Under the dim morning light, Gu Qinghan understood everything.
Qian Yu had indeed lied to her from the very beginning, but it was only because she felt that Nalan Yunyan was not a bad person.
She did not want Gu Qinghan to fall into a senseless enmity with her, nor did she want her to be harmed by Nalan Yunyan after her fall into devilry.
That was why she had been communicating with both sides.
The silence that had persisted since they entered the room was because Qian Yu had been triggered by the scene in her dream upon seeing that the lamps were not lit.
She had simply been too afraid to speak.
Gu Qinghan had completely misunderstood her.
Qian Yu was not some scheming fox at all.
She simply wanted to be friends, but she was constantly worried that the events of her dream would actually happen.
That was why her behavior was often so prone to being misunderstood.
Even before, when she had chosen Nalan Yunyan over Gu Qinghan in front of the Cloud-Weave Star Venerable, it was only because she feared Gu Qinghan would be implicated.
She had no other choice.
Despite Gu Qinghan misunderstanding her to such an extent — even to the point of wanting to sever her memories of the girl — the other party had even told her about the prophetic dream.
What Qian Yu was worried about was not that Gu Qinghan would use this foresight for something, but rather whether she would believe her and… a handkerchief.
‘What kind of friend am I really?’
Looking at Qian Yu, who was pressing her legs together and trying to make herself look as small as possible in her seat, an indescribable sense of guilt surged into Gu Qinghan’s heart.
She clenched her palms, wanting to comfort her, but she did not know what to do.
She could only sit beside her, occasionally placing her hands on her knees and then on the table, waiting for Qian Yu’s emotions to settle.
Gu Qinghan did not know that in order to resolve this “crisis”, the timing of Qian Yu’s “confession” was extremely calculated.
Had she spoken up the first time she met Gu Qinghan, or waited a few days for the other party to seek her out, Gu Qinghan would never have believed her.
It was only now, after she had received Gu Qinghan’s active help — which served as evidence that her killing intent had temporarily subsided — that it could work.
Only now could her silence pique curiosity, her abrupt weeping shake Gu Qinghan’s heart, and the subsequent mention of the dream lead to belief.
Only now would Gu Qinghan be in no mood to press for finer details.
From the moment they entered the Cave Residence, every movement, every expression, and every word from Qian Yu had been repeatedly pondered and meticulously designed.
Even Gu Qinghan’s suspicions about her being a “scheming fox” had been taken into account.
The tears of a coward are worthless, and the tears of a crybaby are equally so.
Only the sincere tears of a villain like her — one who even dared to scheme against the Cloud-Weave Star Venerable — truly possess the power to move someone.
This was exactly why Qian Yu had rushed over tonight.
Any later and the other party might not have remembered so vividly that she was a scheming fox capable of making the Cloud-Weave Star Venerable get struck by lightning.
Every step was like walking a tightrope, but fortunately, she had succeeded.
The crisis on Gu Qinghan’s side was finally resolved.
Qian Yu let out a soft sigh of relief, completely unaware that everything she had done was being watched clearly by Yingning inside the ring.
Qian Yu could easily handle Gu Qinghan, but in front of Yingning, who had lived for an unknown number of years, these meticulously designed words and phrases were full of flaws.
In other words… without knowing it, she was completely exposed.
‘This damned fox even tricks a blockhead like Qinghan!’
Hiding inside the ring and sulking while observing the situation outside, Yingning stomped her feet and cursed.
On that seemingly bright and moving face of a young girl, there was an aura of killing intent so dense it had reached its peak.
Yingning could accept her disciple having special expectations for Qian Yu, but she could not accept Qian Yu deliberately exploiting those expectations.
Her original plan for tonight was to observe Qian Yu’s true attitude toward Gu Qinghan.
If it was a sincere exchange, she would not interfere and would let her disciple choose for herself.
But what had she just seen?
From the moment that fox entered the Cave Residence, every single thing she did and every expression she showed was hypocritical and affected.
The girl had too much talent for acting and was too good at manipulating hearts.
That line about being worried for the handkerchief after talking about the dream — if it had happened a few thousand years ago, Yingning might have been moved.
But Yingning was nearly 10,000 years old.
No matter how moving Qian Yu’s performance was, it was too formulaic.
How each tear should fall to look the most moving had all been designed.
That was the most fatal flaw.
