'She wasn't being let in, so she was just going to kick down the door? What kind of person was this?'
'Besides, it was already taking all his self-control not to slap her a couple of times. How could he possibly help her?'
'This damned woman just can't read the room!!!'
"Heh, have I been too nice to you these last couple of days? Is that why you've forgotten who's in charge and keep defying me?"
Jiang Yunnuan was seething with indignation.
Her predecessor had been vicious and cruel to them, beating and cursing them at will. She would even snatch the Cultivation Resources they worked so hard to earn on missions without a second thought.
And look at her. The worst she'd done was make a few sarcastic remarks. But him? He was either trying to kill her or, if she gave him an inch, he'd take a mile. 'He's really asking for it,' she thought.
"Ahem, stop arguing. I'll get the door."
Seeing the atmosphere between the two grow tense again, Fu Yuan, afraid they would be at each other's throats and the situation would spiral out of control, quickly tried to placate them. He walked to Jiang Yunnuan's side and reached out to knock on the door.
"Ming Ye, open up!"
The room remained silent. There was no response.
Fu Yuan frowned, his head throbbing. 'None of these guys are easy to deal with. We'll be free in just three months. Can't they just bear it for a little longer?'
'Why do they have to provoke this woman?'
He coughed and wearily pounded on the door. "If you don't open up, I'm kicking it down. You know this door can't stop me."
The words had barely left his mouth when the door was yanked open. Ming Ye appeared in the doorway, his gaze dark and cold as he stared at her. His tail was gone, replaced once again by a pair of long, shapely, and powerful legs.
"What in the world are you trying to do?"
Jiang Yunnuan lifted her chin haughtily. "I'm not trying to do anything. But I *am* going in. I'm the master of this house, which means I can go wherever I please. What right do you have to stop me?"
'He opened the door himself, which means he's yielding. I have to seize this chance, strike while the iron is hot, and finish my mission.'
Ming Ye: "..."
Her behavior only made him more certain that she had some ulterior motive.
"If she wants in, just let her in. Don't stop her. Unless... you have something to hide in your room?"
Fu Yuan's gaze was probing and suspicious.
'A Contractor is forbidden from keeping secrets from their Contract Master. All personal space must be unconditionally open to them. If this guy was really hiding something, and treating his Contract Master like a common thief, wouldn't they all be utterly scorned by outsiders if word got out?'
"I don't!!!"
Ming Ye replied in a low voice, stepping aside to let her pass.
Seeing this, Jiang Yunnuan snorted, held her chin high, and strutted in like a victorious peacock, positively brimming with pride.
"See? If you'd just done this from the start, we could have avoided this whole ordeal."
"..."
Ming Ye pressed his lips into a thin line, watching with cold eyes as she paced around his room. She covered every inch of the floor, never once stepping on the same spot twice.
After covering the entire floor, she moved on to the balcony, and then... his bed.
Watching the woman walk all over his bed, a look of profound disgust and loathing filled his eyes. If he recalled correctly, she had been barefoot all day.
'She was actually using those filthy feet that had been all over the place to walk on his bed!!!!'
Just as he was about to lose all patience, the damned woman finally got off the bed, apparently muttering something like, "Why isn't it done yet?"
Then, he watched as she walked into the bathroom.
Fearing Ming Ye would explode, Fu Yuan quickly placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him.
"Just bear with it a little longer. I'll help you disinfect everything later."
"Yeah, you just keep helping her shit and piss all over our heads. I guess she's not being a big enough pain for you yet?"
A voice brimming with resentment rang out. Si Xie walked over, his eyes, full of anger and dissatisfaction, fixed on Fu Yuan.
At this, Fu Yuan felt utterly exasperated.
'They had endured her past self's vicious cruelty. Now, she was just making a scene. Compared to before, this was trivial, hardly worth mentioning. What was so hard to endure?'
'Why did they have to oppose her?'
"Woohoo, mission accomplished!!!"
Just then, the woman's excited voice rang out. Ming Ye's gaze hardened, and he snorted. 'He knew it. This woman definitely had an agenda. And now, she's accomplished it, hasn't she?'
"Don't tell me you actually had treasure hidden in your room?"
Still angry but unable to contain his curiosity, Si Xie nudged Ming Ye with his elbow.
Ming Ye shot him a disgusted look. "Are you an idiot? She said 'mission accomplished,' not 'I found it'!!!"
Si Xie: "..."
'Why did he have to open his big mouth just to get ridiculed?'
'And what the hell was that damned woman up to with all her mysterious antics?'
In the bathroom, looking at the "Mission Complete" notification and the generous rewards, Jiang Yunnuan couldn't help but cry out in excitement.
'This damned mission was such torture! I stepped on every single spot, and it finally completed when I was in Ming Ye's bathtub.'
'But at least the rewards were awesome!'
This time, the check-in rewards—besides items like Points, Beauty Pill Fragments, and Crystal Stones—included a two-square-meter space farm and a pack of seeds.
And this farm was infinitely upgradeable.
As long as she completed the right tasks, she would unlock permissions to upgrade the farm, allowing it to grow larger and larger.
This was great! Her childhood dream of being a farm owner could finally come true. With just a little hard work, she could one day preside over a vast farm, planting whatever she wanted. The thought instantly filled Jiang Yunnuan with motivation, and she promptly planted the entire farm.
「That evening.」
Jiang Yunnuan forced the three men to grant her access to their rooms. Then, she returned to her own room, took out the Crystal Stones from her mission reward, and began her Cultivation.
Crystal Stones contained a very pure form of Energy that was easily absorbed, making them excellent Cultivation Resources. After consuming a dozen or so Crystal Stones, her Superpower successfully broke through to the First Rank.
Feeling the Superpower at her fingertips, Jiang Yunnuan was overjoyed. She stretched lazily and got out of bed to wash up.
Despite not sleeping all night, she didn't feel the slightest bit tired. On the contrary, she was full of energy and felt fantastic.
After showering and changing into clean clothes, she went downstairs. The living room was empty. She wasn't sure if the three men were sleeping in or had left for a mission, but Jiang Yunnuan didn't give it much thought. She decided to go check on Jun Yao.
He was grievously injured and bedridden. So they could check on him at any time, Fu Yuan and the others hadn't locked his door, which was convenient for her.
Just as she reached the door, an urgent notification blared in her mind.
[Life-extension period is ending. Host must refresh immediately. Countdown: 30, 29, 28, 27...]
Jiang Yunnuan froze.
'Life-extension period is ending? Refresh immediately? What the hell was that supposed to mean?'
Listening to the shrill countdown, her nervousness gave way to a sudden flash of insight, and everything clicked into place.
'So the life extension was temporary. Although she didn't know how long the timer was, she was certain that if she didn't "refresh" it immediately when it ran out, she would die!!!'
'Dammit, less than fifteen seconds left! Who was she supposed to find?'