Amid the bubbling sounds of the hot spring, Su Muwan was curled up in the milky-white mist, only her damp, glistening eyes visible as she glared at Qin Luo.
The ice barrier refracted a prism of colors, tinting her trembling voice with sweetness: "T-turn around! I need to change!"
Qin Luo leaned against the cherry tree, stifling a laugh, his peripheral vision catching glimpses of her slender ankles shifting behind the gaps in the icy wall.
Gulp...
He swallowed hard, took a deep breath...
And still didn’t look away.
No way was he turning away now!
That would be going against his very principles!
This wasn’t about whether he could see or not—it was about the necessity of looking!
Xiao Yu, Xiao Zu, a brighter tomorrow awaits you.
The next moment—
[Uwah! This swimsuit’s back is slit all the way to the waistline—how shameless!]
Huh?
Qin Luo froze, then quickly realized—
Ah!
This was... the system’s built-in mind-reading function?!
He swallowed again, quietly eavesdropping on Su Muwan’s thoughts.
The rustling of fabric suddenly stopped.
Su Muwan’s hands, clutching the swimsuit straps, froze mid-air as her thoughts exploded like fireworks in Qin Luo’s mind:
[It’s all that fox-eyed saleswoman’s fault! Saying stuff like, "Your boyfriend won’t be able to look away..." How am I supposed to tie this now?!]
[What "man-slayer battle attire"? I should’ve never believed her!]
Qin Luo’s Adam’s apple bobbed as shadows pooled in his palm, forming a watery mirror.
The reflection showed the girl wrestling with the bow at her waist.
Her porcelain back flickered in and out of view through the icy mist, the lace trim of her two-piece swimsuit adorned with tiny stardust diamonds, shimmering like a galaxy over the dimples of her lower back.
[Maybe I should fake a stomachache? But the strawberry milk bath is already prepared...]
Su Muwan suddenly covered her flushed face and crouched down.
[Su Muwan, get a grip! Why did you even say something so bold in the first place...?]
[Romance novels are all lies! Who brings a swimsuit to a hot spring date anyway...?]
[Qin Luo must think I’m trying to seduce him...]
Just as the thought crossed her mind—
Splash!
A sudden wave erupted from the hot spring, startling her into stumbling back.
When she steadied herself, she saw a small black shark plush floating toward her.
"Young Mistress," the shark spoke. "Having trouble? Need help?"
"Help my foot! Just die already!"
Su Muwan angrily swatted the shadowy shark away.
Qin Luo, still leaning against the tree, covered his mouth to stifle his laughter.
Time passed.
Plop!
Su Muwan, wrapped in mist, leaped into the hot spring. As the milky liquid rose past her collarbones, she let out a contented sigh.
[Ah... never mind... sharing a bath is too embarrassing... I’ll just get out after soaking for a bit...]
Her hair, dotted with foam, clung to her neck as droplets slid down her swan-like throat and into the lace trim.
[But the water feels so nice...]
She idly played with the floating strawberries, her toes unconsciously stirring the water.
[Trivial Qin Luo... he sure knows how to charm a girl with places like this...]
[Hmph, claiming he’s never been in a relationship before... if that’s true, why is he so smooth?!]
Just as she thought this—
[Young Mistress, that really hurts my feelings. My first love is, and always has been, you!]
Huh?
Her thoughts screeched to a halt.
Su Muwan’s eyes widened, her lips parting slightly as she stiffened in place.
[What... the hell?]
[Young Mistress, did you forget we can hear each other’s thoughts under special conditions...?]
[Ah...]
[No more "ah." I’m coming over.]
[Wait, what?]
The next second—
Splash!
Qin Luo, who had somehow slipped into the water unnoticed, stood before her with his robe half-open, revealing his toned chest.
Su Muwan immediately shrank into the water, bubbles betraying her panic: "Y-you-you—!!"
"Young Mistress."
"Is the reaction really necessary?"
Qin Luo leaned against the edge of the spring, watching her flustered bubble-blowing with amusement. "Anyway..."
He cleared his throat. "I’ve already seen everything."
"And the things I shouldn’t have seen... well, I’ve seen those too."
"But honestly..."
His gaze swept over her embarrassed form as he grinned. "A shy Young Mistress is pretty cute too~"
!!!
The words barely left his mouth.
"You—!"
Su Muwan’s competitive spirit flared.
Damn it! She’d read countless novels!
Was she really going to let him fluster her like some blushing maiden?
No way! Absolutely not!
