Outside the gates of the Shen family mansion.
Two black sedans pulled up to the entrance at almost the exact same time. The moment they met, one of them immediately backed up, taking the initiative to yield the way.
After the first black sedan drove in, the one that had yielded followed closely behind, maintaining a safe distance.
The black sedan in front belonged to none other than Madam Du, who was just returning from the Dongfang family estate. The car trailing behind was driven by the short-haired woman.
One in front and one behind, they drove along the road, gradually making their way deeper into the estate.
In the backseat of the car.
Having already thought of a solution, Madam Du was in a fantastic mood. No longer looking gloomy and depressed, she happily cradled the item she had just taken back from the Dongfang family—something that belonged to her Du family.
Click.
Du Wanyi gently flicked the latch, opening the premium red sandalwood box in front of her. An indescribable fragrance wafted from inside, like a pair of invisible hands gently caressing the folds of her cerebral cortex, making her feel as if she were about to melt into a puddle of water...
Ninety-nine percent pure, a rare treasure!
The wooden box was only about the size of two palms. Inside, six items resembling rouge containers were neatly arranged, with an empty space left between each one.
Du Wanyi rubbed her smooth chin and pressed down on those empty spaces.
"Damn it, they actually cut corners!" Du Wanyi gritted her teeth.
Those empty compartments clearly could have held a few more. How infuriating!
Some extremely premium incense?
Just from what Du Wanyi could smell, the raw materials already included several things that could no longer be bought on the market: musk, ten-thousand-year-old ebony, white...
To sum it up in one sentence: good stuff, extremely good stuff!
Du Wanyi also had a rather formidable ability: she could identify good things. It wasn't that she had any appraisal skills, but rather a sixth sense, making her like an oversized treasure-hunting mouse.
The kind where she couldn't take her eyes off good things, just like that giant softshell turtle she had hauled away from the Dongfang family earlier.
When Du Wanyi locked eyes with that massive turtle in the pond, everything fell naturally into place... This item is destined for me!
And so, she hoisted the Black Tortoise that Dongfang Zhan had spent a great deal of effort acquiring and ran off with it. She brought it back to her own home, planning to keep it as a pet when she had free time. If she ever got tired of keeping it, she could always stew it into a turtle soup to nourish her body. Either way, it was a win-win.
Dongfang Zhan: Speak up for me!
This treasure-hunting mouse ability seemed to be innate. As for why... because ever since Du Wanyi was very little, she knew exactly what was the most expensive in the house, specifically targeting the pricey items to destroy. Wasn't that just an evil treasure-hunting mouse?
Gold, precious stones, and the like were too tacky. The Du family wasn't lacking in such things at all, and Du Wanyi looked down on them. She had always been dismissive of gold and the like. Only things like vases and antiques—things that shattered at a touch and looked very expensive—could catch Du Wanyi's attention!
As for this box of fragrances in front of her, Du Wanyi could tell at a glance that it was a ninety-nine percent pure rare treasure, absolutely good stuff!
Mhm, not bad, this trip was not in vain!
Du Wanyi felt that she was truly a genius. Going out for a trip, she elbowed a certain inherently evil brat from the Dongfang family and even managed to retrieve something that belonged to their Du family!
Hahaha!!!
"Eh, Little Lanlan?" Du Wanyi blinked, looking at the car following behind them.
The short-haired woman was driving her vehicle, following steadily behind.
Click.
Du Wanyi opened the car's sunroof, leaned out over the roof, and enthusiastically waved at the short-haired woman behind her.
"Little Lanlan, did you miss me? Mwah! We haven't seen each other for hours, mwah... Bang!"
Du Wanyi puckered her lips, blowing kisses through the air. Seeing her own Little Lanlan in the car behind looking excited and seemingly saying something, Du Wanyi grew even more thrilled.
Hehe, was her charm really that great?
Du Wanyi grinned, her eyes taking on a goofy look. Puckering her lips and pressing a hand to her red mouth, she prepared to launch yet another blown kiss.
And then...
Bang!
Before Du Wanyi could launch her blown kiss, the back of her head was dealt a heavy blow by a tree branch sticking out from the side of the road.
Clang!
Taking a hit to the back of her head, Du Wanyi's forehead slammed solidly against the car, and then... she bounced back up. Her flexibility was quite impressive. At a speed visible to the naked eye, a large red bump swelled up on Du Wanyi's forehead.
And at this moment, Du Wanyi finally heard clearly what her Little Lanlan had been excitedly shouting from inside the car just now.
