What she feared wasn't revenge itself, but what lay behind it.
Those pains, those grudges, those memories that tormented her day and night.
Lin Qingyan had given all of these things to another version of herself, thinking that would set her free.
But she forgot one thing: those things were always hers.
Stuffing them into another self didn't mean they ceased to exist.
They just moved somewhere else, waiting for the day they would return to her.
And the way to bring them back was to make that other self disappear.
If the demon of pain and hatred were now destroyed,
where would those sealed memories go?
Of course they would return to Lin Qingyan, and from those memories, new pain and hatred would grow.
She thought she was killing the past, but she was only smashing a container.
When the container shattered, those memories would still find their way to her.
"Little Aunt."
Gu Chengyin opened his mouth, wanting to tell Lin Qingyan all of this.
But the moment he spoke those two words, Lin Qingyan's expression changed.
It was the embarrassed fury of having her sore spot trampled.
She raised her hand and cast a spell.
Gu Chengyin opened his mouth and found that no sound would come out.
A silencing spell.
He looked at Lin Qingyan, his gaze still calm.
Under that look, Lin Qingyan's irritation only grew.
She gritted her teeth and leaned even lower, nearly pressing her face against his.
"Chengyin!"
There was a hint of gnashing anger in her voice.
"All you need to do now is lie back and enjoy it!"
Lin Qingyan glared at him, her eyes as if spitting fire.
"Don't you want me?"
Her voice suddenly softened, tinged with grievance and bewilderment, almost a spoiled accusation.
"Am I not beautiful? Isn't my figure alluring?"
Gu Chengyin opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Of course he thought Lin Qingyan was beautiful, but that wasn't the crux of the matter.
Yet he couldn't say anything, and Lin Qingyan had no intention of listening anyway.
After saying this, she straightened up and raised her hands to undo her robes.
Her outer garment slipped off, revealing the moon-white undergarment beneath.
Dark patterns were embroidered on the collar of the undergarment, indistinct in the dim light, with only a hint of snowy skin barely visible.
Gu Chengyin closed his eyes.
Not because he dared not look, but because he didn't want to see Lin Qingyan at this moment, in this situation.
He knew what was about to happen.
And he could not resist, could not refuse, could not do anything.
The pressure of a Golden Core realm cultivator locked every inch of his muscles, and the silencing spell sealed his voice.
He was like a fish on a chopping block, at her mercy.
But Gu Chengyin still showed not a trace of panic.
Because he had never bowed to any kind of pressure.
The next moment.
Lin Qingyan froze completely.
This stiffness came without warning, like a taut string suddenly snapping.
The weight pressing down on Gu Chengyin vanished, and the Golden Core pressure also relaxed a little.
Gu Chengyin opened his eyes.
Lin Qingyan stood before him, holding her head in both hands, the expression on her face shifting unpredictably.
"How could this..."
She murmured, her voice filled with disbelief.
"How could this happen!"
Lin Qingyan looked up at Gu Chengyin, her gaze full of panic.
"Chengyin! You let the heart demon cause trouble again!"
Her voice carried grievance, anger, and obvious panic.
"Do you just not want me that much?!"
Gu Chengyin could now speak; the energy of the silencing spell had faded.
He tried moving his hands and found the Golden Core pressure had also loosened.
Gu Chengyin sat up, raising his hand to straighten his disheveled robes.
His expression was calm as he looked at the visibly frantic Lin Qingyan.
"No, Little Aunt, I didn't let the heart demon cause trouble."
Lin Qingyan was stunned.
No?
Then how could the heart demon...
She stared blankly at Gu Chengyin, her expression shifting from panic to bewilderment, then from bewilderment to an indescribable complexity.
Gu Chengyin spoke softly, but every word struck Lin Qingyan's ears like thunder.
"I just thought the other you should be the one to decide."
Lin Qingyan was utterly frozen.
Her whole body turned into a stone statue, motionless.
