"Hey, hey, hey.
What's going on here?
There's no way the system's notification is wrong, right?"
"System, are you glitching?"
[Reporting to the host, this system does not make errors in judging pure love values!]
Hiss...
Hearing this, Gu Yan inwardly drew a sharp breath.
If the system was this confident...
Then that meant...
He raised his head and looked at Leng Bingning, Leng Qingqiu's elder sister, who had pulled him into her arms with one hand.
In other words...
This person... was actually...
Our Qingqiu?!
Hiss!!
For some reason, apart from growing even more nervous, Gu Yan also felt an inexplicable thrill of excitement.
It was like the giddy rush of coming home from a business trip to find the person he loved waiting in his rented apartment, surprising him with open arms.
But... what should he do now?
Gu Yan's mind raced.
The armored vehicle had been ambushed by the Demon Creatures he'd arranged—according to the script, he and Old Gao were supposed to take injuries and exit the scene here.
But!
Qingqiu was already here, and he...
Wanted to stay with her a little longer!
So!
After deliberating for a mere 0.00001 seconds, he reached a decision.
He would—immediately change the battle plan!
He—would not retreat just yet!
Sorry, Old Gao... I’m deviating from the script.
Back in reality—BOOM!!
With the driver injured, the vehicle quickly lost control, crashing into a thick tree and stalling.
"Waaah! We’re flipping over! Bai Jun, save me!"
Lin Yinyin threw herself into Bai Jun's arms, trembling in fear with her eyes shut tight.
"Professor, calm down! It's Demon Creatures—we’re under attack!"
Bai Jun sighed helplessly as he looked at Lin Yinyin, who had boldly vowed to protect everyone just minutes ago but was now cowering in his embrace.
Well, that was just her personality—powerful, yes, but easily frightened.
"Really? Just Demon Creatures?"
Lin Yinyin immediately lifted her head, an awkward smile flashing across her face as she straightened up. "Heh, just a little joke."
"Pathetic Demon Creatures? I could wipe them out with a flick of my finger!"
Bai Jun exhaled. "Let’s hope so..."
He turned his gaze to the window, but strangely...
The Demon Creatures seemed to have vanished after flipping their vehicle, attacking only the driver before retreating.
"Captain Bai, he's fine—just unconscious from inhaling miasma and a dose of toxin," Wang Yi called out after checking the driver’s condition.
Hearing this, Bai Jun nodded, then turned to Lin Yinyin. "Professor, scan the perimeter."
"On it!"
Lin Yinyin focused for a few seconds before frowning. "No Demon Creatures nearby."
"Even the big one from earlier is gone."
Gone...
Bai Jun narrowed his eyes. He trusted the professor’s sensory abilities completely.
If she said the coast was clear, then it must be safe.
After confirming everyone was mostly unharmed, he ordered, "Logistics team, stay in the vehicle and tend to the injured."
"Everyone else, grab your gear and follow me outside!"
"Professor, you stay here and guard the support team."
Then, his gaze landed on Gu Yan, who was in an awkward position. "Gu Yan... you..."
Still held in Leng Qingqiu’s embrace, Gu Yan coughed lightly. "It's nothing, just a crick in my neck."
After a pause, he slipped free and rotated his neck with a grin. "See? Good as new."
"Oh... Alright then."
A few minutes later—
CRACK!
The door swung open, and the group cautiously stepped out, weapons in hand.
Unlike the world they knew, this place was shrouded in a crimson mist.
The air was thick with dampness, and an eerie silence blanketed the surroundings—a calm that hid unpredictable danger.
"What’s going on? Are there really no Demon Creatures here?" Qin Rong muttered warily, scanning the area.
Nearby, Chu Ge, a man holding a detection device, nodded. "No readings on the scanner. The area's clean."
Despite the reassurance, Bai Jun remained vigilant. The sudden ambush and subsequent disappearance of the Demon Creatures was too suspicious. "Stay alert. Some Demon Creatures excel at masking their presence."
"We have too little intel on the Fifth Forbidden Zone. First, let’s confirm our coordinates."
"Understood, Captain."
Whether Bai Jun and the others were at ease, Gu Yan didn’t know.
But he certainly wasn’t.
According to his plan, hundreds of Demon Creatures should have swarmed them by now, scattering the group and forcing Old Gao to retreat after getting knocked unconscious.
That was how it was supposed to go...
So... what was happening?
[My King! Disaster—the forces we sent were annihilated in an instant by some unknown power!]
Listening to Lin’s panicked voice in his mind, Gu Yan had a guess.
Who here could wipe out so many Demon Creatures without a trace?
His eyes shifted to Leng Qingqiu.
Oh... My dear wife, you’re truly something...
The disappearance of the Demon Creatures was, of course, Leng Qingqiu’s doing.
To protect Gu Yan, she had to ensure no living threat remained within a hundred miles.
Moreover, how dare these lowly creatures attack him? As the Night King, she would not tolerate it.
Even if her current strength was limited, with her dagger [Night], her perception, and the Night King’s innate abilities—
In just 0.00001 seconds—
She had drained the life essence of every Demon Creature in the vicinity.
Sensing Gu Yan’s gaze, Leng Qingqiu smirked inwardly. Hmph!
Gu Yan, Gu Yan, no need to panic. I’ve cleared the area for you. Explore safely—I’ll make sure nothing harms you this time.
[Other me... You shouldn’t have done this...]
[The point of the cauldron plan is to temper him. You’re only hindering his growth.]
The ever-logical "Little Cold" immediately intervened in their shared mindscape.
This wasn’t part of the plan! With Leng Qingqiu being this blatantly overprotective, Gu Yan might have already figured out her identity.
After all...
Given his usual "I only love Qingqiu" act, who’s to say they didn’t share some kind of psychic connection?
They might immediately notice something off about Leng Qingqiu’s disguise as Leng Bingning.
That’s exactly why I’ve always been against it—against the other me constantly meeting with the furnace vessel under false identities.
This kind of recklessness will only backfire.
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
] [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!"
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)
iemie, male, Race: Moon. Hobby: Collecting anomalies. At first, he thought he possessed two systems: the Crimson Rainbow Moon and the Clear Cold Frost Moon. One day, he discovered that he himself could also become a system for others, holding the chessboard of fate. The Eighth Epoch, also known as the Eternal Moon Epoch. Humans, witches, elves, bloodline descendants, specters, demons, and spirits together compose a new history. Walking the path on behalf of the moon, before he knew it, Chen Miemie's footsteps were followed by all manner of strange and wondrous anomalies. As time passed, many titles circulated about him—The King in Yellow, Lord of Anomalies, Heart of the Eternal Moon, and more. "Me? I'm just a traveler who enjoys collecting interesting creatures," Chen Miemie said.
