explained.

Chang Le didn’t see much “love” in that; forcing a woman to her death sounded more like the truth.

But since it was just a novel and everyone has their own tastes, Chang Le didn’t say much. He simply leaned over and earnestly warned her that if she ever met someone like that in real life, she should stay far, far away.

Lin Man kept her head down, waving her brush. Hearing this, she snorted. “Don’t worry, a story is just a story. If I actually met a psycho like that, I’d be calling the police faster than anyone. Besides, I think someone like you is more likely to encounter a crazy stalker type, Chang Le. After all, with the way you look…”

Tall and graceful like a willow in spring, with eyes as clear as the moon reflected in a lake, she thought. He was the perfect candidate for a “CEO’s forced love” trope.

She kept those thoughts to herself, though. Chang Le was straight, and Lin Man knew not to push her jokes too far.

“I really don’t get your hobbies,” Lin Yu chimed in from the side. “I read a xianxia novel a while back where the lead had the same name as the guy in your book. But in mine, he was an Immortal Venerable. It wasn’t a romance, either; it was a story about the hero defeating the ghostly path to save the world.”

Lin Man’s brush paused for a second. She stared at her painting, blinked a few times, and then resumed work.

Seeing that Lin Man wasn’t biting, Lin Yu huffed and turned to Chang Le. “Hey, Le, are you done yet? If you’re finished, let’s head to the summit. I heard there’s a ‘Rhino Gazing at the Moon’ event tonight. A metaphysics blogger said basking in that moonlight is beneficial. If we go to the peak, maybe we can open the gates to cultivation.”

Lin Man rolled her eyes at that last part, signaling that her brother was a lost cause to his occult obsessions. Sadly, reality was not some cultivation world.

“I think I’ll pass. It’s not safe after dark, and a fortune teller once told me I shouldn’t climb mountains at night,” Chang Le said as he packed his brushes and stood up, his tall figure straight and poised.

In the distance, the forest had already turned a deep, shadowy black, looking like a bottomless pit that could swallow people whole. This mountain was called Mount Kui. While it wasn’t the character for “ghost,” it was still quite eerie. Besides, they were here on a school-organized trip and had a curfew to catch. They needed to head back early.

“What are you afraid of? Where’s your manly courage?” Lin Yu snapped, annoyed.

“I don’t have the courage to go looking for death. The sky is darkening so fast, it might rain. Manman, let’s go. Leave your brother here to get soaked and see if he can ascend to immortality on his own.” Chang Le packed his drawing board and helped Lin Man gather her things.

Lin Man criticized her brother as well, “Chang Le just recovered from a major illness. If you take him up the mountain at night and he gets a shock, what then?”

She glanced at the sky again. “The weather report said no rain, so why is it getting dark so quickly?” she muttered, speeding up her packing to follow Chang Le down the mountain.

Left with no choice, Lin Yu followed.

The mountain path had been renovated, consisting of stone slabs rather than dirt. However, the steps were wide and steep, requiring caution on the descent. The darkness became as thick as unmixed ink, making the path ahead nearly invisible. Chang Le took out the flashlight he had prepared, using the beam to guide their way.

“It really did get dark fast. It’s definitely going to pour. Hurry up,” Lin Man said, picking up her pace, a prickle of unease in her heart.

Leading the way, Chang Le also felt something was wrong. The sky was so dark, yet there were no stars. Dark clouds covered the sky like a heavy lid.

But if the clouds were that thick and a storm was coming, why wasn’t there even a whisper of wind?

As these thoughts crossed his mind, Chang Le swung his light further ahead. Suddenly, the white beam was blocked by a figure. Chang Le froze, grabbing Lin Man to stop her forward momentum. “Wait, someone’s there. Don’t run into them.”

“Where?” Lin Man asked in disbelief. “Who’s going up the mountain in this darkness?”

The figure drew closer and closer, and Chang Le’s heart began to thud.

Lin Yu lowered his voice. “I’ve heard that some fugitives like to hide in the mountains. We couldn’t be that unlucky, could we?”

“Don’t jinx us,” Lin Man whispered, hitting her brother to bolster her own courage. “There are three of us. Why be afraid of one person?”

The narrow path offered no way to avoid the encounter. Chang Le stepped in front of Lin Man and Lin Yu, making room for the stranger to pass.

As the person approached, their form became clear.

Their face was hidden, their entire body wrapped tightly in a heavy black cloak.

How could a normal person dress like that! Sensing trouble, Chang Le immediately reached for his emergency alert button. In a flash, a sharp pain shot through his forearm. His phone and flashlight were knocked from his hand, tumbling over the cliff side.

“What are you doing!” Lin Man shouted in alarm.

It was too fast. Chang Le hadn’t even seen how the person moved. In the absolute pitch-black, the stranger vanished from sight again.

“I’m calling the police! Don’t you dare try anything!” Lin Yu yelled. He couldn’t see where the person was and felt frantic, so he grabbed onto Lin Man’s arm.

“Run!” Chang Le urged. The three of them began to sprint forward, guided only by the weak light of Lin Yu’s phone.

After just a few steps, the faint glow of the phone suddenly illuminated a pale, bluish face. Lin Yu let out a terrified shriek and fell to the ground, his phone flying off into the darkness.

As Chang Le reached out to pull Lin Yu up, that ghostly face suddenly appeared right in front of him. Chang Le’s pupils contracted, and he was suddenly hit by a powerful force that sent him crashing toward the edge of the mountain.

“Chang Le!” The frantic, heart-wrenching screams of Lin Man and Lin Yu were swallowed by the whistling wind as he fell.

That was a blue ghost mask, Chang Le thought just before his consciousness slipped into darkness.

