My lord, spare his life!

Martial artists are sensitive to aura.

The sense of crisis, like wolves invading his territory, kept Wang Qi awake. He could sleep peacefully next to Zhang Yang, but he couldn't tolerate Guan Si's intrusion. The moment Guan Si's presence drew near, he was forced awake. He didn't want to pay attention, but the more he listened, the more uneasy he felt.

Doesn't Guan Siyin have any idea what kind of person she is?

Why pretend to be weak, innocent, and easily bullied?

Guan Siyin even shamelessly claimed that he was good-looking.

Wang Qi felt like throwing up his dinner from the night before after hearing this.

Facing the angry glare of Wang Qi, Guan Si remained calm and composed.

"When did I ever act pitiful?"

Wang Qi sneered, mimicking Guan Si's tone of voice: "You still have to rely on the compassion of those around you. Back then, you were weak and survived thanks to the compassion of your former brothel patrons. Are you now implying that the Mountain Spirit will show you compassion?"

For the first time, Wang Qi doubted whether the mountain spirit was blind. Guan Si's body was filled with such intense yin energy that he resembled a demon, yet he could be called kind? If Guan Si was kind, then Wang Gongsun was kind too.

A hint of murderous intent flickered across Guan Si's usually indifferent face.

Wang Qi's words did indeed provoke him.

Zhang Yang: "What is the causal relationship between these two sentences?"

It was purely Wang Qi's far-fetched explanation and idle chatter.

Upon hearing this, Guan Si's cold expression vanished, while Wang Qi was quite infuriated. Just then, Zhang Da Miao's sudden scream broke the strange atmosphere. The ink stick curled in its tail fell to the ground with a thud, and Zhang Da Miao scrambled into Zhang Yang's arms, clutching its ears—which Wang Qi had used to vent his anger—with its two front paws, whimpering as it half-lay in Zhang Yang's embrace.

She was so delicate and frail that I felt pity for her.

Guan Sirui commented, "Even a leopard is more likable than you."

Wang Qi had never been treated with such humiliation before. He immediately drew his weapon to kill Guan Si and tear that eyesore's face and annoying mouth to shreds. Zhang Yang, captivated by Zhang Da Miao's intoxication, didn't even look up and said, "You two go outside and fight. Remember to pay for anything you break."

Immediately afterwards, the sound of Wang Qi smashing things was heard.

He walked away in a few big strides.

He had just stepped over the threshold when he remembered something and turned back.

Wang Qi glared fiercely at Guan Si, grabbed Zhang Damiao's tail, tore the leopard from Zhang Yang's arms, and kicked it aside: "You little beast, grind your ink."

Having suffered an undeserved misfortune, Zhang Da Miao picked up the ink stick with its tail, lowered its ears, drooped its head, and dared not raise its tail anymore.

Before Wang Qi could kick it a second time, it adjusted its position to make it easier for him to use as a pillow. Wang Qi, still furious, simply bent down to pick up the military treatise from the ground. He sat down, his eyes wide open, staring at the treatise as if it were an enemy, the fire in his eyes capable of burning two holes in it. He would stay there, not going anywhere.

Let's see how Guan Si, that deadbeat, tries to seduce the mountain spirit into taking pity on him.

Guan Si still ignored him.

He would randomly pick a book from Zhang Yang's bookshelf to pass the time.

One day of self-study is enough for Wang Qi's brain to struggle for a month.

Hearing the noise inside subside, Ge Zhou peeked through the door. He saw his lord working at his desk, while Guan Si and Wang Qi were reading, creating a harmonious and focused learning atmosphere. Reassured, Ge Zhou removed his head and tucked it under his arm.

This can be considered one of the advantages of Xia Gengshi.

After her head detached from her body, she could not only see with her eyes, but also use her breasts as eyes. Her consciousness was divided in two, interconnected yet independent. In other words, she could sleep while on guard duty, and the two could remain undisturbed by each other.

