The night deepened, swallowing the sky in darkness.
Li Guanqi cradled Su Cheng’s head against her chest, her jade-like fingers gently stroking his hair, over and over, as if soothing a fragile child.
She poured all her tenderness into the gesture, yet words failed her when it came to comforting his wounded soul. She knew that even the slightest solace she could offer now might ease the tension between them.
A soft, intimate atmosphere enveloped the two, safe and warm, as though time itself had slowed, allowing their souls to intertwine.
It wasn’t just the faint milky fragrance clinging to the girl, nor the warmth of their pressed skin—these sensations transcended language, etching themselves indelibly into his heart.
Su Cheng slowly lifted his head, meeting Li Guanqi’s gaze.
Her clear, spring-like eyes mirrored his reflection, and for a fleeting moment, his expression turned blank, as if all his worries had dissolved.
But in the next breath, he stiffened, holding his breath as he pushed her away abruptly. He knew that letting this continue would only spiral out of control.
Indulging further would hurt others—especially his fiancée, Ji Qingyi. The thought filled him with shame.
Caught off guard, Li Guanqi stumbled back a few steps before steadying herself.
Her eyes never left Su Cheng, brimming with confusion and concern. She sensed that his retreat wasn’t solely driven by guilt—there was something deeper, something he refused to confront.
"You know I’m taken, yet you still cross the line," Su Cheng said, brushing off his clothes as he put distance between them, his brow furrowed. "Since when did you get the idea that I’m running away because of you?"
Li Guanqi remained silent, her fists tightening imperceptibly.
She was aware that ever since discovering their shared past in the exam papers, her feelings for Su Cheng had grown beyond mere curiosity. But she didn’t know how to navigate this tangled situation, so she buried her emotions, afraid of complicating things further. Now, she needed to hear the truth from him—even if it shattered her.
When Li Guanqi didn’t respond, Su Cheng sighed and continued, "I told you, my reasons for avoiding you go beyond that."
He paused, then added, "And the effect you have on me—one conclusion I’ve drawn is that keeping my distance is the only way to resist your scent. That scent must be your special ability, right? It has nothing to do with me."
"You promised me," Li Guanqi insisted, her tone unyielding. She remembered clearly—Su Cheng had vowed to tell her everything about his dream when he woke up that morning.
"Right, I did. But I never said when I’d tell you," Su Cheng replied, his expression turning cold and distant as he turned to leave. "I’m not in the mood right now. Besides, there are people looking for me. I need to go before things get messy."
"I want to hear it now," Li Guanqi demanded, brandishing her dark-bladed dagger with unwavering resolve. "The way you are now is my fault. Unless you speak, I’ll follow you—every step of the way."
Her uncharacteristic stubbornness made Su Cheng halt.
Was it guilt over owing her? Shock at her defiance? Or dread of her relentless pursuit? Perhaps all three.
Regardless, Su Cheng abandoned his escape for now, turning back to face her. "Fine, I’ll tell you. But you have to promise never to pester me again or mention tonight to anyone. Otherwise, our friendship ends here."
"I promise," Li Guanqi agreed without hesitation.
Su Cheng pressed his lips together, then began speaking slowly.
Li Guanqi listened intently, not uttering a word.
"What I saw in my dream wasn’t a future—it was the future!" Su Cheng’s answer was startling.
Not a future, but the future?
Did that mean there were two different futures?
"Could it be...?" Li Guanqi’s eyes widened, as if she’d guessed something unbelievable.
"Exactly—our shared future," Su Cheng said, covering one eye with his hand, his voice strained with pain. "The dream was long and vivid. It felt less like a dream and more like I’d traveled forward in time. There, I witnessed things beyond comprehension."
"What’s wrong with your eye?" Li Guanqi asked, alarmed by his gesture.
"Ever since I woke up, my eyes—one has been fixed on the future, the other gazing at the present." Su Cheng's voice was low and hoarse, his exhaustion unmistakable, as if he had witnessed too many unspeakable things.
"What do you see right now?" Li Guanqi pressed.
"I see myself burning to ashes, my life consumed in flames." At this, Su Cheng suddenly lifted his head, a bitter smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "And I see... you learning the truth of this world. Your smile—every joy and sorrow you've never shown—unfurls before my eyes."
Li Guanqi froze, the black blade in her hand clattering to the ground with a sharp, metallic ring. Her mind went blank; her blood seemed to turn to ice.
"You mean... my face can heal? I’ll be able to smile again?" Her voice trembled, betraying the turmoil within. Frantically, she bent to retrieve the blade, but shock made her fingers clumsy—it slipped from her grasp again and again.
"Yes. By then, you’ll have regained your memories." Su Cheng nodded, his smile faint but knowing.
Li Guanqi finally seized the blade and straightened, locking eyes with him. "Then what should I do to—"
"Faith can trade for opportunity. Wisdom can seize achievement. Struggle can win the future. But tell me—what must one sacrifice to glimpse the truth of this world?"
Su Cheng cut her off, offering no answer, only another question. Li Guanqi fell into thought, while he seized the moment to turn away once more.
As she stood absorbed in contemplation, Su Cheng quietly pivoted and strode off. By the time Li Guanqi snapped back to awareness, his figure was already receding into the distance.
Her eyes widened abruptly, a voice inside her screaming the obvious answer—
It was Su Cheng himself.
"Now it’s your turn to keep your promise."
Su Cheng raised a hand in farewell without looking back, his tone weary, almost self-mocking. "Like that unsheathed blade in your grip, my heart no longer has a home. Perhaps... this is simply our fate."
ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
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?!
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...
