But in that instant, her heartbeat quickened more than twofold.
Blood pumped from her heart, surging through her veins toward every limb, pounding dull drums against her eardrums.
Empress Lin.
Lin Qingyan's own elder sister.
Emperor Luo's one true love.
Luo Zhao's birth mother.
Since transmigrating into this world, Empress Lin had been the most crucial—and most enigmatic—figure of all.
Records about her were pitifully scarce, as if someone had deliberately erased her from history.
Gu Chengyin had combed through the archives of the Ministry of Rites, the chronicles of the Wanxiang Tower, even the imperial household's daily ledgers.
Every entry concerning Empress Lin had been cut to shreds, torn beyond repair.
He knew she had helped Emperor Luo ascend the throne. He knew she had died suddenly. He knew her cause of death remained a mystery to this day.
But Gu Chengyin had never known...
That Empress Lin could also hypnotize.
Gu Chengyin didn't press for answers right away. Instead, he tilted his head slightly, glancing at Gu Xiaoli.
Then he looked away, sweeping his gaze in a full circle.
Confirming whether this spiritual barrier was stable, confirming whether their surroundings were safe.
Confirming whether this secret could, at this moment, in this place, be spoken without consequence.
Gu Xiaoli understood the look in Gu Chengyin's eyes and said with quiet confidence:
"Big brother, don't worry."
"Even Sister Qingyan can't hear what we're saying right now."
Not "can't hear" in the ordinary sense—"can't perceive."
Most people wouldn't notice the difference between those two phrases, but Gu Chengyin understood.
"Can't hear" merely meant sound was blocked. "Can't perceive" meant something far deeper:
Even perception itself was severed.
It meant this spiritual barrier operated on a level beyond mere physical soundproofing.
It had ascended to the realm of space itself.
Even Lin Qingyan's invincible golden-core divine sense could not pierce it.
Gu Chengyin nodded, then continued with his next question:
"Then... does Aunt know about this?"
Gu Xiaoli shook her head, the motion firm and certain.
"Sister Qingyan doesn't know that Her Majesty could hypnotize."
She paused, the light in her large eyes dimming for a moment, like a candle flame flickering in the wind before steadying itself again.
"Only Xiaoli knows."
Gu Chengyin didn't dwell on that point. Instead, he shifted to another question:
"Then what does 'incomplete hypnosis' mean?"
He cut straight to the core of the matter.
Gu Xiaoli didn't answer immediately.
Her cat ears pressed back slightly, the tips drooping just a little.
That was her posture when recalling something—or deliberating over how to phrase it.
"Big brother."
Gu Xiaoli's voice was much slower than before, as if she were carefully crossing a narrow plank bridge:
"Back at Wanxiang Tower, your ability—did it improve?"
She paused, searching for a more precise way to express herself.
"What Xiaoli means is... did it become more complete?"
A flicker of change passed across Gu Chengyin's expression.
What Gu Xiaoli was referring to was what had happened after he'd encountered that book at Wanxiang Tower—the Textual Research on the Forgotten Records of the Qingyun Immortal Clan.
That thin, worn volume, its cover faded beyond recognition of its original color.
Its pages were as brittle as autumn leaves, as if the slightest pressure would crumble them to dust.
Yet that unremarkable old book, the moment Gu Chengyin opened it, changed everything.
The system had fully unlocked, and he had received the complete Qingyun Scripture.
That was Gu Chengyin's own understanding of events.
But Gu Xiaoli knew nothing of "systems."
She could only describe it using words she understood.
Ability.
Gu Chengyin's ability.
And she had also told him that Empress Lin could hypnotize.
Those two pieces of information, like beads scattered in different corners, were suddenly strung together by an invisible thread.
Empress Lin had the power of hypnosis.
Gu Chengyin had the power of hypnosis.
Empress Lin's hypnosis was complete.
Gu Chengyin's hypnosis was incomplete.
"It did improve."
"Or rather—it became complete."
Gu Xiaoli showed no sign of surprise.
She simply nodded gently, as if she'd known all along that he would say this.
Her spiritual cat ears tilted forward, the tips quivering slightly—the quiet relief of having confirmed a long-held guess.
"That book, Textual Research on the Forgotten Records of the Qingyun Immortal Clan—Empress Lin wrote it herself."
Light danced in Gu Xiaoli's large eyes, golden fragments drifting slowly in the depths of her pupils, like some ancient star chart.
"After she finished writing it, she asked Xiaoli to give it to the right person, at the right time."
When she finished speaking, the courtyard fell silent for a long while.
Outside the spiritual barrier, leaves drifted down soundlessly, one after another, catching the sunlight like a handful of scattered gold poured from the heavens above.
They landed on the surface of the barrier, paused for an instant, then slid slowly along its invisible curve, piling into a thin golden ridge at its base.
And in Gu Chengyin's mind, countless threads of evidence were re-arranging themselves at astonishing speed.
Empress Lin wrote Textual Research on the Forgotten Records of the Qingyun Immortal Clan and placed it in Wanxiang Tower.
Placed it in that place that gathered the world's rarest treasures—and, at the same time, countless secrets.
Then she had Gu Xiaoli deliver it to the right person, at the right time.
Until Gu Chengyin walked into Wanxiang Tower and, guided by Gu Xiaoli, found that book.
This was no coincidence.
This was a letter written long ago.
The writer was Empress Lin.
The recipient was Gu Chengyin.
The messenger was Gu Xiaoli.
But what was "the right time"? And who was "the right person"?
Gu Xiaoli didn't know.
Empress Lin hadn't told her.
She had simply felt, one day, that the time had come.
Had felt, suddenly, that this person—was Gu Chengyin.
Gu Xiaoli couldn't explain why, but she simply knew.
Just as she knew those things would eventually come for Gu Chengyin.
Not deduction, not judgment—an intuition more accurate than any reason.
"Then what about the hypnosis?"
Gu Xiaoli's spiritual cat ears trembled slightly.
She knew what Gu Chengyin was asking.
Since Empress Lin's hypnosis was complete, and since Gu Chengyin had fully unlocked the system through that book—
Then why was his hypnosis still incomplete?
What was still missing?
And where was that missing piece?
"Big brother's hypnosis... is missing one thing."
Gu Xiaoli's voice slowed to a crawl, as if she were carefully treading across a swamp littered with traps.
Each word had to be weighed on the tip of her tongue first.
Only after confirming it wouldn't trigger something that shouldn't be triggered, would she dare to set it down gently.
"But Her Majesty didn't say what it was. Xiaoli doesn't know where it is either."
Gu Xiaoli looked up, and in her large eyes was a nearly fragile bewilderment.
She had been carrying these secrets all along, never knowing when to take them out, never knowing who to show them to.
She could only wait—wait for the right time, wait for the right person.
"Xiaoli only knows..."
Gu Xiaoli paused, her spiritual cat ears drooping completely.
Pressing flat against her hair, like leaves drenched by rain.
"True hypnosis... can never be undone."
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!
] [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!"
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.
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
