Satisfaction

Then, the tone of the conversation shifted abruptly.

Although it was still Lin Qingyan's voice, the tone, pitch, and feel had completely changed.

It was no longer cold and detached; instead, it became coquettish, carrying a soul-captivating charm.

"I've got my eyes on you~"

The voice dragged out the final syllable, laced with playful teasing and a certain dangerous aura.

And Lin Qingyan's entire demeanor underwent a sudden, drastic transformation.

If she was previously a lone lotus at the peak of a snowy mountain, cold, ethereal, and untainted by the mortal world.

Then now, she was a demonic flower from the abyssal depths of hell, bewitching, seductive, and soul-stealing.

Lin Qingyan slowly leaned in toward Gu Chengyin, her nose almost touching his cheek.

Then, she gave a light sniff.

"Master~"

"You smell so sweet~"

Gu Chengyin's back was pressed against the freezing wall of the tower, the chill seeping through his clothes and into his spine.

The face before him was merely inches away.

Her left eye was as clear as an emerald pool, her pupil reflecting his image, it held the terror and panic of Lin Qingyan's true self.

The eyelashes fluttered rapidly, and deep within that gaze was a silent scream: Run.

Her right eye, however, was an entirely different world.

The iris was dyed an eerie pink, like early spring peach blossoms soaked in blood.

Obsession surged within that gaze as it roamed across his face, tracing every inch from his brow bone to the corner of his lips, as if savoring some rare delicacy.

It made Gu Chengyin's scalp tingle with dread.

The hypnosis had indeed succeeded.

But unlike the obedience of Luo Zhao and Shangguan Yunying.

The result of this hypnosis presented a form he had never seen before.

Bizarre, yet still under his control.

As long as she called him Master, it meant the hypnotic command had been successfully implanted.

The inner demon acknowledged him as its master, which meant the initiative was still in his hands.

Gu Chengyin steadied his mind, forcing himself to calm down, and then issued a command:

"Step back."

The pupil of Lin Qingyan's right eye suddenly shrank.

On that face as cold as frost, a look of grievance now appeared.

But this expression lasted only half a breath before her body honestly shifted a step backward.

The distance widened to a foot.

Gu Chengyin breathed a sigh of relief. The command was effective; the authority of the hypnosis still existed.

He looked at Lin Qingyan's left eye: "Auntie, are you still there?"

Lin Qingyan's lips twitched a few times.

First, the right corner of her mouth curled up into a seductive arc, which was immediately suppressed by the left half of her face.

Two expressions fought for control on the same face, muscles twitching, looking exceptionally eerie.

Finally, a cold tone was squeezed from her throat:

"I'm still here. Gu Chengyin, you must be careful, I am suppressing her right now..."

Before she could finish, her voice abruptly changed.

The expression on the right half of her face gained the upper hand again, her tone turning coquettish and languid:

"You're clearly being suppressed by me so hard you can't even get up, so why are you talking big?"

Gu Chengyin furrowed his brows tightly, then asked:

"Who are you?"

Lin Qingyan paused slightly.

Then, she smiled.

The corners of her eyes and brows were dyed with charm, her right eye curving into a crescent shape, the pink iris flowing with a satisfied light.

"I am Lin Qingyan."

She reached out a slender finger and gently tapped her left eye:

"She is Lin Qingyan's righteousness, strictly abiding by the Dao heart, cold and self-restrained."

Her fingertip slid to her right eye:

"And I am Lin Qingyan's desire."

"Also known as... the inner demon she speaks of."

"Both she and I are Lin Qingyan."

The halo of the luminous pearls in the tower flowed across her face, one half as cold as the moon, the other half as demonic as a phantom.

The fusion of two extreme temperaments on the same face actually produced a breathtakingly thrilling beauty.

Gu Chengyin took a deep breath.

Headache.

He had indeed hypnotized the inner demon, not destroying it, not suppressing it, but making it acknowledge him as its master.

But what happens after that?

The essence of an inner demon is desire, obsession, the most fragile crack in a cultivator's Dao heart.

Could such a thing be driven like a controlled puppet?

"How can I make you disappear?"

When Gu Chengyin asked this question, he had actually already guessed the answer.

Sure enough, Lin Qingyan smiled even deeper.

"Desires can only be satisfied, they won't disappear, Master~"

The trailing note pitched upward, carrying a certain bewitching implication.

Just as the words fell, her left eye suddenly widened, and a cold voice squeezed through her teeth, bearing uncontrollable anger:

"No! Absolutely not!"

Lin Qingyan's right eye blinked, her tone turning light and brisk:

"Why not? You can suppress me for a moment, but can you suppress me for a lifetime?"

"Just like today, as long as you grow stronger, I will also grow stronger with you~"

Gu Chengyin rubbed his temples; he now roughly understood the situation.

Thus, looking directly into Lin Qingyan's bizarre heterochromatic eyes, he spoke in a calm yet unquestionable tone:

"You, go back."

"Let her out."

Lin Qingyan's expression froze.

The pink light in her right eye flickered a few times, like a candle swaying in the wind.

The aggrieved look resurfaced, this time even more obvious, even causing her lower lip to pout slightly.

"Master~"

This call was full of twists and turns, dripping with emotion.

But Gu Chengyin repeated himself without a change in expression, his tone growing heavier:

"You, go back."

Lin Qingyan's body began to tremble.

The pink light in her right eye began to fade bit by bit.

This process was clearly not easy; fine beads of sweat seeped from Lin Qingyan's forehead, her breathing grew rapid, and her hands unconsciously clenched into fists.

Finally, the light in her right eye was completely extinguished.

Both pupils returned to a unified clarity.

The next second, Lin Qingyan's body swayed, and she pitched forward.

Gu Chengyin hastily took a step forward and reached out to support her.

"Auntie, are you alright?"

He held up Lin Qingyan's body, feeling her weight pressing almost entirely onto his arms.

A Golden Core cultivator shouldn't be this weak, unless that struggle just now had consumed a tremendous amount of energy.

Lin Qingyan shook her head.

"Thanks to you this time."

Her voice now carried a hint of exhausted hoarseness:

"I was careless. My recent enlightenment caused my cultivation to progress too quickly, but my state of mind couldn't keep up, giving her the chance to break free."

Gu Chengyin hesitated, the words reaching his lips before he swallowed them back down.

Lin Qingyan let go, pulling back to a relatively proper distance, and asked at the same time:

"How long can your control last?"

Gu Chengyin froze for a moment, then realized she was asking about the hypnosis.

"Theoretically... it can be maintained indefinitely."

"Unless an external force forcibly breaks it, or I release it myself."

Lin Qingyan's brow arched slightly as she said thoughtfully:

"In other words, you are now the master of my inner demon."

Then her gaze fell upon Gu Chengyin's face.

Her eyes were clear and transparent, devoid of any charm, possessing only a cold, ruthless wakefulness.

"Gu Chengyin, can you do me a favor?"

Gu Chengyin blinked, an ominous premonition rising from the bottom of his heart.

But he still nodded:

"Tell me, Auntie."

Lin Qingyan's lips pressed tightly together, her gaze becoming evasive.

She seemed to be fighting some difficult internal battle, her fingers unconsciously rubbing her cuffs.

The tower fell into a brief silence.

Finally, Lin Qingyan looked up, meeting Gu Chengyin's eyes directly, and enunciated word by word:

"Help me... satisfy her."