Does Your Conscience Not Ache?

To be fair, Lan Meng is a stunner with a gorgeous figure and curves in all the right places; she is absolutely the kind of siren a man dreams of.

Wu Wei is no saint who can sit amidst a beauty without being moved, but he truly has no heart to waste time on such things right now.

When the timing is wrong and the nature of the situation is off, even the most beautiful woman is nothing but a passing cloud.

"Let's not rush the engagement. Lan Meng, according to you, am I going to have to face these sudden assassination attempts from now on?"

"That's right, so let me protect you."

"Wouldn't it be better to let the organization protect me?" Wu Wei is quite skeptical of Lan Meng's combat prowess.

In fact, throughout this wave of conspiracies targeting Wu Wei, Lan Meng has been moving through the thick of it, yet her contribution has been effectively negative.

Aside from drawing aggro for Wu Wei, he hasn't seen her do anything else of use.

Lan Meng's pretty face flushes red.

"There's a reason for that. I've only just adapted to this current body, so how could I possibly unleash the strength of my prime? Plus, with inner demons lurking in the shadows, I don't dare expose too much."

"And you still claim this is a lucid dream." Wu Wei curls his lip.

His mother once told him that the prettier a woman is, the better she is at lying.

At the time, his mother also added that she herself was the best liar in the world.

Wu Wei thought his mother was being quite narcissistic back then.

Now, seeing Lan Meng, Wu Wei feels his mother's words hold a lot of truth.

The highest level of deception is nine parts truth and one part lie; most of what Lan Meng says is likely true, but there are parts where she is definitely deceiving him.

For instance, this is not a lucid dream.

Those who die, truly stay dead.

The progress bar for Wu Xie proves as much.

Yet Lan Meng insists on playing along with his narrative that this is all a dream; the moment Wu Wei probes a little, her facade crumbles.

Lan Meng looks at Wu Wei, wishing she could just die.

"Wu Wei, can't you just let me fool you once? You're so uncooperative, it makes me very unhappy. I'm going to get angry."

She just wants to see him fall for it once—even if it's just being deceived by her—why is it so difficult?

She couldn't do it in her past life, and she can't do it in this one either.

What is the point of living?

Wu Wei can't be bothered to pay her any mind.

Regardless, Lan Meng holds no hostility toward him, and if he is to become truly powerful in the future, he would likely be aware of Lan Meng's return—perhaps even having tacitly permitted it.

Therefore, he isn't overly worried.

As for the dangers lurking in the dark?

When soldiers come, block them; when water comes, earth covers it. That is all.

Wu Wei has never thought about fighting alone, either.

Isn't the point of finding a backer to have them stand up for you when you are weak, and then returning the favor once you are strong?

Mutual benefit and mutual assistance—there is nothing wrong with that.

"If I recall correctly, Night Emperor Academy should be starting its term soon."

Wu Wei's words leave Lan Meng even more dejected.

"You even know that? Then what is the point of me coming back?"

"There was never any point to begin with. Even if you hadn't come back, I would still be joining Night Emperor Academy," Wu Wei says indifferently.

Night Emperor—a title Wu Wei has only ever seen on the dark web.

None of the textbooks mention the deeds of this person, but Wu Wei has seen introductions to both the Night Emperor and Night Emperor Academy on the dark web.

The origins of the Night Emperor trace back over 2,000 years.

At that time, the First Emperor suddenly passed away, and the Eighteenth Prince forged an imperial decree to usurp the throne, conspiring with the then-Prime Minister and the Director of the Palace Carriage Office to force the Crown Prince and the Empire's Great General to their deaths.

Great Qin was teetering on the brink of collapse, in imminent danger. The Crown Prince was pure of heart, and the Great General was famously loyal; they had already resigned themselves to capture. At the critical moment, the Night Emperor appeared out of nowhere, persuading the Great General to raise an army to defend the throne. They broke through Xianyang in one fell swoop, allowing the Crown Prince to ascend the throne smoothly, and thus Great Qin continued its legacy, which has now lasted over 2,200 years.

Throughout these 2,200 years of history, the Great Qin Dynasty has weathered many difficult moments and made many crucial choices. Whenever a crisis struck, heroes would always "emerge as the times demanded," helping Great Qin set things right and remain steadfast amidst the torrent of history.

These things can be found in history books.

During the reign of the Fourth Martial Emperor, the reduction of vassal states sparked a rebellion among the princes; Doctor Zhou stepped forward, and in less than a year, he restored peace and clarity to the land.

During the reign of the Ninth Emperor, the conflict between civil and military officials was on the verge of eruption, and at that very moment, Great Qin was integrating with the world. The Ninth Emperor used masterful statecraft to turn the tides, uniting the hearts of the people and allowing Great Qin to preserve its territory while surrounded by other nations.

When the Twelfth Emperor was on the throne, he acted perversely; Prime Minister Deng stood up and established the Cabinet, effectively caging the imperial power. That coup left the dynasty in turmoil, but it was from that moment on that the people truly became the masters of Great Qin.

Under the Thirteenth Emperor, the world turned against Qin, and General Huo emerged to lead Great Qin to victory in the first World War.

Under the Fifteenth Emperor, during a global economic crisis, Great Qin's economy also took a downturn; Prime Minister Wu implemented iron-fisted reforms, establishing Great Qin's status as an economic powerhouse, a legacy from which the people still benefit today.

What the history books do not record, however, is that all of these key figures came from Night Emperor Academy, including the Ninth Emperor.

Established by the Night Emperor himself, Night Emperor Academy never revealed itself to the public, yet it gathered the greatest elites of Great Qin, silently dedicating their strength to this ancient empire.

And this was also the goal of Wu Wei.

If there were no surprises, his mother should have also been a student of Night Emperor Academy, and perhaps, even more than just a student.

"Lan Meng, tell me, with my abilities, there shouldn't be any problem joining Night Emperor Academy, right?" Wu Wei asked Lan Meng.

As far as he knew, Night Emperor Academy recruited all kinds of geniuses, including Awakened ones and elites from every industry.

Even without the appearance of Wu Xie, Wu Wei asked himself if he could reach the admission standards of Night Emperor Academy based on his own qualifications.

However, Lan Meng gave him an unexpected reply.

"With your abilities, of course there is no problem. But if I were to obstruct you, you would fail."

"You have that much power?" Wu Wei did not believe it.

Lan Meng smiled: "I certainly don't, but my family does."

"What does your family have?"

"My family has money, a lot of money," Lan Meng said very proudly.

Wu Wei: "...Not everything can be solved with money."

"That is only because you don't have enough money; poverty limits your imagination," Lan Meng said bluntly.

Wu Wei: "▄︻┻┳══━一"

That really stings, old friend.

"Aunt Lin once said that money can solve 99% of the problems in the world. And what Aunt Lin didn't say is that the remaining 1% requires even more money," Lan Meng calmly lectured Wu Wei. "Sorry, having money really allows you to do whatever you want."

Wu Wei felt that what Lan Meng said made perfect sense; he was actually speechless.

He hated these rich people the most.

What was even more annoying was that he wasn't a rich person himself.

Wu Tian, you really wasted this name; doesn't your conscience hurt for not giving your son a chance to be a second-generation rich kid?