Going out with a beautiful girl, many would definitely claim "this is a date".
But what if this beauty is Chen Lingyun?
Based on Yan Yu's understanding of her, this was definitely not any kind of date.
Even from Chen Lingyun's perspective, it might even be more akin to walking a dog… He remembered in a past life, during a post-dinner stroll, this terrible woman indeed mentioned offhandedly, "If you leave me behind again, I'll have to tie a leash around you".
Thinking of this, Yan Yu's fists clenched once more.
A gentleman's revenge is not too late, even after ages!
"What are you thinking about?" Chen Lingyun suddenly asked.
"Thinking about how to bully you," Yan Yu glanced at her sideways.
Any other girl would have taken offense at those words, but Chen Lingyun was obviously not normal. In fact, the less Yan Yu played by the rules, the more she found it amusing. She smiled and asked:
"In our past life as husband and wife, did we also often bicker like this?"
"Bicker?" Yan Yu scoffed, "You think too highly of yourself. In the past life, you were constantly mocked and ridiculed by me, without a chance to retort."
"Hehe," Chen Lingyun's smile remained unchanged.
Not having a chance to retort, with her personality, was absolutely impossible. He must be lying.
Tying together his unexplained hostility towards her, a reasonable speculation would be: in the past life after their marriage, she must have bullied him to the point where he couldn't fight back, hence in this life, he harbored thoughts of leaving her completely.
Thinking of escaping? Hmph!
Suppressing her hidden thoughts, Chen Lingyun took a big drink of the mango coconut sago dessert, and looking at the distant lake and trees, she suddenly asked:
"Yan Yu, do you think... there are immortals in this world?"
This question was so abrupt that Yan Yu almost immediately realized what she was probing:
If Chen Lingyun knew about the existence of cultivators, it meant that the military had already completed the selection of the first batch of potential cultivators and had begun training.
At this point in time, there was absolutely no experience in how to train cultivators, resulting in nearly a hundred different theoretical training programs.
Some were designed according to Mei Yingxue's descriptions, such as "sitting in meditation in famous mountains and rivers, absorbing spiritual energy" or "collecting materials, refining elixir medicine and consuming it". Of course, there were also projects proposed by scholars from technical sciences, like "trying to enrich spiritual energy, creating environments with high concentrations of spiritual energy in small areas" or "preparing drugs that promote the absorption of spiritual energy".
Lu Country, when faced with decisions that affected the nation's fate, always went all out. They swiftly chose "I want them all" — arranging for judgment and experimentation on all proposals.
As long as one of these paths proved successful, it wouldn't be a loss!
And such large-scale scientific experiments, involving massive manpower, funds, and equipment, naturally couldn't be kept completely confidential. Given Chen Lingyun's family background, it wasn't strange for her to know this.
Seeing Yan Yu deep in thought without answering, Chen Lingyun made a preliminary judgment. As if speaking to herself, she asked nonchalantly:
"Cultivation, immortality... Can life really be endless?"
"What if it is?" Yan Yu suddenly countered.
"If that's the case, it would be quite interesting," Chen Lingyun said with a light smile.
"It would be interesting," Yan Yu sighed faintly, "and also very terrifying."
Chen Lingyun fell silent for a moment, then said cheerfully:
"Yes, it would also be terrifying."
But looking at her sweetly smiling face, there wasn't a trace of fear or dread.
Yan Yu sighed inwardly again, pondered for a moment, and decided to reveal some secrets to her, then he called out:
"Chen Lingyun."
"What is it?"
"I don't like your elitist ideology."
"Really?" Chen Lingyun said with a beaming smile, "I understand now."
"Including how I just started speaking and you've already totally grasped everything I was about to say." Yan Yu spoke seriously, "I really despise that."
"Eh?" Chen Lingyun crossed her left arm over her chest, resting her elbow in her hand, her right index finger against her cheek, showing an adorable look of confusion, "I thought it was a rapport we had cultivated as a couple in our past life."
"We were not a couple in our past life." Yan Yu sighed and denied, "What I said before was to trick you. With so many disagreements between us, how could we possibly end up together?"
"Is this a new game?" Chen Lingyun blinked, laughing, "Before you were saying we were a couple, now you're outright denying it. Are you trying to enjoy seeing me confused and distressed as you toy with me?"
"No." Yan Yu shook his head once more, "You must have noticed, right? I actually don't have any feelings for you."
"Hmm, your acting is not bad." Chen Lingyun's smile did not change, "Do you still remember that secret you shared with me before? The one about me caring for a stray cat when I was little."
"What about that secret?" Yan Yu suddenly had a bad feeling.
"You could use the advantage of informational asymmetry to fabricate all sorts of lies, and indeed, I can't always tell." Chen Lingyun spoke slowly, her smile seeming a few degrees more sincere, "But there's one thing I am one hundred percent certain of."
She tiptoed closer to Yan Yu's ear and whispered,
"About that secret with the cat, I would only tell it to... the person with whom I'm willing to bare my heart, with nothing hidden."
Yan Yu's expression froze on his face.
This damned sweetness!
Chen Lingyun stood back up straight, her face radiant with a brilliant smile, and said gently,
"So, don't think about fooling me in that regard, okay?"
"Dear."
Time seemed to have passed as long as a century until Yan Yu finally collected his thoughts and said again,
"People change."
Don't try to seduce me, vile woman!
"But I won't." Chen Lingyun said with a smile, "At least not about this matter."
"When you told me that secret in our past life, we weren't even boyfriend and girlfriend." Yan Yu emphasized again, with a contemptuous sneer, "Peoples' hearts change with different experiences. How can you use your current mindset to assume the thoughts of your past self? Isn't that laughable?"
"Then how can you use your mindset to judge what the past me was thinking?" Chen Lingyun continued to smile, "Or do you believe you understand Chen Lingyun better than I do?"
"We really didn't have any romantic relationship back then!" Realizing he might have taken his ruse too far, Yan Yu continued to explain, "At the very least, you should have some idea about your current standards for choosing a partner, right? Could you really like the present me?"
"I really like the current you, Yan Yu," Chen Lingyun smiled even more sweetly.
"Are you confessing?" Yan Yu feigned great shock.
"Not at all." Chen Lingyun spoke cheerfully, "So you can't refuse~"
Yan Yu fell silent again.
This persistent, annoying demeanor, it's exactly the same as in the past life, so she was already like this in high school.
He frowned and spoke in a deep voice,
"Chen Lingyun, I'm not joking with you. You should also be clear that what you call 'liking' me is not romantic love between a man and a woman."
"Then what is love?" Chen Lingyun asked with a smile, "And who has the authority to define it?"
"Sophistry!" Yan Yu immediately seized the loophole in her words, his voice firm, "You don't deny my claim, but instead quibble over the definition of love, which shows you are also clear about the nature of your 'liking' for me! It's not a woman's admiration for a man but a manipulative person's abnormal possessiveness over a toy!"
"I'm not trying to twist logic, but to express an attitude," Chen Lingyun toned down her smile and spoke calmly, "I don't care what true love is supposed to be."
"I've told you before, haven't I? When I'm interested in something, I must figure it out; when I'm interested in someone, I won't let go easily either."
"If in this lifetime, you want to escape from my side... huh, just go ahead and try."