The Male Lead Always Thinks My Script is Wrong - Chapter 4

Xiao Shu agreed with his usual calm, but as Ji Shinian watched the man’s retreating back, that strange feeling didn’t fade. Instead, it coiled around his heart like creeping vines, tightening with every second.

Is this male lead being a little too kind?

In the early chapters of Slaying the Heavens, Xiao Shu was a decent enough young hero, but he certainly wasn’t some saintly figure who would show limitless tolerance to a “spoiled eldest miss.” Ji Shinian hadn’t forgotten how, in the later stages of the book, this same guy would smile while tossing people into a soul-refining furnace. When things are this out of character, there’s usually a catch. Either he has an ulterior motive, or he’s sensed something and is biding his time to strike.

Ji Shinian remained secretly on guard, but on the surface, he maintained his arrogant facade. He strode over to the peacefully resting corpse of the Ghoul-Thrall and didn’t miss the chance to add a biting remark. “Who cares about your help? I can find the Dark Iron myself.”

Even though twenty years had passed since his high school self first read Slaying the Heavens, Ji Shinian still remembered the beginning of the book. As soon as the male lead reached the Awakening Stage, his aunt went missing outside the city. It was common knowledge that the Illusion Realm wandered the outskirts for days without harming anyone, but out of concern for his family, the male lead rushed out into the night. At a fork in the road, he used his sword to heavily wound a Ghoul-Thrall but ended up infected by the Blood Plague. Forced to slice into his own arm to purge the infection, he eventually killed the creature and gained a mysterious power. Afterward, the Illusion Siren appeared, claiming to be an Eastern Lady named Chi Li. She had been harassed by the Ghoul-Thrall and was finally free thanks to the male lead. She gifted him a bamboo flute and ten thousand gold pieces, asking him to apologize to the City Lord of Chaofeng on her behalf.

The plot was actually quite ordinary and didn’t have much to do with Chi Li or the Illusion Realm itself. However, the author’s writing was strong enough to make the transition from desperate struggle to a satisfying counterattack feel intense. Plus, the ending featured the Lady cryptically telling the male lead she “looked forward to meeting again,” which was a perfect hook.

But obviously, after that single sword strike Xiao Shu dealt to Li Moyan earlier, a “desperate struggle” was no longer on the menu.

Naturally, a monster that wasn’t properly killed wouldn’t hand over its power to the male lead. The satisfying payoff and the power-up had both collapsed.

Looking at it now, the current plot was turning out to be quite dismal.

After Ji Shinian removed the Blood Plague, the Ghoul-Thrall’s skin was no longer as snow-white as before. He didn’t know how powerful Xiao Shu’s strike had been, but the creature lay there very peacefully under his gaze. Its tiny limbs were stretched out, yet because of the past torment of the plague, even its palm lines were blurred beyond recognition.

Xiao Shu studied it for a moment before flipping the creature over. The clothes on the Ghoul-Thrall’s back had been sliced open by a sword, and after being dragged around just now, its entire back was essentially exposed. On the bare skin near the shoulder blades, small tufts of red downy feathers were so bright they almost stung the eyes.

They looked like underdeveloped wings.

“A half-demon?” Li Moyan looked surprised, “How is that possible? This Ghoul-Thrall was actually made from a half-demon?!”

Xiao Shu said, “Indeed. I’m afraid the person who created this is someone of significant standing.”

Xiao Shu was right. In the world of Slaying the Heavens, the Path of Deception wasn’t common, so its materials were naturally rare and precious. A human body was hard enough to come by, but obtaining a half-demon was like finding a treasure. Anyone who would use such a rare natural resource to create a Ghoul-Thrall was either a lunatic who cared for nothing or a powerful figure who didn’t need to care.

Then again, since they were practicing the Path of Deception, there wasn’t much of a difference between those two types anyway.

Ji Shinian peered through his veil at the eerie cluster of red feathers on the creature’s back and felt the coincidence was too strong.

A Ghoul-Thrall made from a half-demon? This style felt exactly like a certain someone he knew, a guy who was crazy, powerful, and a total creep when it came to the Path of Deception. But that guy, the Mountain Lord, should currently be busy being all lovey-dovey with his sweetheart. He shouldn’t have time to come to the Southern Border to perform “performance art” in an Illusion Realm.

Could there be someone else in the Central Firmament with taste as bad as his?

“Isn’t that obvious?” Ji Shinian dismissed the unreliable thought and continued to fire at Xiao Shu, trying his best to play the role of a shallow, brainless brat. “What does this have to do with the Illusion Realm or our horse? We still don’t have any leads!”

[Host, Tiansuan humbly asks, do you only know that one sentence structure?]

