"..."
As the quaint ring, engraved with the word "Silence" on the inside, settled into his hand, a chilling sensation surfaced while more information flooded into Yan Huan's mind.
"[To reduce the risk of exposure, this ring has a delayed activation function.]"
"[Upon touching a Modifier Host with this ring, you can choose to activate it imdiately or delay the activation.]"
"[The maximum delay ti is thirty minutes. Once the ti limit is exceeded, you must touch the Modifier Host with the ring again.]"
"[1. The tir begins when Silence takes effect; 2. This ring cannot be seen by Modifier Hosts or other ordinary mortals.]"
Yan Huan blinked. He gripped the ring a little tighter and raised his eyes to look at the demon before him, his heart inevitably trembling.
'This item is definitely a good thing, but to be given sothing so valuable right from the start...'
It made Yan Huan suspect that the other goods sold by this demon would likely co at an exorbitant price.
So, he blinked and proceeded to ask,
"What about the other items for sale? Can you let
see them?"
"Hehehe."
The black-robed demon chuckled sinisterly, and two faintly glowing orbs erged from within its dark cloak.
"[Five Elents Demon Eye]"
"[Price: Paynt of at least one of your five internal organs]"
"[Twice a day, lasting fifteen minutes each ti. Allows your line of sight to freely penetrate and reach locations obscured by visible matter.]"
"[Additionally, depending on the organ paid, your Demon Eye will gain an extra specialized ability targeting a specific Modifier.]"
"..."
Looking at the text displayed above, Yan Huan could not help but gulp.
He turned his head to look at the other item the demon was selling.
"[Fragnted Finger Amulet]"
"[Price: Kiss Ye Shiyu, and then within five minutes of kissing her, French kiss another mber of the opposite sex for thirty seconds right in front of her.]"
"[While wearing the Finger Amulet, you will be completely immune to the effects of other Modifiers, and any Modifier Fragnts obtained from any source will be doubled.]"
"[However, whether you wear the amulet or not, Ye Shiyu's Modifier will possess an unmitigable one hundred percent Resistance penetration against you.]"
"..."
Yan Huan stared at the two eerie lights floating before his eyes, the muscles at the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.
Clearly, neither of these options was any good. Both were dead ends.
Especially the second one. He felt that once he paid the price, he was absolutely guaranteed to be viciously controlled by Ye Shiyu and thoroughly enter a Battle Defeat CG.
'Was the price for this thing specifically designed just for ?!'
The bad news: the items sold in the Demon's Shop were massive traps, and if he did not buy anything for a certain period, a forced debuff would be applied to him.
The good news: it gave him a pretty decent first-ti gift pack right at the start. Additionally, not only could the shop's inventory be refreshed once a week, but he also only needed to make at least one purchase every two weeks.
How should he put it...
'There are pros and cons, I guess. In the end, it is better than a teleportation spell that might send
into so deadly uncharted territory, right?'
Yan Huan comforted himself with that thought.
He did not choose to refresh the items in the Demon's Shop right now, deciding instead to return to reality first.
The mont this thought surfaced, the surrounding ocean of darkness began to gradually shrink back toward the demon.
At the sa ti, the demon's damp, distorted voice drifted over.
"Silently chant 'Demon's Shop' three tis in your heart to enter once again..."
"Hehehe..."
After exiting the Demon's Shop, Yan Huan stared blankly at the erald green ring that had suddenly appeared in his hand.
With a shift in his thoughts, the ring vanished bizarrely.
Calling out to it in his mind once more, the ring instantly reappeared in his palm.
"It is that magical?"
"ow?"
Beside him, Myau-chan stared curiously at the ring in his hand. Just as it was about to look up and ask about it, Yan Huan excitedly grabbed it into a tight hug.
"Myau-chan, you are finally of so use this ti! Not bad. Give
your lucky blessing a few more tis, and you will soon be able to wash away your title as a useless kitty!"
"ow?!"
Held in Yan Huan's arms, Myau-chan was completely bewildered, having absolutely no idea what kind of role it had played in all this.
'Well, whatever. Since Yan Huan is praising , it ans I am genuinely useful, ow!'
Thinking this way, it justified the praise and revealed a proud expression with perfect peace of mind.
'I did not do anything, but I sure worked hard.'
"Alright then. The traditional Sunday program is over. It is ti to sleep."
"ow."
Yan Huan hid the ring away safely. He stood up, rubbed his shoulders, and took off his shirt, getting ready for bed.
Myau-chan eagerly trotted after him, hopping onto the bed even before he did.
The mont Yan Huan pulled back the covers, the cat burrowed right in.