As a martial arts prodigy, Su Muwan believed in dominating every situation—especially when it came to Qin Luo!
Crush him!
Overwhelm him!
With that thought—
Whoosh!
The mist parted as an ice blade sliced through it. Su Muwan rose from the water, standing barefoot on the surface, milky droplets cascading down her slender ankles.
Her ice-blue swimsuit, adorned with crystalline lace, shimmered like a sea of stars under the moonlight.
Qin Luo’s breath hitched.
Damn...
This version of the Young Mistress was even cuter...
Limited edition Su Muwan—acquired!
Click, click, click!
He mentally snapped pictures, searing the image into his brain.
The next moment—
Su Muwan twirled a damp lock of hair around her finger, a playful glint in her eyes. "Staring so intently... Qin Luo, have you never seen a woman before? Hmm?"
His Adam’s apple bobbed, his earlier confidence faltering.
The mist coiled around her waist, making his fingertips burn. "I’ve seen plenty..."
His voice dropped lower. "But this is one of a kind."
"Oh?"
Splash~
She suddenly leaned in, water droplets from her hair landing on his collarbone. "My Shadow Sovereign didn’t even blink when facing the Chosen One back then..."
Her toes skimmed the water’s surface, sending ripples across his chest. "Yet now you’re acting like..."
Before she could finish, his hand clamped around her wrist.
The heat of his palm sent her heart racing as he looked up at her. "Young Mistress, are you sure you want to play with fire?"
"Hmph!"
Splash!
A wave erupted as Su Muwan twisted free, spinning away.
Ice blossoms bloomed under her feet as she retreated to the cherry tree at the pool’s edge, plucking a falling petal and sniffing it. "Play with fire...?"
Her voice dripped with feigned resentment. "You’re the one who’d rather play with that Su Bailian lookalike junior sister of yours..."
"??"
Qin Luo choked back a laugh.
Whoosh!
The mist swirled as he closed the distance in a flash, pinning her against the cherry tree.
Su Muwan’s lower back pressed into the bark, leaving her no room to escape.
She’d only been teasing to mask her own embarrassment, but now, with Qin Luo this close—especially with his ridiculously good physique—her heart pounded wildly.
Huff... huff...
No... Su Muwan, don’t be a creep...
Stop staring...
The sight before her made her pulse race. "W-why are you so close...?"
She mumbled, "Someone as rough as me could never compare to a delicate, soft woman like Su Bailian anyway..."
Before she could finish—
"In my heart, the young miss is the most adorable and beautiful."
"And being this close..."
"...is because I want you to know how sincere I am."
Qin Luo brushed his fingertips across the corner of her lips, wiping away a trace of milky moisture: "So you’ll stop bringing up Su Bailian all the time."
As he spoke,
Qin Luo took Su Muwan’s wrist and gently pressed her palm against his chest.
His gaze was tender, his breath lighter than falling petals: "See for yourself, young miss."
"Here, here, and right over my heart... can you feel it?"
Guiding her hand across every inch, he murmured: "This... is all filled with you."
!!
Hey, hey, hey...
The moment those words left his lips,
a chill surged from the top of Su Muwan’s head.
Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears, her face flushed crimson as she stared at Qin Luo.
"Ah... ah..."
She was too flustered to speak.
This was just unfair...
Yet Qin Luo took another step forward, his warm breath brushing her ear: "Young miss."
"Do you know what it means... for us to stand beneath this cherry blossom tree?"
Su Muwan was so embarrassed she wished she could dive into the hot springs. She tried to push him away weakly: "N-no... don’t ask me..."
But her resistance was futile—Qin Luo caught her wrist and pinned it against the tree trunk.
Rustle—
Pink petals cascaded onto their intertwined sleeves.
Qin Luo held Su Muwan’s gaze, leaning in until their lips almost touched:
"It means... when petals land in your hair like this..."
"...even spring itself is bearing witness for us."
"Wha—... mmm!"
Her protest was swallowed by a kiss sweet with the scent of strawberries.
Swish—
A night wind suddenly whipped up a storm of cherry blossoms. Amid the flurry of pink and white, he dipped his head, capturing her lingering shyness.
Above them, the icy blossoms burst like fireworks, countless specks of light raining into the springs, blooming into twin lotuses.
Su Muwan shut her eyes,
her mind drowning in a haze of emotion.
D-damn it...
Like this...
she’d never escape Qin Luo’s grasp...
[Bond value +50]
[Bond value +100]
[Bond value +200]
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.
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!
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
