I raised stunning young ladies, but they all wanted to possess me.

With his frail body and precarious health, how could he possibly talk about marriage?

What if I suddenly disappear one day, and they react to the same erratic behavior that Lin Jinyu just showed...?

Forget it.

Perhaps leaving is the right thing to do.

Time heals all wounds. Without him as the catalyst, Lin Jinyu and Pei Yuran...

I think I should be able to gradually return to a normal life, right?

He pulled his hand away from Lin Zhenting's grasp; his fingertips were icy cold.

"Uncle Lin, you flatter me."

"I'll take the money, and I'll remember the favor."

"Please take good care of Sister Jinyu."

He did not further explain that he had no intention of marrying into the family, nor did he emphasize any potential problems with Lin Jinyu.

Some things only need to be said once.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, another figure involuntarily flashed through his mind.

Pei Yuran.

The icy beauty from the Pei family who can wield a sword is nine years older than him; she's twenty-seven this year.

His temperament was as cold as a snow-capped mountain that never melts, and when his ability was activated, fine ice crystals would condense in the air.

Treating her was another kind of hardship.

It wasn't a heated confrontation, but rather a chilling silence and an icy barrier that kept everyone at arm's length.

Her heart was a wasteland frozen by absolute cold.

It took Gu Yan a long time to barely manage to carve a small opening in that wasteland and glimpse the core of the trauma that even the young girl might not fully understand.

But she never explained the reason in detail. If you pressed her for an answer, the temperature around you would drop by more than ten degrees, making you feel cold to the bone.

He asked the head of the Pei family, but the still beautiful and charming woman only shook her head and sighed, remaining silent.

"What...is the reason?"

The itch to explore in my heart became inexplicably clearer.

He knew he shouldn't be curious.

But it's an occupational disease.

Or perhaps it's the instinct brought about by those eyes that perceive emotions that gives him an almost obsessive desire to explore the root causes of all deeply hidden psychological traumas.

The car door was already open, and Gu Yan stepped inside with one foot, but then stopped.

The lingering throbbing pain at the back of my head and the burning sensation under the ointment in my palms intertwined, but even clearer than these was the scratching itch in my heart.

About Pei Yuran.

That woman, whose emotions were frozen, whose pain was frozen into frost, had a past like a stubborn block of ice. No matter how he tried, he could only melt the surface.

He withdrew his foot and turned around.

Lin Zhenting was still standing by the car, his figure like a silent mountain in the deepening twilight.

"Patriarch Lin," Gu Yan said, her voice hoarse from the treatment but clear, "there's something else I'm curious about before I leave."

Lin Zhenting's gaze fell on his face, but he didn't speak, waiting for him to continue.

"Sister Pei, she..."

Gu Yan carefully considered her words, "What exactly happened in the past?"

"I mean, what exactly caused her to become like that?"

"I asked her, and I also asked Aunt Youyi, but no one was willing to tell me."

He paused, then added.

Lin Zhenting's eyes flickered almost imperceptibly.

"The Pei family... gave me permission not to tell you."

He remained silent for a few seconds, his sigh almost inaudible in the twilight.

"I'm not an outsider anymore, am I?"

Gu Yan forced a weak smile. "Six years as a therapist, now it's time for treatment..."

"That's a good end to it."

"I'm leaving now, Uncle Lin."

"Even if we knew, it wouldn't affect anything, would it?"

He looked at Lin Zhenting, and in those usually gentle eyes, the other's features were clearly reflected, along with a hint of almost imperceptible expectation.

Lin Zhenting met his gaze and remained silent for a moment.

A rare moment of hesitation crossed the face of this underworld tycoon, but that hesitation eventually turned into a deeper melancholy.

"Young friend Gu, these words... shouldn't have come from my mouth. But I must first apologize to you on behalf of the Pei family."

He shook his head, lowering his voice.

Gu Yan's heart skipped a beat.

An apology? Another apology?

You just apologized for refusing to marry into the family, so why are you apologizing now?

The color seemed to have faded a little from his face, and his fingertips were slightly cold.

"We... lied to you."

Lin Zhenting uttered these words in a heavy tone.

Gu Yan's pupils suddenly contracted.

A lie? The Pei family lied to him? About Pei Yuran's illness?

An ominous premonition gripped his heart, more suffocating than the backlash from the treatment.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and he forced himself to keep his voice steady: "Patriarch Lin, please continue."

Lin Zhenting's gaze fell upon the hazy lights in the distance, as if he had seen something else through the darkness of the night.

"Pei was sixteen when the accident happened."

He spoke slowly, each word like a heavy stone, "Her sect has an ancient lineage, and a divine sword that has been guarded for generations has recognized her as its master."

That year, she was ordered by her master to train alone and secretly guard a small town on the southwestern border.

"Every few years, an undercurrent surges in from outside the boundary, carrying with it corrupted beasts and filth."

Gu Yan listened quietly, her breathing slowing down.

"She did an excellent job."

"Her methods were clean and efficient, and she was meticulous. For two whole years, under her secret protection, not even a single contaminated rat managed to sneak into the town."

"The townspeople lived in peace and contentment, and were unaware of the existence of such a guardian deity."

Lin Zhenting's voice carried a complex emotion, "Back then, Pei Yuran, though cold, had a light in her eyes and warmth in her heart."

"The problem lies with the person she trusts most."

Lin Zhenting's tone turned cold, "Her senior brother, whom she grew up with and whom she regarded as her own brother, is a wolf in sheep's clothing."

"He had long coveted Yu Ran's companion divine sword and secretly sided with the evil cultivators."

Gu Yan's fingers curled up unconsciously.

"That beast chose the most poisonous time to strike."

Pei Yatou's cultivation is at a critical juncture, as her heart meridian is connected to the divine sword, and she is most vulnerable to external disturbances and intense emotional fluctuations.

He unleashed a massive, irrational undercurrent, simultaneously kidnapping over a dozen elderly people, women, and children from the town, forcing them to the valley where Pei was cultivating in seclusion.

The night seemed to grow even darker, and the air felt so thick it was hard to breathe.

"He used the lives of the townspeople to force Pei to sever her heart meridian connection and hand over the divine sword."

Lin Zhenting's voice was like ice, "Back then, Pei girl... couldn't move."

"If you forcibly interrupt it, the heart meridian will shatter instantly. If you don't interrupt it, you can only watch helplessly..."

He paused, the image seeming to send a chill down his spine.

"She watched helplessly as those familiar faces called out to the children she had secretly given candy, and the old people who had brought her mountain produce..."

"One by one, they were swallowed up by the dark current and torn apart by evil magic before her eyes."

Gu Yan felt a chill creep up from her tailbone; it wasn't the coldness on her skin, but something deeper.

He could imagine what it must feel like for someone like Pei Yuran, who valued responsibility more than life itself and harbored kindness and perseverance deep within her heart.