I Broke Character Midway Through Playing the Vicious Female Supporting Role

After the lecture, Jiang Yunshu was almost the first to rush out of the square.

She walked quickly, as if something was chasing her. The "aloof persona" and "vicious female supporting role" were all left behind.

Right now, she just wanted to return to her cave, close the door, and calm down.

Back in her cave, she threw herself in front of the bronze mirror and began practicing that legendary skill—

"The vicious female supporting role's cold smile."

In the mirror, she tried to curl the corners of her mouth upward, forcing what she thought was a "sarcastic and cold" arc.

Then she shivered herself.

That smile... how should she put it? It was like finally getting relief after being constipated for three days, or a cat stepping on its tail and pretending to be calm. As stiff as it could be, as fake as it could be.

Jiang Yunshu silently pulled her mouth back.

Fine, she wrote it, all of it.

Back when she created this character, she only thought about "how to make her as annoying as possible," never imagining that one day she would have to play the role herself. Things like "a sarcastic arc curled at the corner of her mouth" or "eyes cold enough to freeze"—she had typed them out with pleasure while writing, but now acting them out, she realized what a cringe-inducing scene it was.

As she mourned her lost acting skills in front of the mirror, a sudden knock came at the door.

"Miss! Miss!"

It was Xiao Tao's voice.

Jiang Yunshu opened the door and saw Xiao Tao rushing in excitedly: "Miss! The dining hall is serving! If we're late, there won't be any of your favorite osmanthus cake left!"

Osmanthus cake.

Jiang Yunshu's eyes lit up instantly.

Imagine—a transmigrator like her, now relying on a piece of osmanthus cake to maintain her happiness. How embarrassing.

But she still followed Xiao Tao to the dining hall without backbone.

"Miss," Xiao Tao said as they walked, "you seem weird today."

"Weird how?"

"I can't put my finger on it... just feels..."

"Feels what?"

"Feels like you're not as fierce?"

Jiang Yunshu: "..."

She looked down at her face and thought: Oh no, the aura is gone. Did the original owner's "keep away from strangers" buff have an expiration date?

"Let's go, let's go, no more chatter," she urged. "If we don't hurry, the osmanthus cake will really be gone."

At the entrance of the dining hall.

The moment Jiang Yunshu stepped in, the whole room went silent.

Not an ordinary silence—it was that kind of silence where dozens of people who were buzzing with chatter suddenly all shut up, chopsticks suspended in midair, eyes turning in unison to look at her.

Jiang Yunshu's steps faltered.

She looked around and noticed an interesting phenomenon: where she stood, within a radius of three feet, there was no one. Farther away, disciples held their bowls, staring at her with complex expressions, as if looking at some monster.

A few disciples near her even tilted their bowls.

Jiang Yunshu: "..."

Fine, she wrote it, all of it.

How did she describe the original owner's entrance? "Wherever Third Senior Sister went, disciples would flee three steps away"? When she wrote that line, she thought it was cool. Now standing here, she understood what it meant to be a "live cringe scene."

She nodded stiffly, trying to maintain her "aloof persona." But she felt her face twitching—it was a precursor to her desperate urge to "disappear on the spot."

Xiao Tao, however, was used to this. She skillfully pulled Jiang Yunshu inside: "Miss, this way, your seat is over there—"

Just then, a cool female voice sounded: "Third Senior Sister, may I sit here?"

Jiang Yunshu turned and saw Su Ningshuang.

The girl stood by an empty table, holding her bowl and chopsticks, her expression timid, eyes slightly red, like a frightened little rabbit.

Jiang Yunshu's heart skipped a beat.

Here it comes, the famous scene.

The surrounding disciples perked up their ears, their eyes swiveling over.

Their gaze clearly meant: everyone was waiting to see how she would "lash out."

After all, according to the original plot, the original owner would have snorted coldly at this point and said some annoying lines like "Who said you could sit?" preferably accompanied by a contemptuous look to make the junior sister cry—

Then successfully set the stage for the subsequent "face-slapping" plot.

Jiang Yunshu took a deep breath.

She knew this was a hurdle. The original owner's persona, her persona, the direction of the plot—all converged at this moment. She had to act well as the "vicious female supporting role."

So she cleared her throat and tried to make her voice sound cold and distant:

"Sit wherever."

Dead silence.

Jiang Yunshu froze for a moment and looked down at herself—did she speak too loudly? She had intended to sound nonchalant, but it came out as if she was shouting.

