Hearing that Lin Wan had something to say, Luo Zixuan thought for a moment and decided to postpone the confrontation.
What if Lin Wan had something important to discuss? He needed to prioritize the bigger picture.
Pressing his lips together, Luo Zixuan sat cross-legged, his expression very serious.
“You can speak.”
“Do you remember the chain that connected us before?”
Casually pulling up a chair, Lin Wan said solemnly, “Previously, as long as we were more than ten steps apart, the chain would appear. But when I went to Lin'an West Station earlier, the distance had already exceeded ten steps, yet the chain didn’t show up for a long time.”
“It seems that way.”
Furrowing his brows, Luo Zixuan grasped the key point and quickly imagined what Lin Wan would say next.
Taking a deep breath, Luo Zixuan looked at Lin Wan with a very aggrieved expression.
“So without the chain’s restrictions, you want to kick me out, right?!”
“Huh? How did you come to that conclusion?”
Lin Wan was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this.
Then, prompted by Luo Zixuan, he realized, and his gaze toward Luo Zixuan suddenly changed.
“Speaking of which, without the restraint of that chain, we don’t need to stay so close to each other like before.”
…!!!
In that moment, Luo Zixuan deeply felt the bitter consequences of his loose tongue.
He accidentally dug himself into a pit, and he was the one who dug it. Seeing Lin Wan's eager expression, Luo Zixuan's heart felt heavy.
“How could you do this?!”
Recalling the memories he dreamt of last night, Luo Zixuan’s eyes were filled with grievance.
Lin Wan: ???
What did I do?
Once again subjected to Luo Zixuan’s scornful gaze, Lin Wan felt a bit irritated.
“What’s with that look? Why can’t I do this?! I’m not your Dao partner, and I have no obligation to take you in. Besides, we…”
“You lied to me!”
Seeing Lin Wan trying to deceive him again, taking advantage of his amnesia, Luo Zixuan angrily began his counterattack.
“How could you do this, Lin Wan?! You promised to give me a chance when you confessed, so why are you going back on your word now?!”
In his anxiety, Luo Zixuan accidentally called Lin Wan “Lin Wan,” a name he had been explicitly told not to use.
Will he be angry?
Luo Zixuan cautiously glanced at Lin Wan, feeling a bit unsure. Even if he got angry, he wouldn’t back down this time, as this was a matter of principle!
Luo Zixuan, feeling like he was facing a formidable enemy, waited for Lin Wan's reply, his heart racing. He had already imagined several possible responses from Lin Wan and had thought of countermeasures for each one.
Regardless, this time, he must fight for a name for himself!
Lin Wan had no time to pay attention to Luo Zixuan's complex and changing gaze; he was stunned by what Luo Zixuan had just said.
"What did you say? Confession?? When did you confess to me? How come I don’t know about it??!"
Luo Zixuan: ???
Luo Zixuan was taken aback.
He never expected that his partner would act so uniquely. There was no denial, no rejection; he simply and unpretentiously dismissed the existence of the situation. The confusion on his face even made Luo Zixuan doubt whether he had remembered it wrong.
But soon, Luo Zixuan snapped back to reality.
"You forgot?"
"No wonder the day after my confession, you went out to explore the secret realm with someone else; turns out you forgot!?"
Luo Zixuan looked at Lin Wan as if he were looking at a heartless scumbag, his tone filled with disbelief.
Seeing Luo Zixuan’s assertive demeanor made Lin Wan feel a bit guilty.
"Uh, I have no recollection of when that happened..."
Luo Zixuan took a deep breath, closing his eyes, his magnetic voice filled with sadness.
"That very night we became friends, you brought alcohol, intending to get me drunk, but you ended up passing out after just one cup."
After a pause, Luo Zixuan couldn’t help but emphasize, "You clearly said you liked me back then! How can you deny it now?"
"…"
His memory was interrupted after he got drunk. But looking at Luo Zixuan, Lin Wan estimated that what he said might be true.
"Sorry, I don't remember anything after getting drunk."
He rubbed his nose, then shifted his tone, a hint of fierceness in his gaze.
"So, is that why you, this scoundrel, have been chasing me for so long?!"
Recalling his miserable life in the cultivation world, Lin Wan's gaze towards Luo Zixuan grew increasingly fierce.
Luo Zixuan: ???
"You made me do this!"
Luo Zixuan felt it was really hard for him. Under Lin Wan's disbelieving stare, he lamented, almost in tears,
"It was you who said you had high standards and wouldn’t agree to be with me until you could beat me."
"What could I do? Of course, I had to help you improve your combat skills!"
"After every fight, I was afraid you would get angry, so I gave you everything good I found in the secret realm!"
"How could you still act like this…"
Lin Wan: ???
In just a few minutes, he and Luo Zixuan had confused each other multiple times.
Looking at Luo Zixuan, who had a furrowed brow and a wronged expression, Lin Wan's bewilderment was off the charts.
"Wait a minute, don’t you have a partner? The one everyone in the cultivation world knows about! Are you messing with me?"
Upon hearing this, Luo Zixuan’s face flushed red.
He turned his gaze elsewhere, mumbling,
"That was because I felt unhappy seeing you being slandered by that vixen. So I found someone to spread rumors… no, wait, I meant to clarify our relationship. But who knew no one believed it! As the rumors spread, it turned into me having a mysterious partner."
