Great Sea City, Dongfang Family Private Hospital.
Private ward.
"Alright, Miss, avoid strenuous activities for the time being. Rest more and boost your immune system..."
The female doctor put away the syringe containing the snake antivenom.
"Thankfully, Miss, you were quick-thinking and caught the venomous snake that bit you. Otherwise, identifying the correct antivenom in such a short time would have been troublesome."
Hearing the doctor's praise, Dongfang Zhixia felt inexplicably uncomfortable for the first time.
Because she knew—the person who caught the snake wasn’t her at all. Not only had she not helped, but she had almost flung the snake away in panic.
She’d practically sabotaged herself.
Now, listening to the doctor praise her for staying calm, Dongfang Zhixia’s face burned with shame. It wasn’t a compliment—it felt more like humiliation.
"Oh, Miss, do you still want the snake that bit you? If not, we’ll dispose of it safely," the doctor suddenly added.
Normally, venomous snakes brought to the hospital after biting someone were disposed of immediately. But since this one had bitten the young mistress of the Dongfang family, it warranted special treatment.
Best to ask first.
"Keep it for me. I have plans for it," Dongfang Zhixia said, as if struck by an idea.
"Understood, Miss. Make sure to rest well these days."
The doctor left shortly after.
Not long after, the petite secretary walked in carrying a transparent glass box.
"Miss, why are you keeping this snake? It looks so vicious!"
She lifted the glass box and gave it a little shake.
The coiled serpent inside suddenly sprang up, slamming against the glass with a loud clang.
"Ah! Waaah—!"
"Miss, it’s so scary! Waaah—!"
The secretary shuddered, nearly dropping the box in fright. She hastily placed it on the nearby cabinet and looked at her mistress with teary eyes.
Dongfang Zhixia: "..."
"Useless! How can you be so timid? You eat so much every day, yet when it matters, you’re completely worthless!"
The secretary pouted, too ashamed to lift her head under Dongfang Zhixia’s scolding.
When she looked down, all she saw was a pair of "useless fatty lumps."
Dongfang Zhixia rubbed her temples in frustration. "It’s in a box! Do you really think it’s going to jump out and bite you?"
"Pathetic. Even with the glass between you, you’re this scared? Look at me—I got bitten and didn’t even cry. What’s there for you to cry about?"
Dongfang Zhixia’s bravado was swallowed whole by the secretary, who believed every word.
Nodding vigorously, the secretary sniffled, "Miss, you’re so amazing! I’m terrified of slimy things like this. They’re so gross and scary!"
Dongfang Zhixia fell silent.
Truthfully… she was just as creeped out.
But in front of her secretary, she refused to lose face, forcing a relaxed expression.
The secretary didn’t suspect a thing—in her eyes, her mistress was practically a superhero!
"Hopeless," Dongfang Zhixia scoffed, rolling her eyes.
Her gaze then landed on the secretary’s plump "chest muscles."
"Starting tomorrow, you’re on a diet. I’ll supervise you!" Dongfang Zhixia declared out of the blue.
"Huh? But… Miss, I’m not fat," the secretary mumbled, peeking up timidly.
"Not fat?!"
Dongfang Zhixia glared pointedly.
Too intimidated to argue, the secretary could only reluctantly agree to her impending weight-loss ordeal.
Waaah… goodbye, my milk tea, my fried chicken…
"Miss, are we taking this thing home?"
The secretary cast a fearful glance at the snake in the glass box.
Dongfang Zhixia smirked coldly. "Of course. It won’t get off easy after biting me. I’m turning it into a wall-mounted specimen!"
"But Miss, can’t someone else handle that? It’s a venomous snake—so dangerous! What if it bites someone again…?"
The secretary blinked innocently.
Dongfang Zhixia pondered for a moment, then nodded.
"Fair point. You do it, then."
Secretary: "..."
"Waaah! Nooo, Miss! Waaah—!"
Dongfang Zhixia: "..."
Absolute moron.
"Miss, are we still going after that jerk tomorrow?" the secretary suddenly asked.
The moment Ye Cheng’s name was mentioned, Dongfang Zhixia’s calm demeanor shattered into gritted teeth fury.
"Obviously! That bastard made me suffer so much—you think I’ll let it slide?!"
"Should we have him kidnapped and beaten up?" the secretary asked blankly.
Dongfang Zhixia frowned.
Admittedly, both times she’d confronted Ye Cheng, she’d ended up humiliated.
It was like he was her natural nemesis. The simplest solution would be to have him tied up and thrashed until he learned to avoid her forever.
But… for some reason, Dongfang Zhixia hesitated.
Even though he was infuriating, and beating him up sounded satisfying…
"Beat him up? Pfft! I don’t crush ants with a sledgehammer. Since I lost face against him, I’ll reclaim it properly!"
She struck a confident pose.
The secretary nodded eagerly beside her, radiating admiration.
"But Miss… your shoe is still with him, isn’t it?"
Dongfang Zhixia: "..."
Her face instantly flushed red with rage. "You didn’t get my shoe back?!"
"S-Sorry, Miss! I couldn’t find him at the time…"
In truth, the secretary had completely forgotten about it in the chaos, her mind solely focused on her mistress.
Besides, Ye Cheng had been downright shameless—slipping away in the crowd and even stealing a Dongfang bodyguard’s jacket as a disguise.
With the secretary’s IQ, catching him was downright impossible.
Dongfang Zhixia’s chest heaved. "You’re going to be the death of me!"
"Waaah! I’m sorry, Miss! Waaah—! What if we lure him out again?" The secretary’s eyes lit up.
Dongfang Zhixia: "..."
"Do you actually think that’s clever?"
Secretary: "(๑°⌓°๑)"
Dongfang Zhixia: "..."
"You’re fired!"
"Waaah! Miss, I’m sorry! Waaah—!"
---
The next day.
Ye Cheng overslept—or more accurately, nearly slept himself to death.
The venom from the snake that bit Dongfang Zhixia was no joke.
Despite his professional handling, he’d still been affected. Once he lay down, getting back up was a struggle.
"Damn it, what now? I’m gonna be late… Huh?"
Just as he was at a loss, a familiar figure came into view—
A young mistress hobbling along on crutches!
Tap, tap, tap…
Shen Qinghan had barely taken two steps when someone suddenly steadied her.
Shen Qinghan instinctively furrowed her brows, her aura turning even colder. Before she could utter the words "Let go," Ye Cheng preempted her.
"Miss, it must be tough carrying all this weight alone, isn’t it?"
"Indeed, no matter how strong a woman is, she still needs a man to lean on. And as luck would have it, I happen to be that very man."
"Don’t worry, Miss. I won’t judge you. Feel free to rest your head on my shoulder and walk forward with confidence!"
Ye Cheng wore an expression of magnanimity.
Shen Qinghan fell silent for a moment.
"You’re late, aren’t you?"
Ye Cheng: "..."
"Miss, I’m afraid I don’t quite follow," Ye Cheng replied, unshaken.
Shen Qinghan remained impassive. "If you don’t understand, that’s fine. Later, I’ll just say your tardiness had nothing to do with me. Unless something unexpected happens, you’ll probably end up standing outside all morning and be the last one in the cafeteria again."
With a thud, Ye Cheng dropped to his knees and clung to Shen Qinghan’s other leg.
He burst into tears.
"Miss, you’ve got to save me!!!"
Shen Qinghan: "..."
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!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
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?!
