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]
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
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!
