The Male Lead Always Thinks My Script is Wrong - Chapter 28

Only because I glanced at you once more in the crowd…

The voices of Ji Shinian and the scholar were not quiet, and in the tea house that had suddenly fallen silent, they seemed to be magnified several times over.

As soon as those words were spoken, Qi He’s gaze landed on the two of them. Before he could speak, the cultivator beside him took a step forward and scolded, “What lowlifes dare to call the Young Master by his name!”

“I certainly didn’t call Young Master Qi by his name,” the scholar said without hesitation, tilting his head slightly to reveal Ji Shinian. “Why don’t you ask… Hey, little Young Master, what was your name again?”

The scholar called him “Young Master” this and “Little Young Master” that, causing every gaze in the room to converge on Ji Shinian, as if noble sons were just running around everywhere.

And for a young master of a prestigious family who was so twisted that he pinned his hopes on swapping talents, how broad-minded could he really be?

Ji Shinian glanced sideways and saw that the cannon fodder brother, who was destined for an early death in the original novel, was indeed staring at him, his eyes filled with the fury of being offended.

“Just a joke, haha,” Ji Shinian thought. Having been saddled with so much agro, there was no way he would let the “teammate-selling” scholar off the hook. “My name is Hongyu. I have long admired Young Master Qi’s great reputation. I didn’t expect to see your true face in such a small place, it’s truly a surprise.”

“Hongyu?” The cultivator beside Qi He sneered, observing his master’s expression and dutifully acting as a mouthpiece. “I’ve never heard of it. Which fallen household does this Young Master belong to?”

Ji Shinian nodded and said, “You’re right. My friend was just joking around, he can’t control his mouth, I’m truly sorry.”

The scholar: “…”

“You lot…”

The cultivator, acting high and mighty, was about to lash out when Qi He raised a hand to stop him. This Young Master Qi’s gaze paused briefly on Ji Shinian’s clothes—this shark-silk was definitely not something an ordinary family could possess. A flash of suspicion crossed his eyes, quickly replaced by impatience.

“Enough, official business is more important,” Qi He’s tone softened slightly, but his gaze remained scrutinizing. “If there is a next time, I will not be so lenient.”

“Consider yourselves lucky!” The cultivator immediately turned to Qi He with a fawning smile. “Young Master, let us go. The second floor…” He looked around the tea house and immediately led them toward the stairs. “Is this way!”

The group didn’t wait for a waiter to attend to them, and no one stopped them. They simply acted in tandem and swaggered up to the second floor.

Ji Shinian watched their backs disappear before turning back to sit in his original spot.

As he sat down, two gazes struck him like lightning, pinning him right in the middle from both sides.

The scholar drew out his words: “Friends—?”

Ji Shinian knew that neither of these two were ordinary people. Rather than engaging in hypocritical maneuvering, it was better to do the opposite. He made a decision on the spot, smiling as he patted the scholar’s shoulder. “Yes. A meeting gift, do you like it?”

Hongyu remained silent: “…”

Not panicking at all, Ji Shinian turned to him. “Since we’re friends now, Brother Hongyu won’t mind if I borrow your identity for a bit, right?”

The tea house returned to its bustling state, as if the minor interlude just now hadn’t happened. The scholar stared at Ji Shinian for a long while before actually bursting into laughter. “Heh, I’ve never met someone like you, Little Young Master. But since we’re friends, I forgot to ask.”

“Might I ask your name, sir?”

“Just an ordinary person, I won’t embarrass myself by announcing it,” Ji Shinian tapped the table and gave a faint smile. “My surname is Ji, as in ‘to record’.”

“Master Ji is quite mysterious. Not only do you not show your true face when making a friend, you won’t even give your full name—but I’m someone who values ‘fate’.”

The scholar shook his head, showing no signs of blame. Instead, he leisurely introduced himself.

“Shan Yunzhu, a 357th-generation disciple of the Desert Ruins Academy. If Little Master Ji joins the academy, you might even have to call me ‘Senior Brother’.”

“…I have long heard of your great name,” Ji Shinian shifted a bit closer to Hongyu, returning the greeting. “Master Shan.”

“So formal? I thought a young man of your age coming to Tianshui Bank would sweetly call me ‘Senior Brother’,” Shan Yunzhu squinted his eyes, naturally leaning closer as he spoke. The scent of medicinal herbs rolled in with him once again.

Ji Shinian instinctively leaned back half a foot. That “sweetly” made his scalp tingle for no reason, and he hurriedly said, “Master Shan must be joking.”

Ji Shinian’s “long heard of your great name” was actually not a polite formality.

Shan Yunzhu was the only character in Slaying the Heavens who, after meeting the male lead, not only didn’t die but became a male supporting character of equal standing—acting as a mentor, friend, rival, and nuisance all at once.

He had a face as fair as a lotus, described by the author as quite feminine, yet he had countless female confidantes. He was meticulous in his thinking, and his relationship with the male lead could only be described as a clash of the titans, making him the ultimate frenemy.

Of course, he was also supposed to be the “true brother” to the male lead that Ji Shinian admired most.

Unfortunately, back when Slaying the Heavens was popular across the country, there was no shortage of female classmates in Ji Shinian’s class who read it. His own seatmate was as obsessed with it as he was.

Ji Shinian thought he had found a fellow book fan and chatted enthusiastically during breaks, only to be dragged into another world entirely.

Because his seatmate claimed to be a pure “Fujoshi.”

Ji Shinian had no intention of judging the audience, but seeing all kinds of strange “brotherly love” pairings for the male lead with his own eyes, and listening to his seatmate talk about how “bottom-coded” Shan Yunzhu was, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of panic.

And during those terrifying times, Xiao Shu was forced to become part of the book’s most popular pairing—Xiao-Shan.

