For a year, he could only suppress the growing despair by repeatedly hypnotizing himself that she was still in this plane because her system mission was not completed.

Instead, he envied his past self when he was Chu Mubai, at least that version of himself had once touched him.

How ridiculous, he's jealous of himself.

He drank a lot tonight, but the Bai family bloodline made him unable to get drunk. What was infuriating was that someone dared to send a woman in. He was never short of things that could induce hallucinations, but he was very curious about who was behind this woman.

But now, he vaguely felt something was wrong. The masked man in black looked like a man, but after he asked the question, "he" seemed to have a slightly colder look in his eyes.

Seeing that "he" was still trying to escape, Lu Yan approached and grabbed "his" wrist. At the same time, the sweet fragrance that had been lingering in his dream entered his nose.

Lu Yan's heart skipped a second. Ignoring the other person's resistance, he directly pressed "his" pressure points and carried him back to the waterside pavilion.

Previously, Xia Yixin was the one who pressed other people's pressure points, but now she's the one who got pressed. It's true what they say, the tables have turned.

Xia Yixin was worried that the other party would kill her to silence her, so she said urgently, "My master has something to tell you."

Lu Yan ignored "him" and went straight into the waterside pavilion. As soon as Xia Yixin entered the pavilion, she realized she was doomed.

There was none of the lewdness she had imagined. Instead, two fully clothed women lay on the ground, making suggestive sounds as if in a dream, and several cold-faced guards stood in the pavilion.

They were all old acquaintances of hers.

Lu Yan ordered in a deep voice, "Everyone, stand back and get rid of these two women."

"Yes, Master!" the guards replied in unison, without asking why their master had brought in a man in black.

In a flash, only the two of them remained in the waterside pavilion, the semi-transparent curtains completely obscuring the pavilion from the outside world.

There was only one eight-immortal table in the waterside pavilion, and quite a few wine jars on it, some of which were already empty.

Lu Yan placed the woman in black on the table and released her pressure points. His gaze darkened. "Do you want me to take you into the water, or do you want to turn back yourself, Xia Yixin?"

Xia Yixin met those unfathomable eyes and knew there was no way to retreat. She removed the veil from her face and returned to her original appearance.

What should you do when you reunite after a long separation?

She stared stiffly at the man opposite her, whose gaze was intense, and cautiously asked, "...Long time no see?"

Lu Yan's knuckles turned white as he gripped the woman's shoulders, and he couldn't help but tremble slightly. He was so angry at her words that he laughed. He had countless harsh words he wanted to say, and countless things he wanted to punish for what that little woman who disappeared again and again had done. However, at this moment, he found that he only wanted to do one thing.

He pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly as if she were his most beloved treasure, with force yet with utmost care.

Xia Yixin unconsciously hugged him back, her eyes reddening.

However, their embrace didn't last long. Xia Yixin couldn't understand many things, and she struggled slightly as she pushed him away, saying, "Lu Yan, can we talk about that first..."

“Okay, let’s talk.” Lu Yan lifted her up like a child, sat her down on his lap, and stared intently at her with his dark eyes.

She always felt his gaze was too dangerous, and awkwardly avoided his eyes. "Didn't you enter the system? How did you end up in this world? And why did you attack Zi Linglong? What was the reason?"

Lu Yan knew she wouldn't be at ease unless he explained things clearly, so he briefly recounted how he entered the system, went through three thousand planes to earn points, used those points to exchange for a chance to come back and find her, and how he discovered a system loophole and used the puppet to make the Great Harmony quest unnecessary, forcibly keeping her in this plane.

Of course, there's also the matter of Zi Linglong.

Zi Linglong is currently in the Valley of Divine Physicians. Lu Yan ultimately did not actually kill her. The Valley of Divine Physicians is the main plane of another book, where she can temporarily avoid being discovered by the system. Ying is also with her.

She felt a little relieved. Although she felt a little sorry for Zi Linglong, the original female lead, she wasn't a saint. If she released her, Xia Yixin would have to leave this world, so she could only do this for the time being.

Finally, Lu Yan explained why she was still there.

“I suspect your last mission is that the God wants to use you to kill me, but for the entire plane, I am no longer Chu Mubai, so it’s an ineffective mission. Unfortunately, this method can only be used once.” Lu Yan looked deeply at the little woman in his arms and couldn’t help but stroke her cheek. Although they looked different, they both knew that their souls were the same.

Xia Yixin understood what he meant. "I understand. The target of the mission is Chu Mubai, but in reality, he has already been replaced by you." Thinking of Chu Mubai, she sighed softly.

Lu Yan raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Xia Yixin shook her head. "It just feels a little unreal. Although I felt familiar with him from the beginning and knew that he was you, I still feel a little unaccustomed to it now..." After all, there are still some differences in their personalities.

Lu Yan's eyes darkened slightly as he pinched her chin, making her look at him. "Close your eyes."

Xia Yixin met those starry eyes and unconsciously closed them gently as he had instructed.

She suddenly understood. In the first world, he was like a flame, giving her her first flutter of the heart. Unfortunately, they had too little time to spend together because they were in love, and she left too quickly. In the second world, although his personality was slightly different, he melted away all her defenses like a warm sun. She didn't need to struggle with it at all. Chu Mubai was originally Lu Yan, and the latter was more like the former after many years of accumulation.

But it's all him.

Xia Yixin chuckled and gently shook her head. "Lu Yan, in the previous world, I always felt like I couldn't hold your hand, and I was even afraid of you because you were too strong. So strong that I forgot what the real you was like. But now I understand that no matter how strong you are, Chu Mubai is your inner self—gentle, refined, elegant, wise, and calm. Lu Yan, he has always been you. It's just that this world has allowed me to understand you again, a you who is not just domineering and strong."

She looked at him intently, her expression full of sincerity and honesty.

Lu Yan appeared calm, but his heart was in turmoil; she understood him better than he understood himself.

In the initial small plane, he only had his own plans in mind, and everything was in his hands. However, what use was it even if he gained everything in the end? He lost her, and the pain almost knocked him down. Later, after experiencing three thousand planes, he met countless people, including those just like his former self, and he felt even more deeply about where his past self had gone wrong and how ridiculous he had been.

Now, with the addition of Chu Mubai's memories, Lu Yan is no longer the same person he was at the beginning.

However, Lu Yan didn't want to let her off easily, so he deliberately teased her, narrowing his eyes dangerously, "So, Madam was afraid of me and didn't love me in the previous world?"

"That's not what I meant," Xia Yixin hurriedly explained. "What I meant was that my feelings for him weren't that deep yet, since I left immediately after we became a couple..."

She realized that the more she explained, the worse it got, so she gave up and said, "It's all you anyway, why would you be jealous of yourself?"

Lu Yan raised an eyebrow. "Alright, we can put that aside for now. Let's talk about the matter of using the Heartbreak Pill. In the previous world, you might have had no choice but to leave, but what about this world?"

Xia Yixin was stunned; she had completely forgotten about the Heartbreak Pill.