Happy Birthday

A single cry of "Shiniang!" (Master's Wife)

Made the air freeze for a moment.

Sweat beaded on An Yi's forehead.

He still needed to borrow 200 million!

This clueless disciple was practically shoving him toward disaster!

Lin Chen glanced at Fang Jueming with approval.

Though the master was a scoundrel, the disciple seemed quite decent.

Shen Muxuan flushed red, waving her hands shyly. "I—I—I'm not..."

Fang Jueming looked puzzled, turning to Qin Yao. "Then..."

Qin Yao lifted her chin haughtily and snorted. "I'm not either!"

Sweat dripped from An Yi's chin as he forced a smile. "Well, uh, it's already midnight. Qin Yao, happy birthday!"

"Eleven forty-five! You're early!" Qin Yao held up her phone, deadpan.

The topic shift was painfully awkward.

"Early wishes count too! You know, birthdays these days cost a fortune. Speaking of money, it reminds me—"

Truly, An Yi was a man who never forgot his original purpose.

Despite the night's chaos, he still remembered why he came—to borrow money!

"Ah! This destruction—what happened?! What happened?!"

Uncle Fu let out a mournful sigh, his eyes brimming with tears as he surveyed the ruined villa garden. "I've tended this garden for over a decade! And now... ruined!"

An Yi: "..."

Qin Yao quickly comforted him. "It's alright, Uncle Fu. Just a broken wall and some cracked tiles. We can replace them."

"Yao Yao, I'm sorry... Your birthday turned into such a mess."

"Don't worry, Uncle Fu. I'm still happy. Is Little Fu okay?"

"Oh, he's already been taken to the hospital."

That old man is definitely doing this on purpose!

An Yi's face darkened.

The birthday party was undoubtedly ruined.

But for most guests, it had been an unbelievable night—except for Qiu Xu, whose arms were dislocated, and Gu Hongyun, who still hadn't snapped out of his daze.

Most were ordinary people—how could they ever expect to witness martial artists battling up close?

Still, they should be grateful to An Yi and the others.

If the Dark Taoist had truly descended upon the Qin villa, none of them would have survived.

"Master, I'm at the Wu Family Martial Arts School now. Here's my contact info!"

Only as Fang Jueming was leaving did he finally add An Yi on messaging.

"Good. Keep in touch, and train hard!" An Yi waved him off.

"Little Ming, did that scoundrel teach you some pickup artist tricks? Listen, don’t learn from him! He’s a womanizer, a shameless playboy who relies on his looks..."

"Little Ming, as your elder, let me teach you some life principles. A martial artist must have integrity—no cheap tricks..."

Watching the three figures retreat into the distance, An Yi's lips twitched.

They weren't even out of earshot, and already they were slandering his noble character!

How could he rest easy leaving his top disciple under their care?

"Mr. An, if you please!"

Uncle Fu smiled at An Yi, his arm in a sling, yet still managing to gesture for him to scram.

"Those three were dark practitioners. What if—"

An Yi scrambled for an excuse to stay.

Lin Chen cut in coolly, "Relax. We’ll report them to the Law Enforcement Bureau. Besides, they’re critically injured—they might not even survive."

An Yi: "..."

"Give me back my crutches!"

An Yi studied Lin Chen thoughtfully.

Now that he thought about it...

His favorability with this soldier had finally hit zero, unlocking his main questline.

But with no clues yet, how was he supposed to proceed?

"Why are you staring at me?"

Lin Chen felt uneasy under An Yi's scrutiny.

An Yi stroked his chin. "Old Lin, what’s your dream? Maybe I can help make it come true."

He admired his own genius.

Everyone had desires—some dreamed of being billionaires, making wealth their life’s mission.

But life wasn’t a game. Quests might be set, but completion wasn’t guaranteed.

Starting from dreams, desires, or obsessions might be the key to uncovering clues.

"Really?" Lin Chen raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

"Anything within my power!" An Yi said eagerly.

The breakthrough was coming!

Lin Chen nodded. "My greatest wish is for you to stay away from Qin Yao."

An Yi: "..."

He was ready to abandon this questline.

"An Yi, can we talk? There’s something I need to say." Qin Yao’s tone was serious.

"Of course!" An Yi hurried over.

Lin Chen watched like a hawk, gripping his crutch.

One wrong move from that brat, and he’d swing.

"Don’t worry, Yao Yao. You two are a match made in heaven. That An Yi doesn’t stand a chance against you."

Qin Zhengwei patted Lin Chen’s shoulder reassuringly.

Lin Chen stiffened, shaking his head. "Mr. Qin, you misunderstand. I’ve always seen Qin Yao as a younger sister."

"Ah, I get it. Young people these days—‘brother’ and ‘sister,’ all very normal." Qin Zhengwei chuckled knowingly.

Lin Chen: "..."

The villa garden, ravaged by battle, lay in ruins under the pale moonlight.

Silence stretched between them, lonely and still.

"Hey... you weren’t hurt earlier, were you?"

Qin Yao clasped her hands behind her back, feigning indifference as she glanced at An Yi.

When the Dark Taoist struck his chest, her heart had nearly stopped.

An Yi grinned. "I’ll live."

The quiet lingered.

After a few steps, Qin Yao murmured, "Do you... really need money that badly?"

An Yi coughed. "Not desperately. Just a temporary shortage..."

"Here’s 50 million. You can take it."

She handed him a bank card.

An Yi froze.

50 million?!

How did she have that much?!

Even if her father was Jiangbei City’s richest man, he wouldn’t give her that much as pocket money!

She wasn’t starting a business!

"Password’s my birthday."

She shoved it into his hand.

"Wait, this is too much—"

An Yi fumbled, overwhelmed.

50 million—enough to change social classes, to let an ordinary person live lavishly for life.

Holding it now, it felt surreal.

"It’s my dowry. My mother left it for me." Qin Yao met his gaze steadily.

An Yi: "..."

"Why so nervous? It’s a loan! You have to pay me back!"

She walked ahead, then turned, smiling. "Muxuan’s a good girl. Don’t bully her."

"Qin Yao!"

An Yi called out to her retreating figure.

She looked back, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Hmm?"

An Yi pointed to his phone—exactly midnight.

"Happy birthday!"

Recommend Series

Every Sect Member Gives Me One Year of Cultivation Every Day

Every Sect Member Gives Me One Year of Cultivation Every Day

transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”

Being a Wandering Singer in the Cultivation World

Being a Wandering Singer in the Cultivation World

'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.

Vanished for a Millennium, How Did My Dilapidated Sect Become a Sacred Site?

Vanished for a Millennium, How Did My Dilapidated Sect Become a Sacred Site?

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?!

Villain: Agree to Break Off the Engagement at the Start, the Heroine Breaks Down!

Villain: Agree to Break Off the Engagement at the Start, the Heroine Breaks Down!

young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."