Cold on the Outside, Sweet on the Inside

Gu Chengyin noticed that Lin Qingyan had truly changed.

What was Lin Qingyan like before?

She was a woman with an overwhelming sense of possessiveness, who wished to follow him wherever he went.

She regarded him as a precious treasure that no one else could have and carefully held him in her hands.

She wrapped him with the softest silk, placed him in the most exquisite box, and locked it with the sturdiest lock.

Then she hung the key around her neck, hiding it close to her body and showing it to no one.

Lin Qingyan even once thought about locking him in a small dark room.

She was afraid that he would be snatched away, that someone would have their eye on him, and that he would be lured away by others when she wasn't looking.

This sense of insecurity made Lin Qingyan like a lioness guarding her food, constantly on edge and vigilant.

She was always ready to show her fangs to anyone who dared to approach.

But now?

Now Lin Qingyan had let go.

She was no longer anxious, no longer tense, and no longer constantly on guard like before.

She didn't even think about locking Gu Chengyin in a small dark room anymore.

Now Lin Qingyan could sleep soundly, not caring at all who Gu Chengyin was with or what he was doing.

Even if something really happened, she would accept and tolerate it with amazing grace and magnanimity.

Of course, she was only like this towards Gu Chengyin.

In front of others, Lin Qingyan was still the aloof and detached Fairy Jingzhe.

She looked down upon all living beings from the Ninth Heaven, untouched by even a speck of dust.

This was probably what it meant to be cold on the outside and overly sweet on the inside.

On the outside, she was like a frozen world, so cold that it could kill.

On the inside, she was like a jar of honey, so sweet that it could cloy.

But regardless of whether it was or not, for Gu Chengyin, this made his decision even more difficult.

Because Lin Qingyan, who was already perfect, had now become even more so.

Before, she was perfect, but there were thorns in her perfection.

Possessiveness, insecurity, obsession, and so on.

She was like a rose with thorns. Beautiful, yes, but when you reached out to pick it, you would get pricked and bleed.

Gu Chengyin could find his place among these thorns, stay sober among them, and remind himself.

But now, Lin Qingyan had plucked out these thorns one by one.

What was revealed was her softest, most vulnerable, and most easily hurt true heart.

This kind of unreserved trust and dedication was more moving than any sweet words and more deadly than any weapons.

Because Gu Chengyin could be on guard against enemies, be wary of opponents, and keep his distance from those with ill intentions.

But how could he be on guard against Lin Qingyan, who had plucked out all her thorns, exposed her softest true heart, and trusted him unreservedly?

It was too difficult. He would only be moved by her, melted by her, and then gradually sink deeper and deeper.

So it was foreseeable that Lin Qingyan would be the greatest calamity and obstacle to his ascension.

This was not a derogatory statement, nor was it saying that it was bad.

Rather, it was to show how important Lin Qingyan was.

So important that even Gu Chengyin, a man who could stir up storms in the court, was invincible on the battlefield, and had never been held back by anything on his path of cultivation.

He had to take it extremely seriously and not dare to be the slightest bit negligent.

Lin Qingyan was the greatest calamity to his ascension because she made him not want to ascend.

Lin Qingyan was the greatest obstacle to his ascension because she made him feel that.

Staying in this world was more meaningful than flying to a higher and farther place.

If possible, Gu Chengyin really didn't want to hurt Lin Qingyan.

Not to mention hurting her, even making this fairy suffer the slightest bit of grievance could be considered a great crime.

She was such a wonderful person, so perfect, so gentle, and so understanding.

She was willing to change herself for him, willing to pluck out the thorns on her body for him.

She was willing to expose her softest true heart to him.

Would anyone really have the heart to make Lin Qingyan suffer grievance, make her sad, and leave her alone?

If there really was such a person, then this person should be cut into pieces.

Except that the knife would be Lin Qingyan's gentle knife, and the cutting would be Lin Qingyan's tender cutting.

At this moment, this fairy whom Gu Chengyin found it increasingly difficult to let go of and increasingly didn't want to hurt.

Was nestled in his arms, coaxing and flattering him in a soft voice.

Gu Chengyin chose to confront her head - on:

"Auntie, aren't you afraid you won't be able to get out of bed?"

Lin Qingyan originally wanted to talk big.

Anyway, after talking big, she could pretend she hadn't said anything.

But her intuition stopped her.

If she really responded, Gu Chengyin would probably go all out.

Then she really wouldn't be able to get out of bed, not just today, maybe not for several days.

So Lin Qingyan couldn't respond. There were important things to do today, and she couldn't be unable to get out of bed.

Many people would come to the Divine Capital today.

They were not ordinary people, not court officials or street merchants, but representatives of various sects in the cultivation world.

The Taihe Battle was a major event for the Celestial Master Mansion and a grand occasion for the entire cultivation world.

Those cultivation sects that usually hid in the mountains and ignored worldly affairs would all send representatives to attend the ceremony.

So there would definitely be Golden Core True Immortals among them.

They came not to watch the Taihe Battle itself.

But to see the strength of the Celestial Master Mansion and the demeanor of the future Taihe.

To see if the most powerful force on this land was still as strong as before.

As the most powerful combatant of the Celestial Master Mansion, Lin Qingyan had to be present in person to ensure that nothing went wrong.

This was the duty of Jingzhe of the Celestial Master Mansion, so she couldn't miss it because she couldn't get out of bed.

Both Gu Chengyin and Lin Qingyan were very clear about this.

So Lin Qingyan gave in.

Just as the character "lose", which she had never written, was written all over her body by Gu Chengyin.

The character "coward", which she had never written, was also written all over her.

It's just that the character "lose" was written on the outside, while the character "coward" was engraved on the inside.

Lin Qingyan let out an embarrassed laugh, with a bit of playfulness, a bit of cunning, and a bit of a cover - up for her willfulness.

She backed out of Gu Chengyin's arms as fast as a gust of wind, so fast that her hair whipped up an arc in the air.

She got out of bed, put on her shoes, and walked towards the door, each step as if she was running away.

As if she was one step slower, Gu Chengyin would grab her back and pin her on the bed.

"Oops, I'll go and see how Zhao'er is packing up."

Lin Qingyan's voice floated in from the door, and then her footsteps disappeared at the stairway.

Gu Chengyin sat on the bed, looking in the direction where Lin Qingyan had disappeared, and couldn't help but shake his head.

He now knew how to deal with these ladies.

He had to be tough, he had to hold their heads down and let them know who was the head of the family.

Only when they were so weak that they had to plead for mercy would they really behave.

Unlike the beautiful ladies who needed to carefully groom themselves.

Gu Chengyin got out of bed, put on his clothes, and that was all.

The whole process took less than two minutes, simple and efficient, without the need for anyone's help.

When he came downstairs, Luo Zhao and Lin Qingyan were both sitting in front of the dressing table, carefully grooming themselves.