Gossip was a must-hear, but the progress of the recognition banquet couldn’t lag behind either.
Luo Shang acted like a foreman, multitasking as he listened to the gossip while sitting in his wheelchair to supervise the work. If anyone let an expression slip because of the explosive tidbits or slowed their movements even slightly, Luo Shang would shoot them a sharp glance from his wheelchair, scaring them straight back to “normal.”
But after hearing such bombshell gossip, how could they possibly not be shaken to their cores?!
Su Tiancheng had just learned for the first time that his father—who had died young—had once shared a melodramatic tale of love and hate with his mom back in their youth. The thought of his rigidly proper father in such a story gave Su Tiancheng a rare taste of a persona crumbling.
Su Bingyao fretted that his good brother might set his sights on his ass. Sure, his little brother was gay, and he didn’t discriminate against that, but he himself was straight as an arrow.
Shen Changqing pondered how to delicately phrase the news of the inappropriate feelings that had sparked between his cousin and his cousin’s little brother when he told his mom. Such things simply wouldn’t do!
Su Mingyao agonized over how to face that “good friend” from now on. He held no prejudice against trans people, but this revelation was just too shocking…
Even so, they all had to soldier on with their roles honestly, slipping past the scrutiny of Luo Shang’s piercing eyes.
The recognition banquet kicked off amid this bizarre atmosphere.
Li Qingshu and Su Mingyao took the stage, where she would introduce his identity to everyone in attendance.
Su Mingyao was extremely nervous, his palms slick with sweat. His tension had nothing to do with facing B City’s elite below the stage—it stemmed entirely from Su Shang down there in the audience.
Only Su Shang, seated in his wheelchair, could judge whether his performance measured up!
The banquet might have seemed to revolve around Su Mingyao, but the attention of all the key players had shifted entirely to Luo Shang, forming an invisible circle centered on him from the shadows.
The guests who had come to the banquet sensed the odd vibe too, but they had no desire to meddle in the Su family’s messy internal affairs. They simply gleaned one key piece of information from the Su family’s attitudes:
Su Shang hadn’t fallen from grace. The Su family would continue to back his ventures.
That alone was enough to make certain people rein themselves in. Su Shang had ruffled plenty of feathers back when he was a spoiled playboy, and without the Su family’s support, those petty grudges they’d swallowed before would erupt into revenge without delay.
Truth be told, Su Mingyao rather wanted to see Su Shang clap back at those shortsighted challengers. He’d been on the receiving end of Su Shang’s maneuvers himself—collateral damage, really—but since Su Shang wasn’t putting on a show just for him, Su Mingyao could only imagine it in his head with a pang of regret.
With fresh affirmations from Li Qingshu and Su Tiancheng, those people were doomed to keep swallowing their grievances.
Su Mingyao swept his gaze over the crowd, noting the unwilling expressions on some faces.
The cages in a zoo weren’t there to shield tigers from humans—they were to keep humans from being devoured. Some might think Li Qingshu and Su Tiancheng were protecting Su Shang, but in truth, the Su couple were safeguarding everyone else.
Following the script from his previous life, Su Mingyao smiled and nodded to each person who looked up at him.
Then, the stage lights flickered a few times.
Here it comes! Su Mingyao’s heart clenched.
The main event was next: Su Shang’s projection of those old countryside photos of him!
Su Mingyao had indeed spent time in the countryside. Every summer vacation, he’d gone to his Father Luo’s rural hometown for a break, which had been far more fun than the city. A few photos from those days had been snapped—and now Su Shang was using them as fodder.
Suddenly, the backdrop wall behind him lit up with a projection.
One by one, the images appeared: Su Mingyao catching bugs in the fields, pulling weeds, grinning as he fished for loaches in the river.
The guests below the stage were stunned, though they didn’t dwell on it. They just figured it was the Su family showcasing a slice of Su Mingyao’s life.
[Um, Host, shouldn’t you make your move now?] the System said.
[Follow the plot and trash Su Mingyao’s reputation. Say he’s some country bumpkin with a backwoods education, nothing like you city folk.]
Luo Shang tilted his head and locked eyes with Su Mingyao on stage, flashing him a distant smile.
Why aren’t you making a move now? the others wondered.
[We pushed the progress ahead a bit earlier. Skipping this won’t matter. Pretty soon, my no-blood-relation test results will drop, and no one will remember Su Mingyao’s country roots anyway.]
[It should come right after my projection, in about three minutes. I can just wait it out.] Luo Shang replied.
[What if Shen Changqing doesn’t make a move? He was frozen in place in the Garden by you. Faced with something this bizarre, he might have already been scared witless. He could be keeping his distance from both you and Su Mingyao by now, not daring to touch anything related to either of you.] The System offered a tactful reminder.
Yeah, right! That’s exactly what any normal person would think! Shen Changqing nodded frantically to himself inside. Who in their right mind would dig deeper into something like this, let alone risk offending you further? Just let me off the hook!
He had already resolved not to get involved. No matter how desperately Su Mingyao on stage and Su Bingyao in the audience signaled him with their eyes, he refused to budge.
[Perfect. That gives me just the excuse I need,] Luo Shang said.
