Transmigration.
That was the first word that surfaced in Li Wei's mind—no, Su Ningyan's—as two guards dragged him down the corridor, their grips biting painfully into his arms as they hauled him back to his chamber.
Memories crashed into him all at once. This body belonged to Su Ningyan, the illegitimate son of Su Haoran, Clan Lord of the Phoenix Clan. Born to the late concubine Su Ruyin, who had died only months after giving birth. Poisoned. The woman who orchestrated it, Madam Qin Lihua, a fire serpent beast, the favored wife, mother of legitimate heirs, had seen to that.
She was the one who slapped him earlier.
Unlike the Four Great Divine Beast Clans, the Phoenix Clan housed mixed bloodlines: true phoenixes, lesser fire birds, hybrids, even humans. Politically relevant and respected in name, yet far below the heavenly hierarchy of true divine beasts.
And Su Ningyan had never stood a chance.
Just as his beast core began to form, his step-siblings shattered it when they were using him as a living practice dummy. From that moment on, he could neither fully cultivate nor shift into his beast form.
He was a cripple.
Tolerated at best, despised at worst. Even the servants looked down on him.
And his crime? Being born.
The pressure crushed him from every side until something inside him twisted. Strength became obsession. Survival became justification.
And now, standing in his place, Li Wei understood.
Who wouldn't crave power, when the alternative was being trampled for the rest of their life?
As Su Ningyan stared into the cracked mirror, he realized two things at once.
First, this body was far stronger than he had expected. It was lean, well-trained, built for movement rather than brute force.
Second, it was covered in scars.
Fresh wounds, half-healed gashes, old marks that had long since faded but never truly disappeared. They overlapped each other in cruel layers, telling a story his mind already knew by heart.
Because Li Wei knew the plot. And now, locked alone in this room, with nothing but silence and borrowed memories, the reality of his situation settled in. This wasn't just a story anymore. This was his life now. What had happened, and what was still waiting to happen.
But this time, he couldn't afford to break.
He couldn't become the villain. He refused to walk the same path as Su Ningyan from the book. He didn't want to end like that... consumed by hatred, abandoned by everyone, dying on cold marble floors.
But if he had really transmigrated… That meant he was truly dead in his original world.
The thought hit harder than expected.
His parents... they would be broken. He was an only child, after all. An ordinary kindergarten teacher. He suddenly missed the noisy classroom, the stubborn little kids with runny noses and loud laughter. The ones who called him Teacher Li and clung to his legs.
"…All I have to do is stray away from the plot," he murmured, forcing a smile as he placed a hand against the mirror. "How hard can it be?"
The face staring back at him was breathtaking.
Not in the exaggerated way novels often described, but in a way that felt unreal up close. Li Wei had imagined him countless times while reading but imagination hadn't done him justice.
The door slammed open.
Su Ningyan flinched as a man strode in, long black hair flowing down his back, dressed in red and gold hanfu that screamed arrogance and status. A whip hung loosely in his hand. Two male servants followed silently behind him, eyes lowered.
"Su Ningyan," the man drawled, lips curling into a cruel smile. "There you are."
Su Ningyan's blood ran cold. He knew him. Su Mingze. Madam Qin Lihua's eldest son. One of Su Ningyan's worst nightmares.
"They say you've finally gone mad," Su Mingze continued lazily. "Is that true?"
Su Ningyan met his gaze, his stomach twisting.
In the original story, Su Mingze had been the first to die once Su Ningyan fell to demonic qi.
He had forced himself on Su Ningyan more times than he could count. The memory alone made bile rise in his throat but he didn't look away.
Su Mingze's brow twitched. "Why are you staring at me like that?" he snapped. "I came to fix your brain, and you dare glare at me?"
The whip cracked through the air.
Su Ningyan moved.
He caught it mid-swing, the force sending pressure through his arm. Without hesitation, he yanked hard, wrenching Su Mingze forward and ran straight for the open window.
He hit the ground outside with a sharp gasp, rolling to absorb the impact before springing back to his feet.
Su Ningyan was good at this.
Without beast form. Without qi. He had trained what he had. His body.
"Get that mad pig!" Su Mingze screamed behind him.
Su Ningyan ran through corridors, past startled servants, ducking hands and curses. Someone shouted. Someone tried to grab him. He laughed breathlessly, snatching a robe from a drying line and pulling it on mid-stride.
This was already off-script.
The original Su Ningyan had been quiet. Submissive. He endured until he broke.
This one wouldn't.
Guards poured into the courtyard. "Stop him!"
Su Ningyan vaulted into a tree, branches shaking violently as he swung upward, leaping onto the palace roof. Tiles cracked beneath his feet as he sprinted across them.
The guards followed after him, moving impossibly fast.
His smile faded.
"Why can't I do that…?"
He pressed a hand to his abdomen, right over the cracked beast core that refused to respond. Frustration flickered across his face, but there was no time to dwell on it.
The palace fence loomed ahead.
He leapt.
The world tilted as he jumped off the roof, cleared the wall, and dropped straight into a waiting carriage outside the compound. He hit the seat hard, breath tearing from his lungs as he scrambled back and dragged the curtain shut.
His chest heaved.
Through the narrow gap in the window, he watched guards flood the streets, weapons drawn, shouting his name as they searched.
He exhaled shakily and lowered himself properly onto the carriage seat and froze.
Someone was already sitting across from him.
Long, fiery red hair spilled over broad shoulders. Fox ears, crimson and alert, twitched atop the man's head. A single bushy tail, red with white-tipped fur, swayed lazily behind him in a slow, deliberate, hypnotic way.
Mischievous Golden-red eyes locked onto Su Ningyan's.
He was the most dangerously beautiful man he had ever seen.
The fox man leaned closer, invading his space with an amused tilt of his lips. His gaze swept over Su Ningyan like he was prey and curiosity wrapped into one.
"You smell delicious," he murmured softly.
Then, smiling wider, he asked, "Who are you?"