About ten minutes later, there was no one left in the water, and Bi Yaolian led the group in setting up tents.
Just as they were fantasizing about their husbands/sons/fathers bringing back good news, the synchronized sound of footsteps drew everyone's attention.
Upon closer inspection, dozens of figures approached with an oppressive aura.
Bi Yaolian paled in shock. Though she couldn’t clearly see who was coming, she immediately made the most rational decision—grabbing her walkie-talkie to alert the others.
Their walkie-talkies were advanced, with a signal range of up to a kilometer and strong penetration. But to everyone’s surprise, no matter how many times Bi Yaolian called, there was no response.
"Stop fiddling with that useless walkie-talkie, Bi Yaolian. I activated the signal jammer the moment you all went into the water."
Hearing this voice, Bi Yaolian was so shocked she stammered.
"Lin Ran? How… how could it be you?"
Once they recognized Lin Ran, everyone tensed up. They remembered all too well how this guy had slapped each of them across the face back at the old mansion.
And in the end, their punishment was largely because of him.
Luo Yao might have been the one who carried it out, but Lin Ran was the one who lit the fuse.
"Do you have any idea how we’ve suffered these past few months without money?"
Everyone glanced behind Lin Ran, but Luo Yao was nowhere to be seen.
Lin Ran noticed the entire crowd collectively exhale in relief.
"Lin Ran, you dare show your face here? Luo Yao, that bitch, isn’t around today. Let’s see who’ll protect you now."
Lin Ran: ??? What did he just hear?
He glanced at the speaker—Luo Disi.
Then another Luo family member stepped forward. Lin Ran remembered his name: Luo Dichuang.
"Last time, this pretty boy hid behind Luo Yao, that shameless woman, and made us suffer. Family, we must take revenge. He won’t leave here alive today."
Lin Ran nodded silently, deciding to wait until three of them had spoken before slapping them all at once.
Sure enough, right after Luo Dichuang finished, the previous host, Luo Kong, spoke up.
"Young man, when you slapped me last time, I let it slide because of your youth. But today, since you’ve come back, don’t blame me for being merciless. Without Luo Yao, that crazy girl, what makes you think you can act so arrogantly?"
Luo Disi and Luo Dichuang had stayed behind because they couldn’t swim. Luo Kong was too old.
They all pointed at Lin Ran with one hand while cursing.
Why only one hand? Because the other was missing.
Lin Ran charged forward.
Slap! Slap! Slap!
Three crisp strikes later, all three were dazed. Lin Ran frowned in displeasure. "Daring to insult my wife? You’ve got guts."
Then Bi Yaolian spoke up. "Lin Ran, this isn’t the place for your tantrums. Luo Yao is a shameless woman—why can’t we say it?"
Slap!
Luo Po: "How dare you—"
Slap!
Luo Ri: "You insolent—"
Slap!
Luo Shan: "Who do you think you are? What gives you the right to act so high and mighty?"
Slap!
Lin Ran bent down and roared, "I am the Slap King of the Capital. Watch your tone when speaking to me."
Just as the Luo family’s weak and wounded prepared to swarm him, the sound of guns cocking echoed. Instantly, everyone raised their hands.
What a familiar scene—like a vicious cycle.
Bi Yaolian glared at the armed men behind Luo Yao. "You traitors! How dare you side with an outsider against the Luo family?"
When they remained unmoved, she pressed on. "Luo Yao is gone. There’s no reason for you to obey this outsider’s orders."
Uncle Fu replied matter-of-factly, "Whether the young mistress is here or not, we follow Lin Ran’s orders. That was her wish."
His words darkened Bi Yaolian’s expression further, her heart pounding with unease.
Seeing that the opposition had shut up, Lin Ran decided it was his turn.
"I showed you mercy last time, and yet you still dare to insult me? I’m your family head’s husband—how dare you rebel against me?"
Bi Yaolian stepped forward, forcing a fake smile.
"Lin Ran, I am the Luo family’s matriarch now. Luo Yao is as good as dead—she can’t remain the head. My condolences."
Slap!
This time, Lin Ran was truly furious. This stupid woman actually dared to claim Luo Yao was dead?
"Who told you my wife is dead? Spouting nonsense without seeing or hearing anything—even with a voice box, you still spew lies?"
Bi Yaolian was livid. She hadn’t expected Lin Ran to overpower her even without Luo Yao present.
"Stop deluding yourself, Lin Ran. Whether you accept it or not, Luo Yao is dead. I am the Luo family’s matriarch now."
"Oh?" A cold voice cut through the air. No one had noticed Luo Yao’s arrival.
The crowd erupted in shock, then fell dead silent.
Luo Yao’s entrance always carried the chilling aura of a morgue—no one dared even breathe.
Only Bi Yaolian stammered in disbelief, "Lu-Lu-Lu-Luo—"
Luo Yao stared icily at her. "Who did you say is the Luo family’s matriarch? You?"
Bi Yaolian couldn’t comprehend how Luo Yao was still alive.
If Luo Yao was alive, everything changed.
Lin Ran might take their money, but Luo Yao would take their lives.
So, she made the wisest choice.
"Young Master Lin… is the Luo family’s matriarch."
Lin Ran: "..."
Luo Yao: "..."
Uncle Fu: "..."
The Luo family: "..."
…Is that right?
Are you even listening to yourself?
Luo Yao tilted her head, sensing something off but unable to pinpoint it.
"Well… what do you plan to do now?" Her tone was questioning, but the underlying threat was clear.
Bi Yaolian glanced at the weak and elderly around her, then at the armed bodyguards behind Luo Yao.
She finally surrendered.
Dropping to her knees, she declared, "Greetings, Family Head."
Luo Disi was baffled. "Second sister-in-law, Lin Ran just slapped us!"
Bi Yaolian: "The matriarch was merely educating us with love."
Luo Disi: "..."
Lin Ran walked up to him.
"You want to test me?"
Luo Disi immediately knelt. "Greetings, Matriarch."
Lin Ran: "..."
His gaze shifted to Luo Dichuang, who refused to yield. Lin Ran promptly delivered another slap.
These people were Luo Yao’s enemies—showing them mercy would be cruelty to himself. Lin Ran wasn’t about to play the saint.
When he approached Luo Po, the man instantly knelt.
"Matriarch, I heard you don’t have a son. I was thinking—"
Lin Ran cut him off. He had no interest in raising someone else’s child.
"Restrain all of them. It’s time we deal with that ‘Second Uncle.’"
Luo Yao watched Lin Ran the entire time, her eyes sparkling.
The way he had fiercely defended her just now—so unbelievably cool.
With just four men, Abu had the entire group surrounded.
Lin Ran had assumed they’d follow Luo Wushuang’s method and swim across. But just as he was wondering if he could manage it, a helicopter lowered two manned submersibles.
…Ridiculous.
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
transmigrates into the role of a villainous rich second-generation kid in an urban fantasy novel, and gets bound to a god-tier choice system. Right at the start, he catches the female lead stealing exam papers! This triggers the villain's choice options! [Choice 1: Pretend you didn't see anything] [Choice 2: Loudly call her out, drawing everyone's attention] [Choice 3: ...] And thus, a twisted villain is born. To avoid getting killed by the protagonist, he has no choice but to take down all the protagonists first. Jiang Che: Nobody understands being twisted better than me!
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.
