Chapter 429: The Reincarnator's Brilliant Plan, The Villain's Afternoon Entertainment
Long Hao was very confident.
Through his memories of his past life, he knew that Dragon King Han Qi was an extremely cautious and forbearing person.
As the Second Young Master of the Emperor Capital's Han Family, Han Qi failed in a family power struggle and was persecuted by his elder brother, Han Xiu, leading him to marry into the ordinary Liu family in Hangzhou as a useless, good-for-nothing son-in-law, looked down upon by everyone.
But in reality, behind Han Qi's forbearance was the secret establishment of the vast Dragon King Society, constantly plotting revenge against his elder brother, Han Xiu, and making his wife, Liu Qingyue, the happiest bride in the world.
'He's the perfect investment target,' Long Hao thought, a feverish glint in his eyes. The cheap, instant noodles he'd had for lunch still left a greasy film in his mouth, a stark contrast to the billion-dollar future he was mapping out in his mind.
He remembered the tales from his past life with perfect clarity. Han Qi wasn't some hot-headed fool like Chu Yun or Yan Lingxiao, protagonists who blazed a path of murder and mayhem across Yanxia only to be swiftly put down by the Female War God, An Zhiyue. No, Han Qi was a different breed entirely.
"Han Qi isn't as reckless as those two. They committed murder and extermination in Yanxia and were directly apprehended and killed by the Female War God An Zhiyue; Han Qi is too low-key and forbearing, so nothing will happen to him."
Long Hao paced his small, cramped hotel room, the worn carpet scratching against the soles of his shoes. He could almost picture it: Han Qi, enduring the daily humiliation from his in-laws, his face a mask of indifference while his mind orchestrated the growth of a shadow empire.
"It wasn't until more than two years later, when Han Qi's wings had fully grown, that he finally revealed his fangs, striking a fatal blow that brought down his elder brother, Han Xiu."
The memory was so vivid. He recalled the shock that rippled through the upper echelons of society when the "trash" son-in-law of the Liu family revealed himself to be the terrifying Dragon King. The downfall of Han Xiu had been swift, brutal, and utterly legendary.
"Now, like a hidden dragon, no one knows of Han Qi's forbearance and power." Long Hao clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white. This was his golden opportunity, a chance to get in on the ground floor of a future titan's rise. An investment in Han Qi now would yield returns a thousand, ten thousand times over.
"It's just…"
Long Hao's brows gradually furrowed, the triumphant fire in his eyes dimming slightly. A knot of anxiety tightened in his gut.
Dragon King Han Qi was not that easy to invest in.
The man's greatest strength was also the greatest barrier: his paranoia. The extremely forbearing and low-key Han Qi did not trust outsiders; if he rashly approached him with offers of money and support, Han Qi would certainly not believe him. Worse, he might suspect him of being a spy sent by his elder brother, Han Xiu, to test his loyalty or uncover his secrets. If that happened, it wouldn't just be bad; it would be fatal. Long Hao had no doubt that the nascent Dragon King would eliminate any perceived threat without a second thought.
"How can I gain Han Qi's trust?"
Long Hao collapsed onto the lumpy bed, the springs groaning in protest. He racked his brain, pondering deeply, the weight of his future pressing down on him. He needed a perfect entry point, an obvious gesture of goodwill that would pierce through the Dragon King's armor of suspicion. The answer eluded him, shimmering just beyond his grasp like a desert mirage.
…
'Gain Han Qi's trust? Haha, he's already dead…'
Miles away, in the opulent private room of Zhenxiu Pavilion, Shen Anyu watched Long Hao's tortured pacing on a holographic screen projected from his phone. The image was crystal clear, captured by a nanometer-sized monitoring robot currently perched on the stained lampshade in the reincarnator's cheap hotel room. A lazy, amused smile played on his lips as he swirled a glass of deep ruby-red wine, its rich aroma of dark berries and oak a perfect complement to his mood.
