Jiangning Love Brain
"After Failing to Conquer My Nemesis" by Fu Ling
June 22, 2025
Chapter 1
In the late autumn of the 549th year of the Celestial Calendar, dark clouds gathered.
Fine raindrops fell gently, unlike the torrential downpours, carrying a silent, gentle warmth that enveloped the sky in a misty rain.
Suddenly, the sound of fierce fighting broke the silence of the long night.
"He killed Junior Sister!"
"Catch him! Don't let him get away!"
Amidst the commotion, the man on the rooftop ruthlessly sheathed his blood-dripping natal sword. Glancing at the pursuers behind him, the man, shrouded in demonic energy, curled his lips into a slight smile, and with a few quick steps, easily vanished into the darkness.
The sky was overcast, without a trace of moonlight. After a long period of oppression, the dark clouds finally broke open, and the moonlight couldn't wait to escape.
It illuminated the Moonlit Pavilion, and the shattered scepter of youth at the woman's waist.
The old man who had guarded the Spirit Pavilion for over a hundred years in the Xuanling Sect suddenly opened his eyes. Several gusts of bleak autumn wind blew by, carrying with them fiery red maple leaves that scorched the damp ground.
Inside the spirit pavilion of the Xuanling Sect, a spirit lamp quietly went out.
*
"Junior Sister, Senior Brother has woken up." The disciple's reminder did not attract the woman's attention. Instead, she simply lowered her head and quietly wiped her sword, completely focused. Soon, the crystal-clear spirit sword gradually revealed its sharpness under her wiping.
A woman in a blue and white glazed fairy dress was bathed in moonlight. Her long, raven-black hair, reaching her waist, was tied into a single braid and then coiled up. A jade-blue hair ribbon hung down her back, fluttering in the wind from time to time. A few stray strands of hair brushed against her furrowed brows.
This person is Zhou Yulin, the youngest Golden Core cultivator in the Xuanling Sect and the sect leader's youngest disciple.
She lowered her eyes, her brow furrowed with unconcealed sorrow. After a long while, she finally spoke softly, "I understand. I'll go see him in a little while."
And so, what happened next occurred. After his long-time crush on her fell into demonic possession, the senior brother pretended to be weak and lured her to come forward to heal his wounds. Then, taking advantage of her unpreparedness, he killed her by piercing her heart with a sword.
Ha, this damned world.
Zhou Yulin is dead.
The person in the world with the best chance of ascending to heaven has died.
As the saying goes, dying under a peony is a romantic death.
However, Zhou Yulin had a crush on him for many years, but she had never even held his hand.
The closest he ever came was when he took his natal sword and, without a word, pierced his own heart. A plot even a melodramatic novel couldn't have written, but my senior brother pulled it off.
By the time Zhou Yulin realized what was happening, she was already dead. A shard of mirror flew out of her senior brother's brocade pouch, and after a blinding flash of white light, she completely lost consciousness.
Memories flashed by like a revolving lantern, time rewinding from the moment she was pierced through the heart by her senior brother's arrow. She saw herself in full glory on the Five Spirits Platform, and she saw herself sitting on Moonlight Peak, joking and drinking with her senior brother.
Finally, she saw the mother she had never met before. Looking at the baby in her arms, she smiled weakly, "Jade in the mountain makes the wood moist, rain falling on the forest brings spring. Let's name this child Yu Lin."
[Person's identity detected!]
A voice with extremely strong spiritual power slowly dissipated into the void.
As Zhou Yulin was about to enter reincarnation, she opened her eyes in the darkness. A book floated in front of her, muttering: [As a cannon fodder female supporting character in a restricted novel, you have been at odds with the male lead Chen Muyao for more than ten years, repeatedly framing and assassinating him without success. In your sect, you were jealous of your junior sister. After losing to her in the competition, you, as the senior sister, cruelly pushed her off a cliff while you were traveling...]
"Wait a minute." Zhou Yulin interrupted, her tone sharp and assertive. "I accept the first half, but what's with the second half? You can't just pin the blame on someone like that!"
