Humans were just that strange.
When people fell as kids, they'd look around to see if anyone was watching—if there was, they cried; if not, they got up by themselves.
When they fell as adults, they'd look around to see if anyone was there—if there was, they'd get up; if not, they'd cry.
Le Yu thought he was mentally prepared, but truth was, he wasn't as tough as he imagined.
It was exactly because people sympathized with him, he could feel just how much his wounds hurt.
It was exactly because people admired him, he realized how ugly his scars actually were.
"Do good deeds, don't ask about the future, the will of the heavens is hard to resist," Le Yu couldn't help laughing, "That's actually pretty catchy."
He didn't have any booze, and Le Yu never even liked drinking anyway, so he just chugged fresh blood tomato juice. Maybe it was the influence of Blood-Drinking Eight-Strand Style, but he actually felt a little tipsy, like the world was turning dreamy and innocent, but his mind just kept getting clearer and clearer—"No wonder drunk people all say they're not drunk, so this is what that feels like."
With that fake-and-not-so-fake drunkenness, plus the comforting presence of Zhengwei's corpse, Le Yu finally had the courage to think about a question he had avoided ever since waking up—
His future plans.
Unlike Qian Yuliu, who only had one relative—Qian Yuya, an independent girl who'd shed a few tears for Qian Yuliu's death, but soon move on to a new life goal and keep living strong,
Unlike Yin Yinyin, who was basically death fodder, whose death only made his acquaintances give a standing ovation,
This Zhengwei identity was a different animal entirely.
Not to mention Zhengwei's career, or his friends ...
Just the existence of Qing Lan was enough for Le Yu not to let go. He wasn't some heartless playboy; if he was, he'd have already used his new body to unlock whole new worlds for the ladies.
He heard the female ecstasy lasted for way longer than men's, like, men had FPS joy—just one "pew"—while women were more like a match-three game, and after all the right combos you got score multipliers going off nonstop.
And then came a problem Le Yu absolutely had to solve—couldn't run from it—
Now that he'd become Qin Leyin, would Qing Lan even recognize him?
From Qing Lan's perspective, didn't this basically go, "I killed your husband and now I'm taking you as my wife"? Thundercliff Alert!
Plus, the Qin Leyin identity wasn't exactly safe. If he died another death, and next time actually became a woman, what then?
Sure, if it really came to that, Le Yu could always pick some lucky handsome dude to switch with, at least then he'd be fulfilling his wifely duties.
Would Qing Lan accept her husband changing skins all the time?
Le Yu put himself in her shoes for a sec—if his wife kept turning into someone else, long-legged seductress today, babyface cutie tomorrow, energetic girl the day after ...
...Huh?
...Actually, that sounds kinda awesome...
Maybe it was just because he was an old perv at heart, but he could really get used to having a partner swapping skins for his double-queue, might even keep things fresh; the real question was whether Qing Lan would be down with it.
He thought about it seriously and figured, Qing Lan was an old perv too, should be no problem.
Once he thought that, Le Yu felt instantly enlightened. "So these things I didn't want to face actually aren't that hard to figure out after all."
So, the next problem: how the hell to reconnect with Qing Lan. Going back to Xuanzhu County was a hell no—he might get killed by White Night before seeing her.
Even though Qin Leyin played things super cautiously, White Night probably couldn't get direct proof that he'd sparked the riot, and Zhengwei's corpse had already been packed away, so Qin Leyin was basically squeaky clean.
But as soon as Qin Leyin showed up in Yanjing with a mountain of military funds, White Night would know he was alive, so then Yanjing's White Night would compare notes with Xuanzhu's White Night and ding ding ding, the biggest winner behind Xuanzhu's riot would be clear as day.
Compared to the loser White Night from Xuanzhu, Yanjing's White Night was the real boss. Anyone who could thrive right under the emperor's nose had to have top dogs from the Imperial Court backing him—Le Yu would bet his life on that.
