On the north side of the stone forest, two girls sat facing each other in front of a campfire, not saying a word.
They had cried for a long time and had little tears left to shed.
The wind was strong at night, and they could no longer hear Ice Sister's voice from the south side.
In the depths of the night, endless loneliness and despair shrouded their hearts.
"Qian Qian, do you think Lu Zhe and Yao Yao...won't come back?"
Qian Qian nodded listlessly, "I...don't know."
"He promised me...It's all my fault, I shouldn't have said those things when he left..." She sniffed twice more.
Qian Qian shook her head, "Don't blame yourself Class Monitor, didn't you say to be brave earlier, Lu Zhe and Yao Yao will come back?"
Ning Shu sighed, it was easy to advise others but when it came to herself, who could let go in just a few words?
"I felt very hopeless before, but when I think calmly, maybe they really are still alive. Let's make lotus lanterns!"
"What is that?"
"Also called floating lanterns, lanterns that float away when placed in water."
"What's the point of making that thing? It's like making an offering to deceased relatives..." Ning Shu was about to refuse but then sat up straight as she had an idea.
"That's right, we can observe the direction of water flow with this lantern, and also expand the signal range for Ice Sister to see us too!"
Qian Qian nodded, "That's right!"
Ning Shu's eyes lit up, "Anyway we don't know what to do now, so let's make this. Maybe it can really help Lu Zhe find his way back! Do you know how?"
Lin Qian Qian thought for a moment, "We need something buoyant for the base, candles that can burn steadily for a while, and canopies to shield the flames from the wind."
Ning Shu pondered, "There are plenty of things that can provide buoyancy, like wood, bamboo, bottles and foam. For steady burning we have resin, bear fat candles. As for the canopies...where can we get those..."
Qian Qian took out two pairs of stockings from her bag, "Use Guo Er's stockings!"
"What a great idea...Wait, why do you have Guo Er's stockings?"
"Uh...she can't wear them anymore anyway and didn't want them. I felt it would be too wasteful to throw them away so I kept them."
Ning Shu nodded, "Then we really can make lotus lanterns!"
On the other side of the stone forest.
Tang Xiaoguo was tied to a tree, sadly humming My Sadness Flows Like a River.
Just then, a 50 cm long lizard crawled over and perched nearby on a rock, seeming to listen to her hum.
Normally she would have screamed in fright but today, she just looked at it lifelessly.
"Do you understand my sorrow? No, no one can understand the pain of losing your beloved! And you're not human, you're Godzilla..."
The lizard tilted its head, as if it really understood her words.
"My dear boy has left, I don't know if he's dead or alive. I want to follow him but the other woman who loves him tied me up. Little Godzilla, don't you think I'm the most pitiful woman in the world?"
The lizard actually nodded.
Tang Xiaoguo felt a little comforted, "I didn't expect there would be a lizard in this world that understands me. Alright, help me chew through these ropes so I can go find Lu Zhe."
The lizard didn't move.
Just then, another lizard appeared and climbed onto the first lizard's back. The two lizards started doing some unusual movements.
Tang Xiaoguo was fuming, "Ahhhhh, go show your love somewhere else, I don't want to live anymore!"
Just then, Shen Bing returned, swinging a trench shovel which smacked the top lizard unconscious. The bottom lizard saw trouble ahead and scurried away into a crevice.
Tang Xiaoguo stared wide-eyed and shouted, "Awesome job Ice Sis!"
Shen Bing threw down the shovel, and sliced off the lizard's head with a paratrooper knife, hanging its body on a small tree as protein reserve.
She was expressionless, her actions swift and efficient.
"I found a route but it's too long a detour. We'll rest here tonight and I'll take you to meet up with Little Ning and Qian Qian tomorrow. Take what supplies you can carry, leave what you can't. "
With that she started organizing their things.
"What about Lu Zhe?"
Shen Bing froze, her lips trembling slightly.
After a long pause, tears welled up in her eyes but she wiped them away before they could fall, seeming to want to say something but only managing to utter three words:
"Don't mention him."
After a while, she went over to Tang Xiaoguo, "I'll untie you now but you must promise not to jump into the sea, okay?"
Tang Xiaoguo sniffed twice, "Jumping into the sea is useless anyway, I just get washed back each time."
"Don't dash yourself on the rocks either."
"That's too painful. I think hanging is good, Ice Sis you like Lu Zhe too right? Let's hang ourselves together..."
Shen Bing sighed, "Guo Er, Lu Zhe loved you the most, he definitely wouldn't want to see anything happen to you! If he came back alive and found you gone, can you imagine how heartbroken he'd be?"
Tang Xiaoguo said, "Ice Sis, how likely do you think it is that Lu Zhe is alive?"
"I don't know." She replied, untying Tang Xiaoguo's ropes.
Tang Xiaoguo gazed towards the sea, her grief plain to see.
"Do you think my dear Lu Zhe and Yao Yao drifted to a nearby island, and lit a big fire that they're watching us from over the sea, like those eyes!"
Shen Bing shook her head, thinking Tang Xiaoguo was speaking nonsense.
She carried an armful of firewood from the woods and dumped it on the sand, taking out a Matchlock-style fire starter to drill for fire.
"Hey Ice Sis, how can there be eyes on the sea? Is it a monster?"
"Don't talk nonsense, how can there be eyes on the sea?"
"Right there!"
Shen Bing looked up dubiously and vaguely made out two bright spots on the sea's surface.
"There really are!"
Shen Bing immediately put down her things and rushed to the beach.
Sure enough, there was a pair of glowing eyes on the sea!
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
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!
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.
