The Original Male Lead

"[Ding! Main quest activated: Please detain Mo Zhu and prevent him from descending the mountain to hunt demons. Completing the quest will award 30 Merit Points.]"

Thirty Merit Points... that was thirty years of lifespan!

Yu Zhiling immediately bounced up. "Mo Zhu has returned?"

"Yes, Junior Brother Mo has just reached the foot of the mountain and is heading to the Deacon Hall. Immortal Venerable, what do you think..."

Right, she recalled that in the novel, the original owner did not allow Mo Zhu to step foot onto Tingchun Cliff; the two of them mostly met at the Deacon Hall.

Yu Zhiling took a deep breath. She was about to meet the male lead in the flesh, and she felt a bit excited. After all, he was a character she had followed chapter by chapter for a very long time.

"Alright, I will go right away."

She tidied her slightly messy hair and was about to walk out in a daze, but stopped after a few steps.

The disciple standing behind shrank back. "Immortal Venerable... you..."

Yu Zhiling turned around. Seeing the young disciple cowering like a quail, she took a few steps back, fearing she would frighten him further, and tried to offer a gentle smile. "Where is the Library Pavilion?"

Disciple: "...To the east."

***

The Deacon Hall of the Yingshan Sect was spacious, but very few people had ever frequented it. Usually, people only came here when the elders gathered to discuss major affairs.

Mo Zhu walked up from the foot of the mountain, arriving at the Deacon Hall more than an hour later. Along the way, as he slowly walked up the stone steps, every disciple of the Yingshan Sect recognized him, greeting him with: "Junior Brother Mo."

As for Yu Zhiling, she had arrived long ago and was currently sitting straight-backed in the master seat of the Deacon Hall.

Mo Zhu did not change his clothes. Upon entering the hall, he knelt down immediately, not even raising his head to look at the person above, and directly called out, "Honored Master."

Yu Zhiling: "..."

Yu Zhiling was scared to death.

How could she not be? She knew all too well how miserable Zhuo Yu's death was in the original work. Now, she was Zhuo Yu, the one who would be hunted across Zhongzhou by Mo Zhu. And the male lead, who was highly likely to kill her in the future, was currently kneeling right in front of her!

The youth knelt on the blue stone floor without raising his head, his shadow reflected on the polished stone. His figure was tall and sturdy, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, his spine perfectly straight. Beneath his tattered black robes, tightly coiled muscles hinted at a strength that could not be underestimated.

Mo Zhu's body was covered in injuries.

Yu Zhiling had heard that he had just returned from the North after many days of hunting demons. Blood demons had been running rampant in that region, which was probably why he looked so wretched.

However, beneath his torn clothing, countless old and new wounds could be faintly seen piled upon one another. For a cultivator to have so many scars left behind, they could only be the kind of injuries caused by spiritual energy that were difficult to heal.

And most of those injuries had been inflicted by Immortal Venerable Zhuo Yu.

Witnessing firsthand what the original owner had done, and recalling the ending where Mo Zhu used Soul-Exterminating Nails to shatter her soul, Yu Zhiling felt... dying like that was not undeserved.

Mo Zhu knelt for a long time without receiving any response, so he finally raised his head.

When he saw the person seated above, he was stunned for a brief moment before suppressing his astonishment.

Today, Yu Zhiling wore a dark green robe. For many years, she had disliked such simple and plain colors, insisting on wearing dazzlingly bright garments whenever she went out.

Yet Mo Zhu did not care why she had changed her preference. He withdrew his gaze and said, "If Honored Master has no instructions, this disciple begs leave to retire."

"Wait, there is something."

Yu Zhiling hurriedly spoke to detain him.

Nervously swallowing, she reached for her teacup and took a few small sips to calm herself. Then, she stealthily observed the youth's face before her. So this was the male lead she had followed for hundreds of chapters, now vividly alive in front of her.

Her gaze was too obvious. Mo Zhu frowned and tilted his head slightly, avoiding her look.

Strangely, he did not sense the usual killing intent. Normally, whenever they met, she would radiate such clear malice and disgust that everyone in the Yingshan Sect could feel it.

Yet today...

It seemed her eyes did not contain those emotions.

He even heard her ask, "Mo Zhu, do the wounds on your body still hurt?"

Mo Zhu assumed she was being hypocritical again, so he curled his lips. "It is nothing. Thank you for your concern, Honored Master."

Yu Zhiling did not catch the sarcasm in his words and only gave an awkward smile. Since she saw no fresh blood, she assumed he wasn't severely injured.