My waist is still aching.

“Why are you up so early?”

Shang Mei looked at the little girl crouched in the courtyard, gazing at the flowers.

Qu Wan rose to her feet and smiled awkwardly. “I wasn’t very sleepy, so I got up.”

It was the rare occasion that she had spent the night at her in-laws’ home, and after being given such an expensive gift yesterday, she had been too embarrassed to sleep in late.

As she spoke, both hands quietly rested at the small of her back.

“Is Zeyu still asleep?”

Qu Wan nodded. “He’s usually very busy with work.”

Shang Mei looked at the dark shadows beneath the girl’s eyes. “After breakfast, go upstairs and take a little nap. You’ve got dark circles already. Are you not used to the bed here, and did you sleep poorly last night?”

Qu Wan smiled and nodded.

That was just how she was, always with such an easy heart.

The man was not tall, only around five feet, his fair skin hanging loose on him. It was plain at a glance that he lacked exercise. His weary face, long worn down by alcohol, bore two dim yellow eyes that looked especially ugly beneath the puffed bags under them, as though he were dissatisfied with everything in the world.

Du Yan suddenly felt that the entire subconscious dream layer had turned soft as cotton candy, fluffy and sweet. He did not care for sweet things, and yet in that instant he unexpectedly felt that eating something sweet might improve one’s mood.

Roger and Guyu sat at an angle opposite him, quietly sizing up the man who was being tormented by overwhelming pain, self-reproach, and guilt.

Peter Cowes, Natalie, James Qiao, and the other residents who had been transporting supplies all returned one by one.

Because Ye Tian still had not found any trace of her brother-in-law, her heart grew increasingly uneasy.

Tianxiu had originally meant to go home, but once she stopped playing, her low spirits returned. She lingered about in the training room, and only when Lang Heyi came to find her did she brighten a little.

They had filmed all day and the players truly had little energy, but after the commotion, they all became spirited again. One by one they rolled up their sleeves, eager to give EG a thorough beating, and then pestered their coach into treating them to a midnight snack—their schedule was still the classic esports one of having no morning, so a late-night snack was practically dinner.

In truth, the two of them did not seem to have changed much in appearance or age, but together they were five years older in mind. Though they were in an illusory world, five real years had indeed passed.

“Ha!”

Cold sweat poured down in streams. Yizhi lay prone atop the platform formed by earth-style ninjutsu, leaving his back to the shadow clones. They were still in the Land of Water, and he could not afford to relax. He planned to do only a simple bandaging for now and leave the rest until they returned to the Land of Fire, where he would find a way.

Or perhaps he needed something like a celestial robe and armor, or a personal treasure capable of releasing a protective mystical radiance, something that required no manipulation and would shield its master on its own the instant danger arose.

The demon god Naza snapped her fingers, and the ice axe was violently suppressed to the ground by a peculiar force. No matter how Jiang Qi tried to control it, he could not make the axe move even a fraction.

Like a revolving lantern, every memory came flooding back. “F-forgive me.” Liang Xuan, his face stricken with grief, tremblingly reached out a hand toward Qin Feng.

Wen Wudao was a disciple of the Supreme Purity Sect, and one of the very few men in the Feathered Warriors camp whose cultivation had reached the sixth level of Qi Refinement, the Shapeshifting Realm. At his command, the others naturally obeyed without the slightest resistance.

Wu An hoped Guniu could win some honor for himself. Kang Li’s injured right knee was an opportunity; if he seized it, he could knock Kang Li out in one blow and win Wu An his first match.

Back at Divine Tree Technology, Ding Mu hurriedly finished all the remaining paperwork for the contract, then transferred the payment from Divine Tree Technology’s corporate account to the DV company. It was all his first time handling these procedures, and though he fumbled through them, he managed to get everything done in the end.

Jiang Qi instinctively avoided the heart, and the mass of energy struck his abdomen instead. Carried by immense momentum, it sent him flying backward.

Just as the two of them were waiting for the tea to be brought in, her family called her. They were asking about the child, and Minister Li was about to hang up, but her husband insisted on making everything clear.

Zhu Teng’s face showed hesitation. After a brief silence, he gritted his teeth. “Deal. Though it will be somewhat difficult, I can still try.” Then, after pretending to make a few arrangements, he handed the true manuscript to Zhang Xue the following dawn.