Dawn City, West District.
Compared to the bustling streets they had left behind, this area was noticeably quieter.
The houses here were spaced farther apart, not the kind of row houses, but individual courtyards and villas. In gardens enclosed by iron fences, roses and violets swayed gently in the breeze, wafting faint fragrances into the air.
"I smell wine," Liyana said, sniffing the air.
"Do you?" Mo Lini imitated her, taking a deep breath. "I don't smell anything at all."
"That's because my sense of smell is sharper," Liyana said proudly, her golden hair glinting in the sunlight. "I'm a professionally trained elven archer. Every elven archer has to learn to identify hundreds of scents."
"Got it. Liyana is a dog," Mo Lini said with a straight face, nodding solemnly. "That's why her nose is so keen."
"Eeeek! Mo Lini, you're asking for it!" Liyana couldn't hold back, flailing her hands and making a fierce face at Mo Lini. "Even your ancestors wouldn't dare talk to me like that!"
"Moke would," Xia Lun casually cut in, undermining Liyana. "Moke used to say some pretty nasty things when he teased Liyana."
"Xia Lun!" Liyana let out a wail, staring at Xia Lun in disbelief, as if she had been betrayed in the worst way.
"Because I'm a girl. My father taught me to be ladylike and not use coarse language," Mo Lini said, feigning composure as she smoothed her skirt. "But I do curse in my head."
"Oh, so you secretly talk trash about me in your thoughts, huh? Just wait till I teach you a lesson!" Liyana lunged again, determined to pinch Mo Lini's cheeks into dough.
"Little Lan, go!"
At Mo Lini's command, the slime splattered straight onto Liyana's face.
Liyana reached out to grab Little Lan... but Little Lan slipped through her fingers like flowing jelly, impossible to catch. Worse still, it tried to wriggle into her mouth, leaving Liyana frantic and nowhere to turn.
"Alright, that's enough," Xia Lun said with a laugh, putting an end to the girls' roughhousing.
"Everyone who lives here is either filthy rich or nobility—merchants or aristocrats. Many homes have wine cellars, so it's normal to smell alcohol," Aina said slowly. "Those cellars are built underground."
The earth dragon let out a low hiss and stopped. They had reached Aina's destination.
Before them stood a four-story standalone villa built from pale gray stone, elegant in design. It had a sizeable, meticulously kept yard with a white marble fountain burbling away inside.
"Wow, what a beautiful house," Liyana exclaimed, even she, with all her experience, was impressed. One side of the courtyard wall was covered in blooming wisteria, blending perfectly with nature. She was quite pleased.
"Your house?" Xia Lun turned to Aina beside him.
"Or what, did you think it was yours?" Aina tilted her chin slightly, teasing him with a playful question.
"Yours is mine," Xia Lun said, pulling Aina close in a possessive gesture, his fingers brushing her smooth, silver hair.
"That's not wrong," Aina replied, a tiny smile curving her lips.
The door opened.
Dorian, dressed in a butler's uniform and with his silver hair combed perfectly, stepped out of the house.
"Long time no see, Lady Aina," Dorian said, placing his right hand on his chest and bowing slightly. "Everything you arranged earlier is ready."
"You've worked hard," Aina said, her tone toward Dorian gentler than with others.
"Shall I have Feina and the others come to attend to you? They've been eager to see you as well."
"No need. They have their own work. I'll visit when I have another chance," Aina replied, casting a slightly reproachful glance at the old butler.
He must have known she didn't want to be disturbed, yet he asked anyway.
"You have plenty of things to do yourself. No need to stay here with me. Go attend to your duties," Aina said, waving her hand, her tone returning to its usual calm.
"As you wish, Miss. I'll take my leave now." Dorian's figure gradually blurred, dissolving into countless blood bats that faded away on the spot.
A trace of a smile lingered on Aina's lips. She really did prefer that title.
"What's wrong, Miss?" Xia Lun patted Aina on the shoulder, leaning in from behind until his face was close to hers, his warm breath brushing against her ear.
He instantly shattered the mood she had been building.
Aina's puffed her cheeks slightly, looking a bit miffed. "Nothing."
"Aina, is it really okay for you to hand off all your work like that?" Xia Lun glanced at the spot where Dorian had vanished, thoughtful. "You're practically the progenitor of the blood clan..."
"Oh? So you're saying I should keep myself busy with work, just so you can have time to sneak off and meet other girls over drinks, is that it?" Aina narrowed her eyes, her crimson pupils glinting dangerously.
"Ahem! Of course not! That's impossible! If you have work to do, I'd definitely stay by your side," Xia Lun quickly defended himself. "I swear, I won't leave your side."
"That's more like it," Aina sniffed lightly, then explained slowly, "Actually, when I'm with you, I still handle official business. For important matters, Dorian and the others contact me through the blood bats... Xia Lun, you're the only one who lazes around all day, your head full of nothing but nighttime activities."
"Uh..." Being called out like that, Xia Lun felt a bit embarrassed and rubbed his nose unconsciously.
Maybe he should find a job?
Since being resurrected, he hadn't reapplied for a new identity at the adventurer's guild. He wasn't even a proper adventurer anymore—just a bona fide freeloader.
That would just be ridiculous...
"It doesn't matter, Xia Lun." Seeing the change in his expression, Aina smugly patted him on the shoulder, putting on a bossy air. "You just let me take care of you. Be obedient, and I'll give you as much spending money as you want."
"Ha, I'm not..." Xia Lun started to retort stubbornly.
"You already are, Xia Lun." Aina arched her eyebrows, suddenly leaning close to his ear and lowering her voice. "Oh, or you could think of it this way—every single expense you have now is earned by working hard at night."
Xia Lun: ...
This was... absolutely outrageous!
He was once a brave hero, reduced to being treated by a demon lord as a male sex worker trading his body for money.
"Make sure you earn well tonight, Xia Lun," Aina taunted, giving him a challenging look. "Do a good job, and maybe I'll even tip you..."
Xia Lun's anger turned into bitter laughter. "I'll make sure you're satisfied, Demon Lord."
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
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!
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】
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?"
