Fifteen minutes later.
Not far away, Jiang Chulong hugged a broken bowl, licking the bottom like a kitten, her grimy face finally relaxing slightly.
The delicious wild vegetable and meat porridge had warmed her numb body a little, and the pain in her chest had lessened.
She secretly raised her head, stealing a glance at the young man beside her with the corner of her eye.
The young man rested his chin on his hand, gazing toward the direction of Qingyuan Mountain with a worried expression, as if afraid that a certain "ice block" might poison herself while cooking.
Seeming to sense her gaze, he turned his head.
She immediately lowered hers again, as if startled by an electric shock, burying her face silently in the bowl.
"I... I'm... done eating."
"If it's not enough, I can make more."
Looking at Jiang Chulong, her eyes covered by a cloth strip, timid and withdrawn, Li Mo felt even more peculiar.
She may be down on her luck now, but just a year ago, she was still a princess of the Yu Dynasty.
Even if a mere county princess were to visit Purple Sun Prefecture, the entire manor would be decorated with lanterns and banners, and the leaders of the three major sects would personally come to greet her.
A princess, born of noble blood, was someone who stood above the clouds, her status beyond compare.
"N-no... no need..."
"The... the rice..."
Jiang Chulong shook her head vigorously like a rattle-drum.
"Save the rice for later?"
"Mm."
But seeing how Jiang Chulong treated a mere bag of rice as a priceless treasure, Li Mo felt a sense of absurdity, yet it didn’t seem out of place at all.
"Murong Manor has a charity kitchen. You can go there to get porridge and rice during this time."
Hearing this, Jiang Chulong lifted her head, and even through the cloth strip, one could see her eyes brighten.
"Then... save it for winter..."
"You’re really planning to save it for the New Year?"
Li Mo let out a helpless chuckle.
After a moment’s thought, he took out two small-denomination silver notes.
"If you run out of food, use this to buy more in the market."
"What... is this?"
Jiang Chulong’s dirty face was full of confusion.
She didn’t recognize the silver notes.
Young Li Mo fell into silence.
Meng Can, having eaten his fill, covered his little belly with a blissful expression and said:
"St-stuttering sister, that’s money! You can use it to buy food, roasted chicken, candied haws—it’s super useful!"
He took the silver notes and took a closer look, his eyes widening in shock:
"O-one... one hundred taels!"
"One hundred taels... how much is that?"
"One tael of silver can buy 140 pounds of rice!"
Jiang Chulong: "!"
She started counting on her grubby little fingers, but soon her fingers trembled, and she froze in place.
The princess was utterly stunned.
"T-too... too much..."
"We... just..."
Jiang Chulong bit her lip, not daring to look at the gleaming silver notes.
"You want to say that since we’re strangers, you can’t accept such a large sum, right?"
Li Mo once again finished her sentence for her.
Meng Can gave him a strange look—how did Brother Li know what the stuttering sister wanted to say?
"Mm."
Jiang Chulong nodded timidly, her face tense.
The other party had set up a charity kitchen to help the poor.
But even if he was kind-hearted, there was no reason for him to give her such a fortune.
Her mother had once told her that there might be senseless evil in this world, but there was no such thing as senseless kindness.
Pies didn’t fall from the sky—unless someone had ulterior motives...
Just as her guard began to rise, Li Mo spoke again:
"First, a hundred taels means nothing to me. It’s no different from a bag of rice—or even a single grain."
"Wow..."
The little kids all looked at him with admiration, especially Meng Can, whose eyes shone with longing.
Jiang Chulong was stunned, seemingly overwhelmed by Li Mo’s "extravagance."
Li Mo continued:
"Second, I was entrusted by someone to take care of you."
"Entrusted... by someone?"
Jiang Chulong murmured softly, her small hands suddenly gripping the hem of her clothes with unexpected strength:
"Is... is she still alive?"
The only person left in the world who still cared about her was Aunt Mei.
Aunt Mei had once been her mother’s sword attendant.
After her mother’s death, she had raised Jiang Chulong as her own.
To save her, Aunt Mei had lured away a large group of Sky Patrol Guards—her fate remained unknown.
Could it be... that Li Mo had been asked by Aunt Mei to look after her?
