Do Sigma Men Dream of Bunny Redemption?

When Lin Ciyan returned to Dorm 301 in the Jia Building, the night was already deep.

To his surprise, Bei Bei had actually returned earlier than him today.

Bei Bei was currently sprawled out on the other bed, staring at the ceiling with a silly grin, his mouth stretched nearly to his ears, radiating the nauseating stench of romance.

"Yo, did the sun rise in the west today? Master Bei is actually willing to return to the nest so early?" Lin Ciyan habitually quipped while taking off his coat.

Bei Bei turned his head at the sound, his silly grin fading a bit, and he asked with a hint of curiosity, "Brother Lin, you're just getting back? Where did you go, staying out so late?"

Lin Ciyan yawned and said casually, "Nothing much, just went into the city with Zhang Lexuan to look around and grab a bite."

"Zhang Lexuan?" Bei Bei blinked, sat up abruptly from the bed, and the fires of gossip began to burn in his eyes.

"Not bad, Brother Lin! Tell me quickly, what stage have you reached? Did you hold hands? When is the official announcement?"

Seeing Bei Bei looking even more excited than if he were the one in love, Lin Ciyan threw a pillow at him in annoyance.

"Official announcement your head! We're just ordinary friends hanging out and eating. Can you keep your thoughts pure?"

"I don't believe it!" Bei Bei caught the pillow, hugged it to his chest, and chuckled. "Zhang Lexuan is so outstanding—beautiful, gentle, and a genius of the Inner Court. You two look like a perfect match standing together! If you can end up with Zhang Lexuan, I'll raise both my hands and feet in support!"

He said this with genuine sincerity.

Ever since he started hanging out with Lin Ciyan as a child, his contact with Zhang Lexuan had naturally decreased.

In his heart, Zhang Lexuan had always been a big sister who was very kind and caring toward him; there was plenty of respect, but no other thoughts.

Now, seeing his best brother potentially ending up with this big sister he respected, he felt genuinely happy.

The feeling was like having two treasures he cherished.

Suddenly discovering that placing them together made them shine even brighter gave him a strange sense of satisfaction.

"Stop with the wild imagination." Lin Ciyan couldn't be bothered to explain his "Sigma Theory" of no women in the heart, rot naturally like a god to him, and instead steered the topic back to Bei Bei.

"Forget about me, how is the progress with that Tang Sect leader...?"

"Have you taken her down... ah, no, have you made it official?"

The moment Tang Ya was mentioned, the light on Bei Bei's face brightened by several degrees, and he announced with a hint of pride: "Of course!"

"Just this afternoon, Xiao Ya officially agreed to be my girlfriend!"

His face was overflowing with a blissful, silly smile, as if he possessed the whole world.

Lin Ciyan looked at his "pure stupidity" and swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue, leaving only a heart full of helplessness.

Fine, they're truly locked in now; the key has been chewed up like a candy by Tang San.

He silently covered his face in his heart:

Brother, this isn't called dating.

This is called signing a deed of indenture plus a contract for decades of unpaid labor!

Rebuild the Tang Sect? Sounds easy, but that's a bottomless pit!

Manpower, material resources, financial resources—even if you sold Bei Bei, it wouldn't be enough to fill it!

When the time comes, you'll know what it means to say, "Once you enter the Tang Sect, the sea is deep; from then on, your wallet is a stranger."

Sigh, put down the urge to help others and respect their fate...

This situation, this is Zhou Yu hitting Huang Gai—one is willing to hit, and the other is willing to suffer.

Bei Bei has truly collected the full set of the top-tier "love-brain" encyclopedia.

After the internal rant concluded, Lin Ciyan still squeezed out a "gratified" smile: "Congratulations, treat her well."

Bei Bei didn't catch the insincerity in his words at all, still immersed in the joy of being off the market, happily planning where to take Tang Ya tomorrow.

Listening to Bei Bei's muttering, Lin Ciyan's thoughts drifted far away.

Another name surfaced in his mind—Jiang Nannan.

The name he saw on the class assignment list today, that future beauty of the Outer Court, seemed... to be facing her own predicament as well.

According to the original timeline, it was roughly around this time.

At the age of twelve or thirteen.

Her mother was suffering from a severe illness and needed the Mysterious Underworld Sect's exclusive medicine, the "Black Tortoise Divine Pill," to be saved.