Gu Chengyin only watched her quietly, watching this fairy who had been so aggressive moments ago,
now completely dazed.
The room was so silent that both their breaths could be heard.
Lin Qingyan's breathing was rapid and erratic, while Gu Chengyin's was steady and long.
The lamp flickered, casting their shadows on the wall.
The two shadows were very close, yet seemed separated by a thousand mountains and rivers.
After an unknown amount of time, Lin Qingyan finally moved.
She slowly turned her head to look at Gu Chengyin.
Her gaze was completely different from before. Before, there was desire, possessiveness, obsession, and sickness in her eyes.
Now, there was nothing in her eyes but blankness.
As if her entire being had been hollowed out.
"You..."
Lin Qingyan spoke, her voice hoarse as if scraped across sandpaper.
"Lifted the hypnosis?"
Gu Chengyin nodded.
Lin Qingyan's lips quivered, as if she wanted to say something but didn't know what to say.
Of course, she knew what lifting the hypnosis meant.
It meant the other Lin Qingyan had awakened.
It meant those pains and hatreds were surging back.
It meant everything that had been said and done would be known by that other self.
It meant...
Lin Qingyan suddenly clutched her head and let out a muffled groan.
Gu Chengyin watched her, not moving.
He saw her expression changing, as if two different faces were vying for control of the same body.
At times cold and distant, at times twisted with pain, at times drowning in desire, at times as clear and cold as frost.
Gu Chengyin knew what was happening.
The other Lin Qingyan—in other words, the heart demon—had awakened and was now fighting for control of this body.
They were originally the same person, only forcibly split into two halves.
But the heart demon was too weak, whether in strength or anything else, having been greatly diminished.
Yet for Gu Chengyin, being weak was fine, as long as it bought enough time.
Time to hypnotize the current Lin Qingyan.
Yes.
Gu Chengyin was going to hypnotize the current Lin Qingyan.
The reason was simple.
Because Lin Qingyan had lost control.
She was slipping out of his grasp, heading in a bad direction.
So Gu Chengyin had to hypnotize her, had to make this Golden Core fairy return to a proper sense of normalcy.
Just as Lin Qingyan's head was splitting with pain, a figure suddenly appeared before her.
Lin Qingyan looked up instinctively—it was Gu Chengyin.
"Little Aunt, look into my eyes."
Upon hearing Gu Chengyin's gentle voice, Lin Qingyan did not resist.
Because she inherently trusted the man before her.
Deeply, deeply, deeply trusted.
Five.
"I promise you, no matter who it is—"
Four.
"—no matter what their cultivation level or realm—"
Three.
"—I will definitely get revenge for you."
Two.
"And also... I really do want you."
One.
"But forgive me..."
[Hypnosis successful]
y came from. The chests contained supplies, currency, class-change scrolls, skills, talents… and even godhood! The laws of the world were completely rewritten. This became a world where everyone gambled with their fate! Some people, despite having nothing, opened a divine artifact and rose to the top, eventually ruling the world. Others went bankrupt, opened nothing but worthless junk, and leaped from skyscrapers in despair. Lin Ye arrived in this world from another reality, utterly bewildered. “What is going on? Why is everyone a gambling addict?!” “Opening chests? No way. I refuse to gamble. I’ll start with myself!” Until— On his first chest, he obtained a Mythic Talent: Void Incarnation! He could become completely intangible, pass through all things, and reduce everything to nothingness! … On his fiftieth chest, he obtained a Mythic Weapon: Blade of Karma! With a single slash, karma shattered, twisting the universe and overturning the myriad phenomena of creation! … On his ninety-ninth chest, he obtained a Mythic Divine Treasure: Primordial Purple Energy! It could split open the heavens and earth, create all things, and evolve countless worlds with a single thought! Lin Ye: “Now that I think about it… shouldn’t someone have told me that every chest is guaranteed to contain something Mythic?!”
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
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.
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!
