This is Not the Same Plot He is Familiar With...

Warning: Mentions of suicide.

Mount Mei Zhu, Qing Wu County...

Su Yang squatted on one of the tree’s flourishing branches, feeling at a total loss.

Under the tree, two black figures and one white figure were tangled in combat. There was the glint and flash of cold steel and a foul stench lingered in the wind. The ground was dyed red from the bloodshed—each attack was aimed at the other’s vital part.

The two figures in black were middle-aged Youxia遊俠 is a type of ancient Chinese warrior folk hero celebrated in classical Chinese poetry and fictional literature. Similar to that of a knight-errant in Europe. Its literal translation is 'wandering vigilante'. Will be translated as Youxia (pinyin), fighters, warriors, champion, plus any noun that fits the situation. , the first one had a sharp chin and hollow cheeks, and the second was broad-shouldered and solidly built. 

The thin man danced with his curved sword, laughing in a strange and sinister manner. “What ‘rising young martial star’, what ‘young righteous hero’? I completely disagree! Do you really think you can step on all the chivalrous young fighters with your exaggeratedly praised martial art?”

While the bulky man didn’t say a word, his attack was no softer than that of the thin man. He was domineering and extremely vicious.

The young man in white, who was fighting against these two men, was in his adolescent stage, with some boyish charm remaining on his face. But below that, his posture was already of a cool and heroic manner, and outstanding spirit, and there was not the slightest degree of panic even though he was at a disadvantage. 

His internal energyInternal energy: 內力 (neigong) refers to any set of Chinese breathing, meditation and spiritual practice disciplines associated with Daoism and especially the Chinese martial arts. Originally I wanted to translate it as 'internal power', but because in the story, one can pass this to another person, I thought 'internal energy' would fit better. was still shallow because of his young age. No matter how solid and knowledgeable he was in martial arts, he couldn’t sustain for too long under the two men’s siege and their blades would inevitably nick him.

His white clothes were stained with blood, making him appear more tender and fragile—a very distressing image.

Su Yang continued to spectate the battle while sitting on the branch, becoming more nervous as new wounds appeared on the young man. He grabbed a handful of leaves from the tree and shoved them toward his mouth. 

He had a bad habit of chewing things when he was nervous. But without things like chewing gum or popcorn, he could only go for the second best, chewing on this handful of leaves. 

Behind him, his attendant from the Evil Sect, dubbed a petal retainer rebuked him, “Young Master, these leaves have a tiny dosage of toxin. With your strength, even if you consumed the whole forest, you will not die from the poison. Please do not attempt to kill yourself again, it would only make the elders worry.”

Just as he held the leaves to his lips, before they went into his mouth, he almost somersaulted down from the tree branch when he heard the warning. 

A little annoyed, Su Yang rebuked, “I am only idling, even coming here, I am still ‘taking things too hard’?”

The flower guard insisted, “Five days ago, the Young Master made a breakthrough, a great achievement in your Six Night Flower Burial skill. But when you came out from seclusion, first you drank yourself into a stupor, then attempted to jump off a cliff, hang yourself with a roof beam, consumed poison, and drown yourself…The elders requested this subordinate watch over the young master, please don’t…”

“...I won't, so shut up.”

He spat out the bitter leaves and lifted his hands to press down on his temples.

He did some pretty stupid things five days ago.

But he really wasn’t courting death, anyone would have reacted hysterically if this happened to them as well...

Chen Suyang was his real name. Originally, he was a web celebrity that suddenly became popular with numerous site traffic due to  his high attractiveness index and his classical dancing skill. Fortunately, he was headhunted by a young online drama team just as he was riding on his popularity. He played an important supporting role in the novel-to-drama adaptation, Arch-Rivals. 

He obtained this opportunity because the original author’s wife personally recommended him, suggesting for him to become part of the cast. This was his proudest moment for a while.

Five days ago, he finished his death scene in the drama just in time for his birthday.

Both the director and the other actors and actresses were very down to earth and lively people, so they gathered everyone that night and hosted a dinner party to celebrate his birthday.

