After Faking My Death, I Became the Male Lead's White Moonlight - Chapter 2

As the system chattered away endlessly inside Song Lianzhou’s skull, the two of them—one human and one system strolled out of the back mountain, stepping across a floor of scattered fallen leaves.

Song Lianzhou was currently pondering how to break this sticky silence when a voice suddenly sounded from his side: “Senior Brother, please stay your steps.”

He turned around and saw Ye Xisheng making a formal bow toward him: “Many thanks, Senior Brother.”

Song Lianzhou waved a hand: “Think nothing of it.”

Ye Xisheng spoke up once more: “Senior Brother, I still have a question I wish to ask.”

Song Lianzhou’s footsteps, which had turned to depart, paused slightly: “What is it?”

As he turned his head, he bumped straight into the shattered specks of light within Ye Xisheng’s eyes. The latter was smiling, yet the smile failed to reach the depths of his eyes, and his gaze carried an undisguised intent of probing: “The back mountain is rarely frequented by people. Why did Senior Brother come to admire the scenery today?”

Song Lianzhou felt somewhat perplexed.

Unaware that Ye Xisheng had already been reborn, he found it rather bizarre that the other would suddenly pose such a question: Was the back mountain some restricted area he wasn’t allowed to visit, worthy of prompting a special inquiry?

The system quietly spoke inside Song Lianzhou’s mind: [The original host had an aloof disposition and was obsessed with cultivation, usually only liking to stay inside his own dwelling cave, let alone visiting the remote back mountain of the outer sect. Your sudden appearance there is bound to make him suspicious.] It then added with a tone of disappointment in his lack of success: [Tell me, why on earth were you wandering around outside when you had nothing better to do?]

So that was how it was.

Thus, meeting Ye Xisheng’s gaze without dodging or evading, Song Lianzhou answered candidly: “I came specifically to look for you.”

“Look for me?” Now it was Ye Xisheng’s turn to be puzzled.

“I saw several of them acting stealthily and pushing you around while keeping you restrained. Feeling doubtful in my heart, I followed for a short while, and then I saw them surround you as if they were about to resort to violence.” Song Lianzhou tried his best to put on the original host’s airs, saying in a cold and detached tone, “As the senior head disciple of the sect, it is naturally my duty to support and assist fellow disciples.”

“…” Ye Xisheng narrowed his eyes slightly, quickly tucking all his emotions back into the depths of his gaze as he smiled and said, “So that was it. I truly must trouble Senior Brother for this matter today.”

Watching the other slightly nod and utter a casual “Think nothing of it” before turning to leave, his gaze remained fixed squarely upon that cyan-robed retreating figure.

His fingertips brushed lightly across the red trace lingering around his wrist, his eye color deepening until it resembled淬ing ink.

In his past life, this high-and-mighty flower upon the snowy peak certainly did not look like someone who liked to meddle in idle business.

Having lived for far too long in his previous life, he had encountered countless people and events, leaving him with rather hazy memories of this sect from his youth. Only his impression of Song Lianzhou remained relatively clear, because this was his opponent in the final showdown of the cultivation world grand tournament, as well as the very last adversary he faced before becoming the foremost figure in the cultivation world.

Song Lianzhou was formidable, though he had ultimately defeated his opponent.

Sometime later, he heard that Song Lianzhou had died.

Having lingered within the vessel of his eighteen-year-old body for a period of time, he recalled a great deal more.

For instance, Song Lianzhou seemed to be the chief closed-door disciple of the Cangling Sect’s master, as well as a universally acknowledged genius blessed with exceptionally high natural talent and cultivation. At the same time, he was also the prominent second young master of the Song family, showered with pampering since childhood.

Such a person naturally carried a sense of inherent arrogance.

Perhaps precisely because of this reason, Song Lianzhou must have suffered a devastating blow after being defeated by him who at the time was merely an obscure outer sect disciple—and subsequently died of melancholy.

Living a life anew, he found himself suddenly developing a bit of interest in this person at this very moment: How was it that this Song Lianzhou seemed somewhat different from the aloof and proud chief disciple depicted in the rumors?

Indeed, he was different, because the core inside the current Song Lianzhou had already been swapped.