The Dragon King, Han Qi, had already died by his hand.
It was almost comical. Long Hao was pinning his hopes on a ghost. Furthermore, everything that had once belonged to Han Qi—his stunning wife Liu Qingyue, his fiercely loyal subordinate Situ Yueying, and the entire Dragon King Society—had been neatly absorbed by Shen Anyu. The so-called hidden dragon's empire was now just another jewel in his ever-expanding crown.
Initially, Han Qi, thinking himself clever, had tried to use Shen Anyu's influence and reputation as a shield to grow his own power. He believed he could operate in the shadows, leveraging the Shen family's name to deflect his brother's attention.
But he didn't know that from the very beginning, his every move, his every secret, was already under Shen Anyu's absolute control. He was a fly caught in a spider's web, unable to overturn the heavens.
Just like Long Hao now. All his deep pondering, his desperate scheming, ultimately only served to please Shen Anyu. It was like watching a particularly earnest ant trying to map a path across a chessboard, completely unaware of the player who could simply sweep it off the board at any moment.
And he wasn't the first. There was that other Child of Destiny, Qi Fan, the protagonist of a Godly Rich genre novel. His Licking Dog Gold Cashback System was supposed to make him invincible. Shen Anyu had orchestrated his "sudden death from a heart attack" and devoured his system entirely. Now, it occasionally spat out a tiny bit of pocket money for him, a paltry but amusing reminder of another fallen hero.
Shen Anyu was not in a hurry to act against Long Hao. On one hand, he had not yet accumulated the six million Destiny Points required to devour the Investment Return System that Long Hao possessed.
On the other hand, Long Hao's frantic search for future influential figures was actually paving the way for him. It was incredibly efficient. The "influential figures" Long Hao wanted to invest in were, ninety-nine percent of the time, other Sons of Destiny. Shen Anyu could simply sit back and reap the benefits, waiting for the rabbit to come to him.
Now, Long Hao, having lost the two emotional lines of Su Hongmian and Huangfu Xian in succession, and having suffered repeated blows, had lost more than two million Destiny Points. His luck was circling the drain. Once his Investment Return System was devoured, he would be well and truly finished.
At that time, it would be Long Hao's end.
With a casual tap on his phone, Shen Anyu sent a message to one of his subordinates, ordering them to investigate a name Long Hao had mentioned in his frantic mumblings: Wei Yunteng, a talented specialist student from Hangzhou.
'Creating a lithography machine to earn a bachelor's degree? Ninety-nine percent a Child of Destiny. A black-technology type? Or maybe a check-in system user?' Shen Anyu mused.
'I won't think about it anymore; I'll know when the time comes. For now, I'll just enjoy life.'
Shen Anyu withdrew his thoughts, the holographic screen vanishing. He turned his attention to the two exquisite women seated with him, the twin sisters, Xu Ruoshui and Xu Ruoxue. He offered them a charming smile and said:
"Have you eaten well?"
"The chef at Zhenxiu Pavilion is indeed very skilled; he truly lives up to his reputation as a national banquet chef," Xu Ruoxue replied, her voice soft. She was currently inhabiting her older sister's body, a fact that sent a thrill of forbidden excitement through her.
"I think it's good too," Xu Ruoshui added, her tone polite but strained. She was trapped in her younger sister's body, forced to watch the scene unfold from the sidelines.
Both Xu Ruoshui and Xu Ruoxue praised the meal profusely, but their eyes met for a fleeting, charged moment before they quickly looked away.
The atmosphere in the private room had become strange, thick with unspoken tension.
The two sisters' souls had swapped. Xu Ruoshui's soul was in her younger sister Xu Ruoxue's body, and Xu Ruoxue's soul was in Xu Ruoshui's body.
But at this moment, Shen Anyu, who should have been Xu Ruoshui's man, was intimately close with the woman who looked like Xu Ruoshui but was, in fact, Xu Ruoxue. His hand rested possessively on her thigh under the table, his thumb stroking lazy circles against the fine silk of her cheongsam.