Before she could figure it out, Su Ningshuang's eyes reddened.

Tears came as if on cue, dripping down, instantly changing the expressions of the surrounding disciples. Several people's looks shifted from "watching the excitement" to "condemnation."

"Third Senior Sister is bullying Junior Sister Ningshuang again!"

"Too much, Junior Sister Ningshuang greeted her politely, and she..."

"Sigh, when will Third Senior Sister change her temper..."

Jiang Yunshu: "???"

What did she say? She only said "Sit wherever"!

"I, I'm fine..." Su Ningshuang wiped her tears, her voice as faint as a mosquito's, "It's Ningshuang's fault for disturbing Third Senior Sister..."

Jiang Yunshu watched the scene, internally screaming:

Fine, really fine. She wrote it, all of it. This skill of crying on command was even more ridiculous than the plot she had written.

She looked at Su Ningshuang's pitiful appearance, then at the "condemning" gazes around her, and suddenly felt more wronged than Dou E.

No, she had to salvage this.

She took a deep breath and suddenly slapped the table—

"What are you crying about!"

The place went quieter.

Jiang Yunshu froze.

She had intended to overpower Su Ningshuang with her presence, but in her nervousness, she didn't control her voice well. Not only did she fail to intimidate, but her voice also came out trembling, sounding like... like someone who was being wronged trying to defend herself.

Disaster.

The atmosphere was completely ruined.

Just then, a familiar pressure came from the entrance.

Jiang Yunshu looked up—

Xiao Ce.

The eldest senior brother stood at the dining hall entrance, holding a bowl, his gaze landing on her.

That look wasn't exactly cold, but definitely not warm either. He looked at her calmly, as if watching an interesting play.

Jiang Yunshu straightened up instantly.

She didn't know why, but being watched by this person made her inexplicably guilty. It felt like a student called out by the teacher—even though she hadn't done anything wrong, she couldn't help feeling nervous.

Xiao Ce didn't say anything, but the corner of his mouth seemed to twitch.

That subtle movement was faint, but Jiang Yunshu inexplicably sensed a hint of... amusement?

The next second, he withdrew his gaze and walked to another table with his bowl, as if nothing had happened.

But Jiang Yunshu felt that the look he gave before leaving carried a meaningful smile.

Jiang Yunshu ate this meal as if chewing wax.

She didn't dare to say much—what if she said something wrong and broke character again? She didn't dare to look up either—the disciples' gazes were too piercing. Even if they didn't say anything, those "condemning" looks were enough to bear.

So she buried her head in her food, eating quickly, finishing her bowl in a few mouthfuls, and prepared to retreat from this "cringe scene."

"Miss, eat slowly..." Xiao Tao called after her.

Jiang Yunshu didn't look back: "I'm full, going back."

She walked quickly, as if something was chasing her.

Only after she was far away from the dining hall did she dare to slow down.

Well, today's dining hall mission was accomplished.

It wasn't easy for her to survive a meal, was it?

Mountain path behind the mountain.

Jiang Yunshu walked back alone, the surroundings so quiet that only the chirping of birds could be heard. The setting sun slanted, dyeing the path a golden red.

She took a deep breath and finally relaxed.

"Phew—"

It was so much better being alone. No need to act, no need to pretend, no need to worry about the "collapse of the vicious female supporting role persona."

She walked and muttered to herself:

"Jiang Yunshu, Jiang Yunshu, why did you have to write a vicious female supporting role? Now look, karma has come for you."

"Acting my ass, I act like a lunatic."

"The original owner's aura, I really don't have it... Maybe I should just say screw it and let it fall apart? The plot is already skewed anyway..."

As she was mumbling to herself, she tripped over something—

"What's that?"

She looked down and almost screamed.

It wasn't a stone.

It was a person.

A black-clad youth lay on the ground, covered in blood, his breath so faint it was almost undetectable. Jiang Yunshu crouched down to look closely and saw that he looked young, about sixteen or seventeen, his face so stained with blood that his features were unclear.

But his forehead was exposed—there was a cinnabar mark, glaringly red.

Jiang Yunshu froze.

This mark...

She recognized it.

Back when she wrote this book, she had casually set a background character: on a rainy night, a severely injured youth lay by the roadside, no one came to help, and he was found dead the next morning.

That character didn't even have a name; the narration simply mentioned "a cinnabar mark on the forehead."

Jiang Yunshu's intention when writing that part was simple—to add some dark material to a certain "righteous light" character, implying that he had watched someone die without helping.

