“Su…Nian…”
These two words, like a thunderclap from a clear sky, exploded in Lin Nuannuan's ears! In an instant, they shattered all her thoughts, all her struggles, and all her agitation, leaving only boundless coldness and horror!
How could he have known?!
Su Nian! This was her original name before she transmigrated, a name she had buried deep in her heart and never even called out directly by System 088! In this world made up of novels, in Xie Chen's mind, she should just be "Lin Nuannuan," the substitute who resembled Gu Weiwei!
A chill ran down her spine and straight to the top of her head, making her blood seem to freeze in that instant. She froze on the piano bench, her hand held by Xie Chen turning icy cold, even her fingertips trembling slightly uncontrollably.
Was it a coincidence? Words with similar pronunciations? Or... did he unconsciously penetrate the outer shell of "Lin Nuannuan" and directly touch the essence of her soul—"Su Nian"?
System 088's warnings about "fluctuations in subjective consciousness" and "deep empathic connection" resurfaced like a ghost. Could this "connection" not only allow her to perceive his pain, but also allow him to glimpse her true self?!
A wave of immense panic washed over her. What did it mean to have her identity exposed? She dared not imagine. How would Xie Chen, someone with an extremely strong desire for control who abhorred anything outside his control, react to discovering that his "possessions" were actually a soul from another world with unknown purposes?
Destruction. Almost the only answer.
She instinctively tried to pull her hand back and escape this suddenly extremely dangerous situation.
However, her subtle struggles startled Xie Chen, who was in a light sleep.
He tightened his grip on her hand suddenly, with a force that carried an undeniable authority. He frowned and slowly opened his eyes.
The initial confusion upon waking lingered in his eyes for less than a second before being quickly replaced by a sharp clarity. He seemed somewhat puzzled as to why he had fallen asleep at the piano while holding her hand, but more than that, he felt annoyed at being disturbed, and... angry at himself for his momentary lapse in concentration.
His gaze fell on Lin Nuannuan's face, keenly capturing the extreme fear in her eyes, like that of a frightened deer, and her pale complexion.
This was not the fear he was familiar with, the kind that stemmed from his intimidation. This was a deeper, more profound panic, a near-desperate terror as if his most fundamental secrets had been exposed.
Xie Chen's brows furrowed even more. He released her hand, sat up straight, and the cold barrier around him instantly reformed, shutting out the gentleness and tranquility of the moment before.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked, his voice low and hoarse from just waking up, but already back to its usual cold and hard tone.
Lin Nuannuan's heart pounded wildly, almost leaping out of her throat. She forced herself to lower her head, avoiding his scrutinizing gaze, and used all her strength to keep her voice from trembling too much: "N-nothing...it's just...a little cold."
This excuse is utterly lame.
Xie Chen narrowed his deep eyes, clearly not believing it. He didn't press for details, but his gaze on her was tangible, carrying an all-seeing pressure, as if he wanted to dissect her from the inside out.
He remembered that before he fell asleep, he seemed to have... unconsciously whispered something. The specific content was now blurry, but the feeling that it had touched on something important remained.
Is her reaction, this unusual fear, related to this?
The atmosphere became tense and stagnant again. The brief moment of warmth that had just flowed was like a fragile bubble under the sunlight, bursting at the slightest touch and disappearing without a trace.
Xie Chen stood up, ignoring both her and the piano, and walked straight to the liquor cabinet, pouring himself a glass of strong liquor. He leaned against the bar, tilted his head back, and drank it all in one gulp, his Adam's apple bobbing, his profile as hard and cold as if carved by a knife.
Lin Nuannuan remained seated on the piano bench, her fingers unconsciously curled, her palms still tinged with his scalding heat, yet her heart felt icy cold. Her mind raced, attempting to analyze this crisis that far exceeded her expectations.
“088,” she cried out anxiously in her heart, “How does he know my name? What’s going on?”
This time, the system responded, but the signal remained extremely unstable, accompanied by static: "Buzz... Detected... Name identifier leak... Source... Target's deep consciousness fragments..."
"Correlation analysis...is related to increased activity of 'subjective consciousness'..."
"Warning... The host's true identity is at risk of being exposed... The world's rejection reaction... may intensify..."
"It is recommended... to exercise extreme caution... and maintain your current disguise..."
Fragments of deep consciousness? Subjective consciousness? Lin Nuannuan was trying to grasp these key pieces of information. So, deep within Xie Chen's subconscious, there might truly exist some kind of fragment that transcends the established rules of this world, a fragment of "knowing" Su Nian? Is it because of those so-called "empathic links"?
Maintaining an identity disguise... easier said than done! Under Xie Chen's sharp gaze, and with him possibly already harboring suspicions, how could she possibly maintain her disguise?
For the next few days, Lin Nuannuan felt like she was dancing on a knife's edge.
Although Xie Chen no longer mentioned what happened at the piano that night, his "attention" to her had clearly increased. This attention wasn't gentle concern, but rather a more intensive and in-depth scrutiny. He would suddenly ask her opinion on a certain plot point while she was reading; he would casually bring up a topic completely unrelated to her "past" (belonging to Lin Nuannuan's past) to probe her while she was eating; he would even abruptly ask her what she was thinking when she was gazing out the window in a daze.
