Shen Mengli kept nodding her head, yet her body unconsciously leaned into Ye Feng's embrace. No matter how much Ye Feng tried to step back, Shen Mengli refused to let go of her arms wrapped around him.
"Mengli... if you keep holding on like this, you'll end up falling to the ground."
Ye Feng spoke with slight embarrassment. He knew there were still a few days before they would part, but he hadn’t expected Shen Mengli to be so clingy.
"I... I understand."
Hearing the hint of reluctance in Ye Feng's tone, Shen Mengli finally obediently released her hands.
Noticing Shen Mengli’s timid demeanor—as if afraid he might get angry and leave on the spot—Ye Feng immediately began pushing her wheelchair through the garden for a stroll.
"Mengli, have you been doing well at the welfare center lately?"
"Mm, Mother Director and all the children there take good care of me. Ye Feng, you don’t need to worry about me. Look, I can even stand up and walk slowly now. That just proves I’m living well here."
"......"
Gazing at the back of Shen Mengli’s head, Ye Feng didn’t need to see her face to guess the truth. The way she tightly clutched her stuffed bear told him everything.
"Mengli, come back with me."
"......"
Shen Mengli froze at his words. She truly hadn’t expected Ye Feng to say something like this. Now that Xie Yuyan was living with him, her original plan had failed. She thought she would have to stay hidden at the welfare center, waiting for the right moment to reappear.
Yet Ye Feng had still said those words to her—just like before, when he promised never to abandon her.
"Xiao Feng..."
"Come back with me, okay? Even though my injuries aren’t fully healed yet, I’m capable of taking care of you now. Just say the word, and I’ll take you home right away."
"Home... huh..."
At the mention of "home," Shen Mengli’s eyes brightened momentarily before dimming again. She knew all too well that as long as Xie Yuyan remained by Ye Feng’s side, she wouldn’t be able to get any closer to him.
"It’s... it’s better not, Xiao Feng. I’d rather stay at the welfare center until I recover completely before coming to see you. I don’t want to become a burden to you."
"You can recover just as well at home. In fact, it’d be even safer there."
"The space at home is too small... I... I wouldn’t have anywhere to stay."
"That’s not a problem. The new place is already prepared. All you have to do is nod, and I’ll—"
"That’s enough, Xiao Feng... really, it’s enough..."
Shen Mengli’s voice broke as she cut him off, her pale fingers resting on her lap as she lowered her head, unable to meet his gaze.
"You’ve already done so much for me..."
"Mengli..."
Drip, drip.
A few crystal-clear teardrops fell onto the back of her hand. Realizing this, Shen Mengli quickly wiped them away and forced a smile. "Sorry... just some dust in my eyes..."
"......"
The sight struck Ye Feng’s heart like a hammer. He didn’t understand why Shen Mengli was so unwilling to return home with him. Was she worried about being a burden? Or was it because of Xie Yuyan’s presence?
But one thing was certain—no opinion or person could change his resolve.
He would take care of Shen Mengli!
That was his promise. Their promise.
"Let’s go!"
Just as Shen Mengli thought Ye Feng might sigh in resignation or walk away frustrated, she suddenly felt herself being lifted into the air. Before she could react, Ye Feng had already scooped her up and was striding toward the welfare center’s exit.
"X-Xiao Feng?!"
Panicked, Shen Mengli called out to him, but no matter how much she pleaded, Ye Feng didn’t respond. He kept moving forward without hesitation.
"No... no, Xiao Feng! Please, don’t do this!"
"I’m your legal guardian now, Mengli. You don’t have the right to refuse me."
"Xiao Feng, I’m begging you—put me down! I really don’t want to go back!"
"Don’t worry, Mengli. I’ll explain everything to Yuyan. I’m sure she’ll understand."
"Yuyan... you’re already that close, huh..."
There was no way Shen Mengli would willingly return home. First, Xie Yuyan’s watchful eyes would leave her with no freedom to act. Even the slightest move might alert that sharp woman. Second, Xie Yuyan was her enemy—walking into her territory would be like a lamb stepping into a tiger’s den.
But most importantly, she needed to stay away from Ye Feng. Only then could she reappear when he needed her most—like a drowning man grasping at a lifeline. That was how she would prove her worth.
"Ye Feng!"
Shen Mengli suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. The gesture made Ye Feng stop in his tracks.
"Mengli, you—"
"I know about you and Xie Yuyan."
She stated it bluntly, her arms still clinging to him.
"But... what does that have to do with us going home?"
"My feelings for you... you must’ve realized them that day by the sea, right?"
"......"
"That’s why I don’t want to go back."
In the end, Shen Mengli chose to lay her heart bare. Right now, she needed to earn Ye Feng’s trust—by speaking nothing but the truth. Because trust was the key to securing him in the future.
"But... Mengli, you—"
"I won’t let my selfish desires put you in an awkward position or cause unnecessary conflict."
She withdrew her hands, interlacing her fingers tightly.
"I’ll just silently wish for you to find the life that’s truly yours. Back when we were together, I could tell you were lost, drifting forward without direction. But now... I see..."
I see that your eyes no longer hold my reflection...
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?!
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