By the ti Yan Huan lay down and was about to turn off the light, it was already resting obediently on his warm, rhythmic abdominal muscles, letting out a soft yawn.
"Goodnight, Myau-chan."
"ow."
And just like that, another week passed.
Monday, noon.
The lingering aftermath of the rainy weather had not yet faded, leaving behind the ruined remnants of dark clouds across the sky outside the window.
Egg-shaped patches of light faintly filtered through the gaps in the clouds. This prelude to a clearing sky felt suffocatingly thick, failing to stir up even a hint of joy in anyone who saw it, instead only bringing out fruitless sighs.
"The weather is really awful..."
After staring at the sky for a long ti, Yan Huan finally voiced this assessnt.
He was standing in a corner on the edge of Far Moon Academy, inside a circular room constructed entirely of glass.
He was surrounded by various lush plants. Next to the freshly turned soil on the ground sat nurous potted plants, each adorned with a na tag and a date.
Holding a watering can, Yan Huan looked at a half-dead pink flower in front of him with a depressed expression.
Hanging on the pot of the Chinese rose was a tag indicating its owner and na:
"Forty-Seventh Batch, Class 1-A, Yan Huan, Chinese Rose."
"..."
Just as Yan Huan was holding the watering can, intending to give this wilted Chinese rose a bit more water, faint calls echoed from outside the glass greenhouse.
"Miss Spencer! Are you nearby?"
"Please co out, do not hide anymore!"
"Miss Spencer!"
Glancing outside through the gaps in the plant leaves, Yan Huan vaguely spotted several n dressed in black suits, wearing the Jinshi Group emblem on their chests, calling out in all directions.
He ignored them, simply turning his head to continue watering his plant.
The mont he turned his head, a pair of clear, sky-blue eyes abruptly crashed into his line of sight.
Yan Huan blinked. Just as he was about to speak, the owner of those eyes showed a panicked expression and hurriedly reached out, attempting to cover Yan Huan's mouth.
"Smack!"
Fortunately, Yan Huan effortlessly caught her incoming right hand, stopping it dead in its tracks.
Naturally, it was Spencer.
"Shh!!"
Failing to cover Yan Huan's mouth did not stop Spencer from frantically pressing her index finger to her lips, aggressively shushing him.
Only after confirming that Yan Huan would not make a sound to expose them did she cautiously peek outside.
She then pulled Yan Huan down into a crouch, hiding among a cluster of greenery.
"Miss Spencer..."
Outside, as the shouts from the group of n gradually faded away, Spencer finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"They are finally gone. They are so annoying..."
Yan Huan threw her a sidelong glance and could not help but ask,
"Did your family find out you have been buying doujinshi?"
"Hah? Of course not!"
Spencer subconsciously tried to retort, but as she spoke, her tone softened a bit.
"They were sent by my family to assess my academics or whatever. Anyway, it is just in case I get expelled from here, they are supposed to help
find another school or sothing."
"What is wrong? Not confident you can win the Club War?"
Hearing Yan Huan say this, Spencer snorted disdainfully. Crossing her arms and turning her nose up, she declared,
"I said 'in case'! Do you not know what 'in case' ans?!"
"Right, right, in case. I thought you chickened out because you lost the race against Owen earlier."
Hearing Yan Huan ntion this, Spencer's expression suddenly turned a little guilty.
Because only eight specific clubs remained to compete for the championship in the second round, the rules would undergo changes.
The probability of events related to each club's respective activities would increase to around sixty percent.
And among the unrelated competition events, there were quite a few track and field events.
Furthermore, since the core activity of the Doujinshi Society could never pass censorship for a school event, the likelihood of drawing track and field-related events was exceedingly high.
During her previous race with Owen, Spencer had genuinely run with all her might, but she still could not outrun him.
If Spencer could not beat the captain of the Track and Field Club, the other mbers of the Doujinshi Society would be even less of a match for those professionally trained athletes.
This ant that without continuing to plunder others, the Doujinshi Society would indeed have a very difficult ti defeating the Track and Field Club.
Just as this thought arose, Spencer stole a glance at Yan Huan beside her, recalling the words he had spoken before.
"..."
After a second of silence, she clenched her fists, flashed her signature canine tooth, and smiled confidently.
"It does not matter! An Le has already created a specialized training plan for us! Once we master those track and field techniques... we are going to win!"
"..."
'Stop raising death flags, alright?'
Generally, the next panel for soone who said sothing like that would be a flashback of their life flashing before their eyes, followed by getting sliced in half and collapsing to the ground.
However...
