The Substitute Female Supporting Character Sees the Bullet Screen

Nie Yinzhi's parents were ordinary mortals. For cultivators, the lifespan of mortals is quite short. Even with the aid of some spiritual herbs and medicines, they might only live for about a hundred years.

Each passing day felt increasingly precious to Nie Yinzhi. After marrying Gu Jiang, she chose to stay in Yuanzhou City to accompany her parents, living like an ordinary couple. Their days flowed by slowly, like a gentle stream.

Surprisingly, Gu Jiang, the infamous demon lord, took to this life with great fondness. Despite his usual laziness, he became quite enthusiastic about interacting with Nie Yinzhi's relatives. No one would have guessed he was an ancient and fearsome demon. This finally put Nie's Father and Nie's Mother at ease, as they had initially harbored doubts about him.

As Nie Yinzhi's cousins began visiting Gu Jiang more frequently, she grew concerned and decided to decline their invitations. She took him to the Nie Family Villa outside the city to escape the constant stream of relatives and let him rest properly.

The Nie Family Villa was nestled in the mountains, surrounded by dense forests and the soothing sound of mountain springs. It was a tranquil and cool retreat, with only one estate standing in the area. Behind the villa was a hunting ground.

Before Nie Yinzhi had entered the path of cultivation, she had spent every summer here. The family schoolhouse had even been moved here, where she and her cousins would study in the mornings and go horseback riding or hunting in the afternoons.

This year, the villa was entirely theirs.

As soon as they arrived, Ah Huan and Cheng Bi, along with the villa's servants, began tidying up. Nie Yinzhi took Gu Jiang by the hand and led him on a leisurely tour of the grounds.

She pointed to a tall phoenix tree and said, "When I was six or seven, I played hide-and-seek and climbed up this tree, hiding in the thick leaves. I ended up falling asleep up there, and everyone thought I had been carried off by wolves. They searched everywhere before finding me."

Gu Jiang chuckled, conjuring a small, shadowy figure with his demonic energy. The figure clumsily climbed the tree, mimicking Nie Yinzhi's childhood antics.

"That doesn't look like a person—it's a monkey!" Nie Yinzhi teased, chasing after him.

Gu Jiang dodged her playful blows and, with a wave of his hand, dissolved the figure. He then carefully recreated it, this time making it more human-like.

Nie Yinzhi jumped onto his back, whispering into his ear, "Back then, I wore a narrow-sleeved dress, with my hair tied in two buns and adorned with tassels."

Gu Jiang adjusted his grip to steady her, using his demonic energy to shape a translucent figure of her as a child. The small figure had a round face, glowing eyes, and a faint aura of energy swirling around it, like a flowing veil.

Nie Yinzhi gasped, "How did you know what I looked like as a child?"

"I guessed," Gu Jiang replied, a faint smile on his lips. His mind wandered to a memory of a bustling street lit by lanterns, where a little girl had been crouched, eating candied hawthorn. It was a fleeting, insignificant memory, but now it bloomed vividly in his mind.

"You really were prone to getting lost," he teased.

"It wasn't me who got lost—it was them!" Nie Yinzhi retorted, her fingers nimbly forming a hand seal. The small figure under the tree suddenly sprang to life, skipping ahead with its tassels swaying.

Gu Jiang followed, carrying Nie Yinzhi on his back.

They visited the villa's schoolhouse, where Nie Yinzhi's old punishment assignments were still stored. The handwriting, from scrawled to neat, revealed how often she had been disciplined.

Next, they went to the stables to visit her childhood horse, Xiao Meiqiu. Now a fully grown stallion, Xiao Meiqiu was tall, majestic, and had a glossy black coat. Its mane was braided, and it carried itself with pride.

After a moment of sniffing, Xiao Meiqiu recognized Nie Yinzhi and stomped its hooves excitedly.

Nie Yinzhi couldn't resist taking the demon lord for a ride. "Look at him! If we don't ride him today, he'll be upset."

Gu Jiang sighed, "I think it's you who can't resist riding him."

Nie Yinzhi mounted the horse, glancing at the sky. They had left home in the morning and arrived at the villa in the afternoon. After exploring, the sun was now setting, but it didn't matter. She reached out her hand to Gu Jiang with a bright smile. "I'll take you somewhere special."

The edge of the riding field led into a forest. Nie Yinzhi urged Xiao Meiqiu into a gallop, slowing down once they entered the woods. The horse seemed to know the way, heading deeper into the forest.

Gu Jiang guessed where she was taking him—a place similar to his own secret hideout, the Mi Gu tree hollow.

They dismounted, and Nie Yinzhi tied Xiao Meiqiu to a tree. She led Gu Jiang along a rocky outcrop, eventually finding a hidden cave concealed by thick vines.

"How did you ever find this place?" Gu Jiang asked, imagining her as a child boldly pushing through the vines, unafraid of snakes or wild animals.

Nie Yinzhi thought for a moment. "I think I was chasing a rabbit and stumbled upon it."

Inside the cave, the air was cool and damp. It was pitch black, but a faint breeze indicated that it was passable. Soon, they emerged on the other side, pushing aside the vines to reveal a breathtaking view.

The cave opened onto a gentle slope covered in countless wildflowers in full bloom. The colorful flowers stretched down to a clear mountain stream, where petals floated on the water's surface.

Nie Yinzhi ran ahead, twirling in the flowers and startling a flurry of butterflies. "Isn't it beautiful? It rivals even the immortal mountains."

Gu ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‍Jiang's expression softened in the golden light of the setting sun. His eyes reflected the figure in the pink dress as he nodded. "Yes."

