Liu Shiye felt light for the first time since arriving in this world. Not safe—never safe—but ahead.
He pushed open the doors to his humble abode and dismissed the attendant waiting within. He always had to be weary of random servants. As a member of the main family, someone always seemed to appear to offer a helping hand.
The room welcomed him with warmth: the faint scent of medicinal herbs still lingering from weeks of recovery. A brazier crackled softly near the wall, its heat chasing away the night's chill.
Liu Shiye poured himself wine without ceremony.
The brownish crimson liquid caught the fire light as he tilted the cup back, drinking deeply before exhaling in satisfaction. He loosened his outer robes and fell onto the wide fur-covered bed, stretching lazily across it like a man finally allowed to rest after surviving a storm.
A quiet laugh escaped him.
"Not bad," he murmured to the empty room.
He replayed the main hall scene in his mind piece by piece.
Xue Ruo's entrance—perfect timing.
Liu Feng's predictable outrage.
The elders' shifting expressions.
The moment suspicion turned irreversible.
Every reaction aligned almost exactly with expectation.
Humans really don't change across worlds, he thought. Different clothes, same instincts. Though, she did have me a bit worried. She might actually be mental.
He lifted the wine again, staring into its dark surface as another thought surfaced, replacing his concerns about Xue Ruo.
Liu Mingfei.
The amusement faded slightly.Handling her would be… complicated. They both knew the truth. She poisoned him and admitted it to him on his death bed. Memories not originally his still lingered vividly—the bitterness on the tongue, the failing heartbeat, the quiet betrayal hidden behind gentle concern. Whether driven by fear, ambition, or misplaced affection no longer mattered.
What mattered was that both of them understood. And neither would ever speak of it again. Because once spoken aloud, the game ended.
He turned onto his side, propping his head against one arm, gaze thoughtful.
"She can't be exposed," he muttered softly. "Not yet."
Destroying her now would unravel everything. The clan would investigate. Motives would surface. Too many threads would lead back to questions he could not safely answer. And Liu Feng, that man would definitely kill him.
No—control was better than impulsive revenge.
He considered possibilities carefully.
Pressure through expectation.
Kindness that created guilt.
Protection that became an obligation.
"Love", he realized, "Is simply another form of leverage when performed convincingly enough."
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
"I'll treat you well," he said quietly to the empty chamber. "So well you won't know whether to fear me or depend on me. All the while, gathering strength to crush your lover."
He drained the last of the wine and leaned back into the fur bedding, eyes half-lidded as exhaustion finally crept in. Victory hummed pleasantly beneath his thoughts, yet one truth lingered at the edge of awareness:
The most dangerous enemies were not those who hated you—
but those forced to live beside you.
XXXX
The moment the doors closed behind her, Liu Mingfei's composure shattered.
She staggered forward, barely reaching the inner chamber before collapsing to her knees. The servants she had dismissed earlier lingered outside, uncertain, while muffled sobs echoed through the room.
Her hands trembled violently as she pressed them against the floor.
How had everything fallen apart so quickly?
Only days ago, her world had seemed certain—Liu Feng's quiet protection, whispered meetings filled with reassurance, the belief that patience would eventually free her from an unwanted engagement. Finally, Liu Shiye was dying.
Now, he walked around, healthy and boldly, while every gaze in the clan carried suspicion, focused on her.
Every whisper felt like judgment.
She could still hear the elders murmuring. Still see Liu Shiye's darkened expression as he spoke of betrayal. The memory twisted painfully inside her chest.
"He changed…" she whispered hoarsely.
That frightened her more than the accusation itself. Rightly so, as he could have accused her of something far more heinous.
Her breathing quickened as another memory surfaced: the cup of medicine weeks ago, hands steady despite her racing heart. The decision she had justified endlessly afterward.
The Liu Shiye she remembered had been arrogant, impulsive, easy to manipulate. Cruel in small ways, predictable in larger ones. Someone she could endure until circumstances allowed escape.
But today— when he looked at her in the hall, there had been no accusation in his eyes.
Only disappointment.
That hurt far worse than anger.
A broken sound escaped her as tears blurred her vision again.
"He knows," she whispered, "He surely remembers."
The realization settled slowly, inevitably.
He knew.
And he had chosen silence.
Which meant she now owed her survival entirely to his mercy.
Her fingers tightened against her sleeves.
What did he want?
Love? Revenge? Submission?
The uncertainty crushed her more completely than punishment ever could.
Outside, faint whispers drifted through the courtyard as servants discussed the day's events. Each word felt like another wall closing around her future.
Three moons.
Three months to prove loyalty.
Three months living under scrutiny, watched by the clan… and by the man she had once tried to kill.
