166: Qingzhu A went up, and Shenzi was dumbfounded!

Inside the room, the air seemed to solidify.

Su Chen stared blankly at the familiar yet strange face before him.

It was a beauty that transcended the mortal realm, pure to the extreme.

Her skin was like snow and her features like a painting, especially those phoenix eyes as cold as wintry stars. At this moment, due to nervousness and shyness, they shimmered with a moving watery light, as if ice and snow were beginning to melt, causing Su Chen to lose himself for a moment.

[Holy crap, I can't take it, I really can't.]

[This level of beauty is cheating, isn't it?]

[If this were on Earth, what would those female celebrities even matter?]

Su Chen's heart let out the most blunt exclamation.

But he quickly snapped out of his amazement, replaced by doubt and vigilance.

[Something's wrong! Very wrong!]

[Why isn't she cultivating properly in the Yaochi Holy Land? What is she doing in this foul Demonic Domain?]

[And she even dressed herself up as an Enchantress, kidnapping me off the street...]

A terrifying thought struck his mind like a bolt of lightning.

[Could it be... she's here to break off the engagement?!]

[It's over! It's game over! This is going to be a huge mess!]

Su Chen's CPU began to whirl frantically as the plots of tens of thousands of engagement-breaking novels he'd read in his past life flashed through his mind.

[Step one: Arrive forcefully, suppress with Aura. Done.]

[Step two: Declare the engagement void. The reason is usually "you're just trash, you don't deserve me." Is it almost time for this step?]

[How should I respond? Should I point at her nose and roar, "Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west, don't bully a poor youth!"?]

[Or should I sneer and say, "My fate is mine to decide, not the heavens'. Today's humiliation shall be repaid a hundredfold in the future"? These lines seem a bit Chuunibyou...]

While Su Chen was urgently rehearsing his script, Ling Qingzhu, seeing his shocked and dazed expression, saw a different picture in her heart.

He was frightened by me.

He definitely didn't expect me to reveal my identity so directly before him.

Looking at his shocked and helpless state, he must be troubled over how to explain his presence in the Demonic Domain to me, right?

He didn't want me to worry about him, so he kept up the disguise.

Su Chen... you're always like this, shouldering everything alone.

Ling Qingzhu's heart was completely filled with intense emotion and heartache, which she could no longer suppress.

She couldn't let him keep pretending to be strong alone.

She wanted to tell him that she understood.

She was willing to face all the wind and rain together with him.

Ling Qingzhu took a deep breath, summoning the greatest courage of her life.

She took a step forward.

Once again, she grabbed Su Chen's hand.

That hand was no longer cold, but carried a thin layer of sweat from nervousness, and it was shockingly hot.

Su Chen shuddered.

[Again?!]

[And she's not letting go? What kind of new process is this? Do we have to hold hands for a sense of ceremony before breaking the engagement?]

[Are the playstyles of your Righteous Path's great sects all this fancy?]

Just as Su Chen was about to say something, Ling Qingzhu beat him to it.

Her voice was no longer the icy tone of the Cold Moon Immortal, but carried a trace of imperceptible trembling and the unique clarity of a young girl.

"Su Chen..."

"I... finally caught you."

Su Chen was stunned.

[This opening line isn't right! Did she get the wrong script? Shouldn't it be "Su Chen, I have come today to dissolve the engagement between the two of us"?]

Seeing that the confusion in his eyes still hadn't faded, Ling Qingzhu thought he was still acting. Her heart ached, and she gripped his hand even tighter.

"You don't have to pretend anymore."

Her voice carried a hint of a pained sob, as if she were soothing a wounded lone wolf.

"I know you came to the Demonic Domain for me."

"I know you were afraid I'd be in danger here, so you followed me quietly."

"Everything you've done... I know it all."

Su Chen: "???"

His CPU let out an overburdened wail.

What on earth is she talking about?!

I came to the Demonic Domain to eat melons, to watch the show, and to enjoy the decadent life of the Demonic Path!

When did I ever come for you?

This script is wrong from the very root!

Seeing Su Chen's dazed expression of "Who am I? Where am I? What kind of fairy tale am I listening to?", Ling Qingzhu's imagination reached its peak.

He's still pretending!

He's still thinking of me!

He doesn't want me to carry any psychological burden, so he's pretending to know nothing!

Su Chen... you're such a hopelessly gentle fool!

An unprecedented impulse instantly shattered all of Ling Qingzhu's reserve and icy exterior.

She could no longer hold back.

She stood on her tiptoes.

Amidst Su Chen's suddenly contracting pupils, she closed her eyes.

And gently pressed her lips against his.

Soft, cool, and carrying a hint of her unique orchid fragrance.

Boom—!

At this moment, Su Chen's brain completely crashed.

It didn't explode into fireworks.

The CPU was overloaded, the circuits burned out, the motherboard smoked—it was a total system crash.

Time stood still.

All he could hear was his own completely out-of-control heartbeat.

[I... I was kissed?]

[Kissed by the Yaochi Saintess, my cheap Fiancée who only existed on an engagement contract... she force-kissed me?]

[This... this plot is completely wrong! What happened to the Engagement-breaking trope?! What happened to the humiliation and counterattack?!]

[How did we skip all the steps and fast-forward straight to her giving herself to me?!]

After the kiss, Ling Qingzhu's cheeks instantly turned so red they looked like they might drip blood.

She didn't dare look at Su Chen again. She lowered her head bashfully, her voice as thin as a mosquito's buzz, yet every word was clear and carried an indisputable determination.

"Su Chen, this marriage... I accept it."

She looked up, her cold phoenix eyes filled with unprecedented resolve.

"From this day forth, I, Ling Qingzhu, am yours."

She took another deep breath, as if using up all her strength to utter the final sentence.

"I... I like you."

After speaking this earth-shattering confession, her whole body felt a bit unsteady, and she could only barely stand by clutching Su Chen's hand tightly.

Su Chen froze on the spot. The cool, soft sensation still lingered on his cheek.

He looked at the ice-cold Saintess before him, who was so embarrassed she seemed ready to faint, yet still stubbornly refused to let go of his hand.

That salted fish heart of his—as hard as divine iron, as steady as an old dog, and finding joy every day in watching the show—actually let out a "crack" at this moment, breaking open a gap for the first time.

An indescribable, completely foreign emotion quietly surged from within.