“Cuckoo—cuckoo”

Why am I hearing a cuckoo bird?

Chang Le hadn’t expected to hear anything ever again. He wasn’t dead!

He opened his eyes to find the room flooded with daylight. However, what he saw wasn’t the sky or the forest, but a wooden ceiling.

The wood was a deep brown, aged but not decayed, clearly well-maintained.

Had someone saved him after he fell? What about Lin Man and the others?

Chang Le tried to sit up in a hurry, but the moment he moved, a dense, stinging pain surged through him.

His legs had no strength…

“Hiss… my legs hurt. Did I break them?”

“Your legs have just been set. If you keep moving like that, they really will break.”

A girl’s voice?

Chang Le turned his head. A young woman wearing ancient-style clothing, with a yellow silk scarf tied in her hair, sat at a wooden table. She was grinding something that looked like medicinal herbs.

“Thank you for saving me,” Chang Le said with heartfelt gratitude.

He instinctively reached for his phone, only to remember it had fallen off the cliff. “Could I borrow your phone for a moment?”

The woman looked over, her round, grape-like eyes full of confusion. “What is a ‘phone’? I don’t raise any chickens.”

Chang Le froze. “You don’t have a phone? Where is this? Are we still in Datong Town?”

“This is Taoyin Town. I don’t raise chickens. I went up the mountain this morning to gather herbs and found you unconscious on the path, so I carried you back. You have scratches all over, and the bone in your leg was injured.” The woman’s voice was gentle, filled with pity.

“Did you call the police?” Chang Le’s voice trembled slightly. Waking up in a strange place and seeing someone in ancient dress felt exactly like the transmigration novels Lin Man talked about.

“Call what? What is that?” The woman frowned, putting down her tools and placing her hand on Chang Le’s wrist. “Everything seems fine. Why are you talking nonsense? You’re far too handsome to have hit your head and turned stupid.”

The moment her hand touched his pulse, Chang Le’s heart sank. He closed his eyes, trying to process the situation.

Seeing this, the woman assumed he was just disoriented from waking up. She went back to her herbs, the steady thump-thump of the mortar and pestle echoing in Chang Le’s ears.

Look on the bright side, he told himself. At least you’re alive, and your legs aren’t completely ruined.

Once he calmed down, he thanked the woman again.

“No need for thanks. Saving lives puts my medical skills to use and earns me merit. Why wouldn’t I do it?” The woman had a sweet smile. In the modern world, she would definitely be a popular “sweetheart” type.

Feeling her genuine kindness, Chang Le’s anxious heart finally began to settle. Whatever the case, he needed to focus on recovering.

Suddenly, Chang Le recalled the melodramatic story Lin Man had just told him. The plot began when the female lead found a heavily injured man at the foot of a mountain.

Uh, I definitely won’t do anything to this girl. Once I’m healed, I’ll make sure to repay her for saving my life.

He lay in bed for a while until the woman approached with a bowl of herbal paste.

She asked, “What is your name? How did you end up falling from the mountain?”

“My name is Chang Le. Last night… I accidentally slipped on the mountain.”

The woman looked curious. “What is wrong with that mountain lately? People keep running to the summit at night and falling off. Is there some kind of treasure up there?”

“Treasure? No… wait, someone else fell off?” Chang Le didn’t understand her at first, but then he wondered if the other people who fell were Lin Man and Lin Yu.

Before she could answer, the door creaked open, and the scent of damp earth filled the room.

A figure stepped through the doorway, blocking out most of the sunlight. Chang Le looked up to see a man in a grey hemp shirt, tied simply with a belt at the waist. He had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, standing tall like a young man in his early twenties. His face was strikingly beautiful but not feminine. He had phoenix eyes with slightly upturned corners, which gave him a sharp, piercing look. His gaze swept over Chang Le, silently sizing him up.

He doesn’t look like a nice guy, Chang Le thought secretly.

The woman walked over quickly to take a bamboo basket from the man. “Hard work gathering herbs, you should rest.” She then turned back to Chang Le. “This is someone I picked up at the foot of the mountain a few days ago. His name is Jun Wang.”

“Jun Wang?” Chang Le couldn’t help but think of the Demon Venerable Jun Wang and the Immortal Venerable Jun Wang from the stories Lin Man and Lin Yu had mentioned.

Was this name just incredibly common? Three of them in one day?

The young man’s eyes widened slightly. This was too much of a coincidence.

Seeing Chang Le’s shocked expression, the woman hurried to explain, “No… don’t be afraid! He isn’t that bloodthirsty Demon Venerable Jun Wang. He doesn’t have a shred of demonic energy on him.”

Chang Le’s eyes went round. Wait, I need to think about this.

“I… I still don’t know my savior’s name.”

“You can just call me Qiu He.” Qiu He promised again, “He really doesn’t have any demonic energy, so don’t you worry.”

Qiu He? Isn’t that the name of the female lead in that tragic novel!

He couldn’t stop worrying. Chang Le realized with a jolt that he had transmigrated into a book and it was the exact one Lin Man had been talking about!

Chang Le looked at Jun Wang. The more he looked, the more he felt the man was full of hostility. His first instinct had been right; this guy was definitely trouble!

As he stared, he noticed Jun Wang was looking back at him, his gaze icy cold.

Chang Le quickly looked away.

Qiu He began sorting through the herbs in the basket. The girl’s pale yellow dress brushed the floor. She looked fragile, but the passion in her eyes made her as vibrant as a wild mountain flower.

When he had heard the story from Lin Man, he thought Qiu He’s fate was incredibly tragic. Now that he had actually met her and she had saved his life, he couldn’t just stand by and watch her head toward her death.

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