Futile Devices Scans

Xiao Dong, the hotel attendant, had already escorted a group of guests back to the hotel to shelter from the rain before he belatedly realized that Lan Xi was missing. His mind went completely blank. Fear of being held responsible immediately overwhelmed everything else. He didn’t tell anyone. He figured he would find Lan Xi…

Every hair on Wen Zixiong’s body stood on end. Only then did he remember what his second son had told him over the phone yesterday. He hurriedly seized on it like a lifeline. “Mr. Fu, actually, my youngest son only just came back from deep in the mountains of Yun Province. He may have damaged…

Without saying a word, Lan Xi stepped forward and placed a hand on Wen Yue’s forearm. Through two thin layers of fabric, Lan Xi felt the muscles underneath pulled taut. They were tense with anger. Wen Yue lowered his eyes and stared coldly at him. “Did you break your brain?” He grabbed Lan Xi’s cheek…

Lan Xi was a succubus from Hell. He had a pair of beautiful goat horns, pointed wings, and jewel-like eyes. His skin was as pale and fine as milk, and his long wisteria-purple hair curled in glossy waves that gleamed like satin. Even his wrists were beautiful. When he wrapped both hands around an angel’s…

The Cloudtop sailed at full speed across the sea during the day and soon left the waters patrolled by the country’s coast guard, entering the international shipping lanes, everything bathed in the auspicious golden light of peace and calm. Yet beneath that dignified beauty lay extravagance outsiders never saw. The moment the ship crossed beyond…

Song Zang had to admit that Yin Chen’s stare sent a chill down his back, as though… Yin Chen had already seen through many of his secrets. But if Yin Chen really understood him, if they truly had known each other before, then he should know Song Zang’s circumstances even better. —He did not need…

Qi Mu froze in place. He had not invited Jiang Shao along, so what was Jiang Shao doing here? Fang Ming Qian followed Qi Mu’s gaze and noticed the young man sitting in the front as well. He recognized him at once as the rude, arrogant fellow from the hotel last time and could not…

On the night before the Winter Solstice, many people in Haojing were still awake. Inside Yanying Hall, palace maids carefully replenished the lamp oil. Beneath the flickering lamplight, Emperor Jianhong was beginning to look tired, a faint crease forming between his brows. Yu Shuang Xi seemed not to notice. He stood beside him like a…

After confirming that he had somehow wandered into a genuine ghost market, Qin Shu’s first thought was Pei Zhao. Where had Zhaozhao gone? He scanned the surrounding stalls repeatedly, but there was no trace of that familiar slender figure anywhere. Fortunately, Qin Shu still remembered something Captain Wu had told him before. Places like this…

Yue Ling narrowed his eyes in a smile and deliberately drew out his words. “This matter… was exceedingly difficult.” Gu She silently drank his tea. Keeping someone in suspense and being kept in suspense were much like playing a game: the question was simply which side would admit defeat first. Yue Ling held out for…

Su You Yan stared at the boy who had spoken until he began trembling. “Did I do something?” Her voice was cold and indifferent, as though the person moaning a moment earlier had nothing whatsoever to do with her. “N-No, nothing.” The words had barely left the boy’s mouth when Su You Yan suddenly braced…

Feng Xuanyi’s ruthlessness and complete refusal to show mercy shattered whatever hope Consort Shu Meng still possessed. Desolation and despair spread across her beautiful but deathly pale face as though her entire world had collapsed in an instant. Even the empress seemed not to have expected Feng Xuanyi to be so merciless. But imperial will…

“Cousin, I truly don’t know! I don’t know this man, and I have no idea why he was in my palace. Cousin, you have to believe me. I really have been wronged. They deliberately planted evidence to frame me—it has to be them!” Her eyes were misted with tears, her delicate face streaked with them…

Master Qi said, “An enemy has come calling.” Hearing that, Yan Xiaodao did not panic, get hotheaded, or make a fuss. Qi Baoshan had spent all these years in the underworld. How could he possibly not have made two or three enemies along the way? He showed no surprise, but neither did he suddenly become…

Elio’s Notes: The chapter title alludes to the saying “The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind,” describing someone pursuing a target without realizing another danger is waiting behind them. If Ms. Zhao ever found out afterward, she would certainly regret it. Mr. Yan, whom she had quietly taken an interest in all…

Yan Xiaodao practically sprinted into the arrivals hall that day and immediately saw Qi Baoshan strolling leisurely toward him. Master Qi was holding a small Starbucks cup, yet he wore a simple front-buttoned silk jacket with gray cloth shoes. The combination should have looked slightly incongruous, but his mild, fair-featured face somehow softened every jarring…

Several warmhearted drivers had already come over to help. In any case, everyone was stuck here and couldn’t go anywhere. The passengers on the coach were quickly evacuated with only minor injuries. As it turned out, the truck had come from another province carrying cattle, and this crash had caused catastrophic losses—livestock were now running…

Jinmen, a major strategic hub neighboring Yandu, stood steadfast within the sheltering arm of its bay, a city whose bustle and crowds concealed a deep, unhurried calm. In the distance, mountains newly washed in green merged with the farther sea and sky, where vast waves rolled without end. Elio’s Notes: Jinmen (津门) is a traditional…

Not a single person questioned whether Song Zang’s judgment was correct. Everyone simultaneously looked as though something had suddenly clicked into place and began seriously considering what he had said. One researcher even looked worried and asked with concern, “Director, what are you planning to do next? Are you going to personally investigate the Deep…

Qi Mu kept his head lowered over the report as he said, “Come in.” Several minutes passed after he spoke, yet he heard no movement. Only then did he sense that something was wrong. Normally, the auntie would put down the lunchbox and leave. So where was today’s lunch? Qi Mu looked up in confusion,…