Do You Realize Your Mistake

"What did you say, Little Aunt?"

Lin Qingyan's voice was kept very low, so Gu Chengyin didn't hear her clearly.

"Nothing. I understand what you mean."

Lin Qingyan didn't explain, but instead continued to ask, "But aren't you afraid that Li Shiyuan might misunderstand?"

Gu Chengyin shook his head, showing no worry at all.

"Little Aunt, Li Shiyuan is already a Commandery Governor. If he can misunderstand even this..."

"...then it means he, and indeed the entire faction of the Second Prince, are nothing but pigs, not worth any investment."

Lin Qingyan nodded slightly, her voice still flat. "You are testing Li Shiyuan."

"Yes."

Gu Chengyin also nodded. "This isn't posturing; it's a threshold."

"Only those who understand are qualified to continue talking. Those who don't..."

He didn't finish, but his meaning was clear.

Those who couldn't understand didn't even have the qualification to be used.

Speaking in riddles and hiding deep meanings in words wasn't deliberately acting pretentious, but setting a threshold.

When you don't know the other party well, this is the simplest method of testing them.

After all, no one wants to cooperate with an idiot who can't even understand basic words, especially in life-or-death matters like this.

Lin Qingyan fell silent.

She looked out the window again, toward the City Lord's Manor complex that had completely fallen into darkness.

The lights went out one by one, like candles snuffed out by an invisible hand.

When the last bit of light disappeared into the night, the entire manor became a massive black silhouette, pressing heavily upon the center of the city.

A banquet set at the Hour of Xu, waiting through the Hour of Hai, and lights out at the Hour of Zi.

Li Shiyuan had waited for two whole double-hours.

"Since the lights are out at the City Lord's Manor, shouldn't you be heading back?"

Lin Qingyan didn't turn around when she said this; her gaze remained locked on the darkness outside the window.

Gu Chengyin blinked and said somewhat shamelessly,

"Little Aunt, didn't I say it? I am following by your side to learn, so..."

He dragged out the end of his sentence.

A faint ominous premonition suddenly swept across Lin Qingyan's heart.

Gu Chengyin continued matter-of-factly, "I never booked my own room at all."

"After all, I can't really hand a weakness to His Majesty, can I?"

Lin Qingyan: "..."

She opened her mouth to say something, but her throat felt blocked.

It wasn't anger, nor was it shock, but a sense of powerlessness born from sheer absurdity.

She turned back to look at Gu Chengyin and spoke slowly, her voice a bit stiff.

"Then tonight, aren't you..."

Gu Chengyin looked unusually a bit embarrassed, but he stared very directly at the large bed in the room.

A carved red sandalwood bed frame hung with light cyan gauze curtains, and the bedding was made of fine cloud brocade.

The bed was wide enough, long enough, and more than enough to sleep two people with plenty of room to spare.

Lin Qingyan's heart sank.

Although she hadn't known Gu Chengyin for long, she knew he was very smart and very restrained.

Especially towards her, he had never shown any initiative to cross the line.

Almost every time, it had been her taking the initiative while under the influence of her inner demons.

And if Gu Chengyin was taking the initiative, there must be an ulterior motive behind it.

Although she didn't know what the motive was, Lin Qingyan could roughly guess.

It was nothing more than valuing her reputation, her cultivation base, and her deterrent power.

Thus trying to draw closer to her, attempting to borrow her momentum to counterattack Emperor Luo.

But no matter which one it was, the essence was that he wanted to use her.

Rather than liking her.

Therefore.

Lin Qingyan got angry.

She slowly raised her right hand.

Raising it from her side, up to shoulder level, and then fully extending it.

Her five fingers spread open, palm facing up, fingertips slightly curled.

During this process, strange phenomena began to appear in the room.

The air became viscous.

The windows began to rattle without any wind.

A golden light suddenly burst from Lin Qingyan's palm.

Within the golden light, snakes of electricity slithered.

Gu Chengyin's pupils shrank drastically. His earlier words were entirely just to test Lin Qingyan.

To test her tolerance towards him, because he couldn't possibly really stay here.

Gu Chengyin still had this bit of boundary awareness, but he never expected Lin Qingyan to react so strongly.

However, by the time he wanted to explain, it was already too late.

Lin Qingyan's eyes had already changed.

It was no longer a calm look, nor an alienated look, not even a look meant for a person.

It was the look of viewing an ant.

The look of viewing dust.

The look of viewing an eyesore.

Lin Qingyan's lips moved, but no sound came out.

She was chanting a spell, driving the incantation directly with her spiritual sense. This was a spellcasting method only Golden Core cultivators could achieve.

Fast to the extreme, powerful to the extreme.

Then, the ball of golden light in her palm exploded.

It was like detonating a small sun inside the room.

Gu Chengyin's last memory was a streak of golden lightning that pierced through heaven and earth.

It didn't shoot from Lin Qingyan's palm; it was born directly from the void.

Its speed was so fast it transcended the concept of time. The moment he saw it, it had already struck him.

There was no sound.

Or rather, the sound arrived too late.

The lightning arrived first, and the sound followed.

The moment that golden thunderbolt completely pierced through Gu Chengyin's body, a deafening roar finally echoed in the room.

One blast after another, layering on top of each other.

Ultimately transforming into a terrifying sonic wave that shook everything in the room, making it jump.

Teacups shattered.

Window paper tore apart.

The wooden floorboards warped upward.

Even the heavy solid wood bed frame let out a groan, unable to bear the burden.

But Gu Chengyin couldn't feel any of this.

The only thing he could feel was a sour ache.

Then numbness.

Finally, a sense of thrill.

No, it wasn't a thrill.

It was an illusion produced after experiencing pain to the extreme.

It was a false pleasure generated by his nervous system being overstimulated.

It was the final wail his body let out on the verge of collapse.

The lightning lasted for three breaths.

When it finally dissipated, Gu Chengyin fell straight down.

He tried to move a finger.

He couldn't move it.

He tried to blink.

He couldn't blink.

Even breathing became difficult, and his chest muscles were still spasming.

But miraculously, the true qi and spiritual power within his body showed no reaction, and his life force suffered no damage.

Lin Qingyan had ruthlessly punished him on the levels of both body and soul.

Gu Chengyin lay on the ground, eyes wide open, only able to see the vast, endless night sky.

Until the sound of footsteps rang out.

Lin Qingyan's face appeared at the edge of his vision.

Looking down at him, her eyes were so cold it was as if she were looking at trash.

Then, she raised her foot.

The movement was as elegant as if she were dancing.

The white boot embroidered with cloud patterns slowly lifted. The sole was spotlessly clean, gleaming with a soft luster in the moonlight.

It stepped lightly onto Gu Chengyin's chest.

The sole pressed right in the center of his chest, exactly on the Shanzhong acupoint.

This was one of a cultivator's vital true qi hubs; when compressed by an external force, it produced a strong sense of suffocation.

Gu Chengyin's breathing suddenly stopped.

Lin Qingyan bent over.

Her long hair slipped from her shoulders, hanging by the sides of her face like a black waterfall in the moonlight.

She leaned in, drawing close to Gu Chengyin's face.

Close enough to see her own reflection in his pupils, she parted her lips slightly:

"Do you know you were wrong?"