When the Female Lead Becomes Obsessive – Chapter 90

Volume Four: Those Years When I Was a Master

[Rough and not set in stone: Foundation Establishment → Enlightenment → Integration → Temptation → Golden Core → Nascent Soul → Soul Division → Body Integration → Void Glimpse → Mahayana → Void Shattering → Tribulation Transcendence → Supreme Immortal]

Forgiveness

What are improper thoughts?

They are the delusional desire to obtain benefits that are beyond one’s station, things that do not belong to oneself.

By that measure, Wen Nuan was the “benefit” that Yu Wan Zhao foolishly and delusionally yearned to possess.

But—

When the phrase “improper thoughts” was applied to Wen Nuan, it somehow felt right, as if it was how things were always meant to be.

Yu Wan Zhao wrestled with this thought for a long while, and Wen Nuan quietly kept her company. The two of them were alone in the vast lake—one with her clothes in disarray, the other completely naked. It was a scene of uninhibited freedom.

After much contemplation, Yu Wan Zhao looked at Wen Nuan, her gaze flitting hastily past those red, swollen lips. After all, she had bitten them so hard they were a mess to look at.

She pondered for a moment, choosing her words with extreme care. “Shizun? Did you… did you misspoke?”

“What did I misspoke?”

Yu Wan Zhao’s waist was slender, a perfect fit for Wen Nuan’s hand. She caressed the smooth, soft skin, unable to put it down.

“The phrase ‘improper thoughts’… it probably shouldn’t be used like this, should it?”

“Is that so?” Wen Nuan lowered her gaze to Yu Wan Zhao’s trembling eyelashes. “Why don’t you teach me, then? How should this phrase be used?”

Yu Wan Zhao looked up and saw a liquid sheen shimmering in Wen Nuan’s peach-blossom eyes. They were bewitching, silky, no longer holding the icy purity and refined elegance of before.

The Wen Nuan of this moment was more like a fox spirit that had achieved human form. Her deep eyes were filled with charm and seduction, and the hand caressing her waist was inching its way downwards.

Something’s not right.

If the person before me is Shizun, she would never do these things to me. She wouldn’t kiss me, she wouldn’t whisper sweet nothings to me, and she certainly wouldn’t be touching my butt.

Could there be something wrong with this barrier?

Wen Nuan saw the look in Yu Wan Zhao’s eyes change. The dazed shyness of a moment ago was replaced by a bloodthirsty coldness with such speed that it caught her completely off guard.

She looked down at the hand gripping her neck, the force so great that the knuckles had turned white.

“Who are you?” Yu Wan Zhao glanced toward the shore and realized that the Wen Nuan who had been sitting there was gone.

Panic flashed in her eyes as she snarled, “Who in the world are you? How dare you impersonate my Shizun! What have you done with her?!”

This person had taken on her Shizun’s appearance, a perfect copy that she couldn’t distinguish from the real one.

Wen Nuan: “…..”

She felt a wave of exhaustion. “Wan Zhao, I am your Shizun.”

“Impossible!” Yu Wan Zhao retorted loudly, her eyes growing more bloodthirsty. “Shizun would never kiss me, never have improper thoughts about me, and she would absolutely never touch my butt! Who are you?!”

Wen Nuan: “……”

She awkwardly retracted her hand and pursed her lips. “Why do you think I would never kiss you? That I could never have improper thoughts about you? Or even… touch your butt?”

Yu Wan Zhao’s fingers tightened, a vicious glint growing in her eyes. “If you wanted to bewitch me, you should have done your research. My Shizun is the most pure and noble person under the heavens. How could she be a wanton and frivolous person like you?”

Wen Nuan: “….”

Hey, now she’s just resorting to insults.

“Although I have been expelled from the Qianyuan Upper Palace, I am still Shizun’s disciple! Between us, there can only be the bond of master and disciple. How could Shizun have improper thoughts about me?!”

“Shizun is so elegant and refined, how could she take the initiative to kiss a demonic mongrel like me? And she would never do something as damaging to a master’s integrity, so base and vulgar, as touching my butt!?”

Wen Nuan: “….”

Please stop, no more insults.

I was wrong, okay?!

