In Charge

The words were squeezed through her teeth, each syllable laced with ice.

Before the sound of her voice even faded, Lin Qingyan abruptly sat up straight. Her hands shot out like lightning, her five fingers accurately clamping around Gu Chengyin's neck.

A Golden Core cultivator's speed was something a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator simply couldn't react to in time.

But Lin Qingyan did not exert any real force.

Her fingertips merely rested loosely against his throat, her nails not even digging into his flesh.

The control of her strength was exquisite—just enough to convey the threat of being restrained, yet not enough to actually cause harm.

This wasn't an attack.

It was like flirting.

Like the coquettish threats exchanged between lovers.

Gu Chengyin realized this as well.

So, instead of panicking, he took the opportunity to raise his other hand and wrap it around Lin Qingyan's waist.

The posture was outrageously ambiguous.

"Auntie."

"I wanted to explain, but you moved too fast. I simply didn't have the chance."

Gu Chengyin paused, his eyes looking as innocent as a little puppy that had done something wrong:

"So I had to resort to this inferior tactic."

Lin Qingyan heard the deeper meaning in his words. Gu Chengyin was telling her that commanding her inner demon was a bad idea, a choice made out of absolute necessity.

If possible, he would much rather explain and resolve things peacefully.

How much of this was true, and how much was false?

Lin Qingyan didn't know.

She only knew that right now, she really wanted to squeeze hard, crush Gu Chengyin's throat, extinguish the light in his eyes, and snap the source of her chaotic thoughts.

But Lin Qingyan eventually let go.

"Let go of me."

It was an order, not a request.

But Gu Chengyin didn't let go.

Not only did he not release her, he pulled her even closer.

Too close.

Dangerously close.

Lin Qingyan's body stiffened.

She could forcefully break free; with the power of a Golden Core cultivator, shaking off a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator would be incredibly easy.

But she didn't.

Because she didn't want to?

This realization sent a wave of panic through Lin Qingyan's heart.

She immediately suppressed that absurd thought and repeated with a cold face:

"I said, let go."

This time her tone was colder, her gaze sharper.

But Gu Chengyin only smiled and shook his head.

Women were such complex creatures; their mouths could easily say no.

But if you actually took it seriously, then you'd really be in trouble.

"I won't."

Gu Chengyin said this with extreme shamelessness, yet with extreme precision.

Accurately piercing right into the deep-seated inner conflict of Lin Qingyan's heart.

She hadn't forcefully broken free, still maintaining this highly ambiguous posture.

Lin Qingyan bit her lower lip and looked away.

She was angry, furious, feeling as though she was being played with.

But at the same time, in some hidden corner deep within her heart, there was a trace of longing, an unwillingness for this to end just yet.

This inner turmoil brought her pain, but also left her captivated.

In the end, Lin Qingyan gave up struggling.

She gave a cold harrumph, but allowed herself to lean back into Gu Chengyin's embrace.

Burying her face in his shoulder, she hid from reality like an ostrich.

Gu Chengyin didn't speak again either.

He just gently patted Lin Qingyan's back, as if soothing a bristling cat.

The moonlight flowed quietly.

After a long time, Lin Qingyan spoke in a muffled voice from his shoulder, carrying a hint of petulant questioning:

"I am Zhao'er's aunt, what does it mean for you to hold me like this?"

This was asked very cleverly.

She was reminding Gu Chengyin, and also reminding herself.

Between them stood Luo Zhao'er, a generational gap, ethics, and all the boundaries that absolutely shouldn't be crossed.

Gu Chengyin fell silent for a moment.

Then she heard him speak, his voice carrying a teasing tone:

"It counts as forbi..."

He only managed to say a few words before Lin Qingyan glared at him.

The glare was cold, but deep within her eyes hid a trace of panic.

Gu Chengyin immediately changed his tune, smiling like a cat that had successfully stolen a fish:

"It counts as us having a good relationship. What's wrong with a hug? It's not like we're doing anything."

"Right, Auntie?"

This "Auntie" was called out so softly and gently that it made Lin Qingyan shudder all over.

She turned her face away and gave a cold harrumph, but didn't argue back.

She only buried her face deeper into his shoulder, the faint blush at the tips of her ears impossible to hide in the moonlight.

Gu Chengyin didn't tease her anymore.

He just held her quietly, gently patting her back, like coaxing an awkward child.

Time flowed slowly in the silence.

The wind outside the window stopped, the moonlight grew colder, and the sound of the night watchman's clapper rang out again in the distance.

Three quarters past the hour of Chou.

Lin Qingyan suddenly spoke, her voice muffled:

"Can you command my inner demon?"

She had wanted to ask this question for a long time, but it wasn't appropriate to ask while she was pretending to be her inner demon earlier.

Gu Chengyin didn't hide it; he gave a very candid hum of agreement.

So candid that it made Lin Qingyan's heart sink.

As expected.

As expected, he could control it.

As expected, she was already entirely in Gu Chengyin's grasp.

"But it's limited to the inner demon; it can't affect you personally."

Lin Qingyan was silent for a long time.

So long that just as Gu Chengyin thought she wouldn't speak again, she muttered in a low voice:

"...Since my inner demon is in your hands, then you have to take responsibility."

Gu Chengyin froze for a moment, not yet understanding the meaning of her words.

Then he realized that the aura of the Lin Qingyan in his arms had suddenly changed.

It wasn't a gradual shift.

It was an instantaneous transformation.

One second ago, Lin Qingyan was still leaning quietly in his embrace, radiating her characteristic cold and aloof presence.

The next second, her body suddenly tensed, and her breathing changed.

Gu Chengyin looked down. Lin Qingyan's face was buried in his shoulder, hiding her expression.

But he could see the exposed skin of her neck beginning to flush with an unnatural red.

Did Lin Qingyan voluntarily release her inner demon again?

Before Gu Chengyin could react, the Lin Qingyan in his arms lifted her head.

The moonlight shone on her face.

Those eyes, originally as indifferent as ice and snow, had completely changed.

Deep within her pupils, a speck of scarlet spread rapidly, like a drop of blood in clear water.

It expanded from the size of a pinprick to cover the entire pupil, then to the edge of the iris, finally dyeing the whole eye a demonic blood-red.

Blood eyes.

Not the demonic blood eyes Lin Qingyan had feigned earlier.

These were the pure, primal eyes of an inner demon, brimming with desire and obsession.

These blood-red eyes stared straight at Gu Chengyin.

In that gaze, there was no anger, no indifference, none of the emotions Lin Qingyan should have had.

There was only...

Craving.

A naked, undisguised craving, like a starving beast staring at its prey.

Gu Chengyin's breath hitched.

He felt Lin Qingyan's hand move away from his waist, sliding slowly upward to caress his cheek.

Her fingertips were scalding hot, like a red-hot branding iron, the heat seeping through his skin and into his flesh.

"Auntie?"

Gu Chengyin was a bit confused; he could feel that the inner demon Lin Qingyan released this time was different from before.

But Lin Qingyan gave no response.

She merely looked at him, stared for three breaths of time, and then smiled.

The corners of her mouth curled up, her lips even more crimson than usual, looking as though they were painted with rouge under the moonlight.

Then Lin Qingyan spoke, her voice changed as well—languid and bewitching, like a beauty who had drunk wine:

"Master~"

As Lin Qingyan spoke, her fingertips trailed from Gu Chengyin's cheek down to his chin, then down to his Adam's apple, gently stroking the protruding bone.

"You have to take responsibility for me~"

The moment her words fell.

Lin Qingyan lowered her head and kissed Gu Chengyin's lips.