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

The name Gu Yan was like a sudden yet perfectly precise spell.

Pei Yuran's violently trembling body suddenly stiffened.

The rapidly spreading chill came to an abrupt halt.

The frost spreading across the stone table stopped extending, and the ice crystals suspended in the air fell down in a soft rustling sound.

She leaned against her mother's chest, her rapid breathing gradually subsiding, but her body remained taut like a fully drawn bowstring.

After a long while, Pei Yuran slowly began to move.

She pushed her mother's arm away and stood up straight.

His face had regained its usual cold indifference, but his eyes remained dark and deep, like a bottomless abyss after a blizzard, burning with an almost obsessive flame.

"I'm going to find him."

His voice trembled slightly, yet it was resolute.

Pei Youyi looked at her, not stopping her, but only asking, "And then what?"

Pei Yuran's gaze swept over the black sword on the stone table, and she remained silent for a few moments.

"Hire him separately."

"One hundred years."

"Exclusively for me..."

a hundred years.

A person's entire life.

Pei Youyi's heart trembled. Looking at the unwavering determination in her daughter's eyes, she knew this was no joke, but a declaration.

"Okay. Yuran, Mom supports you."

She breathed a soft sigh of relief, reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her daughter's ear, her voice gentle yet firm.

"But.

She changed the subject slightly, "A hundred years... is a lifetime."

"What if Master Gu Yan... doesn't agree?"

"Won't."

Pei Yuran immediately retorted, her tone firm, even subtly revealing a hint of grievance.

She thought back on those six years.

The boy always smiled gently, embracing all her coldness, silence, and occasional sharp outbursts, patiently listening to her fragmented words.

He risked getting close to her on the verge of losing control time and time again, never truly refusing any of her requests.

He always did what she wanted and went along with her.

This time, they will definitely agree.

Okay. Let's go now.

Looking at the unwavering determination in her daughter's eyes, Pei Youyi's last bit of hesitation dissipated.

She grasped Pei Yuran's slightly cool hand and nodded.

"Pass on the message to Lin Zhenting."

"I knew it—he really has some tricks up his sleeve. But my Pei family and his Lin family are not the same."

"For me, what matters most is what the child chooses and what makes them happy. Nothing else matters."

She turned to the messenger who stood beside her with his hands at his sides, her voice returning to its usual gentle tone.

After saying that, she stopped looking at the servant, took Pei Yuran's hand, and turned to walk out of the courtyard.

The moonlight elongated the shadows of the mother and daughter, one gentle and resolute, the other cold and determined, yet their steps were surprisingly synchronized, and they quickly disappeared into the shadows of the corridor outside the moon gate.

.....

Inside the cabin, a slight rumble was the only background noise.

Gu Yan leaned back in the large chair, her fingers unconsciously twisting her cuffs.

I mentally reviewed everything that happened today.

Lin Jinyu's loss of control and her inconsistencies, Lin Zhenting's advice to quit and the truth he revealed, and her own decisive escape...

"There shouldn't be any problems, right?"

He muttered to himself, trying to convince himself, "I've taken care of all their problems, settled the money, and left cleanly."

"Given enough time, it will eventually..."

"Xiao Yan."

The slightly weak but clear voice of the elderly Gu Tan came through the loudspeaker of the mobile sanatorium next to him.

Gu Yan immediately sat up straight and leaned closer to the cabin wall: "Grandpa, please speak."

"A sudden departure... Is it because of trouble in Jinghai? Is it related to those two families...?"

Inside the cabin, Gu Tan slowly opened his eyes and looked at his grandson through the transparent cover.

Gu Yan remained silent for a few seconds.

He had nothing to hide from his grandfather, except for his absurd speculations about the novel's world and the female protagonist, Lei Da.

"Troublesome... not really."

He organized his thoughts, lowering his voice, "I just feel... it's time to leave."

"Grandpa, you know, the doctor said my health... only lasts for a few years."

"I want to go out and see the world while I can still move, instead of being trapped in some mansion."

He paused, then continued, "And, those two young ladies from the Lin and Pei families..."

"They themselves are the biggest problem."

"Being with them is too exhausting and too... dangerous."

"These past six years have been like walking a tightrope, and I'm a bit... fed up."

Inside the intensive care unit, Gu Tan listened quietly, his slightly cloudy eyes looking at his grandson's unfake exhaustion and a hint of lingering fear.

"Okay. If you want to leave, then go ahead. Grandpa's fine here."

After a long while, the old man nodded almost imperceptibly, his voice coming through the loudspeaker with a sense of peace that comes with the passage of time.

Those few simple words gave Gu Yan immense comfort and confidence.

He knew that his grandfather had always supported him.

The plane landed smoothly on the dedicated runway of Shanglu International Airport.

The cabin door opened, and several black medical transport vehicles and cars were already waiting on the side.

Well-trained personnel dressed in uniform dark colors quickly stepped forward and, together with the accompanying medical staff, carefully transferred Gu Tan's mobile ward to a specially made medical vehicle.

The movements were professional, fast, and without the slightest hesitation.

Gu Yan followed them off the plane, and the night breeze, carrying the unique faint moisture of Shanghai and the hustle and bustle of the city, rushed towards her.

His gaze swept over the group of people who had come to pick him up at the airport, and his brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.

Not right.

These people... don't seem like the Lin family's style.

Whether they are bodyguards or subordinates, the Lin family's actions always carry a refined, subtle air of ruthlessness and undisguised ferocity.

The people in front of me moved with such precision that they seemed to have been cut from the same mold; they were silent, efficient, and their eyes were calm and expressionless.

He didn't have the overt, oppressive aura of the Lin family; instead, he possessed an introverted, deep-pool-like tranquility.

Especially the middle-aged man who stood by the medical vehicle, wearing a seemingly ordinary black suit and with a lean physique.

He just stood there quietly, his gaze occasionally sweeping around. Gu Yan felt as if the air around her had become somewhat stagnant, and an invisible sense of pressure quietly permeated the air.

This is not the kind of aura that ordinary bodyguards possess.

But right now, the most important thing is to relocate and resettle Grandpa.

Gu Yan suppressed her doubts and got into another car.

The convoy drove away from the airport and sped through the streets of Shanglu late at night, soon arriving at Shanglu's top private hospital.

Global International Medical Center.

The entire transfer process went remarkably smoothly. The special access route had already been cleared, leading directly to the hospital's highest-standard, independent sanatorium floor.

The ward is designed as a suite, with the outer room being a rest area and monitoring station, and the inner room being a spacious, bright, and fully equipped treatment room.

Gu Tan's intensive care unit was securely connected to a dedicated interface that had been prepared in the room, and various vital signs data instantly lit up stably on several screens.

Only then did the middle-aged man in a black suit, who had been following them and exuded a calm aura, silently stand on one side of the door to the outer room of the suite, like a shadow.

He showed no intention of leaving.