Eine eisige Aura

Kapitel 99

“Aunt Rong likes you very much.” Gu Xiju sighed. “Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been so disobedient and ran out today.”

"Fortunately, I know more than she does. There can't be only one spy. The trump card is ultimately in my hands."

He smiled slightly and tossed the last painting onto the ground.

It was on the day she used the "Nanke" beauty trap that she saw that painting in the study—at the time, she was still deluding herself, thinking it was the work of Gu Xiju.

Pang Wan almost burst into tears.

Ten years! A full ten years! Ten years of lay in wait! Ten years of planning! What a brilliant scheme!

Her sacrifice and Nan Yi's forbearance were ultimately no match for this man's few words. With just his words, he successfully turned Nan Yi and Zuo Huai'an into enemies. Even if they managed to reconcile later, there would still be lingering resentment and shadows.

No amount of external attacks can be as effective as dismantling the enemy from within. Gu Xiju truly understands this principle!

"Don't you understand?"

Gu Xiju chuckled softly as he looked at her expression of near despair.

“From the day you were sent to the Moon Worship Cult, everything you eat, wear, use, read, and come into contact with has been carefully arranged by me—Wanwan, I have watched you grow up and have always watched you.”

His voice was so tender, as if she were a sweet malt candy specially for him to enjoy, and it wasn't enough to just eat her; he had to lick each finger clean.

In Gu Xiju's heart, he was the one who understood Pang Wan the most. Although he did not stand by her side in person, and although they were thousands of miles apart, he had been manipulating her through Aunt Rong.

He filtered out all unsuitable books and removed any training that might corrupt her mind. If it weren't for his careful nurturing, Pang Wan would have long since become a ruthless witch.

It's all because of him that Wanwan has grown up to be so kind, a kind of weak and easily bullied kindness.

However, from then on, she would also become twisted because of him, filled with vengefulness and vicious scheming.

He thoroughly enjoyed this peculiar simulation game.

"You like sweets, but you can't eat much; your favorite flower is jasmine, and you hate earthworms and caterpillars; your first crush was Nan Yi, right?"

Gu Xiju's voice seemed to drift from afar on the water, filled with a cool, thin mist.

“Wanwan, I raised you from the bottom of my heart, and no one knows you better than me.”

He pulled the stiff Pang Wan closer to his arms and took a pleasant breath of the long-lost fragrance emanating from the girl.

"No matter how much you hate them, you must understand this principle."

The author has something to say: I really enjoy writing the character of the Alliance Leader. Ah, it's so twisted yet makes perfect sense.

P.S. I'll be going to a remote mountain area starting next Tuesday and won't be back until the week after next. Internet access will be very difficult during that time, so I'll be taking a week off from updates. Please forgive me. See you on August 5th!

Chapter Seventeen

The Young Master Returns

That night, Pang Wan sat on the cold bed and sorted out the ins and outs of the news she had received during the day.

Mei Wu is an undercover agent for Gu Xiju, as is Rong Gu.

Mei Wu's face was fake. The cult leader saw through her deception, and she had no choice but to find a substitute to die in her place.

But she loved the Southern Barbarians and was unwilling to let them marry another woman so soon, which is why she risked her life to disrupt the wedding.

Aunt Rong stopped pretending to be unconscious because she was worried about herself. It's likely that Aunt Rong's serious injury and fainting that day were also caused by the sect leader taking advantage of the chaos. He saw that Aunt Rong had a problem, and judging from Gu Xiju's current attitude, he is clearly abandoning Mei Wu to protect Aunt Rong.

As for the Southern Barbarians, when they asked her to act in the wedding scene, they clearly thought she was their sister, so why did they take such a big risk?

However, none of the news was as shocking as the last one: she was actually the daughter of the cult leader and the previous Holy Maiden, while Nan Yi was the child of the cult leader's wife and another man.

The Moon Worship Cult is utterly chaotic.

How can the word "trapped" possibly describe the complexities of life in the martial arts world?

She thought about it for a long time, and finally, overcome by exhaustion, she fell asleep fully clothed, still wearing her wedding robes.

In her hazy state, it seemed as if someone jumped in, touched her face, said something, and then left silently.

She no longer had the energy to care.

The next morning, I groggily opened my eyes and saw a familiar person sitting in front of my bed.

For a moment, she almost thought she was dreaming—since he left, she had dreamt of him a couple of times.

So she just rubbed her eyes, turned over, and planned to continue sleeping for a while.

Then he was completely pulled back.

"You can still sleep?!" A loud shout came, and her entire jaw was clamped so tightly it almost split open.

The pain forced her to stay awake and struggle to open her eyes.

With a jade crown and bright eyes, wearing a blue brocade robe trimmed with sable fur, his face was pale and thin, and a cinnabar mole between his eyebrows exuded a noble and elegant air—this typical young master's appearance could only be that of He Qinglu, the eldest young master of the family.

However, his eyes were bloodshot and large dark circles were hanging under his eyelids, making him look extremely tired and sleepy.

"Young master, what brings you here? Didn't you sleep well last night?" Pang Wan, feeling dizzy, slapped away the other person's aggressive hand.

After seven days and seven nights of non-stop, tireless work, He Qinglu's anger was boiling over. He looked at the sleepy person on the bed in a fit of rage and shame, and for a moment he wished he could strangle her, tear her apart and eat her alive, and grind her bones to ashes.

But in the end, I couldn't bear to part with it.

"What are you wearing? Is this how you repay me?!"