The three girls stood dumbfounded, staring at Long Aotian's tall, imposing figure.
His words still echoed in their ears: ["As long as they still call me 'brother,' it's my duty to protect them."]
["If you dare try this again, I swear I'll do everything in my power to put you behind bars..."]
Though his voice wasn't particularly loud, it carried an inexplicable sense of reassurance.
As long as he was there, it felt like no one could ever harm them.
As long as he was there, even if the sky were to collapse, he would shield them from the fall.
It wasn’t an oath, yet it weighed as heavily as one, striking their hearts and sending ripples through their emotions...
If asked who in this world—aside from their parents—could give them the greatest sense of security, the three girls would answer without hesitation: Long Aotian.
Closing the gate again, he turned to Hu Yuying beside him and gently placed a hand on her long hair. "Next time something like this happens, don’t confront them yourself. Tell me, and I’ll handle it."
Hu Yuying looked up at Long Aotian, her eyes shimmering with his reflection, then nodded firmly. "Mm, I’ll listen to you, Brother Long."
She knew he was just worried about her, afraid she might suffer...
"You two as well," he continued, glancing at Li Qingxue and Lin Wanning. "You're girls—don’t get into arguments easily. If anything happens, come to me. I might not be able to solve everything, but at the very least, I won’t let anyone bully you."
Hearing his words, the corners of Li Qingxue and Lin Wanning’s lips curled into faint, tender smiles.
They never doubted Long Aotian’s capability—in their eyes, he could do anything. That was the kind of security he gave them.
Sometimes subtly, sometimes outright boldly!
"Clean up a bit. I’ll take you all out to eat—forget about what just happened. Don’t let some mentally unstable person ruin your mood."
Hu Yuying added with a playful tone, "Brother Long says the best way to deal with people like that is to just walk away."
Hearing this, Li Qingxue and Lin Wanning couldn’t help but chuckle. Crude as it sounded, it was undeniably practical—exactly the kind of thing only Long Aotian would say.
......
Ye Liangchen’s face twisted into a pained grimace, as if he were wearing a mask of agony. No one could fathom the turmoil in his heart.
"How’d it go, Brother Chen?"
At Xue Shaohua’s question, Ye Liangchen instantly wiped the pain from his expression, not wanting to reveal his humiliation.
Instead, he feigned calm.
Strangely enough, despite Long Aotian slapping him twice, aside from some slight swelling, not a single mark remained.
Xue Shaohua, meanwhile, had been afraid Hu Yuying and the others would realize he was the one who had tailed them and exposed their location. So the moment Ye Liangchen kicked open the courtyard gate, he had quickly ducked away.
After all, he still had four years of sharing a class with Hu Yuying ahead of him. If she held a grudge over this, it wouldn’t be worth it.
Besides, he and Ye Liangchen had a deal—if he could just get Hu Yuying to spend one night with him, he was confident his skills would leave her utterly enthralled. No need to spoil his chances now by making a bad impression.
"Nothing much. Just had a little fight with Long Aotian," Ye Liangchen replied coolly.
"So that guy’s name is Long Aotian," Xue Shaohua murmured, narrowing his eyes.
"How did it turn out?"
Ye Liangchen shook his head. "I took a hit, but he didn’t walk away unscathed either."
After all, force works both ways—even if Long Aotian had slapped him twice, his palms must’ve hurt too. In a way, that counted as injuring him!
The thought made Ye Liangchen smirk. Suddenly, his face didn’t sting as much.
"I wasn’t asking about that," Xue Shaohua pressed. "What about Hu Yuying? And Li Qingxue, that icy beauty—did Long Aotian force himself on them?"
That was what truly concerned him. In his mind, Hu Yuying already belonged to him.
Ye Liangchen laughed—a hollow, bitter laugh—until a single tear rolled down his cheek.
No matter how hard he tried to hide his emotions, the pain was just too much.
"Long Aotian must’ve been badmouthing me behind my back. Now they’ve all turned against me."
Hearing this, Xue Shaohua frowned deeply. "Are you even capable of handling this?"
"You promised you’d help me win Hu Yuying over—get her into my bed!"
