Everyone present knew what she was about to ask.
Lin Qingyan looked at Shangguan Yunying with a hint of surprise.
Gu Chengyin’s expression remained unchanged, still as calm and composed as ever, as he said lightly:
“Mm, something unexpected happened.”
There was no explanation, no denial.
Just that one sentence, brushed over as if it were nothing.
Shangguan Yunying didn’t press further. She simply picked up her teacup, took a gentle sip, and her gaze grew laden with meaning.
When she had seen Lin Qingyan earlier, she had found it quite baffling.
But if it was like Luo Zhao pretending to be fine, then she could understand.
From there, it wasn’t hard to deduce.
Gu Chengyin had tried to control Lin Qingyan but had failed.
That was why Lin Qingyan had exploded, acting as if she had been caught.
And the fact that Gu Chengyin had taken her out and now brought her back meant he had managed to calm her down.
Still, this wasn’t surprising—after all, even the hypnosis on Luo Zhao hadn’t fully succeeded.
With Lin Qingyan, who was an invincible Golden Core cultivator, it was naturally even harder.
Shangguan Yunying set down her teacup, but worry crept into her heart.
Lin Qingyan’s case was right in front of her.
Could Gu Chengyin start suspecting Her Highness again because of this?
She glanced at Gu Chengyin. His expression was normal, revealing nothing unusual.
Never mind.
She would just take things one step at a time.
As long as the consciousness puppet was in place, with Her Highness’s endurance…
No matter how clever or cautious Gu Chengyin was, he wouldn’t spot a single flaw.
Shangguan Yunying lowered her eyes and quietly took a bite of lamb.
Meanwhile, Gu Xiaoli’s gaze had never left Gu Chengyin and Lin Qingyan from the moment they entered.
First she looked at Gu Chengyin, then at Lin Qingyan.
Then at their joined hands, and then at Lin Qingyan’s slightly reddened lips.
That dark, glimmering gaze flickered with light.
Finally, her eyes settled on Lin Qingyan, and she blinked slowly.
There was curiosity, scrutiny, and a hint of amusement in that look.
Lin Qingyan met Gu Xiaoli’s gaze, and her face stiffened.
This Dead Cat!
Here she goes again!
But remembering what she had promised Gu Chengyin, she could only take a deep breath and suppress her annoyance.
Then she forced out a smile.
It was stiff, reluctant, but still a smile.
Gu Xiaoli’s eyes widened slightly at the smile, as if a little surprised.
Then she blinked and returned a smile of her own.
It was soft, well-behaved, and harmless.
But no matter how Lin Qingyan looked at it, she felt there was a hint of mockery hidden in that smile.
Never mind.
She told herself.
Don’t stoop to a Dead Cat’s level.
Don’t stoop to a Dead Cat’s level.
Don’t stoop to a Dead Cat’s level.
Important things must be said three times.
Lin Qingyan took another deep breath, looked away, and sat down at the table.
Gu Chengyin sat down beside her, picked up his chopsticks, and placed a piece of lamb in his mouth.
“Mm, truly excellent.”
Shangguan Yunying laughed. “Of course—this place’s roasted lamb is a true specialty of the Divine Capital.”
Gu Xiaoli nodded in agreement.
Her little mouth was stuffed full, her cheeks bulging.
Lin Qingyan watched the scene and felt a sudden sense of surrealness.
Just moments ago, she and Gu Xiaoli had been at each other’s throats, ready to toss each other out the window.
Yet now they were sitting at the same table, eating lamb in peace?
She glanced at Gu Chengyin beside her.
He was eating the lamb, his expression unhurried, as if all of this was only natural.
Lin Qingyan suddenly understood.
It was him.
Gu Chengyin had turned everything into this.
It was his dominance that had forced them to sit down.
It was his soothing that had made her set aside old and new grudges.
It was his fierce kiss that had made her forget to keep scores.
A flicker of complexity passed through Lin Qingyan’s eyes.
Gu Chengyin caught her gaze and turned his head.
“What’s wrong?” he asked gently.
Lin Qingyan shook her head and said softly, “Nothing.”
She lowered her head and picked up a piece of lamb as well.
The aroma of the lamb melted in her mouth—tender, juicy, truly delicious.
But what she was thinking about was something else entirely.
This man—she wanted him.
No one else was going to take him.
No matter what it cost.
No matter how long she had to wait.
She would have him.
Lin Qingyan snuck another look at Gu Chengyin, and the corners of her lips curled up slightly.
As for Gu Chengyin, he ate his lamb while scanning the faces of the three women.
Shangguan Yunying looked thoughtful, occasionally glancing at him as if there was something on her mind.
Lin Qingyan was quiet and well-behaved, stealing glances at him now and then, her eyes filled with affection.
Gu Xiaoli ate happily, occasionally lifting her head to look at him, her brows curved in a cheerful smile.
Three women, three different minds.
Gu Chengyin did some mental calculations.
Lin Qingyan was temporarily stabilized for now.
As long as she didn’t stir up trouble, everything would be fine.
Shangguan Yunying seemed to be worried about something.
As for Gu Xiaoli—
Gu Chengyin looked at the little girl, her mouth greasy from eating, and found it a little amusing.
This little creature had caused such a big mess tonight, and now she acted as if nothing had happened.
Still, thanks to her.
If she hadn’t provoked Lin Qingyan, Lin Qingyan would still be pretending to have heart demons.
Though Gu Chengyin had his suspicions, Lin Qingyan’s acting had indeed been very convincing.
Looking at it that way, Gu Xiaoli had actually done him a favor.
Gu Chengyin smiled faintly and picked up the largest piece of lamb, placing it in Gu Xiaoli’s bowl.
“Xiaoli, have some more.”
Gu Xiaoli looked up, her eyes sparkling as she gazed at him.
“Thank you, Big Brother!”
She smiled, her brows curving sweetly, and her tail swayed gently behind her.
Lin Qingyan watched this scene, and her heart ached slightly.
But thinking of her promise to Gu Chengyin, she could only silently lower her head and continue eating the lamb.
Time passed in a delicate atmosphere.
The lamb on the table gradually dwindled, and the moonlight outside the window slowly sank westward.
Shangguan Yunying put down her chopsticks and suddenly said quietly, “It’s getting late.”
Gu Chengyin looked up at her.
Then he met a pair of eyes filled with tender emotion.
Shangguan Yunying’s eyes now seemed brimming with moonlight— soft enough to drown someone.
She gazed at Gu Chengyin like that, with a faint smile on her lips, and said in a leisurely tone:
“How will you be getting back later?”
The moment the words fell, silence filled the room.
Gu Chengyin keenly sensed that there was more meaning beneath her words.
How to get back?
Right now, there were three women present.
Shangguan Yunying, Lin Qingyan, Gu Xiaoli.
So the key was not “how to get back,” but “with whom to get back,” and “where to go.”
Gu Chengyin’s gaze quickly swept across the faces of the three.
Shangguan Yunying looked at him with tender hope, her eyes full of expectation.
Lin Qingyan’s expression was still cool and aloof, but her eyes narrowed slightly, staring at him sharply like swords.
Gu Xiaoli blinked her big, innocent eyes at him, looking perfectly harmless—but her cat ears, twitching slightly, clearly betrayed her tension.
Three pairs of eyes, three gazes, all focused on him.
Carrying expectation, tension, and an indefinable something.
Gu Chengyin’s heart skipped a beat.
This was…
A battlefield?
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
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!
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
