Okay, You Lied to Me!

The Spirit Lake was calm, its mist gentle.

Gu Yue Na, having just heard the story, still had a trace of emotion and softness in her eyes. Her words—"I won't suppress you anymore. You can stay by my side"—fell softly, as tender as a glacier beginning to melt.

Tang Wulin's heart warmed slightly. The bitter obsession he had carried for three years finally found a sliver of solace.

He thought that his tale of love spanning the ages had moved the first Silver Dragon Emperor, who had never known love in this blank stretch of time.

He thought she truly did not understand him, truly had no memories of the past, and had only just learned of their fate and separation.

But just as Tang Wulin's heart relaxed slightly and he prepared to respond—

The pair of silver-blue dragon eyes before him, which had just softened, suddenly changed.

That trace of innocence, confusion, and pure clarity from hearing of love and hatred for the first time vanished completely.

In its place came the bitterness of one who had seen it all, a love restrained for countless ages, and the heart-wrenching tenderness and longing she had hidden for three whole years.

Her gentleness was no longer a disguise. Her unfamiliarity fell away completely. Her coldness melted without a trace.

That gaze.

It was the true Gu Yue, etched into Tang Wulin's soul, impossible to forget even in death—

The Gu Yue who had accompanied him through his youth, endured a lifetime in silence, sealed the Abyss for love, and slept forever for love!

The Spirit Lake, silent for ages, suddenly shuddered. The gentle dragon aura lingering throughout the air instantly reversed, surging forth with the grief of shared origin between Lin and Yue—so familiar it was unbearable, their destinies entangled for countless eons.

The air instantly froze.

Tang Wulin stiffened from head to toe. His pupils contracted sharply, and he stood rooted in place as though struck by lightning, even his breathing coming to a complete halt.

Before he could react, the ethereal, indifferent voice of a girl untouched by worldly matters faded away entirely.

Replacing it was a familiar voice, gentle and hoarse, filled with longing and the grievances she had endured for three years—

"Wulin."

Just two words.

They shattered three years of pretense, exposed the deception of time and space, and destroyed everything Tang Wulin believed he knew.

Tang Wulin's body trembled violently. His mind exploded into blankness!

Impossible...

How could that be possible?!

Gu Yue Na stood quietly by the lake, her white robes fluttering gently in the wind. There was no longer even a trace of the distant pride of an ancient Dragon Emperor.

She looked at him, her eyes overflowing with the love she had restrained through every day and night of the past three years.

"Did you think you were the only one who traveled through time? I'm your Gu Yue."

She spoke softly, every word piercing his heart, every word true.

"Did you think I was truly the blank Gu Yue Na of the Peerless Tang Clan era, who had never entered the world and never known love?"

"Did you think I truly didn't know you, didn't understand your love, didn't understand your story?"

Every question crashed viciously against Tang Wulin's trembling mind.

Tang Wulin's throat shook, his voice dry beyond measure. "You... you..."

"I arrived long ago."

Gu Yue Na lowered her eyes gently. The tears she had hidden for three years finally no longer needed concealment.

"At the ruins of Shrek Academy, when you forcibly withstood that eighth-rank fixed-installation soul-guided artillery shell for your companions."

"When the temporal turbulence swept across heaven and earth, you traveled back through time. I followed you through it as well."

A heaven-shaking secret was revealed!

The deception of three years was exposed in a single day!

That sealing born of love and the collapse of time and space had not merely sent Tang Wulin back against the current of time!

She had followed close behind, falling with him into the upper reaches of the years!

She and he had arrived in the Peerless Tang Clan era at the same time, in the same instant!

There had never been any "she would only meet him in the future," "her story had yet to begin," or "her memories were blank"!

From beginning to end, she had retained every memory intact!

Their time together in East Sea, their journey through Shrek, their restrained destiny, their parting in the Abyss, their frozen ages...

She remembered it all! Not a single detail was missing! It was carved into her bones and heart!

Tang Wulin froze completely. His soul shook violently, his mind roaring with noise!

Then these three years...

These entire three years!

He had pursued her every day, been beaten back time and again, sickened by longing, fallen into despair several times, and even stood on the brink of ending his life late at night, enduring the loneliness of ages all by himself...

He thought she did not understand, did not know, did not care.

But it turned out—she had watched it all! She had known it all! She had endured it all!

Gu Yue Na looked at his pale face and the stunned disbelief in his eyes. Her nose stung slightly as she finally revealed all the pretense and suffering of the past three years.

"Why did I pretend to be a stranger?"

"Wulin, do you know how afraid I was when I woke up in the temporal turbulence and discovered that we had returned tens of thousands of years into the past, to an era when none of the tragedies had happened and fate had yet to take shape...?"

"I was afraid."

"I was afraid my love would still repeat the same tragedy."

"I was afraid fate would cycle again, that we would fall in love again, stand against each other again, and be separated by life and death again."