As the star of the party, he was naturally toasted and imbibed until he was completely drunk.

Who would have thought when he opened his eyes, he would actually become the villain he played in that online drama—the Evil Sect’s Young Master, Su Yang!

In order to escape this magical turnabout, he tried to get himself drunk again and also tried various ways to commit suicide. 

As a result, nothing changed, except to cause everyone in the Evil Sect to react in disarray. It also made all the elders scared witless, and to patiently provide him with warm-hearted advice and encouragement—like drinking chicken soup for the soul.

It took three days for him to finally give in. Inside his heart, he guessed it must be a Great Transmigration God playing with him, forcing him to take part in the performance of the script again from the beginning. To return to the real world, he must proceed with the whole storyline.

Luckily, this world’s timeline coincided with the beginning of the script. According to the JianghuJianghu: 江湖 (lit. rivers and lakes) is the community of martial artists in Wuxia stories and, more recently, outlaw societies like the Triads. Think of the Jianghu as every fighter in the world of Wuxia. legend, the House of Jade would be opening its gates and selecting the best rising martial artists. 

He immediately packed up his things and rushed to Mount Mei Zhu to start his first scenario.

Arriving at him squatting on this tree branch and watching this scene.

However, somehow this plot was a little different from the script he was familiar with...

The House of Jade’s opening date was correct. The primary screening method was to hide sixty-six jade bells in Mount. Mei Zhu’s forest for candidates to discover...or steal, which was also more accurate. After he entered the mountain, he soon found a jade bell which matched the script. 

But what should have happened after he found the jade bell, was to have his first encounter with the protagonist of the novel, Gu Feidi, and fight him for it—however, a huge error happened at this important juncture.

Looking down at the three who were still fighting, his gaze locked on the white-clad young man who was gradually running low on internal energy and receiving more and more injuries. 

He sighed in despair and asked the petal retainer behind him, “What do you suggest? Gu Feidi is being bullied like this. Should I save him or not?”

—The young man in white was the protagonist in Arch-Rivals, and praised as ‘a young rising martial star’, and ‘young righteous hero’, Gu Feidi.

The petal retainer remained silent, before asking, “Does the Young Master have an interest in him?”

“That I cannot say, but he can’t just die here. We haven’t arrived at the House of Jade yet,” said Su Yang.

Before the House of Jade, Gu Feidi hadn't learned the Path to Home: Returning to the NestPath to Home: Returning to the Nest: 知還經歸巢卷, 經 is the ‘work’ and 卷 is the ‘scroll’. Used in ancient times when things are written on scrolls. Sort of like Harry Potter is the work and Philosopher's Stone is the ‘scroll’. Credit to velvetcakehat (translator for Part-Time Taoist Priest). The first two letters are from “倦鳥知還”, which means tired bird knows the way back to its nest. , how would the storyline continue? How would he die under the protagonist’s sword and return to his own world?

But if he stepped in and saved Gu Feidi, won’t he make the already messy script messier?

The Young Master of the Evil Sect saves the righteous young hero?

That is not logical!

While he was at a loss, he heard his petal retainer behind him say, “The Young Master can go to the rescue if he wants to. However, Gu Feidi is the only son of Gu Ruohai, the leader of the Wulin Alliance. Young Master cannot keep him captive back at the Sect, or will become the target of all the WulinWulin: 武林 is a martial art community or group. Think of the Jianghu as every fighter in the world of Wuxia and Wulin as all the righteous fighters in the Jianghu. sects...”

Su Yang bewildered, “...Why would I capture him back?”

His petal retainer did not reply, but his gaze expressed a clear meaning, ‘Young Master, you are clearly a repeat offender.’

Su Yang did not pick up the meaningful gaze and he did not mind when there was no answer as he looked back at the three people in combat.

The situation below had begun to tilt after their short conversation. 

Gu Feidi’s internal energy was at its limit against the two enemies. The fat man in black took the opportunity, and brought down his sabre, hard.

