It was already ten in the morning when he returned to the apartment.
Today's events had greatly affected Lu Qing. If his interaction with Bai Xing could be considered research material, then the first half of the collection would only account for 30%, while the subsequent tailing portion would yield the remaining 70%.
"Indeed, the most fascinating material in this world is the secrets that people keep hidden in their hearts."
Lu Qing sighed deeply as he reached for the doorknob.
Click.
The crisp sound was accompanied by rustling from inside. When he opened the door, he saw Su Ling standing by the sink with a mop and cleaning supplies, appearing as if she was about to clean the room.
"Ah, welcome home."
Today she wore a sweet white nightgown that was light and neck-revealing, reaching her thighs, with a blue ribbon at the chest tied into an adorable bow. Her half-dried hair was casually tied to one side with a hair band, falling across her chest in a side ponytail.
Her snow-white legs were exposed to the air, like premium cream cake, a feast for the eyes.
"Ah, Su Ling, what made you suddenly want to clean the house? You don't need to do this, I'll take care of it later."
Lu Qing walked into the room, placing the panini on the tea table.
"Hmm~?"
The young woman shifted her gaze from his hands to his face, walking over suspiciously and asking, "By the way, where did you just go?"
"Downstairs to buy you breakfast."
"Buy breakfast?"
Su Ling thoughtfully circled to his front, looking him up and down, smiling sweetly: "But it's so cold outside, did brother go downstairs without a coat?"
"Uh."
This was bad.
Her astounding perceptiveness was no joke.
At this point, if he said he went downstairs with the neighbor and had breakfast together, it would surely make her uncomfortable, right? After all, he hadn't eaten with her, but instead with someone else...
Considering Su Ling's previous reactions, Lu Qing was 80% certain that telling the truth would worsen the young woman's condition.
"The breakfast shop is quite close to the complex, just around the corner, so I forgot to wear one."
He turned his face away, speaking stiffly.
"Oh. I see."
Su Ling's smile didn't fade as she gently sat down beside him.
"..."
Lu Qing sat there uncomfortably.
She softly placed her hands on his forearm, sliding down to cup his large hand in her palms, and said seriously:
"Hey, even if the breakfast shop is nearby, you shouldn't go out without proper clothes next time. You'll catch a cold."
As she spoke, the young woman leaned forward, and under his increasingly focused gaze, she half-stood and pressed her soft cheek against his forehead—
Embracing his neck, feeling his temperature in zero distance with genuine concern.
"Su Ling...?"
"Shh, I'm warming you up."
Sweet words entered his ears, fragrance filled his throat.
Every breath was filled with an intoxicating scent.
The lace at the sleeve of her nightgown brushed against his nose tip as she knelt with one knee on the sofa while keeping the other leg straight for support.
The subtle squatting position perfectly caused the ribbon at her chest to shift downward with gravity.
Although the nightgown had built-in padding, Lu Qing had no idea where to look anymore and could only close his eyes, his hands finding no place to rest.
The sensation on his forehead was peculiar – the delicate collision with the young woman's cheek, smooth and slightly cool.
He could tell she spent considerable time on skincare, as this level of moisturized texture was impossible without meticulous care.
"It was cold outside, wasn't it?"
"Mm..."
"It's already autumn, you can easily catch a cold if you're not careful. If you get sick, you won't be able to attend school properly."
Su Ling spoke while gently stroking his head, her movements tender, her voice natural.
"But don't worry, even if you're sick in bed, I'll take good care of you. And with me by your side, I won't let you catch a cold easily."
In that instant, an overwhelming sense of comfort enveloped the surroundings, making Lu Qing feel lighter, his mind empty.
He didn't notice the hidden meaning in Su Ling's words, only feeling that under such gentle care, any fatigue would be swept away.
Time seemed to slow down.
Unconsciously, his eyelids began to feel heavy.
Despite it being morning, drowsiness struck again.
How strange.
"Sleep, sleep, take a rest if you're tired. Autumn is meant for sleeping more, brother hasn't been sleeping well lately, so why not take this chance to catch up on sleep? I'll be good and eat my breakfast."
Under his half-closed eyes, the young woman gradually consumed the consciousness of the person in her embrace.
"Good boy."
"..."
Though her words were comforting, at this moment, Su Ling's gaze was filled with a darkness that completely contradicted her gentle speech.
—How displeasing.
Heh.
Brother left at six in the morning.
He wore a black fitted coat when he left.
When he returned, the coat was gone, and he said he went somewhere nearby to buy breakfast.
After three hours in the autumn wind, the breakfast must be completely cold, right?
Obviously, he wouldn't buy me cold food.
So, something must have happened in between.
"Hmph."
It's not my perfume.
It's a sweet fragrance that only girls, young women would use.
Come to think of it, the girls brother has mentioned recently...
Almost none.
And it doesn't seem like that artist from the screen I secretly glimpsed while pretending to sleep at the café last time.
Always asking brother for praise, sending him harassment messages every day... hmph, clearly a woman, that one.
So, if we exclude her, it seems only the neighbor next door remains.
Could it be her?
Would brother go out with the neighbor behind my back?
Does he like her?
No, impossible. Brother doesn't need women, he's been alone all these years.
So, she likes him.
She asked him out.
...
At this thought, Su Ling's gaze turned cold.
Why did she ask him out?
What does she want from brother?
Is she lusting after brother's body?
But if she was really that desperate, she would have made a move before I arrived.
Then why choose this timing?
Why make a move on brother after I appeared?
Is she targeting me?
Is it because of that boring female competitive spirit?
Trying to prove she's better than me?
Ridiculous.
He belongs to me, he is my only one, my entire world. How could I possibly let him go, give him to you outsiders?
No matter who it is, trying to take him away from me is not allowed, it will never succeed, never.
"Fine, I let it slide when you interrupted my maid costume welcome ceremony last time. Since you've now officially declared war on me, don't blame me for forgetting about being neighborly from now on. You little thief."
...
...
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.
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
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!
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
