The Male Lead Always Thinks My Script is Wrong - Chapter 23

The flames of the night remained unextinguished. Ji Shinian’s words struck the ground, and for a moment, the silence was absolute.

After a long pause, Xiao Shu’s gaze drifted slowly to the hand resting on his shoulder. His tone was hauntingly soft.

“Song Yu’an?”

He spoke the name as if he were meticulously stripping the flesh from the bones of every syllable.

Ji Shinian felt an inexplicable chill from his tone. Ignoring that strange look, he gave the boy’s shoulder another unceremonious pat. “That’s right, Song Yu’an. The Song of the Song clan in Tanzhou, the Song Yu’an who is the Lord of Mount Fuxuan.”

“Back when I lived in… ahem, my old residence, I picked him up. To repay the favor, this fellow recognized me as his godmother. From there, he embarked on a legendary life, doing this and that, and learning all sorts of skills.”

“In short,” Ji Shinian continued, taking full advantage of the man’s absence to claim seniority over him, “appearances can be deceiving. As Song Yu’an’s godmother, it’s only normal for me to know a few strange tricks, right?”

The Northern Border was mountainous, but not every peak could claim a Mountain Lord. These mountains were overrun with demonic beasts and Great Spirits. While the beasts followed the orders of their masters, the Great Spirits remained in place. They were rare, and if someone passed their trial, they became the Lord of the Mountain, enjoying the spirit’s power.

Song Yu’an, the Lord of Mount Fuxuan, was one such master. He was eccentric, elusive, and one of the few Heretic Practitioners who had become famous against his will, someone even the Sword Alliance couldn’t touch.

As a master of the Heretic Path, he was a “somewhat famous” demon throughout the Zhongxiao Realm.

However, in the original novel, this guy was just cannon fodder who got wiped out by the male lead in a single move later in the story, barely earning two lines of dialogue.

Thinking of this, Ji Shinian’s lip twitched.

Xiao Shu, who currently couldn’t treat Song Yu’an like cannon fodder, remained expressionless. He turned his head slightly, finally shifting his gaze from the hand to Ji Shinian’s face. “You practice the Heretic Path?” he asked calmly.

 Ji Shinian asked, horrified. “Are you looking for a fight? Which part of this young lady looks like a renegade to you!”

He certainly didn’t have a hobby of going to a Sword Alliance prison anytime soon.

Xiao Shu fell silent again.

By now, Ji Shinian had grown accustomed to this stoic youth and his sudden bouts of muteness.

He had been supporting the boy for less than an hour when they reached the back gate of the Xiao Manor. The massive array in the sky belonged to the Heavenly Fire itself and didn’t block its own kind. Therefore, getting in had been easy, and getting out shouldn’t have been an issue.

A smile unconsciously spread across Ji Shinian’s face. He shared some of his power with Xiao Shu and pushed the door open with a sudden shove.

In an instant, the crimson flames at the doorway were stirred by a violent gale. Transparent ghost-fires twisted and intertwined with them. Even through his thin layer of protection, Ji Shinian felt a biting cold.

He instinctively knew something was wrong, but before he could speak, he was pushed forward by the suddenly erratic flames. The surging, frenzied wind forcibly tore him away from Xiao Shu.

When he finally managed to steady himself, he found himself surrounded by scattered mountain rocks and the cold shimmer of a pond. In a single heartbeat, he had been transported to the back garden of the Xiao Manor.

Xiao Shu was nowhere to be seen.

This is… Ji Shinian looked ahead, brushing away the stray hairs blown across his forehead. His tone turned cold. “Who are you?”

“Eh, caught already?”

A man sat at a stone table. He wore drab, gray hemp clothes, and his features were utterly unremarkable—the kind of face you’d pass on the street and immediately forget.

The man looked at Ji Shinian with a smile, his tone full of curiosity. “Won’t you come and sit? This person… is called Ji Shinian, right?”

Ji Shinian didn’t take the bait. He stood his ground, the triple-phase crescent moon on his forehead flickering. “I never ask a question twice. What are you doing here?”