[Shut up! It’s good enough that I could even think of this much!]

Hearing the system’s voice pop out of nowhere, Ji Shinian felt a flash of embarrassed anger. He’d been away from the modern world for twenty years, who could remember the full dialogue library of a tsundere young lady!

Xiao Shu didn’t seem to mind his poor attempt at picking a fight and followed along smoothly. “Miss Ji is right. Since the trail has gone cold, we might as well head deeper into the Illusion Realm to see what this siren wants.” He paused, his lips curving into a cold, faint smile, “And while we’re at it, we’ll find Miss Ji’s horse.”

Ji Shinian didn’t bother arguing over that “while we’re at it” and gave a messy “hmpf” as a sign of agreement.

Seeing this, Li Moyan could only laugh awkwardly to smooth things over. “Then we’ll have to trouble Young Master Xiao.”

Xiao Shu used a storage pouch to collect the Ghoul-Thrall and took the lead toward the other end of the fork. The three of them headed up the mountain path. The road gradually widened until a path large enough for a carriage appeared.

Just as Ji Shinian was wondering if the male lead had secretly turned on a pathfinding hack, the sound of galloping hooves suddenly echoed from the end of the road!

They saw the horse, Dark Iron, carrying two people as it charged out from the forest. The rider was a woman in red, and behind her, a pale, unconscious young girl was tied on with hemp rope.

“Uh… Hey!” It seemed that even if the plot collapsed, things would still revolve around the male lead. Although Ji Shinian had expected this, he had to keep up the act. He raised his voice, sounding both bossy and surprised, “Uncle Li, that’s our horse!”

Li Moyan naturally recognized Dark Iron as well. Just as he was about to step forward, the woman in red pulled the horse to a halt. Her gaze swept over the three of them, filled with the excitement of a survivor mixed with wariness. “Are you cultivators?”

Her tone was slightly cold, but she couldn’t hide her urgency. It was only then that Ji Shinian saw their clothes were disheveled and they looked exhausted, as if they had just escaped a great disaster.

Xiao Shu stepped forward with a gentle posture. “We are. Have you ladies run into some trouble?”

“My friend and I wandered into this mountain by mistake and were ambushed by bandits.” The woman spoke quickly but clearly. “I don’t dare ask for your help, I only hope that if you see our pursuers, you might show mercy and let us live.”

This was a strange thing to say. The road was wide, and they were standing by the side. She was the one who stopped, yet she was asking them to show mercy?

That sense of familiarity surged in Ji Shinian’s mind again. This was a Siren’s Illusion Realm, where did bandits come from? This was almost certainly an illusion.

Seeing the woman prepare to whip the horse and leave while his two companions remained silent, Ji Shinian had to speak up to stay in character. “Hey! Since they’re bandits from this mountain, you can run for now but you can’t hide forever. Why don’t you let us help you? Or do you just look down on us?”

As soon as he finished, the woman paused. Without a moment’s hesitation, she flipped off the horse, pulled out a dagger, and swiftly cut the ropes binding the unconscious girl. She then moved to kneel before the three of them!

“If you are willing to lend a hand, though I am of lowly status, I will do everything in my power to repay you!”

Guessing she might be an illusion, Ji Shinian had no desire to receive such a formal bow. He instinctively reached out to stop her. “Hey! What’s with the kneeling? I’ll help you, it’s just a small favor. A lady like me doesn’t need a reward from someone of unknown origin like you!”

The woman stood up, her attitude still firm. “Thank you, milady. As the saying goes, a kindness must be repaid. Please do not find it beneath you.”

Ji Shinian was choked up by the illusion’s stubbornness. In the end, he just gave up and pointed unceremoniously at Xiao Shu, shifting the burden. “Stop talking, it’s annoying! I’m just a mortal anyway, if you want to repay someone, find him!”

After saying that, Ji Shinian gave himself a mental thumbs-up. This was the perfect portrayal of a haughty, shift-blaming eldest miss who says one thing but means another!

He even managed to trip up the male lead who was just standing there watching the show.

Being called out, Xiao Shu’s eyes flickered with a hint of helplessness, or perhaps a trace of curiosity as he looked at Ji Shinian. He then turned to the woman, his tone remaining gentle. “You’re overthinking it, miss. Helping those in need is what my kind should do. May I ask how to address you two?”

Ji Shinian crossed his arms and lifted his chin. “Yeah, you don’t even know how to introduce yourself. Who knows if you’re just acting together to scam people?”

Facing such suspicion, the woman’s expression remained calm. She simply bowed slightly. “It was my oversight. My name is Hongluan, and this is Chili. We entered the mountains to find family, but unexpectedly ran into bandits. Before Chili fell unconscious from the shock, she kept crying about her lost child…”

Hongluan? Chili?!

