The Vicious Beauty Faked His Death Three Times [Transmigration] - Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Illusion

Lin Qinghan tilted his head slightly. The pressure from the fingers on the vital point of his neck was somewhat heavy; he had to forcefully suppress the discomfort and the urge to resist that filled his chest.

It wasn’t that he truly wanted to place his life and death in Ling Yanhe’s hands, but it was likely only this way that the other would tell him exactly what had happened during that interval.

Moreover, he didn’t believe Ling Yanhe would actually take his life.

“Swallow this.”

Ling Yanhe held out his hand; in his palm sat a brown Gu insect.

Seeing that Gu, Lin Qinghan’s gaze darkened imperceptibly.

It was the same as the Gu shown by Xu Ji and Qi Tonghe the one that forced people to speak their true hearts.

“This Gu probably won’t have much of an effect on me. The Sub-Gu of the Symbiotic Gu is still in my body,” Lin Qinghan spoke.

“No matter, I only have a few things to ask you,” Ling Yanhe spoke calmly, giving Lin Qinghan no right to refuse.

Lin Qinghan looked down at the wriggling Gu and suddenly found it somewhat humorous.

Perhaps it was because Ling Yanhe had disguised himself too well at Tianhai Pavilion, or perhaps the trust value of 30 had given him some illusions, but he had almost thought that Ling Yanhe actually harbored some trust for him now.

It seemed he had been overthinking things.

Ling Yanhe looked down at Lin Qinghan. He caught the flash of surprise in the other’s eyes when he saw the Gu, though it was quickly reined in.

At this moment, he was standing, while Lin Qinghan leaned over the table looking down at the Gu. From his angle, he could only see the tip of the other’s nose and could not discern his emotions.

Ling Yanhe looked at the Gu in his palm, and an inexplicable irritability rose in his heart.

This Gu would likely only work on Lin Qinghan for about ten sentences; he shouldn’t be doing such useless work.

“Fine.”

“What?”

Lin Qinghan’s voice was very soft, falling by his ear like a passing breeze. He subconsciously chased after the words with a question.

Ling Yanhe didn’t receive a verbal response; he only saw Lin Qinghan’s head lower, followed by a soft sensation against his palm that made his fingertips subconsciously curl.

The touch was gone in an instant. Lin Qinghan quickly looked up at him, his eyes as clear and bright as usual, yet to Ling Yanhe, they felt like a thorn lightly pricking him.

“If Young Master has something to ask, please be quick. Otherwise, even if I tell lies, Young Master won’t be able to tell,” Lin Qinghan spoke with a smile.

Hearing these barbed words, Ling Yanhe couldn’t help but frown slightly.

He realized belatedly that if Lin Qinghan truly trusted him, then the act of feeding him the Gu had wounded the other’s heart.

But Ling Yanhe didn’t feel there was anything wrong with the act itself.

Lin Qinghan was his ally; he needed to be clear on how much sincerity the other had before they could cooperate. If he didn’t use a Gu, he would have used other means.

“At that time, were you certain that we could both escape together?”

Lin Qinghan looked at Ling Yanhe with some surprise, as if he hadn’t expected him to ask such a question.

“No,” Lin Qinghan answered truthfully.

If Ling Yanhe had chosen to abandon him, he would indeed have died.

“Why were you so reckless?” Ling Yanhe frowned at him.

“A gamble. If I won the bet, I’d die; if I lost, there was still a path to life,” Lin Qinghan replied.

Besides, he felt that Ling Yanhe wouldn’t be willing to discard such a useful blade as himself.

What surprised him was that the original host’s realm was beyond the Nascent Soul stage. The person who placed the seal on him must have been exceptionally skilled in magic, as even Ye Chaoyan and Ling Yanhe had been fooled.

Did Ling Yanhe think he was too impulsive? Lin Qinghan couldn’t quite gauge the other’s thoughts.

“Why did you accept my true qi?” Ling Yanhe looked down.

Lin Qinghan’s gaze turned even stranger: “Didn’t Young Master transfer it to me?”

“I transfer it and you just accept the whole thing?” Ling Yanhe’s frown deepened.

“Otherwise?” Lin Qinghan asked in return.

Wait to die of demonic exhaustion?

“I didn’t expect you to be so naive,” Ling Yanhe withdrew his hand from the vital point of the neck, his tone unreadable.

Lin Qinghan looked at Ling Yanhe and didn’t speak.

He also didn’t expect Ling Yanhe to be so timid—or was he afraid that if Lin Qinghan died, it would waste too much of his time?

“Are you Lin Qinghan?”

It was a question out of nowhere, but Ling Yanhe’s tone didn’t sound like he was joking.

Did he discover something?

Lin Qinghan’s heart skipped a beat. The Gu’s effect was gone; he could lie.

“Yes.”

Ling Yanhe didn’t respond. His gaze fell upon him, sizing him up from top to bottom.

Lin Qinghan didn’t back down; he stared straight at him, without a trace of cowardice, completely open and candid.

“Sleeping on the inside, or the outside?”

“Huh?”

Ling Yanhe’s words jumped so far that Lin Qinghan was dazed for a second, but the other had already turned around and pulled a quilt from the wardrobe.

“Or do you want to sleep on the floor?” Ling Yanhe looked back at him.

It was as if the interrogation just now had been a hallucination.

It was late autumn now; it wasn’t time to light charcoal basins yet, and there was a chill in the night.

Lin Qinghan was someone who feared the cold. He looked at the floor, then at the reasonably wide bed. He thought for a while and finally made a decision.

“I’ll sleep on the floor,” Lin Qinghan stepped forward to take the quilt.

Sleeping in the same bed as Ling Yanhe, he was afraid he’d wake up the next morning without his life.

