The eyes that had just been filled with tears, grievance, and a fragility that made one's heart ache had now completely transformed.
The desire within had not faded; instead, it burned more intensely, like oil added to a roaring flame, blazing without restraint.
But besides desire, there was something else.
Possession.
Obsession.
Madness.
Like a cat that had finally caught its prey, leisurely sizing up the mouse beneath its claws, pondering where to take the first bite.
"Chengcheng."
Lin Qingyan spoke, her voice soft and sweet, carrying a hint of a smile.
But that smile, when it fell upon the ears, made Gu Chengyin feel as though something soft and sticky had wrapped around him.
Impossible to break free, impossible to shake off.
Lin Qingyan raised her hand and touched his cheek. Her fingertips were still warm.
"Since you already know, I won't pretend anymore."
Lin Qingyan said with a grin, her thumb lightly tracing along his jawline:
"Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to maintain that cold and aloof facade?"
She leaned in closer, her breath brushing against his lips, carrying a faint, elusive fragrance.
"But there was no choice. I couldn't let anyone know this secret."
Her voice was low, like a lover's whisper: "If you want to blame someone, blame your own cleverness."
Her eyes curved into crescent moons, but what filled those crescents was not clear moonlight—it was scorching flames.
"Clever enough to make me ache to have you, truly ache to have you."
Gu Chengyin couldn't move a muscle. The oppressive weight of her golden core had locked every strand of his muscle and every bone in his body.
Aside from being able to speak, he couldn't even control the frequency of his blinks.
Yet his gaze remained clear—no panic, no fear, not even surprise.
His Dao heart was as steady as a rock, utterly unshaken.
"Aunt, but if you do this..."
Before he could finish, a finger pressed against his lips.
That finger was slender and soft, cutting off his words.
"Chengcheng."
Lin Qingyan tilted her head to look at him, a hint of teasing amusement in her eyes, as if she were watching a disobedient child.
"I know what you're about to say."
She sat up straight, shifting from leaning half in his embrace to looking down at him from above.
Her robes were slightly disheveled, revealing a sliver of pale collarbone.
But Lin Qingyan didn't care, not even bothering to straighten them.
"It's just—"
She raised a finger, mimicking someone's tone:
"'When the real me wakes up, will she kill you?'"
She laughed again—eyes curved, brimming with unabashed confidence.
"But Chengcheng, I am Lin Qingyan too."
Lin Qingyan leaned down, her long hair falling like a curtain, enveloping the two of them.
"As long as I like you, then it's Lin Qingyan who likes you."
Her eyes were inches away. Gu Chengyin could see every flicker of emotion in her gaze.
There was desire, obsession, possession, and an almost childlike sense of self-righteousness.
"After all, I am Lin Qingyan's desire and love."
Gu Chengyin suddenly realized that the Lin Qingyan before him was indeed different.
Not in appearance, but in spirit, in temperament, in something that came from deep within her bones.
He had never seen the real Lin Qingyan, but he had seen the Lin Qingyan pretending to be cold and aloof.
Although it was a pretense, she was still the same person, and the bone-deep temperament remained the same.
That Lin Qingyan was cold, still, distant—like a lone pine atop a snow-capped mountain, unapproachable.
But this one before him was hot, active, unrestrained—like a wildfire blazing across the wilderness, ready to devour everything.
"In that case—"
Lin Qingyan tilted her head, a sly glint in her eyes:
"What difference is there between what I want and what Lin Qingyan wants?"
Gu Chengyin said nothing. He didn't argue.
Not because he didn't want to, but because what she said was too reasonable, leaving him momentarily unable to refute her.
The current Lin Qingyan was still Lin Qingyan, just without the emotions of pain and hatred.
Lin Qingyan seemed pleased by his silence, her smile deepening.
But she didn't act immediately. She paused, as if pondering something.
"And Chengcheng—"
She suddenly spoke again, her voice carrying an unidentifiable tone: "Don't forget..."
Lin Qingyan reached out, her fingertip landing on his chest, tracing small circles through the fabric.
"When the heart demon disappears, when those memories, that pain and hatred all vanish—"
"Then I will be the true Lin Qingyan."
"Do you understand?"
Did Gu Chengyin understand?
Of course he did.
He had understood the moment he figured out the truth.
The real Lin Qingyan, burdened by painful memories, had turned herself into a heart demon.
What she wanted was to be destroyed along with that heart demon.
As long as that pain and hatred completely vanished, the current Lin Qingyan would become a brand-new Lin Qingyan.
Was this possession?
No.
Because whether it was the version of her wracked with pain or this version filled with desire—both were Lin Qingyan.
She had simply split her complete self into two halves, then used one half to destroy the other.
No matter which half destroyed which, it was Lin Qingyan's own choice.
She was simply using this method to kill her past self.
Gu Chengyin was silent.
Lin Qingyan watched him in his silence, the amusement in her eyes growing richer.
She thought Gu Chengyin had nothing left to say, that he had accepted his fate, that he would soon—
"But Aunt."
Gu Chengyin spoke again, and Lin Qingyan's smile froze.
"Don't you want revenge?"
These words fell into the air like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.
Lin Qingyan stiffened completely.
Her hand, suspended in midair, froze in a strange position.
The smug smile on her face solidified, as if someone had suddenly doused her with cold water.
She looked at Gu Chengyin seriously, her gaze different from before.
Moments ago, her gaze was unrestrained, burning, playful.
But now, there was something else in her eyes.
Wariness. Guardedness. And a flicker of panic.
"What revenge? Revenge for what?"
Lin Qingyan asked, her voice lower and colder than before.
"I don't even know who my enemy is, where they are, or what their cultivation level is. How can I take revenge?"
Lin Qingyan spoke, her voice gradually rising, as if she were convincing Gu Chengyin—or convincing herself.
"All of that was taken away by her!"
Lin Qingyan leaned down, pressing both hands on Gu Chengyin's shoulders, the force strong enough to leave marks on his bones.
"When she disappears, all of this will disappear!"
Her eyes were fixed on him, the desire fading, replaced by a nearly frantic urgency.
"It will all vanish, do you understand?"
Gu Chengyin watched quietly. Of course he understood.
And he could guess what Lin Qingyan was afraid of.
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
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!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
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.
