The assassin trembled: "Brothers, I think I took a wrong turn. Believe me?"
Shen Xun, who had been invited over, stared at the assassin beaten to a pulp and fell into deep thought.
Following his master's orders, Wang Jia seized the moment to extend an invitation: "Though Qingping County is poor, it's much more peaceful. If Master Shen doesn’t mind, you’re welcome to settle here."
Shen Xun looked at Wang Jia, his interest piqued by the man standing behind him.
Wang Jia cheerfully escorted the two men hauling the assassin back to Qingping County, leaving the burly helpers to assist Shen Xun with moving.
However, upon returning, Wang Jia suddenly felt a sense of unfamiliarity. Qingping County seemed to have changed quite a bit. Though it had always been well-governed, it was still a poor county. But now, after just one trip away, the streets were bustling with more vendors and traveling merchants.
New shops had even sprung up, and people chatted and laughed freely.
When he finally found Fang Zhiyi, he froze—Qin Li was here too?
Qin Li spotted him and greeted him with a grin before hurrying off to train the troops. Fang Zhiyi, however, casually slung an arm over Wang Jia’s shoulder. "How’d it go?"
Wang Jia snapped out of his daze. "Done. The criminal’s been brought back."
Fang Zhiyi glanced at the disheveled assassin behind him and smirked.
"Next, I need you to go to Dongchang Prefecture..." Fang Zhiyi had no choice. He was swamped—Qingping County was just entering its development phase, and there were too many matters requiring his attention. Moreover, he feared that if he left, the Panlong Bandits might seize the opportunity to attack.
Wang Jia had already resigned himself to fate and simply nodded.
The disfigured artisan in Dongchang, the wealthy Squire Zhou in Xiping, the renowned physician Qian in the southeast...
Wang Jia was in awe of his magistrate. How had he known about the criminals’ plans?
For Fang Zhiyi, it was simple. The people in this world weren’t particularly cunning. By warning them to avoid disaster, they naturally felt indebted to him. The Panlong Bandits might pose as noble outlaws, but their methods were despicable—they’d stop at nothing to expand their influence. Fang Zhiyi was merely competing with them for talent. With a clear comparison, these skilled individuals would choose their own path.
As for those holding official positions, it was even easier.
"My father is Fang Huatian!"
Armed with just those five words in a letter, Wang Jia could traverse these regions unhindered. Anyone with half a brain knew about Fang Zhiyi’s reputation as a spoiled official’s son—and his powerful father. Who would dare refuse him?
Thus, men like Qin Li came seeking refuge.
Fang Zhiyi’s approach was straightforward: he showed them around the transforming Qingping County, painted grand visions of the future, and treated them with warmth and respect. Those who came to thank him could hardly resist his invitations.
Of course, Fang Zhiyi’s methods weren’t without issues. Despite Fang Huatian’s interference, the emperor still received memorials denouncing Qingping County Magistrate Fang Zhiyi. Fortunately, the emperor was too preoccupied with his pleasures and simply waved the matter off, leaving it to Fang Huatian to handle.
Though Fang Huatian didn’t fully grasp what his son was up to, the earnest tone in his letters convinced him to cover for the young man, assuming he’d finally come to his senses and was striving to make a name for himself.
Meanwhile, the Panlong Bandits were growing uneasy. Strategist Xue Qi’s plans kept hitting snags. The men they sent out not only failed to recruit new members but even ended up dead or captured.
Xue Qi wasn’t a fool. He immediately dispatched spies to investigate, and soon, he uncovered the pattern—every talent they’d targeted had ended up in Qingping County. It didn’t take long for him to recall Song Yunfan’s mention of the Qingping County magistrate.
Xue Qi had a sinking feeling—this man would be their adversary. He ordered their informants in Qingping County to dig deeper.
But then, trouble erupted within the bandit stronghold.
As a sizable bandit faction, internal factions and friction were inevitable. Under the iron rule of leaders like Xiaotian Hu, conflicts had always been kept in check.
This time, however, was different. First, Li Fei, brother of the aquatic specialist Li Jin, had a heated argument with infantry leader Zhang Dakui, nearly coming to blows. That very night, Li Fei was found decapitated.
Li Jin exploded with rage, rallying his men to clash with Zhang Dakui. Fortunately, Song Yunfan arrived in time to prevent further bloodshed. Xiaotian Hu publicly rebuked Li Jin for doubting his comrades and stripped him of his position. Furious, Li Jin packed his bags and prepared to leave the mountain.
Song Yunfan, ever the smooth talker, sought Li Jin out in private. His "heartfelt" words moved Li Jin to tears, and the latter promptly knelt and swore brotherhood to him.
No sooner had this crisis passed than trouble flared up again—this time at an outpost on the bandits’ periphery. Two co-leaders quarreled over uneven spoils, and one killed the other before fleeing with a handful of men.
Xiaotian Hu was at his wits’ end. Why had the mountain fortress become so restless lately? Plans were failing, income was dwindling, and now brothers were turning on each other? Whispers spread through the ranks, and morale plummeted.
It was then that a Daoist priest arrived at the mountain. Xiaotian Hu, assuming he was just a wandering ascetic, prepared to send him off with some silver—bandits or not, they still showed some respect to monks and priests.
But after accepting the money, the Daoist left Xiaotian Hu with a cryptic warning:
"This humble priest has read the heavens. A calamitous star looms over you, and the road ahead is dark. Great Leader, you must be on your guard."
With that, the Daoist departed, leaving Xiaotian Hu stunned. The recent rumors flashed through his mind, and his frown deepened.
Soon after, news arrived—one of their hideouts for fencing stolen goods had been raided by government troops.
Xiaotian Hu slammed the table, ready to curse, when Xue Qi and Song Yunfan hurried in. The moment he saw Song Yunfan, Xiaotian Hu’s face darkened.
Come to think of it, ever since this man’s return, the stronghold had been anything but peaceful. There were even whispers that Song Yunfan was secretly rallying other leaders to break away and form his own faction.
As Xiaotian Hu studied Song Yunfan’s face, suspicion festered in his heart.
Back in Qingping County, Fang Zhiyi welcomed another wave of defecting bandits. Wang Jia stood dejected—he should never have bet against his magistrate. Now his month’s salary was gone.
He couldn’t fathom why his master was provoking the Panlong Bandits. They were a formidable bunch—wasn’t he afraid of getting burned?
What Wang Jia didn’t know was that when it came to schemes, ten Xue Qis were no match for Fang Zhiyi. He’d faced far more cunning opponents in the past. And besides, he held the script.
First, he snatched up talent before the bandits could. Then, he flaunted his father’s name to extract resources from neighboring regions—little by little, just enough that no one dared refuse. Alongside developing Qingping County, he spent freely.
Sure, some bandit leaders might have joined for brotherhood, but what about the rank and file? Could loyalty fill their bellies?
] 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.
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
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.
