Su Youzhu was woken up by a phone call this morning.
She groggily sat up, rubbing the stray hair on top of her head. Her light aqua short hair was slightly messy, and the thin strap of her nightgown had slipped down to her arm. Her snow-white skin, bathed in sunlight, appeared smooth and delicate like fine jade.
Her dad had gone on a sudden business trip this morning, her mom was off meeting a client to get her nails done, and there was no one else at home.
The person she'd been thinking about the most had been cleverly sent away by her last night.
The house was very quiet, empty.
It gave her an inexplicable sense of unease.
She picked up her phone, her expression sharpening slightly upon seeing the caller ID.
Her voice carried a lazy, sultry undertone in the early morning, with a touch less of its usual coldness.
On the other end of the line, Su Youxia breathed a sigh of relief and mockingly snorted, "I sent you several messages last night, and not one got a reply. Hmm, were you too busy playing your sibling 'games'?"
Su Youzhu puffed up her cheeks, her voice turning colder. "I absolutely was not. Last night, I..."
Wait a second. She suddenly remembered something. Last night, she had indeed taken the Wandering Soul Secret Medicine and the Stone Heart Ink, preparing to endure through the side effects of the Yin Yang Twin Jade in her sleep.
She'd even been fully prepared to be jolted awake by excruciating pain.
Yet, her sleep quality last night was astonishingly good—she didn't even have a single nightmare.
There was only one explanation.
The side effects of the Yin Yang Twin Jade hadn't manifested.
Su Youxia asked on the other side of the phone.
Su Youzhu looked around in confusion and suddenly spotted a silver silk-thread bracelet on her wrist. It sparkled dazzlingly under the sunlight, almost translucent in appearance.
She recognized with a single glance that this was an exceptionally rare antique—an Alchemy Weapon, no less.
On her nightstand was a note: "Keep this bracelet on for the next three days. Don't take it off."
It was Gu Jianlin's handwriting, the strokes straight and firm, as cold and rigid as he was.
He had been here last night.
Su Youzhu sat in silence for a long time. Gradually, a glimmer of understanding dawned in her eyes, tinged with confusion.
Gu Jianlin must have done something to help her bypass the backlash of the Mythical Weapon.
But how was he able to achieve something not even a Ninth-order Great God could?
"Why do I feel like you're acting strange?"
On the phone, Su Youxia teased with a half-laughing tone. "Don't tell me you're still hesitating about letting him in on your secret?"
Su Youzhu's lashes lowered, and she murmured softly, "He already knows."
She didn't mention that her doppelgänger had died and that she had barely escaped with her main body intact.
Since it was all in the past, bringing it up would only make her sister anxious.
"Huh? He already knows?"
Su Youxia's curiosity was clearly piqued. "When did you spill the beans?"
Su Youzhu thought for a moment. "Back in the Qilin Immortal Palace. To be honest, he suspected me long before that."
Su Youxia snorted through the phone. "I told you he'd figure it out sooner or later. After all, he's Uncle Gu's son. No matter how well you disguise yourself, you'd always slip up in front of him."
Su Youzhu stroked the bracelet on her wrist, remaining silent.
"For someone with your personality, taking such an initiative is rare."
Su Youxia teased, "It's obvious you like him a lot."
At the mention of the topic, Su Youzhu scoffed lightly and said calmly, "I've known him since I was nine. He's the man I've raised since childhood. Nobody in this world understands him better than I do. If I didn't make a move, he'd never like me. And with the curse hanging over us, even if he had feelings for me, he'd never date me."
No matter how chaotic the battles were in the Extraordinary World, life still had to be lived in reality.
She was also a normal young woman, yearning for love's response and companionship.
This was the most vibrant time of her youth, a time meant to be spent traveling, dining, shopping, watching movies, and curling up together on the couch to watch horror films, ending the evening sharing the same bed in the safety of a single room.
Only, with Gu Jianlin's personality, such ideas probably never crossed his mind.
His thought process was incredibly straightforward.
Clear his father's name, then seek revenge.
Simplistic and monotonous.
Su Youzhu had to work tirelessly to insert herself into his life, to scatter a little color into his world.
And since she mostly relied on seduction, that color often leaned toward yellow.
There was a brief silence before Su Youxia chuckled. "The man you raised since childhood, huh."
Su Youzhu donned a serious expression. "Is there a problem? When the teacher was away on trips, I was the one secretly taking care of him—tucking him in during winter and shooing away mosquitoes for him in summer. Do you know how hard that was for me?"
The sudden progress in their sibling relationship wasn't without reason.
It was because Su Youzhu understood him far too well.
If it had been anyone else, they would've remained distant and reserved.
Gu Jianlin was like an ice block.
If you didn't use the perfect temperature to melt him, all you'd get was his indifference.
Su Youxia quipped meaningfully, "I see now. You're quite the eager one."
Su Youzhu replied coldly, "After all, I promised the teacher I'd take good care of him."
"Sure, but Uncle Gu didn't ask you to become his child bride."
Su Youxia smirked. "If you like him, just admit it. Why come up with excuses?"
Su Youzhu: "I'm hanging up."
"Alright, alright, I'll stop teasing you."
Su Youxia's tone turned serious. "I just got some news: Master has returned to reality."
For a split second, a frosty glint appeared in Su Youzhu's beautiful eyes.
In that moment, she seemed to revert to the resolute and lethal Moon Princess.