Gu Ximan’s eyelashes fluttered like startled butterfly wings.
Their noses were almost touching—she could see her own reflection in Gu Luo’s pupils.
Those usually smiling eyes were now filled with shock and barely concealed joy. The lips beneath her fingertips trembled slightly, like sun-warmed glass.
A breeze carried dandelion fluff from nowhere, brushing past the watch on Gu Luo’s wrist. The ticking of the second hand was unnervingly loud in the silence.
“Xiao Man...” Gu Luo’s voice came muffled through his palm, rough and broken.
Gu Ximan could see the shadows cast by his long lashes on his cheeks. Then, unexpectedly, he curled his hand, pressing the back of it against her lips.
Time froze into amber.
She caught the scent of soap lingering on his fingers, mingled with the warmth of sunlit school fabric and something indescribably, uniquely Gu Luo.
Her widened eyes glazed over with moisture again, and the hand braced against his chest unconsciously tightened around his collar.
This kiss, separated by his palm, wasn’t soft—it was almost reckless.
Yet it sent a jolt through her entire body, leaving the cold tea-brown-haired girl breathless and thoughtless, aware only of the heat and pulse of the boy’s lips against her skin.
Gu Luo’s kiss slid from her hand to her wrist, his fingertips still guarding her lips as if she were delicate porcelain.
His gaze was clearer than ever.
Staring into Gu Ximan’s watery eyes, he suddenly chuckled low, the sound carrying a sigh of relief:
“I can’t even kiss you properly without a barrier...”
He paused, exhaling softly before continuing:
“Xiao Man, I honestly don’t know how to face your feelings—your romantic feelings. I can sense them, but... I’m sorry, I can’t give you an answer yet.”
“But if you’re willing, I’ll start treating you as a girl my age, someone in the throes of adolescence. Once I’ve resolved things with Shu Ning and Shu He, I’ll give you a proper response.”
“The truth is... I’ve been drowning in self-deception, indecisive and hesitant about love. In the end, I hurt not just myself but all of you.”
“After these past few days of reflection, I’ve realized something: hesitation has no place in matters of the heart. You must say what you feel. The moment you hold back or fail to communicate, misunderstandings arise, driving people who love each other apart.”
“I don’t want any more regrets or pain. I’m even prepared to have my legs broken or be disowned.”
“That’s my answer.”
Every word was sincere.
Shu Ning’s actions—throwing away the letter, saying cruel things, getting into another boy’s car—had cut deep.
It wounded others, but it also wounded herself.
This was a calculated move, a scheme aimed at her own heart.
Luo Shuning’s approach was simple, childish, extreme. No matter the justification, such things were unforgivable.
Two people who loved each other ended up inflicting the deepest wounds.
How laughable.
How ironic.
Love was too complicated, like a potion that could transform you into someone entirely different the moment you drank it.
Hearing this, Gu Ximan suddenly seized his wrist, forcefully pulling his hand away from their lips.
The afternoon wind caught her hair,
brushing against Gu Luo’s cheek.
Her next move carried the desperation of someone burning their bridges.
Sunlight streamed through the rooftop railing, weaving golden patterns over their intertwined shadows.
The distant clamor of Guangya Academy’s students faded into background noise, leaving only the warmth between their lips
and the heartbeat that had waited far too long to be shared.
Gu Luo stiffened like the iron railing, forgetting even to breathe.
An eternity passed.
Just as his fingertips unconsciously curled, nearly grazing her waist, a sharp pain bloomed on his lip.
The metallic tang of blood spread between them.
Gu Ximan stood on shaky legs, stepping back with lips stained a vivid red, like a maple leaf on snow.
“Sort things out with Ning-jie and He-jie first...”
Her voice trembled as she nervously twisted the lace trim of her pleated skirt. “I... I’m just collecting interest!”
With that, she plopped back down, turning her face away as her small hands fluttered frantically before her burning cheeks.
Her uniform sleeve slipped, revealing a slender wrist glowing pearl-white in the sunlight.
The wind lifted her hair again, cold tea-brown strands skimming Gu Luo’s hand, leaving behind a faint, lingering itch.
............
............
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?!
end. Thus one must continue to cultivate, and become a saint or great emperor, in order to prolong one's life. Chen Xia, however, completely reversed this. Since his transmigration, he has gained immortality, and also a system that awards him with attribute points for every year he lives. Thus between the myriad worlds, the legend of an unparalleled senior appeared. "A gentleman takes revenge; it is never too late even after ten thousand years." "When you were at your peak I yielded, now in your old age I shall trample on you." - Chen Xia
iaobai: "Councilor Dad, front me some funds. I want to hire ten thousand professional miners for a project!" [Five-Star Mission Issued: Capture the leader of the Blood Heaven Pirate Gang, who is on the run in the Radiant Star Sector. It is said the gang has over a hundred members. Proceed with caution.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, lend me the family's hundred-thousand-strong Lu Army!" [Seven-Star Mission Issued: Subdue a juvenile Void Dragon Beast.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, I'm taking your tamed Void Dragon Beast King out for a family reunion!" I said, System, don't you have any slightly more challenging missions? You're just not up to par! [Nine-Star Mission Issued: Become the Human Councilor.] Lu Xiaobai: "Dad, there's a small matter I'd like to discuss with you..."
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
