"Destined to live only in darkness."

Xie Chen's words, along with the icy touch on his fingertips and the fleeting strange sight in his pupils, lingered in Lin Nuannuan's mind like a nightmare, casting a persistent shadow over the next few days.

He saw through her attempt to "cure" him and, with an almost cruel calm, pronounced her efforts futile. What was that wisp of dark golden light? Was it the "subjective consciousness" warned by the system? Or was it another side of his suppressed nature?

Lin Nuannuan felt a sense of bewilderment she had never experienced before. The mission had stalled, the system was out of service, and Xie Chen's heart seemed to have closed again, even more tightly than before. She felt as if she were in a thick fog, unable to see any direction.

However, Xie Chen's condition was deteriorating at a visible rate.

The atmosphere around him grew increasingly oppressive, the gloom in his eyes almost tangible. His insomnia seemed to worsen; even when he did manage a short nap, he was easily startled awake, and upon waking, a fleeting emptiness and rage would flash through his eyes, as if he were lost in another time and space. He became increasingly harsh in handling company affairs; it was said that within just a few days, several senior executives had been dismissed or transferred for trivial mistakes.

When Aunt Mei delivered the food, her expression betrayed her worry. She whispered a reminder to Lin Nuannuan, "The master has been in a bad mood lately, Miss Lin, please... be careful."

Even outsiders could sense the anomaly, but Lin Nuannuan, being at the eye of the storm, felt it even more acutely. He was like a string stretched to its limit, as if it would snap at any moment, releasing destructive energy.

Is this change a consequence of the breakdown that night? Or is it because... the "unhealable wound" he speaks of is festering? Or perhaps, it's the rejection and chaos brought about by the "subjective consciousness" attempting to "awaken"?

Lin Nuannuan didn't know. All she knew was that she couldn't wait passively any longer. Whether it was because of the mission, or because of that slight lingering feeling she herself didn't want to delve into—a feeling for this soul trapped in darkness—she had to do something.

A turning point came unexpectedly one evening.

Xie Chen returned to his apartment, reeking of alcohol and utterly exhausted. He didn't go to his study, nor did he acknowledge Aunt Mei who came to greet him. Instead, he went straight to the French windows in the living room, gazing at the gradually brightening lights of countless homes outside. His back looked lonely and cold.

Lin Nuannuan was sitting on the sofa reading when she saw him return, and she instinctively tensed up. She could smell the strong odor of alcohol on him, which was extremely rare for him. Alcohol often signifies a decline in self-control and an uncontrollable emotional state.

Xie Chen stood there quietly for a long time, so long that Lin Nuannuan thought he might have fallen asleep. Suddenly, he turned around and stared straight at the black piano.

He walked over somewhat unsteadily and sat down on the piano bench. The lights were off, and the neon lights of the city outside the window outlined a blurry and lonely silhouette of him.

He stretched out his hand, his fingers hovering above the piano keys, trembling slightly, yet he hesitated to place them. It was as if the stark black and white keys were red-hot irons, and touching them would bring excruciating pain.

Lin Nuannuan held her breath, not daring to move. She could feel an extremely oppressive, imminent sense of danger permeating the air.

Finally, Xie Chen's fingers fell heavily! But instead of a smooth melody, it was a series of chaotic, jarring, and discordant notes filled with anger, pain, and struggle! The noise violently crashed and echoed in the empty living room, like the raging storm in his heart that had nowhere to vent!

It was as if he was attacking an invisible cage, an inescapable past, and... himself in this futile way.

Lin Nuannuan's heart clenched at the piercing piano music. She watched his back tense from the effort, watched his almost self-destructive pounding of the keys, and a powerful impulse surged within her—she couldn't let him continue like this!

She didn't know where the courage came from, but she suddenly stood up and walked quickly to the piano.

Xie Chen sensed her approach, and the chaotic piano music abruptly stopped. He abruptly raised his head, his scarlet eyes filled with offended rage and a cold warning, as if he were about to tear her apart at any moment.

"Get out of here." He squeezed out the two words through gritted teeth, his voice hoarse and dangerous.

Lin Nuannuan's heart skipped a beat, and fear almost made her want to back away. But when she saw the barely perceptible despair, like that of a drowning person, deep in his eyes, aside from the violence, she stopped in her tracks.

She didn't speak, but under his icy gaze, she carefully and slowly sat down on the piano bench next to him.

This move was undoubtedly challenging his extremely unstable nerves at that moment.

Xie Chen's pupils suddenly contracted, and his aura instantly became extremely aggressive.

However, Lin Nuannuan didn't look at him. She took a deep breath and gently placed her slightly trembling fingers on the piano keys.

Then she began to play.

It wasn't the lonely "Nocturne" Xie Chen played that night, nor the venting noise he had just made. Instead, it was an extremely simple, even somewhat clumsy and awkward, yet exceptionally gentle and soothing melody—a simple etude she had been learning with her teacher these past few days, a piece for relaxation and comfort.

