Memory

The night grew deeper, and the frost grew heavier.

The starry sky was scattered with crushed silver, and the moonlight condensed like white frost.

The Meditation Tower stood tall and majestic, its body shimmering with a faint, ethereal light under the moonlight, like an ancient sword thrust between heaven and earth.

Just as Gu Chengyin was pondering whether to practice the Qingyun Art for a while.

His expression suddenly changed.

The door of the Meditation Tower had opened a crack.

The crack was narrow, so narrow it seemed like an accidental sliver of light slipping through, but in Gu Chengyin's eyes, it was more striking than a sky full of stars.

He focused his gaze.

Yes, the tower door was indeed open.

Was Lin Qingyan letting him in?

Gu Chengyin did not hesitate.

He immediately stepped forward, his robes fluttering gently in the night breeze, but his footsteps were as steady as a rock.

A distance of thirty feet was crossed in the blink of an eye.

Gu Chengyin walked up to the tower door and reached out to give it a gentle push.

The door opened silently.

Inside was a dim space, with only a few eternal lamps burning quietly, illuminating the interior in a hazy twilight.

Right in the center, a figure sat cross-legged with a straight back, surrounded by faint fluctuations of spiritual energy.

It was Lin Qingyan.

Gu Chengyin's gaze fell upon her, but froze slightly in the next instant.

Lin Qingyan was not resting and recuperating; she was not restoring her spiritual energy.

Instead, she just sat there, staring blankly ahead with hollow eyes.

It was as if her gaze pierced through the tower walls, through the night, and through time itself, looking toward some distant place.

Gu Chengyin's heart skipped a beat. What had happened?

He closed the door behind him and softened his footsteps, walking toward her step by step.

The flames of the eternal lamps flickered beside him, stretching his shadow long and casting it on the ground in front of Lin Qingyan.

"Auntie?"

Lin Qingyan moved, slowly turning her head to look at him.

Gu Chengyin's footsteps halted.

Those eyes, those originally cold and clear eyes, were now completely red.

Un-dried tears still pooled in her eyes, and tear tracks meandered down from the corners of her eyes, leaving two shallow, wet trails on her face.

The light of the eternal lamps shone on her face, making those two tear tracks glisten slightly, like two rivers of sorrow.

Gu Chengyin's heart suddenly clenched.

Lin Qingyan was crying?

What had happened?

He had never seen her like this.

The Jingzhe of the Heavenly Master Mansion who fought against three Golden Cores alone.

The weak yet stubborn auntie in the carriage.

The aloof fairy who would take the initiative to be affectionate.

Was crying at this moment.

Gu Chengyin opened his mouth, wanting to ask what happened, wanting to ask if something went wrong, wanting to ask so many things.

But before he could speak, Lin Qingyan moved.

She suddenly stood up and threw herself at him.

In the next instant, a soft and warm body fell into his arms.

Lin Qingyan hugged him tightly, her arms wrapping around him so firmly, as if she was afraid he would disappear.

Her face was buried in his shoulder, her breaths rapid and warm, carrying a faint hint of tears.

"Wu wu wu!"

"Chengcheng!!"

"Wu wu wu!"

Lin Qingyan cried like a child.

No, not like a child.

Like a little girlfriend who had suffered a massive grievance, finally finding someone she could rely on.

Gu Chengyin stiffened.

He looked down at the head buried in his shoulder, looking at her shoulders that trembled slightly from sobbing.

He felt the strength of her arms wrapped around his waist.

For a moment, he actually did not know what to say.

Even last time in Dawn City, she hadn't cried like this.

But now.

She cried without reservation, crying a river of tears, crying as if she wanted to pour out all the grievances in her heart.

Gu Chengyin raised his hand and gently placed it on her back.

Patting her slowly, one stroke at a time.

"Cry, just cry. You'll feel better once you let it out."

Gu Chengyin's voice was very soft, so soft it was like coaxing a frightened little beast.

As soon as these words came out, Lin Qingyan cried even louder, burying her face in his shoulder. Her tears soaked through his robes, leaving a patch of warmth.

Gu Chengyin could feel her tears seeping through the fabric onto his skin, like scalding brands.

He didn't ask.

He just continued patting her back, stroke by stroke, with a soothing rhythm, as if comforting her, and as if waiting.

The eternal lamps' flames flickered quietly, casting their shadows onto the tower wall, overlapping and melting into one.

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Qingyan's sobbing finally began to subside.

She lifted her head from Gu Chengyin's shoulder. Her eyes were still red, tiny teardrops hung on her eyelashes, and the tear tracks on her face were still wet.

In those eyes, there was grievance, there was dependence, and the rest was incomparable sorrow.

"My spiritual energy is overdrawn."

Lin Qingyan spoke, her voice hoarse from crying, with a slightly aggrieved nasal tone.

Gu Chengyin nodded.

He knew that.

But obviously, that wasn't the main reason for her crying.

He continued looking at her, patiently waiting for her to go on.

Lin Qingyan sniffled and continued, "And then..."

She paused, her eyes growing a bit redder.

"And then... my inner demon, hasn't it weakened a lot because of you?"

Gu Chengyin nodded.

This was the result of being knocked out by electricity for a day.

Although he didn't know the exact process, he knew the outcome.

"And then I discovered something."

Lin Qingyan's voice lowered even more, carrying a hint of a tremble. "Deep within the inner demon, a memory is hidden."

Gu Chengyin's expression shifted.

A hidden memory?

"Previously, because my spiritual energy was abundant and the inner demon hadn't weakened, I never noticed it."

Lin Qingyan continued, her gaze dropping. "But this time, my spiritual energy was completely drained, and the inner demon grew weaker..."

She didn't finish her sentence.

But Gu Chengyin understood.

Lin Qingyan was missing a piece of memory.

That memory was hidden deep within the inner demon, covered and concealed by spiritual energy.

Previously, her spiritual energy had never been overdrawn, and her inner demon had always been in an expanding state, so that memory remained hidden and undiscovered.

But this time.

Her spiritual energy was completely overdrawn, and her inner demon was vastly weakened because of him.

Thus, the memory surfaced.

Gu Chengyin's heart sank.

To make Lin Qingyan cry like this.

That memory was definitely not simple.

"Then what is the content of this memory of yours?"

Lin Qingyan shook her head, speaking with great sorrow:

"I didn't see it. I only know that a memory is hidden inside the inner demon."

"But I can't see the specific details, because the inner demon hasn't disappeared."

"But as soon as I touch it, I become extremely sad, so..."

Lin Qingyan closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, and then another.

Her chest heaved, as if she was making a final struggle, as if she was gathering enough courage.

Gu Chengyin didn't rush her.

He just looked at her quietly, his hand still resting on her back, maintaining that comforting posture.

He could feel her body trembling slightly, could feel her breathing gradually steady, could feel...

She was afraid.

Not afraid of him.

But afraid of this memory.

Even though she hadn't seen the specific content of the memory, just touching it.

Was enough to make Lin Qingyan this heartbroken, which meant.

Behind this memory.

Was the true cause that created her inner demon.