Leng Qingqiu had been rendered speechless by Gu Yan's words, her face flushed and heart racing.
But now, she was playing the role of Leng Bingning, Leng Qingqiu's elder sister, so she had to act accordingly.
Suppressing her embarrassment, Leng Qingqiu forced her voice to remain steady as she replied, "Oh? I must have underestimated you then."
"Who knew Gu Yan could say something like that?"
What did she mean by "who knew"?
Did he usually come across as that unreliable?
Gu Yan raised an eyebrow. "Come on, hearing you say that is kind of a blow to my ego."
"But... well, I can’t blame you for thinking that, because..."
He paused for a few seconds before continuing with a teasing tone, "Even my dear wife Qingqiu hasn’t uncovered all my good qualities yet."
"What a shame. If only our Qingqiu were here—I’d definitely show her every one of my strengths!"
Leng Qingqiu’s heart skipped a beat.
Why was Gu Yan suddenly saying this? Had he figured out she was pretending?
No, no... that couldn’t be.
She was confident in her disguise.
Covering her mouth, she let out a soft laugh. "What strengths do you even have?"
"You can show them off right now, and I’ll pass them along to my little sister later."
Gu Yan, however, shook his head slightly. "Nope."
"These are qualities I only reveal in front of Qingqiu."
"Since you’re not our Qingqiu, Sister Bingning, let’s just drop it."
Leng Qingqiu felt both relieved and disappointed.
Relieved because Gu Yan maintained proper boundaries with outsiders.
Disappointed because, right now, she wasn’t Leng Qingqiu—she was pretending to be the fabricated Leng Bingning.
This disguise was limiting her too much.
Still, chatting with Gu Yan in this strange, familiar-yet-distant way gave her an oddly refreshing feeling.
She chuckled lightly. "You’re quite loyal, aren’t you? Fine, I’ll stop teasing you. Let’s just keep walking."
Gu Yan smiled without a word.
Internally, though, he was calculating—it was about time. While he wasn’t in a hurry to leave, the group gathering could interfere with his plans.
So...
In his mind, he issued an order for Plan B to Lin.
Meanwhile, Leng Qingqiu suddenly tensed, her sharp gaze turning toward Gu Yan.
Huh?
Had Gu Yan just been silently communicating with someone in his head again?
Unlike Gu Yan’s leisurely, sightseeing-like attitude, Bai Jun and his group ahead were on high alert.
"Captain, just how big is this place?"
"We’ve been walking forever, but the surroundings look exactly the same."
Zhao Zilin, a fellow innate-level martial artist with a bronze complexion, gripped his Martial Arts Department-issued rifle tightly.
His voice was tense—the faint red mist around them obscured their vision, leaving their instruments as the only way to confirm their bearings.
"No idea. Might be a quirk of the Forbidden Zone."
"Maybe it’s related to this mist."
Bai Jun shook his head, scanning the endless white haze around them.
They were in what seemed like a tropical rainforest, surrounded by dense trees and shrubs. Logically, they should’ve encountered dangerous magical creatures by now...
But...
Why was there no trace of them?
A trap?
Just as the thought crossed his mind—
*Hum!*
The mist began to shift. Bai Jun could clearly see its color deepening from pale red to... blood crimson!
Even the previously visible trees and shrubs became indistinguishable.
"Stay sharp, everyone!"
"Keep your eyes open!"
Bai Jun shouted—but it was already too late.
When he turned around, his expression froze.
The people who had been behind him moments ago were gone.
"Damn it...!"
Bai Jun cursed under his breath.
His instrument showed all the surrounding signals had vanished—his team had been separated.
How did this happen?
Staying rooted in place, Bai Jun warily observed his surroundings.
The crimson mist was spreading rapidly, swallowing even the faint outlines of the path until nothing remained but pure white.
Like an invisible hand, the mist had effortlessly torn them apart.
The team was now scattered.
Yet—
Before Bai Jun could react, the mist shrouding the Forbidden Zone began to dissipate.
The scene before him gradually cleared.
"??"
Bai Jun blinked in confusion.
He found himself standing near a seemingly tranquil swamp, its surface covered in thick moss and decaying leaves.
Along with... over a dozen martial artists from the department and various sects!
They exchanged bewildered glances, equally disoriented by the sudden shift.
Bai Jun quickly realized—they had been...
Teleported?
"Brother Bai Jun...!!"
A familiar, fragile voice reached his ears.
He turned—
There stood Bai Lian, her eyes red-rimmed like a frightened fawn amidst the crowd.
Her vulnerable appearance instantly stirred a fierce urge to protect her.
She, too, seemed to have been separated from her team by the mist.
"Bai Lian?!"
Bai Jun was stunned, then immediately strode toward her without hesitation.
