"Are you done talking?"
Chu Lingxiao looked at the returning Gu Qingze, and couldn't help showing a bit of surprise on his face.
He originally thought that the conversation between Qingze and Chenluo would take a long time and require a lot of preparation, but how come Gu Qingze turned back in less than half an hour? What was going on?
He keenly noticed that Gu Qingze, who had returned, was in a slightly strange mood, so he hurried forward and hugged him in his arms, trying to comfort him, but heard Gu Qingze ask in a muffled voice.
"Ling Xiao, I forgot to ask you before. After you brought Jinluo back, did you restore your original appearance, or did you continue to use your previous disguise to meet her?"
When Chu Lingxiao heard this, he was stunned at first, and then he carefully and truthfully revealed his thoughts.
"Because I didn't know how Qingze planned to deal with the matter of Jinluo, just in case, although I had restored my original appearance, I still selectively used the Dream Pearl to confuse her vision, so that when she saw me, she would still see my previous disguise."
"Isn't the Dream Pearl...here with me?" Gu Qingze asked casually, seemingly nonchalantly.
"Oh, about this matter. Although the Dream Pearl is with you, Qingze, you only have the right to use it. In fact, I am its real owner."
"Since signing the mastership agreement, part of its power has been integrated into my sea of consciousness. So even if the Dream Pearl is not with me, I can still use some of its power."
"What's wrong? Why did Qingze suddenly ask this? Could it be that something went wrong because of me?"
Chu Lingxiao raised his eyes and looked at him, while speaking, he revealed the worst guess in his mind.
"No... Ling Xiao has done everything perfectly. This has nothing to do with Ling Xiao. I'm asking this just... just..."
Gu Qingze hesitated to speak, looking dejected.
Seeing him so depressed and hesitant, Chu Lingxiao became even more curious.
"Qingze, you once promised me that you would never hide anything from me as long as you could tell me."
He just calmly stated Gu Qingze's past promise, staring at him straight in the eyes, which instead aroused certain emotions in Gu Qingze.
Gu Qingze let out a long sigh, then spoke slowly, his words full of self-mockery.
"Ling Xiao, I'm really not good at handling emotional matters. I underestimated Chenluo's feelings for me. Due to my misjudgment... I ended up hurting Chenluo."
"She refused to listen to me finish my words and burst into tears... I stood there, but it was no use, so I returned home."
Seeing that Gu Qingze, even in such a depressed mood, still obeyed his words and recounted the general course of events, Chu Lingxiao felt extremely satisfied.
He gently cupped Gu Qingze's cheeks and comforted her softly.
"It's okay, Jinluo just needs some time to accept it. No matter what Qingze says, the ending is the same. You don't have to blame yourself."
When Gu Qingze heard this, his pupils trembled slightly and he lowered his eyes.
"Am I really not wrong? I was obviously wrong. Even if the ending is the same, I could have made the process better."
"And I promised Ling Xiao before that I would handle it properly, but in the end..."
Chu Lingxiao listened to his self-doubt but did not give him much advice. It would be better to let Qingze figure things out slowly on his own. So he just patted him on the shoulder and changed the subject.
"Actually, I'm quite curious. Before Qingze left, he vowed to make up a beautiful yet slightly regretful story for Chenluo. This shows that Qingze was mentally prepared to make Chenluo sad."
"But now he's so depressed. Could it be that Qingze got nervous when he saw Jinluo and changed his story to a different one? If so, what kind of story is that?"
"What kind of story?"
Gu Qingze pondered for a moment and shook his head.
"There's nothing wrong with the story itself. I misjudged Tilbury's feelings for me, and coupled with the promises I made to her unconsciously, using this story as an explanation to her seems too cruel."
"Feelings, commitment?" Chu Lingxiao caught the key words and looked at him with an extremely calm attitude.
"Well, what Ling Xiao said before is absolutely right. Regardless of whether or not Jinluo has such feelings for me, in her eyes, it is love."
"And without me noticing, perhaps due to the oppressive environment of the brothel, or perhaps for other reasons, that feeling was rapidly growing and accumulating in her heart."
"But I was too slow to react to that kind of emotion. When we were at the brothel, Chrysanthemum repeatedly asked me if I could go with her if I could leave."
"At the time, I thought 'going together' simply meant leaving the brothel together, but Chenluo saw a deeper meaning: not only leaving the brothel together, but also living together."
"So, when I told her that I (Linglan) already had someone I loved, that is, the person Lingxiao was disguising himself as, and that I was ready to start a new life, and I wished her well in her new life, she was so devastated."
"I originally thought that this way I could pretend not to know that she liked me, and unconsciously tell her these things, so that she would give up, without wasting her time, and without having to reject her directly. Then I could give her my sincere and good wishes. I never thought..."
Chu Lingxiao understood the whole story and felt a little unhappy.
"In that case, this is all a misunderstanding. It's just because we don't understand each other and there's a misunderstanding. It's not Qingze's fault. All we need to do is explain it clearly."
"It's easy to say, but I know that kind of emotion very well. Once a person breaks down and falls to a certain level, he or she won't want to listen to any explanation."
"So I can only wait until Jinluo calms down before explaining. Even though the situation has become very bad, I still have to do my best to make amends and not let it get any worse."
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