Winter had arrived.
When Xu Xi realized this, he was walking home through a stone-paved alley after buying groceries.
Leaves had withered, and snowflakes drifted down.
Looking up, one could see the swirling snowscape and the bare, skeletal branches of trees.
Those withered branches intertwined, fragmenting the white sky into a hazy, broken beauty—an incomplete yet mesmerizing sight.
"Winter…"
"Counting the time, this simulation has already lasted half a year."
Xu Xi gazed at the snow.
His breath mingled with the cold air, forming visible puffs of white mist.
After a moment of reflection, he quickened his pace, hoping to return home before the snowfall grew heavier.
Whoosh—
Whoosh—
The howling wind swept up flurries of snow, fiercer than a storm, swiftly dominating the world before his eyes.
A thin layer of white soon blanketed the path.
Someone shielded Xu Xi from the wind and snow.
"Brother."
A girl stood at the street corner, holding an oil-paper umbrella. She had been waiting for him and now hurried over, using the umbrella to block the biting gusts.
"Good thing I came."
Her tone carried a faint smugness. "Otherwise, Brother would surely catch a cold."
Xu Xi chuckled. "I underestimated the sudden snowfall. My oversight."
As he spoke, he took the umbrella from her.
With a slight tilt, the canopy blocked the drifting snowflakes at just the right angle.
Side by side, the two figures walked through the snow.
Their steps were slow and deliberate.
Soft and soundless.
Footprints marked their path, but fresh snow soon filled the gaps.
"We're home, Moli."
Five or six minutes later, the familiar outline of their house came into view.
Pushing the door open, Xu Xi closed the umbrella and left it by the entrance. He poured warm water for himself and his sister.
...
The doors and windows were shut tight, keeping the winter storm at bay.
Sipping the warm water, Xu Xi felt the heat seep through the cup into his stiff, chilled fingers.
"Gurgle, gurgle."
Xu Moli sat beside him, also drinking her water.
Together, they watched the world outside.
The wind raged like a beast, whipping the snow into swirling vortices that obscured the distant mountains and rivers of the mortal realm.
"Moli, don’t catch a chill."
When the girl seemed lost in thought, Xu Xi draped a robe over her shoulders.
"Thank you, Brother~"
She giggled, snuggling into the robe without hesitation. After finishing her water, she even leaned into Xu Xi’s arms, squirming slightly to find a comfortable position.
"...Where did you learn this?" Xu Xi sighed.
Xu Moli’s answer was predictable.
The same old book—108 Strategies to Capture a Man’s Heart.
The female disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect’s Pill Hall were still at it!
"Stop reading that book. It’ll corrupt you," Xu Xi said, lightly tapping her forehead.
"I’m already an adult, Brother. I won’t be corrupted," Xu Moli retorted playfully.
She wasn’t being corrupted.
She was learning willingly.
Xu Xi saw through her little act and flicked her forehead again.
"Oww~"
The snowstorm stretched on, silent and vast.
The world was blanketed in pure white.
Endless snow stretched from one horizon to the other, merging seamlessly with the sky.
Sitting inside, Xu Xi gently combed his fingers through Xu Moli’s hair, brushing away the tiny snowflakes caught in her silken strands.
The tender motion was also a soothing reassurance—
A balm for the nonexistent pain.
"The snow is so heavy… Brother, I just remembered something."
"What is it?"
"Back in Blackstone City, you told me a story. You said children who wander outside get snatched by wild men—pointy heads, black teeth, and all."
Xu Xi remembered.
Early in the first simulation, before joining the Heavenly Sword Sect,
a young Xu Moli would often slip out of the house, searching for him.
So, back then,
Xu Xi spun a terrifying tale.
He warned that any child who left home would be captured and eaten.
Little Moli had believed every word, trembling in fear as she sobbed in his arms for what felt like an eternity.
"That was a long time ago," Xu Xi murmured, smoothing her hair until not a single snowflake remained.
But someone wasn’t ready to let go.
She caught his wrist, guiding his hand back to her hair, letting the warmth of his palm seep into her once more.
"Brother, liars have to make amends."
"What amends?"
"Hold me tighter as punishment."
"..."
Xu Xi hesitated, thoughts tangled.
A single idea flashed through his mind:
Just how many years of fire-tending should that Pill Hall disciple—the one who lent 108 Strategies—serve to atone for corrupting his sister?
A hundred million years?
Or eternity?
"Fine, I get it."
Xu Xi wrapped his arms around her, creating a snug little world just for her.
The girl smiled, brighter than ever before.
Happy.
Content.
Lost in the moment.
How wonderful…
Buried in Xu Xi’s embrace, she saw nothing but felt everything—wrapped in warmth, free from worry.
This was the sanctuary she had dreamed of.
The one place where they could rely on each other in the heart of winter.
She wished time would freeze.
Just like this.
Forever.
"Brother… do you ever feel bored? In a world like this…" Xu Moli shifted in his arms, meeting his gaze.
"No," Xu Xi answered softly, his voice as steady and comforting as she remembered.
"I think this is perfect. A peaceful life is priceless, especially with you here."
"Brother, you’re doing it again…"
"Doing what?"
"Thinking only of others, never yourself. That’s not good, Brother."
The one who wanted to stay in this world was never Xu Xi—it was Xu Moli.
She knew.
She had always known.
Xu Xi stayed only for her.
His kindness was boundless, selfless, pure.
"Brother, let’s go back," Xu Moli said, pulling away.
She was happy to have his warmth, but she refused to let herself become his shackles.
"Go back? So suddenly?"
Xu Xi was surprised.
The girl tapped her chin. "Didn’t Brother want to walk that path? The ten-thousand-day wait doesn’t count here."
"I’m not some wild, clingy person who’d waste Brother’s time."
"Besides…"
Her voice dropped to a murmur, and Xu Xi barely caught the words—
"Cutting in line," "getting impatient," "one against four."
or! A blessing for those who struggle with love, a guidebook for dating novices. Quickly match with your dream goddess! Complete walkthroughs earn rewards, and perfect walkthroughs unlock limited achievements!】 Shen Yi, an ordinary office worker, accidentally downloads a mini-game called Dating Simulator. The mini-game is simple: randomly search for dating targets, simulate dates, and receive rewards upon successful confession. Rewards include but are not limited to money, attributes, and skills. The higher the evaluation, the better the rewards, with perfect ratings unlocking mysterious achievements. Shen Yi plans to use this mysterious mini-game to continuously pursue targets and improve himself, making his life better and better. ...... However, after several successful walkthroughs, Shen Yi suddenly notices something strange - the targets he previously simulated dating seem to be searching for him in real life?
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.”
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?!
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?"