Gu Feidi raised his sword upward and blocked the hit, although he stopped the sabre’s edge, he had no internal energy to hold his blade against the heavy momentum. He staggered back a few steps as his body shook. He was slammed against the tree trunk and coughed up a mouthful of bloody foam. 

The thin man saw this, and smiled as he pointed his sword toward Gu Feidi’s nose. Narrowing his eyes, he said, “Even if you are the young rising hero or whatever, when you face this great one, you are only an immature and inexperienced youngster! Hand over that jade bell and I will let you live!”

Gu Feidi raised his hand to wipe the blood on his lips. He failed to wipe it clean, instead, he dyed his lower jaw red.

The young man’s face was pale from injuries and the overextension of his internal energy, but unswerving determination remained between his eyebrows. His eyes shone like a starry sky, with obviously no hint of backing down. The smeared blood on his lower jaw did not ruin his tough image, on the contrary, it added a layer of unyielding strength to it.

Su Yang looked at Gu Feidi and praised him internally, ‘This child’s glare is like a wolf cub making threatening gestures, which is much more fitting than the pretty boy selected by the cast initially.’ 

The thin man saw Gu Feidi had no intention to surrender, he looked at his heavier partner and they both attacked. When they moved together, the four curved swords danced, sealing off all of Gu Feidi’s exits. He seemed to have lost all resistance as he lay against the tree trunk. 

Watching this scene, Su Yang was so anxious that his grip tightened on the branch, as he prepared to stand up to help.

But Gu Feidi suddenly curled up one leg, stepped on the trunk behind him, and kicked himself forward. His body was spinning in the air, like a crane twisting and flying between the trees, and at the same time, he extended the long sword in his hand—which, in the mottled sunlight coming through the canopy of the dense forest, reflected like the Milky Way.

The edge of the sword spun and landed a heavy blow on the thin man’s back. In a short period of time, there was carnage consisting of flying flesh and blood.

The thin man fell to the ground screaming. Panic-stricken, he turned around and looked at Gu Feidi. 

The fat man, who had not said a single word, immediately put on an alert posture. He frowned, narrowing his eyes and said in a deep voice, “You actually perfected the Flying Kite Technique?”

Gu Feidi did not make a sound. He picked up his sword again, imitating a bird of prey that was diving downward, to pursue justice with no second thoughts. 

At the sight of this move, the thin man was shocked and froze on the spot.

Before he made a sound, the fat man grabbed him and backed out, avoiding Gu Feidi’s deadly attack.

“Retreat, retreat!”

The thin man regained his senses as he cried out, “You saw the Flying Kite Technique and still not running! The jade bell is less important than our lives!?”

After his last words, the two men had fled until they were more than ten steps away.

The thin man probably thought that bolting like this was really losing their face. Thus, he added more sentences from afar, “We can’t stop your Flying Kite Technique, but it doesn’t mean others can’t kill you! The Evil Sect is also in this mountain. If you encounter him, then I say your luck is running out—”

As the two departed, the forest was quiet for a moment. The continuous chirp of insects and birds could be heard in the area, but strangely, it almost created a sense of silence.

Gu Feidi stared in the direction of the retreating men for a long time. Suddenly, he staggered two steps and leaned back on the trunk.

His face was pale, breathing in disorder, and the tip of his sword pointed toward the ground. It made a rapid clattering sound as it shook in his trembling hand. 

Gu Feidi was, after all, still a young man. The two men were also not buffoons that could only perform antics, but rather, they were famous rogues in the Jianghu. In fact, he was already at the end of his tether fighting against the two. The last move he made, the Flying Kite Technique, was merely some quick-witted move he pulled out. He pretended to have energy left to scare the two away.

It was hard to learn and perform the Flying Kit Technique. Without enough internal energy to support the technique, he could only rely on his body to imitate the domineering twisting force, which recoils back, making his wound more severe. 

He lowered his sight to regulate his breathing before he lifted his head. His eyes were still bright like stars, as he gazed straight in Su Yang’s direction and spoke in a hoarse voice, “The spectating senior, is it possible…to show yourself?”