NOVEL NEXT Chapter 69 - True story
Tang Yuan suddenly flipped over forcefully, reversing their positions. Now, she was the one pressing Jiang Zi beneath her, a playful glint flashing in her eyes.
“Sister, you’re amazing!” Tang Yuan exclaimed sincerely, planting a loud kiss on Jiang Zi’s cheek.
Jiang Zi blinked in confusion, seemingly caught off guard.
“Sister, it’s the same old trope, but only you gave the junior sister a happy ending. I love you for being this kind of author!” Tang Yuan’s delight was written all over her face.
This trope was endlessly repetitive. Whether it was the web drama Li Xiang or Tang Yuan herself after transmigrating, it seemed the role of the junior sister was cursed. Authors universally despised her, always writing her to an untimely death.
But in Jiang Zi’s reimagined story, the junior sister survived—and even found love.
For five years, Jiang Zi worked tirelessly, forging a pseudo-spiritual bone infused with the aura of a true deity. She buried it in the spiritual veins, fooling everyone.
Not long after, the sect was annihilated, and the truth vanished with it, much like the sect itself.
Jiang Zi lay on her back now, with only a thin blanket between them, and Tang Yuan perched atop her. Jiang Zi encircled Tang Yuan’s waist, using her core strength to sit up while holding her. They gazed at each other, an intimate tension hanging in the air.
Jiang Zi peeled away the pesky blanket separating them. Without the obstruction, Tang Yuan’s sleep dress shifted, its hem riding up to her thighs due to her posture. Her evenly toned, fair legs shimmered under the soft light.
Tang Yuan leaned in closer, wrapping her arms tightly around Jiang Zi.
Jiang Zi’s hand gently caressed Tang Yuan’s back. “I just couldn’t bear to let my little Tang Yuan suffer through the story, so I made sure to change the script.”
In her adaptation, it was Jiang Zi who bore the suffering—returning from battles battered and bruised, only to find solace in the arms of her wife.
Tang Yuan stayed quiet for a while, then suddenly placed her palm on Jiang Zi’s chest.
Even through the silk fabric, Jiang Zi shuddered.
Biting her lip, she struggled to steady her breathing. Her hand unconsciously gripped Tang Yuan’s back tighter, and she whispered, “Tang Yuan?”
But Tang Yuan had no reservations, her playful touches igniting sparks with varying intensity.
Jiang Zi pulled her closer, their clothes wrinkling from the friction. Amid the sounds of fabric shifting, Jiang Zi couldn’t suppress her soft moans.
Ultimately, nothing more happened, though Jiang Zi had to change into a fresh set of sleepwear before they could both drift off again.
Nestled in Jiang Zi’s arms, Tang Yuan nuzzled contentedly. “Sister, I like you.”
“I really, really like you.”
Her murmurs faded as she fell into a deep sleep.
Jiang Zi, still half-awake, played with Tang Yuan’s hair, twirling the strands around her fingers.
Though she had rewritten a hopeful ending in the game, it couldn’t alter reality.
In the true story, the junior sister had been raised like a cherished treasure by her master and senior brothers, but it was all an elaborate lie. She was a tool for their schemes.
Blinded by vengeance, Jiang Zi failed to see the truth. When the junior sister died protecting the sect, Jiang Zi had been chasing clues about the sect’s downfall.
When the master and junior brothers planned to harm Tang Yuan, they specifically lured her out of the sect.
There was only one junior sister, and greedy people were never willing to share her. The junior brothers conspired among themselves, leading to the master’s death.
The second junior brother was a spy from the demon sect, and after the master died, Jiang Zi was lured out of the sect, falling into an endless abyss, with her fate uncertain. The second junior brother, eager to monopolize the junior sister, grew more ambitious and, in alliance with the demon sect, destroyed the sect.
Fortunately, no one knew that the junior sister had secretly grown stronger. She was no longer the helpless girl she once was, and so the greedy people died at the hands of the junior sister’s sword.
