What else could Liu Yuan do?
She couldn’t very well say, "Su Qi, stop staring at my gear for more than five seconds."
Clearly, retreating to her room in four seconds was the optimal solution for these seven days.
But once back in her room, Liu Yuan found herself at a loss.
Normally,
an eighteen-year-old martial examinee like her would follow a routine: five days of training, two days off, from eight in the morning to five in the evening.
And the time at home in the evenings? That was for reviewing the day’s lessons and absorbing source energy to cultivate.
It sounded manageable, but in reality, it was exhausting.
But her?
Now she could cultivate automatically.
The time after school, which should’ve been when all martial examinees "grinded" and "pulled ahead," was suddenly free for her.
So what could she do?
Well, she could only pull out her phone and flirt with her "dear brother" for a while.
Of course, it definitely wasn’t the Su Qi outside her door, the one who couldn’t even pretend not to stare at other girls, his eyes practically glued to them.
...
Happy moments never last long.
Liu Yuan scrolled through past martial exam videos, occasionally chatting with her brother, and before she knew it, it was midnight.
But she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off today.
Her brother was replying slowly, and sometimes his answers didn’t even match her questions.
Still, she wasn’t the type to throw a tantrum over it.
Maybe he was just busy?
After all, a "successful man" like him couldn’t possibly be like Su Qi, holed up in his room all day tinkering with who-knows-what.
The thought that he was taking time out of his busy schedule to reply to her messages…
Just imagining it made her heart flutter.
Right then—
[Daily Adventure: Within a five-kilometer radius of the equipped, target the opposite-sex individual with the highest favorability and deliver three affectionate greetings: "I want," "I want," "I want more."]
[Current Target: Su Qi]
[Daily Adventure Reward: Temporary use of Special Passive ① for the day, +1 permanent boost to all gear attributes.]
Liu Yuan wasn’t a fan of staying up late, but for the sake of the [Daily Adventure], she forced herself to stay awake past midnight.
After all, if she waited until morning to complete it, wouldn’t she be losing a full eight hours of cultivation gains?
But when she saw the task…
Liu Yuan: ???
Yesterday’s friendly greeting was "Good morning," which she could understand.
But who in the world would consider this an affectionate greeting? Was this some kind of TV commercial?
Maybe she should just skip today’s task?
She wasn’t a three-year-old anymore. She might not know everything, but she wasn’t completely clueless either, not with how much information was floating around online.
There was no way she’d betray her brother like this.
Not even verbally.
A measly +1 to all attributes?
Forget it.
[Iris: Brother, I’m going to sleep now. Good night~]
[IWantToSleep: Ah, little Iris, good morning.]
Liu Yuan: …
See? This was exactly what she meant by "a little distracted."
Just as she was about to tuck her phone under her pillow and call it a night, her eyes lingered on the chat history.
...
The truth was, no matter how much a man liked a woman, there would always be moments when his attention wandered.
Su Qi was busy today.
No, he wasn’t gaming.
He was "doing something big."
Behind little Iris’s back, he was chatting with another woman.
On Jiangxia’s Cardholder Forum, Su Qi had stumbled across this post:
[Phoenix: Help. How do I kill the woman who gave birth to me? DM me. Deleting in one minute.]
Most people would either troll, bait, or mock a post like this.
But this was the Cardholder Forum.
Probably no one would bother responding.
Except…
Su Qi’s eyes practically lit up.
This kind of thing excited him almost as much as white thigh-highs.
So, Su Qi decided to give this girl a thorough lecture through the screen.
Someone who wouldn’t even call her "mother," referring to her instead as "the woman who gave birth to me"?
Misanthropic!
Rebellious!
Or maybe she’d suffered abuse at home.
Either way, Su Qi was determined to talk her out of it and steer her life in a better direction.
This was practically free [Brilliance] points.
[IWantToSleep: Why do you want to kill her?]
[Phoenix: Because I want to.]
[IWantToSleep: Wouldn’t keeping her alive to torment her slowly be better?]
[Phoenix: Good point. I’ll wait for the right opportunity.]
[Brilliance +1]
Su Qi: ???
Hold on, buddy.
Shouldn’t you be triggering [Joy] here?
Wait a second…
Did that mean…
She hadn’t taken it as a joke and had seriously considered his suggestion?
So, she’d downgraded from "murderer" to "abuser"?
And since he’d altered her life trajectory, he got [Brilliance].
No, no, no—sister, don’t do this! If things went south, he could be charged as an accomplice. Where would he cry then?
Suddenly, even little Iris’s messages lost their charm, and his replies became half-hearted.
Unless she sent more photos, of course.
He had to guide her.
He had to steer this [Phoenix] person away from her dangerous thoughts.
Never in his life had Su Qi imagined he’d one day need a keyboard to protect someone else’s mother.
...
Knock knock knock.
Just as Su Qi was deep in his righteous crusade,
his door was knocked.
The authorities?
Already?
That fast?
Su Qi would sooner believe that cyber police had traced his IP, stormed his doorstep,
and picked his lock than believe Liu Yuan would knock on his door at midnight.
He flung the door open and immediately raised his hands in surrender: "I’m innocent! I’m a law-abiding citizen! I’ll cooperate with any investigation!"
Liu Yuan: ???
What on earth was Su Qi up to now?
[Joy +117]