Lin Yu had sensed something was off the moment he stepped out of the internet cafe.
Snowing like this in the deep south was simply too unnatural.
An unspoken sense of vigilance had already crept into his mind.
Later, when he bumped into Tang Manman and saw her uncharacteristically cold demeanor, his guard went up even higher.
Now, as Tang Manman suddenly thrust her hand toward him, Lin Yu was surprised, but having already been on guard, he reacted swiftly and grabbed her arm.
Purple electricity crackled violently in the air, releasing a faint burning smell.
Staring at the stun baton hidden inside her sleeve, Lin Yu's eyes widened. He quickly snapped his head up to look at her.
"You!"
Her ambush had failed, yet in those eyes that were normally so docile, Lin Yu could not find a single trace of remorse.
On the contrary, a resolute gleam flickered in her dark irises, faintly mixed with a reckless, desperate madness and ruthlessness.
A split second later, Tang Manman swiftly raised her other hand.
Under the pale moonlight, a small white spray bottle emerged from the dark cuff of her winter coat.
Seeing the object, Lin Yu's heart instantly sank. He instinctively tried to dodge, but it was too late.
"Pfft..."
A burst of unknown, pungent gas sprayed from the nozzle. In the split second before he could hold his breath, Lin Yu accidentally inhaled a small amount of it.
He had no idea what the gas was. It just smelled sharp and heavy, and the moment it entered his nose and mouth, it felt as if his brain had taken a heavy punch.
His entire mind went blank and dizzy.
Before Lin Yu could regain his senses, Tang Manman lunged forward and tackled him to the ground. Giving him no chance to resist, she reached into her coat pocket, pulled out a handkerchief, and clamped it tightly over his nose and mouth.
A harsh chemical odor, even stronger and more pungent than the gas from before, overwhelmed his senses.
His groggy brain had no time to process anything before he peacefully slipped into a deep slumber.
Alarm bells were screaming in his head, but he was completely powerless. Like a drowning man losing his last ounce of strength, he could only stare at the terrifyingly unfamiliar girl above him as he slowly sank into the dark abyss.
Straddling Lin Yu's chest, Tang Manman watched as the panic in his eyes gradually faded into a lifeless calm, watching his eyelids flutter shut. Her rapid breathing finally began to slow, and a sick, twisted smile curled at the corners of her lips.
"I... I did it."
"You are finally mine..."
She slowly raised a trembling hand and gently caressed his face, her eyes overflowing with a dark, obsessive love.
If that woman could use such despicable methods to keep you by her side, then if...
If I did the same thing with you, you wouldn't leave me either, right?
Crunch, crunch, crunch...
In the dead of night, the sound of footsteps crunching against the snow was distinct. Only then did Tang Manman realize someone was nearby. She looked up warily, discovering that two men were walking in their direction.
Faced with these two uninvited guests.
Tang Manman forced down her rising panic. She quickly buried the handkerchief and the stun baton into the soft snow. As the two men approached with frowns on their faces, she took a deep breath and curved her lips into a slightly troubled, helpless smile.
"Excuse me..."
"Is everything alright here?"
One of the men paused and asked out of concern.
"We are fine. It is just that my boyfriend had a little too much to drink tonight."
Tang Manman stood up from Lin Yu. Tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, she offered them an apologetic smile.
"Looks like I will have to drag him all the way home myself tonight."
The two men exchanged a glance. They looked at the stunningly beautiful, innocent-looking girl with her gentle, docile smile.
Then they looked at the guy lying on the ground. He had dyed blonde hair, and although he didn't smell like alcohol or have the typical flush of a drunkard, he just looked like a total delinquent...
Yeah.
Everything seemed perfectly fine here!
What malicious thing could a sweet, beautiful girl, as innocent as a little white rabbit, possibly do to some shady blonde punk?
What?
Now, if the roles were reversed and it was the shady punk straddling an unconscious sweet girl while using the exact same excuse?
Call the cops!
Call the cops immediately!
Huh?
You are saying the punk's unconsciousness looked highly unnatural, as if this gorgeous girl had drugged him to take advantage of him?
Bro, did you jerk off so much your brain turned to mush?
Where in the world does a guy get that lucky?
I wish a beautiful girl would knock me out!
The taller of the two men rolled his eyes at his companion, who was secretly giving him meaningful looks. He didn't even bother to scold his friend for such a ridiculous suspicion.
"Do you need any help?"
The taller man asked thoughtfully.
"No, thank you. I can manage on my own."
Tang Manman politely declined with a sweet smile.
The taller man then dragged away his companion, who looked like he still wanted to say something.
Watching the two of them leave, Tang Manman breathed a sigh of relief.
She bent down, dug her tools out of the snow, and stuffed them back into her pocket. Then, she began to rummage through Lin Yu's pockets.
Soon enough, she found exactly what she was looking for.
Staring at the ID card bearing Lin Yu's photo, a wide smile spread across her face.
You really did bring it with you.
Hurriedly slipping his ID into her own pocket, she turned her attention back to taking the unconscious Lin Yu away from the snow-covered street.
Under the moonlight, Lin Yu looked incredibly peaceful. His rugged, slightly rebellious and intimidating features seemed to have completely softened in this moment.
Tang Manman knelt in the snow beside him, her breathing growing slightly heavy as she gazed at his face.
After a moment, unable to resist the urge any longer, she leaned in and pressed a light, shallow kiss against his lips.
Hoisting Lin Yu up, Tang Manman supported his weight and guided him toward the side of the road.
Soon, a taxi with its vacancy light on pulled up in front of them.
Tang Manman carefully helped Lin Yu into the backseat.
As if every taxi driver in the world was naturally talkative, the driver glanced through the rearview mirror. Seeing the girl so gently helping a man into the car, he smiled and asked:
"Your boyfriend?"
Tang Manman pulled the car door shut. She gently guided Lin Yu's head to rest comfortably against her shoulder.
Responding to the driver's question, she flashed a bright, radiant smile, happier than she had ever been before.
"Mhm!"
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
g Yu was preparing for retirement when her organization decided to eliminate her. She transmigrated to a zombie apocalypse world. However, a tiny unexpected situation occurred: She somehow transformed into an adorable little girl?!
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!
] [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!"
