"Are you okay?"
A voice came from the darkness behind, tinged with concern.
Luo Yao, who had been lying on the ground, instantly reacted like a startled beast. Her body jerked upright, a flash of ferocity in her eyes. In one swift motion, she drew a dagger and lunged toward the source of the voice in the shadows.
Her speed was terrifying—as if she had transformed into an avenging grim reaper.
Lin Ran paled in shock. He hadn’t expected such a reaction from Luo Yao.
"I’m Lin Ran!" he shouted immediately.
His voice echoed in the darkness, laced with urgency and fear.
Luo Yao froze for a split second, but then her eyes burned even brighter—a crimson hue of utter madness.
Her gaze was like flickering flames, fueled by boundless rage and killing intent.
Lin Ran knew this state all too well. Luo Yao had descended into a dangerously unhinged frenzy.
"I! WILL! KILL! YOU!" Luo Yao enunciated each word slowly.
Her voice was like a curse from the depths of hell, every syllable dripping with bone-chilling malice.
She raised her dagger and thrust it toward Lin Ran with lethal force. The blade’s cold glint shimmered in the dark, as if summoning death itself.
"Luo Yao, don’t you recognize me?" Lin Ran pleaded, his voice trembling as he tried to snap her out of it.
But Luo Yao was too far gone, consumed by grief and fury. She couldn’t hear him.
All she wanted was to slaughter Lin Ran, preserve his body, and carry him with her forever—wherever she went.
"YOU! ARE! MINE!"
In her twisted mind, Lin Ran was the only thing she could cling to—even if it meant doing so in the most extreme way.
Lin Ran’s heart sank as he dodged her frenzied attacks. The Luo Yao before him was unrecognizable from the girl he once knew.
She was no longer the innocent-eyed child but a shadow-devoured assassin.
A deep sorrow welled up inside him. He didn’t want to hurt her, yet he had no choice but to evade her relentless strikes.
At the last possible moment, Lin Ran grabbed the blade with his bare hand.
"Drip, drip."
Blood trickled from his palm, splattering onto the ground. The sound was unnervingly loud in the silence.
At least I reacted fast enough, Lin Ran thought grimly. He’d narrowly avoided a fatal blow.
If Luo Yao had been even a fraction quicker, he’d be dead.
[Little Black: "You're hurt."]
[Lin Ran: "On purpose. Maybe only blood can bring her back."]
[Little Black: "Bullshit. Just admit you got your ass handed to you."]
Lin Ran couldn’t believe it. Even at this stage, Luo Yao had the power to kill him instantly. And yet, she was still just a kid.
"Luo Yao, I can’t die. Because if I do, you’ll regret it," Lin Ran said through gritted teeth, locking eyes with her, willing her to snap out of it.
[Little Black: "Oh, spare me the dramatics."]
The young Luo Yao didn’t seem to understand his words. Seeing Lin Ran injured only made her agitation grow.
A strange sensation churned inside her—as if something within was fighting to break free from her madness.
Suddenly, Lin Ran pulled her into a tight embrace, holding her as if trying to drag her back from the abyss.
Luo Yao’s eyes cleared in an instant, then dulled. The dagger slipped from her grasp and clattered to the ground.
Her body trembled slightly, confusion flickering across her face—like she’d just woken from a nightmare.
Wait… this isn’t a dream?
Her gaze slowly focused on the "familiar" face before her, and a storm of emotions surged in her chest.
"Luo Yao, I came to find you."
Lin Ran’s voice was soft yet firm, like winter sunlight piercing through her icy heart.
Luo Yao felt something stir inside her—a craving she hadn’t known in years.
It took root in her chest, thawing the numbness she’d grown accustomed to.
Two years ago, she’d tasted this warmth, only to lose it. The pain had haunted her ever since.
"You… came… for me?"
Her voice wavered, a fragile hope flickering in her eyes—like a candle in the dark, faint but precious.
"Of course. I wouldn’t be here otherwise," Lin Ran said with a smile, warm as spring breeze, dispelling the shadows in her heart.
The scent of him was familiar—something she’d known two years ago. It was the smell of safety, the one she’d longed for in countless nightmares.
"It’s… really… you?"
A spark of joy lit up her gaze.
"It’s me. I’m sorry I took so long."
Lin Ran clasped her hand tightly, as if pouring his strength into her.
The sun had fully set now, leaving only the faintest glow on the horizon—a thin thread of light draping over them.
In that fading glow, Luo Yao finally saw his face clearly. Her breath hitched, and she threw herself into his arms.
"You jerk! Why did you take so long?"
Her voice was half-complaint, half-relief, as she clung to him, terrified he’d vanish again.
Lin Ran held her close, the familiarity of it almost surreal.
He gently stroked her hair, his eyes overflowing with tenderness.
Whether now or in the past, Luo Yao had always been by his side. And that realization made him cherish this moment all the more.
"I’m sorry I’m late," he whispered into her ear, guilt lacing his words.
[Little Black: "Oh boo-hoo. ‘Sorry I’m late.’ Done with the theatrics yet?"]
The teasing voice echoed in Lin Ran’s mind.
[Lin Ran: "Want me to let Luo Yao slit your throat?"]
Little Black fell silent—like he’d just walked into a morgue.
Lin Ran had meant it as a joke, but soon, it wouldn’t be funny anymore.
As Luo Yao’s features sharpened in his vision, he took in how much she’d changed.
Her hair was still short, but it framed her face differently now—more mature, slightly disheveled against her cheeks.
Her eyes weren’t as cold as they would become. Instead, they shimmered like stars.
She’d grown taller too, her figure slender and poised—like a rare bud on the verge of blooming.
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?!
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
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!
