For the next day and a half, Hu Yuying and the other two girls took Long Aotian to various fun spots every day, exploring and shopping.
Even if they did nothing special, simply being in each other's company, wandering aimlessly, stopping to enjoy whatever caught their interest, was enough. The weather was pleasantly mild—even at noon, it wasn’t too hot. There couldn’t have been a more comfortable season.
"What’s going on up ahead? Looks lively!" Li Qingxue pointed toward a bustling crowd in the distance and grinned. "Let’s check it out!"
"Seems like a food street."
"Perfect, we can grab lunch here and keep exploring in the afternoon."
Hu Yuying glanced at Long Aotian. "Long Aotian, are you tired?"
On Friday, Long Aotian had been laughing heartily.
On Saturday, he still seemed to be enjoying himself.
But today, he didn’t look as cheerful. Instead, there was an unspoken weariness about him.
"Sure, let’s take a look," Long Aotian replied with a smile. Seeing their eager expressions, he couldn’t refuse. Besides, they’d be heading back to school in the afternoon—this was their last bit of free time, and he didn’t want to spoil the mood.
Though it was called a food street, the further they walked, the more entertainment stalls appeared.
"Ring toss! Ring toss! Twenty rings for ten yuan! Handsome guys, pretty girls, wanna give it a try? Even if you don’t win, there’s a consolation prize!"
Hu Yuying looked up at Long Aotian, her eyes flickering with unspoken meaning.
The first game she’d ever played at a mall was ring toss—and back then, Long Aotian had failed while she succeeded.
The joy was simple, the kind of game everyone played as a child.
But to Hu Yuying, it felt different... special.
"Boss, give us sixty rings!"
"We don’t need that many!" Sixty rings was excessive.
The game was just for fun—a brief moment of amusement. Ten rings were enough, twenty were fine—no need to go overboard.
The stall owner, afraid Long Aotian might change his mind, quickly added, "Sixty rings, and I’ll throw in fifteen more for free!"
Each of the three girls held twenty rings, while Long Aotian took the extra fifteen.
They huddled together, strategizing how to land the perfect throw.
Just as they finished discussing, Long Aotian walked over empty-handed.
"Long Aotian, where are your rings?"
"Already used them all." He spread his hands helplessly. "I was this close to hitting the grand prize. What a shame!"
"Long Aotian, you big dummy!"
"Yeah, yeah, total dummy!"
"Bro, we barely said two words, and you already threw them all..."
As the three girls scolded him, Long Aotian felt an odd sense of satisfaction.
He was sure he didn’t have a masochistic streak, yet somehow, his mood lightened, and the strange fatigue he’d been feeling seemed to fade.
The sight of three beautiful girls laughing, teasing, and celebrating small wins soon drew a crowd.
Unintentionally, they’d brought the stall owner a surge of customers.
Every toss felt like a major decision for the trio.
Though they didn’t win much, they still walked away with a few trinkets.
As they prepared to leave, the vendor handed them four plastic bags—each containing a small goldfish.
A free gift for Long Aotian and the girls.
Their presence had indirectly boosted his sales, and the little giveaway was also a marketing tactic—proof that even if you didn’t win, you’d still get something.
"I got a prize too!" Long Aotian grinned, his usual bright and carefree smile returning as he looked at the tiny fish in his hand.
Life went on, and everything seemed to return to normal.
Except for Huang Fei, who hadn’t shown up at school since that day.
Except for the empty seat where a certain lazy girl used to sit.
Otherwise, it was as if nothing had ever happened.
"Don’t stop me!" Wang Lijuan glared at Xu Shuai, her eyes reddening with frustration as she shot a resentful look at Long Aotian.
They’d shared a dorm with Shen Mengjie for nearly a year. The friendship they’d built wasn’t fake.
Shen Mengjie’s departure hurt them all.
But Long Aotian acted like nothing was wrong—going about his days as usual, smiling as if nothing had changed...
Even if he didn’t care about Shen Mengjie, what about the child she’d been carrying? His child. At the very least, he should’ve shown some grief!
"Lijuan, don’t. Long Aotian isn’t handling this any better than we are!"
Xu Shuai said the words, but truthfully, he hadn’t seen a trace of sorrow in Long Aotian either.
Just as Wang Lijuan said—even if he felt nothing for Shen Mengjie, that child was his. For the sake of the baby who never got to be born, shouldn’t he at least pretend to care?
"Xu Shuai, Li Longlong, let’s go play ball!" Long Aotian called out cheerfully as he approached.
Wang Lijuan turned her back the moment she saw his carefree grin.
Even Han Xiaojing, the gentlest of them all, wore a stiff expression, refusing to look at him.
But Long Aotian, who was usually so perceptive, acted oblivious.
Xu Shuai and Li Longlong exchanged a glance before dragging Long Aotian away.
On the way to the court, a group of boys passed by, laughing loudly.
The one leading them sneered. "You guys don’t know the half of it. That night at KTV, Shen Mengjie was wild. I told her I wasn’t interested, but she kept throwing herself at me—couldn’t even push her off..."
"Say what you will about her, but she was good-looking. You didn’t, y’know...?"
"Pfft, might as well tell you. Ever heard of ‘worship-level’ desperation?"
The others perked up instantly. "Go on, give us the details..."
Just as the guy leaned in to elaborate, a voice called out from behind.
"Hey."
He turned—only to be met with a basketball slamming into his face.
The impact distorted his features for a split second.
"What the—?!"
The group of seven or eight froze before whipping their heads toward the source.
And then they saw him—a single figure charging straight at them.
Like a bloodthirsty beast.
Outnumbered, yet radiating a terrifying, predatory aura that sent an involuntary chill down their spines.
Xu Shuai and Li Longlong were stunned. Long Aotian had always been the image of a caring, mature, warm-hearted big brother to them.
His temper was exceptionally good—whenever trouble arose, all you had to do was ask, and he would spare no effort to help. He was like their anchor, reliable and trustworthy, someone they believed was absolutely dependable.
But at this moment, Long Aotian was like a beast gone wild, devoid of all reason. Facing eight opponents—eight!—he charged forward without the slightest hesitation...
...
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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?!
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!
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
] [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!"
