Sowing Discord

For instance, at the very beginning of the original story, when the original body was brought back to the Su family, he felt extremely grateful to Lu Manzhen and Su Shiyuan. He felt that Lu Manzhen had finally returned to take him in, and at his father's funeral, no less. This left the original body, who had lost his family and felt utterly helpless, feeling deeply moved.

However, immediately after returning to the Su family, the original body discovered that Lu Manzhen and Su Shiyuan had only brought him back to have him donate bone marrow to Su Zhuo.

The original story claimed that the original body discovered this by accident. Yet, as a helpless "drag-along" who had just arrived at the Su family, how he could have accidentally uncovered such a critical secret when everyone else was keeping their mouths shut was never actually explained in the book.

It only provided a detailed description of how the original body, after learning the truth, was provoked into a highly emotional state. He had a massive blowout with his biological mother, smashed the wedding photo of Lu Manzhen and Su Shiyuan, as well as a family portrait of Su Zhuo with his biological parents, and then ran away from home after being slapped by Lu Manzhen.

As for the seven days and seven nights he spent wandering outside after leaving the Su family, and the later plot point where Su Shiyuan found him and convinced him to donate the bone marrow, these were all glossed over.

Instead, the narrative heavily focused on Su Zhuo's reaction—how he suffered and fell into a worsening condition after learning of this drama, and how Su Zhuo's family and friends were filled with resentment toward the original body for causing such torment.

It also highlighted Su Zhuo's "kindness" when he regained consciousness, as he immediately comforted everyone by saying he was fine and asking them not to blame the original body, claiming that the original body must have been very upset, too.

It was as if the original body served as the perfect foil, used to demonstrate just how kind and magnanimous Su Zhuo was, and conversely, how jealous and twisted the original body was.

There were many more plot points later on that followed a similar trajectory. No matter how hard the original body studied, worked, or tried to please those around him, he was unable to gain anyone's approval. As long as Su Zhuo was present, everyone's first consideration was always Su Zhuo. The ultimate development of the story was bound to be Su Zhuo reaping the benefits—even if he did nothing at all. The original body had no way to win against Su Zhuo because no one would ever choose him. This cycle of endless reincarnation forced the original body to become increasingly radical.

Meanwhile, Su Zhuo and the Su family, citing the original body's life-saving grace, always offered him a level of tolerance and indulgence that had no limits. In the eyes of Su Zhuo's admirers, this tolerance and indulgence became evidence of the original body's insatiable greed. They grew to hate him even more.

Driven step-by-step by all the characters and similar plot developments, the original body eventually turned completely villainous, wanting to snatch everything from Su Zhuo by any means necessary and replace him entirely.

Of course, the final result was that his schemes were exposed, he was brutally retaliated against by the characters representing justice, and he ultimately met a miserable end.

Because Su Zhuo was the protagonist of the book, the entire story unfolded from his perspective. Consequently, when Huo Jiu first viewed the plot, he hadn't realized there was anything wrong.

It wasn't until he personally experienced countless instances of Reload that Huo Jiu realized the malice these original characters held toward the original body was far too excessive.

The existence of these characters, including the development of the plot, seemed to be constantly provoking the original body, trying to make him lose his sanity and seek revenge.

But why would the original plot do that? Would this constant pressure affect Huo Jiu's own way of thinking and acting?

Huo Jiu couldn't figure out the former for the time being, but the latter sent a chill through his heart, sparking a sense of vigilance.

He did indeed feel that he had been somewhat irritable lately. However, he had assumed this irritability was an influence from Diwu Ling. But what if his state had nothing to do with Diwu Ling, and he was instead being subtly manipulated by the plot itself?

Huo Jiu frowned. He looked at Su Shiyuan without a trace of emotion. "Which temple or Taoist shrine in this city is the most efficacious?"

Su Shiyuan: "???"

Su Shiyuan looked at Huo Jiu with a blank expression, unable to keep up with Huo Jiu's train of thought.

Huo Jiu rubbed his chin, saying thoughtfully, "I heard that copying scriptures can calm a person's heart. Is that true?"

Su Shiyuan's brows furrowed tightly. He felt that Huo Jiu was mocking the Su family for their hypocrisy and fake compassion. His expression inevitably turned ugly.

Huo Jiu, however, couldn't be bothered to pay attention to Su Shiyuan. The more he thought about it, the more he felt he needed to cultivate his character. So, he took out his phone and started searching for ways to improve his mental well-being.

Copying scriptures, practicing calligraphy, or doing yoga?

Huo Jiu blinked, eventually deciding to withdraw the money he had won from the lottery and count the cash at home every day!

Sure enough, his mood calmed down immediately.

"What exactly are you trying to do?"

Lu Manzhen looked at Huo Jiu, who had spread cash all over the bed and was listening to an online lecture while counting money, and felt a pain in her chest from anger. "Are you trying to show off in front of me with this money?"

"Do you think that because you won a few tens of millions in the lottery, you can look down on the Su family? Or even look down on your own mother?" Lu Manzhen took a deep breath. "Don't you think this nouveau riche behavior of yours is truly ridiculous?"

"What's wrong with being a nouveau riche? If you go back twenty or thirty years, wasn't Su Shiyuan a nouveau riche too?"

"You can look up to your husband who used to be a nouveau riche, but you look down on your son who is currently one. Being so hypocritical, shouldn't you reflect on whether the problem lies with you instead of having the nerve to come here and mock me? Don't you think your own brain is what's truly ridiculous?"

Huo Jiu threw the money in his hand onto the bed and stretched with satisfaction. "Besides, I'm counting my money behind closed doors. I'm not doing it in front of you. If you really can't stand it, close your eyes. Or get out of this room. You can't keep your own temper in check, yet you insist on running over here to get all worked up in my face. I haven't even complained about how ugly your face looks when you try to shift the blame!"

Lu Manzhen clutched her chest. "Get this straight: this is the Su family. I am the mistress of this house. The room you're staying in is also mine. You want to kick me out? Do you really think this is your own house?"

"I wish I could leave!" Huo Jiu grabbed a handful of money from the bed and fanned himself with it, saying with a smile, "It's not like I don't have money; wouldn't it be better to stay in a hotel? Do you really think this dumpy house of yours is some kind of prime geomantic location where living here will grant you eternal life?"