The Drama Queen Faked Her Death, Only To Be Obsessively Pampered By A Gloomy Daddy Type Alpha - Chapter 1

“As you wish, Xiao Wutong. You will never see me again…”

Yu Zhihuai looked at the blood-stained figure clad in battle armor before him. His ethereal voice echoed through the world as his frail body fell into the boiling, seething sword furnace, dissolving into a shimmering phantom.

“Yu Zhihuai, how dare you…!!”

A figure in black robes flashed forward instantly. That hand, calloused from years of swordplay, had never moved so fast, yet it was still too late. He failed to catch even a corner of the boy’s sleeve.

The fire of the boiling furnace reflected the face of the black-robed figure, a remarkably handsome young man. However, his face was currently distorted by a terrifying malice, as if he would tear the boy to pieces if only he could catch the one who dared defy him.

“Hea… Head of the House, the snow… the snow has stopped,” a subordinate murmured. “The sword spirit knew what was good for him. His death has… has calmed the Abyssal Rift…”

Puchi.

A cold blade pierced the man’s chest. The “Head of the House” gripped his sword, his eyes blood-red as he took the man’s life. The subordinate died without understanding why, closing his eyes in resentment.

Fifty-six years later, Step to Heaven Sword Cave.

“Yu Zhihuai has been dead for fifty-six years. Why do people still like to imitate him?”

“Wait, who is Yu Zhihuai?”

“Who else? That little devil who did whatever he wanted just because he had the Sword Venerable’s favor…”

“Do you want to die? You dare say that here? We’re still inside the Step to Heaven Sword Cave! This is that person’s territory!”

Fragmented voices pierced through a hazy consciousness. Yu Zhihuai opened his eyes and saw an upside-down stone statue. The head was on the ground, while the body was deeply embedded in the ceiling of the vault, pierced by thousands of blood-red longswords.

Every sword was engraved with small characters: Step to Heaven Sword Cave.

The Sword Cave?

How could he be in the Sword Cave? Didn’t he jump into the furnace and self-destruct?

The searing heat from his memories seemed to still be burning him. Yu Zhihuai waited a long while before sitting up from the ground.

As he moved, a garment rustled and slid off him. Yu Zhihuai froze, looking down.

He seemed to have returned to his youth. He was wearing a lotus pink robe with a sea green waist sash, looking like a piece of sweet, delicious lotus cake.

The item that had just slipped from his shoulder was a small pearl cape. Even in the dim cave, it shimmered with an expensive looking luster.

Yu Zhihuai hadn’t worn such light, beautiful clothes in a long time. A giant ‘?’ popped up in his mind.

Why did they dress me like this after I died?

No, something was very wrong.

Yu Zhihuai looked down at his hands, which were a size smaller, and fell silent.

“Xiao Yu? Xiao Yu, what’s wrong?”

“Did he really hit his head?”

“I said before, his talent is mediocre. Coming in here just slows us down. We should have made him wait outside…”

A quarter of an hour later, through the chatter of those around him, Yu Zhihuai finally realized he had been reborn.

Unlike a typical rebirth, he had returned fifty-six years after his death, his soul inhabiting the body of a “vase” (pretty but useless) rogue cultivator with a shattered dantian.

The owner of this body was named Qin Pinyu. Because his talent was low, he had come to the world-famous Step to Heaven Sword Cave, hoping to find a divine sword that could grant him instant transcendence.

Unfortunately, he had bad luck. Upon entering, he tripped a mechanism, was knocked unconscious and when he woke up, he was Yu Zhihuai.

Qin Pinyu loved to imitate “Yu Zhihuai” and even had a handsome fiancé. However, he never told anyone about his fiancé because he was too busy trying to cuckold him.

Yu Zhihuai: “…?”

Setting aside why this person wants to imitate me, what does “busy cuckolding his fiancé” even mean?

Yu Zhihuai’s brow furrowed slightly. The green jade pendant on his forehead swayed with the movement, like a ripple on a tranquil lake.

Suddenly, a weak, timid male voice spoke up beside him.

