“So, you’re saying that Ning Wanqin was cheating on him?”
“At first, we didn’t think so,” the clerk replied. “After all, even Lord Lu Chaosheng never caught the two of them doing anything improper, so naturally, neither did we.”
“But later…”
“We noticed that Ning Wanqin and that useless commander were growing closer and closer, until… we discovered something.”
The clerk clearly remembered something unbelievable. Only after a moment did he continue. “The closer you get to Yun Capital, the more you hear about matters of the heart.”
“In our Jiangbei Fortress Cluster, if two people want to prove that they love each other and are destined to remain together forever, they need a token. Apparently, this custom came from the Tongxin Alliance.”
“That token is called a wedding ring!”
“It’s just a ring, but unlike the rings commonly worn throughout Great Yu, it has symbols of love carved into it.”
“Because the wedding ring carries such important sentimental meaning, our General Lu Chaosheng took it extremely seriously. He didn’t even buy an expensive one from the market. Instead, he personally selected the materials, studied engraving, and carved the wedding ring himself.”
At this, Lu Shuang’s brows immediately drew together.
She wanted to help General Zhang Shi, so she was interested in Lu Chaosheng as well. At one point, she had even thought that Lu Chaosheng was someone worth cultivating.
But if he had neglected important matters for the sake of some so-called wedding ring, then by the standards of the Demon Suppression Bureau, he deserved to be killed.
She could not help asking, “Is Lu Chaosheng really so distracted by personal matters?”
“Can he still manage the affairs of the Jiangbei Fortress Cluster?”
“Of course!” Whenever the clerk mentioned Lu Chaosheng, his voice carried a hint of pride. “Our General Lu Chaosheng can naturally handle it all.”
“He has never neglected a single military duty.”
“Even something as important as carving a wedding ring was done only after he had finished his official work.”
“It’s just that…” The clerk smiled bitterly. “After finally finishing the wedding ring, he sent it to a wedding-ring shop for the final packaging. And then…”
“We happened to see…”
“That wedding ring, which Lord Lu Chaosheng had painstakingly carved, was actually being worn on the finger of that useless commander!”
Before the clerk could finish, Zhang Shi abruptly raised his head. “What?”
“That wedding ring was being worn by the useless commander?”
“That doesn’t make sense!” Zhang Shi felt his thoughts becoming tangled again, but he quickly sorted them out and said, “Isn’t Lu Chaosheng supposed to marry Ning Wanqin?”
“You said the wedding ring was a custom from Yun Capital, a symbol of everlasting love. So why was it on the useless commander’s finger?”
“Hiss!”
“So that means Ning Wanqin wants to spend eternity with the useless commander and cast Lu Chaosheng aside? Not only was Lu Chaosheng cuckolded, he’s become a single man as well?”
The more Zhang Shi asked, the more shocked he became.
And the more shocked he became, the more delighted he was.
Only then did the clerk say, “No, General Zhang Shi… Miss Ning Wanqin doesn’t seem to have any intention of breaking up with our General Lu Chaosheng.”
Zhang Shi was confused again. “Then that means… she was cheating on him, right?”
“But if she was cheating, why would she wear that wedding ring?”
At this point, Lu Shuang stepped forward and summed it up. “She wants to have her cake and eat it too. She’s wavering, keeping one man while eyeing another… Hah. What a disgusting woman.”
The clerk nodded, once again deeply agreeing with her.
Zhang Shi bent over his desk again. Picking up his brush, he wrote down, stroke by stroke, the words: “Wanting both men, wavering, keeping one while eyeing another.”
“So that’s what it means…”
“Hiss!”
“Come to think of it, so many things that happened along the way can be explained from this angle… Ah, I understand now. The behavior of these amorous demons has certain common patterns.”
“No wonder Lu Shuang and the others can infer so many types after seeing only one. It’s the same as when I was clearing out the barbarian tribes on the grasslands. You have to learn to draw inferences from one example and think things through.”
While Zhang Shi was still working hard to learn, Lu Shuang already understood everything completely. She went straight to the crucial question.
“Does Lu Chaosheng know about the wedding ring?”
The clerk shook his head. “No.”
“That is precisely why I wanted to report this to General Zhang Shi.”
Such a simple maneuver no longer required anyone to teach Zhang Shi. He rose and said, “In that case, I’ll write a letter right now and send someone to deliver it to Lu Chaosheng.”
“I’ll give Lu Chaosheng a truly wonderful surprise!”
“At the same time, I’ll advise him a little. Based on what happened before, Lu Chaosheng… should belong to me before long.”
At the thought of this, Zhang Shi’s heart began to surge with excitement again.
So what if reckless had obtained Iron Gate Pass?
The Jiangbei Fortress Cluster had six fortresses in all. Even though the line connecting Iron Gate Pass and Zhenjiang City was the most important, as long as he obtained Lu Chaosheng, taking the other defensive lines would be as easy as turning over his hand!
“I was right!”
“Laughing first doesn’t count as winning. The one who laughs last is the true winner!”
Zhang Shi sat down again and began writing furiously. He soon finished the letter and immediately had someone deliver it.