"Yes, she’s out of danger now."
Li Mo nodded firmly.
Sure, the "ice block" was terrifying at night, cold as a thousand-year-old glacier.
But no matter how cold she was, she wasn’t in any danger anymore.
"That’s good... that’s good..."
Under the cloth covering her eyes, two clear trails of tears fell.
Where the tears passed, it was as if a layer of dust had been wiped from a piece of flawless jade, revealing its pure, crystalline beauty.
She hurriedly wiped her face, smearing the dirt back over it.
"Th-thank you."
"But this money... it’s still... too much."
"Then how about this?"
Li Mo thought for a moment. "Why don’t you come with me to Qingyuan Sect? Once there, you’ll be able to see her, and you won’t have to worry about living hardships anymore."
After all, the "ice block" had told him to handle Jiang Chulong’s basic needs.
So why not just take her straight to Autumn Water Pavilion?
Problem solved, right?
Plus, he could add Jiang Chulong to his daily investment list—a win-win!
"St-stuttering sister..."
"Are you... leaving?"
The little kids exchanged uneasy glances, their lips trembling. Two of the girls had tears welling up in their eyes, on the verge of crying.
The slightly older boy, Dazhu, quickly spoke up: "Sister’s family has come for her. We should be happy for her!"
His words didn’t seem to help—even he looked lost.
"I... I won’t... go."
Jiang Chulong shook her head slowly.
"I can arrange for someone to take care of them," Li Mo said softly.
"No... I don’t want... to put her in danger."
As she spoke haltingly, Li Mo remembered.
Jiang Chulong was still being hunted by the Sky Patrol Guards.
This wasn’t on the level of someone like Cui Peng.
The Sky Patrol Guards were the Yu Dynasty’s strongest military force, the empire’s sharpest blade in maintaining its dominance across the realms.
She didn’t want to drag her friends into trouble.
"Alright. It’s getting late—I should head back."
She bore a golden destiny, but with it came an unimaginable burden of karma.
Li Mo nodded, deciding to think things through carefully.
Jiang Chulong’s current situation made it unsuitable to keep her by his side long-term, and she wouldn’t agree to it anyway.
How, then, could he "invest" in her?
Lost in thought, Li Mo waved goodbye to the little beggars and stepped out of the dilapidated house.
The young man’s figure vanished into the night.
"Goodbye, Brother Li!"
The children ran out, watching until he disappeared.
......
In a courtyard of Murong Manor.
"Strange. She doesn’t seem to have any martial arts cultivation at all. Has she never trained?"
"Or did losing her Sword Bone reduce her to a mere mortal?"
"If I can guide her back onto the martial path, the system’s rewards would be unimaginable."
Li Mo stood in the courtyard, deep in thought.
If he wanted to help Jiang Chulong cultivate, but couldn’t keep her with him...
How could that work?
Just as he pondered, a maidservant approached:
"Young Master Li, your bath is ready."
"Thank you."
"Would you like this servant to assist you—"
"No need, thanks."
The maid left, visibly disappointed.
Li Mo sank into the large bathtub and began claiming his rewards.
【Earth Vein Spirit Milk】: "Formed over millennia from the condensation of earth vein essence, each drop is a sacred treasure for tempering one's vital energy. Yet its most potent effect lies in prolonging life!"
"Extending lifespan isn't something I need right now."
"Let's use it to refine my vital energy instead."
Li Mo uncorked a vial brimming with Earth Vein Stone Milk and poured two drops into the bathing tub.
Had Elder Xue Jing been present, he would have surely let out a shrill scream.
This was a priceless ingredient for crafting longevity elixirs—and this brat was using it for a bath?!
Anything associated with life extension becomes immeasurably precious.
After all, this world never runs short of those clinging to the edge of death.
Drip—
The two drops dissolved into the water, instantly making it shimmer with crystalline radiance.
Li Mo settled into the tub and began circulating the Fire Heart Blooms Lotus technique without delay.
Hum—
In an instant, he achieved harmony between heaven and man.
This time, amplified by the Earth Vein Spirit Milk, the resonance with the natural world surged severalfold in intensity.
The vibrations rippled palpably across the entire Murong Manor.
] [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!"
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!"
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)
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.