The book, interrupted by the woman's questioning voice, paused noticeably, then after a few seconds of silence, gave an awkward laugh. [Sorry for including the storybook I was reading last night. In short, you're dead, Zhou Yulin.]
"What is a restricted novel? Why am I a cannon fodder female supporting character?" Zhou Yulin had long accepted that she was dead. Compared to now, she was more confused about what this book in front of her was and where she was.
[Not suitable for viewers under the age of 18.]
The other person cleared their throat and replied succinctly, "Anyway, you're not the female lead, so you don't need to know so much."
"Who is the female lead? And why is the male lead Chen Muyao?"
Zhou Yulin had read storybooks, so she was familiar with the term "male protagonist".
If anyone said Chen Muyao was the male lead, she would be the first to jump up and disagree. Zhou Yulin sneered, "He's average-looking, has a bad character, a bad temper, and apart from being a little talented, how does he resemble a male lead?"
[No comment...] The spiritual energy from the other side rippled outwards, and in the darkness, it seemed as if many points of light suddenly converged on the almost transparent Zhou Yulin. [You only need to know that someone wants to save you.]
"I don't accept it." Upon hearing this, the book trembled.
It's really strange that there are still people who don't want to live. In this day and age, shouldn't rebirth and transmigration into books be the new trend?
"Answer my question first, or I'll slit my throat and come back later."
This woman was strangely assertive. After a long, long silence, she finally gritted her teeth and said, "Woman, what exactly do you want to know?"
Zhou Yulin bombarded him with questions one after another: "Who are you? Where am I now? Why is Chen Muyao the male lead? And why am I a cannon fodder female supporting character?"
[In short, the original work you're referring to, "Drunken Moon," is a restricted novel.]
[It tells the story of Xu Zuiyue, a seemingly useless disciple, who, due to his innate furnace-cauldron physique, is coveted by people all over the world. He is rescued from his predicament by Chen Muyao, a man of immortal bones and a Daoist heart. After experiencing various trials, the two ascend to immortality together. Throughout this process, your existence only creates trouble for them.] The voice succinctly summarized.
"Oh? Then why do I need to log on after I've finished collecting my lunchbox?"
Zhou Yulin lay there with an air of self-righteousness, showing absolutely no awareness of the need to live.
[You're dead, but your nemesis is still alive and well. Aren't you angry?]
The girl, who had seemed indifferent just a moment ago, suddenly grabbed the book, her face darkening. "Where can I revive? I want to revive."
How to save a wayward girl?
A: To give her a mortal enemy she can never forget.
"No matter how things change, the essence remains the same; never forget the people around you."
The sound faded from her mind, and a sudden, agonizing pain, like waves crashing over her soul, surged forth. The chanting from the temple gradually became clearer in her ears. Zhou Yulin opened her eyes and saw a dilapidated bed ceiling with spiderwebs that looked like they had been there for years.
She instinctively pulled the blanket over her head, thinking it would be the same as usual, and naturally wanted to sleep a little longer. Unexpectedly, a clear, slightly childish voice called out.
"Miss—it's time to get up!"
Seeing no movement on the bed, the person who had called out approached as if it were a habit, muttering, "Miss, that Wu Lang is such a scoundrel! It's a pity that our young lady was willing to die for him, even jumping into the river, while he pretended not to know anything and pushed all the blame onto her."
"Now, they actually..." The maidservant became very agitated and said indignantly, "They actually have the audacity to marry the Third Miss!"
A flood of information rushed into Zhou Yulin's mind, but she felt no emotional fluctuation whatsoever. Who is this? Does he have anything to do with me? No, I should be dead.
Zhou Yulin suddenly snapped out of her daze, immediately jumped out of bed, and ran barefoot to the bronze mirror in a few big strides.
The woman in the mirror was dressed in plain white clothes, her clothes faded from washing, yet she possessed a beautiful face. Especially compared to her tragic and pitiful past, Zhou Yulin found it even more unbelievable. Could Wu Chi be blind?
How could such a beautiful girl be so heartless as to break off her engagement?
Zhou Yulin blinked in disbelief before realizing that this was not her own face, but a face that overlapped with her face by about 80%.
