Host! Don't bully a woman please!

DING!

[You've gained 200 System points!]

"Ooh... not bad," Yang Huo murmured. He didn't expect the Elder would figure it out so quickly. 'Guess he isn't an elder for nothing.'

However, it was something else that truly piqued his attention.

[Congratulation, you've successfully manipulated a core elder of the Su family into helping you to gain a major opportunity!]

The word 'manipulated' stood out to him. True, he had assisted the Su family in resolving their crisis, but in the end, his motive was still to benefit himself. He simply designed a solution that helped both parties, that's all.

But how did the System recognized this? And why was it considered manipulation?

Was it because, despite knowing a solution for the Su family that didn't require outside help, yet because he steered them towards a solution that involved him, it was considered as manipulation?

But if so, then the System must possess some level of omniscience to discern all of this...

Glancing beside him, Yang Huo noticed the owl wearing a bored expression as it flew silently. It hadn't even been a day since he first encountered this strange entity, yet numerous questions already swirled in his mind, along with a few hints to ponder.

A faint smile graced Yang Huo's lips.

'Maybe this second life is not so bad after all.'

However, there was currently a much more urgent matter Yang Huo needed to tackle right away—a very problematic one.

"Have you seen anyone yet?" Yang Huo asked the owl.

The owl shook its head lazily. [No, everyone must be sleeping right now.]

[Host, just what exactly are we doing? I thought we're going back to your room...]

Yang Huo gave an awkward smile.

"We are.... but we need to find someone first."

Seeing the owl's puzzled face, Yang Huo glanced away while showing a little embarrassment on his face.

"I.... sort of forgot the way back."

[.....What?]

It couldn't be helped. Yang Huo hadn't expected the distance from his place to the meeting room to take a full 2 minutes of walking. And at the time, he had been too focused on the story between the original Yang Huo and his fiancée, Su Meiying.

Looking at Yang Huo scratching his cheek lightly with a wry smile on his face, the System looked at him with its mouth wide opened. After a moment of silence enveloped the two. Yang Huo cleared his throat and said. "A-anyway, have you noticed our surroundings?"

Thinking that Yang Huo was just trying to change the subject, the owl lazily half-listened to his words. But when the System glanced at their surrounding, it quickly understood what Yang Huo meant.

They were now in an open corridor, surrounded by gardens on both left and right of them. As the moon hung high in the night sky, its soft glow cast light and revealed the eerily neglected state of this place.

Gardens that were meant to be filled with life only had withering flowers on them, and even the cobblestones beneath were surrounded with nothing but wild grass.

Overgrown weeds, dead plants, withering flowers, untrimmed bushes.

The Su family must have abandoned this part of the estate. But for Yang Huo to not meet even a single servant or guards in this place. It's as if this place didn't exist in the eyes of the family at all.

[Host, should we go back?]

There's no way the family would let the guests see this kind of neglection, so they must be quite far from the guest's residences.

Before Yang Huo could make a decision, a subtle noise in his surroundings caught his attention.

Turning to his left, his eyes were drawn to the outer wall of the residences. Nestled at the corner of the weathered wall, a decaying old tree, with its trunk entwined with vines, stood desolately.

And behind that tree was a dark silhouette. At first, the figure was barely discernible, but as he watched, a woman slowly emerged from behind the old trunk. However, the woman seemed oblivious to Yang Huo's presence.

The owl quickly reacted with an overdramatic voice.

[A-a thief?!?!?!]

Yang Huo almost facepalm himself. 'Stop joking around. Look at her clothes, do you think a thief would wear such bright colors in this dark night?'

However, the System still felt doubtful. [B-But Host, her clothes is...]

Bathed with blood.

Yang Huo couldn't deny that and only nodded.

No matter what, the woman looked very suspicious. God knows whose blood that was, it could be her.... or it could be someone else.

However....

'She isn't wearing a servant's clothes. And that stench smell.... definitely not human blood.'

Although he couldn't see her face from this angle, if she truly was an intruder, her posture seemed a little too confident to walk around like this, especially with her injuries. Though the injuries seemed superficial, it didn't make sense for an intruder to act like her.

As of now, barely a few seconds had passed since Yang Huo found the woman, and Yang Huo quickly come to a decision.

'For now, let's leave. No need to make unnecessary interaction.'

It's unfortunate, but right now he had yet to master how the original Yang Huo was supposed to act. So it's best to keep meaningful interaction to a minimum for now.

But despite Yang Huo trying to step away without alerting the woman, the woman suddenly noticed his presence and turned in his direction at an alarming speed.

Because of the oil lamps scattered around the corridor, it was easy to spot Yang Huo and the owl. However, when the woman saw Yang Huo's face, something inexplicable happened.

Yang Huo and the System were stunned when they saw the woman's reaction.

'Is she.... crying?'

[Host! What did you do?! Did you bully someone else without me knowing?!]

Yang Huo ignored the owl and kept thinking.

What made Yang Huo so confused was that he knew she wasn't crying out of sadness. But she.... was crying out of joy...?