Then, she opened her arms and threw herself into Gu Chengyin's embrace.
"Sob, sob!"
Lin Qingyan rubbed against him vigorously while wailing tearfully:
"I thought you didn't want me anymore, boo-hoo!"
Gu Chengyin was knocked backward a bit. He quickly steadied himself and reached out to hold Lin Qingyan.
The fairy in his arms was like a wronged little kitten, desperately burrowing into his chest.
She burrowed and rubbed against him until his lapels were all wrinkled into a ball.
Gu Chengyin gently patted her back, his voice very soft:
"Although I was indeed very angry, how could I possibly not want you, Little Aunt."
It would have been better if he hadn't said that. As soon as he did, Lin Qingyan jerked her head up.
Her eyes were red, and teardrops hung from her eyelashes.
The crystal-clear tears fell patter-patter as she blinked.
Her lips pouted, jutting out high.
"But... but... but..."
Lin Qingyan said "but" three times in a row, each laced with a sob, each sounding as though she had suffered a monumental grievance.
"You just didn't want me anymore back then!"
As she spoke, her tears fell even more fiercely.
"I really had no other choice but to do that..."
Sniffling, her voice carried a crying tone:
"Chengcheng, please don't leave me, okay!"
Gu Chengyin froze.
He looked at Lin Qingyan in front of him.
Normally, she was cold and aloof, keeping people thousands of miles away.
But at this moment, her eyes were blurry with tears, red-rimmed, with teardrops hanging from her lashes as she pouted and looked at him pitifully.
So delicate that it made one's heart ache.
So dependent that it made one's heart soften.
Even someone like Gu Chengyin, upon seeing Lin Qingyan like this.
Almost agreed right then and there.
Yes.
Almost.
Gu Chengyin took a deep breath, suppressing the surging softness in his heart, and asked gently:
"Little Aunt, did you hear my thoughts?"
Lin Qingyan shook her head. She sniffled and said:
"I didn't hear them."
"But I can feel the electricity on your body."
Gu Chengyin blinked.
The electricity on his body?
What did she mean by feeling the electricity on his body?
Could it be... brainwaves?
Do brainwaves count as electricity?
It seems they actually do...
Lin Qingyan continued:
"I can feel the electricity on everyone, and yours is the best."
"But just now, your electricity changed."
A heavy stone fell from Gu Chengyin's heart.
As long as it wasn't mind-reading, there was room to maneuver.
Gu Chengyin sighed softly.
This sigh was a bit deeper than the last.
"Little Aunt, have you ever thought..."
Lin Qingyan blinked, waiting for Gu Chengyin to continue.
"That leaving isn't because of not liking, but because of liking too much?"
As soon as these words came out.
Lin Qingyan was stunned.
It was as if something exploded in her mind.
What did that mean?
Lin Qingyan stared blankly, the tears in her eyes forgetting to fall.
Seeing her like this, Gu Chengyin nodded secretly in his heart.
There was a chance.
He continued, his voice even softer:
"Because I like you too much, I don't want you to suffer with me."
"Because I like you too much, I would rather shoulder it myself than let you worry."
"Because I like you too much, so..."
Gu Chengyin paused, his gaze affectionate as he said:
"No matter how reluctant I am, I have to let go."
Lin Qingyan was completely dumbfounded.
Her originally firm belief began to waver.
Could it be...
That she was really wrong?
Could it be... that he wasn't refusing to take a step further back then?
Could it be... that his saying there was no future wasn't because he didn't want to give her a future.
But because...
He felt he couldn't give her a future?
Countless thoughts surged in Lin Qingyan's mind.
She remembered everything Gu Chengyin had gone through these past few days.
Emperor Luo wanted to kill him, immortal cultivation sects wanted to kidnap him, and the Heavenly Master's Mansion wanted to control him...
They even sent an imperial decree ordering her to capture him personally.
Lin Qingyan's heart suddenly clenched.
She suddenly remembered that Gu Chengyin was never the type to complain.
He always shouldered everything alone, always digesting all the pressure by himself.
He was always calm and composed in front of her, acting as if nothing was wrong.
But it was this very person who silently thought about leaving her.
Not because he didn't like her, but to protect her.
Because Gu Chengyin's situation was too dangerous.
Even if she was the invincible Golden Core expert, Jingzhe of the Heavenly Master's Mansion.
She might not be able to retreat completely unscathed.
Lin Qingyan's nose tingled.
She felt she was too stupid.
She only saw the electricity of having no future, but didn't think about why there was such electricity.
She only knew she wanted him, but didn't think about whether Gu Chengyin was considering her well-being.
She only cared about her own feelings, but didn't think about how much he was carrying alone.
Lin Qingyan's eyes turned red again.
But this time it wasn't out of grievance.
It was out of heartache.
Lin Qingyan suddenly reached out, gently caressing Gu Chengyin's face, her voice trembling:
"Chengcheng... I'm sorry..."
Gu Chengyin saw the deep heartache and guilt in Lin Qingyan's eyes.
He nodded secretly in his heart.
It worked.
But he didn't show it on his face at all. Instead, he sighed softly and reached out to hold the hand she had on his face.
"Silly Little Aunt, what are you apologizing for."
Lin Qingyan shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes again:
"I... I shouldn't have treated you like that..."
"You clearly... you were clearly thinking of me..."
"Yet I... I treated you like that..."
As she spoke, her voice took on a crying tone again.
Seeing her like this, Gu Chengyin felt a momentary flash of guilt, but it was only fleeting.
He pulled Lin Qingyan into his embrace, resting his chin on top of her head, his voice very soft:
"Alright, alright, don't cry."
"It's all in the past."
Lin Qingyan buried her face in his chest, her arms wrapping tightly around his waist.
"Chengcheng..."
"Hmm?"
"If anything happens in the future, you have to tell me."
"Don't carry it all by yourself."
"I... I can help you."
Gu Chengyin fell silent for a moment, then smiled.
"Okay, I promise you."
Lin Qingyan hugged him even tighter.
The carriage rumbled forward.
The wheels rolled over the official road, making fine, crushing sounds.
The sunlight leaking through the gap in the curtains danced upon the two of them.
Lin Qingyan nestled in Gu Chengyin's embrace, completely still.
Her tears had stopped, though her eyes were still red, and she just stayed there quietly.
But the guilt in her heart grew deeper and deeper.
She remembered what she had just done: electrocuting him unconscious, tying him up, hanging him up, demanding him.
She had gone so far, but what about Gu Chengyin?
He just bore it silently.
Even after being hurt by her, he was still thinking of her.
Even when he was in such a dangerous situation, he still thought about her, unwilling to let her fall into danger too.
Lin Qingyan bit her lower lip.
She felt she was truly too wicked.
Simply the worst woman in the world.
From now on, she had to treat Gu Chengyin well.
She absolutely could not let anyone hurt him.
If they returned to the Divine Capital and that dog Luo Houcong dared to act recklessly.
Lin Qingyan wouldn't mind smashing the entire imperial palace to pieces.
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
end. Thus one must continue to cultivate, and become a saint or great emperor, in order to prolong one's life. Chen Xia, however, completely reversed this. Since his transmigration, he has gained immortality, and also a system that awards him with attribute points for every year he lives. Thus between the myriad worlds, the legend of an unparalleled senior appeared. "A gentleman takes revenge; it is never too late even after ten thousand years." "When you were at your peak I yielded, now in your old age I shall trample on you." - Chen Xia
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
