The Fiancé Who Faces Difficulties

"Lin Shu Mian, you are of low aptitude, merely a waste with all spiritual roots blocked, unworthy to be this young master's dao partner. Today, this marriage is annulled!"

Xie Weilan's voice was as cold as ice, booming through the hall. He stood tall in a black robe, the corners embroidered with dark gold threads of flying feathers that seemed about to ignite in the wind. The azure frost ancient sword at his waist emitted a chilling aura that kept everyone at bay.

Inside the hall, the elders of the Lin family instantly changed expressions. The family head, Lin Zhengde, turned pale, shifting uncomfortably on his chair. He wanted to speak, but was silenced by the pressure exuded by several Golden Core stage guards from the Xie family. The young disciples present whispered among themselves; some showed admiration for the powerful, while more reveled in the misfortune of the youth in the corner.

"Here is the annulment agreement. Sign it, and we'll have nothing more to do with each other," Xie Weilan said coldly, raising his hand. A sheet of snow-white paper covered in annulment terms floated in midair, delivered by spiritual power to the corner of the hall.

However, beneath Xie Weilan's icy handsome face, his sea of consciousness was in chaos.

[Warning! Host, pay attention! Immediately subject Lin Shu Mian to harsh verbal humiliation. Progress on resentment collection: 0%. If you fail to make Lin Shu Mian feel at least fifty percent pain and resentment within the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the system will deem the mission failed and execute a punishment of one hundred thousand volts of divine lightning!]

Xie Weilan took a deep breath in his heart, his palms under his wide sleeves oozing cold sweat. The "Villain KPI System" with flashing golden gears in his mind was spinning wildly, the sizzling sound of an electric baton echoing in his ears. He was not a person who liked to bully others, but if he didn't complete this damn system's task, he would be struck by lightning on the spot. To survive, he had to grit his teeth and play the cold-hearted villain.

He cast a cold glance to the corner of the hall, looking for the fiancé whose dignity he was about to shatter.

Lin Shu Mian was lounging like a salted fish in that wide armchair.

Because he was thin, he almost shrank into his oversized plain white robe. Faced with the pointing fingers of the crowd and his fiancé's biting annulment declaration, Lin Shu Mian's face showed no humiliation; he didn't even pause in peeling lychees.

"Huh? Annulment?"

Lin Shu Mian spat out a shiny lychee pit, wiped his fingers, and looked up with a somewhat confused expression.

His features were extremely good, elegant and refined, especially his clear black-and-white eyes, clean like a spring. At that moment, there were no tears of humiliation in those eyes; instead, they glistened slightly, vaguely hinting at... joy?

Lin Shu Mian's heart was pounding. But not from anger—from happiness.

Heaven knew how long he had waited for this day!

He was not originally from this world. After transmigrating into this famous Lin family, he discovered that while he was identified as having the Lin family's long-lost "Primordial White Tiger Divine Blood," it came with endless cultivation and competition. At nine, during the awakening ceremony, he realized that bloodline awakening not only made him hot all over but also caused furry ears and a tail to grow out, and shedding season was terribly messy. To secure a peaceful life, he resolutely used his spiritual power to seal that awe-inspiring beast power deep in his dantian, content to be seen as a "meridian-blocked waste."

But even masquerading as a waste, the betrothal between the two families weighed on him like a mountain. Xie Weilan was the young master of the famous Xie clan, a cultivation maniac with severe OCD. If he really became dao partners with such a person, Lin Shu Mian felt he wouldn't even be able to sleep, let alone breathe without prescribed postures.

Now, Xie Weilan was actually taking the initiative to annul the marriage!

"Thank you, young master, for your understanding!"

Lin Shu Mian cheered, not even bothering to shake off the lychee peels on his clothes. He darted out from the corner like an arrow. Amid the shocked gazes of the assembled guests, he moved swiftly to the desk, snatched a brush, and dipped it in thick ink.

"Swish, swish, swish—"

The three characters "Lin Shu Mian" in a flamboyant style landed on the lower right of the paper.

Still not satisfied, Lin Shu Mian grabbed a leftover lychee shell, pressed his thumb hard into the remaining red juice, and then "slapped" it onto the signature, imprinting a bright red lychee fingerprint.