"I was afraid that if I acted too boldly and disrupted the course of time, we would lose even this chance to begin again."

"So I didn't dare acknowledge you."

"I could only pretend to be the blank Silver Dragon Emperor of ancient times, pretending I didn't understand love, the past, or your obsession."

"I pretended to be cold to you again and again, to suppress you, to drive you away."

"It wasn't because I was heartless. It was because I didn't dare love too deeply."

Three years!

A full three years!

He had thought he was alone, pursuing love against the heavens with one-sided devotion.

Little did he know that she had been watching him all along!

Watching him wait silently every day.

Watching him be deliberately struck down by her time and again, falling to the ground in a miserable state, only to return the next day unchanged.

Watching him sit alone before the steps late at night, longing gnawing at his bones, nearly unable to go on.

Watching him train bitterly from level sixty to level seventy, form a soul core, break through eleven seals, and grow stronger step by step solely so he could protect her and give her a perfect ending.

All his suffering, all his devotion, all his stubbornness, all his grievances...

She had seen every bit of it and felt every bit of it in her heart, yet she had to pretend she was unmoved.

She had suffered more than he had.

He had returned with regrets to pursue love once more.

She had returned carrying every memory of having loved, suffered, and died, watching helplessly as her beloved endured three lonely years while she could not acknowledge him.

Just now, he had told the story of their past little by little, every word filled with love, every sentence steeped in sorrow.

To others, it was a tale of destiny they were hearing for the first time.

To her, it was the reopening of old wounds, another reliving of their separation in life and death.

That brief flicker of emotion, that slight melting, had never been because the story moved her.

She simply could not keep acting anymore.

Three years of pretense, three years of restraint, three years of endurance.

The moment his final words—"I want to love you again"—fell, she could no longer hold herself together.

Pretending to be strangers was too exhausting.

Pretending to be heartless was too painful.

Pretending not to be moved was far, far too difficult.

Gu Yue Na slowly stepped forward. Her usually cold, peerless eyes were now filled with love suppressed for three years, spanning countless ages and never once diminished.

She raised a hand and gently brushed aside the wind-tousled hair by his temple. Her voice choked, yet it was incomparably real.

"Wulin, stop chasing me."

"It was never you pursuing me alone."

"For these three years, I have been waiting for you to grow up, waiting for you to become resolute, waiting for you to dare defy fate, waiting for you to dare love me again."

"I pretended not to know you only so that—"

"I could be the one to fall in love with you all over again."

The spiritual mist drifted quietly through the air, while the surface of Life Lake rippled faintly.

All the coldness, suppression, distance, and unfamiliarity of the past three years finally had an answer.

It was not that the time had not yet come.

It was not that her memories were blank.

It was not that their first meeting had been without fate.

It was a mutual journey through time, mutual devotion, mutual restraint, and mutual waiting.

Tang Wulin stared blankly at the girl before him, who had finally stopped pretending.

She was still dressed in white, beautiful beyond compare.

But those eyes no longer held even a trace of blank innocence.

They contained his entire life, every story they had shared, the pain of ages frozen in ice, and the ultimate tenderness she had suppressed through three years across time and space.

So that was it.

He had never been alone.

So the love he had pursued against time, betting everything on it—

Had been mutual from the very beginning.

Three Years of Love Hidden in Violet Eyes, One Kiss Erasing the Deceit of Ages

The spiritual wind at the Source of Myriad Dragons abruptly stopped, and the milky-white mist filling the sky seemed to freeze in that instant.

When Gu Yue softly spoke the heartfelt truth she had suppressed for three whole years, all the blood in Tang Wulin's body seemed to freeze instantly before roaring back into motion.

After the shock came overwhelming anger, grievance, and frustration, mixed with a longing too intense to dissolve, crashing violently into his chest.

Three years.

A full three years.

He had struggled from a level-sixty Soul Emperor to a level-seventy Soul Saint, broken through eleven Golden Dragon King seals, and formed a perfect humanoid soul core.

For three years, he had approached her day after day, only to be met each time by her cold dragon might, suppression, and merciless blows that sent him flying.

How many times had his bones cracked and muscles torn, leaving him battered and wretched? How many nights had he sat alone, sick with longing and on the verge of giving up? How many times had he clung to a faint hope, telling himself that if he persevered long enough, he could warm this ancient silver dragon?

He had always thought that the person before him was Gu Yue from the upper reaches of time, innocent, ignorant, and without memories.

He thought he alone had traveled back through time, pursued her alone, and rewritten fate alone.

But in the end—she remembered everything.

She had traveled through time at the same moment he had.

She had seen all their past, all their love, all their restraint, and the loneliness he endured after leaving him on the day after Sea God's Fate.

She knew everything about him perfectly well, yet had forced herself to pretend to be unfamiliar, indifferent, and heartless for three years.

She had watched him charge forward foolishly with nothing but courage, watched him endure beatings without retreating, watched him suffer for her, despair for her, and let his obsession take root because of her.

