Two days after that fateful night beneath the lanterns, Gu Changge stood atop a quiet cliff just beyond the sect's borders. The morning sun filtered through drifting mists, glinting off his jade pendant and the crimson edge of his robe.
He raised two fingers to the air.
From behind a pine tree, a shadow emerged—kneeling, head bowed low.
"Reporting in, Young Master."
"Continue surveillance of Lin Tian," Gu Changge said coolly. "I want every step traced—who he meets, where he wanders, and what his damnable ring whispers."
"Yes."
"And observe Lin Xian'er as well. But do not let her sense it. She's… delicate."
The agent nodded, then vanished into the wind.
Gu Changge's gaze drifted east, toward Emerald Cloud City.
Toward her.
The one who had whispered his false name in the dark.
> System Update
Observation Task: Lin Tian – Ongoing
Progress [Seduce Lin Rou]: 38% → Objective: 50%
Affinity Threshold Detected – Second Visit Advised
Suggested Action: Emotionally Resonant Outing
Optional Bonus: Gift that Symbolizes Romantic Attachment
Potential Targets for Fate Fracture: Lin Rou (Dependency: 54%) / Lin Xian'er (Curiosity: Rising)
He smiled faintly, then turned and vanished down the mountain trail—robes trailing like shadowed silk, heart cold and calculating.
---
Emerald Cloud City's morning crowds bustled with the usual rhythm: cultivators haggling over spiritual herbs, merchants peddling formation scrolls, and children chasing paper butterflies woven with light talismans.
Amid this, a woman in pale robes walked quietly by herself.
Lin Rou.
Her pace was calm, but her thoughts were not. The last two nights she had dreamt of warmth—not from her core, but from him. His voice. His presence.
She barely noticed the vendor calling her name until—
"Rou-jie."
She turned—and saw him.
Wei Yunzhao.
Older, still weary-eyed, still handsome in that silent, restrained way. A warmth spread across her chest before she could stop it.
He held out a steaming bun. "You haven't eaten, have you?"
She blinked. "…How did you know?"
He smiled. "Call it intuition. I was… passing through again, and thought I'd check on an old friend."
And once again, her heart accepted it—without resistance.
---
Soon they were walking through the market together, side by side.
Lin Rou smiled more easily this time. "You always had a way of appearing out of nowhere."
"And you still speak as if you haven't aged a day," he replied. "Your voice—it's exactly how I remember it."
She flushed faintly.
They stopped beside a small jade ornament stall. Lin Rou's fingers hovered over a simple, elegant silver hairpin shaped like a moonflower.
She didn't notice his eyes watching her hand.
"You like it?"
"It's nothing," she murmured, drawing her fingers back. "I don't indulge in such things anymore."
But he was already reaching into his pouch.
Moments later, the vendor bowed, silver coins in hand.
Gu Changge stepped behind her and, with gentle care, fixed the pin into her braid.
The touch was fleeting—but Lin Rou's breath caught.
"It suits you," he said softly.
> System Notification:
[Gesture of Care – Romantic Resonance Triggered]
Lin Rou's Affection: +12
Emotional Entanglement: Deepening
Ice Poison Response: Suppressed (Proximity Active)
Lin Rou's Thoughts: "...Why does this feel like a memory I've always had?"
---
They returned to the Lin residence as sunset brushed the skies in soft vermillion.
Gu Changge helped carry her baskets inside. His presence had become familiar—and Lin Xian'er, observing quietly from the upper floor, frowned faintly.
Her mother looked… different. Lighter. There was a softness to her steps again.
And it was because of him.
That night, over a quiet dinner, Gu Changge barely spoke. But Lin Rou did. She talked about the pain less, and about dreams more. About books she used to read before cultivation stole all her time.
About a silver hairpin once gifted to her by Lin Tian's father—and how she'd lost it.
Gu Changge said nothing.
But later, as she walked him to the guest room once again, her hand brushed his sleeve.
"I'm glad you came back."
He turned. "I will again. If you'll allow it."
Her smile was barely there, but real. "…You always had a way of making me feel safe."
> System Update
Night Stay Flag: Repeated Contact Achieved
Affection Progress: +8
Lin Rou's Trust: Peak
Ice Poison Response: Dormant (Soothed by Yang Presence)
She hesitated.
Then stepped forward.
And hugged him.
---
That night, Lin Rou's sleep came faster. Her body remained warm under his passive aura. Though he didn't share her bed, the warmth of the next room made the poison retreat again—if only temporarily.
In her dreams, she was no longer cold.
In her dreams, the man she called for had silver in his hair, and regret in his eyes.
---
Gu Changge sat at the low table in the guest room, refining a cultivation pill.
But inwardly, he watched the flickering threads of fate that danced before his spiritual sense.
Lin Rou's thread was vibrant, tinged with heat. A scarlet hue bloomed along its edges—dependency deepening. Her heart had begun rewriting itself, memory by false memory.
Lin Xian'er's thread pulsed faintly.
Curiosity. Confusion.
The beginning of emotional contradiction.
And Lin Tian's?
Still fraying.
Still unknowing.
> System Interface
Sub-Quest Progress:
[✔] Stay One Night – Completed
[✔] Gift Symbolic Token – Completed
[✔] Affection Threshold I – Crossed
[ ] Affection Threshold II – Pending (Requires Physical Intimacy or Confession Event)
[✔] Emotional Imprint – Solidified
[✔] Ice Poison Relief – Ongoing
[ ] Emotional Lock – Pending
[ ] Reveal Crisis Trigger – Pending
Fate Severance (Lin Tian): 11% → 13%
Gu Changge folded his arms.
"Soon," he murmured. "She'll look at him, and not feel the same warmth anymore."
---
In the hallway, Lin Xian'er stood outside his door. Silent.
She had tried not to listen—but she had heard the tenderness in her mother's voice. Had seen the way she looked at him. Had watched the hairpin gleam like a vow in her braid.
And part of her hated that she wasn't the one he looked at that way.
---
The next morning, Gu Changge returned to his villa.
He shed the false form and let his true face emerge—cold and divine, unmarred by time.
He summoned the thread map again.
And this time—
A new strand sparked faintly in the web.
Lin Xian'er.
Still faint.
But now—twined slightly toward his own.
A whisper.
A seed.
And seeds… he could cultivate.
> System Update:
Villain Value +400
Lin Rou: Affection – 76% | Dependency – 63% | Trust – MAX
Sub-Quest [Seduce Lin Rou]: Progress – 52%
Affection Phase II (Trigger: Intimate Contact or Dream Imprint)
Ice Poison Resistance: Strengthening
Lin Tian Fate Severance: +2%
Lin Xian'er Impression: Spark of Rivalry – Registered
Potential Affection Thread: Begun
---
Gu Changge looked toward the horizon.
"Now, the cracks begin within the family itself."
He paused.
"And after I shatter the mother… I'll turn the daughter into something even he would never recognize."
His fingers closed around a new talisman from the system store. A gift.
One meant for Lin Xian'er.
But not yet.
First, he would watch.
And wait.
And let desire twist into something unrecognizable.
---
End of Chapter 4
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