With both of them present, Ge Zhou was able to "slack off" a little.

In the middle of the night, Ge Zhou heard a series of light footsteps.

His steps were unsteady, lacking the composure of a trained martial artist.

Ge Zhou immediately put his head back in his pocket and saw clearly the figure walking through the corridor, who was carrying a food box.

"Seeing that the candles were still lit in the master's courtyard, and thinking that she was still engrossed in her official duties and hadn't gone to sleep, I went to the east kitchen and asked the cook to prepare a late-night snack." The person's slender body was wrapped in a wide blue robe, and in the flickering candlelight, she looked frail and pitiful, like a willow in the wind.

Ge Zhou didn't feel that anything was wrong.

"Please wait a moment, my lord. I will go and inform them immediately."

When Yuan Xie entered, all three people and the leopard in the room looked at him. Yuan Xie knew that Guan Si and the other man often guarded Zhang Yang's safety, but rarely appeared in public. He carried the food box, first glanced at Wang Qi, and then nodded slightly to Guan Si.

Wang Qi said, "Delivering food in the middle of the night?"

Yuan Xie: "My lord works hard, so naturally you should pay attention to nourishing your body with food."

He shouldn't have mentioned it, because it actually made Zhang Yang a little hungry. Wang Qi glanced at the dishes in the food box; none of them could be prepared simply by turning on a stove. "Why did you only prepare one serving?"

Yuan Xie did not reply.

His "Stars Descending to Calamity" is a being that can hear people; if he sees something he can't answer or is too lazy to answer, he can simply pretend he doesn't see it.

Wang Qi's anger, which he had just suppressed, suddenly flared up again.

Guan Siyin is asking for a beating, and Yuan Youzheng is also provoking her?

However, this time Wang Qi did not choose to confront her head-on. He simply said calmly, "The Mountain Spirit is full of energy and strong enough to kill a bull with one punch. She can go without food for three or five meals without any problem. On the other hand, the Yuanjun is weak and needs more sleep. Why would you send the Mountain Spirit a midnight snack? She will find food herself when she is hungry. How could she starve to death in such a large prefecture?"

These words were awkward and unpleasant to hear, but they genuinely showed concern for Yuan Xie.

Yuan Xie said, "Lately, I've been restless, often having many dreams and little sleep. I'm also preoccupied with numerous trivial matters, making it difficult to sleep well. Moreover, our lord is diligent in his duties, working tirelessly day and night for the sake of the people's livelihood. How can we, as his subjects, feel at ease?"

Wang Qi: "..."

Damn it, you responded quickly this time.

Before Wang Qi could utter a word, Zhang Yang put down his chopsticks and grabbed Yuan Xie's delicate wrist. The silver bracelet with a red cord swayed gently in the air. In the candlelight, the faint blue veins on Yuan Xie's pale wrist were also concealed.

"Has the 'Descending Stars' attack begun?"

Yuan Xie said, "The person in the ear is different from other celestial beings that descend to evil; it doesn't have a fixed time of attack. It and its host body are two sides of the same yin and yang, either yin prevails over yang or yang prevails over yin. It's just noisy and annoying, but it doesn't have any other abilities."

Zhang Yang: "You should have told me."

At least she could intimidate the person in her ear and make Yuan Xie sleep well.

Yuan Xie laughed and said, "Isn't that why I'm here? I came directly to get close to my lord, but I was afraid that my lord would think that I was frivolous and cowardly, unable to even tolerate this little noise, so I could only use the excuse of delivering food."

Zhang Yang: "Why do I think you're frivolous and cowardly?"

She didn't understand Wang Qi's logic, but Yuan Xie's logic was also touching.

If you feel unwell, you should speak up instead of stubbornly enduring the pain and letting a small problem become a big one, causing unnecessary suffering.

Yuan Xie: "From love arises sorrow and fear."

"Can't understand."

