"Hmm?"
Ye Chuan noticed movement by the entrance and saw Bai Qianshuang and Luo Xi walking in together, chatting about something amusing, with Luo Xi smiling brightly.
"Qianshuang, when did you go out?" Ye Chuan was slightly surprised, having not noticed Bai Qianshuang leaving.
Has she started going out on her own now?
"Just getting some fresh air," Bai Qianshuang replied softly. She glanced at Ye Chuan before heading straight to the kitchen with the groceries in hand.
"Chuanchuan, here—this is for you." Luo Xi handed him a small box.
"What is it?"
Ye Chuan opened the box to find a talisman inside. "A protective charm?"
"I passed by a temple while volunteering yesterday and bought it there." Luo Xi raised a finger. "The master there said I had good fortune, so he didn’t charge me in the end."
"You believe in this stuff?"
"Hey, what if it works~" Luo Xi nudged Ye Chuan playfully. "I don’t care."
Ye Chuan wasn’t one to buy into supernatural things, but since it was Luo Xi’s kind gesture, he accepted it.
"Cluck cluck cluck—" The sound of a chicken drew Ye Chuan’s attention.
"Huh? You bought a chicken too?"
"Yep, we’re making a chicken stew and some soup~" Luo Xi said, carrying the ingredients into the kitchen where Bai Qianshuang had already started prepping.
After a clatter of pots and pans, Luo Xi emerged again and finally noticed Lan Xiaoke’s presence.
"This is the first time I’ve seen Xiaoke so clearly," Luo Xi remarked. Before, Lan Xiaoke had always appeared slightly translucent, and given Luo Xi’s limited ability to perceive spirits, she’d only had a vague impression of her appearance.
"I’m back to life now!" Lan Xiaoke declared, hands on her hips.
"Congratulations! But I thought your lisp was because you were a ghost. Turns out you’ve always talked like this," Luo Xi teased with a grin.
Hearing this, Lan Xiaoke turned to Ye Chuan.
"Do I have a strong accent?"
"Self-awareness is a virtue," Ye Chuan said.
"But I don’t have an accent, do I?"
……
By lunchtime, Ke Ning emerged, looking as sleep-deprived as ever, dark circles under her eyes.
"Can I take some food back to my room?" she asked, adjusting her glasses as she eyed the lavish spread on the table. "Then again, I could just survive on energy bars for nutrition."
"Have some soup first. Try Luo Xi’s cooking—no matter how busy you are, you should still eat properly," Ye Chuan insisted.
Ke Ning sat down and began sipping the soup cautiously. Luo Xi’s culinary skills were exceptional, and though Ke Ning had planned to just nibble, the rich aroma soon had her digging into the dishes with rice.
"Lilith," Ye Chuan called out, but she refused to come out.
Well, that was pretty much all the tenants gathered, right?
"I’m done," Bai Qianshuang said after a while, setting down her chopsticks.
"Not hungry today?" Luo Xi asked, noticing Bai Qianshuang had only eaten three bowls of rice. "Did the food not suit your taste?"
"It was delicious," Bai Qianshuang shook her head but still collected her dishes and retreated to her room.
Luo Xi watched her go, then turned to Ye Chuan. "Did you do something to Qianshuang?"
"Spill it." With that, she stepped on Ye Chuan’s foot with her slipper.
"I didn’t do anything to her," Ye Chuan said, wincing as he instinctively glanced at Lan Xiaoke.
Lan Xiaoke, however, was too busy devouring her meal to pay attention to anything else.
"By the way, how did you two come back together?" Ye Chuan asked.
"I ran into Qianshuang at the bus stop while grocery shopping. She seemed lost in thought," Luo Xi explained. "So I took her to the park for some fresh air before heading home."
"I see." Ye Chuan rubbed his temples, looking troubled.
He also noticed that Bai Qianshuang’s affection level had dropped slightly on his phone.
"What did you do?" Luo Xi pressed.
"It’s probably because I didn’t do anything."
Luo Xi blinked in confusion. "?"
"Don’t worry, I’ll handle it," Ye Chuan said.
"Alright, but Chuanchuan, your way of doing things can sometimes be really hurtful," Luo Xi chided, crossing her arms.
"Really?"
"Of course!"
Ye Chuan shrugged.
After lunch, Luo Xi and Lan Xiaoke went to wash the dishes while Ye Chuan approached Bai Qianshuang’s door and knocked. "Qianshuang."
"What is it?" came her indifferent reply.
"Can I come in?"
"……" There was no response at first, but after a pause, she answered, "Come in."
Ye Chuan pushed the door open to find Bai Qianshuang sitting on the edge of her bed, seemingly preparing to meditate.
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
Hearing the distance in her voice, Ye Chuan smiled. "Are you upset?"
"I don’t understand." Bai Qianshuang avoided his gaze, looking down at her hands instead.
The storage ring on her finger—the one Ye Chuan had given her—glowed faintly.
"Aren’t I your Dao companion?" Bai Qianshuang suddenly asked.
"Yeah."
"Then why didn’t you come to me for… dual cultivation?"
Ye Chuan chuckled. "So that’s what this is about?"
"……" Bai Qianshuang stayed silent.
"Xiaoke just came back to life, and her yin-yang balance was unstable. I had no choice but to infuse her with more yang energy to prevent her body from exploding," Ye Chuan explained.
Bai Qianshuang froze for a few seconds before murmuring, "Liar."
"You didn’t just balance her yin and yang—you also took a lot from her."
"Well, how else could we stabilize her?"
Bai Qianshuang fell silent again. Ye Chuan’s reasoning made sense—if it was for Lan Xiaoke’s well-being, his actions were justified.
Some of her resentment faded, and she muttered, "Oh."
Ye Chuan could feel her attitude softening. Seizing the opportunity, he grinned. "Next time, I’ll definitely come to you for dual cultivation."
"!" Bai Qianshuang’s ears turned red, her usually expressionless face betraying a hint of fluster.
Seeing her like this, Ye Chuan decided not to tease her further and instead brought up something serious. "I’ve found a way to take you back to the Tianxuan Continent."
Bai Qianshuang stiffened.
"Really?"
"Yes, but it’ll take about… six months or so. If you’re serious about revenge, you should focus on improving your strength during that time."
"Or I can take you back whenever you’re ready."
"Alright." Bai Qianshuang took a deep breath and immediately slipped into a meditative state, as if shutting out all distractions.
"Huh?"
Seeing her like this, Ye Chuan considered saying more but ultimately held back.
Fine. He’d wait until she was done meditating to… balance things out properly.
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!
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
and couldn't return to the real world. Finally, I gave up and decided to go with the flow, only to discover that writing a diary could make me stronger. Since no one could read it, Su Luo wrote freely, daring to pen anything and everything. Female Lead #1: "Not bad. This diary helped me steal all the protagonist's opportunities. I just want to get stronger." Female Lead #2: "I don’t care about reaching the peak of the cultivation world. Right now, I just want to enjoy the chaos." Female Lead #3: "What? Everyone around me is a spy? I’m the Joker Demon Lord?" ... It’s so strange. Why is the plot completely off track, yet the ending remains the same? Are you all just messing with me?!
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