"…"
There were so many flaws in this statement that Lin Wan didn't even know how to respond.
Weary, he rubbed his temples and looked at Luo Zixuan, who was three parts shy and seven parts regretful, with a tone full of despair.
"Then why didn’t you tell me?"
Although Luo Zixuan seemed foolish, he was quite attentive to Lin Wan’s matters.
When he heard Lin Wan's question, he cleared his throat and said somewhat shyly,
"Because when I went to find you again, I felt your attitude towards me wasn’t good and that you didn’t seem to welcome me. I was afraid if I was too honest, it would give you the chance to reject me directly. So I kept putting it off, hoping one day you’d beat me and could fulfill your promise."
"… How come you're so clever?"
Lin Wan never imagined that the person he considered a simpleton, Luo Zixuan, would have such a “strategic” side.
Seeing Luo Zixuan puff up his proud little chest under the compliment, Lin Wan switched gears and began to settle old scores.
"So, is that why you secretly went easy on me during our sparring sessions?"
"…"
He never expected that such an old incident could be brought up again.
Under Lin Wan's intense stare, Luo Zixuan thought for a moment and quickly came up with a brilliant excuse.
"I'm not quite sure what I was thinking back then; after all, I've lost my memory now."
"…"
Today, Luo Zixuan was so clever that Lin Wan couldn't help but admire him. Once again blocked by Luo Zixuan, Lin Wan rubbed his chest in frustration and offered him a kind smile.
"Alright, I’ll remember this. If you have the guts, never bring it up again in this lifetime."
"qaq"
His clever little spark, which had barely shone through, ended up causing him to offend his partner. Looking at the kind smile on Lin Wan’s face, Luo Zixuan desperately tried to secure a lifeline for his future self who might regain his memory.
"Actually, I might have thought that since you’re an auxiliary cultivator…"
Facing Luo Zixuan's eager but poorly expressed response, Lin Wan smiled slightly and replied without missing a beat.
"Does being an auxiliary cultivator mean I can’t defeat you?"
Seeing Luo Zixuan fall into a state of self-doubt, Lin Wan patted his head gently, his tone softening to the point that it made Luo Zixuan uneasy.
"Be good. Right now, you're suffering from amnesia. When you recover your memory, we can settle the old scores properly."
Lu Zixuan felt a bit distressed but dared not say anything further.
Lu Zixuan awkwardly leaned closer, hoping to use his charm to ease his partner's anger, but at that moment, he was pushed away by Lin Wan with a slap.
? Was his partner no longer attracted to his looks???
Lu Zixuan began to panic.
In his hesitant gaze, a beautiful smile suddenly appeared on Lin Wan's face as he opened his arms to him.
It turned out he was overthinking; his partner still liked him...
The next second, two fluffy little paws used his face as leverage, and with a kick of its legs, it joyfully pounced into Lin Wan's embrace.
"Meow~"
A sweet and soft meow rang out, and at the same time, Lin Wan let out a joyous exclamation.
"Han Ning, you finally woke up! Daddy missed you so much!"
"Meow~~"
Upon hearing this, the little kitten in Lin Wan's arms let out a spoiled whine. It kept rubbing against him, its body looking both delicate and soft.
“……”
Watching the little kitten that instantly captured all of Lin Wan's attention the moment it appeared, Lu Zixuan and the stunned group that arrived, exchanged a look of shock. In that moment, they all recalled the terror they felt at the hands of Han Ning.
---
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in the capital city,
After listening to Luo Zihan's report, both Luo's father and mother furrowed their brows tightly.
"Send a message to the Tianshi Association to mobilize personnel for a thorough investigation in Lin'an. The simultaneous appearance of four Golden Core-level magical beasts surely hides a significant issue."
"Yes," Luo Zihan nodded, her expression also showing concern.
"The most important thing is, once the magical beasts gain intelligence, the manpower and resources needed to eliminate them will increase exponentially."
"Sigh…" Under the warm orange light, Luo's mother let out a sigh.
---
In a basement on the outskirts of the capital,
"Pu—"
After spitting out another mouthful of blood, the man in black leaned against the iron-faced man, looking extremely disheveled.
"My King..."
Raising a hand to stop the iron-faced man's words, the man in black pulled down the hood he had been wearing, revealing a handsome, pale face that had been hidden in the shadows.
He recalled how he had put in so much effort to cultivate only four Golden Core-level magical beasts, only to have them all slaughtered by Lin Wan in an instant. His heart surged with hatred, and his eyes turned blood-red.
After leaning against the iron-faced man and catching his breath for a moment, he took a deep breath and said to the iron-faced man,
"Go, bring all the Gu poison I've been nurturing. External objects are ultimately unreliable. In the end, the only one I can trust is myself!"
"Understood, my King."
Carefully placed on the cushion, the black-robed man—Xing Qisen—reflected on his brief eye contact with Lin Wan, his gaze filled with malice.
"Heh, daring to ruin my plans. When I become a god, the first one I'll deal with is you! By then, I'll make you wish you were dead, suffering day and night, regretting and blaming yourself for the mistakes you've made before!!!"
His sinister and ruthless voice echoed in the basement, like a ghost from hell, filled with a madness ready to devour anyone.
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