“Xiao Yu, we’ve been trapped here for so long. Why don’t you just call that person over?”

Yu Zhihuai was stunned, his water blue eyes showing a hint of confusion.

Call who?

Seeing Yu Zhihuai standing there dazed, the frail scholar like youth nudged him with an elbow and whispered, “Quickly, call your fiancé here, or we’re all going to die today.”

Oh, his fiancé.

Almost instantly, the name of the fiancé appeared in Yu Zhihuai’s mind. Xin Jizhou.

In this world, there were three major sects and nine great families. His fiancé, Xin Jizhou, was the sole son of the Xin family, who dominated the Yunmeng Marsh region.

Yu Zhihuai remembered seeing the boy once back when he was still a sword spirit. At the time, Xin Jizhou was about ten years old. He was being led around, picking grass off the ground to eat. He had run over to Yu Zhihuai, clutching the grass, staring at him with eyes as dark as ink: “Are you the Sword Venerable’s sword spirit? Your legs are so white.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Xiao Wutong’s long whip struck with the force of thunder, lashing across Xin Jizhou’s face.

Many people were present. Yu Zhihuai remembered looking up to see everyone in shock. Xiao Wutong, after whipping Xin Jizhou until he was covered in blood, calmly retracted his whip. He then ordered Yu Zhihuai to be grounded for half a month and forbade him from leaving his room.

As for Xin Jizhou, he was imprisoned in a secret location for half a year, with all visits strictly prohibited.

No one dared to object.

No one dared to question the Sword Venerable, the man who could emerge unscathed from the Step to Heaven.

…Thinking about it now, fifty-six years later, had that kid Xin Jizhou grown up to be less of an idiot? Why was he even engaged?

Yu Zhihuai looked up with some curiosity, expecting to see the current situation, but he only saw seven or eight listless youths. Two of them were looking at him expectantly, as if hoping he really had a solution.

“Calling him won’t help,” Yu Zhihuai turned to the scholar-like youth, his voice soft but carrying an undeniable authority. “Tell me, how did you get in here?”

The Step to Heaven Sword Cave was an ancestral grade cave. Fifty-six years ago, Yu Zhihuai was the sword spirit born from this very place. He knew better than anyone how dangerous it was.

Most importantly, Step to Heaven had been sealed shortly after his “birth.” How did these brats sneak in? Who gave them the guts to come here?

He felt like killing whoever was responsible!

While Yu Zhihuai was fuming internally, someone said, “Young Master Xiao Yu, you were the one who brought us in. Did you forget?”

Yu Zhihuai: “…”

I brought them? Yu Zhihuai searched the host’s memories but found no such recollection.

Suddenly, the ground beneath them shook violently. It was as if something was awakening from deep underground, letting out a roar. In the pitch-black cave, only the disciples’ magical artifacts provided light. In an instant, everyone was knocked over in a chaotic heap.

“What was that?!”

“I think I heard a beast!”

“A beast?” A youth panicked. “How can there be beasts in here?”

Yu Zhihuai didn’t have time to investigate who brought them in. A strange look appeared on his pale, beautiful face. He parted his lips and whispered eerily, “It’s a Sword Guardian Beast.”

As an ancestral-grade cave, Step to Heaven was sealed for a reason. Legend has it that after the ancient war between gods and demons, the victorious gods dismantled the defeated demons on the spot. The divine swords used to slay the demons were then collected and placed in Step to Heaven, guarded by beasts.

With the passage of thousands of years, the demonic energy on the swords had vanished, making them masterless treasures.

To obtain one was to “step to heaven.”

This was why the original host, despite his mediocre talent, wanted to enter.

But Yu Zhihuai couldn’t understand: with a body that had a shattered dantian, where did “Xiao Yu” get the confidence to tame a sword spirit here?

Before his thoughts could settle, the shaking ground split open, and a massive snake head emerged. It was at least ten meters thick, with three colors, dark green, blue, and white, interwoven on its scales. Following it from the abyss was a moving “sea” of insects.

The black swarm of insects gathered like a net, with countless scorpions crawling toward the youths.