There really are such strange things in the world.
She asked slowly, word by word, "Who am I?"
The maidservant laughed, "Why is Miss putting on this amnesia act today?"
"Miss is Zhou Yulin, the eldest daughter of the Zhou family, the richest family in Jiangning."
Zhou Yulin? To make sure it was the same as what she thought, Zhou Yulin immediately asked, "Which words?"
"Jade that is not carved cannot become a useful object; the sound of raindrops falling on a bell is like the sound of raindrops falling on a bell." The little maid thought her mistress was acting, so she went along with it and explained.
“Miss has had a fiancé since she was a child. He is the son of the magistrate of Jiangning County, named Wu Chi. The engagement was arranged by the madam and the magistrate’s wife. What’s infuriating is that this young master Wu is now having an affair with the third young lady.”
"It was something that both sets of parents knew, but because the lady had passed away and the master had disappeared, relatives took over the family's power because the young lady was still young."
"Not only that, but it was clearly the Third Miss who acted unfairly in this matter. The young lady only spoke the truth, yet she was sent to the temple to reflect on her actions, and told that she could only return after she realized her mistake. But in my opinion, the young lady only spoke the truth; what wrong did she do?"
It must be the strange mirror fragment that fell out of his senior brother's sachet before he died. Zhou Yulin thought about it carefully but couldn't remember where it came from, so he gave up.
The indignant maidservant and the dilapidated living conditions in front of her reminded Zhou Yulin that everything in the past was over. She was no longer the brilliant and talented junior sister Zhou Yulin of Xuanling Sect, but the weak woman Zhou Yulin who jumped into the river because of a scumbag in a small county in Jiangning.
"What year in the Celestial Calendar is it now?" Zhou Yulin remained extremely calm about all of this. Spiritual power could be restored once it was gone, but she had more pressing concerns right now.
"Miss, there are only 19 days left until the year 552 of the Celestial Calendar."
Unexpectedly, three years had passed since his death. While feeling a pang of sadness, Zhou Yulin couldn't help but wonder what had happened at the Xuanling Sect during this time.
If nothing unexpected had happened, Zhou Yulin was supposed to head to Xiaobieshan that night with her sword.
The pain of being pierced through the heart still seemed to linger in her chest, but the steady heartbeat now convinced Zhou Yulin that she had truly come back to life.
"Do you know anything about what's been happening with the Xuanling Sect these past few years?"
“The Xuanling Sect is a top-tier sect. Does Miss want to go there? It’s not impossible, but Miss was diagnosed with a useless spiritual root when she was young.” The maid folded the quilt and sighed heavily. “I’m afraid that going to the immortal sect will be fraught with difficulties.”
Wasted...spiritual root?
Thinking back to her previous life, Zhou Yulin was a genius in the sect who cultivated three things at once, and her spiritual root was also a rare five-element spiritual root. How come in this life, it's as if the heavens are shaking her down, and this Miss Zhou is actually a born vase.
What's your name?
The maid thought to herself, "My mistress's acting skills have improved today. She hasn't gotten tired of playing around with amnesia for so long." She introduced herself, "This servant is June."
According to June, she was the granddaughter of the nanny who came with Zhou Yulin's mother when she got married. She grew up with Zhou Yulin since childhood, and after the Zhou family lost power, she resolutely accompanied Zhou Yulin to this desolate Guanyin Temple.
Although life at Guanyin Temple was simple and frugal, the two of them managed to find joy even in hardship.
After making the bed in June, she went out, leaving Zhou Yulin alone in the room. In her previous life, Zhou Yulin had heard the elders talk about useless spiritual roots during their lectures, but since she already had a reputation as a genius, she was too lazy to listen. She propped her head up and fell asleep on the table after a short while.
Zhou Yulin regretted her past actions. If only she had listened to a little back then, she wouldn't be so desperately doubting her life after failing to summon spirits into her body more than ten times. It seemed that summoning spirits into her body was not going to work. Zhou Yulin tried to summon the Unfallen Jade again, but unfortunately, there was still no response.
