Do You Dare Say There Was Never Room for Me in Your Heart?

When Yun Jingheng entered the Spirit Pagoda, the people Spirit Pagoda pretended not to see him.

He went up to the top floor, and when he opened the door, Gu Yuena was already sitting at the tea table.

The aroma of tea was faint, yet it filled the room.

She wasn't wearing formal attire, but rather a long white dress, her silver hair loosely tied up with a wooden hairpin.

Hearing him come in, she looked up and said, "You're here."

Yun Jingheng put the bag on the table without sitting down.

He first walked to the window and pushed it open a crack, as if to let some fresh air out.

A gust of wind blew in, making the hem of his clothes flutter wildly.

He turned around and pointed towards the North Gate: "Do you know what happened? I came from the North Gate and got blocked. Seventeen Titled Douluo, the entire War God Temple came out."

"That shameless Chen Xinjie even asked me if I wanted to retreat ten miles first. I said I came to have tea, and they acted as if I said I was going to massacre the city."

Gu Yuena smiled gently.

"Who made our Pavilion Master so 'infamous'?"

Yun Jingheng rolled his eyes and pulled up a chair to sit down.

He picked up the cup of tea in front of him, smelled it, didn't drink it, and put it down. "Notorious? I was forced into that situation. You try standing at the North Gate with me, surrounded by seventeen Titled Douluo. Would you not be able to resist flashing your Soul Ring?"

Gu Yuena ignored his complaints and simply pushed the tea and snacks towards him.

When she made this gesture, her wrist bones were very thin, and a strand of silver hair slipped down from behind her shoulder and landed on the edge of the table, like a silent ray of moonlight.

Yun Jingheng glanced at it, then looked away, still saying, "I only brought a bag of cakes with me when I left home; Xu Xiaoyan insisted on giving it to me. If it weren't for our appointment, I would have turned back and made Chen Xinjie stand with me at the city gate."

"But you still came," Gu Yuena said.

"It's precisely because you're coming that I'm not going anywhere else."

Yun Jingheng choked, and looked at her.

Gu Yuena was looking down as she added half a spoonful of hot water to his cup of tea.

The rising steam made her features appear somewhat blurred.

Yun Jingheng suddenly felt a little uncomfortable. He coughed, picked up the cup of tea, as if he wanted to swallow something with the tea.

Gu Yuena watched him drink without saying a word.

After he put down his glass, she said, "Aren't you going to ask me out in the first place?"

"Can you just tell me the answer if I ask?" Yun Jingheng replied.

"Yes," Gu Yuena answered readily.

She sat upright with her hands folded on her knees.

She said, "Jing Heng, there are some things I can't say in the news. Shrek has risen again, and the Spirit Pagoda is in my hands."

"I want to settle three things with you before the Federation and Star Luo Empire fully recover."

Yun Jingheng raised an eyebrow, sat up straight, and said, "Go on."

Gu Yuena didn't rush to speak; instead, she picked up the teapot and poured him a cup.

She put down the pot and slowly said, "First, the Spirit Pagoda will publicly resume formal relations with Shrek within a month. I've already purged a group of those who opposed it within the pagoda, and the rest will learn to shut up on their own."

"Second, the Tang Sect, the Spirit Pagoda, and Shrek Academy should merge their intelligence networks. You have Half-Sweet Coffee, I have the Pagoda's Old Eyes, Wulin has the Tang Sect. If we don't merge now, when the Holy Spirit Cult reappears, the three of us will still be fighting our own battles. Third..." She paused.

Yun Jingheng looked at her, Gu Yuena raised her eyes to meet his. His gaze seemed to have traveled all the way from the Far North, seeing extremely far and extremely steady.

"Third, I want you to tell me first, whether you go to the Abyss or somewhere else in the future. Not to discuss it, but to tell me."

She said, "I don't want to find out from someone else that you went in carrying a nuclear bomb all by yourself, like last time."

Yun Jingheng: "..."

His fingers unconsciously traced the inside of the cup. The tea was long gone, leaving only a faint tea stain at the bottom. After a moment of silence, he finally nodded very slightly.

"Good."

She picked up her half-cooled cup of tea, took a slow sip, and the atmosphere relaxed a bit.

The city lights Ming Capital the window were all on, casting long shadows into the room.

Gu Yuena slowly put down her teacup, her fingertips lightly circling the rim before she looked up at Yun Jingheng.

The gaze, illuminated by the lamplight, appeared deep and distant, like the sea under the night sky, its bottom unseen.

"Can you ascend to become Dragon God?" Yun Jingheng asked.

"Yes, I can. But I'll need your help."

"Oh?"

Yun Jingheng looked up. "How can I help you?"

Gu Yuena drew a semicircle very lightly on the table with her fingertip.

She looked at him and said, "You will know. But first, you must become a god."

She paused, leaned forward slightly, rested her elbows on the table, cupped her chin in her palms, and moved a little closer, as if trying to see how much clarity remained in his eyes.

"What, are you afraid I'm just making empty promises?"

"No, that's not it."

"By the way," Gu Yuena suddenly looked at him with a smile, "How was the tea?"

Yun Jingheng was still immersed in the subtle emotions from earlier, and upon hearing this, he casually replied, "It's fine."

He realized something was wrong as soon as he finished speaking.

The sweetness didn't taste like tea leaves; it was more like some kind of nectar slowly seeping from the bottom of the cup.

But upon further reflection, a very faint astringent taste rose on his tongue, and he subconsciously moved his shoulder.

My body is feverish.

It started from the lower abdomen, the back, and the throat where the tea was touching, and slowly spread to the limbs.