Her fingering was far from proficient, and she would occasionally press the wrong note, but her movements were very light and slow, and each note carried a careful, gentle attempt to soothe.

At first, Xie Chen's aura remained cold and repulsive, as if he might push her away at any moment. His scarlet eyes were fixed on her, as if he were scrutinizing an utterly absurd and ridiculous scene.

But Lin Nuannuan didn't stop. She just focused intently, repeating that simple and gentle melody over and over again. It was as if she wasn't playing a piano, but trying to soothe a wild beast on the verge of breaking free.

She stopped thinking about the mission, the system's warnings, and the strange phenomena in his eyes. At this moment, she was simply following her instincts, not wanting to see him completely consumed by the darkness within him.

Time slowly passed in the simple, repetitive melody.

Gradually, Lin Nuannuan felt the suffocating pressure around her seem to be lessening little by little. Xie Chen's tense body relaxed almost imperceptibly. His gaze, which had been fixed on her with a violent intensity, began to become somewhat unfocused, somewhat... blank.

The crimson in his eyes slowly faded, revealing their original deep black color again. However, within that black color, there surged even more complex and difficult-to-discern emotions—shock, confusion, struggle, and a trace of...unbelievable, moving emotion, like the first melting of solid ice.

He gazed at her focused and gentle profile, at her eyes that seemed to shimmer faintly in the neon lights outside the window, at her hands that, though not nimble, were unusually persistent in trying to dispel the gloom in his heart with the simplest of methods…

Deep within my chaotic mind, something seemed to be touched. It was a tiny corner that had always been sealed off by coldness and darkness.

Finally, when Lin Nuannuan had repeated the song to its end for what seemed like the umpteenth time, a large, hot hand, trembling slightly, slowly and hesitantly covered her hand on the piano keys.

His palms were hot and calloused, completely enveloping her slightly cool fingers. The pressure wasn't strong, but it carried an indescribable, almost affirming, sense of cherishing.

Lin Nuannuan's piano playing stopped abruptly, her whole body stiffened, and her heart almost jumped out of her chest.

She dared not move, she dared not even breathe.

Xie Chen didn't speak. He simply remained in that position, slightly tightening his grip on her hand. Then, he closed his eyes, his thick eyelashes casting deep shadows beneath them, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty as he let out a very soft, almost sigh-like sigh.

In that sigh, there was no violence, no coldness, only boundless weariness, and a kind of... peace as if finally finding a place to rest for a moment.

He held her hand like that, leaning against the piano bench, his breathing gradually becoming even and long.

He... fell asleep.

Lin Nuannuan sat there stiffly, her hand held tightly in his, unable to move. She could clearly feel the burning heat from his palm and the serene, unguarded profile of his sleeping face.

Outside the window was a bustling city that never sleeps; inside, a quiet space where only the two of them breathed. The tense, dangerous atmosphere from just moments ago seemed like a distant nightmare.

This time, it wasn't a breakdown of dependence amidst a storm, but rather, in a conscious (or at least semi-conscious) state, his proactive, silent approach and... plea to stay?

The simple, clumsy piano music actually pierced through his heavy armor and touched that cold, desolate land.

Lin Nuannuan looked down at their clasped hands, a surge of indescribable bittersweet emotion welling up inside her. It seemed that, in the boundless darkness, she had finally glimpsed a faint, yet undeniably real, ray of light...

Just then, System 088, which had been silent for a long time, suddenly emitted an extremely weak beep, as if it were a poor signal:

"Ding... Detected... Target's mental barrier... Appeared... Stability restored..."

"Deep empathic connection...weak reinforcement..."

"Warning... Fluctuations in subjective consciousness... Temporarily... Slowing down..."

"Task [Kiss of Trust]... Current environmental compatibility... Under evaluation..."

The notification sound came intermittently, and then finally fell silent again.

Lin Nuannuan's heart skipped a beat.

Environmental fit? Is this hinting at the present?

She looked at Xie's hand, still tightly holding hers in his sleep, so close to hers, and at his unusually peaceful and serene sleeping face. A thought sprouted wildly like weeds—

Now, perhaps, is the best time to win the "kiss of trust"?

But, while he was asleep... does that count as completing the task? Is this really "trust"?

She was caught in a huge internal struggle and contradiction.

Xie Chen, who was asleep, seemed to sense her emotional fluctuations. He unconsciously tightened his grip on her hand, frowned slightly, and mumbled a syllable.

This time, Lin Nuannuan heard it clearly.

He murmured not "mother," not any vague syllables.

Instead, it has a clear name—

“Su…Nian…”

!!! !!! !

Lin Nuannuan's pupils suddenly contracted, and her blood seemed to freeze instantly!

Su Nian!

That was her real name before she transmigrated! How did he know?!

The suspense reaches its explosive climax here—the male protagonist unconsciously utters the female protagonist's real name from before her time travel! Is this an unconscious coincidence, or does it mean that his subconscious knows her true identity? Where will this sudden discovery lead the story? Everything awaits to be revealed in the next chapter.