Loading Sugar 02

It meant that the relationship between Gu Chengyin and Lin Qingyan was far from ordinary.

It meant that before making a move on him, one would first have to weigh whether they could withstand Lin Qingyan's fury.

It meant that from now on, if the Luo Emperor wanted to strike at him again, it would not be so easy.

This was precisely the main reason Gu Chengyin had brought Lin Qingyan to the joint court trial.

To tell everyone, including the Luo Emperor,

that he, Gu Chengyin, was under Lin Qingyan's protection.

As it turned out, the effect was far better than he had anticipated.

However, considering that he would soon be meeting Shangguan Yunying,

and that Gu Chengyin currently did not want to tell her about Lin Qingyan being swapped out—

not because he didn’t trust her,

but because he had a nagging feeling that if Shangguan Yunying found out, some unpredictable trouble would arise—

he decided that, for now, it was best if Lin Qingyan did not appear before her.

Given how sharp this chief female official was, she would surely notice that Lin Qingyan’s state was off.

Just earlier, she had been snatching delicious food with her; now she was as cold as a stone.

Anyone who wasn’t blind could see the stark difference.

Yet the issue of safety could not be ignored.

Gu Chengyin racked his brains, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration and asked:

"Aunt, can you protect me covertly?"

He had meant to ask if Lin Qingyan knew any method to conceal her presence.

After all, he didn’t know much about the techniques of a Golden Core Realm cultivator.

As soon as the words fell, Lin Qingyan looked up at him.

Her gaze remained still, as if she were staring at an irrelevant passerby.

Then, in the next breath,

Lin Qingyan’s figure suddenly faded away.

Like a drop of ink falling into water, it slowly spread, slowly dissolved, and finally merged into the surrounding air.

First her outline blurred, then her color faded.

At last, she vanished completely before Gu Chengyin’s eyes, as if she had never been there.

Gu Chengyin blinked.

In front of him, there was only an empty corridor and sunlight slanting in.

Lin Qingyan had been standing right there just a moment ago—such a large, untainted celestial maiden, and yet she had disappeared before his very eyes.

So this was the Golden Core Realm?

Gu Chengyin attempted to probe with his spiritual sense.

His Dao heart had reached the Golden Core level.

Although his cultivation was still at the Foundation Establishment stage, the intensity and sharpness of his spiritual sense were by no means inferior to a true Golden Core cultivator.

That was the hidden benefit of the Dao heart—it made no noise in combat, but was extremely practical when needed.

Yet after probing thoroughly, Gu Chengyin found nothing.

Everything around him was crystal clear: every pillar in the corridor, every blue brick on the ground,

the breath of every Golden Guard officer in the distance, even the traces of an ant crawling at the corner of the wall.

He could perceive all of it with perfect clarity.

All except Lin Qingyan.

There was not a single trace of her.

As if she had never existed.

Withdrawing his spiritual sense, Gu Chengyin couldn’t help but sigh.

When faced with absolute power, one’s cultivation was still far from enough.

If it weren’t for hypnotizing Lin Qingyan in the Silent Heart Pagoda, he probably would have ended up as her plaything.

No wonder he could never find Gu Xiaoli. That world-weary loli was at the Half-Step Nascent Soul stage, a full level higher than Lin Qingyan. If she deliberately hid, even if she stood right before him, he probably wouldn’t sense her.

Not that being a plaything was entirely bad, but Gu Chengyin still preferred to make playthings of others.

Perhaps that was just his nature—someone like him was born to be the master.

With this thought, Gu Chengyin shook his head and strode toward the Crown Prince’s Palace.

His pace was unhurried, his expression calm.

Yet, in a place where Gu Chengyin could not see,

in the void, a gaze was closely following him.

That gaze pierced through the sunlight, through the corridor’s pillars, through every barrier,

and clung like a tangible thread to Gu Chengyin’s retreating figure.

It was Lin Qingyan.

Her form was hidden in the void, flickering faintly, half-visible.

If anyone could see her at that moment, they would be shocked.

For on that cold, peerlessly beautiful face, the indifference that cared for nothing in the world had vanished.

In its place was an indescribable intensity.

Like embers buried beneath ashes—with no visible sparks on the surface,

yet burning fiercely, scorchingly hot within, hot enough to devour everything.

Lin Qingyan’s gaze slid from Gu Chengyin’s brows and eyes to his shoulders and back.

From his shoulders and back to his waist, from his waist to his stride.

Inch by inch, she traced every detail.

Like looking at a long-lost treasure, or like beholding a delicacy that belonged to her alone.

Infatuation.

Deep in her gaze was a naked, unguarded infatuation.

More than the desire between men and women, it was a primitive possession.

As if Gu Chengyin had always been meant to belong to her.

As if Gu Chengyin could only belong to her.

The corner of Lin Qingyan’s mouth lifted into a faint curve.

That curve was extremely shallow, barely perceptible, as if it might disappear at any moment.

Because she was hidden in the darkness, in the void, with no fear of being discovered by Gu Chengyin.

She could, without restraint, return to her true self.

If Gu Chengyin had seen that curve, he would have recognized it in an instant.

Recognized who this Lin Qingyan truly was.

Not the Lin Qingyan carrying pain and hatred.

But the one he had spent the most time with, knew the best, and understood the deepest.

The Lin Qingyan who possessed desire and love.

"Bad man,"

Lin Qingyan murmured softly, her voice so low it was nearly inaudible.

As if talking to herself, or as if speaking to the figure slowly moving away.

Her gaze still followed Gu Chengyin, infatuated and focused.

Yes.

Lin Qingyan had faked it again.

Just like the first time she had pretended to be a heart demon before Gu Chengyin.

Once again, she had deceived him.

That time, the heart demon carrying pain and hatred had been hypnotized by Gu Chengyin,

and she had made a deal with him to weaken the heart demon.

But this time,

the corner of Lin Qingyan’s mouth deepened by a fraction.

This time, the heart demon carrying pain and hatred had once again been hypnotized.

Only this time, she herself had pushed the heart demon forward.

The process was simple.

Because the current heart demon was so weak.

So weak that, before her, it was like a little puppet she could manipulate at will.

In comparison, she was far too powerful.

So powerful that she could effortlessly hold the heart demon in her palm and control its every move.

When she wanted it to come out, it came out.

When she wanted it to go back, it went back.

When she wanted it to do something, it did it.

Resist? That didn’t exist.

Because the gap in power was that vast.

So vast that the heart demon before her didn’t even qualify to struggle.

Why was this so?

Lin Qingyan’s gaze wavered for a moment.

Because her desire and love had both been satisfied by Gu Chengyin.

That was why she loved Gu Chengyin.

And because of this, she had become so powerful.

So powerful that, even with its pain and hatred, the heart demon could never overwhelm the desire and love she now held.

As long as Gu Chengyin existed, the heart demon could never grow strong again.

It would forever be pinched in her palm, a obedient little puppet.