Reborn As The Short-Lived White Moonlight of the Tragic, Powerful Male Lead - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It is rumored that Xie Lanting, the foremost beauty of the cultivation world, possesses a temperament colder than snow.

Regarding this, the young attendant serving Xie Lanting at the Jade Sword Sect remarked, “One mouth starts a rumor, but a hundred legs break trying to debunk it. Uncle Xie urges everyone to view him rationally and not to… not to… Uncle Xie’s words are too hard to memorize; I didn’t remember the rest.”

Once upon a time, the boy also had innocent fantasies, believing that the seniors of the Jade Sword Sect must all be immortal-like, elegant, and graceful. That was until he was chosen to care for Xie Lanting—whose cultivation was nearly ruined—and witnessed firsthand the elders’ scheming and infighting. It was a spectacle of rivalry and entrapment; the drama was more exciting than the best-selling novels in the marketplace.

And as for the supposedly aloof-as-can-be Xie Lanting? Even if his cultivation couldn’t win a fight, he could use his tongue to drive people into a fit of rage.

Lanting was never a cold, solitary flower; it’s all thanks to the big mouths spreading rumors.

The boy still remembered a year when red plums were covered in snow—a scene of breathtaking beauty. Xie Lanting sat beneath a plum tree, holding a cup of tea, and sighed softly: “After all these years, I still haven’t managed to annoy them to death. I feel I have a responsibility.”

The boy, already desensitized by Xie Lanting’s influence, replied numbly: “I think you all share that responsibility.”

Xie Lanting laughed loudly. Red plum blossoms drifted onto his hair. Even though the boy saw Xie Lanting’s face every day, he couldn’t help but stare in a daze. Wrapped in silver and white, the person was more radiant than the flowers. Some rumors were reliable—for instance, Xie Lanting truly was the most beautiful person the boy had ever seen.

Half a month ago, the arrangements for Xie Lanting’s political marriage were finalized. The boy thought his Uncle might do something desperate, but he was only “off” for a few days before quickly returning to his usual self.

To be honest, the boy felt it wasn’t fair to Xie Lanting. Xie Lanting was once the top swordsman in the cultivation world, shocking the heavens with a single blade. To protect the sect’s disciples, he was severely injured in the Demon Realm; since then, his cultivation had dropped to the Golden Core stage, and it was likely he would never progress further in this life. The sect elders spoke grandiosely about how the marriage was for his own good, but in reality, they were just using him to trade for interests.

Holding his broom, the boy looked at the tightly closed door of the main house, feeling heartbroken: he was just a small servant with cultivation almost equal to zero; he couldn’t help at all.

Today was the third day of Xie Lanting’s “secluded meditation to heal his injuries,” and the third day the boy had nothing to do but sweep snow.

Snow Plum Peak, where Xie Lanting lived, was covered in snow year-round. After a heavy snowfall last night, the boy had to sweep the mountain path. He had just stood still with his broom when he saw a figure rushing toward him in a frenzy.

From that walking posture, one could tell at a glance that the style was very different from Snow Plum Peak.

The boy held his broom and bowed slowly: “Greetings, Uncle Liu—”

Before he could finish saying “Uncle,” Liu Qifeng brushed past him like a whirlwind, his footsteps kicking up a cloud of snow that nearly covered the boy’s face.

The boy wiped his face and turned to see Liu Qifeng charging straight for the main room. He hurriedly said, “Uncle Liu, Uncle Xie said he is in seclusion to heal his injuries and doesn’t allow—”

Liu Qifeng treated him like air, raising his hand to pound fiercely on the door. Bang! Bang! Bang!

The violent knocking was accompanied by a violent voice, shaking the snow off the eaves: “Xie Lanting! Open the door!”

Having been interrupted for the second time, the boy smacked his lips in grievance: Can’t anyone let me finish a sentence?

Next, he watched in horror as Liu Qifeng lost his patience and actually raised his foot to kick—smashing the door into four pieces with a single blow!

The boy’s heart ached: That was high-quality Snow Fragrance wood!

He thought to himself that it was all over—the Uncles were going to start fighting again. But he waited, and heard neither a “Get out!” from Xie Lanting nor a loud shouting match from Liu Qifeng.

The boy felt something was wrong. He sneakily poked his head around the doorframe and saw that the room was perfectly tidy. The screen of the partition was retracted, making both the front hall and the back room clearly visible. The incense burner had been cold for who knows how long, and the bedding had not a single wrinkle.

No matter how you looked at it, it didn’t seem like anyone had lived there recently.

Xie Lanting, who claimed to be in seclusion for healing, was nowhere to be found.

Standing in the room, Liu Qifeng’s eyes turned red with rage. When a disciple reported that the betrothal gifts and the dowry had disappeared from the warehouse, his vision went dark, and he rushed straight to Snow Plum Peak—only to find not even a ghost of Xie Lanting.

His bad premonition had come true. Disappearing wealth plus a disappearing person—Liu Qifeng could only think of one possibility: Xie Lanting had run away from the wedding.