Unexpectedly...

"Did I casually kill someone?" she murmured. "Wait, that's not the point—the point is, why is he here?"

She looked at the dying youth on the ground, alarm bells ringing in her mind.

If she saved him, there would be trouble.

If she didn't, he would die.

These two options fought fiercely in her mind.

"Save him?" one inner voice said, "He's a life after all..."

"Don't save him!" another inner voice jumped in, "Look at your own situation! You're like a clay Buddha crossing a river—"

"But he's really going to die..."

"What's it to you? You're not his father or mother!"

"But I wrote him..."

"So what if you wrote him? Does that mean you have to take responsibility?"

Jiang Yunshu crouched there, her expression oscillating between "save" and "don't save," as if trapped in a difficult decision.

Just then, the youth let out a faint moan.

His eyelids fluttered, as if trying to open, but ultimately failed.

Jiang Yunshu looked at him and suddenly recalled the scene when she wrote that narration—what was she thinking back then? "He's just a background tool character, killing him off is fine."

...

"Fine, fine!" she suddenly stood up. "I owe you this one!"

She bent down and laboriously helped the youth up. His body was lighter than she expected—probably due to excessive blood loss.

"Let me make this clear," she muttered as she supported him toward her cave, "I'm just not letting you die in my past plot, that's all."

"Don't misunderstand, I'm not that kind of softie."

"Once I save you, you leave quickly, got it?"

The youth didn't respond, only moved slightly, as if instinctually seeking support.

Jiang Yunshu sighed and resignedly continued supporting him.

"Miss!!"

Xiao Tao's scream almost lifted the roof.

"What, what is this?!"

Jiang Yunshu laid the youth on the couch and said expressionlessly: "A problem."

"A problem? What problem? Where did you pick him up, Miss? Which peak's disciple is he? Should we report—"

"Don't ask," Jiang Yunshu cut her off. "Just take care of him. Don't let him die."

With that, she turned to leave.

Xiao Tao chased after her: "Miss! Miss! He, he's not a fugitive, is he?!"

Jiang Yunshu paused.

A fugitive?

Probably not... The background character she wrote was just an ordinary NPC, shouldn't have any special background...

"Just look after him," she said without looking back. "Call me if anything happens."

She walked out of the room and was about to go back to her own room to rest when she felt something was off.

She suddenly turned around—

Nothing. Nothing at all.

The backyard was silent, only the rustling of wind through the leaves.Jiang Yunshu frowned, feeling as if she was being watched by someone. But she looked around and saw nothing.

"...I'm probably overthinking."

She shook her head and turned to enter her own room.

Meanwhile, in the room.

Jiang Yunshu didn't know what was happening outside; she was examining the young man's injuries.

"These injuries are no joke..." she muttered. "An ordinary person would have died long ago."

She lifted his eyelid to check, then felt his pulse--it was frighteningly weak, but still beating.

"He's quite tenacious."

She was about to stand up and leave when she suddenly sensed something wrong.

It was a very strange... fluctuation.

It wasn't spiritual energy, nor did it seem like an ordinary force. That power surged from the young man's body, faint but distinct, like a beast sealed in the abyss breathing in its slumber.

Jiang Yunshu's expression changed.

"What is this?"

She stared at the young man for a long time; the fluctuation still persisted, as if something was sleeping inside him.

What she didn't know was--

Not far behind her, behind the large tree in the corner of the backyard, a dark figure stood silently, watching the direction of her room.

It was Xiao Ce.

He had been standing there for a long time.

He had been there since Jiang Yunshu helped the young man up on the mountain path.

He watched her stumble all the way back to the cave dwelling, watched her feign calmness in front of Xiao Tao, and also watched the grave expression on her face as she examined the young man's injuries in the room.

His gaze fell on the door that had just been closed, and a meaningful curve tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Interesting."

He murmured softly, then turned and disappeared into the twilight.

He still had many questions for her--for instance, why would she save a complete stranger? And what was the reason for her unusual behavior today?

But now was not the time.

He would find an opportunity.

Night deepened, and the young man remained unconscious, brows furrowed as if having a nightmare.

His lips moved, uttering a vague syllable--

"...Don't go..."

Jiang Yunshu hadn't heard.

She had already left, returned to her own room, and was preparing to rest.

What she didn't know was that inside the young man she had saved, something was slowly awakening.

It wasn't spiritual energy.

It was something else.

It was something... that could overturn everything she knew.