No. 001 Sucker

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Chapter 1

It was another lovely night beneath a full moon. As candlelight flickered, two disciples on patrol couldn't resist chatting.

"Senior Brother, Senior Brother, have you heard? Something big happened on the neighboring peak!"

His round-faced companion shot him a disdainful look. He thought his companion disapproved of idle talk on patrol, but instead heard him say, "You mean the third-ranked disciple on the neighboring peak getting struck by lightning? What's so big about that? The news has spread everywhere. Don't tell me you only found out today."

The lanky disciple scratched the back of his head with an awkward laugh. "Heh, I was away gaining experience these past few days. I only just got back, and the news gave me quite a fright. How embarrassing, finding out so late."

"It's fine telling me, but you'd embarrass yourself saying that to anyone else... Still, you're something else. You took a patrol assignment right after getting back? Aren't you going to rest?"

"Heh, I've got my eye on a spirit sword Heavenly Radiance Pavilion just put out. I'm a little short, so I figured if I worked harder lately, I'd have enough soon!"

"A spirit sword from Heavenly Radiance Pavilion? Who knew you had that kind of money!"

"Heh..."

A figure suddenly emerged from a corner, drawing both their attention. "Who's there?"

"Who's skulking around?"

"Lin Chunhe of Endless Peak greets you, Senior Brothers."

Wait. Endless Peak? Lin Chunhe?

The two patrolling disciples looked at each other. Endless Peak was the "neighboring peak" they had just been discussing, and Lin Chunhe was the junior brother of the "third-ranked" disciple who had been struck by lightning. He was the fourth-ranked disciple.

The round-faced cultivator promptly stepped forward with cupped hands. Now he could make out the figure emerging from the shadows: Lin Chunhe carried the warmth of a spring breeze and the profound mastery that came with it, each step brimming with life. His gentle, harmless features were as stirring as the purest flower.

Yes, this was Lin Chunhe, Endless Peak's fourth-ranked disciple. He possessed a Heavenly Wood Spirit Root and devoted himself to cultivating the Everlasting Spring Art.

"I hardly deserve to be called Senior Brother." The round-faced cultivator smiled. "What brings you here so late, Senior Brother Lin?"

"Well, while refining pills for Third Senior Sister, I found I was missing several herbs. I was about to go to Thousand Mechanisms Peak to trade for them, but..."

Lin Chunhe looked embarrassed, as if he found it hard to finish.

The round-faced cultivator understood at once. Besides his extraordinary talent for medicine and alchemy, which was known throughout the sect, Endless Peak's fourth disciple had one defining trait: he had no sense of direction.

Otherwise, he would never have wandered so far from Thousand Mechanisms Peak, nearly to the edge of the forbidden grounds.

"Don't worry, Senior Brother Lin. Our shift is nearly over. We can take you to Thousand Mechanisms Peak."

Delight appeared on Lin Chunhe's face. He bowed deeply with cupped hands. "Then I'm sorry for the trouble, Senior Brothers!" He pulled out several small medicine bottles and tucked them into their robes. "I happen to have some freshly refined Rejuvenation Pills. Please accept them."

As if they would refuse!

No wonder everyone in the Heavenly Sun Sect liked dealing with Lin Chunhe and tried to get close to him whenever they could. Get him talking, and a few pills would slip through his fingers—high-grade pills that cost a fortune and were hard to find elsewhere.

One high-grade Rejuvenation Pill could save a life at a critical moment. Even if they couldn't bear to use it themselves, they could trade it at Heavenly Radiance Pavilion for a substantial sum.

The lanky cultivator accepted the pills, his smile growing noticeably more sincere.

While sect disciples helped Lin Chunhe toward Thousand Mechanisms Peak, the subject of all that recent attention—Wen Que, Endless Peak's third-ranked disciple, freshly struck by lightning—woke from a hazy dream.