'Did this girl actually give up on the idea of plundering others to win?'
Looking at her goofy smile, Yan Huan was genuinely a little surprised.
Thus, he spoke to her with sincere encouragent.
"Do your best."
"Speaking of which, what are you doing here?"
Crouching beside him, Spencer squird closer, peering curiously at the watering can in his hand.
"Watering the flowers."
"Watering the flowers?"
"Yeah."
Yan Huan glanced at the surrounding plants and explained,
"This used to be the greenhouse for the Gardening Club. Unfortunately, since the last few senior female students graduated, no one else joined the club."
"So this place was returned to the school and turned into a public area. The Student Council usually takes care of it."
Curious, Spencer turned her head to inspect the labeled greenery around them. Taking a quick glance, she saw that many indeed belonged to students who had already graduated.
There were also quite a few from current students. Among them all, the most inconspicuous one was actually the listless Chinese rose sitting right in front of Yan Huan.
Spencer turned back and looked at Yan Huan, asking innocently,
"How co the flowers everyone else takes care of are so pretty, but yours is half-dead?"
Upon hearing this, Yan Huan's face instantly darkened. He shot back,
"Everyone else cleared Angry Little Pigs back in elentary school. How co you are still stuck in the middle levels even in college?"
Hearing this, Spencer's small face flushed red as she waved her arms defensively and explained,
"I-I cleared it before! It is just that... I changed phones, so my save files... disappeared. Yep, that is exactly what happened!"
"Heh."
Yan Huan could not be bothered to point out how her little face blatantly scread "liar". He rely turned back to look at the Chinese rose in front of him.
Unlike the stubborn Spencer, he was willing to admit the truth:
He really was terrible at growing this flower.
But it genuinely was not because his skills were lacking or he was not trying hard enough. It was mostly because this Chinese rose seed to have a personal vendetta against him.
He had tried growing it several tis, but no matter what he did, it always had this wretched "I want to die" look to it.
He had even made a video call to a graduated senior from the Gardening Club previously to get remote guidance.
The result was still the sa. No matter how he nurtured it, it remained wilted and never lived long, leaving even the highly experienced senior completely baffled.
Seeing the depressed look on Yan Huan's face, the smile on Spencer's face beca unstoppable.
Perhaps because Yan Huan had just nagged her, seeing him hit a wall or fail at sothing brought her imnse joy, and she imdiately wanted to mock him.
"Yan Huan, to think you cannot even do sothing as simple as this! Tsk tsk."
"Heh. If you are so good, why do you not do it?"
Hearing this, Spencer's smile stiffened slightly.
She had absolutely zero experience in cultivating potted plants.
The way she kept herself alive was by stuffing her face with potato chips and other junk food. It was not like she could water a potted plant with cola and chips, right?
But a dummy like Spencer would always try to act tough.
She placed her hands on her hips. Her smile was confident yet carried an underlying layer of strained reluctance, giving her a contradictorily cute appearance.
"Hmph, I will do it then! Believe it or not, I will definitely nurse this... what is it called again?"
"Chinese rose."
"Right, this Chinese rose back to perfect health!!"
"Heh."
Yan Huan chuckled dismissively. He would rather believe that this girl would give up her Modifier right now than believe she could successfully grow a Chinese rose.
"Rustle..."
Right at that mont, faint rustling noises echoed from the shrubbery behind them.
Spencer, still crouching beside Yan Huan, twitched her ears and imdiately whipped her head around to shout in that direction.
"Who is there? Co out!!"
The next second, after her shout, two figures squeezed their way out of the bushes.
The first to catch their eyes was Yurianna, clutching a brand-new cara.
Behind her followed a timid-looking girl wearing a school uniform styled like a long black skirt.
The girl's small face was sowhat pale, and there were obvious dark bags under her eyes, making it seem as though she lacked vitality.
"I-It is just , classmate Spencer!"
Yet, a second after glancing over, the figures of Yurianna and the other girl instantly warped in Spencer's eyes, transforming into two little pigs—one black and one white.
"Oink?"
Hearing the noise, Yan Huan turned his head as well.
He also noticed the girl trailing behind Yurianna, spotting the school ID pinned to the chest of her uniform. The badge was shaped like the head of a Qilin.
Clearly, she was not a student of Far Moon Academy.
Instead, she was from another highly renowned elite academy in Linn:
Shuurei Academy.
Retracting his gaze, Yan Huan looked at Yurianna and asked,
"Yurianna, who is this?"
"Hello, President Yan Huan. I am Jiang Nuannuan from Shuurei Academy."