"Matriarch, watch out! Behind you, behind you!!!"
Du Wanyi: "..."
Silently, Du Wanyi spoke up: "Stop the car."
Screech!
The car Du Wanyi was riding in slammed to a halt, closely followed by the black sedan driven by the short-haired woman. The doors of both cars opened almost simultaneously. Sporting two large bumps—one on the back of her head and one on her forehead—Du Wanyi calmly walked toward the back, retracing her path.
"Little Lanlan, wait for me a moment. We'll go back together. I need to take care of something first," Du Wanyi said with a placid expression.
The short-haired woman: "..."
Du Wanyi walked in front with the short-haired woman following behind. The two of them retraced their path and finally stopped in front of a tree. This was the very tree that had just dealt Madam Du a heavy blow.
This tree was as thick as half a water vat and was at least fifty years old. It was lush and leafy, and even the branches extending from it were thick and sturdy. The branch that had elbowed Du Wanyi was one of these offshoots.
"It's fine, I'm not a petty person... Just be more careful in your next life." Du Wanyi muttered to herself, talking to the tree for quite a while.
"Ptooey, ptooey..."
Du Wanyi spat into her hands, rolled up her sleeves, and wrapped her arms around the old tree, which was as thick as half a water barrel... and exerted force!
Rumble... Beneath the grass, the sound of tearing tree roots being pulled up from the ground echoed out, and the earth began to tremble slightly.
The short-haired woman's eyes filled with horror.
Under the short-haired woman's disbelieving and shocked gaze, the large tree was uprooted entirely and tossed onto the side of the road. Du Wanyi then rolled down her sleeves and began to desecrate the corpse.
"Crack!"
Du Wanyi delivered a vicious kick to the main trunk of the large tree, and the trunk snapped on impact.
After finishing all this, Du Wanyi wiped her shoes. Looking completely unfazed, she glanced at the short-haired woman beside her, who looked as if her brain had short-circuited.
"Let's go, Little Lanlan. Keeping a bad tree like this around will only harm others. Today, I've carried out justice on behalf of the heavens!" Du Wanyi put on the righteous air of a hero, except... the large bump currently protruding from her forehead made her look a bit comical.
The short-haired woman: "..."
A short while later, Du Wanyi sat in the car driven by the short-haired woman, continuing their journey deeper into the estate.
"By the way, Little Lanlan, what are you doing going out so late?" Du Wanyi asked cheerfully from the back seat as she studied the incredibly precious spices inside the red wooden box, acting as if the large bump on her forehead didn't even exist.
The short-haired woman: "..."
The short-haired woman hesitated, but after a moment of thought, she couldn't help but express her concern, "Family Head, how about we go to the hospital first..."
"The hospital? What for? Only useless weaklings go to the hospital. We martial artists value the natural harmony of heaven and earth, cultivating our minds and bodies. We never rely on such external things. I'll be perfectly fine after a good night's sleep!" Du Wanyi declared self-righteously, insisting that a simple nap would cure her.
The short-haired woman: "..."
Considering that her Family Head's physique was far from ordinary, the short-haired woman ultimately didn't push the matter, merely deciding to inform Shen Ming about it later.
She nodded and began to explain why she was out so late.
"The Young Miss's phone broke, so I went out to buy a new one..."
Hearing this, Du Wanyi finally noticed two phones sitting on the passenger seat, neatly packaged in a white bag. Both were the latest models with the highest specifications.
"Why did you buy two? Could it be... Little Hanhan got one for me!" Du Wanyi suddenly became excited.
The short-haired woman: "..."
Although the Young Miss had specifically instructed her to buy two identical phones, differing only in color—one white and one black—without mentioning who the second one was for, she had a gut feeling that it probably wasn't meant for the Family Head.
From the back seat, Du Wanyi was thrilled, feeling both gratified and a bit bashful. "Oh, that Little Hanhan, giving me a phone without even telling me beforehand. Let me see what color it is..."
Du Wanyi's little paws moved with lightning speed. Before the short-haired woman could even react, the phones in the bag had already been snatched away. Holding them, Du Wanyi muttered to herself.
"White and black. Hmm, I don't really love either of them, but since it's a gift from Little Hanhan, I suppose I can make do... hehe."
While Du Wanyi giggled foolishly in the back, the short-haired woman remained silent, focusing entirely on driving.
Before long, the car pulled up to the entrance.
Click!
