Her fingers tightened slightly on the back of his hand, as if urging him on, or as if confirming whether he had already changed his mind.
"Do you... not like this?"
Luo Zhao's voice carried a faint tremble. She was afraid—afraid of losing this.
Afraid that after seeing her like this, Gu Chengyin would find her disgusting, would think she was abnormal, would grow distant and come to loathe her.
She had finally managed to pry that door open just a crack, letting Gu Chengyin see the most genuine version of herself inside.
If he were to turn and walk away at this moment, that door would close forever, never to open for anyone again.
Yes, this was the real her. This was the truest Luo Zhao.
Even Emperor Luo didn't know this side of her. Even Lin Qingyan didn't know.
Luo Zhao had only ever shown this to Gu Chengyin, because only he could give her the sense of security she craved.
Gu Chengyin looked into Luo Zhao's eyes and saw the fear hidden beneath the trembling.
He knew exactly what state Luo Zhao was in. He understood human nature well, and he knew precisely what a Luo Zhao like this was yearning for.
So the question now was whether he was willing to become the person Luo Zhao longed for.
Gu Chengyin had never considered himself a good man. He was merely not shallow.
He simply knew there were more important things awaiting him, so he wouldn't let petty gains blind his eyes.
That was why he used Luo Zhao, schemed against her, toyed with her, and bullied her.
Almost everything he did to her carried some utilitarian purpose.
Including pulling her into his arms just now, including placing his hand on her neck.
It was all just to shatter her psychological defenses, to make her a pawn he could use against Emperor Luo.
Without resorting to hypnosis, Gu Chengyin had to keep Luo Zhao firmly under his control.
Best of all, to make Luo Zhao never able to leave him, never able to stop depending on him.
To make her forever the most useful tool on his path of cultivation.
Cruel, perhaps, but that was reality.
And Gu Chengyin was a thoroughgoing utilitarian.
But at this moment, looking at the unreserved longing and fear in Luo Zhao's eyes,
something in his heart loosened. Very, very slightly.
It was strange. Gu Chengyin could be certain he had never cared about Luo Zhao.
Sure, Luo Zhao was beautiful—in both bearing and countenance, she was an incomparably stunning beauty.
But in Gu Chengyin's eyes, Luo Zhao was merely a tool called the Crown Princess.
Yet now, his dao heart was actually stirred because of her.
Although the loosening lasted only an instant before Gu Chengyin suppressed it,
his fingers nevertheless tightened a fraction, beyond his control.
This time, the tightening was not an unconscious muscle reflex, but a deliberate, conscious squeeze.
Luo Zhao's eyes flew wide open.
Her lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something,
but because her neck was gripped, she couldn't form complete syllables—only a few fragmented breaths escaped.
In that moment, she was not the Crown Princess, not Your Highness, not anyone's role model.
She was only a plaything. The most obedient good dog.
She had been afraid before, afraid that Gu Chengyin wouldn't continue.
But now, Luo Zhao was no longer afraid, because Gu Chengyin hadn't rejected her.
He truly was controlling her—controlling her life, controlling everything about her.
He wanted her.
She was his!
Luo Zhao's lips curved upward, higher than they had ever curved before.
Gu Chengyin watched her smile, maintained the pressure on his hand for two more breaths, then slowly released it.
Air rushed back into Luo Zhao's throat, like a drowning person finally breaking the surface.
Moisture veiled her eyes from the physical reaction, and a single tear even slipped from the corner of her eye, tracing down her cheek.
But Luo Zhao was smiling. Her lips stayed curved, curved into an arc of pure happiness.
"I knew it!"
Luo Zhao murmured, her voice slightly hoarse from the brief suffocation, carrying a languid, sated tone that only comes after being satisfied.
"I knew you wouldn't abandon me!"
Gu Chengyin didn't answer. He didn't know what to say.
He only knew that from now on, whatever existed between him and Luo Zhao could never return to that simple state of mere exploitation.
This Highness had opened that door to him, laying bare every twisted, diseased, unspeakable desire before him.
And Gu Chengyin hadn't closed that door.
Not only had he not closed it—he had given Luo Zhao exactly what she craved.
This realization made Luo Zhao tremble with excitement all over.
She no longer had to pretend.
No longer had to put on that cold, aloof facade of the Crown Princess in front of Gu Chengyin.
No longer had to painstakingly hide those unspeakable desires in the depths of her heart.
No longer had to suppress the urge to throw herself at him every time he drew near.
She could show him her truest self, hand over those twisted, diseased, terrifying cravings that even she herself feared.
Because she knew Gu Chengyin wouldn't abandon her.
Whatever the reason, whether or not it was deeper scheming,
Luo Zhao didn't care. She only wanted Gu Chengyin.
No.
To be precise, she only wanted to be controlled by Gu Chengyin.
As for Lin Qingyan, or Shangguan Yunying, or Gu Xiaoli—what did they have to do with her?
She had never even thought about competing for anything, let alone possessing anything.
As long as Gu Chengyin controlled her, she would obey his every word.
Luo Zhao suddenly felt that her father targeting Gu Chengyin was actually a good thing.
Because if not for that, he wouldn't have come to bully her, wouldn't have pulled her into his arms,
wouldn't have placed his hand on her neck, wouldn't have controlled her so completely in that way she found so intoxicating.
If not for that, she might never have had the chance to open that door, never have had the chance to let him see the real her.
If not for that, there would be no red marks on her neck right now, and her breathing wouldn't still carry the lingering afterglow of that suffocation.
The harder her father suppressed Gu Chengyin, the more he would come to bully her.
The more excessive he was with her, the happier she felt.
It was a perfect cycle. Luo Zhao's lips curved even higher.
She should thank her father. Thank him for issuing that edict. Thank him for driving Gu Chengyin into a corner.
Thank him for giving her this opportunity to be controlled by Gu Chengyin.
"Junior Tutor."
Luo Zhao called out again, her voice softer, sweeter, stickier than before.
Because of the brief suffocation, her voice still carried a trace of hoarseness,
like silk that had been gently sanded—soft, with a texture that made one's heart tremble.
"From now on, if my father targets you again, just come and hit me, okay?"
When Luo Zhao said this, her eyes sparkled, filled to the brim with anticipation.
Her fingers remained on her own neck, the tips gently stroking it, as if caressing a precious treasure.
g Yu was preparing for retirement when her organization decided to eliminate her. She transmigrated to a zombie apocalypse world. However, a tiny unexpected situation occurred: She somehow transformed into an adorable little girl?!
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!
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!
