Attention

The doors of the Tower of Tranquility slowly closed behind him, but Gu Chengyin still hadn't quite wrapped his head around the situation.

The slanting sunlight stretched his and Lin Qingyan's shadows long across the ground.

A gentle breeze swept past, carrying the faint, refreshing scent of the distant medicinal herb garden.

Yet, all that echoed in Gu Chengyin's mind was that one sentence.

"If we change to a place with people around, you won't be nervous anymore?"

What was that supposed to mean?

So now he was supposed to take Lin Qingyan—a Golden Core cultivator, the Jingzhe of the Celestial Master Mansion, and Luo Zhao's aunt—to find a crowded place to kiss?

A sense of absurdity surged within Gu Chengyin. Even with his intellect, he couldn't comprehend how things had escalated to this point.

Seriously, how did it ever come to this?

But despite his inner turmoil, Gu Chengyin didn't show the slightest hint of it on his face, maintaining a calm and unhurried demeanor.

He kept a distance of three feet, his pace neither too fast nor too slow, the hem of his robes swaying gently with his steps.

Lin Qingyan walked beside him, her entire being radiating an aloof, otherworldly aura, looking like a completely different person from the inner demon back in the Tower of Tranquility.

It was still quite a walk from the Tower of Tranquility to the outside of the Celestial Master Mansion.

As the two turned a corner along the corridor, three cultivators from the Celestial Master Mansion approached them from the front.

Upon seeing Lin Qingyan, the three immediately stopped and bowed in unison. Their movements were perfectly synchronized, and even their breathing seemed to be controlled to match perfectly.

"Lord Jingzhe."

Their voices carried undisguised awe and reverence.

Lin Qingyan didn't even shift her gaze a fraction of an inch. She merely gave a soft hum of acknowledgment and continued walking.

The three cultivators maintained their bowing posture until the pair was more than ten paces away before straightening up. Rather than showing any dissatisfaction, their eyes were filled with a sense of immense honor.

Gu Chengyin caught this scene from the corner of his eye, his feelings complicated.

If these people knew that the Lord Jingzhe they so deeply revered was heading out right now just to find a place to kiss him...

Their Dao hearts would probably shatter right on the spot.

Passing through two more courtyards, they encountered more and more cultivators.

There were young disciples in the middle of drills who hurriedly stopped their practice to bow upon seeing Lin Qingyan.

There were instructors rushing by with ancient tomes who bowed and stepped aside to make way.

There were even two late-stage Foundation Establishment deacons who stopped in their tracks from afar to offer a respectful salute upon spotting her.

Every time, Lin Qingyan merely gave a faint nod, never once slowing her pace.

This confirmed one thing for Gu Chengyin: even if they were to change locations,

they absolutely could not let anyone discover or see them. Having cemented his relationship with Luo Zhao in the royal court had already drawn the jealousy and resentment of countless people.

If word of this affair with Lin Qingyan got out on top of that, it would be a total disaster.

The grand gates of the Celestial Master Mansion towered imposingly. Two stone-carved thunder beasts lay quietly on either side, the spirit stones embedded in their eyes glowing with a faint blue light in the sun.

A carriage had been waiting outside for quite some time. Seeing the two emerge, the driver hurriedly lifted the curtain.

Gu Chengyin stepped onto the carriage first, turning around and naturally extending his hand.

It was a customary gesture of etiquette to help a lady into a carriage.

But halfway there, his hand suddenly froze.

Did Lin Qingyan need help?

She was a Golden Core cultivator, an existence capable of walking on thin air.

Yet, pulling his hand back now would seem abrupt and awkward.

In that brief moment of hesitation, Lin Qingyan had already raised her hand, resting her fingertips lightly on his wrist.

The touch was icy cold.

It wasn't just the coolness of skin; it felt like touching the surface of a freezing pool on a winter's night, or brushing against frost condensed from moonlight.

Gu Chengyin could even feel a faint trace of electrical current transmitting from her fingertips, wandering along his meridians and gently colliding with the true qi and spiritual energy within his body.