“I take it you’ve recognized me then,” the man said, unoffended. He even nodded. “But then again, someone who can dive deep into the Heavenly Fire would naturally know who I am. Still, let me introduce myself.”

He stood up, his smile bright and graceful. “My name is Huo Xiang, one of the four Primordial Essences of this world. I am here at the request of an old friend.”

“So, Miss Ji, who exactly are you? One who can control the four Essences and remain undisturbed by the Heavenly Fire?”

“You just said my name,” Ji Shinian said, looking up at the man whose hair and robes were lifted by the wind. “Why don’t you believe it?”

“Miss Ji is saying she’s just a girl from the countryside?” Huo Xiang asked with mock confusion, swaying his head. “A country girl who can enter the Heavenly Fire… that truly is a miracle worth singing about.”

“In that case, fine…” Seeing Huo Xiang’s sarcastic attitude, Ji Shinian sighed sincerely and returned a brilliant, polite smile. “I’m your grandfather!”

With that, a silver halberd flashed in his hand, and he swung it violently at the man’s head!

The halberd moved with the momentum of a crashing wave, letting out a sharp whistle as it cut through the air. Huo Xiang’s pupils shook. Unable to dodge in time, he threw his hand up to meet the tip of the weapon.

Bang!

The tip didn’t pierce his palm. It was forced to a halt half an inch away. A surge of teal energy filled the space between the hand and the metal, parrying the immense force and sending a violent blast of wind radiating outward from the two of them.

“Hey, we just met and you’re already fighting like this…” Huo Xiang parried the move, but seeing Ji Shinian follow up with another thrust, he hurriedly raised his hands to shield his face. “Give me a little face, would you!”

Ji Shinian ignored him, raining down a flurry of thrusts, parries, and slashes. Hearing the plea, he nodded. “You’re right. I should give you some face.”

“Right? After all, we…” Huo Xiang’s hands were moving so fast they were a blur of motion. Hearing Ji Shinian’s tone soften, he started to agree.

But before he could finish, the silver mark on the purple-clad woman’s forehead erupted in light. She spun gracefully through the air, her skirts blooming in the wind. A freezing chill spread from the silver halberd, and its three blades were instantly coated in frost.

Huo Xiang didn’t dare underestimate her. He moved to block, but the girl’s wrist flicked, bypassing his outstretched hand.

The silver halberd was hurled with immense force. It carried the wind from Huo Xiang’s own hands, turning the frost into blades. With unstoppable momentum, it shattered the teal barrier and shot straight for the center of his brow!

In an instant, teal light exploded from Huo Xiang. The power was so fierce it drove the surrounding ghost-fires to their peak, momentarily warping the space within the Heavenly Fire. He showed no fear, stepping forward through the distorted space, and then—

And then, Huo Xiang found himself trapped inside an ice cage. The halberd that had been aimed at him stood planted firmly in front of the cage, while the spot where he had intended to step was nothing but shattered ice.

“This truly was… a careless loss at Jingzhou.”

Huo Xiang laughed at himself, looking at his reflection in the silver blade of the halberd. His last words were swallowed by the wind.

Ji Shinian had already vanished around the corner of the garden.

Ji Shinian hadn’t intended to fight in the first place.

For one thing, he wasn’t particularly good at it. His living puppet form significantly reduced the power of his weapons. If he really went toe-to-toe with Huo Xiang, he’d end up running for his life. Furthermore, Huo Xiang was clearly stalling for time by being talkative.

The master of the wind was the perfect match for the Heavenly Fire:

Fire rises with the wind, and the wind feeds the fire.

The entanglement of these two elements, combined with arrays, made warping space and swapping people’s positions a simple task. Because of this, the moment he threw the halberd, he only needed a slight misdirection. The ice and light created a mirage, and the howling wind masked his movements, easily tricking Huo Xiang into stepping into the trap.

To be part of such an invincible duo only to be defeated by basic physics… it was a fair loss.