She had been in this world for eighteen years and had been brought to Endless Peak in the Heavenly Sun Sect fifteen years ago. Only after getting struck by lightning today did she remember she had crossed into this world. As memories of her previous life returned, she tried hard to recall any novel plot that matched her situation, to see whether she had transmigrated into a book. To her disappointment, she had simply crossed worlds.

She didn't even have a special advantage. She was an ordinary immortal-sect disciple. Among her fellow disciples, she was so unremarkable she was practically hopeless—so hopeless that she herself couldn't understand why her dear master had brought her from that remote town to the Heavenly Sun Sect fifteen years ago.

An act of charity, perhaps?

She had cultivated diligently on Endless Peak for fifteen years and had only reached the Qi Refinement Ninth Layer. Who knew when she would achieve Foundation Establishment? Meanwhile, her junior sister had joined ten years after her and was already at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage.

By comparison, calling herself hopeless almost felt disrespectful to her junior sister.

Her sect branch seemed to have been assembled with only the finest people. Even as someone there to make the others look good, she... no, she definitely wasn't qualified.

Her master had the air of an immortal and was revered by all.

Her senior brother was born with sword bones and forged a sword with his own body.

Her senior sister was peerlessly radiant and pursued the Dao through music.

Her junior brother was pure as ice and jade and had healed countless people.

Her junior sister was the daughter of a distinguished house and a descendant of royalty.

And then there was her: the useless third disciple, belonging neither in heaven nor on earth, who could get struck by lightning while cultivating at home.

How had a group of immortals ended up with an oddity like her?

Even she thought so. What outsiders said about her hardly bore imagining.

Of course, with or without her memories—which did nothing to improve her situation—she had long since accepted reality and resigned herself to being mocked.

"Second Senior Sister, you're here? Jiujiu still hasn't woken up?"

"She probably has. I heard movement inside, but... you know how it is."

Right. Hard to say.

Little Jiujiu usually seemed carefree, as though nothing bothered her, but she was still a young woman who cared about her looks. Getting struck by lightning in her own courtyard and ending up in that state would be hard for anyone to bear.

"Where's Chunhe?"

"He said he was short a few herbs and went to Thousand Mechanisms Peak to find them."

"He went alone? Second Senior Sister, you let him leave by himself? You know what Chunhe's like. He probably won't be back for at least half a day."

"He was worried about Jiujiu too. I'd arranged for a servant disciple to go with him, but he couldn't wait and set off on his own. He said he knew the way to Thousand Mechanisms Peak well."

"Yes, well enough to find it after circling around three or five times..."

"It might do him good to get out. Otherwise he'd just pace in circles around this courtyard instead. What brings you here? Did you need Chunhe, or something else? And who's this?"

"Oh, this is the beautiful young... gentleman I rescued at the foot of the mountain. His injuries haven't improved despite taking pills, so I brought him for Chunhe to examine. I wanted to see how Jiujiu was doing too."

"Wen Yan, this is my Second Senior Sister, Qiu Jinyou. Second Senior Sister, this is Wen Yan."

"Greetings, Second Senior Sister."

The three outside had deliberately lowered their voices, afraid she might hear them and be disturbed.

But Wen Que was a cultivator too. When it came to sharp ears, she wasn't that useless. She heard every word her second senior sister and junior sister said.

When the man called "Wen Yan" spoke, Wen Que's fingers stiffened around her quilt. It was as if the lightning had left a lingering charge in her brain, crackling through her thoughts and bringing certain details back.

His name is... Wen Yan? And Junior Sister rescued him at the foot of the mountain?

This plot—

A bolt of lightning seemed to split the fog in her mind. She remembered.

[Aaaah, what the hell is this Wen Yan nonsense? His name should be Wen Jinsheng! He's no sweet, harmless pretty boy—he's the little prince of the Demon Race who ran away from home! Aaaah!]

Second Senior Sister Qiu Jinyou and Junior Sister Luo Mingxi jumped at the sudden scream. They looked up at Wen Que's room. Through the window, they could see Wen Que