a box of orchids

Li Daoxuan received a strange scenic box. Inside the box, there was an ancient village, and a group of plastic figures, holding swords and knives, hacking and slashing through the village. He bent his finger and flicked it towards a most conspicuous figure... Late in the Ming Dynasty, in Shaanxi, there was a great drought in the land. A gang of mountain bandits was looting, burning, killing, and plundering in the village. A poor maiden was about to be killed under a mountain bandit's blade. Suddenly, a giant hand stretched out from the clouds, bent a finger, flicked it, and the mountain bandit was flung several dozen yards away.

Did you know what the blind box of real estate was like? The speculators would buy the real estate that had been foreclosed houses. For fairness, the door and windows were locked. You didn't know what was inside. Everyone could only observe outside and look for clues. Maybe the luxurious furniture inside was worth a lot of money, or some of them were leaked which you would cost a sea of money to repair. While others were still raking against the wall and looking around. Lee got the divine-level hint system, and all the house values were clear at a glance! "The decoration of this building is terrible, and the thief has come here in advance. Don't buy it." "This villa is worth 5 million dollars. There are antique gold coins hidden in the basement!" "Don't miss this warehouse. It's worth 20 million dollars. There is the authentic work of Picasso in it!"

Li Yi, who carried the usury, was sold to a mysterious organization K by the Mafia. He had no choice but to participate in a killing game whose bonus was as high as 100 billion! Fortunately, he activated the human-box system, and the dead would explode a box in front of him. "The corpse box was opened successfully!” "You will be rewarded with advanced fighting skills!” He was constantly learning new skills and becoming stronger. He was determined to get the 100 billion bonuses!

Ten years of devotion. Thousands of nights in his bed. Yet I still couldn't replace the white moonlight hidden in his heart.Until the moment he nearly knocked over my secret—the black brocade box on the nightstand.Inside it lies the truth I'll never let him see:The three children I lost… because of him.And the man I truly love… was never Stuart Hall.

Zehn Jahre der Hingabe. Tausende von Nächten in seinem Bett. Doch ich konnte das weiße Mondlicht, das in seinem Herzen verborgen war, immer noch nicht ersetzen. Bis zu dem Moment, als er beinahe mein Geheimnis umgestoßen hätte – die schwarze Brokatschatulle auf dem Nachttisch. Darin liegt die Wahrheit, die ich ihn niemals sehen lassen werde: Die drei Kinder, die ich verlor … seinetwegen. Und der Mann, den ich wirklich liebe … war niemals Stuart Hall.

"No one ever helped me no matter how much I suffered. So, tell me...why would I help others if there's no benefit to it for me?" After being sold off by his parents to human traffickers due to a physical deformity and ending up as a resident of the underworld, a jaded mercenary is killed during a mission gone wrong. "If only there was a way to carry my entire arsenal of weapons without weighing myself down..." As he dies, he suddenly find himself waking up in a younger, unfamiliar body, in an unfamiliar world. He finds himself in a rundown orphanage located in a medieval world full of Magic and Monsters, his new body weak and frail. His new name is Jaedfern Meraled, or Jade for short. But he's not alone in being sent to this world...along with him for the ride is the Angel Arkiela, who was banished to this world for interfering with the human world out of boredom. Specifically, she used her powers to feed and amplify people's impulses and intrusive thoughts, including the people around Jade, whom she targeted to, in her words, "mess with", and subsequently went on to ruin his life. She then claims that their lives are now intertwined...if one of them dies, so will the other. While being uncertain as to whether she's being honest about that or lying so that he can't afford to kill her, Jade can't exactly risk putting it to the test, so he errs on the side of caution. Grudgingly, he decides to accept her presence around him, having no other choice in the matter. With that settled, she reveals that when people are reincarnated with their memories intact, they're given OP powers, usually as a reward or consolation for their circumstances in their previous life, and she then checks what abilities he's been bestowed with. In this world, there are three main elements to a person's Magic...their Magic Class; which is the core of their abilities, their Mana Pool; the quantity of Magical energy they possess, and finally, their Skills; special abilities that include active powers such as Appraisal and passive powers such as Heat Resistance. Each person possesses three Skills, without exception. As for Jade, his Magic Class is...well, he doesn't have one. And his Mana Pool...is nonexistent, he possesses no Magical energy whatsoever. And finally, his Skills...he only has one, titled "Mercenary's Item Box", a dimensional storage power with a number of abilities that can be unlocked by Leveling Up the Skill. Most people who are reincarnated are given OP powers, rewarded for either living a virtuous life, or as consolation for living a tortured life. But sometimes, people who've lived sinful lives, can be punished instead, bestowed with the bare minimum of abilities in worlds where such abilities are everything. And Jade is the latter. However, Jade may not necessarily be as bad off as it initially seems...because within his Item Box, is every weapon he owned during his previous life, weapons that don't exist in this world. Will it give him enough of an advantage to survive, and ideally thrive, in this medieval world rampant with violent crime and dangerous Monsters? One thing's for sure, it certainly won't be easy...

