"I admit, my methods were indeed a bit excessive,"
Gu Chengyin sighed, his tone carrying a hint of self-reproach and a touch of helplessness:
"But my intentions were good, and they were all for your benefit."
He looked at Luo Zhao, his gaze devoid of blame, only a calm openness.
"Her Highness was in a desperate situation and didn't trust me—what could I do?"
"How could I stand by and watch Her Highness walk to her death? So I had no choice but to control her."
Gu Chengyin then turned to Shangguan Yunying and continued:
"Yunying thought I wanted to harm Her Highness, but did I actually harm her?"
"Not at all, yet Yunying didn't trust me either—so what could I do?"
Finally, he looked at Lin Qingyan, his gaze as gentle as the spring breeze of March.
"And then there's Little Aunt—her inner demon ran out of control. If I hadn't restrained her,"
"both Little Aunt and I would have been done for. What else could I do?"
Gu Chengyin spread his hands, his face full of helplessness,
like a good man who had been wronged countless times and finally had a chance to defend himself.
"If only you had trusted me a little, or at least saved me some worry."
"Do you really think I wanted to control you all?"
After these words, the hall fell into a long silence.
Luo Zhao lowered her head, her fingers clenching and unclenching within her sleeves.
She thought back to the Northern River City, where Gu Chengyin had hung her up, demanding absolute trust.
She hadn't given it, so he had resorted to hypnosis.
What if she had trusted him back then?
What if she hadn't prepared her escape plan, hadn't planned to abandon the city and flee,
but had simply followed his orders—would Gu Chengyin still have hypnotized her?
Luo Zhao didn't know.
But she did know one thing: everything he said was true.
Every hypnosis had come only after he was backed into a corner.
Every hypnosis had happened because she didn't trust him.
Shangguan Yunying also hung her head.
She recalled that time in Luoshui Prefecture, at the Fourth Crossing of the Red River, when she thought Gu Chengyin was going to harm Luo Zhao, so she tried to rescue Her Highness.
But what about Gu Chengyin?
He could have killed her, could have treated her as an enemy, yet he only hypnotized her.
If she hadn't been so impulsive, if she had asked for the full story instead,
would things have turned out this way?
Lin Qingyan felt even more ashamed, unable to lift her head.
She remembered the time her inner demon had gone out of control; she had nearly killed Gu Chengyin and destroyed everything.
If Gu Chengyin hadn't restrained that demon in time, who knew what terrible things might have happened?
And all she had thought about back then was how to weaken her inner demon, never once considering
how much risk Gu Chengyin had taken to save her.
Even Gu Xiaoli lowered her head.
She recalled all her suspicions of Gu Chengyin—
hiding in the shadows to observe him, plotting with candy to ambush him, and waking Luo Zhao and Shangguan Yunying up.
If Gu Chengyin's logic was right, she shouldn't have interfered at all; she had only made things worse.
Four beautiful faces all drooped in unison.
The atmosphere in the hall shifted from tense confrontation to a silent guilt.
Gu Chengyin watched them, breathing a quiet sigh of relief.
The rhythm was completely under his control, every step landing exactly where he had planned.
He silently applauded himself inside, while his face revealed nothing.
"Now, let's return to the earlier question,"
"Her Highness said that lifting the hypnosis in front of everyone was to control Little Aunt."
Gu Chengyin paused, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.
"Fine, I'll ask just one question."
He turned to look at Lin Qingyan,
his gentle eyes filled with seriousness, and a depth of emotion that made hearts race.
"Little Aunt, are you hypnotized by me right now?"
The question caught Lin Qingyan off guard.
She blinked, and then blinked again.
Then it dawned on her.
Right!
If, as Luo Zhao claimed, Gu Chengyin lifted the hypnosis to control her,
then she should have been hypnotized by now.
But what actually happened?
Nothing.
She was still clear-headed, still free, and not under anyone's control.
She wasn't controlled, wasn't hypnotized, hadn't become Gu Chengyin's puppet.
And yet, they had locked eyes for such a long time; there had been such a perfect opportunity,
but Gu Chengyin hadn't hypnotized her.
What did that mean?
At this thought, Lin Qingyan's heartbeat quickened.
It meant Gu Chengyin treasured her!
It meant he couldn't bear to hypnotize her!
It meant he had given up the chance to control her—
even if it was the optimal choice, even if it was his usual strategy.
But Gu Chengyin hadn't.
He had chosen not to hypnotize her.
He had chosen to trust her.
Lin Qingyan's eyes suddenly grew teary.
Only one thought remained in her heart:
He loves me so much.
Luo Zhao watched Lin Qingyan, who looked on the verge of tears from emotion, and her heart sank.
She knew her Little Aunt too well—the expression on that face was as clear as day: she had been fully convinced.
Luo Zhao tried to argue, but when she opened her mouth, she found she had nothing to say.
Gu Chengyin's words were flawless, his logic flawless, his demeanor flawless, and even his gaze was flawless.
He said he wasn't wrong, but admitted his methods were excessive.
He said he acted in self-defense, not denying the hypnosis.
He placed himself in the position of someone forced by circumstance,
and placed them in the position of those who didn't trust him.
And the truth?
The truth was just as he said.
Luo Zhao gritted her teeth.
She was unwilling, but she had to admit:
Gu Chengyin was right.
She had never really trusted him.
From the Northern River City to now, from being a heir to a puppet and back to heir—she had never genuinely believed in him.
Every cooperation came with calculation, every approach hid a guard, every smile had a sharpened blade behind it.
He hypnotized her because she was about to escape.
He controlled her because she was about to harm him.
So what right did Luo Zhao have to say Gu Chengyin was wrong?
Shangguan Yunying dared not even lift her head.
She thought deeper and further than Luo Zhao.
She recalled every moment she had doubted Gu Chengyin, every reason she had been on guard against him, every thought of going against him.
Those reasons had seemed perfectly justified at the time, but looking back now, how many were true?
How many had she made up in her own mind?
How many were simply because she hadn't trusted him?
Lin Qingyan walked up to Gu Chengyin, her head bowed like a child who had done something wrong.
"Chengcheng, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have doubted you."
Gu Chengyin raised his hand and gently patted her head.
"It's okay. I'm used to it."
Lin Qingyan nodded heavily, and finally the tears spilled.
At the same time, she swore to herself that no matter what anyone said in the future, she would only trust Gu Chengyin.
Luo Zhao watched this scene, and the dissatisfaction inside her churned again.
She wanted to say something, but when the words reached her lips, they turned into a sigh.
Gu Chengyin turned his head to look at Luo Zhao and asked,
"Your Highness, any more questions?"
Luo Zhao stared at him for a long, long time.
Then she shook her head.
"No more questions."
She conceded.
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
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.
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
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!