Yu Zhihuai: “…”

It turned out to be an old acquaintance… or rather, an old snake.

The moment the Snake King appeared, the already chaotic cave descended into madness. Some disciples tried to activate defensive artifacts only to find their spiritual power suppressed. They began to scream in terror.

“Ahhh! Where is my spiritual power? Why aren’t my artifacts working!”

“Hide! Quickly! Brother Jiang, there are scorpions crawling under your feet!”

“Whose communication talisman still works? Quickly send word to the elders!”

“What kind of hellhole is this? Jiang Mingxue, didn’t you say it was safe in here?”

Jiang Mingxue also felt like he had seen a ghost. Cold sweat poured down his forehead as he looked at the insects crawling toward him, then up at Yu Zhihuai nearby.

Two days ago, he had accidentally discovered that Qin Pinyu could open the Step to Heaven Sword Cave. He had used several hypnosis charms on Qin Pinyu and secretly brought along many guards to sneak inside.

He hadn’t expected that everyone’s magic would fail upon entry, rendering his guards useless.

Yu Zhihuai was currently closing his eyes and chanting something. He was surrounded by a faint, icy-blue magical light, and notably, not a single monster approached him, as if he possessed some protective treasure.

Jiang Mingxue looked at him with a hidden flicker of jealousy. He swung his sword at the small snakes on the ground. The Three Mystic Green Viper King shifted its head and suddenly opened its bloody maw, lunging toward Yu Zhihuai.

Jiang Mingxue looked delighted, expecting to see him devoured. To his surprise, Yu Zhihuai suddenly opened his eyes, and a flash of water blue appeared in his originally dark pupils.

That blue was like a faint light from the deep sea, hauntingly beautiful.

“Stand down.”

Almost instantly, the Snake King retreated back into the fissure. Everyone was stunned.

Yu Zhihuai blinked, his eyes returning to black. He barked at the dazed youths, “What are you staring at? Run!”

The youths snapped out of it. Jiang Mingxue was the first to lash out: “Qin Pinyu, why didn’t it bite you?”

Yu Zhihuai glanced at the youth in the pale yellow robes. As if seeing through him, he arched an eyebrow: “You were really hoping it would?”

Jiang Mingxue’s face stiffened. Fortunately, one of his sycophants piped up, “Qin Pinyu, how can you say that? Brother Jiang was just curious!”

As soon as he finished speaking, a rumbling sound came from the fissure again. The Snake King had returned, but this time it wasn’t green, it was a vivid, angry blue.

The blue snake head bit off half of the sycophant’s head in one go, sending the group into another round of screaming.

Yu Zhihuai: “…”

Oops, this is the one I don’t know.

“Is… is that the Three Mystic Green Viper King? Three colors, three consciousnesses…” The frail scholar hid behind Yu Zhihuai. “Brother Xiao Yu, aren’t you going to call your fiancé now?”

Yu Zhihuai pulled the name from his memory. “Zhou Qing, there’s no spiritual power here. Messages can’t get out. Stop mentioning Xin Jizhou!”

Zhou Qing shrunk back from the shout, scratching his head. He didn’t remember Qin Pinyu being this fierce before.

During their talk, the Snake King had finished chewing the man it killed and turned its head toward the group. The multicolored scorpions falling from its body swarmed toward Jiang Mingxue.

The scorpions were incredibly fast. Jiang Mingxue instinctively pulled a guard in front of him, followed immediately by the guard’s blood curdling scream.

The venomous scorpions sprayed a large amount of poison, corroding the man alive.

“I’ll lure it away! You guys run that way! If you see floating white spirits, ask them where the exit is. If you’re lucky, they’ll lead you out!”

With that, Yu Zhihuai picked up a longsword and slapped it against the Snake King. The blue snake’s attention was immediately drawn, and it hissed as it slithered toward him.

“What if we’re not lucky?!” someone shrieked.

Yu Zhihuai: “Then you’ll just have to let the Guardian Beasts treat you like an all you can eat buffet.”

Everyone: “…”

Are you serious?!