Every question was like a trap, and Lin Nuannuan had to be on her guard, using all the memories and reactions that belonged to "Lin Nuannuan" to deal with them, for fear of revealing the slightest flaw that belonged to "Su Nian".
She felt like a counterfeit being scrutinized under a spotlight, enduring immense psychological pressure every single second. Exhaustion and anxiety clung to her like vines, making it almost impossible for her to breathe.
Xie Chen, however, seemed to enjoy it immensely. He watched her cautious, precarious movements under his probing, the tension and exhaustion in her eyes that she couldn't completely conceal. The probing in his deep eyes grew stronger, even carrying a hint of... a cruel, metallic scent.
Is he enjoying this cat-and-mouse game? Enjoying cornering her and watching her panic?
That evening, Xie Chen returned home unusually early. In his hand was a small, palm-sized wooden music box that looked very old.
He didn't explain the origin of the music box, but simply placed it on the coffee table in the living room and gestured for Lin Nuannuan to come over.
“Open it,” he commanded, his gaze fixed on her face.
Lin Nuannuan's heart skipped a beat. What new test was this? What was inside this music box? A melody that triggered the original owner's memories? Or... something else entirely?
She stepped forward as instructed, her fingers trembling slightly, and gently opened the lid of the music box.
A clear, ethereal melody, tinged with a touch of melancholy, flowed out slowly. The melody was unfamiliar; it was not a famous piece she knew, and it seemed unrelated to Xie Chen's "Nocturne."
Lin Nuannuan listened carefully, trying to find any clues related to "Lin Nuannuan" or "Su Nian," but to no avail. She secretly glanced at Xie Chen and found that he had his eyes closed, seemingly listening or perhaps recalling something, with no particular expression on his face.
Could it really be... just an ordinary music box?
Just as she relaxed her guard slightly, thinking it was just a routine "test," Xie Chen suddenly spoke without warning. His voice was calm and even, yet it struck Lin Nuannuan like a bolt of lightning:
"Does this melody sound familiar?" He opened his eyes, his gaze like the most sophisticated detector, scanning every tremor of the muscles on her face. "It is said to be a requiem passed down through generations by an ancient family that no longer exists."
A requiem?! An ancient family?!
Lin Nuannuan's pupils constricted sharply! A chill instantly ran through her body! Before she transmigrated, Su Nian's family was an ancient clan that had declined and was almost unknown to the world! And the melody of this music box…
She gripped her palms tightly, forcing herself to remain calm through the pain. She couldn't panic! Absolutely couldn't panic! This could very well be another test! How could he possibly know about Su Nian's family?!
"No...I'm not familiar with it." She heard her own voice dry as she answered, trying to make her eyes look blank. "It sounds beautiful...but I've never heard it before."
Xie Chen stared at her quietly for a long time. His eyes were as deep as an ancient well, making it impossible to see what he was thinking.
Just as Lin Nuannuan was almost driven mad by the pressure of this silence, he suddenly chuckled very softly. The laughter was very soft, but it carried a chilling, all-knowing quality.
He reached out and closed the lid of the music box, and the melody stopped abruptly.
"Is that so?" he said casually, his tone leaving it unclear whether he believed him or not.
He picked up the music box, turned around, and seemed to be about to leave.
However, as he reached the study door, he stopped, not turning around, but speaking in a very low, almost sighing voice, as if talking to himself, yet also as if speaking to her:
Sometimes, forgetting might be the best option.
"But there will always be someone... who will remember us."
After saying that, he went into the study and closed the door.
Lin Nuannuan stood frozen in the center of the living room, her whole body ice-cold.
Forget? Remember?
How much did he actually know?! That requiem, that pointed remark... was it a coincidence, or did he already have solid evidence and was simply enjoying watching her struggle in vain?
"Remember for us"... Who does this "we" refer to? Him and her?!
An immense fear and a utterly exposed, inescapable despair gripped her heart like cold vines, almost suffocating her.
She felt as if she had been caught in an invisible net, and the one who wove the net was standing in the shadows, calmly observing every struggle of the prey.
Just as she was trembling with shock and almost couldn't hold on any longer, System 088's voice sounded again, this time with an unprecedented solemnity and... a hint of barely perceptible urgency:
"Warning! The target's cognitive bias is continuing to widen!"
"Its suspicion of the host's identity is...approaching a critical level!"
"World background information...an unusual disturbance has occurred...buzz...unknown data stream detected..."
"Highest priority warning: Suspicion that the triggering source...is not entirely from 'subjective consciousness'..."
"Repeated... Suspecting an unknown interference term exists in the trigger source!"
"Mission risk level... upgraded to highest! Host, please... spare no effort... to complete the core mission as soon as possible!"
Unknown interference?! Not entirely from the subject's consciousness?!
What does this mean?! Could it be that besides Xie Chen himself and that potentially awakening "subjective consciousness," there's a third force influencing his perception and driving him to doubt her identity?!
The suspense of the story has now been pushed to a more complex and dangerous point—behind the male protagonist's suspicions seems to lie a deeper conspiracy and an unknown manipulator. With the risk level raised to its highest point, how will the female protagonist complete her mission "at all costs"? All will be revealed in the next chapter.
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