She could not tolerate such an existence — one who might also possess Heaven’s Mandate and who deliberately manipulated the heartstrings of others at every turn — staying by her disciple’s side.
The killing intent on Yingning’s face grew even denser as a Blood-colored Talisman flashed between her semi-transparent fingertips.
Only a single strand of hair was needed.
Tomorrow, after Qian Yu returned, she would mysteriously die during her cultivation, her cause of death unknown.
With a thought, the Blood-colored Talisman in Yingning’s hand began to flicker with an ominous light.
Just as she was about to quietly take a strand of Qian Yu’s hair to attach the talisman to her, her movements suddenly froze.
Just now, she had heard that fox mention her for no apparent reason.
The Blood-colored Talisman in Yingning’s hand temporarily dimmed its light.
Curiosity led her to decide to listen to what this fox wanted to say.
She did not believe Qian Yu’s ridiculous claim of dreaming about her past life, but she also could not understand how Qian Yu knew so much if she was not a Regressor.
She would observe a bit more through the girl’s description of her.
“Senior Sister, to be honest, I don’t believe the things that happened in my dream could be real either. I’ve always wanted to verify it.”
The Little Fox seemed to have finally calmed her fluctuating emotions.
She looked at Gu Qinghan and said softly, “So… Senior Sister, do you know a senior named Yingning? Or, if you happen to meet this senior in the future, could you let me know? If she truly exists, then my dream is likely real, which would prove that I didn’t lie to you.”
“No need to prove it, I believe you,” Gu Qinghan said.
“Thank you, Senior Sister… It’s so good that you can believe me.”
Seemingly touched, Qian Yu wiped away her tears and showed her first brilliant smile of the day.
The sight of her smiling through her tears made Gu Qinghan daze for a moment, and she became even more convinced of the girl’s previous words.
If Qian Yu were lying, why would she have looked at her with such extreme trepidation and a longing for the truth?
And why would she show such a beautiful smile after getting her affirmation?
She… was really quite cute.
However, just as Gu Qinghan was wondering why she hadn’t noticed how beautiful Qian Yu’s smile was before, the next words the Little Fox spoke caused the warming atmosphere in the Cave Residence to turn cold.
“Oh, right, Senior Sister. If you really do meet Senior Yingning in the future, you must not be in a hurry to save her!”
“Oh? Why?”
Qian Yu’s serious expression caused Gu Qinghan’s eyes to narrow slightly.
She had already rescued her Master a few days ago.
If she hadn’t already mostly believed Qian Yu, she would have thought the girl had laid all that groundwork just for this one sentence to prevent her from saving her Master in time.
It was as if… she were hiding many secrets that her Master would discover once she came out.
‘What a clumsy fox.’
Gu Qinghan had already sensed that something was wrong with Qian Yu’s words, and Yingning, who was hiding in the ring and had long since “seen through” Qian Yu, sneered repeatedly.
She had originally thought the fox might say something useful.
She hadn’t expected that the girl had mentioned her name only to increase the credibility of that ridiculous dream story.
And everything she had done tonight was for the sole purpose of preventing her from coming out and exposing it all.
Unfortunately, she was already out.
Yet the girl remained unaware, like an actress on a stage, performing her own “brilliant” but laughable play.
Interesting, truly interesting!
Yingning wanted to clap and cheer, yet the talisman in her hand began to glow with a blood-red light once more without hesitation. she had completely dismantled everything this fox stood for.
It was time to close the net.
Then, at this critical moment, Qian Yu spoke again.
Yingning froze once more, and this time, it was for much longer than before — long enough that even her heart, which was full of killing intent, began to stir.
“Senior Sister, did you know? In my dream, I saw that after Senior Yingning emerges from the Sealed Land, she must continuously absorb Providence to remain in this world. In that dream, your Providence was flourishing and your Heaven’s Mandate reached the heavens. Even if Senior Yingning didn’t actively absorb it, just staying by your side allowed her to endure.”
“But now, as you have likely guessed, Senior Sister, I possess the bloodline of the Ancient Heavenly Fox. Through the perception of this bloodline, which is closest to the Heavenly Dao, your Providence is nowhere near as thick as it was in the dream. If you were to rescue Senior Yingning directly, she would no longer be able to survive as she did before, relying solely on your overflowing Providence. And given Senior’s stubborn personality, the outcome might not be good…”
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