After dealing with that matter, the tent had emptied. Only Zhang Shi and Lu Shuang, who had remained behind, were still there.
Zhang Shi did not notice Lu Shuang. He was still writing energetically, while her curiosity had reached its limit. Unable to hold back any longer, she carefully moved closer.
Then she saw…
On the sheets of paper where Zhang Shi had been splashing ink with his brush were passage after passage:
“Double-standard dog!”
“Wanting both men, wavering…”
He had even provided clear definitions for each phrase.
Most importantly, he had added specific examples to illustrate them.
Lu Shuang stared, stunned.
General Zhang Shi… was he really this diligent?
“General Zhang Shi, you don’t actually need to write all this down. Lord Su Jin collected a great deal of material long ago, organized it, and explained each term in detail. If you want to understand them, copies can be found all over the Demon Suppression Bureau.”
“If the materials issued by the Demon Suppression Bureau aren’t enough, you can also ask Lord Su Jin. She has both the original edition and the latest revision. Just ask her for a copy.”
Zhang Shi looked up. “Ah, you don’t understand.”
“A good memory is no match for a poor pen.”
“When someone else says something, or when you read something, it may not necessarily leave an impression. Only the method of memorization that suits you personally is the best one.”
“Of course, in the eyes of someone gifted, this method may seem clumsy and inefficient. But for someone without talent in a particular field, it is already a shortcut.”
As he spoke, Zhang Shi sighed. “People have never been the same. Some are naturally gifted in certain fields. With just a little guidance—or sometimes none at all—they’ll understand everything when the time comes.”
“But some people simply have no talent in certain areas. A lack of talent means there isn’t even a sprout of understanding in that field. They either don’t know where to begin when it comes to watering and fertilizing, or they put their effort in the wrong direction and end up wearing themselves out for nothing.”
“In the realm of love, I’m simply someone with no talent whatsoever. So I have to work hard—hard in my own way—and keep at it until one day I build a system of understanding that suits me and put it into practice. Only then can I say I’ve truly mastered it.”
Zhang Shi spoke from personal experience.
He had combined what he had learned from roaming the grasslands with the humiliating predicament he had faced after coming to Yun capital—constantly running into setbacks and sitting dejectedly in a corner until dawn, night after night. From all this, he had gradually come to understand a few things.
His words, however, left Lu Shuang quite astonished.
She had never imagined that General Zhang Shi, who was usually as cold and stern as a blade, could harbor such profound thoughts.
But then again, it made sense.
How could someone capable of sweeping across the grasslands have no exceptional qualities?
“Based on my own insights…” Zhang Shi continued. “For someone without talent in a particular field to accomplish something, there are only a few possible methods.”
“One is being forced by one’s circumstances!”
“An extremely harsh environment can force a person to awaken the seed of talent within them. It may be insignificant at first, but if it is carefully protected, it can still grow into a towering tree!”
“Another is receiving guidance from an expert.”
“Guidance from an expert is the best shortcut, but not every expert is suitable. The expert must be someone whose methods align perfectly with your own. For someone without talent, there are simply too many experts, and the methods they use vary wildly. They may not necessarily suit you. Blindly following them will only disrupt your state of mind, leaving you with nothing in the end!”
“The third…”
“That is the method I’ve always used. It’s the simplest and most brutal, but also the most grueling.”
“That is perseverance!”
“Not persevering just because you think you’ve figured things out, but persevering until luck finally arrives. Once that moment of luck comes, the shackles constricting your thoughts will loosen, and you’ll have a chance to break through.”
“And I… am using this very method right now!”
“So…”
Zhang Shi raised his head. “Miss Lu Shuang, there’s something I’d like to ask… Weren’t Lu Chaosheng and Ning Wanqin childhood sweethearts? According to the records, they’ve known each other for more than twenty years. So how…”
“How did someone suddenly appear and make one of them fall in love with another person?”
Why did Zhang Shi change the subject so abruptly? Lu Shuang was momentarily unable to react. Fortunately, she was Su Jin’s prized disciple and had received Su Jin’s personal instruction. Combined with her own excellent abilities, she had long since mastered the principles thoroughly.
After pausing for a moment, she hurriedly replied, “Because…”
“A newcomer can’t beat a childhood sweetheart!”
“A newcomer can’t beat a childhood sweetheart?” Zhang Shi said. “All right, I’ll write that down.”
“That’s not what I meant!” Lu Shuang hurriedly stopped him. “Sometimes, the newcomer may actually be the one who loses to the childhood sweetheart. It all depends on the specific circumstances.”
“Fine, I’ll write down both and study them carefully!”
Zhang Shi began writing again.
Even after finishing that, he did not stop. He continued asking Lu Shuang about the questions he had pondered over these past few days, as well as sharing his own thoughts and understanding.
He recorded everything bit by bit and grasped it little by little.
That attitude left Lu Shuang feeling utterly dazed.
The General Zhang Shi she had known in the past had been utterly disdainful of such things!
But the General Zhang Shi of today…
Was studying every word!
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
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...
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."
