At the villa entrance.
Shen Muxuan stood there foolishly, waiting alone, occasionally raising her head to glance around before lowering it again in disappointment, staring at her toes.
"Hey, what are you looking at? Let's go."
An Yi silently appeared behind Shen Muxuan and lightly flicked her head with his knuckles.
Shen Muxuan's eyes lit up with joy. "An Yi, you're finally back!"
"Let's go home," An Yi said with a light chuckle.
Shen Muxuan looked at him, hesitating before finally speaking softly. "An Yi..."
"What's up?" An Yi asked curiously.
Something felt off about this girl tonight!
"An Yi, Qin... Qin Yao is a good girl. You mustn't let her down!" Shen Muxuan said seriously, staring at him.
An Yi raised an eyebrow, staring at her in disbelief.
What on earth had happened while he was fighting the Dark Taoist?
Why were both Qin Yao and Shen Muxuan pushing each other toward him?
He hadn't even successfully pursued either of them yet!
What was with all this self-sacrifice?!
If only one of them would step up so he could complete his "romance expert" mission!
Shen Muxuan's expression dimmed. She knew she didn’t have much longer to live.
Compared to her, Qin Yao was a much better match for An Yi.
She was beautiful, came from a good family, and had a long life ahead of her.
Besides, Shen Muxuan already knew.
That time she did An Yi’s laundry, she’d found a small photo of Qin Yao tucked inside his wallet...
"You don’t have a fever..." An Yi pressed a hand to her smooth forehead and sighed. "What’s gotten into you?"
"I..."
Shen Muxuan mustered her courage, hesitated for a long moment, then suddenly deflated, stammering, "I'm hungry. I want a midnight snack."
"Again?! Didn’t you just eat? And at a free banquet, no less! You should’ve stuffed yourself then!"
An Yi scratched his messy hair in annoyance. "Barbecue or KFC?"
Shen Muxuan beamed. "Either!"
"Then barbecue it is. There’s a great place near the Law Enforcement Bureau—huge chunks of meat on red willow skewers, super cheap, and when they sprinkle on the cumin and chili flakes, the oil sizzles... the flavor is just—"
As An Yi enthusiastically described it, Shen Muxuan listened intently, wiping drool from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve.
The two drew closer to the Law Enforcement Bureau.
"Wait!"
Shen Muxuan’s expression suddenly changed, and she grabbed An Yi’s hand.
"What now?" An Yi asked, surprised.
This was the first time she’d ever initiated holding hands.
Shen Muxuan glanced toward the Law Enforcement Bureau, her face pale, forcing a weak smile. "An Yi... I want KFC instead."
An Yi groaned. "Seriously? We’re already here—the barbecue stall is right ahead! And now you change your mind?"
"I want a burger! Please?"
She grabbed his arm, shaking it pleadingly, her eyes wide and pitiful.
"With your appetite, burgers will bankrupt me!"
Seeing her pitiful expression, An Yi sighed and turned around. "Fine, fine. Burgers it is. My fortune of 4,896,342 yuan is going to vanish at this rate."
"You’re the best!"
Shen Muxuan smiled happily, clinging to his arm.
But when she glanced back at the Law Enforcement Bureau in the distance, her face paled again.
A monstrous evil aura was raging there!
She couldn’t let An Yi go near it. No matter what!
Biting her lip, she closed her eyes in guilt, refusing to look.
"I’m sorry... I can’t let An Yi get hurt again. I’m sorry... I’m so sorry..."
---
Law Enforcement Bureau
Yan Zhi gripped her silver whip, her phoenix-like eyes sweeping over the crowd of sinister cultivators before her. Her stunning face was icy with fury.
Her white Law Enforcement Bureau uniform was torn in places, a far cry from her usual imposing presence.
Now, she was surrounded—by over twenty grotesque-looking evil cultivators, all leering at her with twisted grins, their eyes roaming over her curvaceous figure.
"Tsk tsk, this girl’s body is something else! Just looking at her gets me all fired up!"
"No kidding! Men love a woman with curves like that. And that face—so delicate and pretty. Wonder how she’d taste?"
"Look at that tiny waist! And those long legs! The perfect hourglass figure—if I could have just one night with her, I’d trade immortality for it!"
Several of the evil cultivators licked their lips, their gazes filled with dark desire.
Behind Yan Zhi, more than a dozen law enforcers—including Liu Wei—lay unconscious, severely wounded.
The entire Jiangbei City Law Enforcement Bureau had no fighters beyond the Mingjin level, aside from Yan Zhi herself.
Faced with this ambush, they hadn’t stood a chance.
A handsome young man in Taoist robes, a crimson dot between his brows, stepped forward leisurely.
"Miss Yan, I’ve heard of your reputation. You’re strong, but there are over twenty of us. Are you really willing to fight to the death?"
Yan Zhi stared at him in shock. "You’re... the Thousand Taoist?"
It really was him!
A notorious figure who had wreaked havoc across the martial world for decades—a man so vile that the righteous sects had failed to eliminate him for fifty years!
But what stunned Yan Zhi wasn’t his identity—it was his appearance.
He was supposed to be over a hundred years old, with white hair and a wizened face.
So why did he look like a man in his twenties?!
That was impossible!
The Thousand Taoist smiled warmly. "I’m flattered Miss Yan recognizes me."
"You... you’re really the Thousand Taoist?"
Yan Zhi couldn’t believe it. This contradicted all records!
The Thousand Taoist chuckled. "This is the power of the immortals. We could’ve coexisted peacefully, but you insisted on hunting us down. Now, don’t blame me for being ruthless."
"You monsters, calling yourselves immortals! As long as you exist, this country will never know peace!"
Yan Zhi’s voice was sharp with hatred.
The Thousand Taoist smirked. "Since words won’t sway you, let’s settle this with action. My men are quite taken with you, Miss Yan."
"Heh heh! This girl’s a real looker. I’ve always had a thing for voluptuous women."
A bald, middle-aged man with a swollen forehead and a necklace of skulls licked his lips greedily.
"Too bad Yang Heng isn’t here—he loves collecting concubines!"
Next to him, a dwarf barely over three feet tall grinned lecherously.
"Word is, the Qin family’s young miss is a peerless beauty too. Yang Heng has high standards—this one’s all yours today."
The Thousand Taoist chuckled, raising his horsetail whisk. A surge of energy billowed his robes.
Yan Zhi tightened her grip on her whip, channeling her own energy.
This battle... would be brutal.
Three of the enemy were at the Anjin level, and the rest were all Mingjin cultivators, watching like vultures.
But then, the Thousand Taoist paused, his cold gaze shifting to a bespectacled youth crouched in a corner near the Law Enforcement Bureau, scribbling in a notebook.
"Spying on us, friend? You’ve been hiding long enough. Care to introduce yourself?"
some people's 18th birthday, deities bestow a playing card imbued with "supernatural abilities." 52 playing cards, 52 unique powers. Those who receive these special cards gain admission to the finest supernatural academy. School Beauty: "I have the Queen of Spades—I can summon any weapon!" Rich Heir: "My dad holds the Jack of Diamonds—it grants infinite wealth!" Meanwhile, in another corner, a young man wields his card, effortlessly using all 52 abilities. The crowd gasps in shock. "What card do you have?" The youth glances at his card and smirks: "Well..." Busiest in the circus, wildest in Gotham. Standing guard at McDonald's, unmatched in the deck. "Please check the book title."
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
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...
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