Ji Shinian’s brain went “buzz.” Chili?! The glamorous, mature, and seductive Lady Chi Li from the book was this bright-eyed, sweet-looking young girl on the horse?! What was with this age gap and the completely different vibe?! He hadn’t read the book in twenty years, had the plot collapsed this much?!

Before he could process this massive discrepancy, Li Moyan leaned close to his ear, his voice extremely low and fast. “Miss, the Zhou family had a daughter named Hongluan who married into the Song clan of Tanzhou. She passed away from illness three years ago. This Illusion Realm… is strange!”

The Song clan of Tanzhou?

Ji Shinian might not have remembered who Hongluan was, but the mention of the Zhou family brought back some memories.

The Zhou family, as the Lords of Chaofeng City, didn’t appear much in the original work. But thanks to Ji Shinian’s experiences over the last few years, he wasn’t unfamiliar with the Song clan. This clan in the Northern Territory was actually the Master of Ten Thousand Mountains. Every generation of their offspring would undergo a trial, and one would eventually become one of the Four Essences that maintain the world until their eventual passing.

Because of internal power struggles, the Song clan had entered a marriage contract with the Zhou clan of Wuzhou twenty years ago. The Zhou daughter was trapped in a mountain fortress on her way to the wedding, and scandalous rumors were everywhere. But in the end, she reached Tanzhou alone and later became the matriarch of the Song family, which was another legend in itself.

The key point was, he remembered the Mountain Lord mentioning that this Zhou Hongluan had passed away less than a week ago, and her only son had disappeared along with her, which had shocked the entire Central Firmament.

Because that only son of the Zhou family happened to be the current Essence Master of the Northern Territory.

Yet the “Hongluan” before them was standing vibrantly at a point in time from twenty years ago, talking about bandits and a lost child.

The Illusion Realm… time… the half-demon Ghoul-Thrall… the lost child…

Fragments of information crashed and pieced together wildly in Ji Shinian’s mind! A terrifying yet logical guess began to take shape—this Illusion Realm had captured and twisted a piece of real, tragic history! That half-demon Ghoul-Thrall was very likely Hongluan’s child who went missing later. But the Zhou and Song families were cultivation clans, they didn’t have demon blood! And what role did Chili play in all of this?

Moreover, turning an Essence Master into such a lowly Ghoul-Thrall was almost impossible to imagine.

But if he was right, then the obsession and pain carried by these two “illusions” were likely far beyond imagination…

Ji Shinian felt a chill crawl up his spine. He instinctively looked at Xiao Shu, only to find the man looking as normal as ever, speaking softly to Hongluan. “I see. The pain of losing a child is something one can emphasize with. However, these mountains are vast and searching won’t be easy. You two must be exhausted, why don’t we find a place to rest first? Once Miss Chili wakes up, we can ask for details and plan from there.”

Still that same thoughtful and gentle act.

However, this time, Hongluan didn’t agree immediately. She turned her head, and her gaze actually fell on Ji Shinian first. Only after seeing that the girl in the veiled hat didn’t object did she nod slightly to Xiao Shu. “…Thank you, sir.”

Ji Shinian: “???”

Wait? Sister, why are you looking at me? Your gentle savior is right there! Are you not falling for his charms anymore?

This abnormal behavior set off the highest level of alarms in Ji Shinian’s head. Remembering the system’s introduction, he couldn’t help but scream in his mind: [Tiansuan! Quick! Scan this Hongluan! What is the deal with her?!]

[Ding! Host’s request detected!] Tiansuan’s pink screen popped up. [Analyzing target: ‘Hongluan’ Analysis failed! Insufficient permissions! Unable to read target information!]

What use are you then!

Ji Shinian almost wanted to dig the broken system out of his brain.

[Don’t be in such a hurry, Host!] Tiansuan’s screen flickered sheepishly. [Even though I can’t see the file, I can detect abnormal spiritual energy fluctuations and a very high level of pollution attached to her! It’s very dangerous!]

Pollution? Is it demonic energy or?

Before Ji Shinian could ask more, Chili, who had been quiet, suddenly let out a faint groan. Her eyelashes fluttered as if she were about to wake up.

Hongluan immediately leaned over to look after her.

Xiao Shu and Li Moyan’s attention was also drawn over.

Looking at this increasingly confusing situation and glancing at the unfathomable male lead beside him, Ji Shinian felt his head throbbing.

He suppressed the unease in his heart and used an impatient tone to break the silence, taking the lead to walk up the mountain.

“Fine, fine, stop dawdling! Let’s find a place to stay first, it’s almost dark! I don’t want to be mosquito food!”

Support