"Young master, I've signed it!" Lin Shu Mian respectfully presented the betrothal document to Xie Weilan with both hands, his dimples deepening, smiling brighter than spring flowers. "This fine paper and this unique print—take it! May the young master from now on soar freely like a dragon returning to the sea, soon find a well-matched union. From now on, we go our separate ways, men marrying men, no more ties!"

Lin Shu Mian's eyes were sincere enough to drip, every word coming from the heart.

The hall fell deathly silent.

Family head Lin Zhengde had just lifted his teacup; upon hearing this, he spilled tea all over his pants. The Lin elders exchanged glances, unable to understand why this waste, who usually pretended to be sick to skip training, was so quick today.

Xie Weilan was also stunned.

He stared blankly at the paper Lin Shu Mian handed him, the lychee fingerprint still emitting a faint sweet scent.

[Warning! Detected target's mood extremely happy. Resentment value: 0%. Sadness: 0%. System judges mission completely failed. Lightning punishment will descend in three seconds—]

[Three.]

[Two.]

"Lin Shu Mian, you..." Xie Weilan's words trailed off.

[One! Lightning activated!]

With a boom, in a void invisible to others, a bolt of wild purple lightning struck down, slamming deep into Xie Weilan's sea of consciousness.

This was no ordinary lightning; it was a divine punishment from the system targeting the soul. Xie Weilan felt his entire meridians surge with violent electricity, his brain buzzing, his hair standing on end, and the spiritual power in his body rampaging uncontrollably.

His body under the black robe shook violently, his face instantly turning pale, and even a trace of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Young master?" Lin Shu Mian, being closest, keenly sensed something wrong. He saw Xie Weilan's face suddenly as white as paper, even his sword Azure Frost issuing uneasy whispers.

Lin Shu Mian wondered: He was the one who proposed the annulment, so why does he look worse than a dead man now that I've signed? Could it be...

Countless dramatic romance novel plots flashed through Lin Shu Mian's mind.

Could it be that the annulment wasn't the young master's true intention? Was it forced by the Xie elders? Was the young master using this cold facade to protect me, a waste, from persecution by the noble families?

While Lin Shu Mian was lost in his imaginative drama, Xie Weilan, who had been electrocuted out of his senses and nearly driven mad, finally couldn't take it anymore.

The system's lightning punishment was still ravaging his soul, the intense pain robbing him of reason. He looked at Lin Shu Mian's handsome face filled with pretended innocence and concern, then at the provocative lychee fingerprint on the annulment paper. Uncontrollable anger surged to his head.

"Lin Shu Mian... Do you really think I came to negotiate with you?!"

Xie Weilan suddenly reached out, snatching the annulment paper from Lin Shu Mian's hand.

Under everyone's shocked gaze, his long, powerful fingers emitted a sharp, cyan sword aura. With a "rip," he tore the still-damp paper in two.

"Rip, rip—"

With a few more tears, the paper carrying Lin Shu Mian's dream of retirement and raising chickens was shredded into countless fine flakes, falling like snow all over the Lin hall.

"This marriage, I'm not annulling it!" Xie Weilan gritted his teeth, speaking each word with force.

He had to keep Lin Shu Mian by his side. If the annulment succeeded, the system would deem the mission a complete failure, and he would be struck to ashes on the spot. If so, no one should have it easy! Wasn't it just to make Lin Shu Mian resent him? He had plenty of time in the shared villa to slowly torment this waste!

"Huh?"

Lin Shu Mian looked at the scattered paper shreds that couldn't be pieced together, still holding the brush, completely frozen.

His mountain... his chickens... his retirement... gone?

In the hall, the Lin family head, who had just breathed a sigh of relief at Lin Shu Mian's magnanimity, was now silent. Only Lin Shu Mian stood there, lost in the wind.

Looking at Xie Weilan, whose face was pale but eyes fierce as if he wanted to devour someone, Lin Shu Mian let out a heavy sigh in his heart:

Indeed, the young master loves me deeply.

To avoid annulment, he didn't hesitate to go back on his word before both families' elders, ruin his own reputation, and even injure himself with anger. Since the young master treats me with such profound affection... I, this salted fish, will reluctantly play along with you.

Xie Weilan withdrew his sword aura, flicked his black robe, turned around with a cold snort: "Bring your things and come to Linfeng Manor with me today. If you miss a single item, I'll skin you alive!"

Lin Shu Mian silently tossed the lychee shell in his hand into the trash bin and obediently followed, sighing inwardly: The young master's awkward possessiveness is truly helpless.