"Ugh..."
On the other end of the phone, Shen Mengli hung up and carefully placed Xie Yuyan's phone back into the bedside drawer. Her disheveled hair made it clear how agitated she was, and her usually fair face had darkened, as if weighed down by sorrow.
"Xiao Feng..."
Shen Mengli murmured Ye Feng's name as she gazed at the empty living room, her eyes filled with deep concern for him.
"Why... why does it have to be like this..."
......
"Huh? R-Really?"
"Yes. Though I don’t know why Shen Mengli suddenly reached out to us, something must have happened."
Li Mucheng replied calmly before Su Yuxin's voice came through the phone.
"Alright... I understand. I’ll come early tomorrow. But Mucheng, be careful—don’t take Shen Mengli’s words at face value. I don’t hate her now, but for Ye Feng’s sake, we can’t afford to be careless."
"Don’t worry, Yuxin. I know what I’m doing."
"Good! I’ll get ready on my end too. See you tomorrow."
As the call ended, Li Mucheng let out a sigh.
"Did Su Yuxin say something upsetting?"
Xie Yuyan, seated on the sofa, turned her gaze from the moonlight outside and looked at Li Mucheng.
"No, it’s just... I feel uneasy about Shen Mengli suddenly contacting us. I’m worried something might have happened to Teacher."
"But no matter what happens, we’ll face whatever secret Ye Feng is hiding, right? As long as we can make him trust us, I believe everything will work out."
Xie Yuyan’s words were like a soothing balm to Li Mucheng.
"Yes! No matter what, I’ll make sure Teacher knows we have the strength to help him!"
"That’s the spirit."
Xie Yuyan gave Li Mucheng an approving glance before gracefully rising and heading toward the guest room.
"Then we’ll find out the truth tomorrow. Get some rest tonight."
"Okay, goodnight."
"Goodnight."
......
Click.
The door opened, and Ye Feng stepped inside, holding a box of cake. As soon as he entered the living room, he spotted Shen Mengli sitting alone on the sofa, silent and still.
"Mengli, I got the cake you wanted. Please don’t cry anymore, okay?"
"Xiao Feng..."
Hearing his voice, Shen Mengli slowly lifted her head. The emptiness in her eyes vanished the moment she saw him, and she immediately threw herself into his arms.
Feeling the warmth of Ye Feng’s embrace, the turmoil in her heart gradually settled.
But the secret he had just revealed to her left her utterly devastated.
......
"Xiao Feng, tell me. I’m ready!"
After dinner, Shen Mengli tightly held Ye Feng’s hand, her tone firm, as if prepared for whatever he might say.
"Alright..."
Ye Feng let her lean against his shoulder, gathering his thoughts before finally speaking.
"The reason I didn’t tell you this secret before is because it involves both you and me—and others too."
"U-Us? You mean... the others as well?" Shen Mengli gasped.
"Yes. Mengli, do you remember what I told you about the concept of 'life time'?"
"Yes! You said the missions assigned by the system were all to earn more 'life time'—that you had no choice but to complete them."
Shen Mengli recalled every word he had ever said about it. After all, this concerned Ye Feng—how could she forget?
"Right. Running around, doing all these things... just to survive. I’ve done so much I never wanted to do, all for this damned countdown. And in the end, the punishment is mine to bear."
"Don’t say that!"
The moment Ye Feng spoke self-deprecatingly, Shen Mengli reacted as if the words had struck her instead. She immediately pressed her hand over his mouth, glaring at him fiercely.
"I won’t let you talk about yourself like that, or I’ll get mad!"
"Fine, fine. I can’t even criticize myself now?"
"No! Xiao Feng is the best—always the best in my heart!"
Her words slowly eased the bitterness in Ye Feng’s heart.
"Am I really that great? I don’t feel like it."
"That’s because you’re always giving, never letting yourself receive the same kindness in return. The way you are... any girl would fall for you."
Her voice grew softer, barely audible by the end.
"What was that, Mengli?"
"Nothing! Don’t change the subject! Keep talking!"
"......"
Ye Feng sighed at her stubborn expression before continuing.
"But one day, I unlocked a new mission—one with a reward I wanted more than anything."
"The thing you wanted most?"
Shen Mengli didn’t rush him, instead carefully considering his words. She couldn’t assume everything he told her was the full truth—not just for her own judgment, but for his sake too.
"Xiao Feng, do you mean... the life you’ve always wanted?"
"No... that’s just a dream. The system’s reward was to completely erase this 'life time' countdown. If I complete the mission, all my worries would disappear."
"Then... isn’t that a good thing? Why wouldn’t you want to do it?"
The thought excited her. If Ye Feng succeeded, they could finally be together without the system’s chains holding him back.
"Because the condition to complete it... is something I refuse to do."
"Refuse? Is... is the condition too harsh?"
Ye Feng shook his head. "It’s not about difficulty. To fulfill it, I’d have to make all of you... fall in love with me. By any means necessary."
His voice was heavy with guilt.
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
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."
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
