Faced with Lilith’s seemingly defensive reaction, Ye Chuan simply smiled and pulled out a contract. "Magical girl, let’s make a pact."
"A pact?"
Lilith eyed Ye Chuan suspiciously, her tense petite frame relaxing slightly. Did this guy not know that contracting with a witch could be fatal?
But then she noticed the document in Ye Chuan’s hand was a physical contract, its text illegible to her. Something about it felt off.
No, it definitely wasn’t anything good. What kind of decent person proposes a contract upon first meeting?
Lilith suddenly felt like she’d stumbled into some shady operation. Her guard shot up, though it seemed pointless—her current strength was about as threatening to Ye Chuan as a hissing kitten.
Even transforming into her spiny dragon form wouldn’t help; she’d just be seen as an adorable little creature.
Then, as if struck by inspiration, Lilith’s figure blurred into a streak of light, vanishing back into the jade pendant.
"…?!" Ye Chuan stared blankly at the spot where she’d disappeared.
Wait, why’d you go back into the pendant?
He picked it up and tapped it. "Why are you hiding in there?"
Silence. The pendant gave no response, as if the twin-tailed loli had never appeared. Only then did Ye Chuan realize just how wary Lilith was of him.
Well, it made sense. Springing a contract on someone out of nowhere would put anyone on edge.
Maybe he’d been a bit too hasty.
"This contract is just a rental agreement. Staying here benefits us both," Ye Chuan explained, but Lilith remained silent, not even a peep in reply.
He studied the pendant, deep in thought. A few seconds later—
He licked it.
"Eek!!!! If you do that again, I’ll self-destruct my soul!!!!!!" Lilith’s voice erupted from within, clearly unprepared for such an audacious move.
Alright, so even if she was a walking goldmine, Lilith wasn’t about to trust Ye Chuan anytime soon.
"Fine, stay in there for now." Ye Chuan resignedly hung the pendant around his neck. Stashing it in his spatial backpack might’ve been an option, but he wasn’t sure how that would affect her.
At least he had a "ring granny" now—well, more like a "pendant granny."
She claimed to be five hundred years old, so "granny" wasn’t too far off.
Even if her appearance was way too youthful.
Ye Chuan didn’t dwell on it. While he’d love to have Lilith move in, now clearly wasn’t the right time. Still, he wasn’t worried about her running off—his app had already marked her as a new tenant, complete with a location tracker.
---
Night deepened.
In an apartment somewhere in the city, Luo Hao returned home after dinner.
"Hah, why is Luo Xi so close to that muscle-brained gorilla?" He racked his brain but couldn’t make sense of it.
He’d asked about their relationship before—just childhood friends, apparently.
But since when were childhood friends that close?
The thought of Ye Chuan’s attitude made Luo Hao’s blood boil. He grabbed his phone and logged into a forum, venting his frustration by leaving a few nasty comments on posts about Ye Chuan. That helped… a little.
Maybe he should dig up some dirt on Ye Chuan. That guy had plenty of ex-girlfriends, after all.
Luo Hao smirked coldly. If Luo Xi found out what a creep Ye Chuan really was, she’d steer clear of him on her own, right?
The image of Luo Xi’s fair skin, delicate nose, and flawless figure flashed in his mind. He clawed at the air involuntarily. "A girl that beautiful… she has to be mine."
Setting his phone aside, Luo Hao headed for the shower.
But as he stepped into the bathroom, an odd sensation crept over him—
Like someone was watching him.
The apartment was his alone; no one else lived there. His eyes darted around before settling on the shower curtain.
It covered the bathtub, but Luo Hao couldn’t shake the feeling someone was hiding behind it, spying on him.
He reached out and yanked it open with a sharp rustle.
The bathtub lay empty.
"Am I just exhausted?" Luo Hao pinched the bridge of his nose, chalking it up to overthinking.
He turned on the shower and began washing up.
Just as he was about to lather shampoo into his hair, he opened his eyes—and froze.
His body was drenched in blood. The liquid streaming down wasn’t water.
It was blood!
"What the hell?!" Luo Hao stumbled back, frantically scrubbing his face with a towel. When he looked again, the water from the showerhead was clear and warm. The crimson horror from moments ago seemed like a hallucination.
"Huh?"
Gasping for air, Luo Hao hesitantly touched the water. Confirming it was normal, he scanned the room again.
Was that… just his imagination?
Or were his eyes playing tricks?
Rubbing his eyes and shaking off the water, he finally exhaled in relief.
Yeah, definitely too tired.
He slumped onto the wet floor, about to relax—when his gaze landed on the shower curtain.
Luo Hao: "…"
Hadn’t he just pulled that open?
He was sure of it. So why was it closed again?
"This is messed up…" Luo Hao’s mind blanked as he huddled in the corner, staring at the curtain.
No way. The bathroom was haunted. He had to get out.
Keeping his eyes locked on the curtain, he inched toward the door.
The bathroom door was frosted glass. When he glanced back, a shadowy figure stood blurred on the other side.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"
Everything went black.
When Luo Hao came to, he was lying in bed. Voices murmured beside him.
"Are you okay, Hao? We found you passed out in the bathroom. You scared us half to death."
Luo Hao turned his head weakly. His parents stood by the bed.
"I-I’m fine. I thought there was someone…" Seeing them, he sighed in relief.
So it was just his parents.
But that curtain…
"You said there was someone outside?" Luo’s mother suddenly grinned unnaturally. The next second, her facial features slid off her face like melting sludge, plopping onto the bed with a putrid stench.
"Was it… someone like me?"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
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?!
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