【Pfft—】The System covered its mouth, laughing so hard that tears flew. 【My apologies. I couldn’t hold it in.】

Wen Nuan: “…..”

What an unscrupulous little wretch, delighting in my misfortune!

Her throat tightened as her breath was choked off.

Wen Nuan saw that Yu Wan Zhao’s eyes were blood-red, as if she intended to snap her neck.

“Who are you?” Fearing that her Shizun had met with disaster, Yu Wan Zhao ignored her own nakedness. She channeled power into her palm, trying to force the person before her to reveal Shizun’s whereabouts.

“Hand over my Shizun, and I’ll leave you with an intact corpse!” she gritted out.

“….”

Wen Nuan sighed internally. Feigning weakness, she let her head loll to the side and closed her eyes, collapsing into Yu Wan Zhao’s arms.

Yu Wan Zhao’s fingertips trembled. She stared at the person who had fainted in her embrace and shook her gently. “…Wake up?!” she urged.

She hadn’t used her full strength to kill this person. Otherwise, how would she find out where her Shizun was?!

But the person’s sudden collapse left Yu Wan Zhao baffled. She cautiously checked for a breath and found that she was still breathing.

She pushed Wen Nuan’s shoulder. “Stop playing dead,” she said grimly. “If you think you can muddle your way through this, I’m telling you, you’re daydreaming!”

She placed her palm over Wen Nuan’s Nascent Soul, spiritual energy gathering ominously.

“If you want to keep pretending, I don’t mind making you sleep forever,” Yu Wan Zhao threatened.

Wen Nuan slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze was placid and clear as water as she looked at the hand on her chest. “Wan Zhao, are you going to kill me?”

Yu Wan Zhao froze, staring at Wen Nuan in disbelief. She saw that her eyes were as cool and bright as they had once been.

She tested the waters. “Shizun, is that you?”

“If not me, who could it be?” Wen Nuan noticed that the Yu Wan Zhao before her was stark naked, and the two of them were alarmingly close.

She instantly grew flustered and pushed Yu Wan Zhao away. “You… Why aren’t you wearing any clothes?”

Yu Wan Zhao saw her push her away, and a shadow of disappointment and loss crossed her eyes.

But seeing that Shizun was back to normal, as if the seductive version from moments ago had never existed, she set aside the awkwardness of the situation and said quickly, “Shizun, just now, you seemed like you had become a different person.”

Wen Nuan rose from the water and landed on the shore. She picked up Yu Wan Zhao’s clothes from the ground and saw they were covered in bloodstains.

Her expression darkened. She cast a cleansing spell, and the blood-soaked clothes became instantly clean. Wen Nuan placed the clothes where Yu Wan Zhao could reach them, then turned her back to her.

“Put your clothes on.”

Yu Wan Zhao was now certain that the person before her was her Shizun, and definitely not whatever creature had transformed into her earlier.

Only—

She touched her swollen lips and looked down at the suggestive marks on her body.

She had thought it was all an illusion created by that thing. Now that Shizun had returned, the marks on her body and the almost real sensation of that touch remained vivid. This meant that everything she had thought was an illusion had, in fact, been real.

Yu Wan Zhao gazed at the slender, tranquil back on the shore.

Does Shizun remember what happened between us in the lake?

If she does, will she kill me with a single sword strike?

If she doesn’t, how should I face her?

Her hand, hidden beneath the water, quietly clenched into a fist. Yu Wan Zhao stared at that elegant figure, a dark light flickering in her eyes.

I might as well take a gamble.

Whether I live or die will all depend on what Shizun’s bottom line is for me.

Since Shizun was willing to defy the condemnation of the entire world to save me from fire and water five years ago, willingly enduring the Law-Enforcing Whip, the Bone-Piercing Nails, and the perilous Pagoda of Futu just to stop other cultivators from hunting me down…

And now, she even tore her own Primordial Spirit to control the demonic spiritual energy in my body…

Then, can I perhaps gamble one more time?

Wen Nuan heard the sound of splashing behind her and sighed helplessly. Sigh, it seems I can’t just change my persona on a whim. It really causes problems.

【The main issue is that your persona in this world is very proper, leaving you no room to improvise.】the System soothed.

