Thousands of years ago, there lived a certain cultivator who belonged to no sect yet reached the Soul Transformation stage. He possessed masterful alchemy skills, but he was never willing to treat or heal others, nor did he communicate with the outside world. He set up countless illusion arrays and poisonous herb gardens around his grotto-heaven; anyone who dared to set foot on his territory was usually tortured to a miserable death.
People said he might have gone mad. Having obtained a legendary Strange Fire, ninety percent of the pills he refined were of the highest grade. He believed he could refine a Celestial Elixir to achieve immortality, yet he spent his entire life without ever finding the recipe. As despair gradually outweighed hope, the cultivator's personality became increasingly eccentric and perverse.
All sorts of rumors have now dissipated like smoke, just like the cultivator's bones. No one knows what the truth really was.
As soon as Nie Shiyun entered the secret chamber, the first thing he faced was an illusion array. The master of the grotto-heaven had given the teleported cultivators no option to avoid it; by the time Nie Shiyun woke from his unconscious state, he was already within the illusion. This type of illusion array was most malicious, as it could directly summon a cultivator's inner demons. Even if many cultivators managed to wake from the illusion, they would find themselves unable to make further breakthroughs in their future cultivation.
The original novel stated that Duan Mingyu possessed a transparent and pure nature and was favored by the heavens. Any misfortune in his life would eventually turn into a blessing, and with his intimate lovers by his side, he never developed any inner demons in this life.
The illusion array Nie Shiyun fell into was also quite peculiar. The reason being, the inner demons that appeared in the illusion were not his own, but those of the original owner of this body.
In the illusion, Duan Mingyu stood before Nie Shiyun with a face full of disappointment, scolding "Nie Shiyun" for having mediocre cultivation and being unworthy of him. He spat out many provocative words, such as how every man by his side was a chosen pride of heaven with a single spiritual root, telling a country bumpkin like him not to harbor delusions. Although these words didn't sound like something that "White Lotus" would say, Nie Shiyun was still amused by the remarks.
The scene shifted, and he saw the original owner as a child, progressing rapidly in his cultivation and using it to show off and act overbearing toward those around him. Immediately after, the scene changed abruptly; the people around him surpassed him one by one, donning masks of ridicule and using the very words he once used to brag to mock him in return.
From beginning to end, Nie Shiyun did not move. He did not speak to anyone, nor did he feel any emotional fluctuations—after all, these inner demons didn't belong to him!
Thus, he broke through the illusion without any danger or excitement.
The phantom image of the Cloud Clear Sect vanished in an instant like a mirage. Nie Shiyun looked around; what appeared before him now should be the true face of the grotto-heaven.
He was standing inside a natural cavern. Large, brick-red rocks surrounded him. Looking around, there were no decorations or furnishings; only strangely colored flowers and plants grew from the cracks in the rocks on the ceiling. The plants were a mix of black and purple, crawling densely across the roof of the cave. Despite the lack of natural light, they flourished, though they looked somewhat revolting at first glance.
Zhai Bairong, who had been teleported in with him, was not as lucky as he or Duan Mingyu to be undisturbed by inner demons. Zhai Bairong was currently in the phase where his Dao heart was at its most unstable in the entire book. He lay unconscious on the ground, his brow furrowed and his expression pained as he was trapped in the illusion by his inner demons.
The one who tied the knot must be the one to untie it. In the original novel, Duan Mingyu had shaken Zhai Bairong vigorously out of concern, and Zhai Bairong had vaguely heard Duan Mingyu's cries within the illusion. Gradually, the illusion and reality intertwined. The loneliness and unrequited longing in the illusion made him cling to the person before him. Although Duan Mingyu was confused, he was naturally willing to offer himself. The two of them took the ground as their bed and indulged in the pleasures of the flesh for several days, and all problems were resolved accordingly.
Now that Duan Mingyu was gone, Nie Shiyun didn't know if Zhai Bairong could escape the illusion on his own. If he couldn't, then the heavens were truly doing Nie Shiyun a huge favor.
He looked up. Before him was a small path that stretched out like a corridor. The remnant soul of the Strange Fire and the high-grade spiritual tool the two obtained in the original novel—the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover—should both be in that dim inner chamber at the end.
If that senior usually cultivated in a place like this, it was indeed easy to develop a personality that wanted to take revenge on society.
Just as Nie Shiyun felt a bit of pity for that senior in his heart, he suddenly felt his entire body grow hot. His heart beat rapidly, and his blood circulation accelerated along with it.
*Was I poisoned?* Nie Shiyun unhurriedly took out a pricey Universal Antidote Pill from his storage ring and swallowed it.
After waiting for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, the condition did not alleviate; instead, it grew more intense... and the heat began to concentrate in one particular area.
*To actually use this kind of drug as a trap!*
Nie Shiyun's face instantly darkened. The last shred of sympathy he had for the senior who left the Strange Fire vanished completely.
This was truly strange. Nie Shiyun was certain that the Universal Antidote Pill he just took should have been able to neutralize the effects, yet the situation was only worsening. He felt his whole body breaking into a sweat, and his very breath was scalding.
Instinctively feeling that this was a dire situation, Nie Shiyun made a decisive move and entered the jade pendant space he hadn't visited in a long time.
Due to his neglect of cultivation and "feeding" it recently, the space hadn't grown much. But at least the flow of time here was extremely slow. The aphrodisiac was taking effect rapidly and violently; Nie Shiyun felt that if this continued, his mind would become muddled. He could only use the space to buy time to think calmly.