He looked up abruptly and saw Gu Yuena resting her chin on her hand, her purple eyes curving perfectly, as if admiring some extremely satisfying work of art.

"You...?" Yun Jingheng's throat tightened slightly.

"What about me?" Gu Yuena asked lazily, but the last syllable of her voice held a hook.

"It shouldn't be what I'm thinking, right?"

Yun Jingheng, barely holding on to his last bit of strength, said in a hoarse voice, "Divine Power can be quickly broken down."

Gu Yuena gave an "Oh," the last syllable trailing off very softly, as if deliberately teasing someone.

She still rested her chin on her hand, her purple eyes reflecting the lights of the Ming Capital and the fine beads of sweat on his forehead.

Her smile deepened, her tone carrying a childlike quality mixed with an unspoken provocation:

"Congratulations, it's exactly what you're thinking of!"

Yun Jingheng's pupils contracted. Gu Yuena tilted her head, her silver hair slipping down her shoulder. She looked at him and slowly added the last sentence:

"However... your Divine Power cannot be broken down."

Yun Jingheng didn't speak; he mobilized his Divine Power.

The Moonlight burned up from the dantian, then poured down on the limbs and bones.

But that heat seemed to have taken root; no matter how much moonlight shone through, it only spread to the surface and quickly rolled back.

Each time I tried to press it down, my heart burned a little hotter.

He finally realized that Gu Yuena had not lied to him.

I don't know what method she used to make that thing avoid the purification of his Divine Power.

He couldn't use Divine Power to stop it; touching it would only make it more ferocious. He suddenly grabbed the edge of the table, his knuckles turning white.

The tea room was so quiet that only his own breathing could be heard, each breath heavier than the last.

Gu Yuena stopped talking. She just stared at him, watching his eyes gradually redden and his Adam's apple bob repeatedly.

She didn't come close, but her gaze was hotter than any touch.

"What... do you want?"

"Think."

"?"

Yun Jingheng felt as if he had been punched in the chest. Although he was burning up, he suddenly felt an urge to laugh.

This girl, in this situation and in this atmosphere, she can still respond so readily.

He leaned back in his chair, as if surrendering or admitting defeat, and after catching his breath, he finally managed to lift his head to look at her.

Gu Yuena didn't give him a chance to catch his breath; she sat up straight, her eyes brighter than ever before.

"Jing Heng, Xing Lan, Xiao Yan, and I actually talked about you back in Shrek."

She said slowly, "We all realized that someone like you can't be helped unless we push you, so we agreed that it's a matter of who has the ability. Neither of us will give in."

She paused, a smile curving her lips, and added, "Later, Xiao Yan left first. Her heart slowly went with Wulin. Every time Wulin stood in front of her, every time he protected her, she saw it all. So, she changed her mind."

Yun Jingheng's lips twitched.

Gu Yuena continued, "Xing Lan isn't like me. She's always been by your side, waiting patiently, waiting for the Sea God Fate, waiting for that night when she spoke first. She had the upper hand in everything. What about me?"

She raised her head, her purple eyes staring straight at him. There was no longer just coldness in them; it was as if something that had been suppressed for too long had finally surfaced.

She said, "I don't want to be a bystander. If you go into the Abyss, I can't help you; if you come back after the explosion, I won't be there; if you break through the level cap, I can only find out through letters. I don't like being left behind."

She laid out all the things he thought he would never say in front of him.

Yun Jingheng closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, his voice was hoarse beyond recognition. "So this cup of tea is your Sea God Fate?"

Gu Yuena laughed, "Yes, but I won't perform opera or light lanterns. I'll just pour you a cup of tea. If you drink it, I'll take that as your agreement."

"This cup... only tastes like tea." Yun Jingheng smiled wryly.

Gu Yuena smiled, unsurprised. She lifted her cup of now-cold tea and swirled it at Yun Jingheng, the tea shimmering with a faint glow at the bottom of the cup.

"Of course you can't taste the difference."

She said softly, like the night breeze seeping in through a crack in the window, "The medicine isn't in the cup. It's in the pot, and I drank the same one you did."

Yun Jingheng seemed frozen in place. He looked at her, his eyes filled with surprise, heat, and a hint of being thoroughly outmaneuvered.

She knew there was something in the pot, but she still poured herself a cup; she never intended to escape unscathed from this situation.

He turned his head away, as if to avoid her, but couldn't get far. He said in a hoarse voice, "Gu Yue, I already have Xing Lan. You..."

He paused, as if forcing himself to finish speaking, "You can't do this."

Gu Yuena didn't reply immediately. She slowly put the cup down, the bottom of the cup touching the porcelain plate with a soft sound.

She looked at him, her eyes unusually calm, as if she had expected him to bring up Ye Xinglan.

"I know," she said. "Do you think I wouldn't know?"

Yun Jingheng didn't speak. She stood up and walked behind him.

She rested one hand on the back of his chair, leaned slightly forward, and her breath brushed against his ear.

She whispered, "Xing Lan and I talked about it privately before you went into seclusion."

Yun Jingheng was taken aback.

Gu Yuena continued, "We didn't make a scene or argue. Xing Lan understands things better than you do."

Yun Jingheng felt as if he had been violently struck in the chest, and he turned his head sharply.

Gu Yuena didn't give him a chance to speak. As if she had expected him to make a fuss, she only took half a step back and stood in the lamplight, her silver hair looking as if it were bathed in moonlight.

She said, "So we've decided that, regardless of age, she and I... will go together."

"Yun Jingheng, do you dare say that I've never held a place in your heart?"