Gu Yan stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of his large villa, watching the two figures at the edge of the yard with an amused look in his eyes.
Only after he saw Xiao Lin help Shen Wan'er into the car did he smile with satisfaction.
Very good, half of the plan was complete. Xiao Lin coming here was unexpected, but the effect turned out to be surprisingly good.
And that sedan carrying Xiao Lin - the person inside should be Bai Jun, the eldest son of the Bai family from the original story.
Excellent, the plot was progressing smoothly.
Perhaps Xiao Lin's appearance here was also due to the correction of the world's power.
After all... a sad, crying female lead slumped over the hood of a car - isn't that precisely when a male lead needs to appear to comfort her and raise her favorability?
Hehehe... this was working out nicely.
However...
Gu Yan knew that a key point for raising the favorability between the two again was...
The death of Shen Tian.
Only when Shen Tian died would Shen Wan'er's mind collapse from grief.
At that point, if Xiao Lin comforted and cared for her, he could make his way into her heart.
Of course, Shen Tian could die, but Leng Ling'er absolutely could not be involved.
After all, that would just lead back to the original plot.
Then... a grief-stricken, crying Shen Wan'er and Xiao Lin comforting her.
By that point, after some back and forth between them... Haha, just imagining the situation then almost made Gu Yan laugh out loud.
That's right, he had already made Shen Wan'er drink that potion to destroy her powers.
It was in the red wine she had downed in one gulp. Actually, just one sip would have been effective.
But unexpectedly she drank it all, and while she was crying there in her drunken state, it happened to coincide with Xiao Lin being released.
This was developing quite nicely.
Gu Yan had previously considered many plans to weaken Xiao Lin's strength.
One of them was as simple and straightforward as killing off Wang Yulan and the other female leads.
This "killing off" was meant literally - directly assassinating them.
But he quickly abandoned this idea.
First, these female leads were considered favored by fate. Even if they were killed, they might suddenly have some miraculous encounter and come back to life.
Second, many of the female leads had deep backgrounds. With his current methods and strength, he simply couldn't accomplish what he had in mind.
Third, Leng Qingqiu was still in her developmental stage. Needlessly making so many enemies would be like asking for an early death.
Moreover, simply killing the female leads wouldn't completely weaken Xiao Lin's personal strength. He would still be strong as ever.
It's worth noting that Xiao Lin being chosen as the young master of the Dragon King Palace wasn't because of his physique that was compatible with quickly cultivating the Dragon King Jade.
Rather, it was because of his pure, passionate, never-give-up spirit.
So, to attack a person, one must attack their heart.
Gu Yan planned to use these original female leads to cause irreparable... damage to Xiao Lin's heart!
After thinking all this through, Gu Yan also had ideas and plans for the next steps.
But before that.
He looked at the time - 9:30.
Hmm, perfect timing.
"Hehe~"
"Little Qingqing (づ￣3￣)づ╭❤～ I'm here to see you!!"
Gu Yan straightened his clothes, then bounced off towards the underground garage.
.........
.......
Leng Family.
In the study.
"Mmm... ugh...."
Mei Xue's face was flushed an unnatural red. She lay flat on the sofa.
Her entire body was covered by a layer of black mist.
Leng Qingqiu stood in front of her, eyes open revealing that pair of strange pupils.
In her hand, an open book called "Night" emitted an eerie black glow.
Endless black mist flowed from the book, covering Mei Xue's body.
"Master....."
Mei Xue struggled to open her eyes, looking at Leng Qingqiu while panting slightly.
The other's expression was calm, seeming to be lost in thought while treating her.
So the force used seemed a bit strong.
Mei Xue felt like she could sense endless power flowing into her body. This power entering her body all at once made her feel both euphoric and uncomfortable.
"Bear with it Mei Xue, the treatment will be over soon."
Leng Qingqiu said calmly.
The treatment time was very short, only about a minute.
But to Mei Xue, it felt like half a century had passed.
She gritted her teeth, her body trembling unnaturally.
Two forces constantly collided inside her body, churning her insides.
Finally, at the last moment.
A stream of black true qi with an even more ferocious aura devoured that golden true qi.
The treatment was over.
Mei Xue was drenched in sweat.
She also felt that the bottleneck in her cultivation had loosened a bit.
Mei Xue understood this was her master's handiwork.
"Hah... hah....."
She panted slightly, looking at Leng Qingqiu with slightly unfocused eyes: "Thank you for master's grace."
Although this treatment method was a bit strange, there was after all a task to be assigned to Mei Xue.
So the force was a bit strong, and she was also granted some Power of Night.
Leng Qingqiu believed Mei Xue would be able to break through to the next level soon.
Leng Qingqiu closed her eyes again. Fortunately, no one else was here, otherwise who knows what they might have thought she was doing.
Hearing Mei Xue's words, Leng Qingqiu nodded slightly and said, "I have a secret task to assign to you."
Mei Xue came to her senses and hurriedly stood up, kneeling on one knee: "Please instruct me, master!"
Leng Qingqiu nodded slightly, her expression also showing some unease as she said, "For the grand plan of our organization, we need the power of the Gu family."
"So Gu Yan, as the next heir, is a target our organization must have in our grasp."
"Starting from today, you will secretly follow Gu Yan and protect his safety."
At this point, she paused.
Leng Qingqiu emphasized: "Even if you die, Gu Yan cannot die."
Mei Xue's heart trembled violently. She lowered her head, her face already covered in cold sweat: "Yes!"
Why would master suddenly talk about Gu Yan?
Is it because she discovered the secret between me and Gu Yan?
No... impossible. If she had discovered what Gu Yan and I were doing in secret, I probably would have been executed before I even crawled to the door of the Night Organization.
So... master is just giving me a normal task assignment.
Realizing this, Mei Xue also had a moment of insight. No wonder master would be with Gu Yan.
It turns out it was to control the Gu family.
I see. But Gu Yan isn't as simple as he appears on the surface.
After much consideration, Mei Xue still couldn't help but mention, "Master... there's a powerful elder by Gu Yan's side..."
The implication was that Mei Xue wanted to remind Leng Qingqiu that the Gu family's background was not ordinary either.
She hoped master would be careful.
Leng Qingqiu nodded and said calmly, "I'm well aware of that."
!!!
Hearing this, Mei Xue was shocked.
At the same time, she also felt incredibly embarrassed.
Who did she think master was? How could she not know about something like this?
Master must have long known Gu Yan's true face, and was only trying to gain his trust in order to seize the Gu family. That's why she sent Mei Xue to protect Gu Yan.
This must be master's plan within a plan!
Gu Yan thinks master doesn't know his true face, but seeing her take such protective measures for him, he will surely be deeply moved.
Then master will reveal her thunderous methods at the last moment and swallow up the Gu family in one fell swoop.
As expected of master!
Looking at Leng Qingqiu, Mei Xue felt utterly inadequate. Master was truly worthy of being master.
The thoughts in her mind were simply not something subordinates like them could fathom!
She nodded again: "Yes, master! I guarantee I will complete the mission!"
Leng Qingqiu was a bit puzzled why Mei Xue was so excited, but on the surface she still calmly nodded: "Mm, go freshen up first, then secretly protect Gu Yan."
"Yes!"