Lin Qingyan simply watched, saying nothing, doing nothing.
Her gaze fell on Gu Xiaoli, calm as an ancient well, betraying no emotion.
The aura around her returned to that deathly stillness, as if the black arcs of lightning had never appeared.
But at that very moment, a flicker of amusement flashed deep in her eyes.
That dead cat Gu Xiaoli had always tried to snatch her sister away from her in the past.
And now she had set her sights on Gu Chengyin too.
This was interesting, though not surprising.
When Gu Xiaoli first appeared by Gu Chengyin’s side,
Lin Qingyan had seen her but hadn’t taken her seriously, dismissing her as just some minor figure.
Back then, she hadn’t yet seen the memories of the heart demon, so she hadn’t recognized her.
And since Gu Xiaoli played the part of a clueless fool exceptionally well, Lin Qingyan had completely missed her true strength.
But now that she had recognized her, and Gu Xiaoli had also targeted Gu Chengyin,
Lin Qingyan saw a chance to finally make that dead cat bow her head, something she wouldn’t let slip by.
In fact, she was already pondering how to seize this opportunity
to throw both Gu Xiaoli and Shangguan Yunying out of Gu Chengyin’s life together.
However, to stay in character, Lin Qingyan didn’t speak.
Instead, she gave Gu Chengyin a faint glance.
It was a light look, but it carried a clear message:
If you don’t deal with Gu Xiaoli, don’t expect me to protect you anymore.
After all, she couldn’t keep getting driven out every time she tried to secretly guard him, could she?
Then, Lin Qingyan’s figure vanished without a trace.
Silent and unseen, as if she had never been there.
Gu Chengyin stared at the spot where she had disappeared and rubbed his forehead in mild exasperation.
He had received the message in that glance.
But looking at the reluctant Gu Xiaoli beside him, he could tell the little thing was stubborn as ever.
Still, despite his headache, he didn’t find the situation too difficult to handle.
And Gu Xiaoli coming to him on her own was actually a good thing—
it saved him the trouble of having to search for her.
With that thought, Gu Chengyin decided not to say anything more.
After Lin Qingyan disappeared, Gu Xiaoli grew uneasy.
She glanced at where Lin Qingyan had been, then back at Gu Chengyin, her heart thumping with anxiety.
This behavior wasn’t like Lin Qingyan at all.
The Lin Qingyan of before would have bickered with her over the slightest thing.
The two of them would argue from Xuanwu Gate all the way to the Imperial Garden, from day till night, neither willing to back down.
Only when the Empress herself intervened would they calm down.
But now, she had vanished without a word?
Was that right?
Was this still Lin Qingyan?
Gu Xiaoli bit her lip.
If that was the case, would Gu Chengyin scold her for it?
She sneaked another glance at him.
Under the moonlight, his profile was as clear and handsome as jade, his expression unreadable.
Gu Xiaoli’s anxiety grew.
She might be a cat, but she understood some things.
A master could indulge and spoil you, let you do almost anything.
But there were lines that must never be crossed, or the master would grow annoyed, even hateful.
And in the end, he might simply abandon you, leaving you a homeless stray.
Just as Gu Xiaoli was caught in her turmoil, a hand suddenly landed on her head.
Gu Chengyin rubbed her hair and asked gently,
“There’s roasted lamb later. Do you want to have some together, Xiaoli?”
His tone carried no hint of reproach, only concern for whether she was hungry.
Gu Xiaoli froze for a moment.
Then, her big eyes instantly lit up.
“Yes!”
She nodded emphatically.
Perhaps already picturing the roasted lamb, a line of drool embarrassingly escaped from the corner of her mouth.
She quickly raised her hand to wipe it away, her little face flushing slightly red.
Gone was her earlier calm and world-weary demeanor.
She looked more like a kitten basking in her master’s affection.
And besides, roasted lamb! Even though Gu Xiaoli’s cultivation was high—
since when did high cultivation mean you couldn’t enjoy good food?
She was just a cat, not some immortal subsisting on air.
When delicious food was placed before her, of course she would eat it!
Gu Chengyin led Gu Xiaoli back to the table and sat down.
Shangguan Yunying was staring at Gu Xiaoli with wide, blinking eyes, studying her from head to toe.
She had no idea what had happened between Lin Qingyan and Gu Xiaoli,
but with Gu Chengyin around, she didn’t need to worry about such matters.
All she had to do was be a well-behaved, sweet, and pretty young lady.
Besides, after what she had just witnessed, Shangguan Yunying was intensely curious about Gu Xiaoli.
She looked at her head, then her eyes, then behind her,
her gaze full of wonder, as if she had stumbled upon a rare treasure.
Finally, unable to contain her curiosity, she asked,
“Xiaoli, just now...”
She mimicked a gesture above her head, forming ears with her hands, and asked hesitantly,
“Those ears—can you make them come out again?”
Gu Xiaoli blinked her big eyes. She didn’t dislike Shangguan Yunying; in fact, she quite liked her.
She adored any beautiful woman who was lovely to look at and smelled fragrant—
except Lin Qingyan.
After a moment, Gu Xiaoli nodded.
The next instant, a pair of fuzzy cat ears reappeared on her head.
They were triangular, their tips trembling slightly, the downy fur soft and glowing gently under the moonlight.
Shangguan Yunying’s eyes lit up instantly.
That brightness was even more dazzling than the stars in the sky.
“That’s just too cute!”
She pulled Gu Xiaoli into her arms and nuzzled her vigorously.
Gu Xiaoli’s cat ears quivered from the pressure, and her tail couldn’t help but pop out, swaying lightly behind her.
She nestled in Shangguan Yunying’s arms, squinting her eyes and purring contentedly.
Sister Yunying was good.
Sister Qingyan was bad.
Gu Chengyin watched the scene and shook his head with a smile.
He stood up and said warmly, “I’ll go check on why the lamb hasn’t arrived yet.”
Neither of them paid him any attention.
Shangguan Yunying was too busy petting the cat, not even lifting her head.
Gu Xiaoli, curled up in her arms, had her eyes narrowed to slits in pure bliss—she had no time for him either.
Gu Chengyin smiled faintly, turned, and walked out of the room.
Once outside, he moved along the corridor, rounded a corner, and entered an empty room.
The room was quiet, moonlight spilling through the window lattice, carpeting the floor in silver frost.
Gu Chengyin stopped and called softly,
“Little Aunt?”
At the sound of his voice, a figure slowly materialized.
Lin Qingyan stood in the moonlight, still wearing that deathly stillness.
Her cold face was utterly expressionless, only her eyes glowed deep under the moon’s radiance.
Gu Chengyin looked at her and breathed a small sigh of relief.
If this had been the old Lin Qingyan, she would have been causing a huge scene by now.
Thank goodness it was the Heart Demon Aunt—she was so much easier to deal with.
He was about to speak, but Lin Qingyan started first.
“Gu Chengyin, I have a grudge against that cat.”
“So it’s either her or me.”
“Either she leaves, or I do.”
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
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!