“….” Wen Nuan rolled her eyes. Are you indirectly calling me improper?

The System replied with a gentle smile: 【….Of course not.】

“You paused.”

【…If you insist on thinking that, there’s nothing I can do.】

“….”

Classic scumbag line.

“Shizun?”

Wen Nuan assumed the female lead had finished dressing and turned around.

Her eyes flew wide open. She spun back around abruptly and stammered, “You… Why didn’t you put on your clothes?”

Yu Wan Zhao noticed that Wen Nuan’s earlobes were faintly red, and her flustered turn revealed her shyness.

It seems Shizun… doesn’t dislike my body?

A smile tugged at Yu Wan Zhao’s lips as she picked up the clothes from the ground and began to dress. “If I dressed in the water, my clothes would get wet.”

So you had to walk ashore stark naked to put them on?!

Even so, couldn’t you have called me after you were dressed?

Wen Nuan suppressed the restlessness in her heart. Hearing the soft rustle of clothes being put on behind her, she let out a breath of relief.

“Shizun, I’m ready.” Yu Wan Zhao, now fully dressed, walked to Wen Nuan’s side. “Did this disciple frighten Shizun just now?”

Wen Nuan shook her head. “It was nothing.”

Not frightened, just… a little worked up.

Yu Wan Zhao looked at the bite mark on Wen Nuan’s lips. “Shizun, do you… still remember what happened earlier?”

“…” Wen Nuan fell silent for a moment. “I don’t remember it all clearly.”

Yu Wan Zhao sensitively caught Wen Nuan’s brief hesitation. “Shizun, you seem to have woken up earlier than usual this time?”

“It won’t happen again in the future.”

“What?” Yu Wan Zhao didn’t understand what she meant.

“I found the immortal’s inheritance and have already repaired my Primordial Spirit.”

Yu Wan Zhao was stunned. “What? Shizun, you found the immortal’s inheritance?”

Wen Nuan nodded. “Yes, the immortal’s inheritance was hidden in the center of the vortex at the bottom of the lake.”

“Then is your Primordial Spirit fully repaired?” Yu Wan Zhao grabbed Wen Nuan’s wrist, her eyes welling with excited tears.

“Mhm, the immortal restored my Primordial Spirit.” Wen Nuan raised a hand to wipe away her tears, her voice soft. “Don’t cry. This master is all better now.”

The words had barely fallen.

Yu Wan Zhao threw her arms around Wen Nuan, burying her face in the crook of her shoulder and beginning to wail.

“Shizun… Shizun… I was so scared… so scared…”

During this time, her heart had been filled with helplessness and despair. She was terrified that Wen Nuan would never wake up again, that she would leave her for good.

For someone with a shattered Primordial Spirit, their lifespan dwindled by the day, and their spiritual energy would gradually dissipate. In less than a year, Wen Nuan’s soul and form would have been utterly destroyed, vanishing from the world.

Shizun wouldn’t tell her, and Zhong Baixuan wouldn’t tell her, but how could she not know the terrible consequences of a sundered Primordial Spirit?!

“Don’t be afraid,” Wen Nuan stroked her hair, coaxing her gently. “Don’t be afraid, this master is here.”

The little crybaby had been terrified by her. She cried for a full three shichen

¹

, her eyes swelling up. She sobbed and hiccuped in Wen Nuan’s arms, a truly heart-wrenching sight.

“Alright, stop crying. Your eyes are all swollen.” Wen Nuan touched her eyelids, rubbing them gently.

“Mmm… mhm,” Yu Wan Zhao sobbed, her arms wrapped around Wen Nuan’s waist.

She inhaled Wen Nuan’s gentle fragrance. “Shizun, can you promise this disciple one thing?”

Wen Nuan nodded. “Go on.”

“If there’s danger again in the future, can you please not always stand in front of me?” Yu Wan Zhao pulled back from the embrace, looking at her with tear-filled eyes. “Let this disciple protect you, alright?”

Wen Nuan paused. “…Alright.”

The corners of Yu Wan Zhao’s lips lifted. She hugged Wen Nuan even tighter, a glint in her eyes. “Shizun, I was so scared you would get hurt. This time, I was truly scared to death.”

Wen Nuan soothed her, rubbing her back. “It’s alright now. Shizun is here.”

