The Male Lead Always Thinks My Script is Wrong - Chapter 20

[Host… what did Zhou Hongluan mean by “Creating a God”]

When Ji Shinian climbed out of the Hidden Sword Pavilion, the large, round moon was still draped in a thin veil of clouds, looking like a hazy, masked beauty. The three guards on duty were leaning against the railings, nodding off.

Tiansuan seemed to have only just recovered from its shock, its electronic voice stuttering slightly.

Ji Shinian jumped down from the eaves. His palms still seemed to retain the boiling sensation of those white eggs, and his fingertips curled instinctively. He felt a wave of irritation in his heart. [Aren’t you the system? You don’t know the setting?]

In truth, although Slaying the Heavens Immortal was titled as such, the entire story was about the male lead’s rebellion and revenge after suffering immense hardship. There were no gods or immortals at all.

After twenty years, Ji Shinian finally remembered that the ridiculousness of Slaying the Heavens Immortal started with the title itself.

After all, the book was filled with heroes and legends, but aside from rumors, no one had ever seen a real immortal.

Even putting the book aside, Ji Shinian had spent so many years in the Mid-Cloud Realm and seen countless cultivators. While many had long lifespans, no one had ever crossed the threshold of the “Freedom Realm” to achieve true divinity.

So, when it came to immortals and gods, Ji Shinian—who hadn’t seen a single hair of one in the past twenty years, really wanted to ask that idiot author: where exactly are these “Heavenly Immortals”?

Tiansuan remained silent for a long time. Perhaps it was speechless, or perhaps it was just using its old tricks again. [Tiansuan doesn’t know either, there’s nothing about this in the settings, sob sob sob.]

Ji Shinian could see it now: Tiansuan was a total amateur that relied on acting spoiled and pathetic, lacking any of the dignity one would expect from an artificial intelligence.

It was more like a little pet someone had raised.

Ji Shinian grumbled internally but didn’t continue to make things difficult for the system. After all, judging by how the female lead could be cut down and the phantom realms could collapse beyond recognition, the “Heavenly Fire” written by that hack author might just be someone’s grand conspiracy.

But why would Zhou Hongluan say the Song family was “creating a god”? Ji Shinian couldn’t quite wrap his head around it. One had to know that the treatment of the Four Qi Lords of the Northern Frontier was already no different from that of gods.

Furthermore, a Qi Lord was usually designated by their predecessor before death. They had to possess a passionate heart and endure the trials of Heaven and Earth, there was absolutely no way to fake it.

Ji Shinian felt a massive headache coming on.

[Host, this situation is actually normal.] After a long silence, Tiansuan probably sensed Ji Shinian’s distress. Its electronic screen flickered, and it spoke up sheepishly. [Once a book is completed, it becomes a whole world, and the logic of events within it evolves naturally. What Zhou Hongluan mentioned is likely a “patch” created by the world’s evolution.]

[Is that so?] Ji Shinian sneaked back into his courtyard through the back door. Li Moyan, whom he had drugged before leaving, was still lying on the bed unconscious. He breathed a sigh of relief, but the doubts in his heart didn’t fade. [If things develop like this, the so-called “main storyline” will change too, right?]

One begets two, two beget three, and three beget all things… It would be hard for such an unprecedented plot point not to spawn a major event. As the protagonist of this world, Xiao Shu would naturally not miss such a juncture.

[That possibility cannot be ruled out,] Tiansuan said.

[Forget it, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Just make sure I can go home.]

Ji Shinian tore off the blood-stained half of his skirt, muted Tiansuan, and collapsed onto the bed. He slowed his breathing and fell into a deep, exhaustion-induced sleep.

He was thankful that Butler Zhou had prepared several types of incense infused with spiritual materials in the villa. While he wasn’t a master of poisons, adding a bit of cleverness to the mix made it easy to knock out an unguarded cultivator.

If even a cultivator couldn’t handle it, his “Eldest Miss” persona, who was supposed to be a defenseless girl, should certainly play the part.

“Eldest Miss, Eldest Miss!”

Ji Shinian was shaken awake the next day. He had intended to fake being unconscious, but he had accidentally fallen into a real sleep while waiting for dawn. When he opened his eyes, Li Moyan’s square, honest face was steady in his line of sight.

The man looked anxious, the wrinkles on his brow bunched up on his broad forehead. Seeing Ji Shinian wake up, he let out a long sigh of relief.

Li Moyan said with concern, “You’re awake. How do you feel? I’ve already told Butler Zhou to call for a physician. If anything feels wrong, you must tell me immediately.”

Ji Shinian was half-asleep, looking at the middle-aged cultivator so close to him. His mind was still a bit muddled: Did my dad get a face transplant?

“Eldest Miss?” Li Moyan waved a hand in front of his eyes.

“I’m awake.” Ji Shinian finally cleared his head. He pushed Li Moyan’s face away and said sluggishly, “What’s with all the noise so early in the morning?”

Now that he was awake, he remembered the “special blend” of incense he had made for the man yesterday.

Li Moyan didn’t link his young miss to the culprit who caused his blackout. He answered honestly, “Eldest Miss, it seems someone tampered with the incense in your courtyard. I don’t know what method they used, but I fell unconscious after returning to my room yesterday. I’ve notified the staff, and we will definitely investigate this thoroughly.”

His tone was serious. If something went wrong in a noble lady’s courtyard, it was either the work of an insider or an intruder. Regardless of which it was, the Ji family would not tolerate it.

“No need,” Ji Shinian shook his head. “Don’t bother investigating.”

“This… what do you mean, Eldest Miss?” Li Moyan looked at him suspiciously.

Ji Shinian coughed twice guiltily, trying his best to act like a blustering, arrogant brat. He said loudly, “this lady just felt that the incense was too bland, so I mixed it up a bit myself. Isn’t that normal? Who knows why we fainted!”

