Early September, Lingling returned to the capital.
Reluctant to part, she clung tightly, unwilling to let go.
Only a thin layer of separation remained between them.
Sigh!
The house grew quiet and lonely once more.
Young Master Cao had also gathered intel on Kuang Long and Meng Hu’s hideout and basic situation.
Turns out, they had sought refuge with their uncle.
This time, Young Master Cao didn’t hold back. Over three consecutive nights, during his free time, he used his teleportation to swiftly arrive at Yang Laojiu’s nightclub. There, he relentlessly harvested negative emotions from the uncle and his two nephews.
What use were numbers?
Against Young Master Cao’s agility, no amount of people could lay a finger on him.
In less than ten seconds, no matter how many came, they all ended up on the ground.
No chance to fight back.
Unless they used guns.
But Yang Laojiu could sense that the other party had no intent to kill, nor were they serious—it felt like they were playing some new form of… bullying.
This kind of "dad-level bullying" made him afraid to escalate things into a life-or-death feud.
Because once guns were drawn, it would mean total war.
At this moment, Yang Laojiu finally understood his nephews’ suffering and why they had fled Sanjiang.
Now, even he wanted to leave Zhonghai.
This was just too much.
"Killing is one thing, but this… Have mercy, brother!
What grudge do you hold against us?
If you’ve got a problem, just say it.
Name your terms—apologies, compensation, or a humiliating toast—just speak up.
Is it proper to start beating people right away?
And then leave right after, as if beating us was the whole point?
Even interrogators ask questions before torturing.
There’s gotta be some personal vendetta here, right?
Sure, we’re hoodlums.
We’re society’s trash.
But even we… have basic human dignity.
Wuuu…"
"Nephew…" Yang Laojiu wept bitterly.
Meng Hu grimaced in pain.
Kuang Long, already accustomed to it, endured the ache in his ribs, lying on the floor and staring blankly at the ceiling.
This scene felt familiar.
Kuang Long muttered, "Should we leave Zhonghai?"
But where could they go?
Wouldn’t he just chase after them?
Kuang Long suddenly realized—despite the vastness of the country, spanning millions of square kilometers, there seemed to be no place for them to hide.
Too scared to return to their hometown.
Zhonghai felt like hell.
Now, even a roof over their heads seemed like an impossible luxury.
Back when he first started this life,
some "senior" had told him: "In the underworld, you’re at the mercy of the tides. Few end well."
But Kuang Long never imagined it’d be this bad.
If he’d known, he would’ve just worked in a factory tightening screws. What was the point of all this?
...
Meanwhile, Old Dog wasn’t faring any better.
While beating Yang Laojiu, Young Master Cao heard him beg for mercy, crying out that Old Dog had ordered them to attack Old Cao.
That led him straight to Old Dog’s address.
For three days, Old Dog got the same treatment.
He also gave up Boss Jin.
Though, even if he hadn’t, Young Master Cao would’ve guessed—Old Cao didn’t have many enemies.
The first time he’d beaten them in the van, Meng Hu had shamelessly blurted: "We weren’t following you! We were after that man!"
That was when Young Master Cao had already suspected Boss Jin.
Now, he just had a precise target.
...
That night,
Cao Cheng arrived at Boss Jin’s suite in the Jinmao Hotel.
Hundreds of meters up, just a couple of teleports away.
"Who are you?"
The balding boss, wrapped in a bathrobe, stepped out of the bathroom and froze at the sight of the masked figure on his sofa.
His body trembled.
Thank god he’d already finished pissing.
Otherwise, he’d have wet himself right then.
After stepping out of the shower, seeing a masked man—who wouldn’t be terrified?
Boss Jin stumbled backward a few steps, instinctively glancing toward the door as if calculating an escape route.
"Boss Jin."
"Don’t be scared."
"I’m just here to deliver a gift."
"A gift? What gift?" Boss Jin remained cautious, shuffling backward, his voice trembling slightly.
