Su Muxue’s body stiffened almost imperceptibly, her face struggling to maintain composure.
"Mr. Su Qi, I know my approach was highly inappropriate, and I sincerely apologize again."
Her voice softened slightly.
"But I truly have an urgent and important matter I need to discuss with you."
"This concerns… many people, possibly even the safety of the young lady beside you."
Her words carried clear intent, an attempt to leverage Liu Yuan’s safety against Su Qi.
"I’m sure you wouldn’t want anything unfortunate to happen to your sister—"
Her voice cut off abruptly…
That feeling again…
Like death itself coiling around her throat, suffocating her.
Su Qi hadn’t moved—not even a flicker of motion.
Yet an uncontrollable flicker of fear crept across her face.
"My sister’s safety is none of your concern, esteemed guest."
Su Qi took a step aside, making the door’s position unmistakably clear: "The greatest security you can offer her is vanishing from here right now."
Just then, Liu Yuan tugged at Su Qi’s sleeve.
"Brother… maybe we should hear her out first…?" she whispered.
Only then did Su Qi realize his attitude had been overly harsh.
But considering his past—the hardships he’d endured alone, swallowing every bitterness until he could finally retreat to his room for a fleeting moment of respite—it made sense.
In a way, this place was half his "anchor."
No one would want their sanctuary invaded unannounced by outsiders.
To Su Qi, Su Muxue’s actions undeniably carried a whiff of provocation.
Seizing the lifeline, Su Muxue hurriedly continued, "Exactly. I’ll leave immediately after explaining."
She adjusted her posture, trying to appear more formal and convincing: "We may have a shared threat to confront."
Her gaze locked onto Su Qi’s face, grave and intent: "Recently, we apprehended a stowaway from the Source Realm—a Descender."
"Subsequent leads tied to this Descender revealed their ultimate goal: to assassinate a specific martial examinee during the trials. Specifically… Yun Huang, the one by your side at noon today."
"But… these clues came too easily, too smoothly."
"And our informants suggest this isn’t their true objective."
Su Muxue spoke rapidly: "These leads and the captured Descender were deliberate distractions—a feint to divert our forces."
"We still can’t discern their real plan…"
"Given the circumstances, Great Xia’s martial exams this year may lack full defensive coverage…"
"However… Guardian Jiang suspects…"
"The Descenders intentionally revealed their true target, laid out their entire scheme, making us doubt it—forcing us to ‘rule out the correct answer’ first."
"Our current position… is passive."
"Nearby cities also report Descenders causing disruptions timed to this event… we can’t spare much manpower to reinforce Great Xia."
"Of course… Guardian Jiang, under immense pressure, has already submitted a proposal to cancel this year’s exams…"
"However... it's probably hard to get approval. This is an open scheme by the other side."
"The parents of those martial examinees will likely raise hell..."
"So, for this year's Jiangxia martial examinations, we hope you can serve as an external consultant. If Guardian Jiang's worst-case scenario truly unfolds..."
"For instance, if subordinates of a certain deity were to appear... we'd need your unique ability to buy us some time."
"Unique ability?" Su Qi raised an eyebrow, feigning ignorance. "What unique ability do I have? Is it my law-abiding nature or my punctual tax payments?"
Su Muxue choked back a retort. Was that terrifying killing intent from earlier just an illusion?
She suspected Su Qi's ability was some form of 'death deterrence.'
Even the subordinates of deities would sense a 'lethal threat' from him.
That would explain the incident at noon...
It was like holding a gun to an ordinary person's head—how many would dare bet the weapon was fake while staring down its cold, metallic barrel?
Thus, if an unstoppable entity truly emerged, Su Qi would be the ideal choice to stall for time.
On that day, Guardian Jiang would remain on standby, ready to reinforce any location.
"I've said all I needed to say."
"If you're interested, you can contact Guardian Jiang directly."
With that, she left without hesitation.
Su Qi fell silent.
He could disregard Great Xia's attempts to recruit him and brush off their probing.
But this trouble might spill over to Liu Yuan.
For the first time, his stance seemed to waver slightly.
Yet the situation now appeared to extend beyond mere "recruitment."
If Su Muxue's words held truth, this was a genuine latent threat.
After a moment of contemplation, just as Su Muxue reached the door, he finally spoke.
"I've considered it."
A flicker of hope flashed in Su Muxue's eyes.
"But," Su Qi pivoted sharply, "I have conditions."
Su Muxue visibly relaxed.
She paused at the doorway, awaiting his terms.
"First."
"From now on, have Guardian Jiang message me directly for any matters. No other methods—no disruptions to my private life."
Su Muxue nodded immediately. "Understood. I guarantee there won't be a next time. This was my oversight, and I sincerely apologize."
Her tone was deferential—both because she was at fault and because they needed his cooperation.
"Second." Su Qi continued, "I demand full access to all 'authentic' intelligence regarding this Descender operation—not some sanitized 'public-friendly' version."
He paused, then added, "Including Guardian Jiang's 'speculations' and 'worst-case contingencies.'"
Su Muxue's expression stiffened slightly.
This crossed a line.
Core intelligence, especially unverified conjectures and high-level strategies, wasn't meant for external personnel under protocol.
But she knew negotiation was futile.
This man refused to be kept in the dark as a pawn.
"...Regarding this point, I'll need to report to Guardian Jiang for authorization," Su Muxue replied cautiously. "But I'll advocate for it."
Su Qi gave no reaction.
"Third."
"My involvement will occur only when I deem it 'necessary.' I won't accept binding orders or participate in any official proactive schemes."
"In other words, my responsibility is limited to only the 'worst-case scenarios' during the Jiangxia Martial Exam that might threaten my sister's safety."
The words were blunt and undeniably selfish.
But what else could be expected?
He wasn’t there to be a hired thug, nor had he come to pledge loyalty.
His sole purpose was to add an extra layer of protection for Liu Yuan’s safety.
Of course, Su Qi wasn’t quite as selfish as his words made him seem.
To put it harshly, even if Liu Yuan skipped the Martial Exam altogether, it wouldn’t drastically alter the course of her future.
His stance leaned more toward: "I’ll be there during the exam, but my priority is my sister’s safety. As for the rest—I’ll help if I can, but if not, don’t expect miracles."
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
. 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!"
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
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?"
