As soon as the two of them approached the food stall, they were immediately enveloped by a peculiar aroma.
Qing Mo looked in the direction of the scent.
Her delicate, aloof face immediately wrinkled in disgust.
She seemed to hate those things so much that she let go of Lin Yu's arm and hid behind him. Leaning over his shoulder, she frowned and stared at the food with revulsion, looking like a soldier cautiously poking their head out of a trench.
"Boss."
"Give me a skewer of this."
Lin Yu pointed and said loudly.
"Sure thing!"
The stall owner, wearing an apron and a plastic face mask, followed Lin Yu's finger, took a skewer of black and yellow cicada nymphs from a large row of insect skewers, and dropped it into the deep fryer.
Watching the cicada nymphs being swallowed by the boiling oil, Lin Yu subconsciously thought of Su Yuyao, the one who had gotten him addicted to eating bugs in the first place.
Su Yuyao was a strange person.
She was clearly cute, sweet, and soft.
As beautiful as a little princess from a fairy tale.
But her taste in food was incredibly abstract.
It was completely like the dietary habits of a Demon King's army.
She always liked to eat bizarre foods that completely contradicted her obedient and beautiful aura.
During the second month after she gave birth to Little Darling.
She clamored to eat these deep-fried cicada nymphs, the kind where she would cry and shed tears to show you if you didn't let her eat them.
At the time, Lin Yu didn't even know what cicada nymphs were.
After learning that this thing was a fat, winged bug, Lin Yu's sanity points dropped significantly.
He even started to deceive himself for a while.
Thinking that this thing just shared the same name as the food Su Yuyao wanted to eat.
After Su Yuyao explicitly stated that the delicacy she wanted to eat was indeed this big bug, Lin Yu was out of ideas.
He could only have the family chef deep-fry a plate for her.
At first, Lin Yu's attitude towards this big bug was extremely disgusted.
His main stance was absolutely not eating it.
He wouldn't eat it even if beaten to death.
Later, under Su Yuyao's soft whining and relentless pestering, Lin Yu, based on the principle of wanting some peace and quiet, popped one into his mouth with the look of a man going to his death.
Ummmm...
So delicious!
In the rolling oil, the cicada nymphs gradually turned golden yellow.
An aroma unlike any kind of meat spread out.
While fragrant, it also carried a strange scent.
It was like a tempting taboo, making people curious but afraid to try it easily.
"Do you want it spicy?"
The stall owner fished the fried skewer out of the oil and asked.
"Mildly spicy, please."
Qing Mo couldn't handle spicy food very well, but some foods lost their soul without a bit of spice, so Lin Yu asked for mild.
"Sure thing!"
The stall owner deftly sprinkled some seasoning on the golden cicadas, wrapped a paper towel around the bamboo skewer, and handed it to Lin Yu.
Lin Yu took this ultimate weapon.
He turned to look at Qing Mo and, before she could run away, grabbed her by the waist and said with a smile:
"Come here."
"Didn't you want to taste a bit of everything?"
"Try this one too."
"Ugh!"
"No!"
"No!"
This time, Qing Mo's "no" meant absolutely no.
She wanted to escape, but Lin Yu already had her waist firmly locked in his grasp.
With no other choice, she could only lean her upper body backward as far as possible. To avoid the steadily approaching big bug, she displayed astonishing flexibility.
Looking at the arch of her back, Lin Yu's eyes widened for a moment.
He hadn't expected Qing Mo to possess such a special ability.
This was worth deeper research in the future!
Seeing that Qing Mo refused to eat it no matter what, Lin Yu pulled his hand back, stopped teasing her, and ate one himself.
With the crisis averted, Qing Mo straightened her waist.
But before she could even heave a sigh of relief, Lin Yu leaned over with puckered lips.
"No!"
Qing Mo hurriedly raised her hands and covered Lin Yu's mouth.
As for bugs, although she wouldn't pale at the sight of them.
She would absolutely never put those disgusting things into her mouth.
Not even if they were delicious?
What?
It's all protein?
Is that the same thing?
Seeing Qing Mo's resolute attitude, Lin Yu stopped teasing her.
He quickly polished off the rest of the cicada nymphs on the skewer, took Qing Mo's small hand, and continued to stroll with her through the basement food court.
After fully exploring the entire food court, the two of them, now full, carried their unfinished snacks and found a resting chair to sit down.
They snuggled together.
Lin Yu gently wrapped his arm around Qing Mo's waist, and Qing Mo leaned softly into Lin Yu's embrace.
In front of them, pedestrians walked by like flowing water.
The two quietly took in the sight of the crowd, and quietly let them leave.
In this noisy world, they inexplicably felt a different kind of tranquility.
They were on the same wavelength.
It was as if only the two of them were left in the whole world.
Immersed in this shared frequency.
Neither could bear to speak and break this comforting peace.
A long, long time passed just like this.
Only then did Qing Mo slightly part her red lips and speak up, her tone sounding less like a discussion and more like a statement:
"At this time next month, you have to come and keep me company again."
Lin Yu didn't speak, but simply nodded.
Over the past year or so, Lin Yu knew he had spent too much time accompanying Su Yuyao and Little Darling, somewhat neglecting the three of them.
But Lin Yu couldn't help it.
As for Little Darling.
He truly couldn't let go of his worry.
However, now that Little Darling's condition had stabilized.
He could finally spare some more time to keep them company.
Sigh.
Lin Yu sighed in his heart.
This was the bad part about having a harem.
He loved all of them, and showing bias towards any one of them made him feel uncomfortable inside.
Because of love.
He would subconsciously feel sad and aggrieved on their behalf.
Actually, even now, Lin Yu still somewhat yearned for the feeling of being a monogamous couple for a lifetime.
Two people together, able to freely pour all their time and love into each other.
Filling and occupying the rest of each other's lives.
Just thinking about it felt blissful.
But as for now.
Lin Yu felt that these days were alright too.
Mainly because out of the four of them, he couldn't let go of a single one anymore.
So be it, then.
It was quite nice too.
After the brief exchange, the two resumed their silence, snuggling together, watching the pedestrians flow by like water before their eyes.
After a period of silence, it was still Qing Mo who spoke first. She softly called out:
"Lin Yu?"
"Hmm?"
Lin Yu subconsciously let out a nasal sound to reply to Qing Mo.
"I love you."
Hearing Qing Mo's sudden confession, Lin Yu didn't answer her immediately.
The corners of his mouth unconsciously curled into a knowing, faint smile. Silently tightening his arm around Qing Mo, Lin Yu narrowed his eyes in contentment and said gently with a soft voice:
"Me too."
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
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.
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
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.”