Staring at Yan Huan's face, the girl blushed slightly and shyly introduced herself first.
"Hehe, Nuannuan is my high school classmate and my best friend."
"..."
There were too many things to point out, and for a mont, Yan Huan did not know how to react.
For example, why was Jiang Nuannuan not in class on a Monday when she was supposed to be, and instead snuck into Far Moon Academy?
Or, for another example, why were the two of them sneaking around here acting suspiciously with a cara?
"What are you two doing here?"
Unexpectedly, it was Spencer who acted as Yan Huan's mouthpiece, voicing his exact thoughts.
Hearing Spencer's question, Yurianna chuckled smugly. Folding her arms, she declared,
"Since you sincerely asked..."
As she spoke, she paused slightly and glanced at Jiang Nuannuan beside her.
Realizing what she ant, Jiang Nuannuan's face grew even redder.
But after a second of hesitation, she threw caution to the wind and added,
"T-Then we will rcifully tell you..."
"Hah?"
Spencer stared at the two girls in front of her, then glanced at Yan Huan next to her, pointing at the pair.
"Are these two idiots?"
"...You have the nerve to call soone else an idiot?!"
Yan Huan glared at Spencer, and she indignantly glared right back.
It was Yurianna who giggled again and turned to Yan Huan.
"Actually, we ca here to take refuge."
"...Why is everyone taking refuge? Are you guys going to be expelled too?"
"Of course not! Nuannuan ca here to help
uncover the truth about who the President really likes! And just now, the two of us discovered a key piece of evidence!"
Yurianna looked at Yan Huan, whose cheek was twitching slightly, and whispered,
"President, the person you actually like is Ye Shiyu, right?"
"..."
Hearing this, Yan Huan wished he could imdiately hit this dummy Yurianna with a Fire Punch.
Spencer blinked and looked at Yan Huan beside her.
"President, just tell us. Is it true or not?"
The very next second, Yan Huan and Spencer opened their mouths at exactly the sa ti.
"No."
"Yes!"
Yan Huan turned his head to glare at Spencer. With perfect synchronization, she looked back at him and made a funny face.
"More importantly, what on earth makes you think I like Sister Shiyu?"
"Because we just found crucial evidence!!"
Yurianna raised her index finger and grinned at Yan Huan.
"Right now, Senior Ye is probably plotting to confess her feelings to the President!"
"Confess her feelings?"
Yan Huan blinked, and Jiang Nuannuan nodded in agreent, chiming in to explain,
"Basically, earlier, we saw the senior nad Ye Shiyu looking extrely conflicted..."
"Her face was a bit flushed, and she was holding a doll. Yurianna said the doll had your na on it, President. She was counting on her fingers and muttering to herself non-stop."
Spencer rubbed her chin. Even though she was a dummy, she was analyzing this more seriously than anyone.
"Muttering to herself?"
"Yeah. One mont she was saying sothing like, 'I should go find Xiao Huan and give it a try,' and the next she was saying things like, 'No, Mama will not agree to this.'"
Yurianna's eyes lit up slightly, shimring with the brilliant light of pure gossip.
"Aha! The forbidden love between an older sister and younger brother!! Parental obstruction! The love-hate drama of wealthy families... Hehe, I can already sll the sour stench of romance, President!"
"..."
Everyone was ticulously analyzing the situation, making logical deductions, but Yan Huan rely swallowed hard, realizing that things had just taken a dreadful turn.
'This does not sound like so wealthy family's forbidden sibling romance at all...'
'This is the f*cking countdown of a hypnotic death knell!!'
His expression stiffened, and he could not help but ask,
"Did she say anything else?"
"Eh? I knew it, the President is also feeling the stirring of spring!"
Yurianna smiled knowingly. Tapping her chin, she shook her head and said,
"Unfortunately, as we were listening, she realized soone was eavesdropping!"
"Yeah. At that mont... Senior Ye Shiyu's expression was so terrifying! Thank goodness she did not see our faces."
Jiang Nuannuan stated.
Hearing this, Yurianna waved her hand dismissively and said,
"Oh, please. It is perfectly normal for soone with a secret crush to feel shy and embarrassed when their planned confession gets found out."
"..."
'Embarrassed, my ass.'
'Believe it or not, she absolutely wanted to knife the both of you right then and there.'
'Thank goodness your bodies have a stronger survival instinct than your souls, prompting you to flee on the spot.'
'If you two had not run, Ye Shiyu would probably have brutally hypnotized and controlled you.'
But...
'Why is Ye Shiyu acting up again?'
