Twenty minutes left. Time was tight.
Su Yang sprinted all the way, taking just over a minute to get back to his car. He pulled the door open and hopped in.
Vroom~
The Cullinan let out a low, muffled roar. Without even taking a moment to check his phone, Su Yang spun the car around and slammed on the gas, the vehicle lunging forward.
Reaching the road, he jerked the steering wheel hard. The chassis fishtailed momentarily before straightening out, and Su Yang sped the Cullinan away, vanishing into the night.
Once he was driving at a steady pace, Su Yang finally tapped the center console screen to check his WeChat messages.
There were several unread notifications on the screen.
Liu Bo: Brother Yang, where are you? Why aren't you back yet?
Liu Bo: Hello? Plane, Plane, this is Rocket. Please respond!
Pan Ning: Last half hour.
Meng Wenzhou: Old Su, Fatty said you were back? Why aren't you here yet? Just how far did you run?
Chu Qiunan: Old Su, where you at?
Looking at the messages from the group, Su Yang held off on replying for the moment, shifting his focus back to the road to drive carefully.
It had taken him twenty minutes to drive from the city center to the suburbs earlier, but now Su Yang was pushing the speed to the limit for the return trip.
In less than eight minutes, he drove out of the pitch-black county roads and returned to the brightly lit main highway.
After entering the city limits, Su Yang slowed down slightly.
It wasn't until he hit a red light at an intersection that he replied one by one to the people who had messaged him.
Su Yang first opened Pan Ning's chat and typed a reply: I'm back~ Be there soon.
Pan Ning: Nothing bad happened, right?
Su Yang: No, I'll tell you later.
Pan Ning: Okay.
After replying to Pan Ning, Su Yang opened Liu Bo's chat: Coming, talk later.
Liu Bo: Was someone really following you?
Su Yang: More than following, I got into a fight with her.
Liu Bo: WTF???
Su Yang: Driving, talk later.
Next, Su Yang sent quick replies to Meng Wenzhou and Chu Qiunan just as the traffic light turned green.
He slammed the pedal to the metal. The Cullinan was the first to shoot forward, leaving the other sedans that were still starting up far behind in the dust.
Soon, Su Yang returned to the hotel parking lot and parked the car.
It was now 9:25 PM, five minutes before Pan Ning's deadline.
Su Yang smiled faintly and walked briskly toward the hotel entrance.
After entering the lobby, his phone rang again.
Su Yang took it out to check; Liu Bo had sent another message.
"Where are you, Brother Yang?"
"Lobby. Where are you guys?" Su Yang replied, looking around.
At this moment, the lobby only contained a few staff members and four or five strangers who were checking in.
Liu Bo replied quickly: "We are in the back garden. There's a lounge here, it's great for board games."
"Oh, oh. Coming."
Su Yang put away his phone and found a waiter to lead him to the hotel's back garden.
Passing through the beautiful garden, Su Yang could see his friends from a distance through a clear floor-to-ceiling window, sitting inside, talking and laughing while playing games.
He turned to the waiter and smiled. "Thanks, I can make it from here. You can head back."
"Alright, sir. If you need anything, please feel free to call the front desk to contact us."
"Okay."
Su Yang walked quickly into the building not far ahead.
This place was actually a comprehensive rest area. Upon entering the main door, there was a large bar counter.
Guests could drink and play board games here.
At this time, aside from Pan Ning and the others, there were several groups of young people in the hall sitting around chatting and drinking.
Su Yang walked quickly to his friends sitting by the window.
Seeing Su Yang return, Pan Ning nodded slightly, while Liu Bo immediately waved his hand. "You're here, Brother Yang! Come on, we were just waiting for you~"
"Why wait for me? You guys go ahead and play~"
"It's no fun without you, haha! Isn't that right, everyone?" Liu Bo looked at the others with a grin.
Meng Qianyu nodded with a smile. "That's right. My sister said you went to meet a friend?"
"Yeah~"
"You have friends in Ya'an?"
"Right, a former college classmate." As Su Yang spoke, he walked over and sat in the empty seat between Pan Ning and Meng Qianyu.
"Then why didn't you invite your friend to come over and hang out with us?"
"Oh~ She's quite shy."
"Shy? Don't tell me it's a girl?" Meng Qianyu leaned in close to Su Yang, blinking with a smile.
Su Yang nodded. "It is indeed a girl."
"What? It really is a girl? You actually went behind my sister's... I mean, everyone's back to go out and meet a girl?"
Su Yang scratched his head. "We just met up and chatted a bit. She's a college classmate I had a decent relationship with back in the day. Since I'm in Ya'an, naturally I had to meet her."
"Alright then~" Meng Qianyu didn't ask any further.
However, Liu Bo, Meng Wenzhou, and the other guys looked at Su Yang with strange expressions.
Ji Bo took out his phone and asked in the boys' small group chat: Brother Yang? It's really a girl?
Zhang Ziming: The person you said was following you all the way was a girl? It's not your ex-girlfriend, is it? Did she want to rekindle an old flame and followed you all the way to Ya'an?
Chu Qiunan: Yeah, that explanation would make sense.
Su Yang: What ex-girlfriend? No. I'll explain later.
After that, the group gathered around to play a few rounds of Werewolf, and then played poker for a while.
It wasn't until 11:40 PM that the gathering broke up.
The girls went back to their rooms to rest first, while the boys stayed behind to smoke and chat.
"Hurry up and tell us what exactly happened! I've been holding it in for ages!" Liu Bo looked at Su Yang and asked impatiently.
The others were also full of curiosity.
Su Yang took a sip of his drink and simply recounted the earlier events.
After listening, everyone looked dumbfounded.
"A woman? A figure in a black robe?"
"What is all this?"
"And you say she's an expert? She fought you to a draw?"
Su Yang said calmly, "Not only that, she beat me until I coughed up blood."
"Holy shit??!"
"For real? Why do I feel like you're making this up?" Zhang Ziming said skeptically.
Su Yang rolled his eyes at Zhang Ziming. "What benefit do I get from lying to you?"
Ji Bo scratched his head, looking dazed. "I'm a bit confused. A woman followed you all the way from Licheng to Ya'an just to have a fight with you?"
"She didn't state her specific purpose, she just said she would find me again."
"Oh man, I still think that's a bit wild. That's literally Absurdity's mom opening the door for Absurdity—absurdity has arrived home." Chu Qiunan picked up the drink on the table and downed it in one gulp.
Su Yang looked at them helplessly. "Anyway, I haven't told a single lie. If you guys don't believe me, there's nothing I can do."
Meng Wenzhou said calmly, "We definitely believe you. It's just a bit hard to accept. Mainly because the story you told is a bit, how should I put it... fantasy-like. And the opponent was a girl."
"At first, I also thought the opponent was a man. I guessed it might be a friend of that Ge Hai guy I beat up before coming for revenge or something, but those guesses were all wrong."
"Actually, never mind you guys, even I'm still confused right now."
Liu Bo said, "Alright, I still believe you, Brother Yang. But did you see what that girl looked like?"
Su Yang shook his head. "Nope. She kept a massive hat and a black mask on the whole time. Couldn't see a thing."
"Well, seeing as she didn't try to off you, I guess you just let it go."
"Not much else I can do. I'll just have to wait and see. She said she'd find me again anyway, so I'll figure out what she's after when that happens."
"Fair enough."
"Ready to roll, then? Let's go back and get some rest. We leave for Kangding tomorrow."
"Roger that. Moving out."
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…
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.”
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
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.