[Three minutes from now, if he can’t project my No Blood Relation Certificate, I’ll destroy the world on the spot. Then I’ll head out, grab the High-Tier Corpse Manipulation Scroll, and reshape the world. Once it’s remade, the first thing on my list will be killing Shen Changqing and using the scroll to puppet his corpse.]
[That way, I’ll handle all his future scenes for him. I’ll have a flawless tool for perfect Plot Following at 100%, and he’ll get eternal peace and freedom. Win-win.]
System: [I don’t think he’ll see death as a good thing. Your world has a saying: Better a lousy life than a good death. Most people’s outlook on life isn’t about embracing death heroically—it’s about not wanting to die and refusing to go quietly. So really, only you win.]
Luo Shang: [No, it’s win-win because I win twice. No more risk of defiance down the line, and I won’t have to put up with him strutting around alive in front of me anymore. You know how tolerant I am of corpses.]
[If I hadn’t discovered later that the Path of Entropy suited me better, I would’ve become a Necromancer.] Luo Shang felt a twinge of regret deep down.
Holy crap? What did you just say? Destroy the world to fetch some Necromancy scroll? I object!
Down in the audience, Su Bingyao clutched his phone, his nerves frayed to the breaking point.
But what good did his objection do? Su Shang never bothered consulting them before acting. If anything, they were the ones who had to beg him.
He shot a desperate look at Shen Changqing, his eyes pleading, and immediately fired off WeChat messages to persuade him.
Please, man—just call me bro for once and do what he wants!
Don’t let him blow up the world. I can’t take another long stretch in the Little Black Room!!
Up on stage, Su Mingyao’s breath caught. The instant he heard “destroy the world,” he nearly lost it.
He was genuinely terrified—terrified of confinement. Even now, mid-performance, he didn’t dare bolt for the exits. At this range, if Su Shang ended the world, he’d be tossed back into the Black Void!
Shen Changqing, you have to listen to me. Just do what you’re supposed to—don’t defy Su Shang!
Otherwise, you won’t be the only one in trouble. It’ll be all of us!
He’d already dug up that certificate ahead of time and emailed it straight to Shen Changqing’s private inbox. True, this life’s Shen Changqing hadn’t shared his email with him yet, but Su Mingyao carried memories from his past life. If only his WeChat friend request hadn’t been pending, he would’ve sent it that way instead.
What he didn’t realize was that the email had been auto-flagged as spam in Shen Changqing’s inbox, unseen and unread.
Li Qingshu’s pupils dilated in silent horror.
Corpse manipulation… Necromancy… This… this…
Sure enough, Su Shang had been merciful to her. He’d only used the Thunder Cloud to force her back—no intent to kill. None at all. Once she returned, he’d lift it. Everything would be fine. She was his mom, after all. For more than twenty years of shared history, he’d never once thought of ending her…
Yet Li Qingshu shuddered anew. She couldn’t help herself; the thoughts came unbidden.
What if she’d stubbornly pushed ahead back then and boarded that plane? Would she have met her end in a fiery crash?
Su Bingyao had reassured her that she was a key plot character—Su Shang wouldn’t off her lightly.
But what if he had a spell scroll for controlling corpses?
Would her fate mirror Shen Changqing’s? No rest even in death, her body reanimated to puppet through this farce alongside him…
Thank goodness she’d turned back. Thank goodness!
Su Tiancheng fumbled his phone right out of his grip, letting it clatter to the floor.
Only when someone nearby picked it up and handed it back did he reclaim it.
World destruction… Necromancy… Corpse control…
Su Tiancheng had been through none of it. He carried no major plot weight—just show up, and that was enough. Luo Shang had never laid a spell on him.
When he first heard Su Shang’s heart voice, Su Tiancheng found it pretty amusing. He thought it was fun, so he went along with whatever Su Bingyao suggested—after all, it didn’t hurt anything. He could just treat it as humoring his little son. If the kid wanted to play around, he’d indulge him. He could even hear the boy’s innermost thoughts, so what was the harm in letting him have his way a little?
But only now did he grasp the brutal truth of reality: Su Shang was no longer human. He existed in a world entirely separate from theirs.
This wasn’t about Su Bingyao indulging Su Shang at all. No, it was that Su Bingyao had no choice but to obey Su Shang’s every word!
If Su Shang could manipulate Shen Changqing’s corpse, then he could manipulate Su Bingyao’s just as easily!
Meanwhile, Shen Changqing was more anxious, more desperate, more on edge than any of them.
If I don’t make a move… Su Shang will kill me. He even went on about mutual benefit…
He’ll kill me and take control of my corpse—he can do it. He really can!
What do I do? I didn’t listen to Su Mingyao. I didn’t prepare that proof document. I didn’t bribe anyone on the Projection team to handle the Projection either. The death countdown still has three minutes left, and I can’t leave the venue yet. What the hell do I do now?!
[Um, two and a half minutes left, oh.] Luo Shang’s heart voice echoed like the whisper of a devil.
[If it gets exposed later, perfect. I’ll just go up there and say a few words, change my surname back. I’m still not used to them calling me Su Shang.]
[What if they don’t agree? … This is kind of sudden. It’s not even in the plot.] The system sounded a little helpless.
[You’re right—there is a risk they’ll say no. So let me think about it…] Luo Shang lapsed into thought, and his heart voice fell silent.
Don’t think about it—we all agree!! Whatever you say, we agree!! The other Su Family members screamed desperately in their hearts.
