Chapter 10-11
Host! Don't bully a woman please!
DING!
[You've gained 200 System points!]
"Ooh... not bad," Yang Huo murmured. The Elder had figured it out faster than expected. 'Guess he isn't an elder for nothing.'
But that wasn't what caught his attention. It was something else.
[Congratulations, you've successfully manipulated a core elder of the Su family into helping you gain a major opportunity!]
Manipulated.
The word lingered.
True, he had helped the Su family resolve their crisis. But in the end, his actions had still been driven by self-interest. He hadn't forced anything—he had simply designed a solution that benefited both sides, one that naturally included him.
And yet, the System labeled it manipulation.
Was it because he knew of an alternative that didn’t require his involvement? Or was it because he had nudged them toward the solution that benefited him the most?
Interesting.
If guiding them toward a path that benefited him counted as manipulation, then the System wasn’t judging outcomes or methods alone.
It was judging motives. Intent.
Which meant one thing.
The System could see far more than it let on.
The owl drifted nearby, wings beating lazily, boredom written plainly across its face. It hadn’t even been a day since He met this strange entity, yet the number of questions already exceeded anything from His previous life.
A faint smile curved his lips.
Maybe this second life wasn't so bad after all.
Unfortunately, something far more urgent demanded his attention right now.
"Have you seen anyone yet?" he asked.
The owl shook its head lazily. [No, everyone must be sleeping right now.]
[Host, just what exactly are we doing? I thought we were going back to your room…]
Yang Huo smiled awkwardly.
"We are… but we need to find someone first."
At the owl's puzzled stare, he glanced away.
"I… sort of forgot the way back."
[…What?]
Two minutes.
That was all it took to get lost.
He hadn't expected the Su manor to be this sprawling. And most importantly, he'd been distracted, too focused on the story of Yang Huo and his fiancée, Su Meiying.
The owl froze midair, beak slightly agape while staring at him.
Clearing his throat, he gestured ahead. "Anyway… have you noticed our surroundings?"
Assuming he was just changing the subject, the owl only half-listened at first.
Until it actually looked around.
Its wings slowed as the owl took in its surroundings.
They stood in an open corridor, gardens lining both sides. Moonlight spilled across cracked stone and untended soil, revealing a place long forgotten.
Gardens meant to be full of life now held only withering flowers, untended weeds, and wild grass swallowing the cobblestones.
There were no servants in sight. No guards either.
As if this part of the estate didn't exist in the family's eyes at all.
[Host… should we go back?]
Guests weren’t meant to see places like this. Which meant they were already quite far from the guest residences.
Before Yang Huo could respond, a sound brushed his senses.
Soft. Subtle.
His gaze shifted toward the outer wall.
A dead tree leaned against it, vines choking its trunk. And behind it—
A silhouette moved.
A woman stepped out from the shadows, seemingly unaware she’d been noticed.
[A-a thief?!?!?!]
Yang Huo resisted the urge to facepalm. 'Stop joking around. Look at her clothes, do you think a thief would wear such bright colors in this dark night?'
However, the System still felt doubtful. [B-But Host, her clothes are—]
Bloodstained.
He didn't deny it.
Still, something felt off.
'She isn't wearing a servant's uniform. And the smell… doesn't quite match human blood.'
He couldn't see her face from this angle.
Even so, the way she moved didn’t resemble an intruder. There was no urgency in her steps, no caution—only a quiet confidence. Blood stained her clothes, yet her condition didn’t seem to warrant that much of it.
An intruder wouldn't act like this.
Yang Huo made his decision.
'For now, let's leave.'
No need for unnecessary interaction.
It was unfortunate, but he still hadn’t mastered how the original Yang Huo was supposed to act. Until then, minimizing contact was the safest choice.
He turned to slip away—
—but it was too late.
With oil lamps lining the corridor on both sides, the area was simply too well lit for him to go unnoticed.
The woman turned toward him, her movement sharp and sudden.
For a brief moment, neither of them moved.
Her gaze settled on his face.
And then—she froze.
Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks, falling one after another.
Is she… crying?
[Host! What did you do?! Did you bully someone without me knowing?!]
He ignored the owl.
Because something about it felt wrong.
Those weren't tears of pain.
They were bright. Trembling.
Joy.
Unpredictable Woman
As the moon's gentle light bathed the surroundings in a silvery glow, her gaze locked onto the distant figure of the man. In that instant, tears welled up without warning, spilling down her cheeks in an uncontrollable torrent.
Caught completely off guard, she stood frozen, her face blank, unable to express the surge of emotions crashing within her. Then, in a trembling whisper, she murmured, "Yang... Huo...?"
He couldn't hear her voice, but from reading her lips, Yang Huo could roughly guess what she had said.
