How could you have this

"Habbit?" Su Luo felt he had quite a few habits and wasn't sure which one she was referring to.

Jiang Ningshu smiled mysteriously and directly summoned a diary.

"How about this? Does it look familiar?"

"You... how do you have this?!"

Su Luo stared in disbelief at the diary in front of him—it was identical to his own.

Jiang Ningshu chuckled. As expected, others couldn't see it, but how could Su Luo, the owner of the diary, not recognize it?

Moreover, seeing Su Luo's unusually exaggerated expression of shock compared to before was amusing.

Huh?

When was this updated?

While Su Luo was still reeling from the surprise, Jiang Ningshu began reading the diary.

Then, it was her turn to be shocked.

What?!

Nangong Xiyun's identity had already been exposed? Damn it, she’d been tricked! Why hadn’t she checked the diary sooner? No way—she’d have to go mock him later.

[...Nangong Xiyun kissed me...]

Hah?!

What the hell was this? Exposed and then immediately making a move? Who does something like that?

"Su Luo, what’s going on with Nangong Xiyun?!"

"Jiang Ningshu, how do you have this diary?!"

They spoke simultaneously.

"You go first."

Silence fell between them.

"Fine, I’ll start." Jiang Ningshu suddenly felt the diary wasn’t as important anymore. "I don’t know."

Su Luo waited for her to continue, but she offered no further explanation.

"That’s it?"

"Yep. I don’t even know how this diary appeared in the first place. But since I have it, you can probably guess how I regained my strength."

Naturally, it was because Su Luo had once written about it in his diary.

Su Luo summoned his own diary—identical to Jiang Ningshu’s, though the contents differed slightly.

He flipped through Jiang Ningshu’s entries. The earliest one dated back to around the time he first encountered the Demon Lord.

Why would the system give his diary to the Demon Lord?

To make things harder for him?

No idea.

But at least this explained how Jiang Ningshu had regained her strength.

And honestly, his past darker thoughts had also been laid bare to her—thoughts he’d known could help her but deliberately withheld.

Thinking about it, what right did he have to expect gratitude from her?

And it was downright awkward. Su Luo had treated the diary as a real journal, writing nothing but the truth.

Now, Jiang Ningshu had seen it all. If not for his mental fortitude, he’d have dug a hole out of sheer embarrassment.

Ahem. "You thanked me too soon. Don’t you think your regained strength was just because you got my diary? I didn’t actually help you. In fact, it wasn’t even my intention for you to recover."

Jiang Ningshu seemed to have anticipated this response and smiled.

"But the diary is yours. No matter what, it’s because of you that I regained my strength and learned things I never knew. During my weakest days, your diary gave me hope. I’m grateful to you."

"You’re making me blush."

"I know you, Su Luo. You’re actually a good person."

"I wouldn’t go that far. But why tell me the truth? You could’ve made up any excuse, and I’d never know. For someone like you, that’d be easy, right?"

She could’ve claimed she researched it herself.

Or stumbled upon some secret technique.

Any reason would’ve worked—it wasn’t like Su Luo could fact-check her.

Even if he doubted her, unless Jiang Ningshu mentioned the diary, he’d never have guessed the system would pull such a stunt.

If Su Luo were in her shoes, he’d have taken the secret to the grave—reading in secret and exploiting the diary for all it was worth.

"I didn’t see the need to hide it, given our relationship. Su Luo, we’ve been through a lot together. You’re someone I can be completely honest with. Of course, it also helps that I’ve regained enough strength to feel somewhat secure again."

Jiang Ningshu tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and added playfully, "Besides, you don’t have anything else that interests me. You’re the only one I care about."

This was her genuine feeling. As the Demon Lord, she’d long lost interest in most worldly matters. There was no need to exploit the diary for personal gain.

Hearing her words, Su Luo was momentarily at a loss. He sighed.

"Do you have any idea how awkward it’ll be for me to write in my diary now?"

"You can still write. I won’t go blabbing about it."

"That’s not the point! It’s like you’ve seen straight into my soul."

The embarrassment was indescribable. Ignorance was bliss, but having it laid bare like this left a bitter taste.

"Fair enough. So you’d rather I kept it a secret? Then I guess I messed up. Sorry, I shouldn’t have told you." Jiang Ningshu said it lightly, but given another chance, she’d do the same.

"Ah, what’s done is done. No use crying over spilled milk."

Su Luo resumed writing in his diary—this time, detailing Jiang Ningshu’s third-stage recovery.

Jiang Ningshu looked surprised. "Are you sure about this?"

She never expected Su Luo to give her the third stage.

"You said it yourself—no need to hide things between us. If I didn’t give it to you, I’d just look petty."

This also confirmed one thing: the moment he wrote in his diary, hers updated instantly. Impressive speed.

Now he was certain—Jiang Ningshu’s diary was a copy of his.

"I didn’t mean it like that."

"Honestly, you’ve already recovered this much. What’s a little more?"

She was already at the peak of the Void Refinement stage. No point holding her back now.

Might as well give it to her outright.

"Aren’t you afraid I’ll regain my full strength and interfere with your diary’s plans?" Jiang Ningshu still didn’t fully grasp his motives.

"If I were afraid, I wouldn’t have given it to you. I’m Su Luo—I’ve got plenty of tricks up my sleeve."

It might sound arrogant, but Su Luo believed that if he couldn’t handle this level of challenge, he deserved to fail.

Besides, Jiang Ningshu wasn’t entirely untrustworthy.

"Don’t worry. I won’t stand in your way. I’ll help you."

"Then I’ll thank you in advance."

"So, why are you doing all this?" Jiang Ningshu couldn’t resist asking.

He knew the future yet made no effort to change it—instead ensuring events unfolded as written. It was bizarre.

"A wish. But that’s my secret. Even men need their mysteries."

Su Luo recalled that only the earliest entries had explicitly stated his goal.

Thankfully, she hadn’t seen those. If she learned she was just a character in a novel, who knew how she’d react?

Then again, Jiang Ningshu wasn’t the fragile type.

Still, he’d keep his purpose to himself.

"Fine, keep your secrets." Jiang Ningshu didn’t press further—prying would only annoy him. But there was still the other matter. "So, about Nangong Xiyun—what’s going on there?"