These two “best friends” backstabbed each other constantly in the book, yet in his seatmate’s mouth, they were entangled in passion, oblivious to the world…

If earlier he could still self-hypnotize by telling himself the book never mentioned Shan Yunzhu having a “sickly beauty” buff, now that the man had admitted his identity, it was no different from a bolt from the blue.

“Master Ji, Master Ji?”

A pair of hands waved in front of his eyes. Ji Shinian snapped out of it to see Shan Yunzhu’s terrifying face leaning close to his. “Why are you spacing out?”

Ji Shinian almost wanted to cover his head and scream, “I like girls!”

He suppressed his urge to jump three feet away and cautiously pushed the other man back. “I was just thinking about some private matters. Were you saying something?”

Shan Yunzhu and Hongyu exchanged a look.

Not knowing what they communicated with their eyes, Hongyu said, “Master… Young Hero Ji, do you have an acquaintance in this tea house?”

“What do you mean?”

“So Master Ji didn’t notice?” Shan Yunzhu turned Ji Shinian’s face with one hand, smiling as he pointed in a direction. “That person over there has been watching you since a moment ago~”

When did he meet someone who would come to this kind of tea house?

Ji Shinian hadn’t yet recovered from the “BL” trauma, so he instinctively looked where the finger was pointing. “Who…”

Before he could finish those two words, in the corner of the tea house, the gaze of a youth dressed in black crashed directly into Ji Shinian’s eyes.

***

[Wow, the Great Male Lead is here too.]

At such an inappropriate time, the System actually started dancing across his retina with a screen full of little colored flowers.

Ji Shinian was in no mood to deal with the glitching system. He noticed Xiao Shu’s gaze slowly moving, shifting from his eyes to his cheek, and finally landing on Shan Yunzhu’s hand, which was still pinching his cheek—

Why did this feel like being caught cheating?

“Hey, who is that?” Shan Yunzhu’s gaze landed inquisitively on his face, his tone full of gossip. “The way he’s looking at me, oh no, at my hand… it feels quite ominous~”

As he spoke, he clicked his tongue twice, but he didn’t pull his hand away.

Ji Shinian attributed that illusion to the aftermath of reading too many fanfics. He struggled to pull his gaze back and slapped away the cold hand. “What are you thinking? I don’t know him. Maybe he’s just curious about my disguise technique.”

Ji Shinian wasn’t surprised that Xiao Shu appeared here—it was even within his predictions.

One must know that although the main plot of Slaying the Heavens had become full of crises and surprises due to his involvement, the overall major events had not changed.

Since the business with Qi He was listed as part of the main plot, it was bound to happen.

It was just that the way the events manifested and the results they produced would have some minor shifts and dislocations:

Despite not meeting in the desert, Qi He and Xiao Shu still appeared in the tea house. This was the best evidence.

Shan Yunzhu naturally didn’t know what he was thinking and continued to discuss with great interest. “Master Ji, you’re being dishonest. There are plenty of people using disguises in this tea house, so why is he only looking at you?”

As he spoke, he moved to lean toward Ji Shinian again.

How could Ji Shinian withstand the closeness of this male comrade with questionable orientation? He dodged to the side. “Wait, wait, wait. Speak if you want to speak, but don’t get all touchy-feely!”

“Actually,” Hongyu watched them with a calm face, “you can just ask the person himself.”

As his voice fell, a black-clad figure sat down across from Ji Shinian.

Xiao Shu sat upright and gave the three of them a slight smile. “I apologize for the intrusion, please bear with me.”

Ji Shinian was dumbfounded: Brother, what on earth are you doing sitting here?

Shan Yunzhu, however, didn’t hesitate. He immediately turned around and looked at Xiao Shu with a grin. “This Young Master, I saw you looking at our Little Ji since the beginning. Could it be that you knew each other before?”

“My apologies.” Xiao Shu leaned back slightly. “I am merely using this spot to rest.”

His words were gentle, but the distance in them was extremely obvious, with only his dark eyes landing on Ji Shinian.

“That truly is a pity.” Shan Yunzhu sighed and started his usual chatter again. “But for you to come here alone, Young Master, what is the price?”

Xiao Shu did not answer. His gaze was calm, first sweeping over Ji Shinian’s plain, disguised face, and then precisely and unmistakably fixing onto the base of the ring finger on his left hand resting on the table—as if he could see through the skin to the essence beneath.

?

Ji Shinian, who was playing ostrich, followed the other’s gaze downward and saw the ring that he couldn’t take off no matter what before leaving.

He felt like singing a funeral song for himself.

Ji Shinian desperately wanted to cover his face. “Fine, fine, stop asking. We know each other.”

“I couldn’t tell from a distance just now, but now I’m certain,” Xiao Shu smiled slightly, thoughtfully helping him cover his tracks.

“Oh… I knew you two knew each other,” Shan Yunzhu remarked, not surprised at all. He tapped his teacup and smiled. “It seems you didn’t have an appointment, but Master Ji’s disguise technique is quite ordinary. As for this new Young Master, I’m curious how you recognized him?”

“It was just a coincidence,” Xiao Shu said, his tone gently dismissive.

In Slaying the Heavens, this Phoenix Feather Ring from the Scarlet Oriole Secret Realm was made of phoenix bone. Once it took form and recognized a master, only those who had heard the phoenix’s cry and the owner themselves could see through the illusion and witness this divine relic.

Seeing that the two men on his left and right clearly couldn’t see the Phoenix Feather Ring on his hand, Ji Shinian didn’t intend to explain this troublesome setting that wouldn’t be known until later in the story.

He pressed his hand on the table, taking an interrogative stance to strike first: “Ahem, shouldn’t you be asleep? What are you doing here?”

And he had even changed his clothes.