“Running away… you damn well ran away from the wedding, and you even made off with all the betrothal gifts and the dowry…” Liu Qifeng’s hands were shaking. “That dowry was something we worked so hard to gather to show our goodwill to the Gu family. I even poured a significant portion of my own savings into it…”

The boy tucked his head in, thinking, Wow, how exciting! Did Uncle Xie finally succeed in annoying Uncle Liu to death?

He felt a bit conflicted: If Uncle Liu faints inside Snow Plum Residence, should I help him up?

A moment later, Liu Qifeng didn’t faint. Instead, a roar erupted from Snow Plum Peak—angry, earth-shattering, and sky-piercing—

“XIE! LAN! TING!—!”

…

“Achoo!”

In a place far, far away from the Jade Sword Sect, Xie Lanting sneezed, wondering who was talking about him behind his back. Someone from the Jade Sword Sect?

No way… could it be that after three whole days, the people at the Jade Sword Sect finally realized he had run away from the wedding?

If that were true, then that would be just… great!

Xie Lanting had run for three days and nights without rest. Even for a cultivator, he was tired. He walked into a tea stall by the official road, planning to take a short rest. There were many people stopping at the tea stall, so he had to share a table.

Xie Lanting wore a moon-colored long robe with a jade belt at the waist; his figure was tall and slender. Just looking at his back, one would think he possessed excellent grace. From the front—well, he wore a mask over the upper half of his face, so his full features weren’t visible. However, the contours of the exposed half of his face were enough to spark the imagination. He walked over unhurriedly, taking in the situation:

The tables to the left and right were full of men—a “full house” of males. In front was a table of young ladies.

Xie Lanting thus headed toward the only table with a remaining seat. The two youths at the table didn’t mind sharing; they were also cultivators.

As Xie Lanting sat down, he listened to the teenagers chatting. One was responsible for talking, and the other for listening. The one talking had a very busy mouth—likely a chatterbox. The one listening would occasionally say “Mhm,” appearing like a modern AI auto-reply machine.

The chatterbox youth talked about things from across the world for a while, then picked up his teacup to moisten his throat, suddenly sighing: “Sigh, let’s finish our business as quickly as possible. I wonder if we’ll be able to make it back in time for the wedding of Immortal Lord Lanyue and the Gu family’s young master.”

Xie Lanting choked on a mouthful of water: “Pfft—”

Two gazes instantly landed on him.

“Cough, cough!” Xie Lanting hurriedly said, “I’m sorry, I choked a bit.”

Chatterbox youth: “As long as you didn’t spray it on the table… Fellow Daoist, do you also want to go watch the Immortal Lord Lanyue’s union ceremony?”

Xie Lanting quickly denied it: “No, I don’t.”

“How could you not want to?” The youth was puzzled. “That’s Immortal Lord Lanyue! The foremost beauty of the cultivation world! The former number one swordsman! Is there really anyone who wouldn’t want to see his wedding?”

The half-mask hid Xie Lanting’s inscrutable expression: “Curiosity killed the cat. Gossiping is not as good as cultivating.”

The youth spoke earnestly: “But life can’t just be about cultivation. We have to find some fun for ourselves and live a happy life.”

Xie Lanting agreed with this: “I agree with the point about being happy.”

“Exactly!” Seeing that the person was listening, the youth continued happily, “What I love is excitement! Speaking of Immortal Lord Lanyue, I once saw him from a distance. I couldn’t see his face clearly, but his figure was top-tier. I really, really want to see his true appearance!”

Xie Lanting took a sip of water, thinking to himself: If I took off this mask, you’d be face-to-face with the Immortal Lord. That’s right—Xie Lanting, known as Immortal Lord Lanyue, the real deal himself, was right here. To be more accurate, the current Xie Lanting was a modern person who had transmigrated into the body of the Immortal Lord.

Yes, Xie Lanting had transmigrated. Half a month ago, he had inexplicably traveled into a novel, replacing the person with the same name.

Xie Lanting had read the novel. It was a “Long Aotian” cultivation story about the protagonist, Gu Yunqi, rising from a path of revenge to the peak of his life. In the first chapter of the novel, as soon as Gu Yunqi appeared, he was kneeling.

A grand protagonist, kneeling at a funeral from the very beginning. Whose funeral?

His Dao companion—Xie Lanting.

Yes, the protagonist’s wife died as soon as the story started. And as for Xie Lanting, the dead wife? He started out lying flat in a coffin.

When he first read the novel, he felt sorry for the protagonist; now that he had transmigrated, Xie Lanting only wanted to feel sorry for himself.

Because the one about to croak was him!

What a disaster. Transmigrating was one thing, but making him cannon fodder? Wasn’t this just playing with him? He wouldn’t even live until the start of the main text!

In the original story, Xie Lanting only ever lived in the memories and conversations of others. Gu Yunqi swore never to marry again after his death, and countless stories sang of their love, becoming best-sellers. He gained great fame after his death and was infinitely glorious; he was the only “white moonlight” in Gu Yunqi’s heart—but! Once you’re dead, what’s the use? What’s the use?!