"Master of the Xie Cult..." Yuan Xie's words came to an abrupt halt as a hand gripped his shoulder. He turned to look at Guan Si, complaining with some resentment to the young man who could be considered his former master, "Siyin, be gentle, Xie's body can't withstand your abuse."

Guan Si: "..."

He closed his eyes briefly, then released his grip: "Flirtatious and dissolute!"

Guan Si had only placed his hand on Yuan Xie's clothes, and the man's collar had already loosened considerably. Guan Si suspected that Yuan Xie's collar was always loosely tied. If Guan Si hadn't been there, Yuan Xie would have shamelessly leaned against Zhang Boyuan, and his blue robe would probably have fallen apart.

Wang Qi said, "That's right, I'm still here."

As he spoke, he suddenly remembered the dishes that Yuan Xie had given him.

They all seem to be for nourishing yin and tonifying the kidneys, right?

In a corner where Zhang Yang couldn't see, Yuan Xie's face revealed a sinister expression, directed at Wang Qi. Wang Qi raised an eyebrow and glared back without flinching. Why would he be afraid of a sickly scholar? Someone like Yuan Youzheng could be killed with a single punch.

Zhang Yang chewed on a pastry, lost in thought.

A small, inconspicuous buff has appeared below Yuan Xie's health bar.

【角牴】：All things compete and fight endlessly.

She simply rested her chin on her hand and looked at the three of them.

Yuan Xie sat up lazily and straightened his clothes.

He replied, "This doesn't seem to be part of the guards' duties."

He wouldn't have spoken so politely if it weren't for our years of friendship.

"I was entrusted with this task, and it's my duty." Yuan Xie didn't want Fan Shuyan to come knocking on his door first thing tomorrow morning, so he'd better give up on that idea today.

"...It is also my duty to share the burdens and worries of my lord." Yuan Xie suddenly became serious, his expression turning solemn. "My lord cherishes and cares for even a few hundred prisoners, and goes to great lengths for them. How can I stand idly by? My lord loves his people, and as his subjects, we naturally feel sorry for his hardships and wish to share his worries."

He was clearly a very upright and traditional honest man.

These two, on the other hand, are full of dishonest talk.

Yuan Xie appeared frail, but his work efficiency far surpassed Zhang Yang's. As dawn broke, Zhang Yang was finally able to return to the backyard for a nap. Ge Zhou quickly followed, and only after Guan Si and the other two had disappeared from sight did she breathe a sigh of relief: "This humble general was afraid the three of you would start fighting."

Zhang Yang, with a steamed bun in his mouth, said, "It's so undignified to fight."

Ge Zhou: "..."

Zhang Yang said, "It will only injure the enemy by a thousand while losing eight hundred of our own."

Ge Zhou was stunned for a moment: "Does the lord know?"

Zhang Yang countered, "Should I not know?"

For a niche game that has been operating for sixteen years to remain vibrant, it needs to constantly introduce new gameplay and create new highlights to capture players' hearts. Whether it's NPCs in the story explicitly expressing their affection and liking for the player, or other special NPCs maintaining a subtle relationship with the player that's more than friends but not quite lovers, it all ultimately serves the player's gaming experience...

The game's plot does subtly promote sexual content.

The game's official stance is that it's a green and harmonious game aimed at minors, so they haven't explicitly stated this aspect, instead leaving it ambiguous. Some observers suspect that the game's official stance is a cover-up, leaving room for the actual release of romance gameplay later. Among the vast number of romance games on the market, none are as straightforward as this one.

However, even a simple soup was enough for Zhang Yang to figure it out.

The core idea is that players are loved by the world.

She just didn't understand—

Why do the people around her think she doesn't understand?

She's an NPC, not stupid.

Even if she were truly naive, her friend list clearly displays the order of favorability from highest to lowest; surely she wouldn't know that? She's not blind.

It's a bit short, I'll add more tomorrow.

PS: ML (Master Love) refers to a character expressing affection for the player (or the character the player plays) through story, voice acting, or other means.