'Aunt Ye's suppression had clearly still been effective; otherwise, Yurianna would not have overheard her sounding so conflicted.'
'So, is it possible that so new variable has erged, fueling the rise of her desires?'
Yan Huan did not know, but he inevitably recalled the incident the other day when she had inexplicably declared war on Spencer.
"Tap, tap... tap."
Right as Yan Huan was deep in thought, a series of footsteps faintly echoed from outside the greenhouse.
"Whoosh..."
To reiterate once more, the weather today was terrible.
Consequently, the howling wind outside battering against the glass panels of the greenhouse sounded exceptionally shrill.
It created a highly oppressive atmosphere, like the gathering winds that precede a raging storm.
Yan Huan blinked, Spencer's expression shifted slightly, and Jiang Nuannuan's face turned pale.
Only Yurianna, that utter dummy, was still giggling foolishly.
Yan Huan raised his gaze to look outside. Faintly, through the gaps in the greenery, he spotted a tall, aloof figure.
It was exactly Ye Shiyu.
Jiang Nuannuan looked outside and hastily covered Yurianna's mouth, preventing her from making a sound.
Spencer sensed the vicious chill radiating from outside the room. Rather than feeling afraid, a fighting spirit welled up within her.
Annoyed, she rolled up her sleeves and was about to stand up, displaying a completely fearless deanor of being utterly indifferent to life and death, ready to brawl if provoked.
Yan Huan shot her a glance and hastily reached out, intending to cover her mouth.
But this ti, it was Spencer's turn to easily catch Yan Huan's palm in her grip.
"Heh."
She chuckled cheekily. Yan Huan could only sigh in exasperation and shush her as a warning.
"Shh."
Outside the greenhouse, Ye Shiyu gripped her mobile phone tightly. Her shadow stretched across the ground, looking as terrifying as the Grim Reaper clutching a scythe.
Expressionlessly, she surveyed the surroundings, faintly muttering under her breath.
"Where did they run off to..."
"..."
However, apart from the howling wind, the surroundings offered no response whatsoever.
She could not help but glance at her mobile phone once more. On the screen, the App interface was crystal clear.
"[The mission to thwart Spencer has been completed.]"
"[Congratulations, you have received the following reward: Unlocked a special type of Hypnosis Ability.]"
"[Special Hypnosis Ability: Compulsory Hypnosis.]"
"[Once a week, lasting twenty minutes each ti. The activation thod is identical to conventional hypnosis, but it can only be cast through your own phone screen.]"
"[Causes the hypnotized subject's consciousness to remain perfectly normal, but they will have zero control over their physical body. Their body will unconditionally obey your commands.]"
"[After the effect ends, the subject's mory during this period will completely vanish, and they will receive a rationalized cognitive correction for the missing mory block.]"
Staring at this newly acquired Hypnosis ability, Ye Shiyu's heart could not help but stir slightly.
She could not stop herself from imagining what kind of expression Xiao Huan would make if he were fully conscious and acting completely normal, but forced to watch as she claid him piece by piece.
'He will definitely be upset. He will definitely be angry, right?'
'But if I make him feel good, will he gradually submit and reveal other, more lewd expressions?'
More importantly, after the effect ended, he would forget absolutely everything.
It was simply...
Too convenient.
But what was even more tempting was another interface that popped up on the App right afterward.
"[Mission Subject: Yan Huan.]"
"[Use the special Hypnosis ability on Yan Huan. Success is achieved when his perfectly conscious mind is forced to utter the word 'comfortable'.]"
"[Upon success, you will receive an exceptionally generous bonus reward.]"
"..."
As the saying goes, "He who carries a sharp blade will naturally harbor the intent to kill."
Having such a convenient tool in her hands, coupled with a mission that offered pure positive feedback...
Anyone who remained entirely unswayed would have to be practically a god.
In any case, it was completely impossible for Ye Shiyu to resist.
However, she truly was hesitating.
She rembered the words her mother had said to her that day. She knew exactly what the right thing to do was, but...
She just could not help herself.
Desire was truly the greatest enemy of mankind.
"..."
Clutching her phone, Ye Shiyu stared up at the gloomy sky and could not help but whisper,
"What should I do, Mother..."
"Xiao Huan..."
Outside, Ye Shiyu's soft murmurs drifted clearly into the greenhouse.
Jiang Nuannuan was so terrified she did not dare to move a muscle, while Yurianna was still secretly snickering as she looked at Yan Huan.
Yan Huan remained expressionless. anwhile, Spencer, sitting beside him, blinked and looked his way.
Yan Huan looked back at her, eting those sky-blue eyes.
"..."
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