"The lord's residence? Walk to the end there and go up the stairs... See? The largest building is the manor where the lord lives."
"Huh? Rumors about the lord recently? Sorry, I don’t know anything. The lord has always been very good to us."
After gathering information from a passing elderly woman, Ye Chuan raised his head, his gaze settling on the distant building. Compared to the relatively low-rise structures around it, the manor stood out as particularly luxurious.
"Miss, I couldn’t gather any useful information either. Everyone seems to speak highly of Count Kangong," Torres said, jogging over to Irena, who stood beside Ye Chuan.
"Good work, Torres," Irena nodded.
The skin-walking monsters usually disguised themselves well, and Irena couldn’t determine whether Count Kangong had turned into one. But from the current situation, there didn’t seem to be anything unusual.
If only everything could go smoothly.
Moreover, this place was at the very edge of the empire. If even here those monsters appeared, then the empire truly had no hope left.
"Let’s go straight there," Irena took a deep breath, her emerald-green eyes flashing with resolve.
No matter what, they had to check.
The three of them headed directly toward the lord’s residence and soon arrived at their destination.
"Halt! This is the lord’s residence. Outsiders are not permitted to approach," a guard blocked them as soon as they drew near.
"Is Count Kangong inside?" Torres asked directly.
"The lord is in his estate," the guard frowned but answered nonetheless.
"I am Torres of the Rhinehart family from the royal capital. Please inform the lord that we have urgent matters to discuss," Torres immediately revealed his identity.
"Rhinehart?"
The Rhinehart family’s reputation in the empire was nothing short of illustrious. As a lineage of swordsmen, they had not only trained and supplied the empire with numerous powerful warriors but their patriarch, Soren, was even hailed as the strongest swordsman on the continent.
However, Soren was currently stationed in the empire’s northern territories. During their escape, Torres had written to him about the monsters but received no response.
[Could the patriarch have become a monster too?]
Torres dared not dwell on the possibility. But if even the king had turned into a monster, the continent’s strongest swordsman might not have been spared either.
"Wait a moment," the guard’s tone grew noticeably more respectful upon hearing the name, and he quickly called for another guard to relay the message.
After a brief wait, a man who appeared to be the steward emerged. His eyes swept over the three of them before settling on Torres.
"Please come in. The lord is waiting inside."
"Let’s go, Your Highness," Torres immediately said to Irena.
"Mm," Irena bit her lip lightly but mustered her courage and stepped forward.
Ye Chuan followed alongside them, unfazed. As a mercenary bodyguard, he didn’t feel much pressure.
After all, death was just death—the revival timer on the Tianxuan Continent had already reset.
He was still thinking about stabbing the Qingyun Sect’s patriarch in the back.
But Ye Chuan didn’t want this ninth princess to die. She was his new cash cow in this other world. If he could help her revive the empire, wouldn’t she become the queen?
And he? A king standing shoulder-to-shoulder with her.
"Pretty satisfying, even if it’s a tough challenge," Ye Chuan mused.
Upon entering the estate, the first thing that caught their eyes was a grand garden, meticulously maintained with blooming flowers and a small fountain spraying water.
Ye Chuan’s senses lingered on the fountain.
As they walked further, maids dressed in black-and-white uniforms bowed respectfully as they passed.
The gray-haired steward led the way with impeccable posture, remaining silent as he guided them.
If there really were skin-walking monsters, could they be detected through sensing?
Ye Chuan attempted to scan the steward with his spiritual sense, but the man seemed to notice immediately, turning his gaze toward Ye Chuan.
"Sir, using detection magic so casually is hardly polite behavior."
He actually noticed?
Ye Chuan wasn’t sure of the man’s strength, but if he could detect spiritual sense so easily, he must be a high-level expert.
He was still too weak.
No power—
Ye Chuan sighed. If only he could afford that 999 Heavenly Emperor Card.
Right now, all he could do was use his intangibility to stab people in the back—not nearly as satisfying.
The three were led to a spacious meeting room, empty for now. The steward paused and turned.
"Please wait here. The lord will arrive shortly."
Soon, a side door slowly opened, and a robust man in his fifties strode in.
Dressed in lavish robes, his hair half-gray, he had a square face with a vicious scar running down to his chin and sharp, piercing eyes.
"Rhinehart family…" The man’s gaze lingered on Torres briefly before shifting away, finally settling on Irena beside him.
Irena removed her hood, letting her silver-white hair cascade down. Her jade-green eyes locked onto him.
"It’s me, Lord Kaiaolen."
"Princess?" At the sight of Irena’s signature silver hair, Count Kangong Kaiaolen fell silent for a moment before suddenly raising his hand.
"Seize the ninth princess—she’s been possessed by evil!"
At his command, hurried footsteps echoed as armed guards poured in from both sides, their weapons trained on Ye Chuan and the others.
"Well, well," Ye Chuan remarked at the sight. "Straight to violence, huh?"
Among the guards were mages, who immediately cast binding spells, restraining Irena and Torres effortlessly.
As for Ye Chuan, due to his unique constitution, the magic had no effect on him.
"Damn it!" Torres struggled but couldn’t move an inch.
"I’m not possessed, Lord Kaiaolen!" Irena still couldn’t tell whether he was a skin-walking monster, but she protested vehemently.
Kaiaolen ignored her, turning away.
"Take them to the dungeon. I’ll interrogate them personally."
At that moment, the guards noticed Ye Chuan remained unbound.
"Subdue him," Kaiaolen frowned.
The steward beside him vanished in an instant, reappearing with a grappling hand aimed at Ye Chuan’s arm.
But Ye Chuan was faster. In a flash, he appeared beside Kaiaolen, a sword pressed against his neck.
"…" Feeling the cold steel against his throat, Kaiaolen spoke icily.
"Teleportation magic?"
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
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.
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
reezy rom-com) Good news: Jiang Liu is quite the ladies' man. Bad news: He’s lost his memory. Lying in a hospital bed, Jiang Liu listens to a parade of goddesses spouting "absurd claims," feeling like the world is one giant game of Werewolf. "Jiang Liu, I’m your first love." "Jiang Liu, you’re my boyfriend—she’s your ex." "Jiang Liu, we’re close friends who’ve shared a bed, remember?" "Jiang Liu, I want to have your baby." The now-lucid Jiang Liu is convinced this must be some elaborate scam... until someone drops the bombshell: "The day before you lost your memory, you confessed your feelings—and got into a relationship." Jiang Liu is utterly baffled. So... who the hell is his actual girlfriend?! ... Before recovering his memories, Jiang Liu must navigate this minefield of lies and sincerity, fighting to protect himself from these women’s schemes. But things spiral even further out of control as more people show up at his doorstep—each with increasingly unhinged antics. On the bright side, the memories he lost due to overwhelming trauma seem to be resurfacing. Great news, right? So why are they all panicking now?
