Fang Zhiyi took a deep breath. He had already pieced together the known storyline. This world was completely different from the previous demon and ghost worlds—there was no spiritual energy at all. Now he needed to test a hypothesis.
Xu Xiaoya didn’t understand why Gousheng dared to swagger out in the open, but she didn’t dare to ask. After all, he was her only friend, so she just stuck close behind him.
“I originally planned to sneak out, but now I’m in a really bad mood,” Fang Zhiyi muttered to himself.
Up ahead, a figure appeared, staggering drunkenly. The man looked over, his face flushed with intoxication.
“Hey, who the hell are you? Hurry up and get me some ginseng tea!”
Xu Xiaoya nervously grabbed the back of Fang Zhiyi’s clothes.
“Easy, you’re choking me,” Fang Zhiyi said.
Xu Xiaoya quickly let go and whispered an apology.
Her voice reached the drunkard’s ears. He tilted his head, squinting in confusion. When he spotted Xu Xiaoya, he grinned with delight: “Oh, a little beauty here? Come on over and let your master—”
He didn’t finish his sentence. Fang Zhiyi swept his leg out and kicked him into the nearby pond. The loud splash stunned Xu Xiaoya.
“Gousheng, he…”
“He won’t die. If he does, that’s his fate,” Fang Zhiyi said, walking on.
Perhaps Master Gao was too overconfident—along the way, they barely saw any servants. And the few who did see them didn’t think much of it. After all, who would imagine someone daring to break into the Gao residence and stroll around so brazenly? It wasn’t until Fang Zhiyi reached the main gate that the gatekeeper poked his head out, eyeing them suspiciously.
“You two…”
Xu Xiaoya watched as Fang Zhiyi suddenly grabbed the gatekeeper by the hair and smashed his head against the window frame. His ruthless action made her shrink her neck.
Had Gousheng always been this fierce? But when she saw his foster mother scold him, he only ever grinned like a simpleton.
Fang Zhiyi pushed open the door to leave, then paused. He turned back, patted down the gatekeeper, and pulled out a money pouch. He weighed it in his hand and muttered, “Cheapskate.”
Xu Xiaoya looked at his tattered clothes and felt a mix of amusement and exasperation. She quickly pulled off the cheap ornaments from her hair. “Gousheng, I have these here. Do you think we can sell them?”
Fang Zhiyi glanced back at her. “Keep them. Those scraps won’t fetch anything.”
The two figures slipped away openly through the front gate.
When the knocked-out servant came to, Master Gao was looming over him, his face twisted in fury.
“Where are they?”
“I don’t know. I, I…”
“You idiot!” Master Gao paced back and forth in rage. Finding the girl was secondary—with his wealth, he could always find another. But losing face? That was unacceptable. “Let’s go! Find that old hag!”
Widow Li was humming a tune at home, calculating her next move. She planned to visit another village today, scout for some promising goods, make a few more deals, and save up to buy a shop.
Her eyes drifted to a drafty shed in the yard.
“Gousheng! You freeloader! Still not up?!”
She was starting to regret taking that fool in. If she hadn’t picked him up for free, she’d have sold him long ago. Actually, she had considered it before, but she never found a customer with the right taste.
The shed remained silent. Widow Li frowned. She had taken the money yesterday and gone to town to enjoy herself, returning only late last night.
Could it be…
She walked to the shed and was about to push the door open when the courtyard gate was pounded on.
Correction—it was being battered.
Irritated, she strode over and unlatched the bolt. “What’s all this banging so early? someone die?”
The moment she opened the door, a slap cracked across her mouth.
“Who dares hit me?!” she snarled. But when she saw the grim-faced Master Gao stepping in, her anger vanished, replaced by fawning sycophancy.
“Master Gao, so early? I already sold you my last girl yesterday. For new stock, you’ll have to wait a while…”
“Shut up!” Master Gao jabbed a finger at her nose. “That little slut you sold me ran off! Hand her over!”
“What? What are you talking about?” Widow Li paled.
Master Gao snorted. “Don’t play dumb. You think I’m easy to fool? That I’m some patsy?”
Before Widow Li could defend herself, the shed door creaked open behind her.
Fang Zhiyi poked his head out. “Foster mother, did you bring in the pigeons yesterday? Just like you said, that idiot surnamed Gao really is a sucker… hey, why so many people?”
Widow Li’s eyes bulged. “What the hell are you saying?!”
Fang Zhiyi put on a look of terror. “Me? Saying something? No, no, I’m talking nonsense! I…” He turned and bolted back inside, slamming the door shut.
Master Gao’s face was now purple with rage. Money was trivial to him, but being made a fool of? That was unforgivable.
“Oh, excellent. Widow Li, you’ve made a fool of me, have you? Splendid!”
“Master Gao! I didn’t! I…”
Gao Mingzhi didn’t let her finish. He waved his hand, and several burly henchmen pounced, pinning her down. Others began kicking in the shed door.
Widow Li couldn’t utter a word in her own defense. She could only watch helplessly. But when the door shattered open, the shed was empty.
“Master, that brat jumped out the window and ran!”
“Fine. The monk may run, but the temple can’t,” Gao Mingzhi hissed, fixing his glare on Widow Li. “Am I right?”
Her mouth stuffed with a rag, Widow Li could only stare back in terror. She knew better than anyone what these powerful men were capable of.
Xu Xiaoya watched as Fang Zhiyi jogged up, clutching a small bundle. The weight in her heart lifted. She hesitated, then asked, “Gousheng, where do we…”
“My name is Fang Zhiyi.”
“Fang Zhiyi…” Xu Xiaoya repeated it a few times, then nodded to show she remembered. “Fang Zhiyi, where do we go now? We can’t go back to foster mother’s. Where else is there?”
Fang Zhiyi stared at her.
“Where do you want to go?”
“I, I, I… I want to go home.” The last words were barely a whisper.
Fang Zhiyi nodded, looking at Xu Xiaoya. “Going home is fine, but are you sure you can go back?”
Xu Xiaoya looked up. “What do you mean?”
Fang Zhiyi gave a bitter smile. He had a terrible suspicion, but he couldn’t say it.
Some things, Xu Xiaoya would have to see for herself.
Meanwhile, three of Widow Li’s fingernails had already been ripped out. She couldn’t take it any longer. “I know where that little wretch went! I know! She must have gone home! To her family!”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure! She doesn’t even know her own parents sold her to me! Find her, and you’ll see I’m innocent!”
world slacker. But a genius female disciple just had to get clingy, insisting that he take her as a disciple. Not only that, she was always making advances on him, thoroughly disrupting his peaceful slacker life...
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
