4 AM.
The streets had completely quieted down. Even the energetic young boys practicing basketball couldn't resist drowsiness and had fallen asleep.
The streetlights cast a dim glow, their faint creaking accompanying the night breeze, lending an eerie atmosphere.
The night air was chilly, carrying a biting coldness.
Lan Ruoxi stole a glance at An Yi beside her, her lips curling into a sweet smile.
This path, which would usually fill her with fear at night, no longer felt terrifying.
An Yi noticed her thin clothing and asked, "Cold?"
"A... a little."
Lan Ruoxi bit her lower lip lightly.
Without hesitation, An Yi took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. "It's chilly at night."
"Mhm, thank you."
Lan Ruoxi's cheeks flushed as she gave a shy smile.
This was a scene she had only seen in romantic dramas—a boy draping his jacket over a girl as they walked in sync down an empty street.
"But... you're not wearing much either."
Lan Ruoxi glanced at An Yi’s thin short sleeves and spoke softly.
An Yi replied nonchalantly, "It's fine. I’ve got another one."
With that, he pulled out another jacket seemingly out of thin air and put it on.
Lan Ruoxi: "..."
"Cool, right? It's magic!" An Yi boasted playfully.
Lan Ruoxi giggled and nodded. "Mhm, so impressive."
An Yi chuckled helplessly.
Girls were different from one another.
When he had shown this trick to the adorably clueless Shen Muxuan, she had been stunned for ages, even pestering him about how he did it for three whole days afterward.
But Lan Ruoxi was too clever—and too kind—always careful not to overstep boundaries.
Not far from the city center lay the urban district.
An area where urbanization was still incomplete, giving off the vibe of a rural-urban fringe.
Once considered an eyesore by the residents of Jiangbei.
"An Yi, I’m home. Thank you for walking me back."
Lan Ruoxi stopped in front of a modest house and turned to An Yi.
An Yi smiled at her. "Get some rest. Don’t go to the company tomorrow—take the day off."
Lan Ruoxi let out a soft laugh. "Not going to school must have messed up your sense of time. Tomorrow’s Saturday."
"Oh, right. Then rest well over the weekend. Don’t think about work for now."
An Yi watched as Lan Ruoxi entered, a faint smile on his lips. "Goodnight."
"Mhm, goodnight!"
Lan Ruoxi waved with a smile.
Just then, the slightly rusted iron gate creaked open.
"Ruoxi, why are you back so late?"
A middle-aged woman stepped out, her voice laced with worry.
"Mom! Y-you shouldn’t be staying up so late with your health like this. Why aren’t you asleep?"
Lan Ruoxi hurriedly replied.
An Yi observed quietly. He recognized her—this was Lan Ruoxi’s mother, Liu Yuefen.
Back when he had secretly treated her illness in the hospital, she probably hadn’t known it was him.
"How could I sleep when you’re out so late?"
Liu Yuefen’s gentle face was etched with concern as she frowned slightly. "Ruoxi, didn’t you say university classes were light? It’s only the start of the semester, so why—"
Mid-sentence, she noticed An Yi standing nearby and paused. "And this is...?"
Her daughter had been staying out late for days, and now she was being brought home by a boy in the dead of night—
Instantly, Liu Yuefen tensed up.
"Mom, he’s... he’s..."
Lan Ruoxi hesitated before finally saying, "A classmate."
"A classmate?"
Liu Yuefen gave An Yi a skeptical look.
Seems like Lan Ruoxi hadn’t told her mother about dropping out.
An Yi took a deep breath, his expression turning serious. "Auntie, hello. I’m An Yi. I’m... Ruoxi’s boyfriend!"
"B-boyfriend?!"
Lan Ruoxi’s face burned crimson, her heart pounding so hard she could hear it. Even her delicate earlobes turned red.
Thankfully, the dim night concealed her embarrassment.
An Yi was nervous too.
A well-behaved girl suddenly bringing home a boyfriend—most parents would have a hard time accepting it.
But to his surprise, Liu Yuefen’s face broke into a warm smile. "So you’re Xiao Yi! Ruoxi talks about you often."
"Mom! I-I don’t—"
Lan Ruoxi’s protest was barely audible.
An Yi exhaled in relief.
Lan Ruoxi’s mother was far more amiable than he’d expected.
He had braced himself for a scolding.
Liu Yuefen chuckled, looking at her daughter. "I knew it. This girl never used to mention boys, but lately, she keeps bringing up An Yi’s name. So she’s got a boyfriend now."
Lan Ruoxi’s face burned hotter.
She still hadn’t recovered from An Yi’s declaration that he was her boyfriend.
It felt like she was floating in a dream, unsure if this was real.
An Yi scratched his head. "It’s really late. Auntie, Ruoxi, I should get going."
"Mhm. Goodnight."
Lan Ruoxi nodded shyly.
"It’s so late already. Why don’t you stay the night?" Liu Yuefen offered warmly.
"Mom!"
Lan Ruoxi protested weakly.
Liu Yuefen shot her a look before smiling at An Yi. "Our place isn’t big, but we’ve got room for a guest."
An Yi rubbed his neck awkwardly. "I-I don’t think that’s appropriate..."
Deep down, he was still a reserved guy.
Night deepened.
An Yi lay in bed, wide awake.
No meditation techniques, no fear of hair loss—just pure insomnia.
Because right beside him was Lan Ruoxi, her faint, sweet fragrance filling the air.
Yes, they were sharing a bed.
As for where Liu Yuefen had said he could sleep?
Lan Ruoxi’s bed.
At first, she had said she’d find him a place.
But then she claimed the other rooms were too messy to tidy up at this hour, so he’d have to make do in Lan Ruoxi’s room for the night...
Her bed was a double, so space wasn’t an issue—but that wasn’t the point!
An Yi stole a glance at Lan Ruoxi’s graceful silhouette beside him, his pulse refusing to calm down.
Never had he imagined that he, a certified virgin and hopelessly single straight guy, would find himself torn between choices when it came to girlfriends.
Back in the ancient continent, it was simple—the more wealth and power a man had, the more wives and concubines he could take.
The more beautiful women by his side, the higher his status.
In that regard, An Yi was a traditionalist at heart.
But in Xia Country... that probably wasn’t acceptable.
Lan Ruoxi lay with her back to him, breathing evenly, but An Yi would bet anything she wasn’t asleep.
Compared to the adorably clueless Shen Muxuan, sharing a bed with the gentle and composed Lan Ruoxi gave him an entirely different feeling.
Indescribable, really.
"Uh... Ruoxi, you asleep?" An Yi whispered.
"Ah? N-no..."
Lan Ruoxi’s voice trembled nervously. "To be honest, An Yi... I-I’m not really ready yet."
An Yi: "..."
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
] [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!"
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!
