The night grew deeper.
Inside a room of the lord's manor.
A magic lamp glowed on the desk as the scratching sound of writing filled the air. A middle-aged man with half-grayed hair held a fountain pen, scribbling something on paper.
A moment later, his hand paused, and the pen tip drew a messy line across the page.
As if sensing something, Kaiaolen lifted his head, his gaze shifting toward the shadows. "Come out, little thief."
"Calling me a thief isn’t very nice, is it?" A figure slowly emerged from the darkness, leaning casually against a bookshelf with a smirk. "Well, well, little dragon-man."
"You dare return? Do you truly believe I can’t catch you?" Kaiaolen’s voice turned icy as an oppressive aura burst forth, his eyes gradually darkening into crimson—dragon’s eyes.
The terrifying pressure would have forced any fourth-tier warrior to their knees, but Ye Chuan merely flicked his wrist, unfazed.
"Cut the act. We’re not enemies, are we?"
Kaiaolen stared at Ye Chuan in silence. After a few seconds, the corner of his mouth curled into a smirk, and the suffocating pressure vanished instantly.
"Interesting. What do you want to say?" He reclined in his chair, propping his chin with one hand, watching Ye Chuan with amusement.
"You know Irena isn’t a monster. Or perhaps, you’re just not entirely convinced," Ye Chuan said.
"Nonsense. The king himself issued a warrant declaring Irena a monster," Kaiaolen scoffed.
"And that’s exactly why you don’t believe it—especially after meeting her in person." Ye Chuan strode forward, pulled out a chair, and sat across from Kaiaolen with a grin.
"You suspect something’s wrong with the king, don’t you?"
Kaiaolen: "..."
"How did you figure that out?"
"From the way you held back against me. You said if it weren’t for the princess’s sake, you’d have killed me." Ye Chuan smirked.
If Kaiaolen truly believed the princess was a monster, he would’ve treated Ye Chuan the same way—not spared him for her sake.
"..." The middle-aged man’s gaze flickered with appreciation.
"Young man, what’s your name?"
"Xi Xi."
"Xi Xi? Which family?"
"The Ye family from China."
"Xi Xi... Chai Na Ye Jia? You’re not from our empire, are you?" Kaiaolen frowned slightly. At his age, he would’ve recognized any noble family name within the empire.
"No, I’m not. But that’s not the point, is it?"
"What else have you noticed?"
"Your territory—no, more accurately, there’s a monster by your side," Ye Chuan said.
Kaiaolen burst into laughter, his voice rich with amusement. "Hahaha! Fascinating. And how did you deduce that? You only just arrived in the city."
"I heard rumors that your manor frequently drafts people in your name—people who never leave. They say you’re the monster, that you devour them." Ye Chuan raised a finger.
"But since you can still transform into a dragon, and Irena insists you’re not a monster, then who’s really behind it?" He leaned forward. "If someone can act in your name while keeping you in the dark... I’d guess your butler?"
"And you’ve suspected this for a while. That’s why you detained the princess when you saw her—not to harm her, but to protect her."
"By the way, all of this is purely my own speculation." Ye Chuan leaned back in his chair.
"What if your deductions are completely wrong?" Kaiaolen asked.
Ye Chuan shrugged. "Then they’re wrong. Notice I didn’t bring the princess with me? If I’m wrong, I’ll just run for it."
"Your reasoning is amusing," Kaiaolen said. "But there’s one thing you got wrong."
"What?"
"Those monsters, after consuming someone, gain all of their victim’s abilities—including their thoughts." Kaiaolen’s eye suddenly flashed purple. "Heh heh heh."
Ye Chuan stiffened, instantly leaping back and drawing his sword.
"I’m joking." Seeing Ye Chuan’s alarmed reaction, Kaiaolen’s eye returned to normal before he burst into laughter again.
Ye Chuan: "?"
"Relax. Though the reality isn’t much better." Kaiaolen casually tore open his shirt.
A pulsating purple tumor clung to his chest, throbbing grotesquely as if alive.
"This is..."
