Gu Chengyin quickly found Gu Xiaoli beneath the tree behind the main hall of the Crown Prince’s Palace.
It was the largest tree in the entire palace—a venerable locust tree that no one knew how many years it had lived.
Its trunk was so thick that it would take two or three people joining hands to wrap their arms around it. Its crown spread wide like a giant umbrella, covering the entire rear courtyard in cool green shade.
The grass beneath it was soft, and the air was refreshingly clean.
Gu Xiaoli loved spending time here. She had been this way ever since the first day she came to the Crown Prince’s Palace.
Almost every day, she would come here, curl up on a reclining chair, bask in the sunlight, daydream, and sleep.
She thought of nothing, did nothing, and worried about nothing.
Originally, Gu Xiaoli had planned to go to the Celestial Master’s Residence to find Luo Zhao.
But with Cui Zilu taking over as the new chief lady official, and Lin Qingyan handling security, Gu Xiaoli ultimately decided not to go.
Instead, she comfortably curled up beneath the tree on the reclining chair, just like a lazy cat.
No—she was a cat to begin with.
Her eyes were closed, her eyelashes didn’t move at all, and her breathing was steady and even.
Her whole body radiated the tranquil ease of someone who wouldn’t care even if the sky came crashing down.
Yet the moment Gu Chengyin appeared, the spiritual cat ears atop Gu Xiaoli’s head—ears invisible to ordinary people—instantly locked onto him.
But in the very next moment, they turned away again.
She pretended not to have noticed anything.
Gu Xiaoli’s eyes remained closed, her eyelashes remained still, and her breathing continued at the same steady rhythm.
She was pretending to be asleep, and she was doing a very convincing job.
If Gu Chengyin hadn’t seen the movement of those spiritual ears, he might truly have thought she was sleeping.
Gu Chengyin walked over and sat down beside the reclining chair.
But Gu Xiaoli still showed no sign of waking. She continued pretending to sleep, pretending she knew nothing at all.
Looking at Gu Xiaoli pretending to sleep yet again, Gu Chengyin couldn’t help shaking his head.
But then again, Gu Xiaoli merely enjoyed putting on an act.
That was still far better than those several others who caused trouble and made a commotion every day.
At least Gu Xiaoli would never ask whether she could be pushed from behind.
Gu Chengyin silently compared them in his mind.
Then he arrived at a conclusion that even he found somewhat amusing.
Putting aside the fact that she had tampered with the hypnosis, Gu Xiaoli was actually the one who caused him the least trouble.
This cat girl neither fought nor competed, neither made a fuss nor threw tantrums. She didn’t act spoiled, cause trouble, or make a racket.
She simply stayed quietly in the Crown Prince’s Palace, keeping watch over Luo Zhao.
She ate when she was hungry, slept when she was tired, basked in the sun when she wanted to, and daydreamed whenever she pleased.
Whether it was the situation in the imperial court, the undercurrents of the cultivation world, or the lively happenings among mortals, Gu Xiaoli neither cared nor paid attention.
As long as nothing happened to Luo Zhao, and as long as Gu Chengyin did not leave, she could go on living like this forever.
“Xiaoli, I want to ask you something.”
Gu Chengyin began by testing the waters.
But Gu Xiaoli still showed no intention of waking. Her eyes remained closed, her eyelashes didn’t move, and her breathing stayed steady and even.
Even the spiritual cat ears atop her head drooped motionlessly.
Seeing this, Gu Chengyin reached out and directly poked his hand into Gu Xiaoli’s armpit.
Even a cat demon at the half-step Nascent Soul stage couldn’t alter the most basic structure of the human body.
“Eek!”
Tickled, Gu Xiaoli instinctively shrank away and dodged Gu Chengyin’s mischievous hand.
That made it impossible for her to continue pretending to sleep, so she could only sit up.
She looked dazed and muddled, like someone who had just woken up and hadn’t fully come to her senses.
Her large eyes blinked, reflecting Gu Chengyin’s image, the daylight, and a faint haze of moisture.
