Lin Qingyan’s eyes lit up, but instead of answering, she reached out and caught Gu Chengyin by the sleeve, tugging him to the side.
Rather than heading to the main hall of the Celestial Master’s Residence, she led him around the corridor, through a moon gate, and into a grove of trees.
The Celestial Master’s Residence covered an enormous area. Apart from several main halls and the quiet chambers used for cultivation, large stretches of woodland and greenery had been preserved within its grounds.
This grove was one such place. Every tree planted here was an ancient ginkgo, their thick trunks requiring two people to encircle with their arms. High overhead, the branches intertwined into a dense canopy.
The sunlight was fragmented into countless tiny patches of light that spilled across the ground, like a carpet of scattered gold.
Lin Qingyan pulled Gu Chengyin deep into the grove. Only after the walls and halls of the Celestial Master’s Residence had vanished behind layers of trunks did she finally stop.
Then she turned around to face him.
The pale rose hem of her skirt swept out in a clean arc as she turned, stirring several ginkgo leaves from the ground. They spun through the air before slowly drifting back down.
Lin Qingyan leaned against the trunk of a ginkgo tree. Mottled shadows fell across her face, shoulders, and skirt, enveloping her in an ambiguous interplay of light and darkness.
“Chengcheng~”
Reflected in Lin Qingyan’s eyes were the scattered rays filtering through the trees. They shone with startling brilliance, as though someone had kindled a flame within those usually cool, clear eyes.
“Do you think Yunying’s clothes look better, or mine?”
Gu Chengyin blinked. Lin Qingyan was currently dressed in Shangguan Yunying’s clothes.
The pale rose ceremonial robes glimmered softly beneath the dappled shadows of the ginkgo trees.
The color was gentle and dignified, carrying the uniquely tender air that belonged to Shangguan Yunying.
Yet on Lin Qingyan, it took on an utterly captivating edge.
“Neither looks good,” Gu Chengyin said.
Lin Qingyan arched a brow. Before she could say anything, he added, “You look best with nothing on.”
The corners of Lin Qingyan’s lips curled upward. She reached out and took Gu Chengyin’s wrist.
Then she guided his hand to her waist, placing it over the pale rose sash.
“Then take it off~”
Her voice dropped very low, soft and breathy, as though it had drifted up from the depths of her throat.
As she spoke, her gaze remained fixed on Gu Chengyin’s face. There was no shyness or reserve in her eyes—only undisguised desire.
Gu Chengyin’s fingers tightened.
The pale rose sash slowly came undone between his fingers. In the silent ginkgo grove, the faint rustle of fabric sounded especially clear.
The moment the sash loosened, the front of the ceremonial robe fell slightly open, revealing the thin, plain white garment beneath.
His fingers did not stop. From the sash, they moved to the first button at her collar.
“Chengcheng, I’m going to tell you a secret.”
Gu Chengyin’s breathing hitched ever so slightly.
Not because he was surprised, but because his fingertip had just undone the first button, the pad of his finger brushing lightly over her collarbone.
Lin Qingyan had not told Shangguan Yunying. In truth, she had done none of those things.
There had been no sealing of perception, no formation enhancement, no disguise technique.
She had walked out of the Meditation Tower wearing Shangguan Yunying’s clothes for one reason alone: she wanted Gu Chengyin to know.
She wanted him to know that Shangguan Yunying was waiting for him inside the Meditation Tower, wearing her clothes.
She wanted him to know that all of this had been arranged by her.
She had dressed Shangguan Yunying to look like her. She had made Shangguan Yunying wait inside the tower. And she had put on Shangguan Yunying’s clothes and walked out to meet him.
“Yunying is wearing my clothes and waiting for you inside the Meditation Tower,” Lin Qingyan said.
Far from sounding guilty, her voice carried an even greater thrill.
Gu Chengyin’s fingers stopped.
The second button was only half undone, his fingertip suspended there without continuing.
Most of Lin Qingyan’s collar had already fallen open. The plain white garment beneath clung to her skin, glowing with a warm, lustrous sheen beneath the broken rays of sunlight filtering through the trees.
Her neck was long and fair, its graceful curve extending from the open collar like a piece of porcelain carefully placed on display.
Her eyes were even brighter than before, filled with a strangely sick yet utterly candid composure.
Gu Chengyin quietly looked at Lin Qingyan and remained silent for two breaths.
During those two breaths, a ginkgo leaf drifted down from the branches, spiraling onto her shoulder, then onto his sleeve, and finally onto the pale rose ceremonial robe lying half-unfastened on the ground.
“Little Aunt.”
At last, Gu Chengyin spoke.
His voice was complicated, carrying helplessness and indulgence.
There was astonishment at the sheer audacity of what she had done, as well as heartfelt submission after being thoroughly tempted.
“You’re unbelievable.”
Lin Qingyan smiled.
The smile began at the corners of her lips and slowly spread to her brows, bathing her entire face in a dazzling, vivid radiance.
She reached out, seized Gu Chengyin by the collar, and pulled him toward her.
Her forehead pressed against his, the tips of their noses touching as their breaths mingled, impossible to tell apart.
“I’m only like this for you.”
After those words, the ginkgo grove was left with nothing but the sound of wind passing through the branches and leaves.
And the occasional faint, rustling noise.
……
A long time later.
So long had passed that the sun had shifted noticeably westward, and so long that a thin layer of golden ginkgo leaves had gathered on his shoulders and in her hair.
Gu Chengyin sat with his back against the rough trunk of the ginkgo tree.
Lin Qingyan nestled in his arms, once again dressed in that pale crimson court robe.
Only, the knot of her sash was not tied as neatly as before, and one of the buttons at her collar had been left undone, revealing a small patch of skin along her neck that still carried a faint flush.
Her head rested in the hollow of his shoulder. At some point, the white magnolia hairpin had fallen to the ground.
It was half-hidden beneath the ginkgo leaves, with only the jade tip of its tail showing.
“So Yunying is currently in the Meditation Tower, wearing your clothes and waiting for you to bring me over?”
Gu Chengyin’s voice drifted down, carrying the peculiar calm that came after the fact.
“Mhm.”
Nestled in his arms, Lin Qingyan answered lazily, her voice husky and languid with the contentment that came only afterward.
Her fingers traced idle circles over his chest. Through the fabric, her fingertips brushed his skin, so lightly that it seemed she was outlining some invisible pattern.
“If we’re going to seek thrills, we might as well see it through to the end~”
Gu Chengyin lowered his eyes to look at Lin Qingyan.
A lingering flush still colored her cheeks, and the languid satisfaction between her brows had yet to fade.
Yet she spoke with complete seriousness, as though discussing an entirely proper matter.
She had disguised Shangguan Yunying as herself and tricked her into the Meditation Tower.
Then she had put on Shangguan Yunying’s clothes and come running to him.
First, she had turned uncooked rice into cooked rice, then served that cooked rice before him and told him there was still another bowl waiting in the pot.
Gu Chengyin fell silent for two breaths before sighing once again.
“Little Aunt, you’re such a shameless tease.”
Lin Qingyan shifted in his arms, burying her face even more deeply against his chest. A muffled laugh escaped her.
“You already said that.”
. 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.
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!
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?!