*Why wasn't there such a plot point in the original work?!* Nie Shiyun tried hard to remember. The original work seemed to describe this segment only from Duan Mingyu's perspective, saying only that he leaned in close to Zhai Bairong out of concern to shake him awake, only to be inexplicably embraced. Duan Mingyu had never seen his Senior Brother lose his composure like that; he was frightened for a moment but also very shy.
*Could it be that it wasn't just the illusion at work...? Were they both drugged back then, but confused it for the illusion in their muddled state?*
Forced into a corner, Nie Shiyun tried to relieve himself, but it had no effect.
Nie Shiyun cursed this senior in his heart, whose personality was so malicious it could be called insane. Most cultivators seeking opportunities traveled alone; if they were truly teleported in and hit with this drug, there would likely be no possibility of resolving it.
About ninety percent of cultivators would still have their mental worlds entangled by inner demons when the drug took effect. They would be completely unaware of the outside world and might never even wake up, dying from a body explosion in their confusion.
Nie Shiyun never expected there to be such a torturous and disgusting trap.
To have passed through such a sinister scheme completely unaware, Nie Shiyun had to marvel at Duan Mingyu's good luck.
*Will this drug last forever? Will I really die from a body explosion because of this? If I charge into the inner chamber in one go, seize the Strange Fire remnant, and quickly leave through the teleportation point, then find another way once I'm out... will there be enough time...?*
All the questions were unknowns.
Nie Shiyun didn't dare to be overconfident. His luck in this world had never been particularly good.
Even if time flowed slowly in the jade pendant, it wasn't completely frozen. Steeling his heart, Nie Shiyun left the space and looked toward Zhai Bairong, who was still lying senseless on the ground.
"Hey, hey... can you hear me?"
Nie Shiyun approached Zhai Bairong irritably, knelt down, and slapped his face.
Zhai Bairong's brow remained tightly furrowed. Nie Shiyun thought to himself that communication was indeed impossible; it seemed only the "official shou" could wake the "official gong." He just didn't know what on earth this fellow Zhai Bairong was dreaming about to have such a pained expression.
Nie Shiyun had calculated everything for this trip and had adapted well to the unexpected, but he had absolutely never calculated the possibility of having even a shred of involvement with the original gong.
He really had to thank the heavens. He only wanted to intercept the opportunities that belonged to Duan Mingyu in the original work; he never thought about taking the man too!
"Ugh..."
"What?" Nie Shiyun heard Zhai Bairong mutter something. He leaned down to listen, but there was no follow-up.
On Quyou Peak of the Yingyue Sect.
"This disciple will certainly not fail his mission."
"I am most at ease leaving matters to you," Qu Zhanmeng, an Elder of the Yingyue Sect and Zhai Bairong's master, said indifferently. As usual, there was no expression on his face; he was very cold.
Accompanying the expectations was immense pressure. From being discovered to have a spiritual root in the mortal realm, to stumbling his way into becoming an inner disciple, learning to treat others with gentleness, and being taken under an Elder's wing after diligent cultivation—nowadays, who could mention Zhai Bairong without thinking of a "refined and gentle" "elegant gentleman"? When others mentioned him, they thought of the Yingyue Sect. It could be said that among the younger generation, he was the representative of the sect.
So, at the first sight of Duan Mingyu, Zhai Bairong had remembered something. Seeing him being suddenly brought to the cultivation world by a sect Elder, looking timidly at everything, reminded Zhai Bairong of things from long ago. However, unlike himself, who was already boxed into the position of the model Senior Brother, Duan Mingyu could surely live more freely and happily.
"This is Brother Rong Lü... someone I knew back in the mortal realm."
Duan Mingyu's face was flushed as he introduced him with some unease and bashfulness.
Zhai Bairong was in a daze. *Is that so? It turns out I am not his one and only.*
"You—let go of me first!"
Xu Yehua looked with great interest at the Duan Mingyu he had captured, his eyes full of smiles reflecting only Duan Mingyu's figure.
*I am not the only one attracted to you at first sight, either.*
The scenes before Zhai Bairong's eyes shifted rapidly.
Perhaps he had already secretly accepted the reality that he would have to share his lover with several other men in the future, but he had always been such a competitive person. Even if it was a lie, he wanted to hear Duan Mingyu tell him personally that he was different.
*Come to think of it, why have I already accepted this reality?*
Zhai Bairong's mind was a mess.
"Can you hear me? Uh, so hot... Hey, you're not dead yet, are you?"
Zhai Bairong vaguely felt someone touching his cheek—to be precise, it felt like he was being slapped.
"Mingyu..."
No, it wasn't Mingyu. The other person's movements were very rough, with no sense of decorum to speak of; it wasn't something Mingyu would do.
*Where is this? Isn't this the Yingyue Sect?*
"Damn it, he's completely out of it," Nie Shiyun muttered. After being slapped several times, Zhai Bairong actually opened his eyes. But the way the man looked at a 1.8-meter-tall man like himself and called out "Mingyu"—if he wasn't muddled, he must have gone blind.
"So hot..."
Zhai Bairong felt the hot air flowing through his throat was about to scald him. There was no part of his body that wasn't in pain, as if his meridians were about to flow backward and burst.
Nie Shiyun's vision blurred, and the world spun. He stared blankly at the person on top of him, never expecting that he would be grabbed and pinned to the ground by the delirious Zhai Bairong.
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Transmigrated into a Total Shou Novel as a Cannon Fodder, but Ended Up 1v1-ing the Male Lead | Chapter 10 | A Malicious Trap | Novela.app | Novela.app