“Why is Big Brother here? Where are the Sisters?”
Her voice carried the hoarseness and laziness unique to someone who had just woken up. Soft and sweet, it sounded half like she was being coquettish and half like she was relying on him.
Gu Xiaoli tilted her head and looked up at Gu Chengyin. The spiritual cat ears atop her head stood upright as well.
Although she had only been pretending to sleep at first, she had genuinely grown a little drowsy while doing so.
That was why she was now truly somewhat dazed and confused.
Before Gu Chengyin could answer, Gu Xiaoli’s nostrils suddenly flared.
She leaned forward, moved a little closer to Gu Chengyin, and carefully sniffed him.
Then she lifted her head, her large eyes filled with surprise.
“Why does Big Brother smell like Her Highness?”
Gu Chengyin had once carried only his own scent—and that was the scent Gu Xiaoli liked best.
Later, after personally witnessing Gu Chengyin and Lin Qingyan wrestling on a bed, Gu Xiaoli discovered that Lin Qingyan’s scent had been added to him.
Then, a few days ago, she had detected Shangguan Yunying’s scent as well.
But now, he actually smelled of Luo Zhao!
At this, Gu Chengyin raised an eyebrow.
She could even smell something like that?
But it did seem reasonable. After all, Gu Xiaoli was a cat—a cat demon at the half-step Nascent Soul stage, no less.
Although this cat girl had never revealed her true strength, her cultivation realm was there for all to see.
Looking at Gu Xiaoli’s somewhat innocent and bewildered expression, Gu Chengyin couldn’t resist teasing her.
“Her Highness was being disobedient, so I ate her.”
Gu Xiaoli was instantly stunned by this answer.
Although Gu Xiaoli was a legally adult loli, she wasn’t ignorant of everything.
For instance, when Gu Chengyin and Lin Qingyan had been wrestling on the bed, she had watched with great interest for quite some time.
Mainly because Lin Qingyan’s tearfully pleading expression had been immensely satisfying to her.
And the word “eat” could have many meanings.
It could mean eating someone in the literal sense—swallowing them whole until not even their bones remained.
Or it could be a metaphor, such as wrestling on a bed.
Gu Xiaoli had originally assumed that Luo Zhao had eaten Little Gu Chengyin and swallowed him into her stomach.
That had to be why Gu Chengyin carried Luo Zhao’s scent.
But now Gu Chengyin was saying that he had eaten Luo Zhao.
So which meaning of “eat” did he mean?
The literal one, or the metaphorical one?
Gu Xiaoli didn’t know, because she was only a cat.
Cats knew nothing about anything. Cats only wanted to sleep.
Seeing Gu Xiaoli’s bewildered expression, the curve of Gu Chengyin’s lips deepened.
He raised his hand and gently rubbed Gu Xiaoli’s head. The sensation made her eyes narrow involuntarily.
Her whole body relaxed along with it, and she even rubbed her head against Gu Chengyin’s palm.
The spiritual cat ears atop her head drooped backward, going soft against her hair.
Just then, Gu Chengyin’s maliciously teasing voice sounded again.
“If Xiaoli is disobedient too, then Big Brother will have no choice but to eat you as well.”
Gu Xiaoli’s spiritual cat ears drooped instantly.
They looked like two leaves beaten down by frost, without even the strength to struggle.
Her already beautiful eyes widened even further, and her voice carried a hint of panic as she answered obediently:
“Xiaoli is the most obedient to Big Brother!”
Although Gu Xiaoli was a legally adult loli, Gu Chengyin wasn’t actually planning to eat her.
He had an important matter to ask about instead.
“Since Xiaoli is obedient to Big Brother, then Big Brother will ask you a question.”
“Xiaoli must answer honestly. Otherwise, Big Brother will eat you.”
“Is Empress Lin’s square box in Her Highness’s possession?”
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
g Yu was preparing for retirement when her organization decided to eliminate her. She transmigrated to a zombie apocalypse world. However, a tiny unexpected situation occurred: She somehow transformed into an adorable little girl?!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