To begin with, Song Lianzhou was originally an ordinary college student who, while passing by the sports field, happened to be far too absorbed in a physics competition problem at hand to hear anyone shouting for him to run. As a result, he took a solid hit straight from a ball.

The very last second before blacking out, he was still thinking: I haven’t solved this problem yet. What am I going to do…

Meanwhile, within some unknown dimension of the universe, a certain defying-heaven-and-changing-destiny system was tearing out code in frustration over its KPI spreadsheet: “If I don’t recruit a host this month again, my performance metrics are going to hit rock bottom!!”

“Ah, wait, this person looks like we can snatch him!”

Thus, amidst the gaps of time and space, a soul and a system collided violently.

Opening his eyes once more, a small white sprite that claimed to be a “defying-heaven-and-changing-destiny” system appeared before Song Lianzhou. Waving several colorful light boards, it aggressively pitched like a multi-level marketing boss: “Wanna take on missions, friend? As long as you kick down the male lead, we will gift you a one-click homecoming package + an SSSR-tier wish…”

The system explained that he was a cannon-fodder NPC in the novel Destiny’s Return whose sole purpose was to deliver experience points to the Long Aotian protagonist. His ultimate objective was to defeat the male lead in the cultivation world grand tournament two years later, altering the original host’s fate. During this period, he needed to seize fortuitous opportunities a step ahead and practice cultivation diligently.

Catching the keywords out of a lengthy speech, Song Lianzhou asked, “You mean as long as I get first place in that tournament thing, the mission is considered complete, right?”

“If you want to put it that way, that’s not wrong…”

Before the system even finished speaking, Song Lianzhou nodded slightly.

“Alright then, deal.”

The system, which was still desperately trying to think of how to persuade him, paused: “Eh-eh-eh-eh?!” Was it really this smooth?

Song Lianzhou smiled, the aura surrounding him shifting entirely as an exuberant fighting spirit seemed to burst forth: “Going back or not isn’t important; what matters is that I must be number one, and I can only be number one.”

Ever since childhood, he had never dropped below first place in any exam, nor below the top three in any competition. Therefore, even upon arriving in this otherworldly realm, he was going to grind everyone else to death academically.

The system did not understand; the system was shocked; the system was utterly dumbfounded.

“Right, since I’m doing missions, do you have any golden fingers here like Five Years of Cultivation, Three Years of Simulation for me?”

The system: “…Ah??”

Do you take this for a final exam review guide?!

The system’s first-stage mission for Song Lianzhou was to quickly familiarize himself with this world, synchronize with this body, and master the application of spiritual energy.

“Sect experiential missions are generally commissions from residents down the mountain. Not only can they temper your combat strength, but they also offer silver taels, spiritual stones, magical treasures, and more as rewards. Host, you can take on more missions when you have free time so that you can grow strong sooner and defeat the male lead earlier!” The system clenched its tiny fists.

“However, now that you’ve just emerged from seclusion, according to the proper procedure, you should go see your master first and report your cultivation gains from these past few days,” the system said. “By the way, you should also get acquainted with the people within the sect.”

After adapting somewhat to this body, Song Lianzhou decided to follow protocol and go meet his never-before-seen master.

It was precisely on the way of the human-system duo heading toward the master’s dwelling cave that they bumped into Ye Xisheng being dragged toward the back mountain by the little clique.

Song Lianzhou wanted to go rescue him, but the system urged him: “He’s the male lead anyway; it’s not like anything bad will happen to him. Besides, you have no relations with him why on earth are you poking your nose into the male lead’s business?”

“…Oh, got it.”

Song Lianzhou agreed nicely on the surface, but the moment the system went offline to upgrade, he made a beeline and turned right back around to chase after Ye Xisheng.

When the system came back online later, it felt as though the heavens had collapsed.

Which of those other hosts wasn’t fighting tooth and nail against the male lead for their own interests, considering that the original hosts bound to the “defying-heaven-and-changing-destiny” system all died directly or indirectly because of the male lead?

Never had there been one like Song Lianzhou who completely reversed the natural order of things.

To this, Song Lianzhou’s reply was: “I was passing by. I really was just passing by.”

The system: “Get lost!”

With it online this time, it kept a strict eye on Song Lianzhou as he honestly arrived at the master’s dwelling cave.

