"Doing what?"
"You know what."
Tang Meilin laughed.
Gu Qingya finally broke.
Lin Yue stared at Shen Tian.
Then...
Despite herself...
A tiny smile appeared.
Qin Hao watched.
And for the first time...
He understood why so many heroine routes were collapsing.
Shen Tian wasn’t stealing them.
Not in the way villain stories usually described.
He wasn’t scheming affection values.
Wasn’t engineering rescues exclusively to force romance.
He was just...
Good to them.
While being an absolute bastard to protagonists.
Qin Hao’s mouth twitched.
Ridiculous.
His system activated.
Mission failed.
Crimson Spirit Grass lost.
Chen Mo Fate route disrupted by third party.
Qin Hao Fate destabilized.
Qin Hao’s expression changed.
Across the room...
Xu Ning’s panel opened.
[Fate Opportunity Successfully Intercepted]
Chen Mo Fate Loss: 12,000
Current Fate: 162,000
Then...
Another.
Qin Hao Counter Plunder Route destroyed.
Qin Hao Fate Loss: 9,000
Current Fate: 637,000
Supreme Villain Authority bonus applied.
Additional Fate harvested from Qin Hao: 1,800
Adjusted Qin Hao Fate Value: 635,200
Xu Ning’s eyes widened.
[Host.]
Shen Tian smiled.
[You took Fate from both again.]
"Good."
Qin Hao couldn’t hear her.
But...
He felt it.
A strange emptiness.
Small.
Yet unmistakable.
His system immediately warned.
Fate fluctuation detected.
Qin Hao’s eyes sharpened.
So...
Shen Tian really could take Fate from him.
Not metaphorically.
Not just opportunity loss.
Actually take it.
Qin Hao looked at Shen Tian.
Shen Tian smiled back.
Qin Hao understood.
This wasn’t merely competition.
He was prey.
And Shen Tian...
Was testing how easily he could bite.
. . .
Chen Mo left the auction early.
He had lost again.
First...
The jade pendant.
Now...
The Crimson Spirit Grass.
Both times...
Qin Hao had interfered.
Both times...
Shen Tian had taken the final opportunity.
Chen Mo stood outside beneath the courtyard lights.
His expression remained calm.
But inside...
Questions accumulated.
Qin Hao clearly knew something.
Shen Tian knew more.
Then...
Footsteps approached.
Chen Mo looked over.
Qin Hao.
Alone.
They stared at each other.
Qin Hao smiled.
"Leaving?"
Chen Mo nodded.
"Seems there’s nothing left for me."
Qin Hao heard the meaning.
"Unfortunate."
Chen Mo stared.
"You wanted the herb."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Qin Hao smiled.
"Same reason you did."
Silence.
Chen Mo’s eyes sharpened.
There.
Confirmation.
"You know what it was."
"Yes."
"How?"
Qin Hao looked toward the auction hall.
Then...
"That..."
He smiled.
"...is private."
Chen Mo’s aura shifted.
Not enough to attack.
Enough to warn.
Qin Hao remained relaxed.
"Easy."
"I’m not interested in fighting you tonight."
Chen Mo frowned.
"Tonight?"
Qin Hao laughed.
"Figure of speech."
Chen Mo didn’t believe him.
Then...
He asked.
"Shen Tian."
Qin Hao’s smile disappeared slightly.
"What about him?"
"What does he know?"
Qin Hao stared.
Then...
Genuinely laughed.
Chen Mo’s eyes narrowed.
"What’s funny?"
Qin Hao shook his head.
"If I knew that..."
He looked toward the building.
"...my life would be considerably easier."
Chen Mo studied him.
For once...
The answer seemed genuine.
Qin Hao continued.
"Free advice."
Chen Mo waited.
"Don’t underestimate him."
Chen Mo’s eyes sharpened.
Qin Hao smiled.
"And don’t mistake that for us being friends."
Then...
He walked away.
No alliance.
No cooperation.
Just information.
Because right now...
Qin Hao wanted Chen Mo cautious.
A cautious Chen Mo would preserve his own Fate longer.
And if Shen Tian intended to feast on both of them...
Qin Hao needed the other prey moving too.
. . .
Inside...
Lin Yue still held the herb box.
Her face had finally returned to a reasonable shade.
Mostly.
Shen Tian stood beside her.
Gu Qingya and Tang Meilin had walked ahead to speak with an auction
organizer.
Lin Yue looked down.
Then...
At him.
"You’re serious."
"About?"
"Letting me research it."
"Yes."
She hesitated.
"What is it?"
Shen Tian looked toward the box.
"Crimson Spirit Grass."
Her eyes sharpened.
She had heard the name.
Old cultivation medical texts.
Rare mentions.
Usually dismissed as myth.
"That’s real?"
"Apparently."
Lin Yue’s professional interest immediately overwhelmed embarrassment.
"What does it do?"
"Strengthens certain martial constitutions."
"Mechanism?"
"No idea."
"Qi interaction?"
"Probably."
"Cellular?"
Shen Tian smiled.
"There she is."
Lin Yue froze.
"What?"
"You forgot to be embarrassed."
Her face immediately became pink again.
"Why would you remind me?"
"Fun."
She stared.
Then...
Hit his arm lightly with the box.
"You’re horrible."
"Careful with the thirty million plant."
Lin Yue froze.
Then...
Very carefully...
Held the box with both hands.
Shen Tian laughed.
She narrowed her eyes.
"You did that on purpose."
"Yes."
Then...
Her expression softened.
"Thank you."
He looked toward her.
Lin Yue continued.
"For trusting me with it."
"I trust you."
Simple.
Immediate.
Her eyes widened slightly.
The words hit harder than the flirting.
She looked down.
Then...
Quietly...
"I won’t waste it."
"I know."
Another pause.
Then...
Lin Yue smiled.
"Come to the hospital tomorrow."
Shen Tian raised an eyebrow.
"Why?"
"You bought me a mythical herb."
"So?"
"So..."
Her cheeks warmed.
"I owe you dinner."
Shen Tian smiled.
"You already owed me dinner."
Lin Yue froze.
Then...
Remembered.
The dinner from before the Qinghe attack.
Delayed.
Again and again.
Rose’s coffee had finally happened.
Lin Yue’s dinner...
Hadn’t.
Her face turned red.
"Right."
Shen Tian leaned slightly closer.
"So now you owe me two."
Her eyes widened.
"That’s not how that works."
"It is now."
"You’re exploiting interest."
"Terrible terms."
Lin Yue laughed.
Then...
She looked at him.
Warm.
Comfortable.
Interested.
"Fine."
Shen Tian raised an eyebrow.
"Fine?"
"Two dinners."
He smiled.
Lin Yue’s cheeks became pink.
"But..."
She pointed toward him.
"No buying hospitals."
Shen Tian stared.
"I wasn’t planning to."
"You bought a pharmaceutical company for a plant."
"Different."
"Promise."
Shen Tian smiled.
"No."
Lin Yue covered her face.
. . .
Later.
Shen estate.
1:18 A.M.
Most of the house had gone quiet.
Shen Tian entered the private system space.
Xu Ning was waiting.
Several panels surrounded her.
[We need to talk.]
"That sounds serious."
[It is.]
Shen Tian sat.
"Go."
Xu Ning opened Qin Hao’s current profile.
Qin Hao
Fate Value: 635,200
--------
(Author’s Note: IMPORTANT!)
SEND POWESTONES!!!
ALL SUPER GIFTS (Magic Castle, Space Ship, Golden Gachapon) = MORE ChapterS!

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