In the brightly lit bedroom, Xu Mingyao had no idea how she had made it through the first half of the night.
Anxiety was like a hideous demon clinging to her back, tormenting her until she was restless and on the verge of tears.
Why?
Why isn't she back yet?
It's already eleven at night.
Why hasn't Tao Yaoyao returned?
Why hasn't she come back yet?
Didn't she say she was just going out for a bit in the afternoon and would be back by night?
Where is she right now?
It's already eleven o'clock!
Why isn't she back yet?!
The anxiety was driving Xu Mingyao crazy. She looked down at the phone in her hand once again.
Tao Yaoyao still hadn't sent a single message.
Now, the outcome seemed glaringly obvious.
If Tao Yaoyao had really been delayed by something, she would have called her like usual, or at the very least sent a text to let her know.
Drained of all her strength, Xu Mingyao slumped onto the bed, staring blankly ahead as she braced herself for the fate she was most unwilling to accept, yet had no choice but to face.
Was she going to leave her too?
Xu Mingyao sat numbly on the bed. A few seconds later, the corners of her mouth began to twitch uncontrollably.
Like the first few tumbling rocks before a devastating mudslide, Xu Mingyao's calm expression rapidly crumbled.
Her mouth twisted into a sob.
Choked whimpers spilled out along with her tears.
Bastard!
Bastard!!!
I knew you were just like the rest of them!
You're all just a bunch of money-grubbing jerks!
None of you are any good!
Xu Mingyao wept heartbrokenly.
Amidst her sobs, she curled up her smooth, pale legs. Even though she had a tall, flawless figure, when curled up like this, she looked like nothing more than a pitifully small ball.
On the screen of the phone that had been tossed aside, the timestamp of the last text message was frozen at 10:35 AM that morning.
Yes.
After 10:35 AM, not only had Tao Yaoyao stopped messaging Xu Mingyao...
Xu Mingyao hadn't sent a single message to Tao Yaoyao either.
Not even a basic question to check in.
Xu Mingyao cared about Tao Yaoyao.
But she didn't want anyone to know that she cared about Tao Yaoyao.
She had even been trying to deceive herself, forcing herself to believe that she actually didn't care about Tao Yaoyao.
She desperately wanted to hold onto her past self.
The old Xu Mingyao was just like that.
She was aloof and superior.
She didn't care about anything.
What did it matter if someone was beautiful or not?
The last thing this world lacked was pretty girls.
No one is eighteen forever, but there is always someone who is eighteen.
Beautiful women are always a renewable, cheap resource.
When she used to have money, status, and a position everyone looked up to, why would she care about a few pretty women?
So, to convince herself that she was still the same lofty and untouchable Xu Mingyao from before, the current Xu Mingyao...
She started imitating herself, even going further than before.
She refused to admit that she cared about Tao Yaoyao.
She refused to admit that she was no longer the old Xu Mingyao.
So she would rather die than show a pathetic display of needing them, or even being unable to live without them, in front of people like Tao Yaoyao.
Because the old Xu Mingyao would never do such a thing!
Get lost!
All of you, get lost!
So what if I don't have you?
I can live perfectly well on my own!
Xu Mingyao cursed viciously in her heart, but she was crying so hard that tears rolled down her face one after another, soaking a large patch of the soft silk nightgown on her legs.
As she cried, Xu Mingyao's shoulders suddenly trembled.
She looked up with a blank expression, panic flashing in her wet, red eyes.
In that instant, she thought of a terrifying possibility.
Could Tao Yaoyao have gotten into an accident?
Was that why she hadn't sent any messages?
At the thought of this, an unprecedented fear welled up in Xu Mingyao's heart.
This thought was like wildly growing weeds; the moment it appeared in Xu Mingyao's mind, it frantically consumed all her thoughts.
No longer caring about her childish self-deception...
She grabbed the phone beside her like a drowning person clutching at straws, her fingers trembling as she tried to send Tao Yaoyao a message, desperate for a reply.
Any kind of reply would do.
As long as she could answer her.
As long as it proved she was safe and sound.
Xu Mingyao's slender, pale fingers tapped shakily on the phone screen.
Before she could even finish typing a short question, a message suddenly popped up on the chat interface.
Tao Yaoyao: Sister Yaoyao, are you asleep?
Xu Mingyao's fingers suddenly froze. Staring at the pop-up message, she was stunned for a moment.
A massive wave of emotion crashed over her, and for a moment, she couldn't even taste the joy in it.
Xu Mingyao didn't reply, but Tao Yaoyao's messages kept coming one after another, as if she was anxiously trying to explain something.
Tao Yaoyao: My phone ran out of battery and died. I was busy earlier and only just found the time to charge it.
Tao Yaoyao: Oh, right!
Tao Yaoyao: I found a job!
Tao Yaoyao: The salary for this job is very high,
Tao Yaoyao: And there's a lot of room for promotion.
Tao Yaoyao: It's just a bit busy.
Tao Yaoyao: Tonight I was busy with work stuff the whole time.
Tao Yaoyao: I forgot to tell you, Sister Yaoyao.
Tao Yaoyao: I'm sorry. (Cute little bunny with hands clasped in apology sticker)
Looking at the string of messages from Tao Yaoyao, Xu Mingyao silently tapped the backspace key, deleting the text she hadn't finished typing one character at a time.
After doing all this, she still didn't reply to Tao Yaoyao. Instead, she covered her crying face with her hands and let out a long sigh of relief.
Thank goodness.
It's so good that she's still here.
People don't cherish the good things they've always had.
Only after losing and regaining them do most people realize they are treasures.
Even if that loss was just a false alarm.
Tao Yaoyao: Sister Yaoyao, are you there?
Tao Yaoyao's message quickly followed.
Tao Yaoyao: I see there are still a lot of food stalls open on the street.
Tao Yaoyao: Is there anything you want to eat?
Xu Mingyao looked at Tao Yaoyao's latest message. After a brief hesitation, she chose to remain silent.
After thinking for a long time, she still wasn't willing to completely cast aside that lofty, superior version of herself in her heart.
But subconsciously, she had already elevated Tao Yaoyao's position in her heart by a lot, a whole lot...
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
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.”
nto another world, I bought a slave for the first time, never expecting the silver wolf girl to be so cute... Lin Feng: I know it's cold, but you don't have to sneak into my bed! Yuna: Just sharing body warmth, if you dare do anything naughty, I'll definitely...
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