"You swore it outright before!"
Ye Liangchen’s expression darkened.
Damn it, I went out there and took a beating, and instead of backing me up, you’re still hung up on this?
Honestly, he wanted nothing more than to slap Xue Shaohua silly.
Besides, if anyone was going to have Hu Yuying first, it’d be him. Xue Shaohua would only get the leftovers—if he was feeling generous.
But then again, he couldn’t afford to lose Xue Shaohua just yet.
Useless as he was, Xue Shaohua still had his uses—at the very least, he could keep an eye on Hu Yuying and Li Qingxue for him.
Since they’d all turned their backs on him, even saying such hurtful things, then fine—they’d brought this on themselves!
He’d steal Hu Yuying’s business achievements, frame her for plagiarism, and crush her until she had no choice but to beg at his feet.
As for Li Qingxue—that ungrateful bitch—after nine years of friendship, this was how she treated him? If she wanted to cut ties, then he’d show her no mercy.
And Lin Wanning? Ha. Once he hijacked Hu Yuying’s success and became a rising business tycoon, controlling her would be child’s play.
With that, Ye Liangchen tilted his head back at a 45-degree angle, closed his eyes, and wrapped his arms around himself in a dramatic embrace. "You forced me into this."
"What do you mean? Who forced you?" Xue Shaohua asked, baffled by the sudden theatrics.
"Nothing. Just know this—I am their salvation."
Truthfully, even as he said it, Ye Liangchen wasn’t entirely confident.
Everything had spiraled beyond his expectations.
But he still had faith in himself.
At the very least, Long Aotian hadn’t gotten his hands on Li Qingxue or Lin Wanning yet.
Today’s display was probably just a ploy to win their favor through Hu Yuying.
Flattery with ulterior motives—nothing good ever came of it.
Li Qingxue and Lin Wanning were still too naive. Ye Liangchen had no doubt that once the time was right, Long Aotian would shove Hu Yuying aside and sink his claws into them.
The thought made his expression twist with fury.
Since the source of the problem lies with Long Aotian, all I need to do is outshine him and draw their attention back to me.
Gently touching my face, I murmured, "I won’t let these two slaps go to waste today."
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?"
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!
u serious?" Chen Feng watched helplessly as his painstakingly trained disciple, fresh off a championship victory, publicly abandoned him. "You had your chance, but you didn’t appreciate it. Now, face the consequences of your choice!" Chen Feng possessed the "Master System," a treasure trove of supreme martial arts techniques, capable of molding ordinary individuals into peerless prodigies. "Legs like yours? A shame not to train in the Crippling Kick." "Ever heard of a palm strike that descends from the heavens?" "Auntie! I see extraordinary bone structure in you—a martial arts prodigy, one in ten thousand." The once-defiant senior disciple, now watching her juniors rise to fame one after another, dominating the internet, was consumed by endless regret.
+【Epic Battles!】 "Your Highness, they say Linxi Temple is miraculous. Won’t you make a wish?" "A wish? It should be making wishes to me." "That may be so, but since you’re already here..." "..." "Fine. Then grant this princess a consort to play with." "He must be obedient, devoted, and utterly infatuated with my body—so much so that he’d kneel and kiss my feet." "Your Highness, that’s not a consort. That’s a dog." "Then add clever, witty, heroic, ambitious yet pragmatic..." "Hmm, that’s enough for now. I’ll add more later." After tossing out these words half in jest, Princess Anle departed the temple—only to catch a fleeting glimpse of the Bodhisattva statue smiling at her. Meanwhile, Yang An, fresh out of university, was having a very bad day. Good news: He’d transmigrated into another world with a cheat granting tenfold combat power. Bad news: He’d immediately fallen into the clutches of a certain villainess. Good news: Said villainess possessed peerless beauty and royal status. Bad news: She was absolutely monstrous!!! In the frozen wilderness, Yang An knelt beneath Qin Guo’er’s feet, drenched in sweat despite the cold. Desperately clutching her porcelain-perfect foot—the very one poised to crush his throat—he could only think: How do I survive this?! Need answers NOW!
