Chapter 3: Preposterous

Lin Yi’s brain went *buzz*, and everything turned blank.

That sentence was the one her brother said most often.

When Lin Yi was little, terrified of being abandoned, she’d constantly make her brother swear to her. She wouldn’t go to sleep until she heard him say those exact words.

“I...” Lin Yi stumbled back half a step in fright, breathing hard, shaking her head frantically. “You’re slandering me! You’re spreading rumors!”

“Do I really have to spell it out for you?” Lu Yiyan’s tears fell drop by drop, but his expression held zero grievance. His tone stayed perfectly level.

It had a certain split-personality beauty to it—your tears do your thing, my mouth does mine, everyone minds their own business.

“A Love Gu is made by throwing hundreds of gu worms together to devour each other. The last one alive becomes the gu.”

“And a gu needs a gu vessel.”

“You knew Mr. Gu liked your brother.”

“So you used your brother as the gu vessel.”

When Lu Yiyan said that, Lin Yi suddenly felt a gust of wind on her back. It shocked her so hard she forgot to breathe.

First her back got a little itchy. A sensation moved slowly, crawling from bottom to top, finally climbing onto her shoulder.

Lin Yi’s eyes went round, brimming with tears. Her gaze locked straight ahead, like she was terrified.

She felt something touching her!

“Do you know what it feels like to have hundreds of gu worms inside your body?”

Lu Yiyan paused, shifting his gaze to the side.

Lin Yi’s brother was standing right behind her.

The man had burned to death. There wasn’t a single patch of good skin left on his face or body—flesh rotted, whole body charred black.

But this man who died so miserably carried no resentment at all. Those cloudy gray eyes looked at Lin Yi, almost confused.

He probably never figured it out, even in death.

Why his hardworking, kind little sister would want to kill him.

“When the gu worms first enter the body, you don’t feel much. But slowly, you lose your appetite. You get restless and anxious.”

The male ghost slowly shifted his gaze.

Then he lowered his eyes, looking down at his own stomach.

Lu Yiyan said, “Later, your body starts itching for no reason. You can’t scratch it, can’t touch it, but it itches like hell. Even hospitals can’t find anything wrong.”

“In the dead of night, you can even hear the gu worms gnawing on your liver.”

Lin Yi clenched her fists, holding in a breath, glaring at Lu Yiyan. “So what? What’s the point of saying all this?!”

*So what? So what!*

Her brother always wanted her to live well, and she was living great now! He should be happy, shouldn’t he?

Lin Yi’s sanity was teetering on the edge of collapse. Then, like she just thought of something.

Right...

Right!

What she did was correct!

So what if her brother died? He always wanted her to live well. She was just fulfilling his wish, wasn’t she?

And this Lu Yiyan, what was he doing? Spilling all this out—wasn’t he just trying to ruin her?

If he did this, how could her brother ever rest in peace!

Lin Yi clenched her fists. Like she couldn’t take it anymore, she suddenly lunged forward, charging straight at Lu Yiyan. “It’s all you... You’re the one hurting my brother! You—mmph!”

She barely took two steps before someone yanked her wrist hard, nearly pulling her off her feet and onto the floor.

She looked up and saw Teacher Gu’s face pale as paper. “Lin Yi, is what he said true?”

He stared at her in disbelief. “You... you killed your brother?”

“You believe him over me?!” Lin Yi instantly exploded. She raised her voice, jumping with rage, tears bursting out. “Gu Chenhuan, you fucking believe him over me?!”

In everyone’s eyes, Empress Lin was the gentle, understanding big sister.

Forget cursing—she’d never even spoken loudly before.

That shout scared everyone.

The guests sighed a bit too, looking at Gu Chenhuan and clicking their tongues secretly.

Anyone else could doubt Lin Yi, but not this freeloader.

Lin Yi treated him so well. Back when this freeloader broke his contract and owed the agency tens of millions, it was Lin Yi who paid it off for him.

Not only that, she went public with their relationship right when her career was taking off, and married this freeloader.

And the result? This freeloader wanted hype, used the excuse of “hidden problems in our marriage” to force them onto a divorce variety show, and now he actually believed this Lu Yiyan and doubted Lin Yi?

