Gentle Late Autumn, You're Not Running a Fever, Are You

Good news: Silver Branch Pool, Red Hair, Powerful, Intelligence.

Bad news: The character is called Ji Zi.

The author has no intention of writing an iron railway novel and then cruelly torturing the characters in it.

.....

......

If the mastermind behind the scenes is Leng Qingqiu, does that mean we don't need to worry about villains like the King of Hell Palace?

After all, the original story's plot is a standard heroic and passionate narrative.

The protagonist group believes they have defeated the strongest enemy, but in reality, there's an even stronger enemy behind this one.

Based on the information revealed after each villain's death, it seems the ultimate villain controlling them is actually Leng Qingqiu!

Ah, that's our Qingqiu for you.

As Gu Yan was thinking, suddenly.

His expression froze. Wait, wait a minute!

According to various plot points in the original story, every villain the protagonist group encountered was actually controlled by Leng Qingqiu.

This means that during that period, Leng Qingqiu was already at an invincible stage.

As for why she didn't just kill the protagonist, Leng Qingqiu explained this in the original story.

It was to make the protagonist gradually experience the despair of losing those around him.

To make him feel the pain she felt when her sister died.

In other words, when Xiao Lin was targeted by the King of Hell Palace, it actually meant that Leng Qingqiu had already broken the seal on her eyes and become invincible.

Hmm... according to the original story, that's how it goes.

According to the original story...

Gu Yan's mouth twitched as he realized an unexpected situation.

Although the original story didn't explicitly state how Leng Qingqiu became invincible,

Gu Yan could guess based on various details written by the author.

It probably required using [Leng Ling'er's heart blood] to restore [Leng Qingqiu's eyesight], and then she could become invincible.

According to the original plot, Shen Wan'er's brother Shen Tian was killed by Leng Qingqiu, so Shen Wan'er, heartbroken, confided in Xiao Lin. To avenge Shen Wan'er, Xiao Lin killed Leng Ling'er.

Leng Qingqiu completely broke down and turned evil due to her sister's death, and used Leng Ling'er's heart blood to restore her eyesight, becoming invincible from then on.

But... that's all from the original story.

As things stand now, Shen Tian isn't dead.

Gu Yan won't let Leng Ling'er die either.

So...

How is Qingqiu supposed to regain her sight and become invincible?

If she can't become invincible, how can she control the King of Hell Palace? Rely on the current [Night Organization]?

It's not that Gu Yan looks down on the [Night Organization], it's just that in the original story, it was said that before Leng Qingqiu gained her power, the strongest member of the Night Organization was only at mid-stage Master level.

Gu Yan still remembered that scene where they made threats.

[That person bestowed power upon me (800 words omitted here)]

[Your stupidity lies in doing that thing, which allowed that person to break through their own bottleneck!]

[We received blessings from that person and were strengthened. If you want to blame someone, blame yourselves for being stupid enough to oppose that person!]

It can be inferred that after Leng Qingqiu broke the seal, she bestowed enormous power on all members of the [Night Organization] and some branch members, allowing those at the Acquired stage to break through to Innate, and those at Innate to break through to Master.

Even when all members of the Night Organization appeared, the strongest was only at the peak of late-stage Master.

In other words, the current members of the Night Organization are likely no match for the King of Hell Palace.

Xiao Lin has also been manipulated by him to the point where his dao heart is damaged. Once a martial artist's heart is damaged, it becomes very difficult to break through to higher realms again.

It's hard to say if he can even break through to mid-stage Master like in the original story. If the King of Hell Palace targets Leng Qingqiu, wouldn't that be very troublesome?

Gu Yan drew in a sharp breath. Because he had been so focused on wanting to kill the protagonist Xiao Lin, he subconsciously forgot that there are actually many other villains in this world.

It's just that Leng Qingqiu was the biggest villain BOSS, and in the original story, she was also the ultimate villain controlling all these big and small villains.

But the premise is, that's how it was in the original story.

And now, if Leng Qingqiu can't become the strongest, then forget about him, even Leng Qingqiu's own safety can't be guaranteed.

There must be other ways, Gu Yan thought. Oh right.

There's still that half of the Dragon King Jade. Legend has it that once the Dragon King Jade is put together (800 words omitted here).

In short, a complete Dragon King Jade pendant can lead the entire Dragon King Palace.

While half of it would lose this effect.

The previous old palace master lost the ability to command the Dragon King Palace precisely because the jade pendant was damaged.

Hmm, it looks like he has a new idea: fuse the jade pendant to gain control of the Dragon King Palace.

Then use this power to fend off some potential risks.

He doesn't believe that Leng Qingqiu can only rely on Leng Ling'er's heart blood to restore her eyesight.

Moreover, why does it have to be Leng Ling'er's heart blood? Is there any connection between the two other than bloodline?

If it's about bloodline, wouldn't the heart blood of Leng Xing'an, the apparent head of the Leng family, work just as well?

Forget it, there's no need to think too much about it now. His main opponent is still the protagonist Xiao Lin.

After all, in the original story, his strength was enough to perish together with Leng Qingqiu.

But this brings up another issue.

