The next day, clear skies.
The waves lapped against the shore—another fine day.
Ye Shuang had bought a good amount of breakfast and brought it back, but it seemed everyone was still asleep. After all, young people loved to sleep in, and it was summer break. Besides, they'd all been pretty exhausted from last night, especially with that hiking activity before bed.
But at this moment, Ye Shuang's gaze landed on a purple tent, its entrance marked with a small blue fish icon.
That was the tent where An Shiyu and Anshi Yi were staying. When he'd seen that clock yesterday, Ye Shuang had made up his mind to go inside—not to play the voyeur, but to genuinely see if he could help the girl from another timeline.
Just as Ye Shuang was thinking this, the nearby tent gave a slight rustle, and then the zipper at the entrance rasped open, revealing a head—"Ah—"
After a fish-like cry, Anshi Yi stumbled out, rubbing her eyes. "This crappy tent was way too uncomfortable to sleep in."
She noticed Ye Shuang standing not far away, and Chao Yiyu gave a casual wave.
"Yo, morning."
"Morning." Ye Shuang's gaze briefly flickered past her, and upon noticing there was no sign of the clock, he said, "Heading to the water again today?"
"Water? That's not really a priority." Anshi Yi said, then spotted the breakfast in Ye Shuang's hands. "What'd you get?"
"Buns. Though there's not much on this island selling breakfast—just convenience store heat-and-eat stuff." Ye Shuang said, gesturing for Anshi Yi to come eat.
"Hey, is there any cola?"
"Who drinks cola first thing in the morning?" Ye Shuang sighed, exasperated.
"Replenishing sugar, replenishing energy—it's a good thing."
"Fine, let's just eat breakfast first."
As Ye Shuang said this, Anshi Yi plopped down in the chair beside him and started eating. She wore shorts and a t-shirt, her long, slender legs pale and smooth—but no sign of the clock.
Anshi Yi seemed unusually sensitive to stares. When she noticed Ye Shuang's glance, she perked up with interest. "What, into my legs? No reaction to black stockings—turns out you're a bare-leg guy, huh? A thousand bucks for a feel?"
"You're imagining things." Ye Shuang looked away just as An Shiyu emerged from the tent.
Unlike Anshi Yi's neat appearance, An Shiyu's usually tidy shoulder-length hair stuck up in several unruly strands, as if she'd slept on it wrong.
"Pretty early." An Shiyu said, spotting the breakfast.
"Want one?"
"Hmm, I actually have my own stuff for energy." An Shiyu said, pulling out a bag that seemed to contain some snacks.
"You should probably eat something warm in the morning."
"Doesn't matter." An Shiyu said, digging around in her backpack before pulling out a bag of chips.
The next moment, a familiar clock appeared right in front of Ye Shuang. He froze for a second, only to realize that a pair of panties had been slipped over the chip bag.
"Hmm? You're into some twisted stuff, huh—keeping panties inside your snack bag." An Shiyu gave a deadpan look, then glanced at Anshi Yi.
"Threw it in there casually. Whatever." Anshi Yi shrugged.
While the two fishes chatted, Ye Shuang stared at the clock on the packet—
The familiar hum rang out once more, and his vision was swallowed by a blinding white.
...
...
Ye Shuang came to his senses quickly, calmly getting to his feet.
This was Anshi Yi's panty world—a bit different from Little Yu's. At the very least, Ye Shuang looked at his own palm and saw that he hadn't become Shanxia; it was himself.
The surroundings were still the familiar array of instruments, though slightly less tidy. Ye Shuang stood still for a moment, surveying the area, and confirmed it was still the same location as the laboratory.
"I'm wearing this too—so what's my role?" Ye Shuang examined the white lab coat he had on and searched through it, eventually finding an ID badge.
"Shanxia..." Recognizing the familiar name, a look of bewilderment crossed his face. What did this mean? Had he become Shanxia after all?
But at least his appearance was his own now.
Though he didn't fully understand what was happening, Ye Shuang decided to step outside and see what was going on.
"Click, clack, click, clack." The crisp sound of footsteps. Ye Shuang had lived here a few days before and still remembered the layout, even if certain parts were different. Still, he knew which way the laboratories were.
"Ah..."
Ye Shuang's steps came to a halt. In front of him, hanging by the door of a room, was a schedule sheet recording times.
"Test subject..." Ye Shuang's gaze slowly moved upward to the latest time listed—
When that name appeared, Ye Shuang felt a surge of disbelief, yet still spoke aloud:
"Test subject, 482..."
Ye Shuang: "..."
Ye Shuang stood in silence for a long while. He looked at the ending times for each entry below, and felt his breathing start to turn labored.
"..."
"Why did it have to be this way, when..." The familiar ache of sorrow washed over him again and again, forcing Ye Shuang to take deep, heavy breaths.
"Hey, Shanxia, you okay?"
A voice came from beside him. Ye Shuang started, turned, and froze.
A girl dressed in pure white stood next to him—long hair, and a face that was intimately familiar.
[Character: Test Subject 483
Test subject rescued by An Shiyu]
An Shiyu's test subject.
"You... out here." Ye Shuang glanced at the room door beside him. They were in the hallway, and as far as he knew, test subjects shouldn't be allowed outside their observation rooms.
But remembering that the timeline here was different, Ye Shuang chose a more roundabout approach. "What are you... doing here?"
He couldn't confirm whether this girl was Anshi Yi, but he certainly hoped she was.
He couldn't believe the count had already reached four hundred and something.
"What am I doing here? You're the one who's late." The girl answered fluidly, then extended her slender little wrist. "Time to draw blood."
Her arm was riddled with needle marks, densely packed. Though Ye Shuang had steeled himself, the sight still wrenched his heart. This was exactly why entering this world required him to summon up so much courage.
Ye Shuang led the girl into the observation room. Nothing much had changed here—the plain white room, the plain white bed. Perhaps the one difference was the television set.
Ye Shuang quietly observed all of this as the test subject deftly stripped off her clothes, ready for him to take her measurements.
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
