The Substitute Female Supporting Character Sees the Bullet Screen

Nie Yinzhi did not leave with Feng Hanying. Her grand ambitions had been thoroughly corroded by the demon lord, and now she was lazing at home, feeling unwilling to move. Besides, the righteous sects were currently too preoccupied with their own troubles to pose a threat, and with Feng Hanying around—a man certified by the "bullet comments" as the original work's career fanatic—she could let him handle the chaos.

Her parents knew that the heavy snowfall was indeed her doing. After lunch, her father had taken the household accountant to the outskirts of the city to distribute silver as compensation. Nie Yinzhi sat alone in the garden pavilion, watching the snow melt. She muttered to Jin Ya, "Look, you haven't even entered my family yet, and you've already caused a financial loss. My parents won't like a son-in-law who squanders wealth."

Whether it was intentional or coincidental, a snowflake from a tree branch was blown by the wind and landed on her forehead, sending a chill down her spine. Nie Yinzhi touched her forehead and complained, "No one is here to paint a flower design on my forehead anymore."

"This snowfall has frozen all the crabapple blossoms in my garden. How are you going to compensate me for that?" she continued.

"Gu Jiang, I want you to hold me. Not the wind, not any substitute, just you."

Her words faded into the air, leaving only the faint sound of melting snow. Most of the time, her ramblings went unanswered.

Nie Yinzhi didn't know what state Gu Jiang was in now. She believed that if he could return, he would appear the moment he could. He had promised her he would come back.

She rubbed her reddened eyes and leaned on the railing, gazing at the faint golden leaves in her hand, calling his name as he had once done to wake her.

Nie Yinzhi tried to immerse her spiritual sense into the plants and trees in the garden, grasping the faint traces of Blood Moon Shadow demonic energy that had seeped into them. The wispy demonic energy wrapped around her affectionately, and soon it infiltrated her spiritual sea, merging with her spiritual veins.

"I'm not trying to cultivate," she grumbled. She was already halfway into the Mahayana stage. If she worked hard in seclusion, she could definitely break through to the Mahayana realm, but she had no desire to move.

The mere thought of cultivation reminded her of those days in the Ten Thousand Demons Cave, where she had been almost imprisoned by Gu Jiang, her soul entranced as he guided her through the cycles of energy circulation.

The trembling pleasure, the burning sensation, and the comfort of advancing her cultivation all washed over her body at once. At times, she felt like a duckweed floating on the sea, helplessly rising and falling with the tides. At other times, she was like a moth drawn to a flame, both pained and exhilarated.

How could she ever cultivate seriously after that?

By nightfall, the snow had completely melted, and the evening glow was as red as blood. Inside, the room was warmed by charcoal, and incense burned, blocking out the damp, earthy scent of the garden. Nie Yinzhi sat cross-legged on the bed, her spiritual sense submerged in her spiritual sea.

Her primordial spirit within the spiritual sea was wrapped in pure white flames of sword energy, resembling a small sun. As her cultivation advanced, her primordial spirit had transformed from an infant state to one identical to her physical body, with a faint red glow at its heart.

This was something Gu Jiang had placed into her spiritual flames during their dual cultivation. When Nie Yinzhi had fallen into demonic cultivation, this trace of demonic energy had seeped into her primordial spirit, protecting her soul from being burned to ashes by her own blood.

This demonic energy was different from ordinary Blood Moon Shadow energy. It contained something within it. Nie Yinzhi carefully separated the Blood Moon Shadow energy strand by strand, a process that consumed a great deal of spiritual power, so she didn't rush.

Now, the demonic energy wrapped around it had finally been separated, like lifting layers of gauze to reveal the core within.

Before her appeared a drop of blood, faintly glowing with golden light—a drop of heart's blood, containing Gu Jiang's power.

The moment Nie Yinzhi saw this drop of blood, her heart felt both hot and painful, swelling as if it might burst. Her spiritual sense wavered for a moment, and suddenly she was sucked into a vortex, her world spinning as she lost consciousness.

She didn't know how much time had passed—perhaps only an instant—when she heard a surprised voice, "Ah Yin?"

She opened her eyes abruptly. In the blinding white light, a figure stood with his back to the light, bending slightly as he reached out to her. The light surrounding him was so bright that his face was completely obscured in shadow, making it impossible to see clearly. But the familiar tone of his voice made Nie Yinzhi's nose sting, and tears fell.

Nie Yinzhi had imagined countless times how she would scold Gu Jiang when she saw him again. She didn't want him to arrange everything for her without saying a word.

But when it came down to it, just hearing him call her name made her eyes redden.

His fingers passed through her arm, grasping at empty air. He paused, then crouched down helplessly, saying softly, "Don't cry. I can't wipe your tears."

Only then did Nie Yinzhi notice the youthful tone in his voice. She rubbed her eyes roughly and looked up again.

Her eyes finally adjusted to the light, and in the warm white glow, she saw the figure crouching before her.

He looked to be only eleven or twelve years old, dressed in fine robes with a jade belt. His chest and shoulders were still slender, his skin pale, and his hair black, tied up with a jade hairpin, the ends falling short on his shoulders. Fine bangs hung over his eyes, which had not yet fully matured.

From head to toe, he exuded the tender aura of a young boy.

Nie Yinzhi saw a hint of familiarity in his features and asked, her voice trembling with uncertainty, "Are you... Gu Jiang?"

