The Mighty Mage

Everything Gu Jin said hit them hard. And the worst part was, they knew she was right.

They had failed her.

They returned to the living room slowly, one by one.

There, Xia Wei was standing with Chen Wen. She was scolding him.

"Why aren't you leaving already? You caused all this mess!" she snapped.

It looked like she was trying to defend Gu Jin in front of the family.

But the Xia family wasn't touched at all.

If Xia Wei truly cared, she wouldn't need to put on such a show.

Xia Wang, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke.

"Xia Wei," she said quietly, "stop pretending. We're not falling for your act anymore."

Xia Wei's eyes widened. "What are you talking about? Why are you saying that to me?"

Xia Fei stepped forward. Her voice was calm, but cold.

"Because if you were truly innocent, you wouldn't have helped Chen Wen the way you did. Every time you asked a question, it sounded like you were doubting him. But really, you were helping him. Giving him time. Letting him twist the truth."

Xia Wei's face turned pale.

She didn't expect this.

She didn't expect that the Xia family, who had always trusted her, would suddenly see through her lies.

General Xia's face was dark and angry. He raised his hand and motioned to the guards.

"Throw him out," he ordered coldly.

Two guards stepped forward and grabbed Chen Wen by the arms.

Chen Wen began to panic. "Wait! I'm not done yet! You can't throw me out!" he shouted. "I want to marry Lian Rou! You can't make that decision for her!"

But no one listened.

The guards dragged him toward the door as he struggled and kept shouting.

"Lian Rou! Don't forget! You used to love me! You said you'd marry me!"

His voice echoed through the hall, but it didn't matter anymore. No one cared. They were all too angry, too ashamed.

They realized how foolish they had been to let someone like him even enter their home. They had let down their daughter. And now, because of their doubt, Gu Jin thought they didn't love her at all.

Each member of the Xia family quietly left the room, their faces full of guilt and regret.

Xia Wei stood frozen in place. Her fists clenched tightly at her sides.

Her plan had failed again.

But then, an idea flashed in her mind. If Lian Rou herself agreed to marry Chen Wen, then no one could stop it.

A slow, sly smile appeared on her face.

She would convince Lian Rou.

She had to.

.................

Meanwhile…

Gu Jin opened the window quietly and climbed into her room. She sat down on the edge of the bed and let out a long sigh.

Just then, Long Yifan stepped out from the shadows of the room. He looked tired but calm.

He raised an eyebrow. "So? Did you take your revenge already?"

Gu Jin glanced at him and nodded. "Almost. Tonight, everything should come to an end."

Long Yifan gave a small smile. "Good. I've already finished the teleportation array. As long as we inject enough mana, we can leave this world anytime."

Gu Jin nodded slowly. "You're more useful than I thought."

Long Yifan grinned. "I'll take that as a compliment."

He walked closer to her, but Gu Jin narrowed her eyes.

"If you try anything funny," she warned, "I'll make you regret it."

Without saying anything, Long Yifan suddenly wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly.

So tightly that for a second, Gu Jin felt like he was trying to merge their bodies together.

"Hey!" she shouted and pushed him away. "I never gave you permission to hug me!"

Long Yifan gave her a smug smile. "It's alright. I don't need permission to hug my own fiancée."

Gu Jin raised an eyebrow. "Even if we're engaged, or childhood betrothed, or whatever… You still can't do anything without my permission."

Long Yifan nodded, as if agreeing. "True, true."

But then his eyes lit up with mischief.

"I just remembered something… and I think you'll want to hear it."

Gu Jin crossed her arms. "What is it now?"

Long Yifan pulled out his phone and tapped on a recording.

Suddenly, Gu Jin heard her own voice.

It was her voice, but it sounded strange. Slurred. Like she was sleepy or drunk.

"Long Yifan…" the voice said slowly, "you're so stupid. You didn't even call me… idiot."

Gu Jin's eyes widened. "What the... when did I say that?!"