The stream was fed by a mountain spring. Nie Yinzhi quickly removed her shoes and socks, wading into the cold water. She shivered but soon relaxed, slowly moving deeper into the stream.

Gu Jiang leaned against a large, sun-warmed rock by the water's edge, watching her with half-closed eyes.

Nie Yinzhi's dress clung to her, soaked through. The thin summer fabric revealed her shoulders, and the flower design on her forehead, which Gu Jiang had painted that morning, had smudged into a fuzzy bloom.

A snow-white rabbit suddenly materialized in the air, plopping into the water. The coolness of the stream immediately seeped into its form, dispelling the summer heat.

Nie Yinzhi laughed, scooping up the struggling rabbit. "Why would you jump into the water if you can't swim?"

"It's hot," Gu Jiang mumbled lazily.

"Of course the rock is hot—it's been baking in the sun all day. Why did you lie there?" Nie Yinzhi teased, carrying the rabbit toward him.

The rabbit hopped onto the shore, shaking itself dry. Gu Jiang grabbed Nie Yinzhi's hand, and before she could react, he pulled her into the water with him.

The sensation of kissing underwater was strange yet thrilling. They had to press close to avoid swallowing water, but even so, cool droplets slipped between their lips.

Nie Yinzhi swallowed a few times, playfully biting his tongue.

Gu Jiang held her waist as they surfaced. Her forehead design was now completely ruined, and her eyelashes dripped with water. He gently brushed the wet hair from her face and wiped the water from her eyes.

Nie Yinzhi pinched his cheek. "What was that for?"

"You were the one who wanted to pull me into the water," Gu Jiang said with a laugh, plucking a yellow petal from the surface and placing it on her forehead.

Nie Yinzhi: "..."

The surface of the water shimmered with golden ripples under the glow of the sunset. Their moon-white robes and gauzy skirts tangled together as Nie Yinzhi lay sprawled on a smooth, water-worn boulder. The stream lapped rhythmically against her shoulders, while Gu Jiang leaned against her from behind, his hand resting on her stomach, lifting her slightly. In the clear water, her slender waist swayed like a water snake, soft and supple.

The coolness of the stream mingled with a burning heat, leaving Nie Yinzhi frowning, unsure whether she was feeling discomfort or pleasure. A droplet of water from her damp bangs trickled into her eye, and she blinked, her gaze drifting to the wildflowers swaying in the breeze across the hillside.

The mountain stream was deep here, pooling into a small pond. Just ten steps downstream, the water cascaded over a ledge, creating a rushing sound that still couldn’t drown out the gentle splashing around them.

Nie Yinzhi rested her arms on the boulder, her head bowed. Her wet black hair clung to her neck, stark against her pale skin, which gradually flushed with a rosy hue, spreading all the way to her earlobes. A single droplet of water clung to the tip of her crimson ear, shimmering with the hues of the sunset.

Gu Jiang’s throat moved as he leaned in and licked the droplet away.

Nie Yinzhi’s eyes misted over, her ears filled with his ragged breathing. At this moment, the demonic man truly seemed like a water spirit from the mountain stream, gently entwining himself around her, inseparable, as if he wanted to drown her here.

The slanting sunlight was too dazzling, and she felt as though she were melting into the golden haze.

Her wandering gaze fell on a snow-white rabbit twisting in the flowers by the shore. Her scattered thoughts briefly coalesced, and through her tear-blurred eyes, she saw the faint outline of a small orange cat flickering in and out of existence.

Gu Jiang noticed and paused, his hand cool from the stream pressing against her forehead. "Ah Yin."

Nie Yinzhi clutched his sleeve, instinctively nuzzling into his cool palm. Her mind cleared slightly, and after taking several deep breaths, the flickering image of the cat solidified, landing in the flowerbed.

It was an orange tabby, its fur glowing in the sunset’s golden light. It leaped from the flowers and pounced on the snow rabbit, pinning it down with its paws and licking it furiously, as if trying to mimic what Gu Jiang had been doing to her.

Gu Jiang laughed against her shoulder. "I thought you were going to do something else."

Nie Yinzhi: "???" Could you at least step back before laughing?

The flowerbed was now a mess, the two small creatures rolling around and creating a dent. The orange cat, its amber eyes narrowed, pressed its paws against the rabbit’s belly, kneading and licking it while purring loudly.

The rabbit’s red eyes narrowed into slits, its fluffy body curling into a ball as its tail twitched incessantly.

The sensation resonated directly with their spiritual connection, and soon Gu Jiang couldn’t laugh anymore. He groaned, "Ah Yin, I can’t take it anymore."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Hmm?" Nie Yinzhi twirled a strand of his hair around her finger, blinking away her tears. His face was so close, streaked with water, his lashes lowered, and the corners of his eyes tinged with a rosy hue like the sunset clouds. She leaned in and kissed him, her enthusiasm only growing.

The spiritual connection was a wondrous thing. It could take any form according to one’s will—endlessly accommodating, yet also capable of aggression, no longer bound by physical constraints.

Gu Jiang immediately sensed the change in the orange cat. He turned to Nie Yinzhi, who blinked innocently. "Is this okay?"

Gu Jiang was silent for a moment before murmuring against her ear, "Do as you please."

The golden light of the sunset finally faded from the sky as the sun dipped below the mountain peaks. The flowers across the hills faded into the darkness, and the stream grew more turbulent, its rushing sound growing louder.

Fireflies began to drift along the stream, their flickering lights startled into motion by the commotion in the flowerbed where the two small creatures played.

Gu Jiang leaned against her neck and sighed softly. "Ah Yin, have mercy on me."

"Never."

After all, you’ve never shown me any mercy.