And the condition for exchange proposed by the Mysterious Underworld Sect was incredibly vile—it required a woman with a special constitution, using her virginity.

To assist the sect master's son, Xu Sanshi, in awakening his Black Tortoise Turtle martial soul...

As for the method, it went without saying.

"Using this method to kidnap a girl in exchange for medicine to save a mother..." Lin Ciyan frowned slightly.

Even though he was determined to rot, as a soul educated in the twenty-first century, his core values made him feel an instinctive disgust and discomfort toward such predatory, near-coercive behavior.

"This operation is just so cringe!"

The Black Tortoise Divine Pill might be precious to others.

But to him, a direct descendant of Shrek and the closed-door disciple of Mu En, it really wasn't anything rare.

To maintain their relationship with Shrek, the Mysterious Underworld Sect would pay tribute to the Sea God Pavilion with a batch of pills every year, including the Black Tortoise Divine Pill and the even more effective Black Water Pill.

Lin Ciyan had eaten these things like candy when he was a child.

He reckoned there were still quite a few lying around in his Soul Tool right now.

Bei Bei surely had his own share, but given his current love-struck state, it would probably end up in Tang Ya's stomach sooner or later to help her improve that pitiful Innate Soul Power of her Blue Silver Grass.

Should he help, or not?

Lin Ciyan's heart engaged in a brief internal struggle.

If he helped, he might invite trouble and deviate from his core path of "peacefully rotting away."

If he didn't... could he really just watch a girl in the prime of her youth be forced down that path just to save her mother?

He recalled Jiang Nannan's eyes, which would one day be known as the "most beautiful in the outer courtyard," and wondered if they were currently filled with helplessness and struggle.

"Forget it." Lin Ciyan exhaled softly, having made his decision.

"Rotting away is one thing, but I can't lose my bottom line."

"Since I know about this, I can't just pretend I don't."

"I'm a good youth influenced by core socialist values, after all. If I see injustice, I'll lend a hand if I can."

"It's not like I'm after anything from her; it's purely a matter of convenience. As long as I can live with my conscience, that's enough."

As for recruiting future powerhouses or farming favorability, he hadn't even considered it.

"A sigma male acts only to have a clear conscience. Benefits and such are all just fleeting clouds!"

Having made up his mind, Lin Ciyan stopped agonizing over it.

If the opportunity arose, he would find a way to get the pill to Jiang Nannan; he'd just treat it as a good deed for the day.

Meanwhile, inside the Sea of Consciousness.

Xiyao, who had been quietly observing the outside world, felt the pure kindness and resolve in Lin Ciyan's heart.

The little pout she had been wearing since he went out with Zhang Lexuan during the day smoothed out before she even realized it.

The girl of light tilted her head, her pure golden eyes revealing a hint of confusion, but mostly a sense of relief.

Her Ciyan really was a very gentle person.

Although... she still felt a little unhappy about other girls sometimes.

She hummed softly and retreated deeper into the sea of consciousness, continuing to absorb the aura of Holy Radiance that made her feel warm and secure.

The next morning, just as the sky was beginning to brighten.

Lin Ciyan was still discussing the "ultimate meaning of rotting away" with the God of Dreams when he was woken up by a rustling sound.

He groggily opened one eye to see Bei Bei already fully dressed, carefully adjusting his hair in the small mirror in their dorm.

His expression was a hundred times more focused than when he was practicing soul skills.

"Bei, are you... preparing for a beauty pageant or something?" Lin Ciyan muttered, thick with sleepiness.

Bei Bei didn't even turn his head, his tone filled with excitement: "What do you know? I've got a date to have breakfast with Tang Ya today, and then we're going to get familiar with the campus!"

"First impressions—no, daily impressions—are very important!"

With that, he gave his bangs one last flick, confirmed they were perfect, and dashed out of the dorm with a light, swift step, leaving Lin Ciyan and the silent room behind.

Lin Ciyan: "..."

He silently pulled the blanket up over his head.

"Unbelievable!"

"The stench of love is hitting me right in the face!"

"Looks like I won't be able to stay in this dorm in the mornings anymore..."

My bed is the most loyal; it's always warm and never pressures me.

And it certainly doesn't get up early to dress up for a date.

What is eternal? Rotting away and sleeping, that's what!