And Xu Ruoxue, blushing and flustered, had calmly called Shen Anyu her husband, even though she knew full well he was her brother-in-law.
How could Xu Ruoshui not be jealous? The sight of Shen Anyu touching her own body with such familiarity, a body currently occupied by her sister, was a unique form of torture. A firestorm of envy, frustration, and a bewildering flicker of arousal churned within her. If not for her gentle and composed nature, she might have already caused a scene, flipping the table and exposing their bizarre secret.
'Ruoxue, I won't give my husband to you,' Xu Ruoshui's beautiful eyes rippled as she looked at Shen Anyu and her sister sitting so closely together. The wine in her glass tasted like vinegar. A decision, sharp and painful, crystallized in her heart. 'At worst, we'll share.'
Little did she know, Xu Ruoxue was also very helpless in her heart.
If she didn't call Shen Anyu her husband, if she resisted his advances, he would directly punish her according to his "family rules." The memory of what had happened earlier at the villa, in her sister's bedroom, sent a fresh wave of heat through her, making her cheeks burn.
'Sister, you can't blame me,' Xu Ruoxue pleaded internally, her heart pounding a frantic rhythm against her ribs. 'It's all because Shen Anyu is too bad… mm, yes, it's all because he's too bad. It's his fault. He's too strong and too cunning.' Her mind scrambled for justification, for any reason to absolve her of the guilt that was warring with the obvious pleasure his attention brought her. 'And… and it's your fault too, Sister. You're too lenient with your man, letting him do such things… even in broad daylight.'
Xu Ruoxue dared not look into her sister Xu Ruoshui's eyes. She kept her head lowered, her small face flushed a brilliant shade of crimson, her gaze fixed on the intricate patterns of the porcelain teacup before her.
Shen Anyu seemed oblivious to the silent, crackling war being waged across the table. He held Xu Ruoxue's small hand, his fingers intertwining with hers, and said gently:
"Ruoshui, you're also very tired today. Go back and rest well later. When you're well-rested, I'll come find you again."
Speaking of this, Shen Anyu gave the hand he was holding a suggestive squeeze and winked at Xu Ruoxue, his eyes glinting with a deeper meaning that was both a promise and a threat.
Upon hearing this, and feeling the intimate gesture, Xu Ruoxue's small face became even more crimson, so hot it felt like it might actually combust. The implication was unmistakable.
Listening to Shen Anyu's words, Xu Ruoshui's beautiful eyes widened. All doubt vanished. Her heart clenched painfully. This completely confirmed that something had definitely happened between Shen Anyu and her sister Xu Ruoxue earlier at the Xu Family Villa—and it had happened using her body.
Yet, even with this burning certainty, Xu Ruoshui didn't make a fuss in front of Shen Anyu.
She was also worried that if the soul-swapping incident was exposed, Shen Anyu might think they were monsters or freaks. The fear of his disgust or abandonment was a cold weight in her stomach, overriding even her jealousy. That would not be good at all.
After Shen Anyu sent the sisters back to the Xu Family Villa, Xu Ruoshui pulled her sister Xu Ruoxue into her room, firmly closing the door.
"Speak, Ruoxue, confess honestly."
Xu Ruoshui sat upright on the sofa, her expression serious, fully displaying the majesty of a beautiful CEO.
Seeing her usually good-tempered sister Xu Ruoshui so unprecedentedly serious, Xu Ruoxue was also extremely flustered.
She seemed to have truly done something to displease Sister Xu Ruoshui, and although it wasn't entirely her fault, yet, yet, she seemed to have enjoyed it too.
Seeing Xu Ruoxue's distraught and flustered appearance, Xu Ruoshui chuckled, unable to maintain her serious facade anymore, covering her small mouth and smiling brightly:
"You, since childhood, whenever you've done something with a guilty conscience, I can see it in an instant."
"Tell me, what happened?"
"I won't blame you."
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