The moment her fingertips left him, Lin Qingyan was already seated inside the carriage.

Gu Chengyin withdrew his hand, instructed the driver to head to the Imperial Street, and bent down to enter.

The curtain fell, cutting off the light from the outside world.

The interior of the carriage immediately dimmed. Only a few rays of sunlight slipped through the gaps in the curtain, slicing intersecting lines of light and shadow across the cushioned seats.

Incense curled upward from a small sandalwood table, its scent elegant and soothing.

Gu Chengyin sat on the left side, directly opposite Lin Qingyan.

"Aunt."

Lin Qingyan raised her eyes to look at him, her pupils seemingly glowing with their own light in the dimness.

"What do you think of this place?"

Gu Chengyin phrased it more subtly, his gaze sweeping across the carriage's interior.

The spacious area was enough for the two to sit facing each other without feeling cramped. The curtain blocked the view from outside, yet it wasn't completely sealed, allowing the sounds of the street to be faintly heard.

It was a delicate balance.

It was in a place with people around: the carriage was traveling through the streets of the Divine Capital, with an endless stream of pedestrians outside the window.

Yet it offered enough privacy: there were only the two of them inside the carriage.

Lin Qingyan's gaze slowly swept through the carriage.

She looked very carefully, from the carvings on the ceiling to the cushions underfoot, from the jade pendants hanging on the side walls to the incense burner on the small table.

Her gaze didn't seem like she was taking in the environment; it looked more like she was evaluating the layout of some formation or checking for hidden dangers.

A full five breaths of time passed.

She finally gave a slight nod. "We can try."

The moment her voice fell, Lin Qingyan suddenly moved.

It wasn't a switch to her inner demon, but her own movement—concise, direct, and without any unnecessary prelude.

She simply leaned forward from the opposite seat, her robes rustling softly against the cushions, her eyes drawing closer and closer in the dim light.

Gu Chengyin could clearly see the curve of her eyelashes, his own reflection in her pupils, and the incredibly faint sheen on her lips.

Then, just at the very instant their lips were about to touch.

"Crackle!"

Golden lightning exploded without warning.

Not just one bolt, but dozens of dense electrical arcs burst forth from Lin Qingyan's body, weaving into a blinding web of lightning around her.

The arcs danced and crashed into the carriage's interior walls, emitting a barrage of crackling sounds. The impact sent the curtain billowing violently.

Gu Chengyin instinctively leaned back, his back hitting the wall of the carriage.

But he didn't feel any impact. The lightning arcs stopped abruptly just as they were about to strike him, as if blocked by an invisible barrier.

After the electric light faded, a faint scorched smell permeated the carriage, mixing with the lingering scent of agarwood.

Lin Qingyan had already sat back in her original position.

Her breathing rate hadn't changed at all, and even her robes weren't the slightest bit disheveled. Only a flicker of frustration flashed deep within her eyes.

"It won't work."

Lin Qingyan gently shook her head and said:

"These people outside can't distract me."

"I still get nervous like this."

Gu Chengyin slowly sat up straight.

His heart was still pounding, and his meridians tingled slightly from the close-range stimulation of the lightning.

Staring at Lin Qingyan for two breaths of time, his mind rapidly sorted through everything that had just happened.

Suddenly, Gu Chengyin caught onto a crucial point.

"Aunt, do you mean..."

Gu Chengyin weighed his words and asked cautiously:

"What you need is someone who can distract you, not just a place with people around?"

"In other words, it has to be someone you care about to distract you and thereby relieve your nervousness?"

Lin Qingyan fell silent for a moment.

The carriage was just passing through a bustling market area. The cries of peddlers, the chatter and laughter of pedestrians, and the rumbling of wheels rolling over the stone-paved road drifted in from outside the window.

These sounds filtered through the curtain into the carriage, forming a noisy background hum.

Amidst this clamor, Lin Qingyan spoke up:

"Yes."

Gu Chengyin blinked.

Here in the Divine Capital.

The only person Lin Qingyan could ever care about.

It seemed there was only...