Liu Mingfei lowered her forehead to the floor, shoulders shaking. She realized she was no longer choosing her path. She was surviving inside someone else's design.
And somewhere across the compound, Liu Shiye slept peacefully—while her world quietly narrowed into a cage she could neither escape nor fully understand.
XXX
The morning sun seeped through the lattice windows of Liu Shiye's humble abode. Dew still clung to the grass, and the compound had not yet fully awakened; only distant servants and early cultivators disturbed the quiet.
He preferred it that way. Silence allowed thought. Liu Shiye stood alone in the training yard, bow in hand. This was his first time trying his hand at actual practice.
He rolled his injured hand slowly, feeling the dull ache lingering in his smallest finger. The memory of the previous night's reckless use of the Paragon's Flick Technique beyond his current foundation replayed clearly in his mind—the premature release of force, the unstable channeling, the sharp crack of bone under pressure.
Power without structure breaks the user first, he reminded himself, just self-harm dressed as progress.
Drawing a slow breath, he raised the training bow.
The Medjay Bow Arts demanded patience rather than strength. His stance remained low, feet rooted firmly as he drew an imaginary string again and again, guiding spiritual force through precise pathways along his arms and shoulders. Each motion emphasized structure—alignment of bone, tendon, and breath. Spine straight, shoulders relaxed, breath synchronized with intention. Invisible energy gathered faintly around him, responding sluggishly but obediently.
Pull.
Hold.
Release.
The air whispered with each motion as he loosed imaginary arrows again and again, focusing not on speed but control.
Sweat gathered along his brow as he transitioned into the Paragon's Flick Technique . This time he trained slowly, instead of launching force outward, he focused on circulation—guiding energy through smaller motions, reinforcing control before speed.
Pebbles lifted slightly from the ground with each controlled pulse of force, trembling rather than flying. His fingers traced precise arcs, guiding threads of vital energy through narrow pathways, stopping immediately whenever instability appeared.
Pain flared repeatedly in his injured finger, forcing restraint.
Hours passed beneath the rising sun. By the time he finished, his robes clung to him with sweat despite the mid-autumn weather, muscles trembling from controlled exertion rather than exhaustion.
He did not stop there. When fatigue began to dull his concentration, Liu Shiye shifted into unfamiliar movements born from another world—pushes, squats, lunges, controlled bodyweight exercises that emphasized balance and total-body strength. No spiritual energy guided these motions; only flesh, breath, and repetition.
Servants watching from afar whispered quietly, baffled by the strange training style.
To Liu Shiye, however, it was obvious.
A strong vessel stabilizes power.
Satisfied, he moved toward the bathing basin carved from smooth stone behind a screen of bamboo set at the courtyard's edge, lowering himself into cool water with a relieved sigh. Steam rose faintly as heat left his skin, fatigue dissolving into a pleasant heaviness.
For a rare moment, his mind emptied. He leaned back, eyes half-closed. Peace existed.
The Second Phase of Body refinement is simply amazing, He thought, In modern times I would be a peak athlete. It's hard to imagine facing someone like Liu Feng or even Xue Ruo. Complete monsters.
Liu Shiye remembered the pressure that Liu Feng and Xue Ruo both exerted. While his first practice was a great start to learning his limits, it also allowed him to see just how weak was compared to those around him.
Liu Shiye leaned back in the basin allowing his mind to drift and the fatigue to wash away. Until the shadows moved. A presence emerged silently behind him. Liu Shiye's instincts screamed a warning a fraction too late.
Xue Ruo stepped forward from the darkness, her eyes glowing faintly like a rising blood moon. In her hand rested a long crimson knife, its edge catching morning light with unsettling brilliance.
Liu Shiye jolted upright, water splashing violently as he leapt from the basin.
"What—!"
Air struck his skin as realization followed shock.
Xue Ruo's expression burned with restrained fury, fingers tightening around the blade.
"Liu Shiye," she said, voice trembling with anger, "you dare play me play me for a fool?"
The accusation struck sharper than the knife itself.
She advanced a step, voice rising.
"I moved against Liu Feng publicly. I humiliated myself before the Liu clan—and you refused to divorce Liu Mingfei. You turned the clan against her while binding yourself closer instead." Her eyes flashed. "Was that your plan? To use me to eliminate your love rival while preserving your own reputation? "
Her aura pressed outward, anger barely contained.
Liu Shiye raised both hands slowly, posture nonthreatening despite the absurdity of the situation.
"Lady Xue—," he said carefully, "Calm down,"
"I am calm!" she snapped, stepping closer.
