Life is hard, Xiao Leng sighs

In the dark void of space.

Everyone was reporting on the progress of their previous plans.

Bai Lian was the first to speak: "All members of the Black Tortoise Gate have been confirmed dead."

"The successor of the Black Tortoise Qi has perished, and the Black Tortoise Qi has been absorbed."

A strikingly handsome man spoke slowly: "According to the investigations by Jian and me..."

"The location of the Peach Blossom Society has been confirmed to be the Fifth Forbidden Zone."

"Due to the appearance of the Nether Clan, the Peach Blossom Society was wiped out."

Hearing this,

Jian, the bandaged man beside him, stammered: "A-Ancient... Qi..."

The handsome man, Han Ying, took over and addressed Leng Qingqiu respectfully: "What Jian means is, based on the martial artists we interrogated..."

"The Ancient Qi appeared in the Fifth Forbidden Zone. Combining this with the location of the Peach Blossom Society, we suspect the Ancient Qi is the Flower God Qi of the Peach Blossom Society."

At this point,

Shangguan Miaoyin chimed in: "Master, the Martial Arts Department has also confirmed that the Nether Clan is, in fact, a group of ancient demons."

"And back when we were in the Forbidden Zone, that woman suspected to be an ancient demon referred to their king as [Monarch]."

"That Monarch explicitly stated that he knew our purpose for entering the Forbidden Zone."

"He must have been referring to the martial artists' search for the Ancient Qi."

Bai Lian shot Shangguan Miaoyin a glare upon hearing this.

Damn Shangguan, stealing my lines again!

Mei Xue then spoke up: "Master, Lin Yinyin, the head of the Peace Faction in the Martial Arts Department, has been stripped of her authority and removed from her position."

"Bai Jun, the head of the Jianghai branch, has also been recalled to headquarters for investigation."

"Now that the Peace Faction is leaderless, this might be our opportunity."

Leng Qingqiu had a rough grasp of the current situation by now.

"Hmm..."

She feigned contemplation before speaking slowly: "Shangguan Miaoyin and the others will continue their undercover work in the Martial Arts Department."

"Your next task is to infiltrate the higher ranks and gather more internal intelligence."

"Yes!"

Leng Qingqiu then turned to the man holding a folding fan: "Jun Zilan, you will continue to protect Leng Ling'er from the shadows."

"If anything unusual happens at the school, report to me immediately."

Jun Zilan bowed respectfully: "Understood!"

"As for the rest of you, keep searching for suitable candidates to recruit into the Night Organization."

"Finally."

Leng Qingqiu swept her icy gaze across everyone: "All of you..."

"The events in the Forbidden Zone have exposed your fatal weakness—lack of strength."

"Each of you must use every resource and moment available to improve your combat power."

"Yes!"

Bai Lian shrank back.

She hated training the most—wasn’t her innate charm physique enough?

Seeing that the time was right,

Leng Qingqiu nodded in satisfaction: "Good. Meeting adjourned."

Whoosh!

In an instant,

the surrounding space began to distort.

Everyone found themselves fading into nothingness, just as they had when they first arrived.

A flash of white light later,

Shangguan Miaoyin and the others woke up in the martial artists' hospital.

They were still in the same positions as when they had entered the shadowy void.

"Tsk! As expected of our master!"

"Effortlessly achieving something like this!"

Shangguan Miaoyin gasped—the master's power had grown even stronger!

She... had to work harder to keep up with her master's pace!

......

......

The Leng Family.

Leng Qingqiu's consciousness returned to her study.

She exhaled deeply.

With her heightened perception, she had discovered she could create such a shadowy void.

And she could pull the consciousness of the Night Organization members into it.

This way, she could make appearances remotely while staying at home!

Although...

This world already seemed to have such technology.

She vaguely remembered Gu Yan mentioning something called... video calls?

Speaking of videos,

Leng Qingqiu seemed to recall something.

She picked up the phone that had been lying on her desk.

Her fingers fumbled over it for a moment.

A conflicted expression crossed her face.

Hmm...

Should she call Gu Yan?

Her own tasks were done, but the weekend was still two days away.

Calling him now might seem too deliberate.

Besides, if Gu Yan was busy, wouldn’t she be disturbing him?

And if he misunderstood it as her being overly fond of him, that would be awkward.

[Other Me, you already cried and threw a tantrum in front of the furnace. Why care about awkwardness now?]

"?? Little Cold, shut up! That was all an accident!"

Leng Qingqiu's face flushed. She clenched her fists and vowed: "I swear I won’t shed a single tear in front of Gu Yan again."

"I am the Night King!"

[.......]

[Sure, keep telling yourself that.]

[Since the weekend is still a while away, why not endure the loneliness and read a book in the meantime?]

Read a book...

Emmmm.........

For some reason, Leng Qingqiu hesitated at the suggestion.

But she quickly caught herself.

Leng Qingqiu, what’s wrong with you?

The old you loved studying and learning.

But lately, you’ve grown lazier and lazier.

This is wrong. This is unacceptable! You must return to your former self!

Therefore!

"It’s time to study!"

Leng Qingqiu grabbed her phone and marched into the gaming room.

[? Why the gaming room?]

"Little Cold, you don’t understand. We’re going to use modern technology to study more efficiently."

"For example, I can search for complete materials online."

"The AI will read them for me—I just need to listen."

Leng Qingqiu declared confidently.

And so,

as the gaming room door closed,

the faint sounds of a romantic comedy drifted out.

[.......]

Little Cold had nothing left to say to her other self.

What had turned the once cold and ruthless Night King into this?

Sigh...

Life was hard, and Little Cold sighed.

Seems like...

it was time to have another heart-to-heart with the furnace.