Even if he was placed on the highest pedestal, it wouldn’t warm his cold bones.

Xie Lanting didn’t want to shine in memories; he just wanted to stay alive.

Fortunately, although this world was based on the original novel, the world-line had been automatically filled in. When Xie Lanting transmigrated, the main story hadn’t started yet.

There were still half a month left until the wedding day, and three years and half a month until the original Xie Lanting’s sudden death.

After transmigrating, Xie Lanting had been confused and afraid, but a strong survival instinct forced him to calm down. Since he currently couldn’t find a way back to the real world, his primary task was to find a way to break the original plot and survive.

After clarifying his thoughts, Xie Lanting decisively ran away from the wedding.

Xie Lanting was one of the four great elders of the Jade Sword Sect. Of the four, two were at odds with him, and one didn’t care about anything. After Xie Lanting’s cultivation was damaged, the two troublemakers wanted to form an alliance with the Gu family through marriage. They very happily married off their rival, Xie Lanting—killing two birds with one stone.

The Sect Leader Senior Brother did care for him, but the Sect Leader was a “nice guy” whose words carried less weight than the elders’.

Because he had read the original book, Xie Lanting actually admired Gu Yunqi: he was smart, resilient, brave, and heroic. And although they were forced to marry at first, it was clear that Gu Yunqi later developed true feelings; otherwise, he wouldn’t have sworn to remain single for the rest of his life after Xie Lanting died.

He was a devoted man.

Unfortunately, admiration for Gu Yunqi did not affect Xie Lanting’s decision to run away.

The world is vast, and life is the most important thing!

Sorry, protagonist. I’ve caused you to lose a wife. If I manage to save my life three years from now and you’re still single, I will definitely try my best to play matchmaker and find you a wife even whiter than your white moonlight!

Xie Lanting’s preparations for running away were very thorough. Inheriting the memories of the original body, he first took time to adapt to the immortal body, ensuring he could proficiently use various techniques. Then, he packed up the dowry and betrothal gifts and fled at high speed.

His acting was top-tier throughout the process; no one found any flaws.

The dowry and betrothal gifts were the result of a deal between the elders and the Gu family—they didn’t plan on giving a single penny to the couple. Yet, he and Gu Yunqi were the ones being sold. How could there be such a cheap bargain in the world? He took the items with a clear conscience. Thinking about the expressions of certain people once they found out made Xie Lanting feel refreshed.

Since he didn’t know how many people recognized the face of the “foremost beauty of the cultivation world,” he didn’t forget to wear a half-mask to cover his features.

Recalling this, Xie Lanting sat at the tea stall and sighed. So, young man, sorry—even if you have enough time, you won’t make it to Immortal Lord Lanyue’s wedding. One of the leads has run away; how can the wedding proceed?

He even used tea as a substitute for wine to toast the youth.

The youth didn’t understand why, but being naturally friendly, he happily returned the toast.

The youth raised his cup and said loudly, “I hope I can make it to Immortal Lord Lanyue’s wedding!”

Xie Lanting thought silently without any guilt: I hope I successfully escape the wedding!

At this moment, Xie Lanting didn’t yet know that he wasn’t the only one tearing up the script.

Inside the Jade Sword Sect, after careful consideration, Liu Qifeng and the others decided to come clean to the Gu family and join forces to find Xie Lanting.

They sent a message to the head of the Gu family. They didn’t explicitly say “ran away,” instead making up a grand lie: “Lanting has been out for several days and we’ve lost contact. He has old injuries, and we are truly worried. Our manpower is limited, so we hope our in-laws can help look for him.”

Liu Qifeng emphasized the key point: “The wedding date is approaching; we must find him as soon as possible!”

However, he was met with a period of silence from the other side.

In the silence, Liu Qifeng thought that the Gu family head, Gu Bo, must have realized they were euphemistically saying Xie Lanting had run away. Should he… be a bit more honest?

Liu Qifeng immediately began drafting another set of words, but before he could speak, Gu Bo finally responded.

“Actually… Yunqi also left recently without saying goodbye. My nephew is playful; he must have gone out and enjoyed himself so much he forgot to come home. We also have to spare some manpower to go look for him.”

Liu Qifeng: “…”

The familiar tone, the familiar routine, the familiar content. They were all “thousand-year-old foxes”—what kind of ghost story were they playing at?

So the Gu family kid also ran away from the wedding?!

Everyone stared at each other through the water-mirror communication, seeing each other’s expressions clearly. Silence. Silence was the mountaintop tonight—both awkward and cold.

I don’t know which “genius,” in an attempt to break the awkward atmosphere, blurted out: “Haha… the two of them really are a good match.”

This is called being a good match? Liu Qifeng’s mouth twisted in anger. Xie Lanting and Gu Yunqi certainly had a “silent understanding” by running away together, but where were the two families supposed to put their faces! And those heavenly treasures and earthly riches that Xie Lanting had made off with—they had to get them back!

Liu Qifeng and Gu Bo pinched their noses and accepted each other’s nonsense. They immediately decided: What are you still standing there for? Go catch them!