Meanwhile—
Every martial artist from the department or sects who had entered the Forbidden Zone had been similarly scattered and regrouped by the mist.
Shangguan Miaoyin and Ning Qian coincidentally ended up in the same area.
"Hmm? Interesting... The mist split us up?"
Shangguan Miaoyin surveyed her surroundings.
They were in a vast, open space with a floor made of an unknown material. At its center stood an ancient altar, above which the air warped—as if hiding a portal to another world.
Ning Qian frowned, tightening her grip on her sword as she eyed the altar warily. "This thing feels off. The aura of magical creatures here is overwhelming."
Shangguan Miaoyin nodded slightly, scanning the others nearby.
Their cultivation levels varied—some were department martial artists, others from sects.
Their confused expressions suggested they, too, had been randomly relocated by the mist.
Well, no matter.
Her gaze flicked to Ning Qian, who was intently studying the altar.
*Being paired with Ning Qian...*
*Not the worst outcome.*
Time to filter out who belonged to which faction.
...
As expected, Mei Xue and You Xingxue were grouped together.
"Waaah! Where are we?! This is so scary...!"
You Xingxue crouched on the ground, hugging her head as tears welled in her eyes.
Mei Xue ignored the other party, merely casting a quiet glance around. She found herself in a dense, shadowy forest where towering trees stood closely together, their intertwined canopies blotting out the sky.
Even though the crimson mist had dissipated, the place remained as dark as night.
More importantly...
Mei Xue observed the attire of the people surrounding her.
Why such a coincidence?
But it didn’t matter. She narrowed her eyes slightly.
The terrain was perfect—an ideal... assassination ground!
Coincidentally, her former master had tasked her with hunting down sect warriors, and this was the perfect opportunity to test her new abilities.
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!"
shall grant"] ["Inscribing the glory of our race upon tombstones"] ["All that is threatened, I shall protect"] How his younger sister sees her brother: A brother who only makes eye contact once a day, mostly fading into the background as he tinkers with who-knows-what in his room all day. Their life paths should have remained largely separate. Until one day. Su Qi created an equipment card for his never-met "online girlfriend." His sister fell into silent contemplation upon receiving the "white stockings." [Card can be upgraded] [Upgrade by fulfilling any of the following conditions] [Condition ①: Consume one hundred higher-tier cards] [Condition ②: Complete one 'Heart-Pounding Adventure'] What constitutes a Heart-Pounding Adventure? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Beginner Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to admire it.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Easy Level): Equip the card, invite 'Su Qi' to touch it, and analyze the equipment's texture.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Entry Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to...] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Challenge Level): Freely combine the words 'Brother' 'Out' 'Brother' 'Me' 'Please' into a complete sentence...] "Please help me analyze both teams' mistakes in this match, brother..." His sister exhaled in relief—surely... surely there couldn't be anything more difficult? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Suicide Mission Level): Sneak a peek at the names of the galgames in 'Su Qi's' hidden E-drive folder]
u serious?" Chen Feng watched helplessly as his painstakingly trained disciple, fresh off a championship victory, publicly abandoned him. "You had your chance, but you didn’t appreciate it. Now, face the consequences of your choice!" Chen Feng possessed the "Master System," a treasure trove of supreme martial arts techniques, capable of molding ordinary individuals into peerless prodigies. "Legs like yours? A shame not to train in the Crippling Kick." "Ever heard of a palm strike that descends from the heavens?" "Auntie! I see extraordinary bone structure in you—a martial arts prodigy, one in ten thousand." The once-defiant senior disciple, now watching her juniors rise to fame one after another, dominating the internet, was consumed by endless regret.
reezy rom-com) Good news: Jiang Liu is quite the ladies' man. Bad news: He’s lost his memory. Lying in a hospital bed, Jiang Liu listens to a parade of goddesses spouting "absurd claims," feeling like the world is one giant game of Werewolf. "Jiang Liu, I’m your first love." "Jiang Liu, you’re my boyfriend—she’s your ex." "Jiang Liu, we’re close friends who’ve shared a bed, remember?" "Jiang Liu, I want to have your baby." The now-lucid Jiang Liu is convinced this must be some elaborate scam... until someone drops the bombshell: "The day before you lost your memory, you confessed your feelings—and got into a relationship." Jiang Liu is utterly baffled. So... who the hell is his actual girlfriend?! ... Before recovering his memories, Jiang Liu must navigate this minefield of lies and sincerity, fighting to protect himself from these women’s schemes. But things spiral even further out of control as more people show up at his doorstep—each with increasingly unhinged antics. On the bright side, the memories he lost due to overwhelming trauma seem to be resurfacing. Great news, right? So why are they all panicking now?