"It's me," the boy said, his lips curving into a smile. His round eyes made him look especially youthful, his gaze clear and dark, flickering slightly as he chuckled and called out, "Sister."

Nie Yinzhi's tears were stifled by his call of "sister." She couldn't help but reach out to pinch his soft-looking cheeks, but her fingers passed through him.

Gu Jiang's eyes followed her fingertips as they fell, then lifted again to look at her. "You don't belong here," he said.

Nie Yinzhi was utterly confused. She tried again to touch him. "Where is this place? Why have you become like this?"

Gu Jiang simply sat down beside her and stretched out his hand, placing it in front of her. "My past," he said.

His palm was thin, smaller than before, but his fingers were still long and straight. Nie Yinzhi carefully placed her hand on his, watching as his fingers slowly closed around hers.

But she felt nothing—no warmth, no pressure. Between them lay a gap of a thousand years.

"Your past..." Nie Yinzhi murmured, curling her fingers to try and hold his, but unsurprisingly, she grasped only air. "So, you haven't been able to appear because you've been trapped in your own past?"

"Yes," Gu Jiang said softly. "I thought it was just an illusion formed by my memories, but it turns out it's real—my actual past."

Nie Yinzhi felt uneasy. "Will we always be separated by a thousand years?"

"No," Gu Jiang said, his fingers twitching as if he wanted to hug her, but he stopped himself and clenched his hand instead. "The parasitic narrative within the Heavenly Dao is on the verge of collapse. It won't be able to keep my spiritual sense trapped in the past forever."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Nie Yinzhi's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, didn't settle. She spoke slowly, "Then you must come back quickly."

Gu Jiang nodded. "I will."

Nie Yinzhi tilted her head, her eyes wide as she studied him carefully, as if trying to etch his youthful appearance into her memory.

Gu Jiang seemed embarrassed by her gaze, his thin cheeks flushing red, his ears turning pink, and his thick eyelashes fluttering.

"Damn it, I can't touch you," Nie Yinzhi said, frustrated. This tender version of the demon lord was right in front of her, yet she couldn't reach him.

Gu Jiang chuckled, leaning closer until their noses almost touched. He looked into her eyes, teasing, "Sister, I'm still young. You can't just go around touching people."

Nie Yinzhi was speechless. She couldn't pinch him, and she almost passed through his body. She couldn't touch anything—not even the chair she tried to sit on. Only the eternal ground beneath her feet supported her.

Nie Yinzhi forced herself to tear her gaze away from the captivating young boy beside her and looked around. They were in a grand hall, its walls adorned with gilded murals of flying deities, light gauze hanging from the eaves, and pearl-encrusted lamp stands.

The gilded murals were mostly ruined by moisture, their once vibrant colors now faded and mottled. The ends of the light gauze curtains were soaked with dark, heavy stains, making them appear cumbersome. The lamp stands lay scattered, and pearls rolled across the floor as if they were of no value to anyone.

"This is..."

"My home," Gu Jiang explained, noticing her gaze. "A once-great family now in ruins. When the Law Sect fell into chaos, the tree toppled, and the monkeys scattered. The clans and nations that once relied on this colossal entity were also turned upside down."

Nie Yinzhi faintly heard commotion outside the hall and asked nervously, "Are you safe here?"

Gu Jiang shrugged nonchalantly, "For now, I am."

"For now?" Nie Yinzhi wanted to go out and see, but she couldn't move more than three steps away from Gu Jiang. Confused, she turned back to look at him.

"You were drawn here by a drop of my heart's blood, so naturally, you can't leave me," he explained.

Nie Yinzhi sat back down and reached out to touch his chest, her voice filled with concern, "It must have hurt terribly to extract it, didn't it?"

Gu Jiang's expression shifted slightly. "It depends on the situation."

Nie Yinzhi looked up at him, and Gu Jiang coughed lightly. "During dual cultivation, it didn't hurt much. Weren't you sharing my emotions at the time?"

Nie Yinzhi: "..." Back then, she had been completely overwhelmed, caught between burning heat and ecstasy, as if trapped between ice and fire. She hadn't been able to carefully distinguish what kind of pain it was, which was why she only realized it now.

She wanted to scold him for acting on his own, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything harsh. After all, Gu Jiang had done it all for her. Without that drop of his heart's blood, she might have turned to ashes long ago. "Did you know I wanted to draw in demonic energy? Did Feng Hanying tell you?"

Gu Jiang shook his head. "No one needed to tell me. I guessed you would do it."

Nie Yinzhi pursed her lips. "If you hadn't given me that drop of heart's blood, maybe you wouldn't have been suppressed by the plot, trapped in the past."

Gu Jiang gently tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Even if I had to do it all over again, I would still come to your side."

His words left Nie Yinzhi feeling both sweet and bittersweet. She turned her head, not wanting Gu Jiang to see her tears.

The sounds of battle outside grew closer. Nie Yinzhi released her spiritual sense, which, like her, didn't belong to this place. It spread effortlessly across the battlefield outside. The sky was painted with a blood-red sunset, and the ground was lit by the glow of magical treasures and talismans.

The combatants outside were at least at the Nascent Soul stage, while Gu Jiang was still only a lowly Foundation Establishment cultivator. Nie Yinzhi's spiritual sense swept across the ruins, and she turned back to him. "Follow me. I can avoid them and take you out of here."

Gu Jiang didn't move. "This is the real past. I have to follow the path I once took to reach you. The slightest deviation, and we might miss each other."

This was why the plot fought so desperately to trap him in the past.

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