Because of that 'Nian Beast' emerging from the night, everything outside the ancestral hall seemed frozen—even the steam from boiling dumplings hung motionless in midair.
As it 'squeezed' past the doorframe, darkness flowed into the hall like ink.
In an instant, the Ying family's ancestral hall dimmed, so silent you could hear a pin drop. Everyone was struck dumb, as if overwhelmed by a primal fear from ancient times.
"So this is... that calamity beast?"
Li Mo felt a sudden understanding, yet it was laced with absurdity.
Legends spoke of the qilin as an auspicious omen.
Yet across the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, there had once been true dragons, phoenixes, golden crows, and other mystical races—but never a qilin lineage. Even within the Jade Phoenix Divine Records, which preserved the true spirits of countless races, there was no trace of the qilin.
Let alone this qilin-like 'Nian Beast.'
And that phrase—'You've returned'—was it directed at Little Ying Bing?
Suddenly, Li Mo shuddered.
It was Little Ying Bing.
The girl bit her lip hard, her usually calm eyes now turbulent, her body radiating an uncontrollable chill.
"!"
Li Mo's expression changed—was today the first time her bloodline would fully awaken?
The Nian Beast's gaze darkened further as it stared at her. An intangible shadow spread beneath its feet, turning the ground into a murky, rippling lake. From its depths, grotesque, monstrous creatures surged forth.
Each was the size of a calf, their appearances twisted and varied—yet all shared one trait.
They looked ravenous.
"Tomb Guardians?!" an elder of the Ying family cried out in terror—only to be pounced on mid-sentence.
The first splash of crimson stained the gray-white dreamscape.
"Run!"
"The calamity beast is here! Get out and warn the others!"
"Those trained in martial arts, hold these beasts back!"
Some fled, some resisted, some collapsed in terror where they stood.
Screams, roars, the sound of flesh tearing—chaos erupted instantly.
Meanwhile, the Nian Beast advanced leisurely, its inky eyes glinting with something like amusement.
Tomb Guardians?
Little Li Mo frowned deeper.
He'd heard of them—beasts placed in tombs by powerful figures to deter grave robbers. With no food in the crypts, the creatures would turn on each other.
What remained were unrecognizable, vicious things.
This was the Nian Beast's 'domain'!
But he had no time to dwell on it.
Little Ying Bing's body grew colder by the second.
The Nian Beast drew closer, its presence chilling to the bone, stirring dread from the depths of one's soul.
Normally, the self-proclaimed 'Hammer Tyrant' would've pulled out his weapon and struck first. But now, stripped of all strength, he was just an ordinary child.
"Follow us!"
Ying Xuliang scooped up his daughter, and with his wife, sprinted toward the ancestral statue.
Li Mo followed without hesitation.
He saw it.
Amid the darkened hall, only the exquisitely crafted statue emitted a faint glow.
Behind them, Tomb Guardians tore through slower-moving Ying clansmen, their shadows closing in.
"Grrr..."
Yet as soon as they entered the statue's radiance, black smoke hissed from their bodies like oil meeting flame.
They halted, wary.
The Nian Beast stepped forward from the pack, its massive eyes studying the statue.
Even its deep-seated hatred couldn't mask its wariness.
Indeed, after generations of worship by the Ying family, the statue had developed a trace of spirituality—let alone its already extraordinary craftsmanship.
"Still just a lifeless object in the end."
"Go!"
Before anyone could relax, the Nian Beast issued its command. The Tomb Guardians charged into the light, heedless of the black smoke billowing from their bodies—even as some melted into pools of blood.
Compared to the ancestral statue, they feared the Nian Beast far more.
The glow wavered.
Already, those at the edges screamed as Tomb Guardians dragged them down.
"Husband... what do we do?" Ying's mother trembled, her voice shaking.
"Don't panic. We must protect Bing'er first." Ying Xuliang forced calm into his tone, then seemed to remember something.
"Bing'er, Li Mo, come here!"
"Uncle Ying?"
Seeing Li Mo's composed expression, Ying Xuliang spoke quickly:
"The ancestral statue is hollow inside. Brother Li and I used to crawl in as children."
"Later, the elders moved it and sealed the opening."
"My wife and I will uncover it. You must take Bing'er inside. No matter what happens outside, do not come out—not even if you hear our voices. Only if your father arrives, understand?"
"You're a brave lad. If we're gone... protect her."
With that, the couple rushed to the statue's base, straining to shift it.
The statue was heavy. Neither had martial training, and they barely managed to nudge it slightly.
Clearly, adults couldn't fit inside.
"Uncle Ying..."
Li Mo clenched his fists. Now he knew how Little Ying Bing had survived that night.
Her parents had hidden her inside the ancestor's statue.
A wave of helplessness crashed over him.
Even in a dream, even if these events were long past—he desperately wished he could change them.
"Oi! Old bastard!"
Little Li Mo suddenly stepped forward, his clear voice cutting through the chaos.
Nian Beast: "?"
"I'll wreck your mum!"
Li Mo declared with conviction.
"???"
The Nian Beast was stunned into silence.
Even the bystanders froze.
Seriously? Taunting it now?
Absolute legend.
The Nian Beast narrowed its eyes. It had no intention of humoring this brat—everyone here would die sooner or later anyway.
"Filthy-mouthed little—"
"Stuck in a tomb with no light, no food—bet you've eaten your own crap."
"?"
"Other auspicious beasts are worshipped as gods. Yet here you are, reduced to eating crap. Aren't you ashamed enough to off yourself? Answer me."
"I'LL DEVOUR YOU ALIVE!"
Whether struck a nerve or not, the black Nian Beast seethed with rage, its murderous aura boiling. It seemed determined to make Li Mo its first meal.
Yet to its surprise—
The brat wasn't retreating into the light. Instead, he bolted toward a side window.
Exactly!
Li Mo's plan was to exploit the 'voids'—the erased parts of the dream!
He'd lure the Nian Beast into crashing against the 'invisible walls'—specifically, the ancestral hall's rear entrance, a restricted area Ying Bing had never entered.
No ancestral glow protected that space. He had to move fast...
"ROAR!"
A guttural snarl echoed. Then, a foul gust of wind—just as Li Mo neared the rear door, a massive shape blocked his path.
It had sealed the exit.
Li Mo skidded to a halt.
Foul drool dripped from the Nian Beast's jagged teeth, sizzling against the floor.
Its eyes burned not just with malice, but with ravenous greed.
The dark tide around it surged forth, threatening to engulf Li Mo's small figure.
Li Mo clenched his fists, still staring defiantly at his opponent.
Just a little more...
It's so cold... I haven't felt this cold in so long... This is just a dream, so why does the chill feel so real?
No.
Li Mo realized the cold was emanating from his shoulder, carrying a faint, familiar fragrance.
The sensation was even more recognizable—soft, warm jade...
He looked up and met the flawless, ethereal aura of the Frost Fairy, her jade-like face as cold as ice.
Not Little Ying Bing.
The Frost Fairy.
"Li Mo, thank you. I'm awake now."
........
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.
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
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)
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
