Su Ling did not practice the piano today.
For the first time since she first met the black cat, she did not spend the entire day honing her piano skills.
Until Lu Qing returned home, she remained in the same posture—
hugging the "black cat," curled up in the corner of the bed, her legs wrapped in a blanket, her face solemn and her expression dazed.
She murmured:
"What should I do…"
"What should we do…"
【Black cat, help me.】
…
…
By now, she had come to understand why her brother was so obsessed with the piano.
In such difficult times, even if she did nothing but hold her beloved piano, she could faintly hear a response from its intermittent sounds—
It was the voice of the "soul."
A voice from beyond dimensions, spreading to her eardrums, whether from the outside in or the inside out—it was "her" voice.
Su Ling couldn’t clearly articulate what she heard.
But she could distinctly feel a certain "power" transforming into a "warmth" flowing through her heart and coursing through her limbs.
This was—
the power of the "black cat."
"She’s telling me that we’ll win."
"She’s conveying to me that even someone like Lin Mu, who seems insurmountably distant from me, isn’t entirely out of reach."
Although.
Deep down, she knew.
Her greatest reliance was the combination of "divine instruments" and "twisted effort."
The former eliminated 99% of music enthusiasts, while the latter directly eliminated 99.9% of the remaining.
But for Lin Mu, these two points seemed… completely irrelevant.
When,
ordinary people hear the concept of "practicing the piano for 8 hours," they instinctively think, "How is that even possible? Wouldn’t that be exhausting? Don’t they have other things to do?" Meanwhile, Lin Mu had already been playing for half a day.
This was the gap.
【Complaining is also a form of waste.】
【If you’re not absolutely prepared, don’t attempt to challenge the professionals. Just treat it as a hobby for your own enjoyment.】
Su Ling had thought that practicing 8 hours a day was something few could match, that she could master the rhythm guitar part of "Only for Your Sunny Day" in the shortest time possible, add small solos, and practice relentlessly to achieve the effect she desired.
This rapid progress was something ordinary people could hardly hope to achieve.
But after watching Lin Mu’s performance videos, a sense of "helplessness" surged like a tidal wave, engulfing her, leaving no escape.
Indeed—
【Lin Mu’s talent in music defies logic.】
【She has Groove (rhythmic flow) when she plays.】
【Her posture while playing is as graceful as a spirit, as beautiful as a painting.】
—It was a kind of "natural" beauty, where the person and the melody became one, seamless, with all the notes flowing effortlessly, shining like "celestial stars."
She made no mistakes, showed no nervousness, no timidity, no hesitation.
Her musical talent was no less than her brother’s, perhaps even surpassing it.
So why, then, did she practice through the night, buy equipment by the truckload, and record hundreds of videos, capturing "perfect fragments" to send to her brother?
"Ah…"
"Black cat… save me…"
"I feel so terrible."
Su Ling felt defeated.
For the first time, she felt defeated.
And she finally understood what it meant when they said, 【Some people struggle their entire lives just to reach Rome, while others are born standing in the square of Rome, already clicking 'Next Destination.'】
…
How could she possibly compete?
Lin Mu had "holy instruments," and not just one.
She had "time," improving with every all-nighter.
She had "patience," steady as a whale in the deep sea.
She also had "talent," even if she didn’t think so herself.
And she had "depth," the carefully woven emotional bond with her brother, which had been mended after tears.
Now, the only thing she lacked was "meeting" her brother.
No.
Rather, her brother had already met her once.
Even she herself had met her once.
"So, it’s her."
Following the subtle hints in her brother’s words, she found the logo on the background of the video,
seeing the words "Twilight Coffee" right before her eyes, and finally understood why her brother had rescheduled their originally planned "date time."
"…"
It was for Lin Mu, after all.
To see Lin Mu.
Not to accompany her.
Well, he did accompany her.
"But only incidentally."
"The main focus was still to visit her, wasn’t it?"
Su Ling felt a heavy weight in her heart, sensing that her already improving condition was now stirring, threatening to relapse and erupt under this triple blow.
【It hurts.】
【It’s unbearable.】
【Brother…】
The girl hugged the black cat tightly.
Her fingertips accidentally brushed against the first string on the fretboard.
A faint E note sounded.
"Ah… at least I have you."
She gently stroked "her" fur.
Silently feeling "her" comfort.
She further understood her brother’s twisted affection for "them."
Yes.
When there was no one to accompany her.
When her emotions were this low,
who could she turn to for solace?
Who could dissolve this pain?
Living alone must have been so helpless.
Her brother had once lived here, carrying his scars, bearing the pain of abandonment, carrying a heart that felt as if it had been pierced by a blade, empty and hollow, licking his wounds under this roof, with no one to listen.
【Only "they" were there to listen, right?】
In his moments of sorrow, he would confide in "her" and "her," finding some solace for a heart that could never fully heal.
Perhaps, "they" gave him the strength to move forward,
but this strength, compared to the storm ahead, still felt despairing and disorienting.
So, he didn’t want to hurt "them," temporarily storing "them" away as a form of protection and forgetting.
—Was that it?
Su Ling couldn’t be sure.
But today, she knew that on the road ahead, there was a deity-like presence, waiting for her with an expressionless face.
This Saturday, the day after tomorrow, she would have to face her, face that disdainful tone, alongside her brother.
"…"
Helpless.
No way to begin.
Bai Xing was the fastest-growing type, resilient and relentless, thriving on setbacks.
Tang Hua was the heaven-blessed type, effortlessly captivating others without even trying.
Lin Mu was the abyssal type, starting at the ceiling and steadily climbing higher, her calm and steady progress leaving everyone else on the same track with only one feeling—
【Despair.】
"At this rate, surpassing her in music is impossible."
"If I practice 8 hours, she practices at least 9. Because just going through her 'daily practice routine' already takes her four or five hours. That’s just maintaining her level… So, afterward, she’ll invest even more time into composing, arranging, recording, mixing, and practicing other instruments…"
Those videos had fully documented her daily life, some even being Vlogs, sharing every detail of her all-nighters with Lu Qing.
—【An ordinary 9-10h practice session.】
"No. I can’t."
Su Ling took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.
"I can’t lose."
"I mustn’t lose."
"I can’t let her intimidating aura scare me before we even face off."
"She has weaknesses. She must have weaknesses."
From childhood until now, even at her most severe moments, Su Ling had never felt such suffocating dread.
The financial anxiety of not having enough money,
the survival anxiety of her mother leaving,
the mental and physical anxiety of her worsening condition—none of these combined had ever struck her as hard as this triple blow.
The carefully woven web of her heart was cracking under repeated heavy blows.
【But would this defeat Su Ling?】
"Don’t underestimate me."
Without warning, the moment she heard footsteps outside and the sound of a key turning in the lock,
a surge of newfound energy filled her hollow body, healing her as if she had been "reborn"—
Su Ling threw off the blanket, tossed it aside, grabbed the black cat, slung the guitar strap over her shoulder,
and with the determination of someone swimming against a hurricane,
she sat back down on her brother’s swivel chair, turned on the amplifier, and took a deep breath.
Firmly, she declared:
"No one can interfere with me."
"I will drag all of you down into the abyss."
……
……
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
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.
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!
