In the villa, on the second floor.
The splashing sound of water in the bathroom stopped. Dongfang Zhixia dried her hair, and just as she was about to change her clothes, she suddenly heard some noise outside. It sounded like... someone chanting sutras?
Sanskrit?
Coincidentally, it was right up her alley. Dongfang Zhixia had just studied Sanskrit recently, and now it was delivered right to her door. The volume was so loud that she could hear it clearly even from inside the bathroom.
A sound this loud would definitely wake up the sleeping Little Secretary.
Assuming she wasn't having nightmares, the Little Secretary's sleep quality was actually quite good; she was the type who needed an alarm clock placed right next to her ear to wake up.
"What's going on?" Dongfang Zhixia frowned. She glanced at the clean clothes laid out in front of her, thought for a moment, and decided to give up on changing for now. Wrapping herself in a bath towel, she went out to check the situation.
Click.
Opening the bathroom door, a powerful blast of music rushed toward Dongfang Zhixia, making her feel as if she were in heaven, the kind that could smooth out the wrinkles on her cerebral cortex.
The Great Compassion Mantra.
Dongfang Zhixia: "???"
The volume was extremely loud, piercing through the entire three-story villa. Her head buzzed as if someone were chanting right next to her ears.
Dongfang Zhixia looked toward the bed and found that the Little Secretary who had been lying there was "missing." No, not missing, she had turned into a lump. A large lump of the Little Secretary was wrapped in the blanket, motionless like a huge rock placed on the bed.
Dongfang Zhixia fell silent. Wrapped in her towel, she quietly walked over to the large lump on the bed and stopped.
She lifted the blanket covering the Little Secretary.
"Hehehe..."
The moment the blanket was lifted, the Little Secretary happened to swipe to the next brain-dead short video, giggling foolishly. Suddenly feeling that "dawn had broken," the Little Secretary froze for a second.
She turned her head, glanced at the President whose face was dark with annoyance, and blinked her big, sparkling eyes. The Little Secretary pulled back her wide grin and turned off her phone.
Silently, the Little Secretary put her phone down, then closed her eyes and went back to sleep.
Dongfang Zhixia: "???"
Dongfang Zhixia looked at the Little Secretary in disbelief. When did their family's idiot get led astray like this?
Who did this!!!
Dongfang Zhixia was ready to kill someone right now. If it were in the past, the Little Secretary would have obediently walked over and admitted her mistake, instead of closing her eyes and playing dead like this.
In a flash, Dongfang Zhixia locked onto a suspect!
The Little Secretary's current behavior was exactly the same as a certain bastard's!!!
Silently, Dongfang Zhixia pinned this debt on Ye Cheng's head. Furious, she dropped the blanket in her hand. She didn't scold the Little Secretary at this moment but instead went downstairs to settle the score with Ye Cheng.
Moreover... the Great Compassion Mantra filling the house was coming from downstairs!
In the whole house, apart from a certain bastard, who else could it be?
Dongfang Zhixia was so angry she didn't even have time to put on her slippers. Barefoot, she charged straight from the second floor down to the first floor. The Great Compassion Mantra on the first floor was even more penetrating than on the second floor.
She felt a powerful surge of music run from the far left of her brain to the far right, then exit, and return to the far left again, over and over... a brain-piercing demonic melody.
What was even more outrageous was that, under such intense music, Ye Cheng showed absolutely no sign of waking up. Instead, he was lying there flat as a board, sleeping soundly, looking "very peaceful."
It was as if everything in the outside world had nothing to do with him, leaving Dongfang Zhixia dumbfounded.
Is this guy even human!!!
Dongfang Zhixia found the source of the evil: Ye Cheng's phone, or to be exact, the alarm ringtone on Ye Cheng's phone.
Dongfang Zhixia: "..."
Using the Great Compassion Mantra as an alarm ringtone?
Is this something a human could come up with?
And the alarm was set to the maximum volume. Ye Cheng's cheap off-brand phone had been heavily modified; its speaker was as loud as two combined. Even when Dongfang Zhixia turned her phone to max volume, it wasn't even half as loud as Ye Cheng's.
Knockoff phones are just built differently!!!
Covering her ears, Dongfang Zhixia turned off the alarm on Ye Cheng's phone. Just as she was about to give a certain someone two kicks to make him roll out of bed, the phone vibrated.
"Sister Lin sent a new message!"
"Hmm?"
Dongfang Zhixia raised an eyebrow, drawn by the message on the screen.
Sister Lin?
Lin Baizhi?
For some reason, when Dongfang Zhixia saw the nickname Sister Lin, she immediately thought of Lin Baizhi. Even though she had no interaction with Lin Baizhi, she was the first person to pop into Dongfang Zhixia's mind.
Frowning, Dongfang Zhixia tapped on the message sent by Lin Baizhi.
"Please unlock!"
Dongfang Zhixia: "..."
The moment she tapped, a red prompt text appeared in front of Dongfang Zhixia.
It has a lock?
Dongfang Zhixia raised an eyebrow and held the phone up to scan Ye Cheng's face. Well... it didn't open.
Only then did Dongfang Zhixia realize that Ye Cheng's phone didn't have something as advanced as facial recognition; it only had a fingerprint scanner. Of course, it wasn't that Ye Cheng couldn't mod a facial recognition lock, but rather that he considered facial locks too dangerous.