"Little Lanlan, don't mention that you ran into me on the road, okay? But when you deliver the phones, casually let it slip that you know I'm back, so Little Hanhan will give the phone to me herself..." Hugging her small box, Du Wanyi blinked at the short-haired woman.
The short-haired woman: "..."
"Understood, Family Head!" The short-haired woman nodded in agreement. Only then was Du Wanyi satisfied, cheerfully carrying her red wooden box back to her room.
Tap, tap, tap... She skipped away happily, quickly disappearing from the short-haired woman's sight.
Trailing right behind her was a palm-sized black spider. Its eight legs scuttled incredibly fast. Before the short-haired woman even noticed, it had already hopped out of her pocket and scurried off after Madam Du.
Catching a glimpse of the large black spider, the short-haired woman froze for a second. She quickly patted the pocket she used to carry Da Hei, only to find... the spider was already gone.
The short-haired woman: "???"
When did it escape? She hadn't felt a thing. However... judging by Da Hei's joyful scuttling, it clearly had no lingering attachment to her and much preferred its actual master, bolting away without a second thought.
Da Hei: I am outta here!!!
The short-haired woman: "..."
The short-haired woman followed behind the person and the spider, carrying the phones as she walked into the mansion.
Inside the house.
Tap, tap, tap. Footsteps echoed in the hallway before coming to a halt.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Young Miss, I'm back. I got the phones," the short-haired woman said respectfully as she stood outside in the corridor.
"Mhm, come in."
A very cold and clear voice came from inside the room, devoid of much emotional fluctuation. It was hard to imagine that not too long ago, a phone had met its demise at the hands of this very Young Miss.
The door was unlocked, so the short-haired woman pushed it open easily, walked in, and placed the two bags she was carrying onto the table.
"Young Miss, the items you requested."
"Mhm, good. Just leave them there." Shen Qinghan leaned against her bed, looking down at a book without even raising her head.
The short-haired woman: "..."
Remembering the Family Head's earlier instructions, the short-haired woman braced herself and said, "Young Miss, the Family Head seems to have returned. I just saw her car parked outside."
"Mhm." Shen Qinghan nodded, her voice still flat, her eyes still on the book.
The short-haired woman: "..."
It seemed... the Young Miss's reaction didn't suggest she was planning to give a phone to the Family Head at all.
Seeing that the short-haired woman was just standing there and not leaving, Shen Qinghan finally reacted. She set her book down, tilted her head, and looked at her with a hint of confusion in her eyes.
"Is there anything else?" Shen Qinghan asked.
The short-haired woman: "..."
Stammering, the short-haired woman still wasn't ready to give up, wanting to make one last effort for her Family Head. "Um, well... the phone, the Family Head..."
"What about her?" The confusion in Shen Qinghan's eyes deepened.
The short-haired woman shook her head. "No, nothing. Please rest early, Young Miss. I'll take my leave."
"Mhm, goodnight." Shen Qinghan replied softly, nodded, and withdrew her gaze, returning to her book and ignoring the short-haired woman.
The short-haired woman: "..."
Thud!
After backing out of the room, the short-haired woman appeared somewhat silent. After a moment of thought, she headed in the direction of the Family Head's room anyway.
Tap, tap, tap... The sound of her footsteps faded into the distance until it completely disappeared.
Only upon hearing the footsteps completely vanish did Shen Qinghan finally put down her book. She got up, took out the white phone, and started transferring her data. As for the black one, that was for a certain idiot...
Ye Cheng's phone was battered and broken, looking like it had been around for years. Especially since it had been bitten recently, shattering the screen, yet Ye Cheng was still using it...
Before long, Shen Qinghan had the phone set up, transferring everything from her old phone to the new one. And then... it was a familiar scene as she stared wide-eyed at Ye Cheng's chat interface.
Silence was the mood of the night, and right now, the Young Miss was fully immersed in that mood...
Perhaps because she had been mocked by her phone earlier, the Young Miss didn't hesitate for too long this time. After only a brief pause, she struck hard!
Tap, tap, tap...
"Are you there?"
...
Meanwhile.
Another black sedan drove into the vicinity of the Shen family mansion and soon came to a halt.
"What's wrong?" a voice asked from the back seat.
Shen Ming, who had been resting in the back, opened his eyes, a look of confusion and bewilderment in them.
"Sir, there's a tree in the road," the driver said, sounding somewhat speechless.
Shen Ming: "???"
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.
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)
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.”
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