It's known that in the original story, Leng Qingqiu was very powerful, and the King of Hell Palace's ambition to unify Jianghai was manipulated and directed by Leng Qingqiu.

And because Leng Qingqiu's strength can't be restored now, she can't control the King of Hell Palace.

So does this mean the King of Hell Palace won't have the ambition to unify Jianghai? Does this mean they won't provoke the protagonist group?

If so, what will the plot become?

Gu Yan felt a bit of a headache. Even if the power of the world tries to correct things, it shouldn't reconnect the plot when Leng Qingqiu isn't invincible yet, right?

Even if it reconnects, who will do it?

It can't be him who reconnects it, right?

Tsk, thinking about it is making his head a mess.

At this point, Gu Yan turned off the faucet and smiled lightly.

Let's eat first.

"......."

Mei Xue felt a chill run through her body. She glanced at Gu Yan, whose expression had been changing like a color palette since earlier.

This guy... could he have dissociative identity disorder?

.....

....

Lunchtime.

Mei Xue lowered her head as she ate her rice. She secretly looked up at the scene in front of her while eating.

She saw Gu Yan sitting next to her master, picking up food and feeding her while smiling and asking, "Qingqiu, it's been a while since you've eaten my cooking. Have you missed this taste?"

With subordinates around, Leng Qingqiu naturally wouldn't reveal her true thoughts. She didn't want her subordinates to think she was an overly sentimental woman.

So she smiled gently, as warm as the morning sun: "If it's made by you, it must all be delicious."

Seeing Leng Qingqiu like this, Gu Yan's heart began to race. Hiss!

No way! What version of Leng Qingqiu is this? How can she show me such a gentle and beautiful smile?!

No, they often say that when a woman smiles at you, it means you've done something wrong.

Could it be that I've done something that Qingqiu has discovered? Gu Yan fell into deep thought.

Mei Xue watched with trepidation. Hiss, I see. So the master is pretending to be a good wife and mother to gain Gu Yan's favor and trust.

Just look at Gu Yan's dumbfounded expression. The master must usually be very gentle.

Hehe, too bad for you, Gu Yan. You've calculated everything but didn't calculate that everything the master has done is just to take over the Gu family!

Kekeke~! As expected of the master!

Leng Qingqiu was unaware of the mental storms of the two people around her.

The aroma at the tip of her nose had already made her mouth water. She gently opened her mouth and tasted the food Gu Yan offered. Her heart skipped a beat, and her breathing quickened slightly.

Leng Qingqiu's body unconsciously tensed up.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, it really does.

Leng Qingqiu felt like she could cry.

Delicious! This is the taste! Wuwawa! I've missed this so much!

So happy!

Although Leng Qingqiu wanted Gu Yan to keep feeding her, her subordinate was beside her after all.

So she took a napkin and wiped her mouth, smiling at Gu Yan who was still immersed in self-doubt: "It's just as I thought, very delicious."

Then, before Gu Yan could come to his senses, Leng Qingqiu picked up a pair of chopsticks. As if she knew exactly where each dish was,

she picked up some food, held it in her hand, and brought it to Gu Yan's mouth. Under his stunned gaze, she smiled gently and said: "Here."

Though she maintained a smile on her face, inside she was overwhelmed with embarrassment.

Even her hand trembled as she held up the food.

Leng Qingqiu had considered acting as she usually did, showing a haughty attitude toward Gu Yan.

But...

With Mei Xue beside her, she didn't want her subordinates to think that Gu Yan was like a servant constantly trying to please her.

Nor did she want her subordinates to look down on him because of it.

Of course, it wasn't because of any particular thoughts in her heart.

It was purely, absolutely purely, couldn't-be-more-purely because she didn't want Gu Yan, who was nominally her husband.

Really, just nominally! Nominally! Her husband to be looked down upon by her subordinates.

So, she was willing to put on a gentle and caring demeanor toward Gu Yan.

Even if this might affect how her subordinates viewed her.

Despite saying this, Leng Qingqiu's smile was becoming harder to maintain. Why hadn't she felt Gu Yan taking the food yet?

Hey, don't you think my arm gets tired?

The next moment.

A hand touched Leng Qingqiu's forehead.

Gu Yan asked worriedly, "Qingqiu, you don't have a fever, but are you feeling unwell?"

He was quite puzzled - usually she would either tell him to get lost or give him the cold shoulder, but today why had she changed so dramatically?

To actually be so gentle and caring toward him?

Leng Qingqiu: "......"

Maintaining her smile, without putting down her chopsticks, she kindly raised her head to face Gu Yan, and then...

STOMP!!

"Ouch!"

Gu Yan's face twitched as he looked down, only to see that Leng Qingqiu had viciously stomped on his foot with her house slippers.

"Gu Yan, what are you talking about? Haven't I always been like this?"

"Also, hurry up and eat, I specially picked this for you."

Leng Qingqiu said kindly while twisting her right foot.

By now, Gu Yan could read the situation well enough. He sat back down enduring the pain and directly bit the food from the chopsticks Leng Qingqiu was holding.

[Being stepped on by pure love interest through shoes, +50 points]

Despite the pain in his foot, his heart was filled with absolute happiness.

Although he didn't know what had happened, this version of Qingqiu was simply amazing!