"Yingxue?"
The wooden door creaked open gently.
Contrary to Xu Xi's expectation of finding the girl diligently practicing calligraphy, the scene that greeted him was one of serene quietness.
A broad desk stood in the room, flanked by bronze candle holders on either side, their twin flames casting faint light into the chilly space.
The night breeze rushed in as Xu Xi pushed the door open.
The candle flames flickered wildly—now leaping high, now dipping low—dancing erratically.
Their wavering glow illuminated the sleeping face of the girl sprawled across the desk.
Her eyelashes trembled slightly, her expression peaceful, lost in sweet slumber.
"Asleep, huh…"
Xu Xi paused, then softened his expression, treading lightly as he approached the desk to avoid disturbing her.
Soon, as he drew closer, Wu Yingxue's sleeping form came fully into view.
She lay face-down on the dark brown desk, her head resting on her arm, which in turn pressed against a calligraphy practice sheet. A brush lay carelessly at the edge.
In one corner, several crumpled, discarded sheets were piled up.
Xu Xi picked one up and examined it briefly.
Each sheet was densely covered with her practice strokes.
"Not bad at all," Xu Xi chuckled, his praise genuine rather than polite.
Though Wu Yingxue had trained in martial arts since childhood, she had also received royal education in her younger years.
Her handwriting could never be called poor.
Xu Xi thought it was more than adequate, but the girl herself seemed dissatisfied, insisting she must master more elegant calligraphy to impress him.
"Hehe…"
"Hehe…"
"I’m not that amazing, Master…"
"~~~"
Her eyes lightly shut, her nose twitching slightly, the slumbering princess murmured incoherent dreams.
Xu Xi couldn’t help but smile.
This side of the princess was undeniably adorable.
Whoosh—
The night wind howled, making the wooden door sway faintly, its hinges creaking intermittently.
Xu Xi closed the door and draped a thin blanket over Wu Yingxue.
"This should keep her from catching a cold."
Standing beside the desk, he gazed at her peaceful face before turning his attention to the stack of calligraphy sheets. He picked up the topmost one—the one she had been working on before falling asleep.
The ink had long dried.
Mistakes were evident.
Two lines of identical characters were written side by side—one in Wu Yingxue’s original hand, the other her attempt to mimic a calligraphy master’s style.
"You’ve really been working hard…"
Xu Xi set the sheet down and picked up another, reviewing each of her practice sheets from the night.
Some had glaring errors.
Others were hastily scribbled.
Through these sheets, he could easily picture Wu Yingxue straining under the lamplight, exhausted yet persistent.
After a moment’s thought, Xu Xi picked up the brush lying scattered on the desk.
One by one, he corrected and annotated her mistakes, grading each sheet.
[Top Grade]
[Top Grade]
[Top Grade]
Not an evaluation of her calligraphy.
But of the girl herself.
Regardless of the elegance of her strokes, in Xu Xi’s eyes, Wu Yingxue had long since proven herself worthy.
He trusted and affirmed her growth.
"Sleep well."
Finally, he set down the brush and paper.
Ensuring the blanket wouldn’t slip, he retreated from the room as silently as he had entered.
The candle flames flickered gently, casting a soft glow.
The girl remained deep in sleep, murmuring words Xu Xi could no longer hear:
"Master… even if you scream… no one will come, hehe…"
"Come home with me, hehe…"
Before leaving, Xu Xi carefully shut the windows.
He didn’t want the harsh night wind to disturb his princess’s sweet dreams.
Yet a stray breeze slipped through the gap beneath the door, lifting a few strands of hair from her forehead.
Her sleeping face, caught in a silly, happy grin, was revealed.
Mumbling to herself, her hands flailed lightly across the desk as if grasping at something.
Only as time passed and she sank deeper into sleep did her movements still, leaving only the whisper of the wind.
The next morning.
The blazing sun rose from the horizon.
Wu Yingxue awoke slumped over the desk, rubbing her eyes and yawning.
"Fell asleep again?"
"No, no—if I keep this up, how will I ever impress Master?"
"Wu Yingxue, you can’t slack off anymore!"
Pumping herself up, she reached for the calligraphy sheets, ready to resume her efforts.
But soon, she noticed something amiss.
"This handwriting… Master’s?"
Wu Yingxue froze.
Before her eyes, sheet after sheet bore the same mark:
[Top Grade]
The ink was still slightly damp, the strokes gentle.
Like a silent embrace.
Speaking volumes without words.
"Does Master mean… I’ve already passed?"
Her hand brushed against the thin blanket draped over her shoulders—warm, tender.
In that moment, realization dawned on her.
She had sought Xu Xi’s approval through calligraphy, through the refined grace of a noble lady.
But that had been unnecessary.
Because all along, Xu Xi had been supporting her, affirming her, encouraging her to move forward—never once denying her.
"I’ve been such a fool…"
Leaning back in the wooden chair, Wu Yingxue stared at the ceiling, realizing how much time she had wasted—and how much she had worried Xu Xi.
The moon had always been there.
Unmoving.
It was the restless waters that had disturbed its reflection.
"Master, I’m sorry for making you worry."
At breakfast, before Xu Xi could speak, Wu Yingxue bowed her head in apology, guilt written across her face.
"It was my own matter, yet I kept you from resting."
"It’s alright, Yingxue."
"Eat up," Xu Xi replied gently, ruffling her hair reassuringly.
As for whether she would continue calligraphy, Xu Xi left the decision to her.
"Yingxue, whatever you choose to pursue, I’ll support you."
His voice was soft.
The choice was hers.
In the end, Wu Yingxue abandoned her calligraphy practice.
She had accepted that she lacked talent in this art. Rather than waste time, she would focus on what truly mattered.
"What truly matters?"
"Yes, Master."
Her answer carried a double meaning.
The morning breeze brushed her cheeks—ticklish, cool—its delicate touch grazing the corners of her eyes, making her instinctively tuck her hair behind her ear.
She looked up at the sky.
The spring sun was gentle, far from scorching.
"Master, will you leave this place with me?"
"I want to go to where the stars are closest in this world."
With that, Wu Yingxue turned a radiant smile toward Xu Xi.
Her eyes were the only stars in the daylight.
"Of course."
The moon accepted her invitation.
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?"
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.
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
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.”
