167: A distorted sense of belonging

The moment he saw the message, Cao Bu understood completely, and a flash of killing intent vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

"So, you've seen through my true identity."

Feeling this killing intent, Lin Rou's entire body stiffened, her previous anger instantly suppressed by fear.

Her voice trembled as she asked again, "Who... who exactly are you? Why are you impersonating Gu Yun?"

Cao Bu stopped pretending. Light flowed around his body as Gu Yun's face gradually twisted and reshaped, finally returning to his original appearance.

"Cao Bu? You're Cao Bu?" Lin Rou's pupils constricted, her eyes filled with shock.

But in the next second, she shook her head violently, her tone certain: "No! This must be another disguise! What I saw just now with my Truth-Breaking True Eye is your true form!"

Thoughts surged in her mind as an absurd yet terrifying idea continued to sprout.

It seemed she had stumbled upon a shocking secret capable of shaking the entire Gu Clan.

Cao Bu grabbed her chin, forcing her to look up at him. "You're right. What you saw through the Truth-Breaking True Eye just now is indeed my true face, Cao Bu's face."

Lin Rou said in disbelief, "So... it's been you impersonating Gu Yun all along? All those bad things the Gu Clan framed Gu Yun for were actually done by you?"

Cao Bu nodded candidly. "Quite clever. You're not completely hopeless."

For the current Lin Rou, she would either die or completely submit to him; there was no longer any need for him to keep hiding the truth.

Lin Rou's whole body trembled as she spoke each word with a shaking voice: "The person who seduced me back then was also you, wasn't it?"

Cao Bu nodded. "Correct. From beginning to end, it has always been I, Cao."

Lin Rou trembled even more violently and pressed further, "So the one in the pavilion was you, and the one who saved me from Gu Yingying was also you."

Cao Bu chuckled low, his fingertips brushing past her ear. "The one who took your first time was also me. From start to finish, the Gu Yun you saw was me, Cao Bu, in disguise."

Lin Rou's trembling intensified, and her eyes quickly filled with tears that rolled down one by one.

She had thought she deeply loved the gentle and elegant Gu Yun, but in the end, she discovered the person she had given her heart to was actually this sinister and cunning Cao Bu.

Years of love collapsed into shards in an instant, piercing her heart with pain.

"Why? Why did you deceive me like this?" she choked out, her vision blurred by tears.

Cao Bu raised his hand and gently wiped away her tears, whispering, "I, Cao Bu, am never one to suffer a loss."

"Your father humiliated me like that back then. I couldn't do anything to him, so I could only take it back bit by bit from his most beloved daughter."

He leaned down to her ear, his voice carrying a seductive tone. "If you want to blame someone, blame your arrogant father. He's the one who ruined you."

"No, it's not like that." Lin Rou shook her head, trying to break free from his restraint, but Cao Bu's hands tightly pinned her wrists, leaving her unable to move an inch.

"Don't cry." Cao Bu's tone softened slightly, carrying a strange sort of comfort. "You should be glad that the person who took your first time was me, and it's me this time as well."

Hearing this, Lin Rou's crying stopped abruptly. She stared at him blankly, her eyes full of confusion.

On the ruins of her collapsed heart, something seemed to be quietly growing.

It was a twisted sense of belonging.

Cao Bu continued to lead her on: "Think about it carefully. If Gu Yun had taken your first time and I was the one this time, what would you do?"

Lin Rou blurted out almost without hesitation, "I would kill myself."

"And now?" Cao Bu pressed, his gaze locked onto her eyes.

Lin Rou's eyes flickered a few times, and her voice lowered. "I... I won't kill myself."

"Why?" Cao Bu pushed further, his tone full of allure.

This love-brain was truly "loyal and unyielding."

Lin Rou stopped crying, her gaze gradually becoming firm. "Because... because you and 'Gu Yun' are the same person."

Cao Bu's fingertips lightly stroked her cheek as he asked again, "Then think about it carefully. If Gu Yun and I were both standing before you, who would you choose?"

"Would you choose me, who took everything from you and merged with you in body and soul, or the Gu Yun who never even touched your hand and exists only in your fantasies?"

The night was as dark as ink in the shadows outside Cangfeng Residence.

Using the cover of night, Gu Yun nimbly scaled the high wall and landed silently in the courtyard.

As soon as he landed, he heard the sound of a familiar conversation coming from a certain direction.

He moved stealthily, slowly approaching and pressing his ear against the cold wall.

He heard a somewhat familiar voice, filled with shyness and determination: "I choose you."

"Why?" Cao Bu asked again.

While Lin Rou was pondering, she heard Cao Bu's seductive words: "Because the person you love is me. I am your man, so you should be loyal to me. Gu Yun is just an irrelevant front; you don't need to keep him in your heart."

The light in Lin Rou's eyes grew brighter and brighter. She suddenly remembered the words her mother had taught her since childhood.

"Marry a chicken, follow the chicken; marry a dog, follow the dog."

Although she hadn't officially married Cao Bu yet, he had already taken her first time. How was this any different from being husband and wife?

In that case, the person she truly loved had never been Gu Yun, but the Cao Bu before her.

"Yes! You're right!" She wiped the tears from her face, a smile reappearing as she spoke with a hint of flattery, "I don't like that Gu Yun at all! He was mean to me before and even hit my eldest brother. He's not good at all! The person I like is you, Cao Bu!"

Seeing her sudden change, Cao Bu felt a bit conflicted.

Simple-minded plus a love-brain.

How can this Lin Rou be so "adorable"?

He suddenly felt a pang of guilt.

He raised his hand and slapped himself without hesitation.

Lin Rou was startled and quickly grabbed his wrist, her voice full of worry: "Cao Bu, why did you hit yourself? Did I do something wrong?"

Cao Bu looked full of remorse. "Dammit, I'm really not a human. How could I get distracted at a time like this? Let's continue."

Lin Rou's cheeks instantly flushed red, her eyes becoming shy. She nodded gently and leaned into his embrace again.

Outside the wall.

Gu Yun's fists were clenched tight, his knuckles turning white, and his nails almost digging into his flesh.

"Damn that Lin Rou!" he cursed inwardly. "Back then, you shamelessly begged me to take you in, and yet after only this long, you've thrown yourself into the arms of that scoundrel Cao Bu!"

"Sure enough, a woman changes her face faster than flipping a page!"

"Bah! A pair of adulterers!"

Gu Yun suppressed the urge to rush in and turned to move silently through Cangfeng Residence.

When he passed a cultivation room and saw Gu Chuyan sitting cross-legged in meditation inside, his anger flared even more.

"She's even moved into Cao Bu's place. I bet she's already slept with him."

"Tsk tsk, my 'dear brother,' I really admire you." He sneered in his heart. "You don't even mind a woman someone else has slept with; you truly live up to your surname."

Gu Yun shook his head and was about to leave when his steps suddenly paused, his brow furrowing deeply.

He turned to look at the room where Cao Bu and Lin Rou were, then at Gu Chuyan's cultivation room, a question arising in his heart:

"I don't remember Cao Bu having the 'Cao Thief attribute'; if he did, I would have noticed it long ago."

"Then why would he take in these two women, Lin Rou and Gu Chuyan?"