The girl lay on her back on the bed, and the restricted text that the voice had mentioned suddenly flashed through her mind. "It's really strange that someone like Chen Muyao can be the male lead."
Zhou Yulin's attitude towards Chen Muyao can be described as one of deep hatred.
Of course, if she understood the meaning of the restricted text, she would probably just gloat.
"Miss, have you heard? Something big has happened in the capital."
"Oh?" Zhou Yulin took a bite of her steamed bun, somewhat uninterested, but unable to resist June's enthusiasm. "I heard that the crown prince who is about to inherit the throne has gone missing in the capital."
Zhou Yulin was not interested in what was happening in the capital. Rather than wondering where the Crown Prince had gone off to play, Zhou Yulin was more interested in when he could return to the Xuanling Sect.
*
That night, a dark figure climbed out of bed, tiptoed through the door, and slipped out. Her waist-length black hair was tied up with a single red thread, and the woman wore a white, round-necked fur coat over her single-layered dress, with a red hat covering her head. She tilted her head slightly, revealing her slender, snow-white neck.
Autumn was drawing to a close, and most of the leaves had fallen from the branches. During the day, Zhou Yulin noticed that there were spiritual fruits in the temple. The vegetarian meals were far from enough to satisfy her hunger. She said she was going to sleep, but in reality, Zhou Yulin had already planned to steal a few fruits to eat when she got hungry that night. Unexpectedly, the autumn night was truly chilly.
Zhou Yulin hugged her arms awkwardly. Apart from the last time she was enchanted and her spiritual power was suppressed, she hadn't felt the change in temperature for a long time.
"Achoo!" Zhou Yulin sneezed, much to her dismay.
The autumn wind rustled the leaves, and the temple was eerily quiet at night. Even Zhou Yulin, who was not afraid of ghosts, felt that the night was too quiet.
Seeing the golden spiritual fruits blooming on the branches, Zhou Yulin's eyes lit up. Hungry, she wrapped her clothes tighter around herself, rubbed her hands, and squatted under the tree, waiting for the spiritual fruits to fall down on their own.
Time passed slowly, with only the howling wind blowing.
No one could have imagined that the once brilliant junior sister of the Five Spirit Platform would one day be troubled by the fact that the spiritual fruit would not fall from the tree.
The autumn night was truly cold. Zhou Yulin suspected that if she were exposed to the northwest wind any longer, her frail body would fall ill. So, she stood up abruptly and cruelly kicked the tree, yelling, "Get down! Get down here!"
It was as if they were having a conversation with the spiritual fruit.
However, it had little effect. Instead, a crisp snicker from the tree interrupted Zhou Yulin and also broke the silence of the temple at night.
"Who is it?" she asked, looking up in surprise. Under the moonlight and willow branches, she saw a young man in dark blue robes sitting on a rooftop not far away. His eyebrows and eyes were almost too beautiful. His long hair, with slightly curled ends, was tied up high with a blue and white silk ribbon. His eyes were brownish, and he looked at people with neither arrogance nor impatience, yet he also gave people the feeling that the young man was spirited and had an arrogant confidence that did not take anyone seriously.
A white robe and brocade boots came into view, and the jade pendant hanging at his waist shone brightly in the moonlight. The moonlight slanted on the young man, yet he was more dazzling and radiant than the moon itself. The autumn breeze was pleasant, and the full moon hung high in the sky.
He was like a figure from a painting, stepping into the autumn scenery of the human world.
One glance and it felt like a lifetime had passed.
What a tragic fate! Zhou Yulin closed her eyes, concealing the resentment and dissatisfaction within them.
If she's dead, then it's fine for this person to live.
She came back to life. How is this person still alive?
Just because he's the male lead in that kind of novel?
Looking at the spiritual fruit he was tossing in his hand, Zhou Yulin felt even more mocked. She snorted coldly and silently declared in her heart that even if she, Zhou Yulin, starved to death in the temple or jumped off a cliff, she would never ask Chen Muyao to pick half a fruit for her.
The person who appeared in this remote temple was none other than her nemesis from a past life.
The destined person with the bones of an immortal and the heart of a Daoist, and also a young genius of equal renown to her—Chen Muyao.
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