Due to the anti-slip treatment, the carriage showed no noticeable skidding as it crossed the icy surface. Once back on solid ground, it resumed its journey.
The group boarded the carriages again, continuing their orderly advance toward the destination.
However, as they traversed a mountainous stretch, the lead carriage came to another abrupt halt. Torres frowned and stepped down, only to hear the adventurers ahead call out,
"The road’s blocked!"
Torres moved to the front and saw massive boulders piled high, completely obstructing the path. Though the height wasn’t insurmountable for a person to climb over, the carriages had no chance of passing.
One problem after another made Torres scratch his head in frustration. Could someone be sabotaging them?
"So, we have to detour again?" Torres muttered, eyeing the sturdy boulders before pulling out the map. According to it, bypassing this section would add significant time to their journey.
With no other choice, Torres returned to the carriages. This time, however, he didn’t consult Isabella. Instead, he turned to Ye Chuan. "Xi Xi, the path is blocked by these boulders. Do you have a way to clear them?"
Having witnessed Ye Chuan’s abilities, Torres believed dealing with the obstacle would be trivial for him.
"First a broken bridge, now a ruined road…" Ye Chuan rested his cheek on one hand, his eyes half-lidded.
"Someone’s definitely messing with us, aren’t they?"
"Perhaps, but we must reach Count Kangong’s territory," Torres explained. Seeing Ye Chuan’s indifferent expression, he quickly added, "Don’t worry, Xi Xi, your payment won’t be shortchanged. In fact, we’ll add a bonus."
"You make it sound like I’m some money-grubber," Ye Chuan said sternly—before tacking on,
"How much extra?"
Torres fell silent for a moment, then rubbed his hands awkwardly. "Uh… how much would you like?"
"Never mind. Consider this part of the job." With that, Ye Chuan vanished and reappeared before the boulders in an instant.
Spatial magic?!
"He used spatial magic?!" The other adventurers in the group had already been stunned by Ye Chuan’s abilities multiple times, but his teleportation left them utterly shaken.
Among all magical attributes, [Spatial] and [Temporal] magic were the rarest.
"Just a few worthless rocks." Ye Chuan glanced back at the adventurers. "You can’t even handle this?"
"It’d take too long to clear them," one admitted sheepishly. Most of them were warriors or guards, after all.
The boulders blocking the path numbered in the hundreds, each several meters tall—far too laborious to remove manually.
"Fine. Let’s just obliterate them." Ye Chuan raised a hand, preparing to unleash a magic beam.
But then he seemed to reconsider. With a casual wave, the hundreds of boulders vanished into his backpack.
Hmm. Much more convenient.
No need to risk spooking the horses with an explosion.
Watching the rocks disappear in an instant, the adventurers and Torres gaped in disbelief, some even rubbing their eyes.
Where did the boulders go?
"Xi Xi, how did the rocks just… vanish?"
"Oh, they missed their mommy and burrowed underground," Ye Chuan replied flippantly.
Torres understood Ye Chuan wasn’t interested in explaining further. Grateful, he motioned for the carriages to resume their journey.
With the obstacle cleared, they drew closer to their destination.
…
Night fell over the makeshift camp in the forest.
The adventurers cooked their rations, taking a brief rest to replenish their energy. The air carried the damp, slightly rotten scent of fallen leaves.
Seated on a fallen log, Ye Chuan ignored the waterskin Torres offered him. "Xi Xi, care for some wyvern milk? It’ll restore your stamina."
"Wyvern milk?"
"Yes, it’s revitalizing."
"Did you drink from that first?"
Torres stiffened, realizing his oversight. "Ah—my apologies, Xi Xi. Let me fetch a clean container—"
"Don’t bother." Ye Chuan waved him off.
His gaze swept over the chatting adventurers before settling on Torres. After a pause, he spoke again.
"Torres, you and that ‘Miss Yi’ aren’t ordinary, are you?"
Torres’s hand froze mid-air before he slowly lowered the waterskin. "I’m sorry, Xi Xi. I can’t discuss that."
"No matter. We’re just bound by a contract anyway." Ye Chuan had no intention of pressing further—truthfully, he wasn’t particularly interested.
But Isabella’s earlier mention of assassinating the king had left him pondering.
"How much farther to our destination?" Ye Chuan asked.
"Once we cross this forest, we’re nearly there," Torres replied.
Unlike open plains, forests at night were treacherous, so Torres planned to depart at dawn.
"Good." Ye Chuan yawned and closed his eyes, signaling the end of the conversation.
Assuming he wanted rest, Torres quietly stepped away to patrol the perimeter of the camp.
"Tap, tap."
The night deepened, the forest silent save for the chirping of insects and the occasional crackle of the campfire. Adventurers took turns keeping watch while the rest slept to regain their strength.
"…" Torres sat by the fire, absently feeding it more wood. Under his breath, he murmured,
"Father… Mother… Sister…"
Memories of recent events weighed heavily on him, stirring a deep sense of powerlessness.
"Everyone… isn’t the same anymore…"
Shaking off his thoughts, Torres stood to inspect the carriages—only to freeze in horror, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
His body refused to move.
Unnoticed by him, a peculiar scent lingered in the air.
"[Paralysis]?"
"Purifying Blessing!" Torres tried to activate a skill, but his weakened state made even summoning energy impossible.
"Save your breath."
Rustling came from the bushes as two gaunt, masked men emerged, daggers in hand. "Heh. The paralyzing mist finally took effect. Slow, but reliable…"
"Y-You’re—!" Torres’s eyes darted toward the nearby carriage.
"Your Highness!"
【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.)
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.
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