Tang Wulin laughed softly. The smile sank into his eyes without a trace of warmth, leaving only anger and bitterness.

"Fine. Very good."

He stepped forward, his large hand shooting out to seize her slender wrist with perfect precision.

The dragon power of a level-seventy Soul Saint was restrained and profound, domineering yet gentle as it locked her firmly in place, giving her no room to retreat.

Gu Yue's body stiffened slightly, and her pure violet dragon eyes, usually cold and untouched by the world, trembled faintly.

Her violet pupils were clear and crystalline, meant to remain undisturbed for all eternity, yet they were now filled with panic, guilt, and unconcealed love. A faint mist of tears gathered within them, completely shattering her anciently aloof imperial bearing.

What she feared most was his anger.

"Gu Yue."

Tang Wulin lowered his gaze to look at her. His voice was low and hoarse, carrying the dissatisfaction he had bottled up for three years, every word distinct.

"You lied to me for three years."

"You watched me act like a fool, chasing you, waiting for you, protecting you every day."

"You watched me get sent flying, suppressed, and heavily injured by you again and again."

"You watched me grow sick with longing, lie awake night after night, and nearly fail to hold on."

"You clearly remembered everything and understood everything, yet you insisted on pretending not to know me."

Every sentence was filled with genuine grievance.

Gu Yue lowered her long lashes. Her violet eyes reddened slightly as his words made her heart tighten with bitterness. Her fingertips trembled faintly while she tried to defend herself in a soft, guilty voice.

"I didn't mean to hurt you... I was just afraid."

"I was afraid the cycle of fate would repeat itself. I was afraid we would fall in love and fight each other again, only to be separated by life and death again."

"I didn't dare acknowledge you so easily... I didn't dare gamble."

She had experienced that ending of frozen ages and tasted the ultimate agony of being separated from him forever.

She had been too afraid.

Afraid that even with another chance, it would still end in tragedy.

Afraid that one moment of selfish longing would destroy this hard-won reunion against the current of time.

So she endured.

So she pretended to be a stranger.

So she watched him struggle through three years while she endured and suffered with him night after night.

"You didn't dare gamble?"

Tang Wulin raised his eyes. His black dragon eyes locked deeply onto her evasive violet gaze, the anger in them gradually fading and giving way to intense, scorching possessiveness and teasing laced with punishment.

Three years of lonely pursuit, three years of one-sided waiting—how could it be brushed aside so lightly with a single "I don't dare"?

He bent down and gently clasped the back of her slender neck with one hand. His grip was tender, yet impossible to escape, drawing her closer inch by inch.

Their noses touched, their breaths completely mingling.

At such close range, he clearly saw her exquisitely beautiful yet pale face, those clear, pure violet eyes that belonged to her alone, and the deep affection and timidity hidden within them for three years.

"Then I'll force you to take a gamble."

Before the words had faded, Tang Wulin gave her no chance to retreat, feel guilty, or evade him.

He lowered his head slightly and suddenly kissed her.

This kiss was forceful and scorching, carrying all the longing, grievance, anger, and deep love that had built up over three years.

It was not a gentle taste, but a complete embrace and claim.

It crushed all of her three years of feigned indifference, deliberate distance, and restrained deception.

Gu Yue's entire body suddenly went limp, the nerves she had kept taut snapping in an instant.

All her pretended aloofness, all the majesty of the Dragon Emperor, all her deliberate restraint vanished at that moment.

The longing and love she had suppressed for three whole years burst through their banks.

She could no longer hold on. Raising her hand, she gently wrapped her arms around his neck, her clear violet eyes slowly closing as she allowed herself to sink completely into the affection that had arrived three years late.

Spirit Lake was windless, and all was silent.

The mist that filled the sky gently shrouded them, tenderly enveloping the two embracing figures.

Their once-fated opposition, their once-restrained separation, and the eternal ice that had once sealed them were all melted away by this kiss that had crossed through time.

Only after a long while did Tang Wulin slowly release her. His forehead rested against hers, his breathing slightly hurried, and his eyes held nothing but an unmelting tenderness.

The anger from before had long since dissipated, leaving only a heart full of aching affection.

He looked at the redness at the corners of her eyes, at her violet eyes shimmering with tears, and spoke softly, his voice low and indulgent:

"From now on, you're not allowed to lie to me again."

"You're not allowed to pretend you don't know me again."

"You're not allowed to push me away, suppress me, or neglect me with your own hands again."

Gu Yue leaned against his chest, her cheeks flushed and her features filled with the bashful softness unique to a young girl. There was no longer even a trace of the Dragon Emperor's aloof pride.

She nodded gently, her voice soft, tender, and incomparably earnest:

"Mm."

"I won't lie anymore."

"I'll never lie to you again, Wulin."

"This time, I won't hide, and I won't be afraid."

"You came through time to find me, so in this life—"

"I'll be with you. We'll start over from the beginning and never separate again."