Distance Creates Beauty

Bibi Dong remained silent, her fingers tightly twisted together.

Nan Feng looked at her stubborn profile and sighed.

"Actually, I know what you truly care about isn't whether this is real or fake."

"What you care about is whether this hard-won thing will suddenly change, just like Qian Xunji did..."

"You're afraid that the warmth you feel now will suddenly turn ice-cold and pierce your bones. You fear that the trust you've given will ultimately bring you another bloody betrayal."

Bibi Dong shuddered from head to toe.

"But you're incredibly proud deep down. You don't dare admit that you're caught in this anxiety because you're afraid of losing it. So you can only use hollow words like real and fake to conceal the fear in your heart, to define all of this."

"Do you think that what never changes is real, and what changes is fake?"

"Child, why are you so naïve?"

Nan Feng shook his head. "People have a thousand faces, and hearts change a thousand times. Who says what never changes is real? Who says changeable things are fake?"

"Just because something bad happened today, are you going to completely deny all the wonderful things that truly happened yesterday? Isn't that kind of judging the whole by one point too harsh and narrow-minded?"

Nan Feng reached out with his small hand and gently held Bibi Dong's cold fingers.

"The truth is, sincerity can change too. And false affection, if it's kept up long enough—even until it becomes a habit—can also last forever."

"Your way of judging things was flawed from the start."

Nan Feng looked straight into her eyes. "Good and bad have no inevitable connection to real and fake."

"Whether I'm good to you out of sincerity or pretense doesn't matter. It's like someone treating you badly—whether they genuinely dislike you or stubbornly insist it's for your own good while secretly caring... the fact remains that they've caused you pain."

"So someone who treats you well, someone who truly makes you feel warmth, is good to you. Someone who makes you suffer, who makes you miserable, is not."

"The warmth you personally feel is the only thing that's truly real."

"As for all those twists and turns, all that real and fake, truth and illusion... it's all meaningless nonsense."

"Remember, real love would never bear to let you get hurt."

Nan Feng released her icy fingers.

"If someone freely hurts you under the banner of doing it for your own good, don't doubt it—they're mentally controlling you. Creating pathological dependence and loyalty through abuse and suppression is one of the basest aspects of human nature."

Bibi Dong's expression became somewhat unnatural as she listened.

She lowered her head, seemingly trying to process these shocking ideas.

"No..."

Bibi Dong abruptly raised her head and stared hard at Nan Feng.

"You just said that the source of your influence was the rules of Evil Divine Power, and that even Qian Xunji would never notice such perfect camouflage!"

"If that's the case, how could I have suddenly sensed that something was off just now?! How could I have realized on my own that you were influencing my emotions?!"

"You... you did it on purpose?!"

If it had been perfect deception, she could never have noticed it!

Just as on Hell Road, she had never felt the slightest suspicion toward Nan Feng's approach or comfort.

Yet just now, she had abruptly "woken up"!

The only explanation was that the caster had actively withdrawn the ability, even deliberately exposing a flaw!

Seeing the shrewdness and suspicion reignite in Bibi Dong's eyes, Nan Feng was not flustered at being found out. Instead, he smiled with relief.

"Not bad. You finally figured it out."

Nan Feng clapped his little hands and nodded approvingly.

Bibi Dong furrowed her brows, looking at him with a complicated gaze. "Why? Since you intended to deceive me this way, why deliberately expose the flaw and let me discover it now?"

"It's simple."

Nan Feng shrugged. "I deceived you on Hell Road because your emotions were unstable then. You were like a powder keg ready to explode at the slightest spark, your head full of despair and wariness. You couldn't hear a word I said."

"In those circumstances, deception was merely an effective way for me to get close to you quickly and understand your mental state. It was just a means, not the goal."

"But things are different now."

"You slept, and you left that oppressive hellhole. Your emotions are stable now, your reason has returned, and your brain is finally working again. Since you can think normally, there's naturally no need for me to keep putting so much effort into deceiving you."

Bibi Dong still looked tense. "Then you could have quietly removed the disguise. Why use this method to deliberately tear everything open and provoke me?"

"Because I want you to pick up your guard again."

Nan Feng looked into her eyes. "I want you to understand that you must never completely lower your guard around anyone so easily. Always be wary of others. No matter who it is—even me!"

Bibi Dong's expression was conflicted. "...Why?"

It had taken so much effort to establish absolute trust, so much effort to make her dependent on him. How could anyone tame their prey, then immediately slap it awake and force it to raise its thorns again?

"Sigh, this is the most troublesome part of human relationships."

Nan Feng sighed helplessly. "Little Dongdong, if you have no guard up around me at all, then over time, you'll subconsciously develop increasingly high expectations of me—just as you once did with Qian Xunji."

"Once you completely lower your guard, you lose your sense of distance. Without boundaries, you'll place all your emotional support on someone else. Then, if one day I fail to meet your expectations, you'll act impulsively and might even lose your mind again."

Nan Feng looked directly at her, his tone clear and cold.

"This kind of unreserved indulgence won't just ruin you—it will also bring me a lot of unnecessary trouble."

"I deliberately exposed myself, even deliberately used words to sting you, because I hope your heart can maintain a certain sense of distance from me."

Nan Feng took two steps back and sat on the edge of the bed again. His little legs swung gently in the air as he said softly,

"Remember, distance creates beauty."

"Between people, no matter what their relationship is, getting too close... is dangerous."

"A proper distance is good for both of us."

"..."

Bibi Dong fell silent for a moment, sorting through her thoughts before changing the subject.

"Then what were you trying to do with that little performance against Qian Renxue in the garden just now?"

"Of course, it was to establish a persona." Nan Feng spread his hands matter-of-factly.

"I may be a child, but to Spirit Hall, I'm still an outsider and a stranger. Strangers themselves carry a signal of danger and instinctively make people wary."

Nan Feng snapped his fingers. "But if I display extreme weakness and timidity, it'll give someone like Qian Xunji a tremendous sense of security and make him lower his guard against me as quickly as possible."

Bibi Dong eyed him suspiciously. "Really? That was the only reason?"

"Of course, another small part of it was to save myself some trouble." Nan Feng fell back onto the soft bed and shifted into a comfortable reclining position.

Bibi Dong frowned slightly. "What trouble?"

"Of course, that little girl outside."

Nan Feng curled his lips, his little face full of disdain. "When she was hiding behind that tree and watching me just now, I could smell that spoiled, haughty attitude bred into her bones from all the way over here."

"First impressions are deadly when you first meet someone. If I had gone along with her and easily become friends with her, she would definitely reveal that superior nature of hers. Who knows how she'd order me around in the future?"

Nan Feng rolled his eyes dramatically. "I have no interest in being a full-time nanny, spending every day coaxing some little brat."

Bibi Dong's eye twitched as she finally understood. "So that fall just now..."

"That's right! All that fuss not only perfectly displayed how harmless I was, it also branded an initial impression into her subconscious that I'm extremely fragile and easily hurt!"

Nan Feng raised his brows smugly.

"With today's little act, if she wants to approach me again, she'll instinctively tread on eggshells. She'll carefully watch my expression and take the initiative to cater to my emotions, terrified that she might accidentally frighten me again..."

Nan Feng patted his fair little hands.

"Instead of making me take care of her emotions."

"The initiative has to stay in my hands!"