"Who is that?"
After entering the city, before they had gone far, a towering stone statue in the square caught their eyes.
Xia Lun looked up at the statue's face, but the features were blurry, impossible to make out... From the figure, it was clearly a man.
Aina laughed softly beside him, leaving Xia Lun a bit puzzled.
"First time in Dawn City, is it? That there is the hero, of course..."
A middle-aged man standing by the roadside overheard Xia Lun's question and eagerly struck up a conversation.
"The hero is the founder of the Dawn's Wings. Dawn City's glory began with his legend. That's why the city specially had this statue built in his memory. A pity, though—it's been so long that no true likeness of the hero has been passed down. The artisans had to carve this majestic figure based on imagination... If I had to guess, the hero must have been just as handsome as you, sir..."
Xia Lun turned around and carefully studied this stranger who had approached him so readily.
The man wore a faded gray-brown long robe, a somewhat worn round hat, and bore the marks of a long journey. He seemed to take little care of his appearance.
As Xia Lun examined him, the man kept talking about the city. He spoke with a confident, relaxed air that wasn't annoying—most people would probably find him friendly. Though a standard smile was fixed on his face, Xia Lun could see no light in his eyes, only a trace of gloom. He wasn't as happy as he appeared.
Xia Lun thought his enthusiasm was a bit excessive. And beneath that warmth seemed to linger a faint, barely concealed urgency.
"First time here, folks? Need a place to stay?" After a string of introductions as smooth as a rehearsed script, the man finally revealed his true intention.
"No, thank you," Aina declined firmly.
"Ah... is that so? What a shame." The man still seemed reluctant to give up. "The best inn in the city, the most affordable inn, even one with... special services... ahem, I know them all. Sure you won't reconsider?"
"Oh?" Catching a hint of something interesting, Liyana perked up and started to step forward, only for Xia Lun to grab her by the collar and pull her back.
"No, thank you," Aina repeated. With a flick of her finger, a gold coin landed in the man's hand. "Your introduction was helpful."
"Thank you so much, generous lady," the man said, his eyes finally brightening a little. He took off his worn round hat and gave a slight bow.
When he raised his head again, his gaze accidentally fell on Aina's exquisite, almost unreal features. He was visibly stunned for a moment, then, as if realizing his breach of decorum, quickly lowered his head once more. The brim of his hat again cast a shadow over his expression.
"If you're visitors from elsewhere, take my advice—don't go to the western district of Dawn City," the man said, hesitating before lowering his voice further, a note of caution in his words.
"Western district?" Xia Lun was somewhat taken aback, unsure why the man would say such a thing. "What's wrong with the west?"
"Ahem, nothing much. It's just that the locals there aren't too fond of outsiders. If there's no real reason, it's best not to go there..." The man's words were evasive, his eyes darting as if avoiding something.
"Alright. Thank you. I understand." Xia Lun expressed his gratitude for now.
The man nodded, pulled his hat brim down again as if hiding from prying eyes, glanced warily around, and then walked away quickly, melting into the street crowd and disappearing in no time.
Though it was a bit strange, Xia Lun didn't think much of it.
"Aina, where to next?" Xia Lun looked at his wife.
It had been Aina's idea to come to Dawn City. She must have had a plan.
Aina raised her elegant brow slightly.
"To the western district."
---
La Di used the gold coin he had unexpectedly earned to buy a bottle of fine Dragon's Breath wine and some food, then returned to his dwelling.
He casually tossed his round hat onto a nearby table, then stripped off the gray-brown robe that barely maintained his decency, revealing an even more worn tunic underneath. Like a beast that had exhausted all its strength, he collapsed into the creaky old sofa.
Just within reach on the side table sat a photo frame. Out of habit, La Di reached out, picked it up, and brought it before his eyes.
In the photograph were a young couple. The wife held the hand of an adorable daughter. Though the indoor light was dim and the photo had yellowed, he could still clearly picture every detail.
Once, La Di had had a happy family.
But years ago, a vacation with his wife and daughter in the western district turned into an eternal nightmare.
In the crowded marketplace, in the blink of an eye, his daughter had vanished from his sight. They searched frantically through every alley, asked every possible passerby—only silence and blank stares answered them.
The disappearance of his daughter shattered the family like a vicious crack.
His wife couldn't bear the devastating blow. She cried day and night, her body and spirit crumbling rapidly until a few years ago, when a severe illness took her.
Now, La Di's sole purpose in life was to find his daughter.
She had been seven years old when she went missing. Nearly eight years had passed...
La Di lifted the bottle and took a long, hard swig. The burning wine nearly seared his insides. After drinking, each exhale carried heat, but then a numbing, tingling pleasure spread through him.
His daughter wasn't the only one who had disappeared.
After starting his investigation, La Di discovered that many other outsiders had gone missing in the western district, mostly teenagers, with girls making up the majority.
This was no coincidence.
He had joined forces with other families of the missing, submitting a joint petition to the Dawn's Wings, demanding a thorough investigation into the matter... But oddly enough, the issue was suppressed. Their demands never met with a resolution. The higher-ups kept passing the buck, always replying, "We're short-handed lately," "The procedures take time," "The investigation is ongoing," ...
In the end, everything depended on himself.
After that petition incident, most families of the missing were pressured from all sides and forced to leave the city.
Only La Di remained... He had already lost everything.
His life had only this one last thing left.
La Di set down the bottle and gently ran his finger over his daughter's radiant smile in the photo frame.
"I'll find you," he murmured to himself. "I will."
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
