Let me explain, it's not what you think.

Lu Chen was awakened by a chill.

He groggily turned over and felt something in his arms.

The touch was as delicate as fine warm jade, with a faint milky fragrance that gently seeped into my nose.

He instinctively tightened his arms and pulled her closer to his chest.

Then he froze.

Lu Chen's mind went blank for a moment, and he instantly became clear-headed.

He suddenly opened his eyes and saw the face clearly.

Yu Ning.

? ? ! !

"What are you doing?!"

"Senior brother...!"

"Don't call me senior brother! I'm not your senior brother!! Do you know what you're doing?!"

"I know!"

"You don't know! You are..."

"The first 7, I know, I have nothing to do with him anymore."

"That won't do! You go back right now, and I'll pretend this never happened!"

"Senior brother." Yu Ning didn't move, but just knelt on the bed.

"Where else do you think Ning'er could go?"

Lu Chen gritted his teeth and remained silent.

"You're all I have left. You're all my baby has left too."

"I told you, I'll raise it, and I don't owe you anything!"

"What did you say when the child asked about his mother? Did you say she was a slut who had been driven away?"

Lu Chen choked.

Seeing his appearance, Yu Ning suddenly took a step forward. Lu Chen shrank back again, now pressed against the wall with nowhere to retreat.

"Senior brother, look at me. I don't believe your eyes are empty."

The land sank and remained still.

"Look at Ning'er."

Her voice carried a hint of pleading.

Lu Chen gritted his teeth, turned his head, and met her eyes.

She was trembling all over, from her knees to her toes, every inch of her body was shaking.

Clearly, she was also experiencing immense inner turmoil.

But she just wouldn't leave.

"Senior brother, Ning'er knows you're suffering. You feel you've let them down. But have you ever considered that none of this is your fault?"

"You don't know what the Hehuan Sect did; you know nothing. You are a victim, just like them."

"But you suffer more than us. You bear everyone's pain alone, with no one to tell and no one to understand. You don't even dare to cry out loud."

"That's no reason for you to come here!" Lu Chen turned his head away.

"Senior brother, I don't ask you to forgive me, nor do I ask you to take responsibility for me." Yu Ning reached out and gently grasped his wrist.

"I just want you to know that you are not alone."

Lu Chen immediately shook off her hand: "That's enough, get out now!"

Yu Ning ignored him. She bit her lip, took out a communication token from her sleeve, and handed it to him.

Lu Chen looked down and felt numb.

The token bore two concise lines of text.

The gist of it is that the sorcerer is Lu Chen!

"You!!" Lu Chen's face turned pale instantly, then red.

He reached out to grab it, but Yu Ning pulled her hand back and clenched the token tightly in her palm.

"Senior brother, Ning'er has no way out."

"Are you crazy! Do you know what will happen if this gets posted?!"

"I know."

"They will hate you, they will become your enemies, and your secrets will become the talk of the entire sect. You will be disgraced, expelled from the Xuan Tian Sect, and hunted down by both the righteous and demonic factions!"

"So you still want to do this?!"

"Ning'er won't speak. But Ning'er wants you to know that Ning'er can speak."

Yu Ning's hand, clutching the token, was trembling.

"Listen, you're just acting on impulse right now. You'll calm down soon, and then you'll regret your decision!"

"Senior brother, Ning'er can give up everything. I just want my child to have a complete childhood. I just want... I just want to stay and take care of you, to make up for the mistakes I made."

She knelt on the bed, her long hair loose, looking like a flower swaying precariously in the wind, a sight that evoked pity.

But Lu Chen felt that the person in front of him was a monstrous flood.

"If you don't agree, I'll post this. Anyway, I'm already in this situation, so it doesn't matter anymore."

Lu Chen looked at her, his chest heaving violently.

His eyes burned with anger.

"You are threatening me."

"Yes. I'm threatening you."

Lu Chen stared at her, at her stunningly beautiful face, and at the small token in her hand.

Then he laughed.

It wasn't a happy laugh; it was a laugh that only comes when someone is driven to the brink of despair, a laugh tinged with anger, sorrow, and an inexplicable madness.

"it is good."

He suddenly reached out, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her towards him.

Yu Ning gasped in surprise, and the token slipped from her hand and fell onto the bed.

But nobody cared.

He leaned down and brought his face close to hers.

"Then I'll tell you, you can stay. But remember, this is your own choice!"

Yu Ning trembled.

"You're threatening me, using my secrets, using the bonds I cherish."

"Do you know what I hate most? I hate being forced into things...!!"

Yu Ning closed her eyes.

The candlelight illuminated the tokens scattered in the corner.

The words on the token were still glowing faintly, and Zhang Fan's name lay quietly in the recipient's column.

The next morning, Lu Chen fled the cave early.

He hated himself, hated his entries, and hated his incompetence.

He messed everything up!