"Say whatever you want to say." Long Aotian chuckled softly, reaching out to ruffle the little girl's hair.
The scene felt familiar—like the first time he met Hu Yuying, when he had accidentally stepped on the pen she dropped. Back then, she had looked at him the same way, her gaze lingering on his just-awoken face.
But now, there was an added tenderness, a hint of allure, and a touch of attachment that made her seem even more vibrant.
Hu Yuying fidgeted, unsure how to phrase her request, her voice barely above a whisper. "Can I... not leave today? I want to stay with you, Long-ge..."
The last words were so faint that if not for the silence and Long Aotian’s sharp hearing, they might have gone unheard.
Slowly, she lifted her eyes to meet his. This time, there was no hesitation—only shyness mixed with anticipation, as if silently confessing something deep in her heart.
Every time Hu Yuying looked at him like this, he found it impossible to refuse.
"I'll sleep on the recliner."
As if granted the answer she longed for, the girl’s eyes instantly sparkled like stars. She nodded emphatically, letting out a soft "Mm."
......
With the lights off, the small room fell into a silence deeper than ever—so quiet that Long Aotian could hear Hu Yuying’s nervous yet excited breaths.
In the darkness, the corners of his lips curled up.
He couldn’t see Hu Yuying’s expression now, but his mind conjured up her shy face effortlessly.
She lay on the foldable bed, turned toward his direction, her beautiful eyes blinking as if trying to make him out in the dark. Her heart must be racing just like his—half nervous, half exhilarated.
Maybe, like him, she wanted to say something but couldn’t find the right words.
"Get some rest. The workers will be here early tomorrow."
Hu Yuying gave a small nod, though she knew Long-ge might not see it in the dark. "Long-ge, I can’t sleep... but I’ll definitely wake up early tomorrow."
Her heart was too full—joy and excitement pumping adrenaline through her, leaving her wide awake. At least for now, sleep was the last thing on her mind.
Especially knowing that Long-ge was right there, just a few steps away on the recliner.
This was the first time she had ever shared a room with a boy. They weren’t on the same bed, not that she would have minded...
"Long-ge, are you asleep?" she whispered into the darkness.
"Not yet."
Hearing his reply, she smiled to herself. "Long-ge, can you talk with me for a bit?"
"What do you want to talk about?"
"Can you tell me... when you first started liking me?" Her fingers clenched nervously around the sheets as she tested the waters.
She had sensed for a long time that Long-ge treated her differently, but she still wanted to hear it from him.
The moment the words left her lips, she heard the faint creak of the recliner—as if Long-ge had turned his head toward her.
Her intuition was spot-on.
Long Aotian had indeed looked in her direction.
She was grateful for the darkness, hiding the blush burning her cheeks.
Silence stretched between them.
But Hu Yuying, emboldened by the night, continued unprompted. "Then... let me go first, okay?"
The shadows lent her courage.
"When you first helped me, I mostly felt gratitude."
"When you taught me how to change, I felt moved... and dependent on you."
"So many things happened after that. Seeing you talk and laugh with other girls made my heart sour, but being with you always made me happy."
"Even when you carried me over your shoulder in the mall and spanked me... I was so embarrassed, but deep down, all I felt was joy."
"From then on, a kind of fog settled in my heart—something I couldn’t see or touch."
"If things had stopped there, maybe it would’ve just been gratitude. But I didn’t want it to end. I kept thinking about you..."
"As we spent more time together, I felt a happiness I’d never known before. The fog in my heart slowly cleared, and suddenly, I understood myself."
"What I’m trying to say is... it’s not just gratitude. My heart is telling me—meeting you was like realizing, ‘I really, really like you.’"
She bit her lip lightly before continuing in the quiet of the night. "Before I met you, I thought my life couldn’t get any worse. But after meeting you... I forgave all the hardships life ever threw at me."
Long Aotian listened to every word, a silent smile forming. He and Hu Yuying were like two people stranded at the edges of the world—saving each other, finding themselves in the process. They needed one another.
From the moment they met, the ending was already written.
"My heart raced for you—that’s when I started liking you."
"The first time I kissed you, that feeling took over completely."
Hu Yuying laughed softly at his words, but her eyes grew moist.
So... it was that early?
"I thought it was wrong. I gave myself time to sort it out, but everything crumbled the moment I saw you again..."
"So I decided—why not give my little follower time? She’s so small, yet so strong. She’s been through so much—she deserves to spread her wings and fly..."
Pausing, Long Aotian’s voice warmed with amusement. "But if my little follower ever figured out her heart and stood firm, I wouldn’t hesitate to pull her into my arms."
"What if she didn’t?" Hu Yuying’s tone grew lighter.
"Then I’d accept it. After all, she’s my little follower... my first friend."
"Long-ge, I’ll never change my mind. I finally found my light—how could I ever let go halfway?"
Her unwavering words made Long Aotian smile. How could he not believe her? She trusted him so completely, relied on him so openly. Her purity and warmth—she gave them all to him without reservation.
Unconsciously, Long Aotian noticed the soft, steady rhythm of her breathing.
Lulled by the sound, he too drifted into sleep.
In the absolute stillness, everything was quiet.
The small room.
The dark alley outside.
Two figures leaned against the wall.
One of them had already started snoring.
Meanwhile, his mind was flooded with chaotic thoughts, his mood sour and unsettled, as if he still couldn’t let go of certain things.
Under the weight of this anxiety, this lingering resentment, his eyelids grew too heavy to resist, and slowly, he too drifted into sleep...
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.
world slacker. But a genius female disciple just had to get clingy, insisting that he take her as a disciple. Not only that, she was always making advances on him, thoroughly disrupting his peaceful slacker life...
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!
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?!
