At this moment, Ji Qingyi's pupils lost their luster, as calm and still as stagnant water, devoid of any ripples.
Though her demeanor appeared composed and steady, her slender, pale hands trembled slightly, betraying the turmoil within her.
"What exactly are you trying to do?"
Suddenly, Ji Qingyi parted her lips, her voice carrying a cold sharpness, slow yet mesmerizing.
Now that she had calmed down, she had discerned Su Cheng's actions, but the shameful way she had shifted blame earlier was too unsightly.
It was as if her darkest moments were being publicly exposed, making her feel an unprecedented humiliation.
Her image had also plummeted.
"I'm not doing anything."
Facing Ji Qingyi's questioning, Su Cheng wiped his mouth and flashed an innocent, guileless smile before nodding earnestly. "The club president was very cute today."
Snap.
"C... cute...?"
The chopsticks in Ji Qingyi's hands snapped in half. She raised her eyes to stare at Su Cheng, her gaze icy. "That doesn’t sound like something you’d say to me. So, should I take your words and actions as a provocation?"
"No, no, no!"
Su Cheng quickly shook his head, then blinked at Ji Qingyi with an innocent yet earnest expression. "Getting to see the president’s truest self again is a happy thing."
"Of course, if the president minds..."
Here, he paused and glanced at Liu Qingyue before continuing, "You could have my senior confess to me and obtain some memory-erasing item to make me forget tonight’s events. That’s also an option."
"Again..."
Ji Qingyi narrowed her eyes slightly at this word—clearly, this "again" implied the existence of other "dark moments" of hers.
It plunged her into a tangle of conflict and hesitation.
Finally, she stood up and fixed her gaze on Su Cheng. "I’ll consider it. But right now, you need to tell me—what is your goal? What do you intend to do?"
"Or rather..."
Her tone was resolute and grave, her eyes piercing as if trying to see right through him. "What are you planning to say to Li Guanqi tomorrow at noon?"
"Oh, that."
Su Cheng pulled out his phone, opened a chat log, and showed it to Ji Qingyi.
"I promised her I wouldn’t reveal this to anyone before tomorrow noon."
After a pause, he added apologetically, "Sorry, President. I didn’t mean to hide it from you. But I can tell you with certainty—I don’t plan to do anything. Please trust me."
"Is that so?"
Ji Qingyi glanced at the chat log, then stared deeply at Su Cheng again. After a long silence, she averted her gaze and turned to Liu Qingyue before striding decisively toward the door without another word.
Liu Qingyue picked up the suitcase she had prepared earlier and followed her mistress out.
...
Ji Qingyi’s steps never faltered until she boarded the extended luxury car. Only then did she relax slightly, leaning back into the seat and closing her eyes without another word.
"Miss..."
Liu Qingyue sat across from her, suitcase in hand, watching Ji Qingyi feign sleep with a hesitant expression.
"Speak." Ji Qingyi’s voice was hoarse and dry.
"How are you feeling?"
Liu Qingyue’s eyes were full of concern.
"Unwell."
Ji Qingyi opened her eyes slightly, her tone calm, but her gaze brimmed with disappointment, resentment, and unwillingness.
"He’s become unfamiliar—even every expression of his feels foreign now..."
Her voice trailed off, dissolving into the clamor of passing vehicles.
"Yes, his new ability is truly detestable."
Liu Qingyue nodded slightly with a sigh.
"It feels like everything is under his control somehow..."
Her eyes darkened, her tone thick with frustration. Now, she didn’t dare act recklessly either.
Su Cheng’s "I’m not doing anything" sent a chill down her spine.
"What exactly does he mean by that?"
Ji Qingyi furrowed her brows, lost in thought. When Su Cheng had said those words, she had sensed that he was telling the truth.
But how much was hidden beneath that statement?
"Miss."
At that moment, Liu Qingyue suddenly called out to Ji Qingyi, who had closed her eyes again. Her voice carried a trace of hesitation.
"Hm?"
Ji Qingyi frowned slightly before nodding.
"What do you plan to do next?"
Liu Qingyue took a deep breath, her gaze fixed intently on Ji Qingyi’s profile. She knew full well that the cool-headed, rational, and sharp-witted young mistress would make the right decision.
"What do you think he means by 'I’m not doing anything'?"
Ji Qingyi lifted her head slightly, meeting Liu Qingyue’s eyes with a composed and steady tone. "I actually think he was telling the truth."
"I believe it’s more like waiting for the rabbit to run into the tree stump."
Liu Qingyue shook her head, her eyes glinting with shrewdness. "It’s obvious—he’s saying that even if he doesn’t act, he’ll still get what he wants."
"So that’s why you didn’t do anything earlier?" Ji Qingyi arched a brow, her tone teasing.
"Miss." Liu Qingyue straightened, explaining seriously, "I’m sure you’ve noticed too—acting rashly would backfire. So, I’ll leave this matter for you to decide."
Hearing this, Ji Qingyi retrieved a small box from her pocket, took out a cigarette, and placed it before Liu Qingyue. "Seems even you have moments of caution. Though I’m still unwilling... Tomorrow afternoon, invite Li Guanqi back to the club."
Liu Qingyue nodded silently, pocketing the cigarette—her intent was clear. She wouldn’t use any items on Su Cheng and would instead approach Li Guanqi.
Since Li Guanqi had formed a cooperative relationship with them, they would wait and observe, learning the contents of tomorrow’s conversation before making their next move.
"Do you have a way to change the current situation?" Ji Qingyi’s gaze settled on Liu Qingyue, her detached tone laced with a hint of expectation. "This can’t go on. We must suppress his objective abilities, or we’ll remain at a disadvantage."
"Yes."
For once, Liu Qingyue wore a solemn expression, her voice grave. "And only two people can do it."
"Who?"
"You and Gu Ruoxue. No one else can alter Su Cheng’s current state."
"Just the two of us?"
Ji Qingyi’s face stiffened momentarily before returning to normal, but her beautiful eyes flickered with unmistakable conflict and hesitation.
"Intense emotions—subjective, of the highest order—are the strongest suppressant."
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.”
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
