When Ge Nianlan was only two months old, he and his mother were being transported back to Black Mane Palace after hiding from Ge Jinsheng’s adversaries. During their travels, their party was ambushed and his mother, Qiao Lanying, was killed alongside the rest of their party. Being the only son of the Devil Lord, Ge Nianlan was kidnapped and sold off to the black market. Luckily, the Eight Saints had acted quickly and the Young Lord was able to return to Ge Jinsheng’s side. However, when they found him, the child had already gone through a lot, and it was deemed impossible for him to develop like other children, due to the trauma and shock.

This was the reality that Ge Nianlan had been living in. However, as he read the cursed artifact, he realized that the truth was far different from what he had known.

Two characters were written crookedly and largely, according to the muscle memory that Ge NIanlan had acquired upon

“Huái Zhēn (怀珍),” Ge Nianlan murmured.

The two characters made up the name of one person. And this was the current name of the Devil Lord’s real son.

According to the cursed artifact, Ge Nianlan and Huai Zhen had both been kidnapped and sold to a slave trading ring. Amidst the chaos, Ge Nianlan had been mistaken for Huai Zhen and Huai Zhen had been taken in by the Guardian of the Dragon Tree, Baili Liuye, who happened to be Ge Nianlan’s real father.

While Ge Nianlan was forced to live the life of a fool, because the injuries he sustained during the kidnapping had caused damage to his psyche, it still wasn’t that bad, because he was well-protected. Huai Zhen, on the other hand, was ostracized and relentlessly bullied by those at Yunkong Pavilion. They taunted him for his red “demonic” eyes and scorned him for being a cultivation waste. Little did they know that Huai Zhen was a once in a lifetime prodigy and that he would surpass Ge Jinsheng in the future to become the Supreme Devil God.  

Because of Huai Zhen’s horrible childhood, he had many misgivings with the world. When his lineage was discovered, he was sent back to Black Mane Palace. The truth of the matter was exposed and Ge Nianlan, who knew nothing and understood little, became a thorn in the eyes of many. In particular, he was a roadblock to Huai Zhen.

Since Ge Jinsheng raised Ge Nianlan, he would understandably still have lingering feelings for this boy. Unfortunately, Huai Zhen felt that this was a threat to his position by his father’s side and his position in Black Mane Palace. So, in order to get rid of Ge Nianlan, Huai Zhen purposely planted an insider by Ge Nianlan’s side. This servant whispered all sorts of vile things to the innocent child, making him go mad with paranoia. The servant gave Ge Nianlan suggestions on how to bully Huai Zhen and the naïve boy took everything at face value and did just that.

Unfortunately for Ge Nianlan, blood was thicker than water. Seeing that Ge Nianlan was actively trying to harm his own flesh and blood, Ge Jinsheng cast Ge Nianlan out of Black Mane Palace.

This would have been fine, but Ge Nianlan ended up stumbling into Baili Liuye, Huai Zhen’s adoptive father! Upon meeting, Baili Liuye realized that Ge Nianlan had been the son he had lost for so many years and brought him back home. Unfortunately, Ge Nianlan was unable to inherit the rights to become the Guardian of the Dragon Tree, because he was unable to communicate with the Dragon Tree. However, he was now given food and shelter, which could also be considered a happy ending.

But by some twisted accident, he destroyed the Dragon Tree, leading to its roots rotting. It caused a big fuss within the cultivation world and many called for his execution. At the last minute, Ge Jinsheng swooped in and saved his adopted son. But now that Ge Nianlan had returned to Black Mane Palace, Huai Zhen once again felt that his father did not care for him. His hatred for Ge Jinsheng grew and towards Ge Nianlan, he wanted nothing more than to kill him.

In the end, Huai Zhen succeeded, but not without a few innocent casualties along the way.

Upon thinking about this, Ge Nianlan’s chest hurt. He felt as if there were numerous cold, jagged rocks, laying in the pit of his stomach. He clenched his fist and let out a soft sigh.

Zhao Cuihong’s death was rather horrendous. It wasn’t only because of the manner in which they passed, but also in the events leading up to it. Seeing that Zhao Cuihong valued Ge Nianlan so much, Huai Zhen decided to seduce him into coming to his side. He not only broke Zhao Cuihong’s confidence, but he also ended up breaking his spirit. Because Huai Zhen didn’t think it was normal for someone to “shift between genders”, Zhao Cuihong had chosen to remain a woman even to their last breath, when they sacrificed themselves to save Huai Zhen from an ambush. He died with a broken heart and without his identity intact.

As for Jia Chiying, because he still held some hints of adoration towards who he thought was his little cousin, he helped Ge Nianlan escape, up to the very last second. But the scene of a thousand arrows piercing Jia Chiying as he shielded Ge Nianlan came up in his mind again and again, as if such things really did happen not too long ago. The “memory” made Ge Nianlan shudder.

