So Devoted

"I was thinking about my mother."

Lin Qingyan was stunned.

She had thought of many possibilities. For instance, that Gu Chengyin was thinking about Shangguan Yunying, Gu Xiaoli, Cui Zilu, or even Luo Zhao.

But this was the one thing she hadn't anticipated.

Gu Chengyin's mother.

She had never heard Gu Chengyin mention her before.

The slight vigilance in Lin Qingyan's heart, born of her intuition, was gently punctured in that instant, vanishing without a trace.

She opened her mouth to say something, but didn't know what to say.

Taking advantage of this pause, Gu Chengyin lowered his head.

His gaze fell upon Lin Qingyan's face. His usually deep and unfathomable eyes were now brimming with tenderness and longing.

The tenderness was so rich, the longing so profound.

So rich that it seemed to overflow, enveloping Lin Qingyan entirely.

So profound that it stripped away any worldly pretense, stirring a maternal wave of pity within Lin Qingyan.

"My mother's greatest wish," Gu Chengyin's voice was very soft, as if afraid to disturb something,

"was to see me get married and establish my career."

He paused, a trace of regret flashing in his eyes.

"It's just a pity... sigh..."

The sentence was left unfinished, but the unspoken meaning was clear enough.

It was a pity she didn't get to see it.

It was a pity she couldn't wait until this day.

This trace of regret from Gu Chengyin came from the bottom of his heart, without the slightest bit of falsification.

If it weren't for this damn time travel, he might have already achieved it, but in life, there are rarely so many "ifs."

Such genuine and sincere disappointment made Lin Qingyan's heart clench tightly.

She looked into Gu Chengyin's eyes; they were still as gentle as ever.

But beneath that gentleness, something was faintly trembling.

Like an undercurrent beneath the surface of the water, completely undetectable without careful observation.

But Lin Qingyan sensed it; her intuition had always been very sharp.

That was why she could perceive Gu Chengyin's thoughts time and time again.

And this time, Gu Chengyin was telling the truth.

He was truly saddened by his failure to fulfill his mother's wish.

Lin Qingyan's heart instantly softened.

She even began to feel remorseful—how could she have gotten angry over something like this?

She had clearly said she wouldn't mind such things.

Lin Qingyan buried herself back into Gu Chengyin's embrace, pressing her face against his chest.

Her voice was muffled, full of self-blame:

"I'm sorry... it's all my fault..."

Before she could finish, Gu Chengyin interrupted her:

"How could I blame you, Auntie?"

Gu Chengyin's voice drifted down, carrying a hint of a smile, as gentle as if he were coaxing a child.

"Just now, I was actually thinking that if my mother knew her daughter-in-law was this beautiful..."

"...as beautiful as a fairy descending from the heavens, she would definitely be overjoyed."

Hearing these words with their hidden implications, Lin Qingyan's face flushed bright red.

The redness spread all the way from her cheeks to the roots of her ears, and then burned down the side of her neck, so hot it felt like it was going to smoke.

She buried her face even deeper, wishing she could hide her entire self in Gu Chengyin's arms so he wouldn't see her like this.

But Gu Chengyin's voice continued, every word like a feather lightly tickling her heart.

The word "daughter-in-law" echoed repeatedly in her mind.

It made Lin Qingyan involuntarily raise her hand and lightly smack Gu Chengyin.

"Who is your wife!" Her voice was muffled against his chest, carrying a hint of coquettishness:

"In your dreams! I haven't promised you anything!"

Gu Chengyin chuckled softly, the laughter rumbling from his chest, making Lin Qingyan's cheeks burn hotter.

"Right, right, Auntie hasn't promised anything."

"But you really are as beautiful as a fairy descended from the heavens."

"You can't possibly hit me just because I told the truth, right Auntie?"

Lin Qingyan twitched her lips.

She wanted to retort.

She really wanted to retort.

She was Jingzhe of the Tianshi Mansion; what kind of scenes hadn't she seen? What kind of words hadn't she heard?

How could she be won over by a mere few sweet words?

But...

But being praised as beautiful by Gu Chengyin really made her so happy.

Lin Qingyan's lips moved again and again, but in the end, she couldn't utter a single word.

She simply buried her face back into Gu Chengyin's chest, curling up into a ball, refusing to say another word.

The sunlight spilled in quietly, enveloping the two of them in a warm golden hue.

Dust motes floated slowly in the beams of light, like countless tiny specks of light dancing silently in the tranquility.

Gu Chengyin looked down at the fairy in his arms, the curve of his lips deepening a few degrees.

His palm gently stroked her hair, over and over, gentle and patient.

At the same time, he gave himself a mental thumbs-up for his quick wit.

His mother's wish was real, and his regret and longing were real too.

But a person couldn't live in the past for their entire life, unable to move forward.

Only by looking forward and moving forward could one regain everything that was lost.

Lin Qingyan nestled motionless in Gu Chengyin's arms.

Her heart was far less calm than her surface appeared.

That bit of anger from earlier had indeed vanished into thin air.

In its place was something much deeper.

Guilt.

The more Lin Qingyan thought about it, the more she felt she had gone too far.

Gu Chengyin was so good, so devoted.

He had been honest with her from the very beginning, from the Meditation Pagoda to the Azure Sword Sect.

From facing inner demons to becoming intimate, he had never once lied to her.

When he said "I believe you," he truly believed her.

When he said "I miss you," he was truly missing her.

When he said his mother's wish was to see him settle down, he was genuinely sad about not being able to fulfill it.

And her?

She was fussing over him zoning out.

She was fussing over who he was thinking about.

She even got angry because of this.

Lin Qingyan bit her lower lip. How could she be like this? How could she be so awful!

Gu Chengyin was clearly so good to her, so devoted.

All along their inspection journey, let alone chasing skirts, he hadn't even spared a glance at another woman.

In a place like Luodu, the streets were full of gorgeously dressed female cultivators, their cosmetic fragrances wafting for miles.

But what about Gu Chengyin?

Besides cultivating, he just waited for her, not even stepping out the door.

Yet she was still bickering over such trivial matters.

Lin Qingyan felt more and more like she was simply a bad woman.

If this continued, what would she do when they returned to Shendu?

Shendu was not like the outside world.

There were many people in Shendu.

They were all waiting for Gu Chengyin to return.

Lin Qingyan's thoughts involuntarily began to spin.

Cui Zilu... forget it, Cui Zilu wasn't worth mentioning.

Even though she was the eldest young miss of the Cui Manor, even though she was cute, even though she also had feelings for Gu Chengyin.

But after all, she wasn't even in Shendu, so she could be ignored.

Gu Xiaoli... even less worth mentioning. She wasn't even human; on what grounds could a mere cat demon compete with her?

Shangguan Yunying.

Lin Qingyan's eyelashes fluttered slightly.

Jiang Qingshan's granddaughter, the eldest young miss of the Shangguan Manor, and Luo Zhao's chief female official.

To stabilize the Azure Sword Sect, Gu Chengyin would inevitably maintain his relationship with her. She could be said to be the biggest threat on the surface.

But Lin Qingyan thought about it and still didn't take it too much to heart.

At the end of the day, there was still a massive gap between them.

Jingzhe of the Tianshi Mansion vs. the eldest young miss of the Shangguan family.

How could she possibly lose?