Ling Yanhe gave a “Mm” and said nothing more.

Presumably, the sentence just now had been a test, wanting to remind him to keep his distance.

Thinking this, Lin Qinghan nimbly set up his bedding on the floor.

The waiter, having received a tip, worked quickly and brought up the meal before long. During that time, Shen Miaomiao came by to check on them, but she was dragged away by Ye Chaoyan before she could stay for long.

When Lin Qinghan lay down on the floor and felt the slight chill seeping into his back, he suddenly realized that late autumn nights weren’t easy to endure.

Even if he was currently a demon with a Fire spiritual root, he still had to accept the baptism of nature.

At this thought, Lin Qinghan felt more and more that Ling Yanhe had teased him on purpose.

Perhaps it was revenge for the sword strike he gave him at Tianhai Pavilion, but given another chance, Lin Qinghan would still strike without hesitation.

Looking at the value of 30 on the panel, Lin Qinghan didn’t feel at ease.

Those five points were added after Ling Yanhe fed him the Gu.

The growth of Ling Yanhe’s trust value mostly relied on harming and oppressing him; the other’s paranoid personality was even more troublesome than imagined.

The remaining 20 points probably wouldn’t be easy to obtain.

The road was truly long and difficult.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came. Lin Qinghan looked toward the bed.

The candles had been extinguished and the room was shrouded in darkness. Lin Qinghan looked for a long while before he could see clearly: there was no one on the bed.

Where did Ling Yanhe go?

He was at the Nascent Soul stage now; he shouldn’t have been unable to hear the other’s movements.

Just as Lin Qinghan sat up, a tiny sound came from behind him.

In a flash of sparks, the Black Bone Fan suddenly appeared and stabbed behind him. At the moment it was blocked, Lin Qinghan turned abruptly, gripped the fan, and pressed down with force. The person behind him somehow yielded their strength and was pinned hard to the floor by him, letting out a muffled groan.

The Black Bone Fan was held horizontally against the person’s neck.

“What madness is this?” Lin Qinghan said in shock when he saw the person beneath him.

Ling Yanhe pointed at the fan: “Someone has cast an illusion.”

Lin Qinghan frowned at him and didn’t retract the fan immediately, instead sizing up the person beneath him.

The youth’s features were sharp and well-defined, still carrying a touch of lingering childhood air. Those sinister eyes actually held a hint of brightness now, staring straight at Lin Qinghan.

Even if he had many grievances against Ling Yanhe, the other’s face was indeed excessively good—to the point where even a straight man like himself would sigh in admiration.

The youth didn’t receive a response from Lin Qinghan and frowned, appearing somewhat impatient. Regardless of the fan against his neck, he forcibly flipped over and pinned the other beneath him.

Drip.

A drop of blood fell below Lin Qinghan’s eye, then slid gently down the side of his face, leaving a bloodstain.

The brightness in Ling Yanhe’s eyes was obscured, now carrying an unreadable darkness.

The other’s frame was larger than his; being completely overshadowed gave Lin Qinghan the inexplicable illusion of being pounced upon by a vicious wolf.

“You…”

Lin Qinghan’s words stopped abruptly. Somewhat cold fingertips stroked from beneath his eye, making him frown. He tilted his head to dodge, but his jaw was gripped and forcibly pulled back.

The force was terrifyingly large; Lin Qinghan felt his jaw must have been pinched red.

He looked up at Ling Yanhe, and seeing those eyes that seemed to be covered by a layer of mist, he froze, and his mind cleared significantly.

He simply stopped moving and instead arched an eyebrow at Ling Yanhe, wanting to see what the other intended to do.

Ling Yanhe seemed pleased by his obedience. The hand gripping his jaw loosened and slid down Lin Qinghan’s neck, finally stopping at his chest, slender fingers tapping lightly over his heart.

A black mist rose in those deep eyes, and a sinister gaze landed on Lin Qinghan’s heart, as if wanting to cut him open and take out that heart to observe it carefully.

“You want to cut it open?” Lin Qinghan asked softly.

Hearing this, Ling Yanhe narrowed his eyes at him.

Like a young wolf encountering its favorite prey for the first time, unsure where to bite.

“Come here, I’ll teach you.”

Lin Qinghan reached out and hooked Ling Yanhe’s lapel, his eyes curving with a smile.

His usually gentle voice was spoken lightly and slowly now, like a bewitching siren singing, coaxing the person to follow his movements unconsciously.

Ling Yanhe followed his movement and slowly lowered his head.

His breath fanned against Lin Qinghan’s neck. Lin Qinghan showed no sign of resistance, instead staring straight at Ling Yanhe.

Unknowingly, a hand slid up Ling Yanhe’s waist, stroked across his back, and finally tapped the back of his neck, striking with force.

Ling Yanhe let out a muffled groan and collapsed onto Lin Qinghan.

The illusion shattered abruptly. The candles were burning now, and the room was filled with light.

Lin Qinghan looked coldly at the Ling Yanhe lying on top of him, a hint of sharpness unconsciously staining his eyes. He raised a hand and patted the back of the other’s head, his tone icy: “Keep dreaming your grand dreams.”

Then, he cleanly pushed the person away.

Wanting to dig out my heart while under an illusion? Is this the protagonist’s ‘trust’?

Lin Qinghan stood up and ignored the Ling Yanhe lying on the floor. He looked around, trying to find the person who had cast the spell.

Suddenly, his gaze stopped on the paper window.

At some point, a pin-sized hole had been poked through the window.

Lin Qinghan narrowed his eyes at the hole, and drowsiness gradually surged up. He frowned deeply, his gaze landing on the burning candle.

In the next instant, his consciousness plummeted into darkness, and he collapsed to the floor.

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