That's All

"The deal is simple."

Gu Chengyin's voice echoed in the Tower of Stillness, unhurried and steady:

"I'll help you get your revenge, and you protect me."

As his words fell, the tower fell into a brief silence.

Lin Qingyan's blood-red eyes narrowed slightly, a glint of wariness flickering in their depths as her gaze settled on Gu Chengyin's face.

It was as if she were appraising a freshly unearthed antiquity—both curious to see how much this object was worth, and wary of whether it concealed some hidden trap.

In her past memories, there were far too many images of this man.

From what she could tell so far, Gu Chengyin was no good.

Lin Qingyan had seen how he approached her step by step, how he quietly won her trust, and how he toyed with and manipulated the most foolish woman beneath the heavens.

He spoke with a smile, acted with a smile, and smiled while leading everyone into his rhythm.

Seeming harmless, yet every move was calculated.

Dealing with a man like him required caution—every ounce of it.

Because he would smile as he sold you out, and then have you count the money for him.

Yet Gu Chengyin acted as if he hadn't noticed Lin Qingyan's wariness at all. His expression was calm, even carrying a faint smile.

That smile was neither too deep nor too shallow—perfectly measured.

It resembled an honest merchant displaying his wares to a customer, patting his chest to guarantee that his goods were genuine and his prices fair, without any deception.

Lin Qingyan didn't agree immediately. She was thinking.

Thinking about what lay hidden behind this deal, what Gu Chengyin's true purpose was.

Thinking about what kind of situation she would end up in if she accepted.

But no matter how she turned it over in her mind, she couldn't find any issue.

Because the deal was too simple—so simple it hardly seemed like a transaction at all.

So Lin Qingyan spoke:

"Is that all?"

Her voice was still cold, yet now there was a thread of scrutiny and probing woven into that coldness.

Gu Chengyin nodded and replied:

"That's all."

Lin Qingyan fell silent for a moment.

Those blood-red eyes remained fixed on him, sharp as if trying to cleave open his very soul.

"You're only at the Great Perfection of the Qi Condensation stage,"

she said, her voice carrying undisguised doubt.

"What makes me think you can help me get my revenge?"

Gu Chengyin smiled. There was no irritation in his expression, no embarrassment—only confidence.

"Then, Aunt, have you ever seen a faster cultivator at the Great Perfection of the Qi Condensation stage than me?"

At this question, Lin Qingyan's eyes narrowed.

She recalled all the prodigies she had encountered in the past, those hailed as once-in-a-century chosen ones, those revered and looked up to by countless others.

But she thought and thought, and couldn't find a single one who could compare to the man before her.

In Gu Chengyin's presence, being a prodigy was merely the threshold to meet him.

His speed of cultivation was something Lin Qingyan had witnessed firsthand.

From mortal to Qi Refining, from Qi Refining to Qi Condensation, from the early stage to the Great Perfection.

The path that took others years, decades, or even a lifetime to walk—

Gu Chengyin had covered in just a few months.

What did that mean?

It meant that if he continued at this pace, he would soon break through to the Golden Core stage.

A little while longer, and he would break through to the Nascent Soul stage.

And beyond that...

Lin Qingyan's gaze flickered faintly. She spoke, her voice still cold:

"No."

"You are the fastest cultivator at the Great Perfection of the Qi Condensation stage I have ever seen—without exception."

Gu Chengyin revealed a confident certainty and said:

"So, Aunt, would you believe me if I said I will break through to the Golden Core stage within half a year?"

"Within a year, I will break through to the Nascent Soul stage."

Lin Qingyan didn't respond, waiting for him to continue.

Gu Chengyin didn't drag it out either, cutting straight to the point:

"So the time frame for this deal is actually not long."

"At least, not long for you, Aunt."

Lin Qingyan fell silent. The facts were exactly as Gu Chengyin had said.

If that timeline held—half a year for Golden Core, a year for Nascent Soul—

then in a few more years, wouldn't he reach the Spirit Transformation stage?

Then this deal really would be very short.

So short that, in the hundreds or even thousands of years that cultivators often lived, it would amount to nothing.

So Gu Chengyin was using a foreseeable future in exchange for protection in the present.

The wariness in Lin Qingyan's eyes gradually faded.

This deal really was quite good.

In fact, it could even be said to be beneficial to her.

If Gu Chengyin truly could grow as he claimed, then helping her get revenge would be effortless.

And if he couldn't, the deal would be void, and she wouldn't lose anything.

No matter how she looked at it, it was a win-win.

Finally, Lin Qingyan nodded:

"Fine."

Her response was icy, just a single word.

But that one word, when it fell on Gu Chengyin's ears, was like a calming pill,

letting the anxious heart in his chest finally settle.

Gu Chengyin didn't really know this new aunt of his.

He had only known the Lin Qingyan who still had emotions—the one who could be moved, who would fall in love, who would act spoiled and coy.

But this one standing before him, emotionless and cold, indifferent to everything—

she was a stranger.

Gu Chengyin hadn't known whether, without desire or love, she would agree at all.

As things stood now, his approach had been correct.

Hatred, to some extent, was also a form of desire.

Lin Qingyan wanted to escape her pain, to forget her vengeance, to start a new life.

While the one before him bore all the pain and hatred.

Her very existence was to remember these things.

So when he offered to help her get revenge, she agreed.

Just at that moment, a ray of light shone down from above.

The light was golden, warm and bright, carrying the freshness and vitality unique to early morning.

Dawn was breaking.

Day had come.

Gu Chengyin looked down at his clothes.

After the struggle from earlier, they were already crumpled beyond recognition, and even the collar bore the marks of being grabbed.

He brushed at them and smoothed them out; though they couldn't be restored to their original state, at least he no longer looked so ragged.

Gu Chengyin looked up at Lin Qingyan.

She stood before him, still the same as before.

Her blood-red eyes, her indifferent expression, the vacant gaze of one utterly uninterested in all things.

Gu Chengyin spoke, a note of invitation in his voice:

"Aunt, I have to go to the Three High Court trial today. Would you be willing to accompany me?"

Lin Qingyan glanced at him.

That glance was utterly cold, devoid of any emotion. It was as if she weren't looking at a person,

but at a stone, a tree, some object completely unrelated to her.

There was no warmth in that gaze, no ripple of feeling, nothing that belonged to a human being.

Without a word, Lin Qingyan walked toward the tower door.

When she reached it, she waved her hand casually—as casually as shooing away a fly.

But in the next instant, the heavy tower door slowly swung open.

Morning light poured in from outside.

The light surged inward, instantly sweeping away most of the gloom inside the tower.

The golden light fell upon Lin Qingyan, enveloping her entirely.

Though the light was warm, it kindled no trace of warmth upon her.

And there, in the sunlight, stood Lin Qingyan, completely motionless.