A protective barrier was set up outside the master’s cavern. As Song Lianzhou stepped across the threshold, the disciple identification badge at his waist suddenly flashed with golden light. Raising his eyes once more, the white fog before him had transformed into an exquisitely carved and beautifully painted small courtyard, where two people inside were leisurely chatting while tending to flowers and plants.

The system reminded him: [Look, that person watering the flowers is your master, Gu Qingci. The one standing beside him wearing disciple robes is the second-seat personal disciple, Hua Zuojiu. Although by seat ranking he is your junior martial brother, the original host generally addressed him as senior brother, so make sure you don’t mess that up.]

Song Lianzhou asked curiously, “Why is that?”

[It’s a long story. Back when the original host was still quite young, Gu Qingci promised him the position of a closed-door disciple, but didn’t bring him into the sect right away. Afterward, Gu Qingci successively accepted four personal disciples, among whom Hua Zuojiu was admitted earliest, was the eldest, and knew best how to take care of others. Therefore, in private, the original host simply followed everyone else in calling him senior brother.]

Song Lianzhou nodded, indicating that he understood.

In the brief time it took him to enter the door, Hua Zuojiu had already looked over with a gentle gaze: “A-Zhou, you’ve come out of seclusion?”

“Senior Brother, Master.” Song Lianzhou stepped forward.

“A-Zhou, did you gain anything from this closed-door cultivation?” Gu Qingci asked.

He naturally possessed the ability to peer into Song Lianzhou’s cultivation realm, yet he chose not to use it, simply asking his disciple with benevolent affection.

Song Lianzhou cupped his hands in salute: “Disciple has already broken through to the late Nascent Soul stage.”

Hua Zuojiu remarked, “As expected of A-Zhou. Breaking through within the Nascent Soul realm is exceedingly difficult, yet A-Zhou completed the breakthrough using such a short span of time.”

Gu Qingci also smiled and nodded, his eyes filled with appreciation. When he spoke again, however, he brought up another matter entirely: “What we discussed before your seclusion how did you consider it?”

Song Lianzhou blinked in a daze: “Ah?”

“Your master knew you didn’t take it to heart.” Gu Qingci sighed helplessly, looking as though he wasn’t surprised in the least. “You are exceptionally clever and gifted beyond compare; in the path of cultivation, Master truly has nothing left to teach you. However, your mother once wrote asking me to teach you a few principles of human relations, so you mustn’t find Master’s nagging annoying.”

“Before your seclusion, Master tried to teach you to change your cold, aloof, and solitary temperament, advising you at best to find someone to share your heart with. For one thing, this can dispel loneliness, and for another, it gives you someone to mutually support each other and advance or retreat side by side, which would also allow me to rest a bit easier.”

Gu Qingci let out a sigh; when a child is away from home, they really ought to have a companion.

“A-Zhou, during the period of your seclusion, did you carefully deliberate on a candidate for this?”

Naturally, he had done no such thing. Song Lianzhou scratched his head awkwardly.

Before he could figure out how to brush past it, Hua Zuojiu on the side spoke up in a soft and gentle tone: “As for what Master mentioned… regarding A-Zhou’s intimate confidant, I actually suddenly thought of someone who matches the description quite well.”

“Speaking of which, this is the first time I’ve ever seen A-Zhou care so much about someone, not only secretly keeping tabs on them all the time, but once even coming to inquire about them from me,” Hua Zuojiu smiled and said.

“Oh?” Gu Qingci’s interest was piqued. “Such a person actually exists? Who is it? From which sect? What is their cultivation level? Where is their home?”

Song Lianzhou pricked up his ears curiously as well.

Someone whom the original host, that unworldly block of wood, actually paid attention to? He had never heard of this.

“He is an outer sect disciple of our sect, but I remember his natural talent is quite good, and he also seems to be an old acquaintance of A-Xue. It seems his name is…” Hua Zuojiu pondered for a moment before his brow suddenly unknelled, dropping a shocking statement: “I remember now. That disciple’s name is Ye Xisheng.”

Song Lianzhou: Oh, his name is Ye Xisheng.

Song Lianzhou lifted his head abruptly: ??!!

Wait a minute, who?!