"I allowed myself to be seen beside you," she continued bitterly. "I risked my standing—and you made me look like a fool."
The knife's aura brushed against his senses—a clear threat, though he suspected she had not come to kill him.
Not yet.
"Lady Xue—"
"Do not smooth-talk me!" she snapped. "I despise that tone."
"You betrayed our plan," she continued. "All that theater, all that risk—and now you bind yourself to her? Was I merely a tool?"
He paused, studying her carefully. Beneath the fury lay something else—wounded pride, betrayal sharper than political loss. Liu Shiye exhaled slowly, forcing patience into his voice.
"You hate smooth talk," he said, "so I'll be direct."
Her eyes narrowed, but she did not strike.
He seized the opening.
"It's never too late for revenge."
Silence lingered between them, broken only by water dripping from his hair onto the stone floor.
Xue Ruo hated how easily he redirected conversations, yet curiosity betrayed her irritation. After a tense moment, she lowered the knife slightly.
"We didn't fail," he continued evenly. "We changed the battlefield. Right now they are separated, physically. That's temporary."
Her anger flickered into wary attention despite herself.
"You apply pressure to Liu Feng—emotionally, politically, relentlessly. I handle Mingfei." His gaze sharpened slightly. "But twisting a heart takes time. You shouldn't be this impulsive anymore."
Xue Ruo frowned, embarrassment set in.
"What if someone spotted you coming to me?" He levied, "The servants here are not my own."
He paused deliberately. He stepped closer, completely unbothered by his vulnerable state.
"I need a favor."
Suspicion returned immediately. "Of course you do."
"To twist her heart, I need time," he said. "Time means protection. A servant girl. A groundskeeper."
His gaze sharpened slightly. "Assassins trained in concealment arts."
Xue Ruo studied him carefully, her brows knit faintly. The fury in her expression slowly cooled into calculation. Silence followed.
Then she spoke with hidden feelings.
"You truly intend to keep her bound to you?"
"I intend," he replied calmly, "to ensure neither of them escapes the consequences of their choices."
Finally, she sheathed her blade
"…Fine," she said. "I will continue playing along."
Only then did her gaze shift—downward.
The realization struck all at once—his body heat formed thick serpents of steam drifting upward, water sliding along bare skin, the unmistakable fact that she had interrupted him mid-bath.
Her eyes widened before she snapped her head sharply away, cheeks flushing despite her composure.
Bashe… her heart whispered. Liu Shiye's hanging manhood instinctively reminds her of the giant elephant eating python. Its length, thickness, and bold eminence.
"Dress yourself immediately!" she demanded,voice suddenly tight.
Liu Shiye blinked—then smiled slowly.
Instead of moving, he remained exactly where he stood.
She sensed it instantly.
"…Why are you not moving?"
"I'm considering your request," he said mildly.
Her grip tightened on the knife handle. "You are shameless… Horse boy."
He tilted his head slightly, utterly unbothered. Her insulating a scoop into her thoughts only served to strengthen his stance.
Moments stretched tensely until, finally—
"…You are doing this intentionally," she muttered.
"Negotiations require leverage," he said innocently.
She inhaled sharply. "…You are insufferable."
"I'll dress once you agree to the protection."
A long pause followed before she hissed, "Fine! You will have it!"
Liu Shiye chuckled softly and finally reached for a robe.
"You can turn around now, little lady," he teased.
"I'm older than you…" she muttered.
"A lot more innocent," he replied smoothly. "Have you never seen a man before?"
"I have!" she shot back immediately. "Many, in fact. With better things than that big unsightly eel like thing."
He raised a brow.
"Cuter, pinker, smooth and smaller. More inviting, less…angery," she added stubbornly.
He laughed under his breath while tying his sash.
"Bigger is better. You just haven't experienced it yet."
His voice dropped low and smooth, sending an unexpected chill along her spine despite herself. She refused to acknowledge it.
"Anyway," he continued casually, "little Lady… how would the Xue Clan like to create a new industry of trade?"
Xue Ruo hesitated, curiosity overtaking embarrassment. She turned back slowly, suspicion mixing with intrigue.
"…Something to do with your excursion to the mud pools?" She asked.
He smiled.
The mud pools—what nobles mocked as filth—were in truth the tribal basin where the culture gathered. A wide stretch of thick earth and shallow water where toads thrived and common folk struggled. Old Meng called it a pond out of kindness, but in reality it was little more than a vast puddle, barely more water than mud.
And yet Liu Shiye saw something entirely different.
Opportunity. hidden beneath contempt.
"Yes," he said, eyes gleaming with modern ambition. "Exactly the mud pools."
Xue Ruo tilted her head slightly, interest fully captured now.