Xie Chen's cold warning was like a gentle pluck on a taut string, making the already tense atmosphere in the apartment even more eerie and unsettling. Gu Lin outwardly complied, focusing all his energy on "teaching," and his attitude towards Su Nian became increasingly gentle and patient, as if the confrontation outside the door last night and Su Nian's probing during breakfast had never happened.
However, Su Nian could clearly sense that the scrutiny hidden beneath the mask of gentle elegance had become more meticulous and all-pervasive. He no longer attempted overt mental guidance, but instead integrated his probing into every fingertip demonstration, every explanation of music theory, and even every seemingly casual exchange of glances. He was like a scanner with its power reduced to its lowest setting but its precision increased, not missing a single physiological reaction, muscle tremor, or even the slightest change in her breathing rate.
This silent, intense psychological pressure kept Su Nian constantly on edge, and her fatigue increased day by day. She felt like a piece of ore being repeatedly tested on a precision instrument, with all its components and flaws laid bare.
After his warning, Xie Chen returned to his previous silence and aloofness. He still spent most of his time in his study, but Su Nian could sense that he was spending more time in the apartment. He was like a silent volcano, calm on the surface, but with unknown energy surging within. His occasional glances at her and Gu Lin were deep and unfathomable, as if he were assessing the progress of this "test," or perhaps suppressing some restless power within him.
The balance was being maintained in an extremely dangerous way. But Su Nian knew that this balance was incredibly fragile, and any external impact could cause it to collapse completely.
That afternoon, during the piano lesson, Gu Lin brought a very old-looking sheet music.
“This is a very rare etude, Miss Lin.” He placed the sheet music on the music stand, his voice gentle. “It demands a great deal of concentration and… emotional resonance from the performer. Let’s give it a try.”
Su Nian looked at the yellowed pages. The musical notes arranged on them had a strange, almost distorted rhythm, which made her feel uneasy just looking at it. This was definitely not an ordinary etude!
Alarm bells were ringing in her mind, but she could only show a curious yet slightly apprehensive expression: "Teacher Gu, this looks... so difficult."
"Don't worry, we'll take it slow." Gu Lin smiled, but his gaze behind his gold-rimmed glasses held an undeniable air of authority. "I will guide you."
He sat beside her and began to demonstrate. When his fingers touched the keys, what flowed was not a melodious tune, but a low, oppressive sequence of notes that seemed to contain some kind of chaotic spiritual power! This music had a peculiar penetrating power, reaching deep into one's consciousness, stirring emotions, and arousing hidden fears and anxieties!
Su Nian's face paled instantly. She sensed that the music itself was a detection tool! It was actively stimulating her mental defenses, attempting to elicit an abnormal reaction!
"Come on, Miss Lin, follow my rhythm." Gu Lin's voice rang in her ear, carrying a strange, almost hypnotic magnetism.
Su Nian's fingers rested stiffly on the piano keys, her mind racing. She couldn't refuse; to refuse would be to betray her conscience. She had to play, but she absolutely couldn't let the music completely control her, otherwise her mental world might be invaded by this eerie melody, revealing the existence of the system or her true nature as someone who didn't belong to this world.
She took a deep breath, trying to block out the music's interference with her emotions, and focused all her attention on the most basic fingering and rhythm. She deliberately slowed down, creating awkward pauses and mistakes on certain key notes, befitting "Lin Nuannuan's" level, in an attempt to break the eerie resonance formed by the melody.
It was like navigating a small boat in a raging storm, desperately trying to maintain course, only to be constantly pulled and rammed by immense forces. Fine beads of cold sweat appeared on her forehead, and her fingertips trembled slightly from the effort.
As Gu Lin played the eerie guiding melody, he closely observed her every reaction. His gaze grew increasingly focused, and the gentle smile on his lips gradually became somewhat...meaningful.
“Interesting…” he murmured to himself, his voice so soft it was almost inaudible, “The resistance… is more… tenacious than I expected…”
Just as Su Nian felt she was about to collapse and her mental defenses were about to be breached by the eerie music, the study door was suddenly pushed open with a loud bang!
Xie Chen stood at the door, his face terribly grim. His chest heaved slightly, and his eyes, no longer cold or deep as usual, were filled with an uncontrollable, chaotic violence! His gaze first pierced Gu Lin like a sharp sword, then abruptly turned to Su Nian, his eyes filled with the pain of struggle and a kind of... extreme anger as if his territory had been invaded!
