"Do I have to be happy all the time, Brother Xu Xi?"
"Yes, you must always be happy."
The marriage proposal had begun.
Niu carried bags of gifts in both hands.
Some were homemade pastries, while others were fruits purchased from Yanshan City.
With steady arms, he demonstrated his martial prowess, lifting the heavy gifts as he walked toward the house at the other end of the outskirts.
Niu and his elderly mother led the way, with Xu Xi and Wu Yingxue following behind.
"Master, do we count as matchmakers now?"
As they walked, the young lady asked curiously, her hands clasped behind her back, bending forward to peer at Xu Xi's face.
Her eyes sparkled, reflecting Xu Xi's outline.
"I think..."
"We both do and don't count?"
"Rather than matchmakers, we're more like witnesses to the marriage."
Xu Xi pondered for a moment before offering a vague answer.
The most important part of a marriage proposal was the intermediary process, but Niu had already taken care of that himself.
All that remained was the final confirmation of the marriage.
"In a way, Niu is quite efficient," Xu Xi said with a smile.
...
Soon, the group arrived at the bride's home.
A marriage proposal wasn't a formal wedding, so it should have been a quiet affair. However, since it was Niu who was proposing, the scene was quite lively.
"Niu, be happy!"
Someone shouted.
"May you have a hundred and eight children!"
Others joined in with playful banter.
Xu Xi stood by Niu, witnessing the confirmation of the marriage. He also gave the girl some pills as a blessing, to her flustered surprise.
This was a blessing from Xu Xi.
A blessing from Master Xu Xi.
"I hope you will always live in harmony and happiness."
Xu Xi smiled, staying until the sky darkened before finally bidding farewell amidst the crowd's pleas for him to stay.
But he didn't leave immediately.
Instead, he stood in a quiet high place, overlooking the rising fireworks below and the radiant smiles of Niu and the others.
"Master, what are you thinking about?"
Light footsteps approached, stopping beside Xu Xi.
The girl crouched down.
Sometimes she looked at the people of the Survival Army below, and other times she gazed at Xu Xi's familiar face.
"Nothing," Xu Xi smiled. "I'm just happy for Niu."
Xu Xi also crouched down, his hand gently resting on the young lady's head, rubbing it softly. His warm voice felt like a touch from the past.
"Yingxue, you remember how things were for the Survival Army before, don't you?"
"Of course I do. Back then, everyone struggled to even get enough to eat."
Wu Yingxue recounted the hardships the Survival Army had endured.
Life had been incredibly difficult.
No one wanted to experience that again.
"Yes, back then, whether it was the Great Qian's army or the demons of the Ten Thousand Mountains, they were all insurmountable obstacles for us."
"Everyone suffered greatly, especially Niu..."
"But now, everyone has enough to eat, and Niu is starting a family..."
"Before we knew it."
"They no longer need my guidance."
Xu Xi crouched, his voice drifting away in the cold air, distorted slightly by the breeze.
The hardships experienced in the simulation.
Were now being replaced by fulfillment in the real world.
Not long ago.
His master, Li Wanshou, had rebuilt the Heavenly Sword Sect in the capital, finally having a home again.
And now, the people of the Survival Army, including Niu, had truly settled down, starting their own new lives.
In a daze.
It seemed as though a voice rang out.
Telling Xu Xi that the third simulation had officially ended.
The people who had fought for survival had successfully crossed the mountains and were now living in a bright world, no longer needing Xu Xi to worry about them.
"Master..." Hearing Xu Xi's words, Wu Yingxue wanted to say something.
But as she looked at the happy and contented people below.
Her words dissipated on their own.
The people of Qingniu Town.
The people of the Survival Army.
Added more flames to the laughter and joy.
Tiny sparks of dust ignited an unquenchable fire, building a future of happiness.
The scene was so moving that Xu Xi smiled, deciding not to dismantle a certain sacrificial simulator.
"A good life should be like this."
"Let's go back, Yingxue."
Xu Xi stood up, no longer watching the people of the Survival Army.
He glanced up at the night sky, where the stars shone brightly, indicating that it was already very late. It was time to return to the courtyard.
Just like when they had come.
Xu Xi took out the Jianmu Sword Staff.
Preparing to use a spatial teleportation spell to return to the courtyard in the city center.
But at that moment, his sleeve was tugged by slender fingers.
"What is it, Yingxue?"
"Master, carry me back on your back."
The young lady stood up, suddenly suggesting with a playful smile, "I'm a bit tired now and want to rest on your back. Please walk slowly, Master, and don't leave me behind."
So.
Wouldn't it be better to just teleport back?
Xu Xi hesitated, unsure whether to speak or not.
But when he met her blinking eyes, he finally agreed.
"Alright then."
"Hold on tight and don't move around."
"I know~~~ Oh, no, I'm so tired~~"
In Wu Yingxue's exaggerated tone of exhaustion, Xu Xi bent over and carried the "extremely tired" girl on his back.
Step by step.
He walked slowly along the nighttime path.
Crushing the silver moonlight beneath his feet.
Heading toward the quiet city.
Perhaps because it was winter, the night sky was exceptionally clear, with stars twinkling brightly like countless tiny crystals, making the night seem dreamlike.
"One, two, three, four..."
As Xu Xi walked, the young lady's voice came from his back.
Her arms were wrapped around his neck, holding on tightly as she rested her entire weight on him.
She looked up at the sky.
Her eyes half-closed as she gazed at the tranquil flow of the Milky Way and the endless tiny stars, counting them like a child.
In truth.
With her current strength, she could have counted them all in an instant.
But she didn't want to.
She just wanted to rest on Xu Xi's back, using her fingers and eyes to count slowly, one by one.
And after counting for a while, she would exclaim that it was too difficult and give up.
"I'm so tired~~"
"Master~~"
She giggled, the starry sky illuminating her fair skin and restless hands.
Her hands, after circling Xu Xi's neck, began to gesture and make shapes.
She was becoming more and more like a child.
"Can't you just stay still?" Xu Xi's voice carried a hint of helplessness.
"Yes, Master~~" The young lady obediently stopped moving, quietly resting on Xu Xi's back, feeling his steps carry them further and further away.
So far away, into the silence beyond the stars.
"Master."
In the thick of the night.
The girl on his back suddenly spoke again.
"Even if everyone no longer needs you, I will always need your guidance."
"Forever, always, it will be this way."
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!
iving with nine beautiful women. [Ding! Welcome back to the Joyous Sect, Host…] Lin Yu: ??? I’m clearly in a shared rental, but you’re saying I’m in the Joyous Sect? Watering plants is now [Tending to Spiritual Flora]? Cooking becomes [Researching Elixirs]? Making the bed turns into [Setting Up Formations]? A gentle and innocent auntie, twin classmates, a mysterious hacker girl on leave, a severely socially anxious artist, an elementary school Chinese teacher, a community hospital nurse, a pet shop owner, an antique clock restorer… This system… is kinda interesting.
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
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.
