The moon was bright, the stars were sparse, and the night was silent.
Stillness—a deathly stillness.
A pin could be heard dropping in the room. A night breeze slipped through the open window, producing the flapping rustle of robes being stirred by the wind.
Ye Shu stood rigid, cold sweat drenching his back, one foot still half-off the bed.
But he didn't dare move a muscle.
He swept his gaze across the four pairs of eyes in the room and saw the same emotion in each one—betrayal.
A drop of cold sweat trickled down his temple.
Ye Shu's face twisted with discomfort, like a schoolkid caught peeking at the answers on the desk behind him during an exam.
What... what did I do?
How did so many people suddenly end up in his room?
Since when did catching a cheater become a group activity?
Whoosh—
Some expert must have made a move, because the candle in the room suddenly flared to life with a lick of purple flame, illuminating the space in a wash of violet light and revealing the scene within.
Ye Shu rolled his eyes, scanning each figure one by one.
First in view: Jiang Xin—crouched under the bed, a blade of grass dangling from her lips, hair a tangled mess like a bird's nest—with the adorable Jiang Mingyue perched on her waist, clutching a tattered rag doll, both staring at him with the look reserved for a heartless scoundrel.
Then came the most "normal" one of the bunch—
Near the doorway, standing on all fours, star-shaped tail perked up like an antenna, covered in fluff from head to toe, looking absolutely adorable—a small beast—glaring at him ferociously, its big violet eyes brimming with the hurt and fury of being wronged.
And as for the last one...
Ye Shu stiffly turned his head toward the windowsill.
The window had been forced wide open, with a brilliant moon hanging just beyond it. Seated beneath that moon was a woman in a bright red wedding dress, her hems swaying gently in the night breeze, one leg crossed over the other, watching him with a smile that wasn't quite a smile.
Wait—Liu Ruyi, why the hell are you here?
Ye Shu racked his brain in utter confusion.
Why?
He'd brought Xia Hanmo to Wanshou City for fun, run into the Little Beast—it should've been a happy occasion.
But looking at the expressions on all these women...
"Gulp!"
Ye Shu swallowed hard, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
As for Xia Hanmo, she'd been in the middle of taking off her clothes, one snow-white shoulder already exposed, still clinging to Ye Shu's body. Seeing this spectacle, she froze on the spot.
She'd known Ye Shu had many female admirers.
But she hadn't expected this many.
After all, based on what Feng Mengli had hinted at before, shouldn't everyone hate heartless men?
Jiang Xin she could accept, but
what the heck were the furry little thing and the Demon Sect's Holy Maiden doing here?
While she was sizing them up, they were sizing her up too.
The women exchanged glances, their eyes brimming with scrutiny, wariness, but mostly astonishment.
Clearly, they'd all come to catch a cheater.
But there were a few too many catchers.
The atmosphere in the room turned stifling. The women locked eyes, hostility radiating from every glance.
Ye Shu could practically smell the gunpowder in the air.
Right now, this room was like a powder keg stuffed full of explosives, just one spark away from blasting him straight into orbit.
But he knew standing there doing nothing wouldn't solve anything.
"Um... that..."
He forced the corner of his mouth upward into a strained smile: "If I said things aren't what you think they are, would you believe me?"
"Do you really think so?!"
All the women snapped their heads toward him in unison, their voices sweet but sharp.
The suffocating silence shattered as every gaze refocused on Ye Shu.
Jiang Xin was the first to puff out her cheeks, face flushed red, pointing a finger at his nose and scolding: "You heartless liar! You told me you had important business to handle, and instead you sneak off to rendezvous with this wicked woman!"
"I saw everything! Don't you dare try to weasel out of it!"
And not just her—even Jiang Mingyue, standing on top of her head, raised her tiny little hand and pointed at Ye Shu, scolding in her baby voice: "Daddy bad! Daddy lies!"
"No, no! I really did come here for business!"
Ye Shu scrambled to defend himself.
Before he could even explain, the Little Beast by the door let out a series of aggrieved cries.
"Chirp chirp! Chirp chirp chirp!"
"Chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp!"
"Chirp chirp!"
"Chirp chirp chirp!"
"Chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp!"
As she cried, glistening tears welled up in her big eyes. She spun around and bolted out the door, leaving behind a single heartbroken teardrop before disappearing into the depths of the corridor.
"Wait, can't you say something I actually understand?"
Ye Shu stared blankly at the Little Beast as she fled in tears, his mind still struggling to catch up, when Liu Ruyi, seated on the windowsill, raised a slender hand and fixed him with that same half-smile.
"Oh? So Young Master Ye has such... exotic tastes?"
"Tsk tsk tsk, not even sparing the wild beasts. I can't decide if that makes you uniquely discerning, or just exceptionally broad-minded."
"Heiyi, you witch!" Ye Shu gritted his teeth, glaring daggers at the woman.
Everyone else was manageable—surprising, yes, but not entirely unexpected. But Liu Ruyi, this demonic seductress, he'd shown no crack in his facade, kept his whereabouts beyond secret. How in the world did she track him here?
Liu Ruyi seemed to read his mind, smoothing the folds of her red wedding dress with a gentle smile: "It's only natural for husband and wife to share a heart that beats in sync, isn't it?"
As if she'd ever tell him the truth—that the forbidden demonic art she'd used to resurrect him hadn't just consumed rare materials, but also half of her own lifespan.
If he fell, she'd die along with him.
That was also why she'd been so certain Ye Shu was alive.
Ye Shu's mouth twitched. This woman truly was a demoness.
But the priority right now wasn't her—it was the Little Beast who'd run off.
He couldn't understand how she'd recognized him, couldn't understand a word she said, but he could tell that hurt was real.
Everyone else had at least some idea of one another's existence.
But the Little Beast had waited with sixteen years of hope, only to be met with this.
With that thought, Ye Shu stopped hesitating.
He straightened up, gently set down the baffled Xia Hanmo, drew her collar back over her exposed shoulder, and left behind only one sentence.
"Whatever you ladies want to talk about, feel free to discuss. I'll be back later."
Then, without so much as a backward glance, he walked out the door and chased after the direction the Little Beast had vanished.
Leaving the women inside staring at one another in stunned silence.
"He... he just left us here like that?"
Jiang Xin stood frozen, utterly incredulous.
"And what choice did he have?" Liu Ruyi chuckled softly behind her hand. "The child who cries the loudest gets the milk."
"Might as well use this time to get acquainted."
She swung her long leg, perched atop the windowsill, gazing down with lofty disdain at Jiang Mingyue and the others below, a red-lipstick smile curling at the edge of her mouth.
"Allow me to introduce myself first. This humble one is Liu Ruyi."
"I am your fine husband's properly wedded, ceremoniously married, heaven-and-earth-sworn rightful wife."
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!
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?!
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.
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
