"What do you want to do? I warn you, you'd better not act rashly!" Xiao Qingruo looked fierce but was panicking inside, trying hard to stay calm.
"After offending Miss today, I'm sure you will send someone to kill me given your temper." Xue Yi pinned her against the wall, leaving her no way to retreat.
"I promise I won't make things difficult for you as long as you let me go. You have my word." Xiao Qingruo said earnestly, sounding credible.
But Xue Yi did not believe her!
He shook his head. "Words are cheap. With no third party as witness, you can easily break your promise and I'd have no recourse."
"Then what do you want?" Xiao Qingruo's chest heaved up and down.
Xue Yi stared at her beautiful and arrogant face. He already had the full answer in mind.
But he could not say it outright. That would be inappropriate.
"No matter for you or me, what happened today is a life-or-death secret. I don't want to die. And I believe Miss doesn't either." Xue Yi said.
Xiao Qingruo nodded. She fully agreed with this.
Xue Yi went on, "Your power far exceeds mine. Killing me would be easy for you. So I can't trust your words. Therefore, to safely walk out of this abandoned garden, you must promise me one condition to eliminate my concerns. Otherwise, I might as well kill you first and desperately flee Holy Might Manor. At least I'd have a ten percent chance to live."
"Ten percent? You overestimate yourself too much. This is Holy Might Manor. If you dare kill me, you'd be dead without a doubt!" Xiao Qingruo said.
"Maybe so."
That's irrelevant.
"State your condition. I'll consider it." Xiao Qingruo steadied her breathing to calm herself.
Xue Yi took a deep breath, smelled the faint fragrance on Miss, and the corners of his mouth curled. "As long as Miss grants me a status that allows me to stay by your side at all times, ensuring you have no chance to order my death, I'll believe you."
"Stay by my side at all times? You want to..."
Xiao Qingruo's expression changed.
Being followed around the clock was equivalent to her being monitored!
Moreover, continuously, 24 hours a day!
"Take me as your husband. Be my woman." Xue Yi said.
"Impossible! Dream on!" Xiao Qingruo rejected without a thought.
She looked down even on the prince, let alone a guard?
She would become the woman of the future emperor. She could never be intimate with any man in this life, especially scum like him!
Xue Yi was not disappointed. "I knew you'd refuse. Then I have no choice but to take matters into my own hands. I'll be your man for a brief moment before killing you and desperately fleeing."
As he spoke, a big hand landed on Xiao Qingruo's fragrant shoulder and slid down.
"Stop! Wait!"
Xiao Qingruo clenched her fists. She was actually panicked inside but still stubbornly maintained a strong facade, not revealing any weakness.
She stopped Xue Yi and said, "I have another way!"
"What is it?" Xue Yi asked.
Xiao Qingruo gritted her teeth. Extremely unwilling, but she still said it: "You want to follow me around. It doesn't have to be as my husband. I can make you my personal bodyguard. Still staying by my side at all times. And...it'll avoid many troubles. You know I have numerous pursuers. If you directly become my husband, not to mention how the Sixth Prince, Divine Martial Heir, Flame Emperor and others would make things difficult for you, even the owner of Holy Might Manor wouldn't let you off!"
"Personal bodyguard?" Xue Yi frowned, looking troubled.
In fact, this was exactly what he wanted!
Being Miss' personal bodyguard, not only could he monitor her, but also avoid the hard work of an ordinary guard and have more time to cultivate.
For him, it would be the perfect status!
The reason for first suggesting marriage instead of directly proposing to be a personal bodyguard was simply to raise the bargaining chip and increase the chance of successful negotiation.
According to the "decoy effect" in psychology, the other party might refuse a direct small request. But first making an unacceptable large request, then a small one, would greatly increase the chance of agreement.
By letting Xiao Qingruo propose it herself, she would have no reason to reject anymore.
"Decide quickly. I can't stay here too long!" Xiao Qingruo urged.
Xue Yi: "Personal bodyguard does sound good, but I'm still a man. It'd be inappropriate to follow you at certain times. What to do then?"