The recording continued.

"If you don't even kiss me without my permission, are you even a man?"

Gu Jin's face turned red. "What?! I never said that!"

She pointed at Long Yifan. "You faked this audio!"

Long Yifan calmly raised his index finger and placed it against his lips, telling her to be quiet.

Gu Jin gritted her teeth in anger.

The recording kept playing.

"I'm serious…" the slurry voice continued. "I challenge you. I dare you to kiss me."

Gu Jin was frozen.

Her cheeks were burning red now.

She covered her face with both hands. "That wasn't me! That can't be me!"

Long Yifan leaned in and whispered with a chuckle, "It was you. One hundred percent. You called me that night, remember?"

Gu Jin's face was already burning red, but now it turned darker with pure anger.

She glared at Long Yifan. "Which night was this?! When did I ever say those things?!"

Long Yifan's eyes sparkled with mischief. "The night when you and your two best friends were about to go your separate ways. You guys were drinking—remember?"

At first, Gu Jin frowned.

But then, her expression slowly changed.

Her face turned pale.

She did remember that night.

It was a night full of crying, laughing, and drinking. All three of them had gotten so drunk, they couldn't remember anything clearly. Later, they had joked that they must've called their crushes while drunk.

Now, pieces of that night came back like broken glass in her mind.

She remembered daring Long Yifan to come and find her.

She even remembered, vaguely, saying something wild like "If you're a real man, come and sleep with me."

Her eyes shut tight, and right on cue, the next part of the recording played.

Her slurred voice said, "Long Yifan… if you're brave enough, come find me and sleep with me tonight."

Gu Jin's face turned crimson.

She wanted to dig a hole and disappear.

"I can't believe this… I was seriously too bold back then," she muttered.

She clenched her fists and looked at Long Yifan.

"Delete it," she said firmly.

Long Yifan shook his head. "No way. This is my treasure. I've protected it for a whole year. I can't let it go."

Gu Jin gritted her teeth harder. "If you don't delete it right now, I swear I won't talk to you for a whole year."

Long Yifan shrugged. "Still can't delete it. But… I promise I'll never share it with anyone. As long as you listen to me."

Gu Jin narrowed her eyes. "Are you trying to blackmail me?"

Long Yifan smiled shamelessly. "Yup. I'm that kind of guy. Especially when it comes to the girl I want."

Gu Jin was so angry she didn't even speak. She just grabbed the pen stand from her table and threw it right at him.

Long Yifan ducked just in time.

"Whoa! Careful!" he laughed. "You look beautiful when you're mad!"

That made Gu Jin snap.

"You shameless idiot!"

She jumped up and started chasing him around the room.

Long Yifan had enough space to dodge and laugh, but he knew the moment Gu Jin caught him, he would suffer.

And he was right.

After a few minutes of running, he tripped on the carpet, and Gu Jin tackled him to the ground.

Without holding back, she started beating him with her fists. Not enough to really hurt him, but enough to make his face swell up.

"You're dead, Long Yifan! DEAD!"

Long Yifan groaned. "Have mercy! I'm too handsome to die like this!"

Gu Jin didn't stop.

Only after a while, she yanked his phone out of his hand, unlocked it, and found the audio.

She deleted it.

Finally, she let out a long sigh of relief and threw the phone back at him. "There. It's gone."

Long Yifan caught the phone weakly. His face was red and swollen.

But then he smirked and tapped on his screen.

To Gu Jin's horror… the audio played again.

"Long Yifan… if you're brave enough…"

Gu Jin turned in shock. "What?! HOW?! I just deleted it!"

Long Yifan grinned. "I had backups. In the cloud. You beat me, so now I'm going to post it on the school forum. Let the whole academy hear how shameless you are."

Gu Jin's face turned from red to black.

"You wouldn't dare."

"I would," Long Yifan said calmly. "You provoked me that night. And now that it's time to fulfill your own words, you're backing out. That's so unfair."