'She knows me?'
A ripple of unease spread through him. From her reaction alone, it was clear that the original Yang Huo had shared a special relationship with this woman.
Yang Huo resisted the urge to massage his forehead. Having a fiancée was already troublesome enough—but now this?
Suppressing a sigh, he decided to test the waters. He softened his tone slightly and asked, "You seem injured. Are you alright?"
It was as if those words snapped her out of a trance.
She wiped the tears from her cheeks, her expression shifting subtly. The tension melted away, replaced by a faint smile tugging at her lips. Shaking her head, she began walking toward him—and in that moment, Yang Huo witnessed something extraordinary.
Though her steps appeared leisurely, the distance between them collapsed in an instant, as if she had crossed it in a single bound.
When they were finally face to face, she leaned forward slightly, her eyes still glistening as she asked with an eager, radiant smile.
"Are you worried about me?"
Her white robe was stained with crimson blood, yet her smile remained dazzling.
The sudden closeness caught Yang Huo off guard. He took a step back, creating a sliver of distance between them.
"…Of course," he replied after a brief pause.
Unbothered, she stepped closer once more, her curious gaze fixed firmly on him. "Yang Huo, what are you doing here?"
"I…" He hesitated.
Judging by how comfortably she acted around him, the original Yang Huo must have been far closer to her than expected.
'No wonder that damn guy rushed here so eagerly,' he thought darkly. 'Turns out he already had someone.'
Continuing this interaction was dangerous. With his lack of information, he couldn't afford to let the conversation drift any further—
But before he could respond, she interrupted him.
"Are you lost?" she asked, a playful smirk lifting her lips.
How the hell did she figure that out? Was the original Yang Huo that bad with directions?
Chuckling softly at his expression, she added, a faint blush coloring her cheeks, "I can guide you."
Yang Huo's eye twitched. The headache was already creeping in.
This was bad.
Without understanding the original Yang Huo's relationship with her, he had no control over the flow of the conversation.
In less than a second, Yang Huo steadied himself. "That won't be necessary," he said smoothly. "You should tend to your injuries first. I can find my own way back."
Of course, that was nothing but a convenient excuse. Though the smell alone wasn't enough to be certain—but combined with her condition, the lack of any real injuries, and her unbothered demeanor, the odds of it being human blood, much less her, dropped to almost nothing.
But so what? No matter what she said, he would play dumb and be stubborn!!
"Sure!" she exclaimed brightly, suddenly extending her hand toward him.
Yang Huo blinked. "…?"
Her innocent smile immediately explained it. "A medicinal pill. Don't you have one? That'll be my payment for guiding you back!"
His mouth twitched.
This shameless woman! She clearly wasn't injured, yet she still dared to demand a pill? This was daylight robbery!
She waved her hand impatiently.
"C'mon, c'mon. I know you have one."
Yang Huo fought the urge to rub his face. 'Aaah… I give up. This woman is impossible.'
He knew people like this in his previous world. Without first mapping their personality, predicting their behavior was nearly impossible.
His plan shifted instantly.
Risky as it was, he decided to use this opportunity to probe her character.
Watching her hand sway expectantly, Yang Huo sighed inwardly. He retrieved a white pill from his storage ring and placed it in her palm.
Her face lit up instantly, like a delighted child.
"Follow me!"
She turned and began walking, with Yang Huo trailing a step behind her.
Keeping pace with her relaxed stride, Yang Huo scanned the surroundings, his eyes narrowing slightly.
'That damn System… where did it go?' He hadn't seen the owl since encountering this woman.
However, dwelling on it was pointless. He pushed the thought aside and redirected his focus to the woman beside him.
He couldn't discern the exact relationship between her and the original Yang Huo.
She didn't idolize him like a lovestruck admirer, nor did she behave like a mere friend. When she saw his face and broke down earlier, there had been genuine longing—affection even—in her eyes.
More than friends… yet not quite lovers.
Could she be Su Meiying?
The story had never described her appearance, so he had no reference.
But.... he dismissed the idea almost immediately.
From what he understood based on the story, Su Meiying was submissive, withdrawn, and plagued by low self-esteem—a byproduct of the way she'd been treated since childhood. Any resentment she harbored was buried deep, expressed only through quiet endurance rather than open defiance.
This woman was nothing like that.
And even if he were mistaken, the relationship between the original Yang Huo and Su Meiying was supposed to be poisoned by indifference and hostility.
At the very least, it was nothing remotely friendly.
Yang Huo released a slow sigh.
He had thought all he needed was to act like a domineering young master—cold, willful, and indifferent toward the Su family.
But now…
Because of this woman's existence, everything had become unnecessarily complicated.
'Yang Huo's ties to the Su family… are a mess.'