All three books in the popular <em>Sandbridge</em> M/M romance series by Elizabeth L. Brooks and Lynn Townsend are now available in one box set! Contains the stories:<br><br><strong>Nights in Sandbridge</strong>: Andy's made a habit of running away -- he ran away from his abusive father, and then several years later, he ran away from his manipulative boyfriend. He thinks he might have found a home in Sandbridge with Scooter, but when trouble rears its ugly head, will Andy run away yet again?<br><br><strong>Daybreak in Sandbridge</strong>: Scooter's life is definitely on the upswing: his business is successful and he's engaged to the most amazing man he's ever met. But when Andy is called home to attend his dying father, Scooter is forced to realize that he knew less than he thought about Andy's past. How can Scooter compete with the sizeable fortune Andy is set to inherit or the lovely and stylish girl Andy left behind?<br><br><strong>High Noon in Sandbridge</strong>: Life takes a sudden turn for Scooter and Andy when Scooter's sister meets an untimely end and they're suddenly guardians to a niece they've only met a handful of times. Billie is stubborn and hot-tempered and not remotely interested in making a life in the one place that her mother had sworn never to return. Will she ever learn to call Dockside and Sandbridge home?

Four best-selling MMF science fiction romance novels by popular author A.C. Katt now available in one box set! Contains the stories:<br /><br /><strong>The Sarran Plague</strong>: The Sarran Warriors came home from victory to genocide. The enemy had unleashed a virus fatal to all fertile fems on the Home Planet. The Sarrans mated in Triad; without fems, civilization ended. For two cycles they searched the Galaxy for a genetically compatible vessel. They found Earth.<br /><br /><strong>Living with Syn</strong>: Syn Sinclair is one of the women taken from Earth to Sarran to replenish the fem population. As soon as her WarriorPair bring her to their home, she works to gain their respect. Her insights as a psychologist combined with her new Psy powers might help her Warriors find out who the traitors are in the Sarran government and devise a plan to capture them.<br /><br /><strong>The Sarrans Return</strong>: The Sarrans return for cats, coffee, chocolate, and fems. Mark and Juraens have another mission: to rescue abused women. One of them turns out to be their own fem, Sara.<br /><br /><strong>The Sarrans Senator</strong>: When Senator Samuel Johnson comes to Sarran, he&#x2019;s surprised to bond with Tarin, one of Sarran's top engineers. Sam's love gives him a new lease on life. Together they bond with Meg, a talented woman who fled to Sarran like so many Earth women looking for a new life. Things are settling down between Sarran and Earth, but when the Zyptz attack both planets, their mutual dependence becomes evident.

In ages past when hope was spent and low, All creation stood bound within its quiet repose. Then did Reality tremble from a boundless might, And the earth quaked across the starless night. A star descended from the vast beyond, And bound reality in grief's most tragic bond. It stole the future in its greedy plight, Yet wept in secret at the ruined sight. With painted smiles it played a gentle part, And strove to heal each broken, wounded heart. Yet the star never found the words to seek amends, The answer on the tip of its tongue which it couldn't transcend. Its guilt endured, a weight upon its boundless soul, Awaiting forgiveness from the broken world. Wherefore to him whose destiny it had reft, It turned to mend the soul that it had left. The Bereft was lost, struggling with his blight, Yet the star became his new, endearing light. Until at last the end drew near, And to eternity the star must steer. In passing through the void it set things right, Returning the future it had plight. No soul recalled the star from then on, Save for the Bereft… whose longing was not gone.

Sharon Maria Bidwell’s best-selling gay romance trilogy is now available in a box set. From falling in love to finding forever, join Dean and Jay on the way to their happy ever after! Contains the stories:<br><br><strong>Snow Angel</strong>: Dean likes women, but not nearly as much as he likes himself. Little does he know his friend Jay is in love with him, always has been, always will be, but he’s about to find out. If Dean isn’t careful, he might lose the one person who can take him just as he is, ego included.<br><br><strong> Angel Heart</strong>: There’s a reason Dean calls his lover Angel, but Jay’s thoughts are far from angelic. He must stop his sister interfering in their relationship, and ask if Dean’s remembered to pack the strawberry lube for the weekend.<br><br><strong>Christmas Angel</strong>: True love's path seldom runs smooth. Dean Chapman built his life and reputation around being a womaniser. Until he fell in love with a man. Three years with his boyfriend, Jay, have upended the identity of which he was always so sure. To give the man he loves the commitment he deserves, Dean must lay his heart open to a future of possibilities, or risk losing everything.