The night wind blew gently, making the shadows of the trees sway.

Because Wen Nuan had absorbed the immortal’s inheritance, the oppressive pressure of the Burial Ground had vanished with it.

Yu Wan Zhao had planned on using the pressure to continue acting weak by Wen Nuan’s side, making Wen Nuan maintain her gentle and considerate care.

Now that the pressure was gone, Yu Wan Zhao pouted as she followed a step behind Wen Nuan.

Just then, a Three-Horned Spirit Deer darted out from the distant woods. This kind of spirit beast was gentle-tempered and not aggressive towards humans. With their cute and agile appearance, they were often kept as pets by wealthy families.

Their horns, which emitted a faint fluorescent glow, were especially striking in the dark of night.

An idea sparked in Yu Wan Zhao’s eyes. With a flick of her fingertip, the Three-Horned Spirit Deer seemed to startle, letting out a shrill cry before vanishing deep into the forest.

The cry startled Wen Nuan. Before she could even probe to see what kind of spirit beast it was, she found her arms full.

“Shizun, this disciple… this disciple is so scared,” Yu Wan Zhao said, her voice trembling as she clung tightly to Wen Nuan’s slender waist.

“….” Wen Nuan looked down at the female lead who was trembling like a leaf in her arms. “…Scared of what?”

The bright moon hung high in the sky, bathing the night in a gentle glow. Wen Nuan had already scanned the area with her spiritual sense and found it was just a Three-Horned Spirit Deer. There was no danger at all.

So, what is she afraid of?

You spent five years cultivating and living in the Demonic Realm. Isn’t that place a thousand times more terrifying than this secret realm?

Yu Wan Zhao lowered her lashes. “This disciple is afraid of the dark. And that sound just now was really scary.”

Afraid of the dark?

Wen Nuan looked up at the full moon, which was so bright it made the leaves on the trees ahead translucent. Where is it dark?!

And that sound just now—even I could tell it was a Three-Horned Spirit Deer. How could the female lead, who is already at the early-stage Mahayana Realm, not know what it was?

So—

Wen Nuan watched with relaxed amusement as the girl in her arms pretended to be scared and seek comfort, when in reality she was just being coquettish and taking advantage of the situation.

“You’re that scared?” she asked deliberately.

Yu Wan Zhao put on an even more frightened act, her voice catching in a deliberate sob. “Mhm, this disciple is very scared.”

Wen Nuan watched her act with great interest and smiled silently. She pulled her out of her embrace. “If you keep hugging this master like this, I can’t walk.”

“Okay,” Yu Wan Zhao said, deflated.

“So, how about this master holds your hand?”

Yu Wan Zhao looked at the hand offered to her. It was fair and slender, and the moonlight falling upon it gave it a soft, fluorescent sheen.

Her heart fluttered as she gently took that hand. “Okay.”

Wen Nuan intertwined their fingers. Feeling how cold Yu Wan Zhao’s hand was, she sighed softly. “Wan Zhao?”

“Yes, Shizun.”

“This master has never denied you,” Wen Nuan said, leading her slowly forward. “This master believes you are not a cruel, bloodthirsty, or malicious person. To me, you will always be the lively, cheerful, gentle, and well-behaved Yu Wan Zhao from before. My beloved little disciple.”

Yu Wan Zhao’s eyes reddened. “Shizun, I…?”

Wen Nuan stopped and turned around, warming Yu Wan Zhao’s cold hand in her own. “So, Wan Zhao, can you forgive Shizun for everything I did to you back then?”

Tears welled in the corners of Yu Wan Zhao’s eyes. She was overwhelmed by the unexpected favor. “…Okay.”

Between us, the one who should truly be saying sorry is me.

A slight smile touched Wen Nuan’s lips. She wiped away Yu Wan Zhao’s tears and smiled. “Don’t cry.”

Little crybaby.

---

The author has something to say:

Female Lead: As long as I act fast enough, Shizun will never find me out.

Wen Nuan: Please, continue!

(I have been in this situation before, you all know my habits, haha. Also, I’ll explain here, one shichen is two hours, but I was afraid it would be too long-winded if I wrote it all out in minute detail.)

---

---