Ling Luochen's Heart Flutters

"Is, is that so? I'm very happy."

Ling Luochan spoke softly, then bent down and leaned close to Ling Tianchen's ear. Her lips moved. "I like you the most too."

Then she straightened up, turned, and walked toward the living room.

"Come eat."

"Huh, Sister Luochan, what did you just say in my ear? I didn't hear it!"

"It's normal that you didn't hear it. I wasn't planning to make a sound in the first place."

Without looking back, she spoke with a hint of playfulness in her tone.

"Then at least tell me the answer to that psychology test!"

"I'm not telling you. Take your time guessing."

As Ling Luochan spoke, she put the magazine back into her storage soul tool in one smooth motion, leaving him no chance to sneak a peek.

"I'm guessing it's the person who loves teasing me the most, right?"

"Wrong."

"Then it's the person who cares about me the most. That has to be right this time, doesn't it?"

Ling Luochan sat down at the dining table, picked up her chopsticks, and shook her head with a smile. "Eat first."

Watching Ling Tianchen scratch at his head in frustration, she couldn't suppress the upward curve of her lips.

The answer to that question was actually very simple. Deep in your subconscious, the first person you thought of when someone patted your shoulder as you walked through the darkness was the person you liked most.

So when she heard Tianchen blurt out "Sister Luochan," her heart nearly skipped a beat.

So they were running toward each other.

The discovery made her whole heart feel light. As long as she spoke up now and told him that secret, the thin barrier between them could be completely shattered.

But she wasn't in any hurry. Once everything was laid bare, their relationship would naturally become different. That would be wonderful too.

Still, she wanted to remain by his side as his sister a little longer, leaving an irreplaceable mark on Ling Tianchen... Besides, she was enjoying this feeling...

After dinner, Ling Tianchen sprawled carelessly across the sofa, licking an ice cream with absolutely no regard for his image.

He had wanted to help Ling Luochan clear the table and wash the dishes, but the moment he stood up, she pressed him back down, her reasoning particularly tricky.

"When we were at the Ling Residence, I never saw you do any of this. Why are you suddenly so diligent when you're at your sister's place? Did you do something guilty and are trying to curry favor with your sister?"

Ling Tianchen had no response. She made it sound as if she had washed the dishes at home. Weren't they done by servants there too? Why was she acting so aggrieved instead?

When Ling Luochan came out, he casually asked about her cultivation. "Sister Luochan, what level is your soul power now?"

"Level fifty-four. Among this generation of Shrek Seven Monsters, I'm temporarily ranked in the top three. Impressive, right?"

She patted her chest, her voice carrying a trace of undisguised pride.

That soul power level was already close to where she had been more than a year later in his original timeline. Cultivating by his side really did seem to benefit her greatly.

"Impressive. But trying to reach Soul Emperor before the next tournament will still be somewhat difficult."

He stuffed the last bite of ice cream into his mouth and made the suggestion through a muffled voice.

"How about I cultivate with you tonight? Don't you really like the aura of ultimate ice? I can help you."

"Forget it. You just got back from confinement, so get a proper night's rest. Meditation can't replace sleep."

She tapped Ling Tianchen on the head, her tone gentle but leaving no room for argument.

"Fine, but—"

Ling Tianchen turned his head, his gaze passing over her shoulder toward the bedroom. There was only one bed inside.

"There's only one bed here. I should sleep on the sofa."

"No. If I'm letting you sleep on the sofa, you might as well go back to the outer academy and sleep in your dormitory."

Ling Luochan rejected the idea without hesitation, her brows knitting slightly.

"Then I'll go back—"

Halfway through his sentence, Ling Luochan's displeased glare forcibly choked off the rest of his words.

"Sister Luochan, I'm not a little kid anymore. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to sleep in the same bed as you."

Ling Tianchen's remaining words were forcibly shoved back down by Ling Luochan's devouring glare.

"Sister Luochan, I'm not that young anymore. I can't keep sleeping with you."

"Special circumstances call for special treatment. Besides, you're still young. Why can't you sleep with your sister? When you were little, you used to beg every day to sleep with your sister. You even said you wanted to sleep with Sister Luochan in the same—"

"Alright, alright! I agree, okay?"

This time, Ling Tianchen was the first to give in, hurriedly cutting her off.

Back then, he had merely been playing the role of an innocent child and casually saying childish things without restraint. How could she remember every single word even now? Was she planning to hold those embarrassing blackmail-worthy memories over him for the rest of his life?

That was true enough. He had spent an entire month in deep meditation. Although ice-attribute soul masters accumulated less grime and stayed much cleaner than ordinary people, going without a bath for a month was still somewhat uncomfortable.

"Then I'll go first."

As Ling Tianchen reached the bathroom door, he suddenly paused. In a half-joking tone, he probed, "Sister Luochan, you didn't bring my underwear to Shrek too, did you?"

"How could I? What kind of nonsense are you thinking about?"

Ling Luochan waved him off irritably, her expression full of impatience.

It seemed he really had been overthinking.

Ling Tianchen rubbed his nose and closed the bathroom door.

If this was an act too, then he would accept it.

If she could keep acting for a lifetime, then wouldn't the lie itself already be real?

What was so bad about a false world?

Before long, the sound of running water came from the bathroom.

Ling Luochan stood alone in the middle of the living room, the composure on her face slowly fading as a subtle sense of guilt rose in her heart.

Instinctively, she checked her storage soul tool again, counting through the clothes inside one by one. Only after confirming that everything was there and nothing had been left outside did she let out a sigh of relief.

One minute really had been too rushed.

It was a pity she hadn't had time to fill the empty spaces on the bookshelf with other books. Had he noticed?

But even if they aroused his suspicions, he absolutely could not be allowed to discover those books.

My Little Brother Can't Be This Cute Days with My Stepbrother... Every one of them was a treasured favorite she had kept for years. She had read each of them many times, yet she would still occasionally take one from the bookshelf to read again.

It was these novels that had enlightened her during her most confused days, allowing her to finally recognize her own feelings. She no longer agonized over them, no longer ran away, and dared to actively pursue what she wanted.

When Ling Tianchen came out of the bath, he wore sleep pants on his lower body but was bare-chested above the waist.

A towel hung casually around his neck, and his wet hair had yet to be dried. Drops of water occasionally fell from the ends of his hair, sliding over his collarbones and down his chest, leaving faint trails of moisture.

He stood before the full-length mirror, constantly posing his body—turning sideways, bending his arms, tightening his core—examining himself from every angle.

Ah! These enviable lean muscles.

The lines he had once failed to build even after months of hard training had now come effortlessly through nothing more than eating, cultivating, and tempering his body, giving him such a fit physique.

And Ling Luochan, having heard the bathroom door open, took in all of it.

Her footsteps froze in place, and her gaze was firmly captured.