And Ling Tong…although she was rarely mentioned, if Ge Jinsheng told her to protect Ge Nianlan, then he could only assume that her death had something to do with him as well.

Three people died to protect an idiot, who had gone out of his way to destroy everything he touched.

Ge Nianlan truly felt like that life was not worth protecting.

His brush rolled to the wayside. The paper scrunched up under his hands and his jaw clenched.

This was his future? Then what had changed? Why was he suddenly clear headed now? And how come he was gifted with the ability to see the future?

Ge Nianlan placed the paper into the incense burner and threw a match into it. He watched as the flame ate away at the piece of paper and put the lid onto the incense burner. He rested his chin against the back of his knuckles and stared blankly ahead, at the portrait of Qiao Lanying, Ge Jinsheng, and the little baby, who was Huai Zhen.

…Now what?

If he told the truth, Huai Zhen would reunite with his true family faster. However, Ge Nianlan would be left without a home. With how easily it seemed that Baili Liuye had allowed people to take his son away, Ge Nianlan didn’t exactly trust his blood-related father. He knew that Ge Jinsheng would have lingering familial affections for him, but it wouldn’t be enough to protect him from Huai Zhen or any of those who would side with Huai Zhen.

Even in the most perfect world, Ge Nianlan’s life would no longer be comfortable.

With how much freedom the realm of devil cultivators offered, was as cruel as life treated them. Reality didn’t coddle the downtrodden. If someone like Ge Nianlan, who had been sitting at the pinnacle of power, was suddenly dropped to the ground, the pits would open up and swallow him whole. There were many who basked in the suffering of others and Ge Nianlan was not naïve enough anymore to think that the servants and disciples would still treat him kindly after the truth was revealed.

The only real way to survive in this world was to have power.

Ge Nianlan stood from his desk and sat back at his bed.

The reason people respected Ge Jinsheng was because he was powerful. And those who did not have power, had to grovel and pander to those who did. Although Ge Nianlan was currently in a position of power, he will not be for long.

According to the cursed artifact, Ge Nianlan had until he was fifteen—that was when Huai Zhen would discover his lineage and when he would come back.

Fifteen was when children in Yinxue Region were considered “of age”. This meant that Ge Nianlan would be able to take on more odd jobs in the towns and the cities. All he had to do was make sure to get an identification card from Ge Jinsheng before he left, and he would be able to live by himself.

Ge Nianlan silently ruminated on the idea as he stared ahead.

He didn’t know how many hours passed until there was a soft knock on the door. He raised his head and quietly gave permission for whoever was on the other side of the door to come in.

The doors opened and a teenager cautiously stepped in. He closed the doors behind him and looked at Ge Nianlan somewhat worriedly.

“Young Lord, I didn’t disturb your rest, did I?”

Ge Nianlan stared at the teenager for a long time before he found him in the depths of his memory. A strange sense of relief encompassed him and he smiled. “Luo-gege.”

The perfect pronunciation of this nickname made Luō Qiānwù (罗谦雾) somewhat embarrassed, for some reason. He softly cleared his throat and walked over to Ge Nianlan’s side.

“Are you feeling okay?”

Ge Nianlan nodded. He gestured for Luo Qianwu to sit. “My head just hurts.”

“That’s understandable,” Luo Qianwu said with a frown. His gaze cooled. “Don’t worry, Young Lord. The Saints are looking into who sent the cursed artifact.”

Ge Nianlan hummed. After a moment, he quietly asked, “Was the cursed artifact meant to be for me?”

“No. According to what the sources have found so far, it seems to have been for His Excellency,” Luo Qianwu said. He glanced at Ge Nianlan and observed his reaction.

Although many people said that Ge Nianlan was a fool, Luo Qianwu always felt that Ge Nianlan was more intelligent than he could show. Whenever Luo Qianwu spoke about things that were “too complicated”, he somehow felt like Ge Nianlan could understand. And now, as he watched the boy, he could tell that with whatever had happened during the past few days, Ge Nianlan had miraculously reached a full recovery.

“I see,” Ge Nianlan mumbled.

“Young Lord, do you remember where you got the book from?”

Ge Nianlan slowly nodded. “I seem to have…taken it from a random pile when the servants were sorting the new incoming books.”

Every month, there would be a new shipment of books into Black Mane Palace. Some would be precious resources for Ge Jinsheng and others would be books for children that were given to Ge Nianlan. During those days, Ge Nianlan would be the most excited. He would always sneak into the room and steal a book or two to read.

Ge Nianlan felt something click. Then, did he just accidentally change the course of his fate by choosing the wrong book? This had to be one of the only things that changed between the life he had read about in the cursed artifact and his reality until now!

“So, they slipped it in with the shipment,” Luo Qianwu mumbled. He sighed and softly shook his head. He glanced at Ge Nianlan. “What you saw in the book…?”

Ge Nianlan met Luo Qianwu’s gaze and smiled. “Zhao-jiejie told me to just treat it as a bad nightmare. Besides, I actually don’t remember much from it.”