"I heard you hired someone to collect teeth. Too bad the guy you hired was useless—got caught. So, naturally, it’s only fair to return the favor. Come on, be a good boy, show me those teeth. I only need two."
"..."
Boss Jin understood now.
That pale-faced bastard, Old Cao.
Damn it!
He was the one who knocked my teeth out first. Why the hell is he retaliating?
This is just bullying!
Still, Boss Jin felt a little relieved. For a second, he thought it was an assassin sent by some enemy.
Fck, that scared the hell out of me.
Boss Jin quickly waved his hands. "Bro, bro, listen to me—calm down. I’ll give you money. Fifty thousand—no, a hundred thousand! A hundred and fifty thousand… I’ll pay you a hundred and fifty thousand to beat up Old Cao. Two teeth. After it’s done, I’ll give you another hundred and fifty."
That was an astronomical sum.
These days, it was enough to kill three people.
The masked man shook his head. "Professional integrity, Boss Jin. Can’t take money from both sides. Just endure it. It’ll be over soon."
"No, no, I just got them fixed! Bro—no, boss, big brother, godfather… please don’t hit my teeth—"
"Ah—!"
A scream echoed.
Finally, the bodyguards outside heard the commotion.
Gotta admit, the soundproofing was way too good.
By the time they barged in, Boss Jin’s mouth was full of blood.
But the attacker… was nowhere to be seen.
"Boss, you a’ight?" one bodyguard asked with a thick accent.
"Get the hell out! Are you fcking dead or what? How did someone sneak in? What’s the point of keeping you around?" Boss Jin hissed through the gaps in his teeth, pointing furiously at the two bodyguards.
The other bodyguard frowned. "Boss, no one came in. No one left either."
"Bullsht!"
Boss Jin gestured wildly around the room. "Then what the hell was that, a ghost? Go search the place! He’s still here. Find him, knock his teeth out—I want two of his teeth!"
"..."
They searched everywhere.
Even lifted the bed. Not a single trace of anyone.
It was like dealing with a damn ghost.
If not for Boss Jin’s missing teeth, the bodyguards would’ve thought he was just making excuses to dock their bonuses.
"Get out, get out, get the hell out!"
Boss Jin waved impatiently, shooing them away. He instinctively licked his upper teeth. Damn it, that familiar gap—so fcking annoying.
"That old bastard, Old Cao… just you wait, I swear I’ll—"
He was about to vow revenge but abruptly stopped himself.
Should he really keep going?
He’d already lost four teeth in total.
Damn it.
No.
I’m calling the police.
I’m a foreign investor.
I’m a Chinese-American… a green card holder. I’m a U.S. citizen.
Technically, this is a diplomatic incident!
Losing teeth before could’ve been written off as an accident—just carelessness. The cops wouldn’t do much, maybe just some compensation.
But this time? It’s a hired hit…
That’s it.
I won’t let you get away with this.
Sss—!
Fck, it hurts so bad.
Old Cao, you’ve gone too far.
...
He reported it to the police overnight.
Being a Chinese-American did carry weight, especially these days.
And Boss Jin was, legally, a foreigner.
So,
Early the next morning, the police arrived at the villa where Old Cao and Ren's Mother were staying.
There was no way around it—after all, someone had notified the embassy, filed a police report, and dragged in both a local tycoon and an overseas "banana person" (yellow on the outside, white on the inside). The higher-ups had no choice but to take it seriously.
"What?"
"He was attacked?"
"Just got his teeth fixed, and now two more got knocked out?"
"Hahaha, no no, I’m not gloating. I just think he must’ve pissed someone off, hahaha…" Old Cao laughed without a care.
The innocent have nothing to fear.
What’s there to be scared of?
The lead officer frowned. "Please be serious. We’re handling a case here."
Old Cao’s laughter slowly faded.
But Ren's Mother shot them a sidelong glare, her eyes sharp and domineering. "Oh? Which law says we can’t laugh in our own home? Who’s your supervisor? I think I’ll file a complaint with the municipal committee. I’d love to ask them whether my husband and I are allowed to laugh in our own damn house."
"…"
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
