The girl continued to splash around in the bathtub.
Bubble, bubble—
Bubble, bubble—
Su Ze turned his head in confusion to see the girl with half her head submerged in the water, blowing bubbles. Her wine-red hair floated like seaweed in the water behind her, looking absolutely beautiful.
Ten minutes later, Su Ze pulled her out of the water, tossed her a towel, and let her dry herself before putting on his clothes.
Su Ze's t-shirt was slightly loose on the girl, and the casual pants needed to be rolled up, but with her height of just over 1.7 meters and her stunning looks, she still managed to pull off the outfit.
Su Ze took out a hair dryer, dried her hair, and after she brushed her teeth, he left her in the bedroom while he went to take a shower.
Su Ze had been too busy yesterday and came home late without showering. He took off his clothes.
Standing at 1.85 meters tall with a lean build, his muscles were proportionate without being bulky—typical of a martial artist, the kind of physique that countless men and women found attractive.
After his shower, while drying his wet hair, Su Ze answered his constantly ringing phone. "Missing your dad?"
"I miss my mom. Why don't you take my mom out for a walk?" Shen Qingsheng said on the other end.
Su Ze lit a cigarette, "I was just about to go out. Come to District Three."
After arranging the time and place with Shen Qingsheng, Su Ze went to the bedroom and rubbed Uesugi Akizuki's face as she lay staring aimlessly at the ceiling. He pulled out the gauze from her nose and threw it in the trash. "Let's go buy you some clothes. Get up and put on your shoes."
Uesugi Akizuki nodded and obediently put on her own shoes.
Su Ze put on a black coat and brought his straight sword.
They left together.
Su Ze went to the garage and looked at his black sports car with some regret—being only seventeen, he would have to wait until next year to get his driver's license.
He could only choose the black motorcycle instead.
Seeing Uesugi Akizuki's curious and confused gaze, Su Ze patiently explained to her, "Stay close to me when we're out. Don't act surprised at everything like a wild person. You'll be completely safe if you stay by my side, understand?"
Uesugi Akizuki nodded, her eyes clear and full of trust.
Su Ze placed the straight sword in a concealed compartment specially designed for weapons on the motorcycle, hidden to avoid causing public panic while still being accessible in case of emergencies.
Despite Uesugi Akizuki's confident assurances, as soon as the motorcycle roared to life, she fearfully wrapped her arms around Su Ze's waist.
They quickly arrived at District Three. When the motorcycle stopped, Su Ze patted Uesugi Akizuki's hands, which felt ice-cold. If he hadn't felt her trembling fingers, he might have started considering where to dispose of a body.
"Get off," Su Ze said.
Uesugi Akizuki shakily removed her hands, and despite her extreme panic, she remained very obedient.
After slowly getting off, she crouched down, buried her head in her knees, and continued trembling.
"Silly girl, let's go," Su Ze called out as he removed the bike key.
Uesugi Akizuki lifted her pale face, nodded, and held Su Ze's hand.
As they walked down the street, their striking appearances drew many glances.
Especially Uesugi Akizuki with her wine-red long hair, innocent face, and curious eyes as she held Su Ze's hand obediently, moving through the crowd like a firefly glowing in the night—beautiful and radiant.
Uesugi Akizuki curiously looked around until her gaze settled on the candied haws at a candy store.
Noticing this, Su Ze bought her two sticks.
Even with two candied haws, the girl wouldn't let go of Su Ze's hand. The sticks were leaving red marks on her small hand, so Su Ze, finding her too silly, took one stick from her.
However, Su Ze noticed that after he took one stick, the little girl pouted, her eyes full of reluctance and unwillingness. Still, she gave it to Su Ze, then lowered her head and pursed her lips, like a mother reluctantly marrying off her daughter.
This is what I bought for you, why are you being so stingy?
"Acting cute won't work, I'm not giving it back!" Su Ze bit off one of the candied haws as he watched her expression.
Uesugi Akizuki timidly remained silent, not wanting to speak because she was tired.
"Ze-ge!"
Su Ze turned his head to see a tall young man running over—it was his best friend, Shen Qingsheng.
"That sounds so formal," Su Ze shook his head at Shen Qingsheng meaningfully. "Come on, call me dad to bring us closer."
"Can I ask you to leave this world?" Shen Qingsheng said with a dark face. He then turned his attention to the focused girl who was lowering her head to nibble on the candied haw, his face full of disbelief. "Damn! What heavenly beauty is this?"
Uesugi Akizuki had no reaction, continuing to take small bites of her candied haw with her head down.
"Is your stepmother beautiful?"
"Beautiful! Beaut... Get lost!" Shen Qingsheng cursed as he came to his senses.
Shen Qingsheng suddenly clicked his tongue a few times, looking at Su Ze with admiration. "I was wondering why you looked like a walking stack of money earlier, but seeing her now I understand—you're becoming more and more criminal."
"Why are you being so sarcastic?" Su Ze asked puzzled.
"She doesn't even look 16, and you're going after her. I think you're really criminal, too criminal!" Shen Qingsheng sighed. "This girl having such an arrestable boyfriend like you must be some kind of blessing."
"She might be naive, but you can't be ignorant of the law, brother."
"It's fine, I'm not worried about appearances, and you can't rush these things. Even if she's not 16, she's probably not under 14. Just wait a while longer," Su Ze shrugged. "Raise her up and then sell her off. As an old father, I can only count money through tears one last time with my daughter's help."
"Tsk tsk tsk," Shen Qingsheng patted his shoulder meaningfully. "I was wondering why you looked somewhat human today, turns out it's because you're wearing clothes."
"I was wondering why you looked like a fellow human when I saw you, but upon closer inspection, I realized even fellow humans have learned to wear clothes."
The two of them always traded insults when they met.
The three walked towards the clothing store.
"By the way, what did that Executor say today? I had to work really hard to find someone reasonable among those lunatics. If it had been anyone else, sister-in-law would definitely have been taken away!"
Su Ze didn't mind how he referred to Uesugi Akizuki, while she gave Su Ze a puzzled look upon hearing this, then lowered her head to continue eating her candied haw, unclear whether she understood or not.
"If they gave sufficient reason, I would have let them take Uesugi Akizuki away. If they couldn't give a reason, no one could take her."
Su Ze said calmly.
Shen Qingsheng drew in a sharp breath.
"That's badass. It's great to have that kind of power."
"By the way, did sister-in-law really lose her memory? Why did she appear in Huaxia in the first place?"
Su Ze shook his head, "The Executors should be investigating. Once they catch that girl who escaped with Uesugi Akizuki, everything will become clear."
Hearing this, Uesugi Akizuki's pupils trembled inexplicably, and her expression became blank for a moment.
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
iaobai: "Councilor Dad, front me some funds. I want to hire ten thousand professional miners for a project!" [Five-Star Mission Issued: Capture the leader of the Blood Heaven Pirate Gang, who is on the run in the Radiant Star Sector. It is said the gang has over a hundred members. Proceed with caution.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, lend me the family's hundred-thousand-strong Lu Army!" [Seven-Star Mission Issued: Subdue a juvenile Void Dragon Beast.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, I'm taking your tamed Void Dragon Beast King out for a family reunion!" I said, System, don't you have any slightly more challenging missions? You're just not up to par! [Nine-Star Mission Issued: Become the Human Councilor.] Lu Xiaobai: "Dad, there's a small matter I'd like to discuss with you..."
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.
