Night, the banquet ended.
The old City Lord bid farewell to Ding Nan and Xi Yuyan.
It was still that carriage, sending Ding Nan and Xi Yuyan back to Kelong Inn.
But this time, Ding Nan’s companion was the whip-holding coachman. Inn, private room.
“You sleep on the bed.”
Xi Yuyan said, pointing at the bed.
“Where will you sleep?”
Ding Nan asked, his whole body weak and swaying, as if a gust of wind would make him fall.
“I won’t sleep tonight.”
Xi Yuyan said.
Ding Nan paused, answered “Oh,” and fell onto the bed.
It wasn’t that Ding Nan had a low tolerance for alcohol, or that he drank too much at the banquet.
Ding Nan had no habit or interest in heavy drinking.
The reason he drank so much tonight was all because of the old City Lord.
The old City Lord must have taken some kind of medicine.
He kept toasting Ding Nan at every opportunity, then relying on his Nascent Soul stage cultivation, he downed his drinks without getting drunk.
But Ding Nan was the one who suffered.
With his mere Early Qi Refining Stage strength, although he wasn’t knocked out, he was dizzied and disoriented.
Before getting on the carriage, he even vomited twice.
At this moment, all he wanted was to sleep, and sleep.
So his brain was numb.
He didn’t care why Xi Yuyan wasn’t sleeping.
With a splat, he collapsed onto the bed like a pile of slime, making soft rustling breathing sounds.
Xi Yuyan, who had been slightly flushed from drunkenness, instantly lost all color in her face.
Was she drunk?
No, she was faking it.
She stood before the bed, looked down at Ding Nan, and took a deep breath.
‘The person she likes doesn’t like her. What should she do?’
Now that she thought about it seriously, Xi Yuyan had never said she liked him.
She stared at Ding Nan’s sleeping face.
Suddenly, the Jade Tablet on Ding Nan’s chest faintly glowed, catching Xi Yuyan’s attention.
“Intensity?”
Xi Yuyan muttered to herself.
Her eyes widened slightly, revealing an expression of disbelief.
She looked carefully for a long while before she saw the pattern.
“Ding Nan’s soul body entered the Jade Tablet? With an Early Qi Refining soul…”
Ding Nan’s soul body hadn’t completely left his body.
Only a part of his soul was drawn into the Jade Tablet.
The soul matched the power inside the Jade Tablet so perfectly, seamlessly integrated, as if they shared the same origin.
This allowed the weak Ding Nan to perform a Consciousness Transfer without much side effect.
‘What is inside the Jade Tablet?’
Xi Yuyan didn’t know, but she felt from the Jade Tablet the same aura as that man she had seen when she infiltrated Ding Nan’s Spiritual Sea.
“That person… is inside this Jade Tablet?”
Xi Yuyan said in astonishment.
Ding Nan was in the library, clutching his knees, breathing heavily for a good while.
Entering the library while drunk, he felt as if someone had hit his brain with a club.
It took a while before he came back to his senses.
The first thing he did after coming to his senses was feel distressed.
He forgot to take the Spirit Stones off his body!
They must have been devoured by the Jade Tablet.
He originally hadn’t planned to use the Jade Tablet.
After all, he was now penniless, so he tried to be as frugal as possible.
Ding Nan had previously been taught by Luo Yao in iron smelting and forging, and had studied talismans under Ji Yang of the Xishan Sect.
So he had two skills to make a living.
However, because these two crafts were special, whether he wanted to start forging or sell talismans, he still had to register with the local government and obtain a permit.
Otherwise, unauthorized forging or talisman-making could be punished as treason at worst.
Ding Nan was a law-abiding citizen.
To get the permit, he had to take an exam, and the exam would cost a fee—and it wasn’t a small amount.
“Forget it, I’ll have to borrow eventually anyway.”
Ding Nan sighed, trying to console himself.
“Might as well make good use of this opportunity now.”
Ding Nan walked slowly forward and saw the words “Luo Family” on the bookshelf.
He stroked his chin and said, “Could this Luo Family be Yao’er’s Luo Family?”
Earlier, Ding Nan was squeezed dry by Luo Yao during the day, and also squeezed dry at night, so he hardly had any chance to study.
Later, in order to escape, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to learning talismans.
Besides, the Jade Tablet contained memories of past big shots.
He estimated he wouldn’t see Luo Yao, so he didn’t pay much attention.
‘Now that I think about it seriously, Luo Yao and the Luo family aren’t afraid of the Xishan Sect Leader. Obviously they have comparable combat power. Should I get to know them in advance?’
“Ding Nan?”
Suddenly, a voice came to Ding Nan’s ear—it was Luo Yao’s voice.
For a moment, Ding Nan startled and looked around.
The dim library had no trace of Luo Yao.
Ding Nan trusted his own eyes, and he also knew that Luo Yao would not appear here.
However, he heard the voice getting closer.
The shadows of the bookshelves seemed to waver, as if the next moment, Luo Yao would emerge from the shadows, greeting Ding Nan with a familiar smile and pitch-black, shining eyes.
It wasn’t just fear—there was another feeling: excitement.
Fear, like Luo Yao’s embrace, coiled around him.
Ding Nan was too tense, collapsing to his knees from exhaustion.
“Damn, this has given me psychological trauma.”
He leaned against the bookshelf to rest for a moment.
“That’s enough.”
Ding Nan sighed, covering his head.
His feelings toward Luo Yao were quite complicated now.
On one hand, Luo Yao loved him wholeheartedly, never leaving him, always constant.
On the other hand, Luo Yao had colluded with her family to isolate him, imprison him, and forcefully brainwash him.
But Ding Nan still felt he really liked Luo Yao.
He knew he was actually a shy and introverted person, the type who would choose to marry and have children with a woman he was familiar with.
He absolutely couldn’t accept blind dates, nor could he accept relationships not aimed at marriage.
It might sound traditional, but as far as Ding Nan knew, only those who went through knowing each other, understanding each other, then loving and relying on each other, and finally marrying, could be happy.
He definitely didn’t want to say something like “Marriage is the tomb of love” after getting married.
“I suspect my Stockholm syndrome hasn’t gotten better.”
Ding Nan couldn’t help but mock himself.
But when he thought of Luo Yao squinting her eyes, clinging to him like a kitten, and giving him the best she could offer, Ding Nan felt she was actually pretty good.
Moreover, her yandere level wasn’t too deep.
It only reached the point where she thought he had other women in his heart, so she whipped him, and after whipping, she healed him, and after healing, she went to sleep.
‘Compared to killing, gouging out eyes, and so on, it’s much better. She still loves me.’
“No, no, no, why do I feel this kind of thing is good?”
Ding Nan held his head.
In his memory, it seemed that as long as he responded to Luo Yao a bit more positively, she would be very happy and would also reduce her control over him and his physical management.
‘From this point of view, maybe Luo Yao is actually easy to talk to?’
But as time passed, with his panting, his physiological reaction told Ding Nan that Luo Yao was definitely not easy to talk to.
The fear and imprint she had given Ding Nan were constantly shouting, whispering, urging Ding Nan to return to Luo Yao’s side.
He didn’t mean he didn’t love Luo Yao, but in Luo Yao’s eyes, this was actually not liking her, and precisely because he didn’t like her, he ran away.
Heavy, sick, lacking communication—Ding Nan felt exhausted.
He shouldn’t like such a heavy woman.
Whenever he thought that behind Luo Yao there was also the Luo family, he got goosebumps all over.
“I have to get stronger. If I don’t get stronger… my whole life will be ruined.”