This guy was an absolute beast!

It wasn’t just the guests. The viewers were so mad they nearly choked.

[I’m gonna die of anger, I’m actually gonna die!!! I feel so bad for Sister Lin!!]

[Pushing such a good girl to this point! Lu Yiyan is a beast!!]

[Divorce! Fuck! If Sister Lin doesn’t divorce him, I will absolutely never support any of her work again!!]

[If she doesn’t divorce, lock them together! Boycott them!!]

When Gu Chenhuan heard how painfully Lin Yi’s brother died, his heart felt like it was crushed by a giant hand. That physical pain was impossible to ignore!

But he couldn’t feel sad at all.

Another force seemed to be pulling at his brain, telling him he shouldn’t feel sad for anyone else. Lin Yi was the one he loved most.

“It’s all you... it’s all you!” Lin Yi was nearing a breakdown. Seeing Gu Chenhuan stay silent, she dumped all her rage on Lu Yiyan. “How could I possibly kill my brother?”

“Why would I kill my brother? Everyone knows my brother raised me!”

“And what was that... Love Gu?” Lin Yi said, “When my brother died, I didn’t even know Gu Chenhuan yet. How could I love him that much?”

After Lin Yi finished, Gu Chenhuan snapped out of it too.

Right. That day was the first time he and Lin Yi ever met.

Back then, her brother brought him home for the first time, which was also the first time he met Lin Yi.

Everyone had drunk too much, and nobody expected a fire to break out in the room.

Thick smoke everywhere. Gu Chenhuan woke up first. He didn’t know what came over him, but faced with a choice between two people, he inexplicably saved Lin Yi, leaving her brother to burn in the sea of fire.

Even if she planted a Love Gu, he would’ve had to know her beforehand, right?

Lu Yiyan, however, looked a bit confused. “Who said you planted the Love Gu because you loved Mr. Gu?”

“Miss Lin, I already told you. You did it to change your fate. You did it to steal Mr. Gu’s destiny.”

Lin Yi was completely stunned.

She never expected Lu Yiyan to know even this.

To know her real goal.

“Mr. Gu has a destiny of massive fame, with no worries about food or clothing.”

“His early years were rough, but later he met a benefactor, his luck turned great, and his second half was destined for massive fame and endless comfort.” Lu Yiyan looked at Lin Yi:

“Empress Lin, you could never have reached such a high position on your own. You stole Mr. Gu’s life.”

The moment he said that, the place erupted.

[Fuck? What kind of script is this?]

[???]

[What the hell is Lu Yiyan pretending to understand?]

[My grandpa works in this field too. Actually, what Lu Yiyan said isn’t wrong—Gu Chenhuan really does have a destiny of massive fame. But I don’t get the Love Gu part.]

[I don’t know if you guys remember, but back then Gu Chenhuan really broke platform records with just one song and blew up online.]

[So what? One song and you want to say he was destined for massive fame?]

[No... that’s not what I meant... forget it, pretend I didn’t say anything.]

Exposed, Lin Yi stood frozen in place.

The guests around her saw her like this and couldn’t help whispering, “Is it true?”

“What does true or false matter?” another whispered. “I’ve never heard of fortune-telling being used as evidence.”

That line reminded Lin Yi.

Right... right!

So what if Lu Yiyan knew? As long as she didn’t admit it, there was nothing Lu Yiyan could do!

Could face-reading be evidence?

Could seeing ghosts be evidence?

When the time came, she’d just sleep with the CEO for a night, and he’d naturally handle the PR for her. It wouldn’t affect her at all.

Figuring this out, Lin Yi calmed down.

She sat back down in her chair, crossed her legs, and smiled. “Mr. Lu, I’ve heard quite enough.”

“I wanted to give you some face, but you don’t seem to be giving me any at all.”

Lin Yi let out a long breath, then looked perfectly composed.

Since Lu Yiyan chose to be ruthless, don’t blame her, Lin Yi, for paying back every grudge.

“So, Mr. Lu, please produce your evidence.” Lin Yi smiled. “If you can’t, I will officially sue you for spreading rumors and defamation.”