"How did it get this serious?" Xia Lun swept his gaze over the villagers, exuding a faint aura of authority.
"They are young, after all, full of youthful vigor and lacking restraint when they strike..." Lyle sighed, his back bending a bit further. "You can't blame them too much..."
"That doesn't mean they can resort to violence!" Xia Lun reprimanded. "Since your people struck first, the responsibility clearly lies with you... Youth is neither an excuse nor a justification. Mistakes must be paid for."
"Yes..." Lyle and the villagers lowered their heads in shame.
"Which ones struck first?"
Xia Lun's gaze swept through the crowd. A few young men among the villagers lowered their heads, not daring to meet his eyes, but no one stepped forward.
"Reporting to the Lord, the ones who struck first have already been dealt with on the spot by my guards," Reid stepped forward at the right moment, the heels of his boots tapping lightly against the ground as he replied respectfully.
Xia Lun closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and declared, "Since that is the case, this matter ends here. Enough blood has been spilled." He swept his gaze over both sides. "I do not want to see any acts of retaliation."
Xia Lun looked at Reid. "Do you accept this, Mr. Reid? Although the villagers started the trouble, they have paid with their lives... I do not wish to spend any more thought on this matter."
"Of course, my Lord. I can accept this." Reid immediately bowed, his posture submissive yet elegant.
The Lord seems to be in a rather poor mood today... Reid muttered silently in his heart.
After going back, I'll need to establish more standardized laws. This time, it can only be settled hastily like this... Xia Lun sighed inwardly.
"Then next..." Xia Lun rubbed his temples. The truly thorny issue was just beginning.
The more troublesome matter was clearly the issue of the river channel.
"Lord Hero, if that river could be brought closer to our village, the crops in the fields would definitely yield a richer harvest... The extra grain could save many lives!" Lyle said in an old, hoarse voice. He stepped forward tremblingly, pointing a twig-like finger at Reid and his men. "Meanwhile, several water wells have already been dug in Mr. Reid's manor."
"You say that as if your village has no wells... Besides, don't try to fool the Lord. I have never heard that crops yield better harvests simply by having more water." Reid scoffed dismissively, slowly adjusting his cuffs. "Moreover, you survived much harsher conditions in the past... Since the Lord arrived, he has reduced your taxes. Your current conditions can hardly be called difficult, so do not push your luck."
"Then, Mr. Reid, to you, that river is merely meant to allow you nobles to better enjoy yourselves, isn't it?" Lyle glared, his beard bristling with anger.
"Maintaining the daily operations of a manor requires a considerable amount of water, a point the Lord is surely well aware of," Reid said calmly, his tone unhurried. "Furthermore, I am no noble. The wealth I possess was earned through my own continuous learning and accumulation, by seizing business opportunities time and time again."
The tension in the air grew increasingly thick.
Xia Lun raised his hand to stop any further arguing.
"Regarding the river... I will make a decision after I return. Within three days, I will give you an answer." Xia Lun looked at the two of them. "Do you have any objections?"
"Of course not, Lord Hero."
"I will follow your arrangements entirely, my Lord."
Xia Lun still held considerable prestige, and both men bowed slightly to him.
This dispute was brought to a temporary halt.
"Then that will be all for today. Do not cause any new trouble." Xia Lun waved his hand, a hint of exhaustion revealing itself in his eyes.
Aina glanced at Xia Lun's back, her thoughts unreadable. From beginning to end, she had not spoken a single word.
Xia Lun left with Aina.
...
Xia Lun slumped onto the sofa and let out a long sigh. Aina thoughtfully massaged his shoulders.
"Thank you." Xia Lun gently touched the fair, delicate little hands on his shoulders, his mood easing significantly.
He didn't know when it started, but his usually icy wife was now willing to do such things for him.
"It's nothing." Aina's attitude remained rather cold, but the pressure of her fingertips was just right. "You've been quite tired lately."
"It's a good thing I have you." Xia Lun smiled.
The matter with Aise had dealt him a significant blow, leaving him with absolutely no mind to deal with other frustrating issues... But as the Lord of this territory, he had no choice but to shoulder the responsibility.
"Have you thought of a solution?"
After massaging his shoulders for a while, Aina sat in his lap. She was naturally asking about the river channel.
"Ah... I do have one..." Xia Lun scratched his head, his expression a bit embarrassed. "If all else fails, I might have to trouble you, Aina."
"It's fine." Aina shook her head, the cool fragrance of her hair drifting into Xia Lun's nose. "It's no trouble."
The solution Xia Lun had come up with was quite simple and crude.
Since there was a stretch of high ground between the village and the manor, making it impossible to build a river channel right in the middle to satisfy both sides... then he would just have Aina use magic to blast that high ground flat.
Merely altering the landscape was not a difficult task for Aina.
It was just that the commotion it would cause might be a bit loud and could perhaps frighten some people... He would need to do some pacification work in advance.
"But this is only a last resort... There might be other hidden dangers later on. I still want to find a more comprehensive plan..." Xia Lun rubbed the space between his brows.
Aina nodded; that was why Xia Lun had asked for three days.
"Father, what are you worrying about?"
Aise had emerged from his room at some unknown point and was standing behind Xia Lun.
Almost simultaneously, a sharp ice cone was pressed against his throat. Aise's expression did not change.
Xia Lun patted Aina's shoulder, and only then did the ice cone melt into a puddle of clear water, which quickly evaporated into white steam under rising flames.
"What did you come out for?" Aina asked coldly, the chill in her eyes not yet fully faded.
"I called for a maid, but there was no response... I just came out for a drink of water."
Aise sat down in front of Xia Lun, poured himself a cup of tea, and downed it in one gulp.
"Father, have you encountered some trouble? Do you need me to share your burden?" Aise smiled slightly, as if there were no bad blood between him and Xia Lun.
"This does not concern you. Go back at once." Xia Lun gave Aise a deep look, his eyes filled with indescribably complex emotions. "Do not come out casually in the future, and do not communicate with anyone else."
"Yes, Father." Aise, still wearing a faint smile on his lips, slowly returned to his room.
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
y came from. The chests contained supplies, currency, class-change scrolls, skills, talents… and even godhood! The laws of the world were completely rewritten. This became a world where everyone gambled with their fate! Some people, despite having nothing, opened a divine artifact and rose to the top, eventually ruling the world. Others went bankrupt, opened nothing but worthless junk, and leaped from skyscrapers in despair. Lin Ye arrived in this world from another reality, utterly bewildered. “What is going on? Why is everyone a gambling addict?!” “Opening chests? No way. I refuse to gamble. I’ll start with myself!” Until— On his first chest, he obtained a Mythic Talent: Void Incarnation! He could become completely intangible, pass through all things, and reduce everything to nothingness! … On his fiftieth chest, he obtained a Mythic Weapon: Blade of Karma! With a single slash, karma shattered, twisting the universe and overturning the myriad phenomena of creation! … On his ninety-ninth chest, he obtained a Mythic Divine Treasure: Primordial Purple Energy! It could split open the heavens and earth, create all things, and evolve countless worlds with a single thought! Lin Ye: “Now that I think about it… shouldn’t someone have told me that every chest is guaranteed to contain something Mythic?!”
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
