Inside the apartment.
Lin Yu smoothly joined the conversation between the Xia sisters and Maomao.
Sitting on the same couch as Lin Yu, Xia Xiashan looked particularly uneasy.
This awkward situation was entirely due to her own pointless politeness.
Earlier, in the midst of the awkwardness,
Xia Xiashan had casually asked out of courtesy: "Do you want to sit with us for a while?"
Normally, in such a situation,
wouldn’t any reasonable person politely excuse themselves to avoid interrupting the sisters’ chat and go about their own business?
However,
she never expected
that Lin Yu’s thought process couldn’t be judged by normal standards!
He casually replied, "Sure,"
and then
joined them without hesitation—even sitting right next to Xia Xiashan!
Lin Yu completely ignored Xia Xiashan’s discomfort.
Instead, he straightforwardly asked Maomao, who couldn’t lie to save her life:
"Maomao, why do you look upset?"
"Did the two sisters bully you before I got here?"
The moment those words left his mouth,
the Xia sisters’ gazes immediately locked onto Maomao.
Judging by their reactions,
something had indeed happened—
and it was probably about Maomao.
Maomao, unfazed by their stares, answered bluntly:
"It’s not because of Shan or Wei…"
"Aunt Ruxue is coming!"
If not for the dream he’d had earlier, Lin Yu would have been shocked by this news.
But ever since seeing Aunt Ruxue’s true self in that dream,
he had a feeling she would show up eventually.
In fact,
he was even curious—would the real Aunt Ruxue be just like the one in Maomao’s dream?
"Aunt Ruxue… is that your guardian, the one you mentioned before?"
"Since it’s your private matter, I never asked."
"Did she find out you’re staying in the apartment Weiwei rented?"
Facing Lin Yu’s questions,
Maomao held nothing back and continued:
"Yeah. While making the software for our showdown, I got impatient and used some online backup resources."
"Even though I used a virtual IP, Aunt Ruxue still tracked me down…"
Lin Yu nodded silently,
processing the implications of Maomao’s words.
Using a virtual IP meant Maomao hadn’t acted recklessly—she’d taken precautions to hide her location.
But the fact that Aunt Ruxue still found her suggested she was a cybersecurity expert—
likely even more skilled than Maomao.
Maybe even more skilled than Ying'er, who wasn’t far behind Maomao.
No wonder
she’d been able to raise someone as talented as Maomao.
Noticing Maomao had stopped talking,
Lin Yu pressed further:
"So what happens next? Is Aunt Ruxue coming to take you back?"
Maomao shook her head, then glanced miserably at the Xia sisters.
Xia Yiwei stepped in to explain:
"That question’s a bit tough for Maomao to answer."
"Let’s have our big-mouthed sister repeat what was actually said on the phone."
With that,
Xia Yiwei made a "go ahead" gesture—
only to pull her hand back just as Xia Xiashan looked ready to break it.
Xia Xiashan quickly defended herself:
"Maomao already explained the reason!"
"It’s not like I leaked anything!"
Lin Yu also believed Xia Xiashan wasn’t the type to betray Maomao.
Maomao’s explanation had been logical and straightforward.
His gaze settled on Xia Xiashan, waiting for her to elaborate.
Since Maomao had already brought up the topic with Lin Yu,
Xia Xiashan saw no reason to hold back.
"The moment I answered the call, Aunt Ruxue immediately asked me—"
"‘Is Maomao settling in okay over there? Has she gotten into any conflicts? Has she met her little online comrade-in-arms yet?’"
"What was I supposed to say? It was obvious she already knew everything!"
Lin Yu: "…"
"Little online comrade-in-arms"?
Even someone as formidable as ZerO only rated that kind of description from Aunt Ruxue?
This only reinforced Lin Yu’s suspicion—
Aunt Ruxue’s hacking skills were on another level.
"So at that point, I had no choice but to answer her questions."
"In the end, Aunt Ruxue said she had some free time and would come to Pingchuan to visit Maomao."
"That’s it."
"That’s where the conversation ended!"
"Whether she plans to take Maomao back or just visit, I really don’t know."
"Aunt Ruxue’s way of doing things… I can’t even begin to guess."
By the end,
it was clear Xia Xiashan genuinely had no idea what to expect.
After hearing everything, Lin Yu reassured them:
"So that’s how it is."
"Maomao, don’t worry too much."
"Since Aunt Ruxue mentioned me, I’ll meet her with you when she arrives."
"You’re an adult now—maybe she’ll even consider letting you grow independently."
Maomao: "Absolutely not!"
Xia Yiwei: "Absolutely not!"
Xia Xiashan: "Absolutely not!"
Lin Yu: "???"
Where did this sudden unity come from?
It’s just meeting Aunt Ruxue—
why the panic?
It’s not like Lin Yu is some embarrassment!
Maomao hurriedly explained:
"Lin Yu, seriously, no."
"The truth is, Aunt Ruxue still thinks…"
"ZerO is a girl!"
"If she actually wants to meet ZerO and finds out it’s you…"
"I might…"
Lin Yu: "…"
So that’s the issue.
It probably wasn’t just Aunt Ruxue making wild guesses—
Ying'er might have been exposed without even realizing it.
Yikes.
This was getting complicated.
Judging by Maomao’s unfinished sentence,
this "control-freak" aunt probably didn’t allow her to interact with guys.
Xia Yiwei’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she excitedly grabbed Maomao’s arm:
"Hahaha, I’ve got an idea!"
Maomao gave her a skeptical look.
The three of them had been sitting there, brainstorming for ages—
even considering sending Maomao back to the martial arts hall immediately.
But the moment Lin Yu showed up,
Xia Yiwei suddenly had a solution?
Even Xia Xiashan couldn’t believe her mischievous younger sister.
Xia Yiwei stood up, pointing at Lin Yu:
"Only the three of us know ZerO is my little shifu, right?"
"Didn’t you guys use a ‘switch-the-cat’ trick when you first met him?"
"We can find a girl to pretend to be my little shifu!"
"And guess what—hahaha…"
"There’s a perfect candidate right here in our apartment!"
Lin Yu: "!!!"
Xia Xiashan and Maomao might not have understood Xia Yiwei’s ridiculous plan,
but Lin Yu immediately saw the brilliance of it.
They could really pull this off?
Playing both the "good sister" and "good little sister" like fools?
Before, it was the fake pretending to be the real one.
Now, the real one would pretend to be the fake!
...
(Second update today! The next bonus chapter is coming soon—just 292 more "powered by love" supports to go! Keep the encouragement coming, everyone!)

rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!

saw a female celebrity tied up and stuffed in the trunk! Little did he know, countless cameras were aimed at him at this moment - this was a new type of reality show. The first randomly selected passerby was caught in less than an hour. But when Xu Moru was selected, things started to take an unexpected turn. "Damn, this isn't how the script goes. This Xu Moru is too bold, he's not following the rules at all." "Crap, is this guy taking it seriously?" "The female celebrity has been scared to tears!"

transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”

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?!