“You touched the incense?”

“Yeah, that’s right!” As he spoke, Ji Shinian felt a twinge of guilt under Li Moyan’s gaze. “Is there something wrong with that? Besides, isn’t that… what’s-his-name, that Elder coming to visit today? Is Butler Zhou going to be too busy?”

“Thank you for your concern, Eldest Miss.”

As soon as Ji Shinian spoke, Butler Zhou’s voice drifted gently through the door. She was already standing there, but she knocked softly. “I saw the door downstairs was open and was worried about your health, so I took the liberty of coming in. Please punish me, Miss.”

“Ahem, come in.” Ji Shinian was in no mood to punish her. He sat up in bed. “Didn’t that Elder show up today?”

After what happened yesterday, Ji Shinian didn’t believe Liu Ningce would have time to visit a wealthy young lady like her.

Sure enough, Butler Zhou shook her head. “No… it seems something happened at the Hidden Sword Pavilion. The Eldest Young Master was called over early this morning. Hearing that something happened on your end, I brought a physician along.”

“It’s nothing much…”

Before Ji Shinian could finish, Li Moyan interrupted him. “It’s no small matter. I’ve already removed the incense. Please, have a look.”

Ji Shinian shut his mouth sheepishly. Looking at the silent OOC system in his mind, he realized his persona was apparently “sharp-tongued but soft-hearted.”

“Physician, please.” Butler Zhou’s expression remained unchanged. She pushed open the half-closed door and led a young-looking doctor into the room. “So, we don’t need to investigate the staff?”

Li Moyan gave Ji Shinian a helpless glance. “Forget it. Just make sure to check the incense sent over in the future so no one mixes things up.”

***

Ji Shinian let the two servants chat about the tedious affairs of his courtyard. For the duration of half an incense stick, the physician couldn’t find anything wrong with his “living puppet” body. After writing a symbolic prescription for some blood-tonifying medicine, Butler Zhou led the man away.

“I told you it was fine,” Ji Shinian grumbled. He sat down on a hard couch and casually flipped through a travelogue. “I lived in the countryside for so long without anything happening. It was just a bit of incense, could it really kill someone?”

Li Moyan brought out some fruit tea and began fiddling with a small tea stove, shaking his head. “Eldest Miss, incense made from spiritual materials is full of spiritual energy. For those who aren’t cultivators and lack the protection of a Dao Palace, mixing scents like you did yesterday is fine if it only acts as a sleeping draught. But if the two scents are incompatible, the consequences are more than a mortal body can bear.”

The cultivation system in Slaying the Heavens Immortal was called “The Dao.” Legend had it that in ancient times, gods and humans walked the earth together. The pulses of all living beings were divided into eight Daos: Fate, Karma, Logic, Qi, Matter, Life, Tool, and Emotion. Only those whose hearts were focused could enter a meditative state, open their Dao Palace, and control spiritual energy.

Of course, while there were eight Daos, Ji Shinian had always felt this was just a reskinned cultivation setting. Its essence was still the usual spiritual energy and demonic energy. For example, the male lead was born into the “Tool Dao” but ended up joining the demon race, which was dominated by the “Qi Dao.” Ji Shinian himself cultivated the “Karma Dao,” but to this day, he didn’t understand what its actual effect was, he usually just won by using “cheats”…

The so-called “Ghost Cultivators” were those who existed outside these eight Daos, known as “Rebels against the Dao.”

“Oh.” The aroma of the fruit tea began to spread in the air. Ji Shinian rested his face in his hands and looked out the window, a sudden thought occurring to him. “Then… can’t I cultivate the Dao?”

Outside the window, red bamboo and green forests intertwined. Looking over the wall, he could see the main Ji residence, where Xiao Shu had previously sneaked in. Ji Shinian had used an excuse to go in the day before. Perhaps because he wasn’t familiar with the manor, he hadn’t found any flaws. Instead, Ji Shuangyuan thought he was just missing his parents and affectionately stuffed a cabinet full of clothes and novelties for him.

All that incense had been sent over at that time as well.

“You want to cultivate the Dao, Eldest Miss?” Li Moyan’s gaze fell on the side of his face, seemingly surprised.

Ji Shinian withdrew his gaze and looked up. “Is that not allowed?”

This wasn’t just a whim to add to his character. After the male lead’s arc in the South ended, the next step was to head to the Academy in the West. In the original text, the female lead would have long since passed away by then. Since he was still alive and wanted to participate in the main plot while maintaining a logical identity, he had to become a student of the Dao.

And as for that major event that would force the male lead to leave the South and nearly destroy his life, Ji Shinian couldn’t be sure it wouldn’t happen in the very next moment.

“It is certainly good for you to have such thoughts,” Uncle Li said, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. “I will send a letter to the Master and Madam to let them make the decision for you.”

The blue sky was clear as far as the eye could see. Under the bright sun, only the bamboo grove burned like fire. Ji Shinian felt a strange sense of unease. He stood up and began pushing Li Moyan toward the stairs. “I don’t want to wait for ‘then.’ I want to enter the Dao and become an immortal right now. You teach me are you afraid that if I become an immortal, I won’t get married?”

“It’s not that,” Li Moyan extinguished the fire in the stove and obediently let Ji Shinian push him down the stairs. “At your age, it might be a bit late. The usual methods for opening a Dao Palace probably won’t work, we need to find.”

Ji Shinian shoved him into the study. “Then hurry up and write to them! Figure out a way for me, and do it fast!”

He happened to remember that the Academy was the number one school in the world. Given how much he was currently being pampered, Ji Shinian felt he could afford to have some expectations.

At worst, he’d just tell his messenger to intercept the carrier pigeon and write the Academy’s name on it himself!