The Female Lead Is My Sister?

Their burning gazes shot toward him like lasers, and Ning Ke gave a violent shudder.

Somewhat uneasy, he asked Xiao Yuan inwardly, They can't see through my true identity, can they?

[Rest assured, host. They absolutely cannot!]

After all, the role he was playing this time required him to gouge out his eyes for Lou Yunxiao and self-destruct for Lou Yunxiao. This was a high-stakes game that would cost him his life.

So, following Xiao Yuan's instructions, Ning Ke had deliberately separated off one of his tails, transformed it into a human boy with a low cultivation level, and sent it to the disciple recruitment assembly.

This tail was linked to Ning Ke's mind and carried his consciousness. When the tail ultimately gouged out its eyes and died, Ning Ke's original body would suffer certain consequences too: his cultivation would plummet and his vision would weaken, but he would not die.

Wait, weakened vision?

Ning Ke suddenly remembered that he had seemed to have trouble seeing clearly back in the Dungeon...

Could I have been A-Ke all along?

"Hey, handsome, come over here to big sister~"

Before Ning Ke could think it through, his body suddenly felt weightless.

The next instant, he appeared on the raised platform beside the four big shots.

A gorgeous woman in red leaned close, her smile radiant and her voice beguiling. "Will you grant me a wish?"

Ning Ke's foxlike eyes instantly went wide. He was a genuine, certified man who liked women, and having her come this close inevitably made him a little bashful.

On top of that, this tail had a low cultivation level, while Hong Yao's voice carried the Music Sect's unique resonance.

In a daze, he nodded.

Hong Yao smiled even more brightly. "Then will you call me Master and come back to the Music Sect with me?"

"Benefactor Hong Yao, resorting to tricks is hardly proper." The old monk abruptly struck the ground with his staff, and Ning Ke instantly came to his senses.

He darted three steps backward.

With some distance between them, he rapidly chanted inwardly, Good grief. Form is emptiness, and emptiness is form.

"Don't be afraid, lad," Wei Qinghai said, smoothing things over. "We old folks simply took a fancy to your talent and wanted to bring you into our sects. That's what caused this little farce."

"Now, I won't speak for their sects, but our Pill Sect is loaded. Whatever you want, we have it. With your talent, we could feed you pills all the way to the Soul Transformation stage. So give it some thought."

"A wise bird chooses a good tree to nest in, wouldn't you agree?"

Hong Yao rolled her eyes and cursed him. "Sneaky bastard!"

Three pairs of eyes stared fixedly at Ning Ke.

But they discovered that Ning Ke was staring fixedly at Gao Ze, the Sword Sect's sect master, who was so embarrassed that he had started fiddling with his sword tassel.

All three immediately sensed trouble and said in unison, "The Sword Sect is dirt poor! You won't be able to stand it!"

They looked exactly like a long-suffering family terrified that their pampered daughter would marry into poverty.

But clearly, this "daughter" had already made up his mind. He immediately pulled a huge pile of things from his storage ring and laid them on the ground, nearly blinding Gao Ze with their brilliance.

Facing Sect Master Gao, who had failed to control his strength and yanked his sword tassel clean off, he declared loudly,

"Sect Master Gao, I have money! I can support myself! Please let me join-marry into-the Sword Sect!"

The other three turned to stone.

The same thought sprang into all their minds: There's something wrong with this boy. Seriously wrong!

Gao Ze had not expected to gain such a wealthy, extraordinarily talented disciple when he had not even competed for him.

He supposed he had simply struck it lucky, and decided that once he returned to the sect, he ought to burn some incense and pay his respects to the seniors who had ascended.

The remaining disciples were picked over and soon distributed among the various sects in extremely uneven numbers.

The Sword Sect received the fewest.

Everyone for miles around knew how poor the Sword Sect was.

Most of the highly talented recruits went to the Pill Sect and the Music Sect. The Buddhist Order did not fare particularly well either.

After all, few young men or women had the resolve to shave their heads.

After making that grand declaration, Ning Ke became exceptionally well-behaved.

He obediently followed Gao Ze, studying the little kids who had been recruited into the Sword Sect alongside him.

He had barely looked them over when someone suddenly poked the small of his back. Turning around, he instantly froze.

A plainly dressed little girl was staring at the ostentatious gemstone rings covering his fingers, her eyes shining.

"Big brother, are you super rich?" She tugged at Ning Ke's sleeve and looked at him hopefully, speaking with utter candor. "I heard the Sword Sect is really poor. I'm afraid I won't get enough to eat after joining. Could you look out for me?"

Gao Ze had sharp ears. Hearing this, his face filled with guilt.

Ning Ke, meanwhile, was still standing there in a daze.

The girl looked far too much like his younger sister as a child.

Especially that beauty mark between her brows, and the hint of mischief in her smile that only made her more endearing.

The moment she acted cute with him, he had no resistance at all.

[Host? Host?]

Xiao Yuan's voice brought him back to his senses.

Ning Ke asked the system, Xiao Yuan, did my sister transmigrate here too?

[Huh? No? Your sister is still in the real world.]

Ning Ke concealed the emotions in his eyes and did not ask any further.

Instead, he smiled at the little girl and said, "Sure. As long as I have a bite to eat, I won't let you go hungry."

"Heh, big brother, I knew there was a reason you felt so familiar. I just knew you had to be a good person." The girl patted her chest and let out a breath, then held out her hand a little sheepishly. "Also, I'm hungry right now. Could you let me have some food on credit first?"

Faced with that face, Ning Ke's heart melted completely. He hurriedly took some food out of his storage space and handed it to her. Watching her cheeks puff up like a little squirrel's as she ate was like seeing his own goofy sister, and he felt a pang of nostalgia.

"Slow down. There's plenty."

As he spoke, however, he noticed the only valuable thing at the girl's waist: a golden-thread wood token engraved with intricate runes. A single glance made his consciousness swim, and he did not dare look any longer.

But that one wooden token was enough to snap him fully back to reality.

His grip on the pastry box involuntarily tightened.

He asked the girl, "What's your name?"

"Mmph, I got so caught up eating that I forgot to tell you, big brother."

"My name is Ning Xiaoxiao. Ning, as in 'better to be shattered jade than an intact tile,' and Xiao, as in 'others laugh at me for being mad; I laugh at them for failing to see the truth.'"

Then she stared at Ning Ke with sparkling eyes and could not resist adding proudly, "Big brother, wasn't that introduction badass? My adoptive father is a teacher. He said if I introduced myself like that, people would definitely think I was really cultured!"

Ning Ke's fingers tightened, but he could no longer quite manage a smile.

Because he had remembered: the novel's female lead was named Ning Xiaoxiao.

It was a homophone-based variation of his hopeless-at-naming sister's name, "Ning Xiao."

And now this girl looked so much like his sister, too.

Ning Ke suddenly felt that events were becoming more and more like a wild dog that had slipped its leash, tearing off in a direction he could never have predicted...

So, a question: what do I do when I'm pretending to be a gay guy who likes the male lead, and I have to fight over him with a female lead who looks exactly like my own little sister?

Waiting online. Pretty urgent.