Li Guanqi caught the keyword "return" in Gu Ruoxue's words and couldn't help feeling surprised. Staring at the bright-eyed crow, she asked in confusion, "Was this crow originally raised by me?"
Faced with Li Guanqi's question, Gu Ruoxue didn’t answer directly. Instead, she lifted Yaya and gestured toward her.
As if receiving some kind of signal, the crow immediately flew around Li Guanqi cheerfully, circling her affectionately, as if very familiar with her.
Li Guanqi was momentarily at a loss but eventually raised her hand, imitating Gu Ruoxue’s gesture. Yaya let out a happy cry and landed steadily on her palm.
It tilted its head, nuzzling her arm and gently pecking the back of her hand. This intimate behavior stirred mixed emotions in Li Guanqi, making her increasingly curious about the memories she had lost.
Seeing this, Gu Ruoxue turned to leave, holding her drink.
Li Guanqi sank into deep thought. After questioning her own conscience, she didn’t believe her previous actions had been wrong. If time rewound, she would still have acted the same way without hesitation.
And so—
"Senior," Li Guanqi called out, stopping Gu Ruoxue in her tracks.
Gu Ruoxue paused and looked back at her, her gaze calm and unreadable.
Li Guanqi gently placed Yaya on the bench, then raised her head and asked cautiously yet firmly, "Can you tell me why all of this is so unfair?"
This question had lingered in Li Guanqi’s heart—an injustice she had personally experienced.
Why was it that, despite everyone being ring bearers, she alone remained ignorant of the truth? Why had Gu Ruoxue even referred to her as some kind of test subject? It was utterly absurd!
"Senior, you really lack empathy," Li Guanqi chided, then abruptly shifted her tone. "I remember you once said this was a 'false stage.' If so, isn’t a stage meant for performance? I conveyed the plot and emotions—what’s wrong with that?"
Her sudden outburst made Gu Ruoxue raise an eyebrow. She watched Li Guanqi silently, as if waiting for her to continue.
Taking a deep breath, Li Guanqi spoke with even greater conviction, "Senior, you care about him too, don’t you? Whether it’s the orange juice in your hand, the orange cat at home, or the fact that you rushed to help despite knowing the card was bait—doesn’t all of that prove your concern for him?"
Faced with Li Guanqi’s accusations, Gu Ruoxue remained silent, though her gaze never wavered.
"Senior, I only acted according to what my heart told me was right," Li Guanqi said, meeting her eyes with unwavering sincerity. "But you—you wrote the script, yet you didn’t follow it completely. Haven’t you violated the basic principles of being an actor?"
Upon reflection, Li Guanqi realized Gu Ruoxue was no impartial, strict judge. On the contrary, she had her own hidden motives. From the moment she dropped the "amnesia" hint at the racetrack to now, traces of her influence were everywhere.
This realization struck Li Guanqi with clarity.
Gu Ruoxue stood like an unyielding rock on the shore, quietly listening. After a moment, she turned and walked away, leaving behind a fading silhouette and a detached remark: "You’ve misunderstood a few things. The script wasn’t written by me, and as for the actors’ roles and actions—it’s not your place to judge."
……
Watching Gu Ruoxue disappear into the distance, Li Guanqi lowered her eyes, her mind now clear: Gu Ruoxue was no ally. She was a formidable opponent, one who played her cards with cunning precision.
Today, she had used Li Guanqi to successfully dismantle the seemingly unbreakable relationship between the Ji Family and Su Cheng.
The thought, oddly enough, brought Li Guanqi a sense of relief.
She believed that from now on, the conflict between the Ji Family master and servant would inevitably be directed at Gu Ruoxue. In this game of chess, though she was merely a pawn, the "general" had already charged forward—effectively shielding her.
Just then, Yaya suddenly flapped its wings and landed on her shoulder, gently preening her loose strands of hair as if to comfort her.
"Thank you, Yaya," Li Guanqi murmured, stroking its little head. Yaya seemed to understand, proudly spreading its wings in a gesture that clearly said, "You’re welcome," leaving Li Guanqi astonished.
"Let’s go home," Li Guanqi said, glancing at the sky. The sun had fully set, and the city lights were beginning to glow.
But the moment the words left her lips, Yaya nodded—then took off into the sky without warning.
"Eh?" Stunned by the crow’s uncanny response, Li Guanqi was left speechless. Before her bewilderment could fade, a sliver of worry crept in: What if this remarkably intelligent bird never returned?
"I hope it went straight back to the estate."
She quickly pulled out her phone and made a call. Soon, a taxi rolled to a stop at the coastal entrance. Behind the wheel sat a young female driver, looking around as if searching for someone.
Li Guanqi stepped forward and lightly tapped the window. The driver, who introduced herself as "Sister Qin," jumped slightly before relaxing into a smile. "Geez, you scared me!"
"My apologies," Li Guanqi said with a polite shake of her head, cutting straight to the point. "Are you Sister Qin?"
"And you’re Li Guanqi?" Sister Qin countered, studying her closely.
Li Guanqi nodded, and the two quickly warmed up to each other.
"That Su Cheng kid didn’t get into any trouble, did he?" Sister Qin asked first, her tone laced with concern. Clearly, she was deeply worried about Su Cheng’s well-being.
"He’s safely back home now. No need to worry," Li Guanqi replied calmly, her expression giving nothing away.
"Seems like Su Cheng’s quite the ladies' man, surrounded by beauties like you," Sister Qin teased, her eyes sparkling with approval. As she spoke, she opened the car door and gestured for Li Guanqi to enter.
"Looking at you, I’d say the same," Li Guanqi said, smoothing her skirt before gracefully settling into the passenger seat. Fastening her seatbelt, she turned to Sister Qin, a playful glint in her eyes.
Inside the car, Sister Qin chuckled and patted the steering wheel. "You’ve got quite the silver tongue! If Su Cheng were half as smooth as you, he’d be unstoppable."
"Not at all, Sister Qin. You flatter me," Li Guanqi replied modestly. "With your charm, you could easily pass for a young beauty yourself."
The two exchanged lighthearted compliments, easing the atmosphere. Seizing the opportunity, Li Guanqi thanked Sister Qin for her advice earlier that afternoon and extended another invitation for her to become her personal driver.
As they spoke,
the scenery outside the window blurred past, fading into the distance.
Though Sister Qin had willingly shared Su Cheng’s whereabouts, Li Guanqi remained cautious. There was no guarantee she wasn’t connected to the Ji Family. In such uncertain company, vigilance was essential.
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!
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.
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?!
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?"