"Stop!" he growled, his voice hoarse and carrying an undeniable pressure, instantly silencing the unsettling music.
Gu Lin's fingers stopped on the piano keys. He looked up at Xie Chen, his face still wearing that gentle mask, but a very subtle cold light, as if a scheme had succeeded, flashed deep in his eyes.
"Mr. Xie?" He feigned ignorance.
"I said, stop!" Xie Chen strode over, radiating a terrifying aura. He grabbed the old sheet music, tore it in half without even looking at it, and threw it on the ground!
"Who gave you permission to use this kind of thing?!" He stared at Gu Lin with fierce eyes, as if he would tear him to pieces at any moment.
Su Nian was stunned by this sudden turn of events. She stared at the torn sheet music on the ground, then at Xie Chen, who was on the verge of exploding with rage, her heart pounding. Why was he reacting so violently? Was it because the music had also stimulated the unstable "fragments of godhood" within him?
Faced with Xie Chen's anger, Gu Lin remained calm. Instead, he slowly stood up and explained in a composed tone, "Mr. Xie, this is just a simple advanced etude, designed to enhance Miss Lin's musical perception. If you feel it's inappropriate, we can change it..."
"Get out!" Xie Chen didn't want to hear his explanation at all. Pointing to the living room door, his voice was icy cold. "Now!"
Gu Lin paused for a moment, then bowed slightly. "As you wish." He didn't say anything more, packed his things, and calmly left the living room, as if everything that had just happened had no effect on him.
Only Su Nian and Xie Chen, who was in a fit of rage, remained in the living room.
Su Nian froze on the piano bench, not daring to move.
Xie Chen whirled around, his scarlet eyes fixed on her. He approached step by step, his massive shadow completely enveloping Su Nian.
"You felt it, didn't you?" he gritted his teeth, his voice forced out with an almost frantic accusation, "That damn music... it's messing everything up!"
He reached out and grabbed Su Nian's shoulder with such force that she cried out in pain.
“Tell me!” he pressed, his eyes filled with confusion and pain. “What are you? Why…why do you always manage to attract these…these things that shouldn’t exist?!”
His emotions were clearly in an extremely unstable state. The "fragment of the god" that Gu Lin had deliberately stimulated with the eerie music was violently agitating within him, affecting his rationality!
Just then, another unexpected event occurred!
Xie Chen tightened his grip on her shoulders, letting out a suppressed groan. He covered his head with his other hand, and the golden light in his eyes began to flash uncontrollably again, alternating wildly with his dark pupils!
"No...get away...she's mine..." he growled incoherently, as if he were roaring at another consciousness within him.
Su Nian looked at him in horror, at the painful struggle on his face, and at the inhuman golden majesty in his eyes battling with Xie Chen's obsessive, violent, and madness!
Because of Gu Lin's provocation, and because of her presence, the balance within him was once again disrupted!
“Sir…” she tried to bring him back to his senses.
Xie Chen suddenly raised his head, his eyes, a mix of gold and ink, fixed on her. His gaze was filled with endless chaos, pain, possessiveness, and a... unsettling sense of familiarity that seemed to transcend countless time and space.
He abruptly lowered his head, his scalding breath spraying onto her face, carrying an aura of despair and madness, and spoke each word as if in a curse:
"No matter who you are... or where you come from..."
"Now that you're here, you'll never... leave again!"
The moment the words fell, System 088, which had been dormant in Su Nian's mind for a long time, suddenly issued an extremely sharp, high-priority alarm, as if it were on the verge of collapse!
"Warning! Warning! The activity of fragments within the target's body has surged out of control!"
"The external interference source [Gu Lin] is initiating high-dimensional locking!"
"The risk of exposing anchor point coordinates is extremely high!"
"Host! Immediately... zzz... take the final action... otherwise... the stripping process... is about to... activate!!!"
The final solution? What is that?!
Su Nian's pupils suddenly contracted, and an immense sense of crisis overwhelmed her like a tsunami!
The suspense reaches an unprecedented peak at this moment—the male protagonist is once again on the verge of losing control due to external stimuli and internal conflicts, the female protagonist's identity is about to be exposed, and the "stripping process" of the Main God Space has already been initiated! At this critical juncture of life and death, what exactly is the so-called "final solution"? Everything awaits to be revealed in the next chapter!
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