She must have seen a ghost.
Marie was absolutely certain of it.
She definitely had not been mistaken about that fleeting glance just now. She had seen Aina, and Xia Lun!
Aina's appearance still hovered on the edge of possibility. As a vampire, she shared a similarly long lifespan with the elves... not to mention she had specifically come looking for Marie a few hundred years ago.
Marie had no idea what Aina had wanted with her back then. She only remembered that Aina had been in a rather strange state, muttering deliriously, occasionally letting Xia Lun's name slip from her lips.
Marie had always been terrified of Aina. Back in the day, Aina had effortlessly captured her and dragged her to the inquisitor, resulting in Marie's coin pouch being entirely emptied before she was humiliatingly deported back to the Elven Forest... Therefore, facing a mentally unstable Aina back then, she had been even more terrified. She did whatever Aina told her to do, as obedient as a marionette.
The memories of that night were as blurry as an absurd nightmare. Had Aina really been there? What had she done? Marie had no recollection whatsoever.
She only remembered feeling dizzy and groggy. When she woke up the next day, the space beside her pillow was completely empty, as if everything from the night before had been nothing but a moonlit illusion. However, that bone-piercing chill had been undeniably real. No matter what, she absolutely never wanted anything to do with that entity ever again.
And as for Xia Lun...
Seeing this guy was even more terrifying than seeing Aina.
Xia Lun was merely a human, and he had been dead for over a thousand years.
If it were not for the fact that he was a world-renowned Hero, he would have been forgotten long ago, and Marie certainly would not have retained much memory of him.
She had been caught by the Hero in the past... This was just something she could brag about for a while when drinking at the tavern.
"Hey, buddy, did you know? The famous Hero actually caught me back in the day!" She would say this with a comical sense of pride and the relief of a survivor.
But now, seeing Xia Lun in the flesh, Marie felt her brain short-circuiting. The more she thought about it, the more her fear grew, and a creeping chill gradually seeped into her bones.
Was that Xia Lun a puppet created by Aina? Or was he a corpse being controlled by necromancy?
Regardless of the answer, the thought of Aina smiling happily while interacting with him, and coming to watch her performance together... made Marie shudder uncontrollably.
Marie felt that Aina's mental state was now completely unhinged.
After finishing her speech, Marie hurriedly prepared to flee, wanting to get as far away from those two bizarre individuals as quickly as possible...
"Long time no see, Miss Marie."
The man's gentle voice called out to stop her.
Marie turned her head, looking as if she wanted to cry but had no tears left. "Long time no see, Mr. Xia Lun?"
Looking at Marie's expression, Xia Lun could not help but find it slightly amusing. "Did I scare you?"
Marie subconsciously nodded at first, then frantically shook her head, her gaze slowly darting toward Aina, who was standing beside Xia Lun.
Aina looked perfectly normal... which was exactly what made this the most abnormal situation of all.
Controlling a puppet, making it play the role of her long-dead husband, and talking to herself... Has she completely lost her mind?
As long as she played along and did not expose the truth, everything should be fine, right?
It had to be said that Marie truly lived up to her profession as a writer; her rich imagination had already conjured up an entire dramatic saga in her head.
"Ahaha... I am just a bit surprised to actually see you again, Mr. Xia Lun... You and your wife seem to be doing very well..."
Xia Lun paused for a moment. Naturally, he had no idea what Marie was thinking. He had originally intended to explain his resurrection, but it seemed her capacity for acceptance was much better than Liyana's.
Liyana's reaction had been far more intense when she saw him. Xia Lun muttered to himself.
Wearing a stiff smile on her face, Marie pretended to be happy and waved at Xia Lun, while her other hand was hidden behind her back, trembling uncontrollably like a glitching automaton.
"Long time no see, Miss Marie. Thank you for what you did before," Aina said, giving Marie a slight nod.
"It... it was nothing! As long as I could help, as long as I could help..." Marie's lips were trembling slightly.
"Are you afraid, Miss Marie?" Xia Lun noticed that something was wrong with Marie.
At that moment, Marie's heart nearly stopped.
"I... I am just a little nervous!" Marie's voice even cracked a bit. "Mr. Xia Lun... you are the legendary Hero who defeated the Demon King! Ahaha... you are my biggest idol! Any normal person would be nervous seeing you... Yes, that is exactly it!"
"Is that so?" Xia Lun did not know whether to laugh or cry.
"Yes!" Marie answered quite loudly; she was genuinely on the verge of tears.
Aina's current state was simply too terrifying.
"Aina... do the two of you need me for something? I will do anything!" Marie quickly corrected herself, making sure to heavily emphasize the words "the two of you."
"We just ran into an acquaintance, and Xia Lun thought of coming over for a quick chat," Aina said indifferently. She had no real interest in Marie... This person was still the author of those trashy novels. If it were not for the fact that she possessed memories of Xia Lun, which had saved Aina a lot of trouble, Aina would not even bother saying a single word to her.
"That is wonderful! Mr. Xia Lun!" Marie yelled nervously.
Xia Lun felt a bit baffled, wondering why Miss Marie seemed so jumpy.
"If there is nothing else, I have some business to attend to, so I will be taking my leave. You two take your time chatting... ahaha..." Marie slowly edged her way to the corner. The moment she disappeared from their line of sight, she practically scrambled away on her high heels, fleeing for her life.
Listening to the rapid clack-clack-clack of her high heels as she ran away, Xia Lun was rather bewildered. "What is going on with her?"
Aina shook her head. "I am not sure. She was probably scared by you."
"Am I scary?" Xia Lun pointed at his own face while looking at Aina.
"Then am I scary?" Aina puffed out her cheeks and poked her own face while looking at Xia Lun.
"You are very cute, Aina." Xia Lun patted Aina's head, truly having no idea where Her Majesty the Demon King had learned to act so coquettishly.
"Then the scary one is obviously you," Aina said with a soft snort.
Well, Aina had a point.
Xia Lun did not dare to contradict her; whatever the Demon King said was right.
Back when they were adventuring, Liyana had once said that with Xia Lun's personality, he would definitely be a henpecked husband after marrying Aina.
Obviously, Xia Lun was not afraid of Aina at all right now.
He simply could not beat her in a fight, and to prevent Aina from forcing him to do anything embarrassing, Xia Lun always chose to humor her.
"However, Xia Lun, even if you look scary, I will not despise you... because you are my husband," Aina coaxed gently. "I am very good to you."
"Yes, Aina." Xia Lun paused slightly. "Are you using hypnosis magic on me?"
Aina was momentarily stunned. "How could I? I would never do such a thing, Xia Lun."
"Then that is truly strange, Aina." Xia Lun pinched Aina's cheek. "I feel as though I love you even more now."
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