Junior Sister held great love in her heart, and even knowing she had been taken in as a pawn, aware that her life was built on lies, seeing the demon sect massacre her fellow disciples, she still stepped forward, willing to die for the cause.
The day Jiang Zi returned to the sect, all she saw was a sky stained red. The blood on the ground had dried, and the ruins were broken and scattered. The once glorious sect was now just a pile of debris.
Jiang Zi walked to the center of the formation and saw the body of her junior sister being sacrificed. How could it be her junior sister? She had once been delicate and adored, never allowing her dress to touch dust. Now all that was left was a pile of torn fabric mixed with flesh and blood. Her once beautiful face was unrecognizable, only vaguely human in shape.
At that moment, Jiang Zi was blinded by hatred, only focused on uncovering the truth behind the sect’s destruction. It was not until the very end that she learned the true faces of the master and junior brothers, realizing that her junior sister had never been the princess showered with all love. In the entire sect, only she had truly loved her.
The senior sister loved her junior sister but could not protect her.
What was even more regretful was that the junior sister had never known the Senior sister’s feelings for her. Perhaps, in her heart, she thought that no one in this world loved her.
The senior sister, driven by the plot, ended up with the so-called male lead in a happy ending.
Reaching the end of the plot, Jiang Zi chose to end her life.
She lived every day in regret, unable to express it, and death became her only form of release.
Jiang Zi couldn’t protect the one person she loved, and by the time she uncovered the truth, it was too late. Her junior sister had perished, and all that remained was an irreparable void.
Gazing at the peacefully sleeping Tang Yuan, Jiang Zi leaned in and kissed her softly, pulling her closer.
In her dreams, Tang Yuan imagined a snake coiling tightly around her. Its tongue flicked over her face, teasing her but never biting.
Too exhausted to wake from the nightmare, she slept through the unease.
The next morning marked the beginning of a new challenge day.
At 8 a.m., the blaring of the program’s loudspeakers roused the guests.
Tang Yuan, who had stayed up late, stumbled groggily through her morning routine like a sleepwalking ghost, brushing her teeth and washing her face on autopilot before sitting blankly at the vanity.
Jiang Zi came over and placed her hands on Tang Yuan’s shoulders. “Want me to do your makeup?”
Tang Yuan’s sluggish brain took a moment to catch up before she nodded.
Jiang Zi grabbed the hydrating products and carefully applied them layer by layer to Tang Yuan’s face.
After the skincare prep, Jiang Zi moved on to sunscreen.
By then, Tang Yuan had started waking up. She handled the foundation and light makeup herself, but skipped concealer, leaving faint dark circles visible under her eyes.
No time to fuss—downstairs, the crew was already calling them for breakfast.
Tang Yuan forced herself to perk up but noticed that Jiang Zi seemed unaffected. “Sister, didn’t you sleep late too? Aren’t you tired?”
“I’m used to it,” Jiang Zi used to sleep even less. But rest more now that She’s sleeping with Tang Yuan.
Tang Yuan poked Jiang Zi’s cheek enviously. “Wish I didn’t get dark circles like you.”
When they went downstairs, they found they weren’t the last ones. Two others—Meng Yao’er and Su Qingyao—were still missing.
Someone mentioned them, and Qi Hongqiao said, “I didn’t wait for them last night—it was too late, so I went to bed. Not sure if they made it back. Should we ask the director?”
The director chimed in, “Checked the surveillance—they returned last night. I’ll send staff to knock on their doors. The livestream’s about to start.”
Just then, the sound of footsteps drew everyone’s attention.
Meng Yao’er yawned loudly, disheveled and still in her pajamas.
Behind her, Su Qingyao appeared, dressed immaculately in a light green cheongsam that accentuated her graceful figure.
“Please have breakfast first, everyone. You’ll have fifteen minutes afterwards to touch up your makeup before the selection segment begins.”
Fifteen minutes to get camera-ready—a true test of efficiency.