With all his experience, he was sure Yanjing's Statistical Department had White Night's people in it—and honestly, maybe even one of the blue-clothed agents on this very ship could be a White Night Walker.
So the whole 'reunite with Qing Lan and live happily ever after' thing was never gonna happen—Qin Leyin could never clear his name now.
Plus... Le Yu suddenly remembered he'd told Xuanzhu's White Night already: if anything happened to Zhengwei, send Qing Lan to settle down in Yanjing.
Which meant he didn't even need to go back to Xuanzhu. Just wait in Yanjing, then watch as Qing Lan walked right into his arms.
But even if he got to see Qing Lan again, there wasn't a single bed in the whole world where they could sleep peacefully anymore.
White Night, the Imperial Court, the Eighth District Warlords, the Skybreak Uprising...
After thinking hard, Le Yu set a small goal first,
He had to get strong enough to protect himself.
Best case? Carve out a safe place for himself in Yanjing, then hide out with Qing Lan, let spring, summer, autumn, and winter go to hell.
Oh, and didn't Qin Yueyang want to skim some off that military fund? With just that money, they could live out the rest of their days, easy. "Once things cool down, I'll ghostwrite a bit, raise some funds so Qing Lan can have her own newspaper, and just live a comfy life, isn't that perfect?"
If he really got rich, he'd hire adventurers to look for the Divine Demon Well, and if Radiance stabilized, he'd travel the world with Qing Lan, searching for those legendary hidden realms.
Low-key, Le Yu really didn't want to go anywhere alone. With his luck, he might just get trafficked again like last time. Even if luck worked out, who was gonna watch his stuff at the bathroom? Go pee halfway through a meal, come back, your stuff's gone, the waiters cleared it all away. "Solo travel gets a big thumbs down."
One person traveling was just business; more people was actual enjoyment.
By now, Le Yu had basically figured things out.
① Figure out how to survive and get some power in Yanjing!
② Wait for Qing Lan to arrive in Yanjing!
Of course, there was still a loophole here: what if Qing Lan thought Zhengwei was truly dead, decided to move on, and started a new life—then what?
Guess there's nothing he could really do, worst case, he'd just go win her back.
But the more Le Yu thought, the more jealous he felt. What if some asshole took advantage and swooped in?
He had to find a way to send a letter to Qing Lan—"Your husband is out shopping for skins, waiting in Yanjing for her to come duo queue with him..."
But he'd need to keep the letter secret; as someone who'd benefitted from "Death for Substitute Life," Le Yu knew just how terrifying and powerful this ability was.
Even if he wanted to share the secret with his lover, it had to be face-to-face—never on paper.
He just wanted to live a quiet life, wanted nothing more to do with any political games.
"If I ever get dragged into some kind of palace conspiracy again, I swear I'm a damn dog!" Le Yu thought angrily.
That was when Le Yu realized he still hadn't checked out his new account stats. It'd been a while, so he opened up the system—
"Name: Le Yu/Qin Leyin"
"Deaths: 4"
"Available Points: 3"
"Yin Yinyin's Tribulation (completed): Acquire new tribulation?"
"Self-Owned Skills: Intermediate Lingxu Battle Technique (+), Intermediate Blood-Drinking Eight-Strand Style (+), Basic Scorched Earth Technique (+), Basic Flying Flower Battle Technique (+), Basic Wolf-Hawk Battle Technique (+), Basic Swordmaster Technique (+), Ice Blood Physique (Unlockable), Naiser's Curse (Cannot remove)"
"Permanent Skills: Death for Substitute Life, Intermediate Eight-Strand Biting Battle Technique (+), Basic Formless Battle Technique (+)"
"Challenges (refreshable): Slaughter 10,000 people (0/10,000), Difficulty: ☆☆☆☆.
Reward: 3 available points and one rebirth opportunity (create a fully customizable new body and switch into it instantly)."