Deceiving Oneself

However, even the very first snippet left Gu Yuena struggling to keep her composure.

[Huang Tian mistakes the Silver Dragon King for his wife—that is, her clone—again, leading to some intimate encounters that should never have occurred. The main body secretly feels a thrill of joy while forcing herself to look deeply displeased and scolding him severely.]

[Huang Tian establishes the Spirit Pagoda and sets down numerous restrictive clauses to prevent the abuse of spirit souls. A large number of spirit beasts nearing the end of their lives voluntarily head to the Spirit Pagoda, and the trend of spirit beast extinction is clearly curbed.]

[Huang Tian once again accidentally mistakes Yue'er (the main body) for Na'er (the clone) and acts affectionately. After several such blunders, the Silver Dragon King's bottom line clearly begins to lower. Unless a clear boundary is crossed, small actions that fall somewhere between normal and abnormal begin to become desensitized. When he doesn't mistake her for someone else, they occasionally hold hands, put arms around waists, pat heads, sit naturally close together on the sofa, or hug from behind while playing. As for when he does mistake her, not only does the duration of the mistake grow longer, but his actions also become increasingly excessive.]

Gu Yuena: "..."

"This is already the third time."

"No, that's just the memory extraction showing three times; the reality is likely far more."

"Are you doing this on purpose, or is it accidental?"

"Is this even right?"

The fourth entry:

[The Spirit Pagoda becomes famous across the continent, attracting countless spirit masters to join and becoming a powerful force that stands equal to the Martial Soul Hall, towering above the two great empires.]

[The Silver Dragon King is once again subjected to Huang Tian's wandering hands as he mistakes her for Na'er. She resolves to fly into a rage and pretends to be angry, scolding him, but ends up laughing out loud by mistake and has to flee with a blushing face.]

[Because of the Spirit Pagoda, Huang Tian gains the faith of the spirit beast race, successfully completing his deification. His physical body becomes a divine body, his soul a divine soul, his spirit power turns into divine power, his martial soul into a divine artifact, and his spirit rings into divine rings, greatly increasing his strength.]

[Yet another massive blunder, and they are a hair's breadth away from crossing the line. She feels herself becoming increasingly endangered; if this continues, she might truly lose control. She still has a blood feud to avenge, a great dream yet to be realized, and carries the future of billions of spirit beasts and the last hope of the Dragon Race on her shoulders. She must never sink into such trivial matters of love.]

[The Silver Dragon King consults with her clone in private, deciding that from now on, she will only wear red, while the clone will only wear blue. This clear distinction should prevent any further mistakes. But for some reason, the moment the agreement is reached, she feels a sense of emptiness in her heart, as if she has lost something important, and she doesn't feel as happy as she imagined. When she goes to inform Huang Tian of this, unexpectedly, before she can even speak, he impatiently begins to tease her, mistaking her for Na'er. In an instant, her entire body goes limp; she cannot exert even a shred of her immense power and is unable to resist. Fortunately, she regains her senses at the last moment and manages to escape.]

The more Gu Yuena reads, the more wrong it feels. She frowns, feeling deeply unconvinced.

"Once or twice is one thing, but every single time? Is that even possible?"

"I have a feeling this bad guy is ten-to-one doing it on purpose."

"Besides, he just comes right up to people without even checking? Does he want to distinguish between us but can't, or does he simply not care to distinguish at all?"

"And me, too—honestly."

"Knowing I'll be mistaken for her, why keep this human form? Why not just revert to my dragon form? A thousand-foot-long body—let's see him try to mistake me then! Or take advantage of me!"

"At the very least, when he comes close, just swat him with a claw! Give him a lesson and see if that brat dares to be so careless again!"

"And after it happens, she only scolds him with words. There isn't a single curse word in her reprimands, and her tone isn't even harsh. It's soft and weak, neither painful nor itchy—what good does that do? I'd believe it if someone called it flirting."

"She even laughed out loud while scolding him. How pathetic, truly pathetic. Even a fool could see that deep down, you don't actually resist or object."

"If it were me, I would absolutely never..."

"Forget it, that seems to be me."

With a heart full of silent complaints, Gu Yuena secretly swears that she will never be trapped by such simple little tricks in the future.

She is very smart, after all; she isn't foolish in the slightest.

However, even as she thinks this, the corners of her mouth inadvertently curl into an inexplicable smile, and she feels a sweetness in her heart.

It is a very human expression, filled with triumph and pride, as if she had just won a great battle.

Her tail sweeps slowly through the air, from left to right, then right to left, her posture looking incredibly relaxed and carefree.

After several small snippets, the daily interaction pattern between the Silver Dragon King and Huang Tian in her memories is almost indistinguishable from that of a normal couple.

Facing ordinary contact, such as kissing, she is completely indifferent; from the bottom of her heart and by instinct, she doesn't think it's a big deal.

What shocks Gu Yuena the most is that Huang Tian never asks whether the person in front of him is Yue'er or Na'er, and as long as the final line isn't crossed, the Silver Dragon King herself stopped informing him of her identity from a certain day onward.

If she is mistaken for Na'er, then so be it. She accepts it with peace of mind, immerses herself in it, finds joy in it, and openly enjoys the treatment meant for her clone—openly happy, joyful, and satisfied because of it.

She's not even hiding it anymore.

In any case, as long as she isn't exposed, the one dating, playing, and having fun with Huang Tian is the clone; the main body, who carries numerous missions, has never done anything against the rules.

She, the Silver Dragon King, is still diligently cultivating, accumulating strength, and preparing to confront those traitors in the God Realm.

What? You're asking about those things?

Oh, that was just the clone I sent to lurk beside this human to gather intelligence. It's just that Na'er is a bit too dedicated to her duty and has a slightly higher spirit of sacrifice.

It's nothing, this is perfectly normal.

What was even more absurd was that, up to this point, there wasn't a single fragment in the memories where Gu Na'er showed any anger or dissatisfaction.

In the few times she appeared, she either feigned ignorance or acted as a mediator between the two parties.

Once, when the clone appeared and saw the original body with Huang Tian, she actually called herself Yue'er and left.

Left... just like that...

???

There was another time when both of them were present, and Huang Tian had pinpointed Yue'er with uncanny precision.

Yes, Yue'er, who was being mistaken for Na'er.

Na'er herself remained indifferent, not showing the slightest hint of unusual emotion.

Then there was the time Huang Tian had spent a bit too long with his other girlfriends; after not seeing him for a while, the Silver Dragon King had actually taken the initiative to wear the same clothes as the clone and went to spend half a day with Huang Tian.

Gu Yuena was completely numb.

Watching her incredibly proactive self in the memories, the dragon froze on the spot, her mouth half-open in a look of utter astonishment, even her swaying tail stiffening in mid-air.

"Are you trying to cover your ears while stealing a bell?"

"Are you just deceiving yourselves?"

"No, what on earth are you all doing? What kind of twisted game is this?"

"I am the fake, and you know I am the fake.

I know that you know I am the fake, yet you still decide to impersonate?

You know that I know you know I am the fake, yet you still feast with such gusto?"

"6!"