Half an hour later, Su Yang and the others had soaked until their skin turned red and their foreheads dripped with sweat.
Liu Bo stood up from the water and stretched vigorously. "Sugoi! Nothing beats soaking in a natural hot spring like this."
The others glanced at his pale, flabby physique with visible disdain.
"Seriously, man, you need to lose some weight," Su Yang chuckled from the pool. "For your height, 140 to 150 pounds would be ideal. Right now, it’s kinda hard to look at."
Meng Wenzhou nodded in agreement. "Yeah, especially that belly of yours. Gotta work on your image, or how are you ever gonna get a girlfriend?"
"Alright, alright, I’ll start working out as soon as we’re back in Haicheng. As a professional, if I put my mind to it, I can drop the pounds in two weeks max."
"Pfft, all talk as usual. When have we ever seen you actually move?"
Meng Wenzhou glanced at the group. "Alright, we good? Let’s rinse off and grab some food."
"Let’s go."
They all climbed out of the pool and headed to the changing rooms.
Ten minutes later, the five guys emerged from the men’s area, freshly showered and dressed in yukatas.
They waited outside the wooden arched entrance of the hot spring zone, but the girls still hadn’t come out.
"Girls take forever," Zhang Ziming grumbled, squatting to fiddle with his phone.
"Tell me about it. I’m done in five minutes," Liu Bo laughed.
Ji Bo smirked. "I only need one."
"Damn, one minute? That’s next-level."
As they chatted, another ten minutes passed before the girls finally appeared from behind a low wall.
All six were now dressed in elegant, antique-style yukatas. Their faces glowed pink from the hot spring and subsequent shower, making them look like a group of time-traveling beauties straight out of a historical drama.
"Holy hell, how did I get so lucky to witness six stunning ladies fresh out of the bath?" Ji Bo stared, transfixed.
Su Yang smirked. "Careful, your eyes might fall out."
"Worth it."
"I thought you weren’t into girls? Since when did you turn into such a perv?"
"Who said I wasn’t into girls?" Ji Bo turned to Su Yang, baffled.
"Back at the hotel entrance, when I ran into you with Little Tang, you didn’t even glance her way."
Ji Bo grinned. "That was just an act! We weren’t close back then—had to play it cool. Hah!"
"Sure, sure."
"You guys are fast," Meng Qianyu said as she approached Su Yang with a smile.
Su Yang nodded. "Guys shower quick. Let’s go eat."
"Okay~"
The group of eleven headed toward the hotel restaurant.
"How late is the restaurant open?" Liu Bo asked Pan Ning.
"24 hours. You can grab food anytime."
"Nice."
Soon, they arrived at the restaurant.
The spacious dining area was still bustling with guests. Unlike traditional setups, it wasn’t divided into separate Chinese or Western sections but instead offered a mixed buffet with a wide variety of dishes.
After entering, they split up to gather their meals.
Meng Qianyu glanced at Su Yang from a distance, then at Shen Yixue and Ye Wan beside her. Pretending to browse the food, she trotted over to Su Yang.
She blinked up at him. "Su Yang, what do you usually like to eat for dinner?"
Su Yang paused. "Me? I’m easy. I’ll eat anything—not picky."
"Oh, that’s good. Guys should be open to everything."
Su Yang frowned inwardly. What’s she up to? Random questions… Could she already be interested? Not bad. Looks like hitting 80 favorability within the deadline is doable.
He smiled. "Why? Nothing here catching your eye?"
"There is! I love seafood. Let’s grab some crab."
"Sure, let’s load up. Everyone loves crab."
"Yay~"
The two headed toward the crab station, plates in hand.
Since the Half Moon Bay Hot Spring Hotel was pricey, most amenities—meals, gym, hot springs, even arcade games and pool—were complimentary. Only services like massages cost extra, as quality would drop if they were free.
At the crab station, rows of plump, fresh crabs were neatly displayed.
"Go wild," Su Yang said with a grin.
"Okay~"
They piled their plates high.
"Is this… a bit unrefined?" Meng Qianyu giggled, sticking out her tongue.
"Who cares? As long as we finish it, no waste."
"Exactly," a staff member behind the counter chimed in. "Eat as much as you like, just don’t waste."
Meng Qianyu nodded. "These crabs are fresh, right?"
"Absolutely. All ingredients here are sourced daily to ensure quality."
"Good~"
With two heaping plates of crab and dipping sauces, they claimed a large table.
Su Yang called out to Meng Wenzhou and the others still gathering food. "Over here when you’re done!"
"Got it!"
Ten minutes later, the group settled in.
Meng Qianyu sat snugly beside Su Yang, beaming. No one batted an eye—especially Pan Ning and Meng Wenzhou, who knew her preferences. Once someone’s orientation was set, it rarely changed, particularly for tomboys.
"Dig in."
"Bro, how’d you know I love crab? You went all out."
"Is there anything you don’t love?"
"Heh, don’t mind if I do~"
Laughter and chatter filled the meal.
......
The enjoyable dinner wrapped up amid lively banter.
By 9 p.m., the eleven strolled to a serene courtyard.
A plaque above the gate bore three bold calligraphic characters: Tranquil Pavilion.
Red lanterns hung on either side, casting a warm glow over the quiet, elegant surroundings.
Two women in qipaos stood at the entrance, ready to greet guests.
Liu Bo eyed them and nudged Su Yang. "Not bad."
Su Yang winked. "Agreed."
"Welcome to Tranquil Pavilion. How many in your party?" one hostess asked politely.
"Eleven," Su Yang replied.
"Right this way."
Everyone followed the graceful steps of the qipao-clad beauty into the grand hall of the Ning Shen Pavilion. As soon as they entered, a faint aroma of ambergris wafted through the air.
The hall was draped in drifting wisps of smoke, mingling with the dim, tranquil lighting to create an indescribable sense of mystery.
......
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
. 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!"
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