"Who knows? After I killed one of those things, this appeared where it wounded me." Kaiaolen sighed. "It’s been draining my life force, like a parasite."
Ye Chuan stepped closer, eyeing the disgusting mass with a frown.
"Revolting."
"I agree," Kaiaolen said dryly.
"Can’t remove it?"
"I’ve tried everything—high-grade potions, rare artifacts. Nothing works." Kaiaolen ran a hand through his graying hair. "No choice but to endure."
"Let me try?" Ye Chuan offered.
"Oh? You know healing magic?"
"Not exactly. But I can give it a shot." Ye Chuan extended his hand. If this thing was energy-based, his Chaos Force might counter it.
As Ye Chuan’s dark energy seeped out, the purple tumor withered rapidly, as if scorched by herbicide.
"It’s working!"
Kaiaolen’s eyes widened in disbelief. Even a seventh-tier holy healer had failed to suppress this curse—yet this young man was neutralizing it effortlessly?
"AHHHHHH!" The tumor suddenly shrieked.
"Damn it, scared the hell out of me!" Ye Chuan flinched, then crushed it in his grip.
Kaiaolen staggered back as the suffocating weight in his chest vanished entirely.
"Good... very good!" His hand morphed into a dragon’s claw, his aura surging several times stronger than before.
Meanwhile, Ye Chuan grimaced, using Chaos Force to dissolve the sticky remnants. He hadn’t expected a lump of flesh to scream like a living thing.
Would it have kept growing, eventually consuming the dragon-man entirely?
"Probably."
Regaining his composure, Kaiaolen smiled. "Young man, take me to see the princess."
He seemed in high spirits.
"I still don’t trust you. What if you’re the real monster?" Ye Chuan raised a brow, his faith in Kaiaolen shaken after the earlier trick.
"Oh? How can I prove myself?"
"Give me some gold coins." Ye Chuan held out his palm.
+【Epic Battles!】 "Your Highness, they say Linxi Temple is miraculous. Won’t you make a wish?" "A wish? It should be making wishes to me." "That may be so, but since you’re already here..." "..." "Fine. Then grant this princess a consort to play with." "He must be obedient, devoted, and utterly infatuated with my body—so much so that he’d kneel and kiss my feet." "Your Highness, that’s not a consort. That’s a dog." "Then add clever, witty, heroic, ambitious yet pragmatic..." "Hmm, that’s enough for now. I’ll add more later." After tossing out these words half in jest, Princess Anle departed the temple—only to catch a fleeting glimpse of the Bodhisattva statue smiling at her. Meanwhile, Yang An, fresh out of university, was having a very bad day. Good news: He’d transmigrated into another world with a cheat granting tenfold combat power. Bad news: He’d immediately fallen into the clutches of a certain villainess. Good news: Said villainess possessed peerless beauty and royal status. Bad news: She was absolutely monstrous!!! In the frozen wilderness, Yang An knelt beneath Qin Guo’er’s feet, drenched in sweat despite the cold. Desperately clutching her porcelain-perfect foot—the very one poised to crush his throat—he could only think: How do I survive this?! Need answers NOW!
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
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!
orn and Humiliation】【Forced Love】 In his past life, Lin Ran was betrayed and murdered by his girlfriend and family, while the yandere female aristocrat, who had treated him as a mere plaything, avenged him by doing in his enemies. Upon seeing the yandere female aristocrat lying in the same coffin, ready to die with him, Lin Ran realized how profoundly mistaken he had been. Reborn, he abandoned the fickle campus beauty and wholeheartedly embraced the yandere female aristocrat's arms. "Ran! If I dig out your eyes and turn them into a specimen, you'll only be able to look at me!" Lin Ran: "Darling, kiss me!" "Ran! If I break your legs, you won't run away anymore, right?" Lin Ran: "Love, hold me tight!" "Ran! If..." Lin Ran: "Hush now! Love me more!" Luo Yao: ... Seeing his scumbag dad: "Take him out!" Seeing his stepmother: "Get rid of her!" Seeing his brother: "Eliminate him!" Seeing his white moonlight: "Send that to Southeast Asia!"