Xiao Qingruo thought for a moment and replied, "I want you to follow, so you shall. Wait...you don't mean to stay with me even when sleeping, do you?"
Xue Yi shook his head. "No need for that. You take the bed, I'll sleep on the floor."
Xiao Qingruo: ...
That was no different, he'd still enter her room!
"You can refuse. Either way, the worst is death. I don't mind rolling around with you on the grass before I die, my divine goddess." Xue Yi had the upper hand and faintly smiled.
"You... Fine, I agree."
Xiao Qingruo gritted her teeth, really at a loss dealing with him. She could only acquiesce for now.
From this moment on, Xue Yi was her personal bodyguard.
"You must keep the secret and ensure my safety. Don't offend me in front of others, otherwise we'll die together!" she said.
"Of course. We're both smart people. Neither wants trouble." Xue Yi nodded.
It was about time for him to return, or the Chief Guard would hassle him.
He released his hands and brushed the grass off Xiao Qingruo's clothes, saying, "Once we're out of this abandoned garden, as long as we meet other manor members, you must immediately clarify my new status. State it however you want, it must be reasonable. I'll follow within three steps. If you say anything disadvantageous about me, or try to shake me off for any reason, I'll kill you without hesitation."
"Alright, I understand." Xiao Qingruo nodded.
Although hating him to death and wanting to chop Xue Yi into 100,000 pieces, she could only comply for now.
For a Cave Heaven Realm expert, killing her within three steps was too easy. Even if other experts were nearby, they couldn't save her in time.
"Miss, please." Xue Yi made way.
The two walked out of the abandoned garden, one in front, one behind with a two-step distance.
...
Not long after leaving the garden, they encountered a patrol of guards.
"Miss."
"Greetings Miss."
Seeing Xiao Qingruo and Xue Yi walking one after the other from behind, these guards quickly bowed.
By now Xiao Qingruo had adjusted her mental state. Her previously aggrieved expression was gone, replaced with her usual calm, noble and aloof manner.
Meeting the patrol guards, she didn't even glance at them and directly walked past.
The guards thought nothing of it, knowing her temperament disliked interacting with others.
However, seeing the following Xue Yi...
"Little Xue, where did you go just now? Why are you with Miss?" The patrol leader, a First Class Guard named Li Qing, asked.
This leader was Xue Yi's direct superior, a First Class Guard of Holy Might Manor and Cave Heaven Realm early stage expert, very powerful.
Guard ranks: Chief, First Class, Second Class, Third Class
There were only 24 First Class Guards in total, each with considerable power.
"I urgently needed the toilet just now and went to the nearby abandoned garden..." Xue Yi slowly replied, his gaze fixed on Xiao Qingruo the entire time.
By protocol, Xiao Qingruo should speak now to clarify Xue Yi's new status following her from now on.
But Xiao Qingruo deliberately remained silent.
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
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.
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!
shall grant"] ["Inscribing the glory of our race upon tombstones"] ["All that is threatened, I shall protect"] How his younger sister sees her brother: A brother who only makes eye contact once a day, mostly fading into the background as he tinkers with who-knows-what in his room all day. Their life paths should have remained largely separate. Until one day. Su Qi created an equipment card for his never-met "online girlfriend." His sister fell into silent contemplation upon receiving the "white stockings." [Card can be upgraded] [Upgrade by fulfilling any of the following conditions] [Condition ①: Consume one hundred higher-tier cards] [Condition ②: Complete one 'Heart-Pounding Adventure'] What constitutes a Heart-Pounding Adventure? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Beginner Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to admire it.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Easy Level): Equip the card, invite 'Su Qi' to touch it, and analyze the equipment's texture.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Entry Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to...] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Challenge Level): Freely combine the words 'Brother' 'Out' 'Brother' 'Me' 'Please' into a complete sentence...] "Please help me analyze both teams' mistakes in this match, brother..." His sister exhaled in relief—surely... surely there couldn't be anything more difficult? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Suicide Mission Level): Sneak a peek at the names of the galgames in 'Su Qi's' hidden E-drive folder]