If a phone opens just by scanning someone's face, the lock seems like a joke. Yes, you could say it's very convenient, but convenience comes at a price.
Advanced 3D facial recognition was merely a low-level "dreg" of the era in Ye Cheng's eyes. So the question arose: why did Ye Cheng's phone lack a facial lock but have a fingerprint lock?
That was a very good question, because... Ye Cheng's fingerprint lock didn't use a finger.
"How is that possible!" Dongfang Zhixia pressed all ten of Ye Cheng's fingers against the scanner, but it still prompted an error, leaving her dumbfounded.
None of the ten fingers were right?
How is that possible!
It couldn't be a toe... wait!
A toe...
Dongfang Zhixia seemed to realize something and narrowed her eyes.
A moment later, with a click, the fingerprint lock on Ye Cheng's phone was unlocked.
Dongfang Zhixia: "..."
People tend to laugh when they feel helpless, and Dongfang Zhixia now let out a resigned laugh. She couldn't fathom why anyone would use a toe for a fingerprint lock. Tell me, what is the point of this fingerprint lock?
Fingerprint locks and facial locks were originally invented for convenience, so you wouldn't need to enter a complex numerical passcode. Yet... Ye Cheng did the exact opposite. He had no facial lock, had a fingerprint lock but used his toe, and adopted the most time-consuming and laborious 48-digit mixed alphanumeric passcode.
The first person to be shocked by Ye Cheng was Tang Yuyao, and now... it was the dear President's turn.
High-end hackers often use the most unpretentious methods to unlock things. Tang Yuyao had used a "physical" approach to "amicably" get the passcode from Ye Cheng, while the President used her wits.
With the passcode unlocked, the previously interrupted process continued. WeChat popped up, and the chat window with Lin Baizhi appeared...
"Classmate, classmate, are you there..."
Dongfang Zhixia carefully savored the messages sent by Lin Baizhi, the so-called childhood sweetheart, and the corners of her lips curled up.
Didn't realize she was this cautious... A teasing, mocking smile played on Dongfang Zhixia's lips. With just one glance, she saw right through Lin Baizhi's intentions.
She was actually taking the start over route, wanting to get reacquainted with a certain someone. She probably planned to reveal her identity at the right moment and naturally get together with him then?
A good opportunity, but... heh.
Someone only fit to stand at the door actually dreams of sitting at the main table?
Dongfang Zhixia had taken the time to look into Lin Baizhi's background and past. She had to admit, Lin Baizhi indeed possessed an exceptional temperament and was a standout among her peers in terms of ability. However... compared to herself, she was just average. Barely someone worth a second glance.
There were only a few prominent families in Dahai City. Excluding rare anomalies like the low-profile Tang family, the only ones on the surface who could arm-wrestle with the Dongfang family was the Eldest Miss's family.
In Dongfang Zhixia's eyes, Lin Baizhi's abilities were indeed excellent, but... her ceiling was fixed right there. She wasn't qualified to sit at the same table as the Dongfang family. At this level, brains were actually the most useless thing; it was all about one's foundation and background.
It was a pity... the Lin family's foundation was a bit too shallow. Moreover, Dahai City wouldn't allow another behemoth to emerge. There were only so many resources; if someone came up, someone else had to go down.
Whether it was the Dongfang family, the Du family, or the Shen family, they were all at the height of their power right now. The Tang family was rather special, relying not on economic strength but on a completely different path that had nothing to do with the other families...
Dongfang Zhixia pressed the voice message button and sent a reply to a certain foolish childhood sweetheart on the other end.
He's sleeping.
Click.
She took a picture of Ye Cheng lying dead to the world on the bed and sent over another critical hit—oh, wait, another voice message.
His phone is about to die, if you need anything...
After doing all this, Dongfang Zhixia admired her handiwork with immense satisfaction, an indescribable joy filling her heart... As long as it was something she wanted, no one could snatch it away from her. Childhood sweetheart or whatever, outdated things shouldn't be brought out to embarrass themselves!
Wearing a confident smile, Dongfang Zhixia tossed the about-to-die phone aside. She glanced at Ye Cheng, who was lying on the sofa without the slightest intention of waking up. After a three-minute standoff, she planted a solid smack right on Ye Cheng's face!
Bastard, why are you playing the Great Compassion Mantra early in the morning? Go to hell!!!
Ahhh!!!
...
The Shen family.
In the Eldest Miss's room, the first ray of sunlight filtered in through the window.
The Eldest Miss's long eyelashes fluttered slightly. The brows that had been tightly furrowed since last night finally relaxed. The next second, Shen Qinghan jolted awake from her dream.
A dream? Shen Qinghan sat at the head of the bed, muttering to herself. As if remembering something, she anxiously dug out her phone and turned it on. The screen was still stuck on the chat interface with Ye Cheng from when it was last turned off yesterday.
Unread.
Shen Qinghan stared at the two glaring red words on the screen, and her face instantly turned cold. She seemed... rather displeased.

to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”

uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.

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."

d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!