Top floor of the Star-Plucking Tower in the Eastern Market of the Divine Capital.
Steaming hot roasted lamb was placed on the table, its fragrance wafting everywhere.
Yet the atmosphere at the table was so delicate that no one quite knew what to say.
But no matter what, under Gu Chengyin’s forceful urging,
Lin Qingyan and Gu Xiaoli eventually ended up sitting at the same table—
one on the left, one on the right, with Gu Chengyin in between.
Gu Xiaoli sat to Gu Chengyin’s right, her small frame curled up in the chair.
Her dark, luminous eyes kept glancing at him, sparkling as if they held stars.
Her bowl was completely empty, but she didn’t seem to mind at all.
Her little hands gripped her chopsticks, and every now and then she would pick up a piece of lamb, earnestly placing it into Gu Chengyin’s bowl.
“Big Brother, eat.”
“Big Brother, this piece is big.”
“Big Brother, this piece is tender.”
Her voice was soft and sweet, carrying a childlike eagerness to please, mixed with a hint of tentative hope.
Each time she put a piece of meat in his bowl, she would glance up at him, waiting for him to eat it.
Then her eyes would crescent into little moons, her joy bubbling like a kitten who had stolen a dried fish.
The lamb in Gu Chengyin’s bowl grew into a small mountain at a visibly rapid pace.
On his left sat Lin Qingyan.
Her face still wore that expression of utter indifference, as if the liveliness before her had nothing to do with her.
As if the Dead Cat’s flattery had nothing to do with her. As if Gu Chengyin’s very existence had nothing to do with her.
Lin Qingyan sat upright, her gaze fixed blankly ahead. She didn’t pick up any meat, nor did she speak.
But inside, she was seething with fury, her teeth grinding in hatred.
Hiding behind her inner demon, Lin Qingyan fixedly stared at Gu Xiaoli’s every move.
She watched her pick up the meat, watched her fawn, watched Gu Chengyin eat what she offered, watched her smile with joy.
Every single scene cut like a knife into Lin Qingyan’s heart, stroke by stroke.
Damn it!
That Dead Cat was definitely doing this on purpose!
If it weren’t for keeping up her persona, she would never have let that Dead Cat show off in front of her.
She was the one who loved Gu Chengyin the most.
She was the one who had the most intimate contact with Gu Chengyin.
She was the one who should be acting cute and clingy by Gu Chengyin’s side!
But now she could only sit here stiff as a wooden dummy, watching that Dead Cat grovel.
Lin Qingyan took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.
She couldn’t let this go on.
She had to think of a way to recover.
She absolutely had to get back into Gu Chengyin’s world!
Otherwise, she’d explode from anger sooner or later—
and even worse, having Gu Chengyin right in front of her but not being able to “taste” him would be torture enough to make her burst.
The more Lin Qingyan thought, the angrier she got, the more pent up she became.
In the end, she simply stopped watching.
Out of sight, out of mind.
She left everything to her inner demon to control, and retreated to sulk on her own.
Meanwhile, Gu Xiaoli had no clue about the storm raging inside Lin Qingyan.
She cheerfully continued piling meat into Gu Chengyin’s bowl.
Piece after piece after piece.
Gu Chengyin looked at the mountain of meat in his bowl and twitched the corner of his mouth.
This little one—hadn’t she practically given him the entire plate of lamb?
He finally couldn’t help but stop her. “Xiaoli.”
Gu Xiaoli was just about to place a big piece of lamb into his bowl.
Hearing his voice, she looked up, blinking her big eyes at him.
Gu Chengyin stared into those pure, innocent eyes and chose his words carefully.
“Do you have a master now?”
The moment the words fell, the table fell silent.
Gu Xiaoli froze.
Her hand holding the chopsticks stopped midair. The largest piece of meat still wobbled precariously on the chopsticks, but she forgot to pass it along.
Shangguan Yunying also froze.
She jerked her head around, her gaze sharp as lightning, darting back and forth rapidly between Gu Chengyin and Gu Xiaoli.
Master?
What did Gu Chengyin mean by that?
Was he trying to become Gu Xiaoli’s master?
Had he taken a fancy to Gu Xiaoli?
Could it be... he liked them small?
Countless thoughts flashed through Shangguan Yunying’s mind.
She looked at Gu Chengyin, at Gu Xiaoli, back at Gu Chengyin, then at Gu Xiaoli again.
Gu Xiaoli truly was stunningly adorable.
Fair and soft, petite and delicate, with those big, sparkling dark eyes.
Her lashes were long and curled, making her look like a delicate porcelain doll.
On top of that, she could sprout furry cat ears and a long cat tail.
She was so cute you’d want to take her home.
But... she was far too young!
Alarms blared in Shangguan Yunying’s heart.
If Gu Chengyin really liked them small, what would she do?
Would her greatest strength become her biggest weakness?
The more Shangguan Yunying thought, the more nervous she got. The hand holding her chopsticks trembled slightly.
As for Gu Xiaoli, she misunderstood too.
When she heard the word “master,” her little face flush involuntarily.
A trace of shyness and hope flickered in her deep, dark eyes.
She stopped raising meat with her chopsticks, lowered her head, and twisted her little fingers together.
After fidgeting for a while, she spoke in a small voice:
“Is Big Brother saying he wants to be Xiaoli’s master?”
She lifted her eyes and stole a glance at Gu Chengyin, then quickly lowered her head again, the tips of her ears reddening as if they could bleed.
Gu Chengyin: “...”
He glanced at Gu Xiaoli’s bashful, expectant look, then at Shangguan Yunying’s expression as if facing a dire threat.
Suddenly, he realized how odd his words must have sounded.
Like a complete creep trailing after a little girl.
Gu Chengyin quickly clarified:
“No, Xiaoli. That’s not what I meant.”
“What I mean is someone like what you have with Empress Lin.”
Hearing this, Gu Xiaoli finally understood.
So the “master” Gu Chengyin was talking about wasn’t that creepy kind of master.
It was more like a family member, like her relationship with Niangniang.
Gu Xiaoli blinked, the shyness fading from her eyes, replaced by a hint of disappointment.
So Big Brother wanted her to be his cat, just like with Luo Zhao.
But... she had already promised Luo Zhao, hadn’t she?
Even though that promise was only verbal and not binding in any way,
a promise was a promise. She might be a cat, but she knew the weight of one’s word.
Besides... she didn’t want to be Gu Chengyin’s cat.
Gu Xiaoli lifted her head and looked at Gu Chengyin seriously.
“Niangniang isn’t Xiaoli’s master—Niangniang is Xiaoli’s family.”
“Does Big Brother want to be Xiaoli’s family?”
Gu Chengyin nodded without hesitation. The reason he asked so directly,
without any roundaboutness, was because Gu Xiaoli was simply a cat.
She was clever, but keeping things too complicated would be unnecessary.
For a simple-minded creature like her, straight to the point was the best approach.
Gu Xiaoli lowered her head again, twisting her little fingers together.
After fidgeting for quite a while, she looked up and spoke softly:
“Xiaoli likes Big Brother, and Big Brother wants to be Xiaoli’s family too.”
“But... not the kind of family like with Niangniang.”
Gu Chengyin raised an eyebrow, about to ask why,
when Gu Xiaoli continued:
“Xiaoli wants to be Big Brother’s bride.”
Gu Chengyin: “...”
Shangguan Yunying: “...”
Lin Qingyan: “...”
ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
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?!
