The Cicada Sheds Its Shell—Truly, Familiarity Breeds Affection
The Cicada Sheds Its Shell—Truly, Familiarity Breeds Affection
Footsteps approached from outside the courtyard. Besides Lin Qiuhan, there were others as well.
Lin Tian’s face was deathly pale, his body trembling slightly.
His heart kept sinking.
What should he do now?
Charge out? Or surrender without a fight?
But his condition was terrible. His Source was damaged, causing a violent backlash.
He could barely even walk—how could he possibly run?
At this moment, he couldn’t help but feel a wave of despair.
It was just like back then, when he had torn through space to ascend, nearly reaching the Beyond, only to encounter a Space Rift halfway.
That same despair and helplessness surged into his heart once more.
Was he truly going to die tonight?
I’m not willing to accept this! I finally got to live a second life, and I haven’t even returned to my peak—how can I fall again here?
Lin Tian roared madly in his heart.
Just then, as if the heavens had heard his roar, as if a sliver of life still remained somewhere in the unseen workings of fate—
A flash of hope suddenly flickered through Lin Tian’s mind.
Feign death!
That’s right!
To make his death look convincing, Lin Tian went even further—he simply severed his own heart meridian, using a secret art to protect his Remnant Soul and hide it in the deepest depths of his Knowledge Sea.
Unless someone with heaven-defying methods examined him, no one could see through this secret art of his.
After all, Lin Tian’s original soul had long since suffered Body Possession. What remained now was just an empty shell—once the heart meridian was severed, all signs of life would naturally vanish.
And the true brilliance of this secret art lay in the fact that after three days, the art would dissolve on its own, and he would automatically awaken, his damaged heart meridian repaired.
By then, even if the Lin Family discovered him, he could use amnesia as an excuse to muddle through.
Very quickly, Lin Tian thought it all through.
He didn’t hesitate in the slightest.
With a wah, he violently spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes rolled back, his body convulsed, and he collapsed straight to the ground.
Bang!
At that very moment, the courtyard gate was pushed open.
“Xiao Tian, what’s wrong?!”
“Lin Tian...”
The scene before them instantly left Lin Qiuhan and the others in utter shock.
...
The next day.
The sky was just beginning to brighten.
Gu Changge opened his eyes, woken by the commotion outside the great hall.
Last night, after devouring a large number of Otherworldly Sky Demons along with that wisp of Lin Tian’s lifespan Source, his Primordial Spirit’s power had grown considerably.
That wisp of lifespan Source, strictly speaking, had belonged to the original Lin Tian of the Enlightened King Realm.
It contained quite a bit of life-force within it.
After digesting it, Gu Changge had slept rather soundly.
After all, he wasn’t like other Cultivators who needed to stay constantly alert, sitting cross-legged in cultivation at all times.
When adding points let him break through so quickly, why would he subject himself to that kind of suffering?
“Young Master, there seem to be many people waiting for you outside the hall.”
Su Qingge was already fully dressed, her dark hair smooth and flowing.
Her face was flawless and exquisite, glowing with a moving luster.
As she called out to Gu Changge, she gazed curiously and puzzledly toward the outside of the hall.
What exactly had happened last night while she was fast asleep?
Gu Changge hadn’t told her.
She actually didn’t know much about it herself.
So why were all the Lin Family members, Ming Lao included, standing there so nervously, waiting respectfully?
By the looks of it, they were waiting for the Young Master.
“Looks like they’ve caught the person.”
Gu Changge stretched lazily as he spoke casually.
Su Qingge attended to him at his side as he got up.
Hearing this, she couldn’t help but ask in confusion, “Who is this person the Young Master speaks of?”
“Naturally, the one who tried to kill me last night.”
Gu Changge replied offhandedly.
Under the Lin Family’s layers upon layers of lockdown, even if Lin Tian sprouted wings, he couldn’t escape.
On this point, Gu Changge was quite at ease.
“Something like that happened last night, and I didn’t feel a thing.”
Hearing this, Su Qingge was stunned.
Had she really slept that soundly?
Such a huge incident, and she knew nothing about it.
Or rather... had the Young Master deliberately kept the commotion small so as not to disturb her?
Thinking of this, Su Qingge felt a touch of warmth in her heart again.
Someone of Gu Changge’s status stood high above all, free to do as he pleased without a care in the world.
Why would he care about anyone else’s feelings or thoughts?
Yet he was so considerate toward her—how could she not notice?
But it was precisely because of this that she sank deeper and deeper.
Gu Changge, of course, had no idea what Su Qingge was thinking at this moment.
A woman’s mind—how could he possibly read it so clearly?
What he did notice was the System notifying him that his Fortuity points had risen again. It seemed Su Qingge’s submission to him had deepened another layer.
Truly, it proved that old saying—familiarity breeds affection.
“You slept like a pig last night. How could you possibly have known?”
Gu Changge teased casually as he walked toward the hall’s exit.
Su Qingge gave a soft huff through her nose, then asked curiously,
“Could the one who tried to kill the Young Master last night be that youth named Lin Tian?”
“How did you guess?” Gu Changge was slightly surprised.
“Well, based on the conversation between Miss Lin Qiuhan and the Young Master, I could sense that there was something very wrong with that good-for-nothing youth named Lin Tian,” Su Qingge explained.
“Quite clever of you. My doting on you hasn’t gone to waste.”
Gu Changge praised.
Though Su Qingge was still somewhat puzzled.
Why would that youth named Lin Tian be so bent on seeking death, coming to kill the Young Master?
Is staying alive really so bad?
Sometimes, ignorance and jealousy truly can get a person killed.
Soon, Gu Changge had arrived outside the hall.
Looking out, he saw a vast sea of heads before him—all members of the Lin Family.
“Young Master, this old servant failed in his discipline. I beg the Young Master to punish me.”
Ming Lao stood at the front, his face full of guilt. He stepped forward, about to kneel and beg forgiveness.
“You found the person?”
At the sight, mana surged in Gu Changge’s hand as he held the old man up with an invisible force, his face remaining utterly calm, betraying neither joy nor anger.
At this moment, he was naturally asking what he already knew.
After all, the fault didn’t lie with Ming Lao.
Presumably, no one in the Lin Family had ever imagined that a perfectly ordinary good-for-nothing would do such a thing.
But on the surface, he had to put on an act of ignorance. After all, having the Lin Family discover Lin Tian’s true identity themselves would be far more entertaining than him, an outsider, exposing it.
“Reporting to the Young Master, the person has been found, but...”
As Ming Lao spoke to this point, the guilt on his face deepened.
And the Lin Family members grew even more terrified, not daring to even breathe loudly.
The Lin Family head had it worst of all—his forehead and back were drenched in cold sweat, his legs going weak.
Once this young daren flew into a rage, it wouldn’t just be him who suffered—the entire Lin Family, even the Founding Ancestor, would be dragged into disaster.
Everyone shared the same mood, their hearts gripped by fear and unease, as if awaiting an emperor’s sentencing.
Among them, Lin Qiuhan’s face was equally pale, unable to believe it, seemingly still not recovered from last night’s blow.
“Oh? What happened to him?”
Gu Changge asked, rather intrigued.
He wanted to know what other tricks this Lin Tian could pull.
He couldn’t escape—so was he going to argue his way out? Pretend he knew nothing?
“Last night...”
Then, filled with self-blame and guilt, Ming Lao began to explain.