The crowd around them felt their hearts surge like tidal waves as the two figures entered.
No one expected the Nangong family to show up as well.
They were one of Yang City's only two reclusive clans.
Compared to the Dai family, the Nangong family truly embodied the meaning of "reclusive."
They were far more low-key than the Dais.
The middle-aged man carrying a briefcase was known as the "Working Emperor of Jiangbei"—Ren Fuhai.
All of the Nangong family's business affairs were under his control, and most people had no idea the Nangong family even existed.
Rumors said Ren Fuhai had married into the Nangong family.
The little girl beside him was Nangong Yao, the granddaughter of the Nangong family's patriarch.
Xu Mu sat back down, surprised that the Nangong family had also appeared.
According to the plot, the Nangong family kept to themselves, developing independently and never clashing with the Dragon King.
"Dai Xiao! You villain, bullying people again! Behold my holy light!"
Nangong Yao had already scampered up to Dai Xiao, pummeling his body with her tiny fists.
Dai Xiao couldn’t be bothered to deal with this chuunibyou girl.
He pushed Nangong Yao aside and glared at Ren Fuhai. "The Nangong family, who never meddles in worldly affairs, now wants a piece of the pie?"
"We’re an investment firm. When we see a promising opportunity, we invest."
As he spoke, Ren Fuhai walked toward Xu Shou. "Boss Xu, shall we talk?"
Xu Shou glanced at the briefcase in Ren Fuhai’s hand and nodded slightly.
"Hold on!"
Dai Xiao raised a hand. "If we’re talking, it should be with our Dai family first. Manager Ren, first come, first served, no?"
"Suit yourself. Business is about the highest bidder anyway. Even if the Dais talk first, if our Nangong family offers better terms later, we’ll still have the advantage."
Ren Fuhai adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses with a smile.
"Let’s all go together."
Xu Mu spoke up, then turned to Shen Hong. "Mr. Shen, you should join us too."
"Wouldn’t miss it."
Shen Hong nodded lightly. This was exactly why he had come, though he hadn’t expected Xu Shou to anticipate it and invite him outright.
Feng Jian opened his mouth but ultimately swallowed his words.
As a powerless second-generation heir, he had no place at the adults' table.
In the end, Xu Shou and Xu Ningbing led the three men to the innermost table.
"Yao Yao, you came too?"
Shen Wanning walked over to Nangong Yao with a smile.
"Wanning-jie, I didn’t see you earlier!" Nangong Yao looked up, her expression adorably clueless.
The two were close—many of Nangong Yao’s musical instruments had been taught to her by Shen Wanning.
Shen Hong was more than happy for his daughter to be connected to the Nangong family.
Since Feng Jian couldn’t join the main discussion, he turned his attention back to Xu Mu.
Especially that damn punk beside him—he was practically begging for a beating.
"Xu Mu, let’s finish our earlier conversation." Feng Jian glared at him coldly.
"What? Xu Mu?"
Nangong Yao suddenly turned her head toward the seated Xu Mu. She clapped a hand over her left eye. "Ah! The stench of evil! I shall purify you with my holy light!"
With that, she charged at Xu Mu.
She vaguely remembered Xu Mu bullying Shen Wanning years ago. Back then, she had even asked the family servants who Xu Mu was.
They had told her he was a good-for-nothing troublemaker.
And now, here he was.
"O sinner! Be cleansed!"
Nangong Yao kept one hand over her left eye while the other formed a fist, raining light punches on Xu Mu’s leg—though the force was more like a massage.
Xu Mu scanned her briefly with his Divine Eye. Neither the original plot nor the memories of the villainous Xu Mu had much on this girl.
Name: Nangong Yao
Role: Young mistress of the Nangong family, female lead of The Master Descends the Mountain: My Seven Stunning Senior Sisters.
Favorability: -20
Protagonist Level: 8 (Max 10)
Xu Mu was momentarily stunned. He wasn’t sure when exactly she became the female lead.
If it was after she grew up, fine. But if she was already the female lead now… then the protagonist of The Master Descends the Mountain had some explaining to do.
Feng Jian had planned to keep provoking Xu Mu, but with Nangong Yao around, he held back.
If he made this little girl cry, he’d be in deep trouble.
Meng Wanyue frowned slightly as she watched Nangong Yao hitting Xu Mu.
But seeing Xu Mu smile, clearly unbothered, she didn’t intervene.
Su Ruiming’s admiration for Xu Mu surged like a mighty river.
To him, this little girl was clearly flirting with Xu Mu.
Young Master Xu truly had presence—his sheer charisma had even drawn in such a cute loli.
"Wait… my sins… they’re gone?"
Xu Mu suddenly looked at Nangong Yao in exaggerated shock.
"Huh? Gone?"
Nangong Yao froze, staring at her tiny fists. "Did my purification actually work?"
"If I’m not mistaken… the eye you’re covering must be the legendary Sacred Eye, right?"
Xu Mu put on a grave expression.
Dealing with a chuunibyou girl like this? A few lines were all it took.
[Favorability +10]
Black text floated above Nangong Yao’s head.
Her eyes widened, her twin tails quivering.
Then she leaned in and whispered, "Shh! Keep it down. The bad guys might hear."
Xu Mu nearly laughed. Clearly, no one had ever humored her little games before.
A single sentence had bridged the gap between them.
"Got it."
Xu Mu nodded solemnly, then whispered back, "I’m like you—I have sacred power too. But I was tainted by darkness. Thank you for saving me."
"You… you have sacred power too?"
Nangong Yao’s face lit up with awe. "I’ve finally found a kindred spirit!"
[Favorability +10]
More black text appeared. A few words, and her favorability had turned positive.
This loli was way too easy to fool.
From a distance, Shen Wanning watched in disbelief. Just moments ago, Nangong Yao had been hitting Xu Mu.
Now, they were whispering like old friends?
Just then, Xu Ningbing approached. "Dad wants you," he said to Xu Mu.
Xu Mu nodded and turned to Nangong Yao. "I have to go for a bit."
"I’ll come too! To slay evil with you!"
Nangong Yao grabbed the hem of Xu Mu’s shirt, tagging along.
Xu Ningbing glanced down at the little girl. Since when were she and Xu Mu so close?
---
At the far table, Xu Mu noticed Xu Shou’s grim expression.
Xu Ningbing sat back down, his face icy.
Ren Fuhai was stunned. Since when had Nangong Yao sided with Xu Mu?
"Xu Mu, I never thought the Xu family’s decisions needed your approval."
Dai Xiao crossed his legs, smirking.
"He’s still part of the family."
Xu Shou forced a smile and turned to Xu Mu. "They want 80% of our pharmaceutical company’s profits. Do you agree?"
"No."
Xu Mu replied flatly as he walked over.
"Then there's nothing left to discuss." Xu Shou spread his hands with a smile, eyeing the three people across from him.
"Xu Shou, I think you're doing this on purpose."
Dai Xiao's palm pressed against the table, his tone turning icy.
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?!
spital. Good news: I've bound a system. Bad news: I'm still a baby. "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, do not bully the middle-aged for being poor — Divorce Comeback System." "Your marriage may have failed, but your luck in love has never run dry. Your childhood sweetheart, out of contact for twenty years, reappears. Her beauty remains, yet her eyes are brimming with tears." [Listen to the childhood sweetheart's sorrowful story.] Chen Zhi looked down at the diaper he was wearing, then at the little childhood sweetheart crying her heart out beside him, and fell into deep thought. Can anyone relate? I'm having a midlife crisis at an age where even rolling over is a struggle.
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
