He cautiously pressed his eye against the peephole, only to see another bloodshot eye staring back.
With a terrified yelp, he stumbled backward and fell onto the floor.
Someone seemed to be speaking outside the door. Trembling, he pressed his ear against it but heard only eerie laughter.
That night, he didn’t dare use the bathroom or even open the curtains.
Meanwhile, Fang Zhiyi went straight home. Seeing the bowl of noodles Fang Yunhe had cooked for him—now soggy and bloated—he cursed under his breath but sat down and started eating anyway.
From his room, Fang Yunhe peeked out cautiously.
Had his father not gone gambling?
Fang Zhiyi suddenly turned and locked eyes with him. Fang Yunhe flinched, about to duck back, when his father called out.
"What’s wrong with you, acting so spineless?" Fang Zhiyi scolded between bites of the tasteless noodles. "People walk all over you, and you don’t even fight back?"
Fang Yunhe lowered his head in silence.
Fang Zhiyi sighed inwardly. Habits like this, built over years, weren’t easy to break. It would take time.
But first, the money problem needed solving. Quickly sifting through the plot details provided by Xiao Hei, Fang Zhiyi extracted some useful information.
The CEO of Jinrui Real Estate, Cheng Feifan, had been in a foul mood lately. The Bai family’s recent winning streak had left him scrambling in their rivalry. Was the rumor about the Bai heiress being a lucky charm actually true?
Lost in thought, his car suddenly braked hard, nearly slamming him into the front seat.
"What’s going on?" he snapped at the driver.
The driver pointed ahead. "A fortune-teller’s blocking the road."
"A fortune-teller?" Cheng Feifan frowned, spotting a man squatting with a sign that read "Half-Immortal." This was a gated community—how had he gotten in?
He was about to order the driver to call security when a thought struck him. He stepped out instead.
"Hey, who are you?"
Fang Zhiyi glanced at him. "Can’t you read?"
Cheng Feifan took a deep breath. "You’re in my way."
"Oh? Is it me blocking your path, or is it misfortune?" Fang Zhiyi countered.
Cheng Feifan stiffened. "What did you say?"
"Words mean little. You already know the truth. Pity, what a pity." Fang Zhiyi began packing up, counting silently in his head—one, two, three...
"Wait, sir!" Cheng Feifan hurried after him, tone now respectful. "Please, enlighten me."
Fang Zhiyi smirked. Successful men were always the most superstitious.
"My fee’s up to you. No pay if it doesn’t come true," Fang Zhiyi said. Cheng Feifan nodded eagerly—money was no object.
"Abandon whatever you’re doing today, or you’ll regret it." Fang Zhiyi turned to leave. "I’ll return tomorrow. Payment then."
Watching him go, Cheng Feifan hesitated. Today was the bid for the East District land—and this stranger was telling him to skip it?
"Boss, he’s probably a fraud," the driver muttered.
But Cheng Feifan stared at the retreating figure, then shook his head. "I’ll take the gamble."
Fang Zhiyi ducked into a quiet corner and changed into a repairman’s uniform. Xiao Hei teased, "You’ve got quite the resume."
"Versatility never hurts," Fang Zhiyi quipped, strutting out of the neighborhood. He had a school to visit.
At school, Wang Zihan dozed off repeatedly. Last night’s nightmares of that haunting face had left him jumpy—even Fang Yunhe unnerved him now. But with friends around, his courage returned.
By afternoon, he couldn’t resist. Time to teach Fang Yunhe a lesson—and show his dad he wasn’t to be messed with!
Just as he moved to act, he saw it again: Fang Zhiyi in a baseball cap, gripping a wrench, staring unnervingly through the window.
His bravado evaporated. The man had followed him to school!
Then Fang Zhiyi slowly drew a knife, licked the blade, and fixed him with a dead-eyed glare.
Wang Zihan scurried back to his seat. His gang, confused but leaderless without Murong Ke, settled down.
"Ah, Master Fang! There you are—the circuit breaker keeps tripping," a teacher called, leading Fang Zhiyi away.
Fang Yunhe spent the day on edge, yet the expected beating never came. Odd—but then, his father hadn’t picked him up either. Not that he’d expected him to.
Unbeknownst to him, Wang Zihan bolted from school in terror. Fang Yunhe’s father reappeared, trailing him, hand hidden ominously in his bag. Panicked, Wang Zihan spun and charged at Fang Zhiyi, screaming obscenities.
"I’ll kill you!"
To his shock, Fang Zhiyi turned and ran. Enraged, Wang Zihan gave chase, drawing baffled stares from passersby.
A motorcycle swerved—directly into him. As he flew through the air, the last thing he saw was that dreaded face.
Then darkness.
The next day, Fang Zhiyi arrived punctually. Cheng Feifan rushed to shake his hand.
"Master, thank you!" He’d attended the bid after all, distracted by Fang Zhiyi’s warning. Strangely, the Bai family withdrew, and another firm won.
But by evening, insider news broke: the East District plan was scrapped. The next decade’s development would focus west.
Rumor had it the winning CEO swallowed an entire box of heart pills that night.
Accepting Cheng Feifan’s thick stack of cash without hesitation (though inwardly wishing it were thicker), Fang Zhiyi declined further consultations. "The time isn’t right," he said—truthfully, he had no next move. Competing with destiny’s darling? Impossible.
Yet his mystique only cemented Cheng Feifan’s belief in his powers.
For Fang Yunhe, the air felt lighter. Murong Ke was on leave, and now Wang Zihan was hospitalized after a car crash. Still, unease lingered.
Wang Zihan’s parents were baffled. Their son had dashed into traffic—on a red light, no less. When questioned, he babbled incoherently about murderers.
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
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!
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.
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