In a pleasant mood, Ji Shinian didn’t slow his pace. He emerged from the back garden and saw Xiao Shu under a cassia tree, looking around anxiously. His half-tied, half-loose black hair slid over his shoulder as he moved.

“Xiao Shu!” Ji Shinian stepped forward, instinctively reaching for the boy’s hand. “Why are you running around”

Before he could finish his complaint, Xiao Shu moved suddenly, thrusting a sword forward.

The change happened in the blink of an eye. Before Ji Shinian could react, his body moved on its own to dodge, though the blade still grazed his neck.

Only then did Ji Shinian notice the boy was holding a pure black longsword in his other hand. The blade had been tempered by the ghost-fires until it was chillingly sharp, radiating an ominous aura.

“Wait, wasn’t your sword shattered? Where did you pull this one from, ahhh!”

Xiao Shu’s face was pale, and his eyes were pitch black. Before Ji Shinian could finish shouting, the boy swung again.

This time, the living puppet’s instincts sent Ji Shinian tumbling ungracefully into a flower bed.

What is going on? Ji Shinian rolled deeper into the flowers. He couldn’t stop staring at the hand Xiao Shu was using to hold the sword.

You can find a new sword, but didn’t I just pop Xiao Shu’s arm out of its socket? How on earth is he using it so smoothly?

Does biology just not exist anymore? Ji Shinian stared at the “Xiao Shu” in front of him, only now noticing that the hair ribbon on the boy’s head was also missing.

A terrifying suspicion began to crawl into his mind.

Ji Shinian had only just rolled into the flowers when the “Xiao Shu” or rather, the person who looked like him. Developed a hollow, empty gaze. It took a while for him to lock back onto Ji Shinian.

His movements were sluggish, yet when he raised the sword, he was eerily fast.

Ji Shinian had already let his puppet body take over. Guided by instinct, he dodged again.

The silver lining—if there was one, was that without his own conscious interference, his body not only avoided new wounds but the scratch on his neck was already beginning to heal.

Ji Shinian barely dodged another strike and finally couldn’t help but ask, “Who are you?”

Fortunately, this “Xiao Shu” didn’t seem to like being a mute. He paused, stopping his attack. His lips moved slowly: “He… Yin…”

Ji Shinian felt like he’d been struck by lightning.

Why didn’t the book Slaying the Heavens mention that the antagonist who spends half the story chasing the male lead looks exactly like him? Did the author, Namo Shinian Dao, forget to include this detail, too?

Wait, Ji Shinian thought numbly. He shouldn’t blame the author.

The book never actually described what the antagonist looked like!

However, his shock didn’t last long.

Because after answering the question, He Yin raised his sword again!

Ji Shinian sat up from the ground. “What are you here for?”

He Yin’s sword paused in mid-air. He hesitated, his lips trembling: “…He… Yin…”

As expected.

He Yin was named He Yin because when the antagonist first appeared, he spent the whole time chasing the male lead. Since he could only say the words “He Yin” (meaning “What reason”) at the start, and couldn’t handle fighting and talking at the same time, he ended up with that name.

Answering every question truly is a great virtue. Ji Shinian looked at that face, which was indistinguishable from Xiao Shu’s, and everything became clear:

No wonder the book said the male lead felt a deep shock when he saw the antagonist. He was looking at his own doppelganger.

“Why do you look like that?”

“He… Yin…”

Seeing He Yin swing his sword again, Ji Shinian threw out another question and bolted.

Is he joking? He wasn’t here to play a game of “Red Light, Green Light” with this guy.

Ji Shinian ran onto a covered walkway. Looking back, he saw He Yin’s figure shrinking into a small dot, only to suddenly slam into a warm, solid chest.

He stared at the familiar face that had appeared once again. His first reaction was to push the person away. “Holy crap, are you haunting me”

“Go.”

The cold command cut off Ji Shinian’s words. His hand was grabbed firmly at the wrist. Without another word, the youth led Ji Shinian forward.

Amidst the black hair, a long-tailed hair ribbon fluttered gently as they ran, looking like wings taking flight before his eyes.