Noticing the door being opened, Li Mucheng turned her head mechanically to gaze at Xie Yuyan standing at the entrance. A face of unparalleled allure and a curvaceous figure came into view, but what captivated most were her fiery red hair and striking light blue eyes. Xie Yuyan’s worried gaze remained fixed on Ye Feng, never wavering for even a moment.
"I see..."
Li Mucheng lowered her head in dejection, finally realizing just how thoroughly she had lost. Her unfocused pupils gradually sharpened, and her initially blurred vision cleared. Turning back to look at Ye Feng, who was staring at her, she opened her mouth as if to speak but no sound emerged.
"Ye Feng!"
Xie Yuyan leaped down the stairs, shoving Li Mucheng off Ye Feng in one swift motion. She then draped her own coat over Ye Feng’s body, gently caressing his face with her warm palm before whispering softly into his ear.
"I’m sorry... I came too late..."
"It’s alright, Yuyan. I’m just glad to see you now."
Ye Feng offered a reassuring smile to the visibly distressed Xie Yuyan, his eyes filled with relief as he looked at her.
"It’s fine. You’re here now, and that’s what matters."
"Mhm."
Xie Yuyan smiled faintly before turning her gaze toward Li Mucheng, who had collapsed to the floor in despair, her expression laced with disgust.
"Where’s the key?"
"......"
Li Mucheng seemed to have fallen into an abyss, showing no reaction as she stared blankly at the floor.
"I asked you where the—"
Before Xie Yuyan could finish, Ye Feng reached out and grasped her wrist, subtly gesturing toward the floor beside the bed with his eyes.
"Alright..."
Seeing the exhaustion on Ye Feng’s face, Xie Yuyan held back her words and walked over to the bed alone, picking up the key and unlocking the shackles binding him one by one.
Clink.
Only after removing the last chain from Ye Feng’s body did she carefully help him sit up.
"Are you okay, Ye Feng? Do you feel any discomfort anywhere?"
"N-no..."
"That’s good. Let’s get out of here quickly. We can talk about everything later, alright?"
"......"
Ye Feng glanced sideways at Li Mucheng, who remained slumped on the floor in utter desolation, before sighing and shaking his head. With Xie Yuyan’s support, he slowly made his way out of the dimly lit room.
Just as the two reached the doorway, Xie Yuyan turned back, her eyes scanning the room’s layout as if piecing something together in her mind.
"Yuyan? Let’s go."
"Ah! R-right."
Ye Feng had assumed Xie Yuyan was glaring at Li Mucheng out of hostility, trying to intimidate her, and so he spoke up to stop her. Little did he know that Xie Yuyan hadn’t spared Li Mucheng a single thought—she hadn’t even looked at her. The reason for her glance back was solely focused on the shackles that had bound Ye Feng. For some reason, the sight of him helplessly restrained on the bed, powerless to resist, had made her heart race uncontrollably. But seeing Ye Feng’s reaction, she could only bury this emotion deep within.
As they walked down the corridor outside the room, Ye Feng spotted Ah Fu and Su Yuxin standing by the entrance, stepping aside to let them pass. Exhausted, he merely exchanged a silent look with them before leaving the nightmarish place behind.
"Ah Fu! How could you—"
A nearby bodyguard, seeing this, was about to lash out in anger, but Ah Fu’s sharp glare silenced him before he calmly explained, "I did this for everyone’s sake. This was the only way to ensure Ye Feng’s safety while preventing the young mistress from taking any more dangerous actions."
"But... what if the young mistress finds out we didn’t put up any resistance before letting them in...?"
"Didn’t you see Miss Su was with them? The master and Chairman Su are old friends. What if you ended up harming Miss Su?"
"......"
Only when the bodyguard fell silent did Ah Fu exhale in relief, turning his attention to Su Yuxin, who was watching Ye Feng’s retreating figure.
"Miss Su, my apologies for the scene. May I ask why you came today?"
Hearing Ah Fu’s voice, Su Yuxin finally tore her gaze away. Though her heart was filled with countless grievances, she knew she had to bide her time.
"Where’s Li Mucheng?"
"The young mistress is inside... Miss Su, if you could, please try to talk some sense into her. I need to report today’s events to the master."
"Fine."
......
Tap, tap.
The sound of light footsteps reached Li Mucheng, still seated on the floor, but she remained motionless. Only when a figure blocked the light in front of her did she finally lift her head slightly.
"Who would’ve thought someone as cold as you could wear such a look of despair?"
"You..."
Li Mucheng’s voice was hoarse, devoid of any vitality, as if she had lost all hope for the future.
"Pathetic, isn’t it? I could’ve stayed by his side, watching over him, maybe even exchanging a few words. But... I ruined everything."
"I never expected you to go this far. You’re nothing like the person I used to know."
"I don’t know why either... There was a voice deep inside, whispering in my mind, telling me to keep him here—to keep the teacher by my side, no matter the cost."
Li Mucheng stared at her own hands before shifting her gaze to the bed with its discarded shackles. Finally, she pushed herself up using the wall for support.
"That woman... was Xie Yuyan, right?"
"Yes. A formidable opponent."
Su Yuxin crossed her arms and took a deep breath. She had come for two reasons: first, to rescue Ye Feng—doing so would naturally improve his impression of her—and second, to gauge the capabilities of this woman who had somehow captured Ye Feng’s undivided attention.
"I’ve looked into her."
Li Mucheng spoke through suppressed sobs.
"Her identity is shrouded in mystery. There’s no background information on her, and her combat skills are on par with the teacher’s. I don’t even know when he met her."
"Who told you about her?"
Su Yuxin narrowed her eyes at Li Mucheng. She hadn’t anticipated that even with Li Mucheng’s family resources, Xie Yuyan’s origins remained untraceable. Was this woman some kind of phantom?
"Another... rival."
"Another rival?"
......
"There... there. It’s all over now."
Back at home, Xie Yuyan helped Ye Feng into bed before finally letting out a sigh of relief. Seeing him so physically and emotionally drained pained her deeply. The only thing she could do now was stay by his side, soothing the wounds of this ordeal.
u serious?" Chen Feng watched helplessly as his painstakingly trained disciple, fresh off a championship victory, publicly abandoned him. "You had your chance, but you didn’t appreciate it. Now, face the consequences of your choice!" Chen Feng possessed the "Master System," a treasure trove of supreme martial arts techniques, capable of molding ordinary individuals into peerless prodigies. "Legs like yours? A shame not to train in the Crippling Kick." "Ever heard of a palm strike that descends from the heavens?" "Auntie! I see extraordinary bone structure in you—a martial arts prodigy, one in ten thousand." The once-defiant senior disciple, now watching her juniors rise to fame one after another, dominating the internet, was consumed by endless regret.
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!
+【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!
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
