“Sure thing!” Chu Tian agreed readily.
There wasn’t a hint of annoyance from being rejected on his face.
Instead, a smile so bright it was dazzling broke out.
He took the piece of fish and bit off a large mouthful without ceremony.
The skin was roasted to a crisp, yet the meat was tender and juicy.
The rich oils burst upon his tongue, filling his mouth with a fresh, sweet aroma.
‘Delicious! Truly delicious!’
In his mind, this was a supreme delicacy personally chosen for him by his future wife.
If he rounded it up, it was basically as if she had fed him with her own hands.
‘What a massive win!’
At this moment, the overbearing and gloomy memories belonging to the “Demon Chu Tian” part of his soul were sealed away by the curse.
It allowed him to return to being that original, sunny, and cheerful young man.
He looked at the girl before him — a girl who was both peerlessly beautiful and incredibly powerful, someone who could tug at his heartstrings at every moment.
He felt as if an invisible little hand was repeatedly scratching at his heart, making it feel itchy and numb.
‘If you like someone, shouldn’t you embrace all of her little temper tantrums?’
Besides, Su Nian’s current huffy appearance was truly… too cute.
However, for some unknown reason…
As he gazed at the girl’s face, which was flushed with a moving red hue from embarrassment and annoyance, fragments of strange and eerie visions flashed deep within his mind.
In those visions, the light was dim and ambiguous.
The girl before him was not like this.
She would kneel submissively before him, her proud eyes looking elsewhere in humiliation as she obeyed his every word.
And he himself was the absolute authority, able to control everything about her according to his whims, doing whatever he pleased.
Chu Tian shook his groggy head, tossing that utterly absurd thought aside.
‘What am I thinking about? It definitely wouldn’t be like that.’
Even if his past self and the girl before him really had been a couple, he shouldn’t be having these unrealistic fantasies.
It was likely because of his memory loss and his wounded soul that these thoughts were appearing.
On the other side Su Zhentian looked at his daughter, who resembled a kitten with its fur standing on end.
He lowered his voice and leaned toward Liu Yue’s ear, whispering, “Wife, look quickly. Niannian’s angry expression is exactly like yours.”
Hearing this, Liu Yue’s brows instantly shot up.
She shot him a “gentle” look.
“Oh? You mean to say that I love getting angry?”
“Ah, no… Wife, let me explain. I didn’t mean it like that…”
Cold sweat instantly broke out across Su Zhentian’s forehead, his survival instincts peaking.
“I mean, you both look good! You even look good when you’re angry! Really!”
“Hmph.”
Liu Yue rolled her eyes at him but wasn’t actually angry.
Instead, she picked up a piece of the most tender fish and stuffed it directly into her husband’s mouth, silencing his clumsy tongue.
Sitting nearby, Su Nian froze as she watched her parents’ unreservedly intimate interaction.
She couldn’t help but remember her own actions from earlier.
‘What?’
That thought caused the temperature of Su Nian’s already burning cheeks to spike once more.
‘If what my parents are doing now is flirting, then what just happened between me and Chu Tian was…’
Uncontrollably, she used the corner of her eye to steal a glance at the man beside her.
The light of the campfire danced across his handsome profile, casting shadows of varying depths that made his already sharp features look even more three-dimensional.
To be honest…
He wasn’t bad-looking.
In fact, he was actually quite handsome.
‘Hmm…’
‘If I really was in a relationship with this man before, could it be because… I fell for his face?’
This realization made her heart skip a beat.
A more violent surge of heat rushed to her head, making her feel a bit dizzy.
Her heartbeat somehow fell into a chaotic rhythm.
It was a very strange feeling.
Even though her brain was a complete blank regarding everything about him, her bodily instincts were shouting, telling her that this scene… didn’t seem unfamiliar.
“Niannian, what are you thinking about? Your face is so red.” Liu Yue’s voice was like a needle, gently popping her scattered thoughts and pulling her back from her brief daze.
“Do you think your mom and dad are being too lovey-dovey?” Liu Yue winked mischievously and threw out a sentence that made her soul tremble.
“Back then, you and Little Tian were much more intense than us.”
-Boom!
Su Nian’s brain completely crashed amid a loud explosion in her mind.
The trace of strange affection that had just risen was instantly smashed to pieces by this information-packed sentence.
‘…They were even more intense? More… more intense than them?’
Su Nian slammed her head down, wishing she could bury her entire face into the plate in front of her.
She used her hair to completely isolate herself from the rest of the world.
Chu Tian looked at the girl’s ear tips, which were practically cooked through, and her slightly trembling back.
The smile at the corner of his mouth could no longer be hidden.
He cleared his throat and spoke up, his gentle voice successfully drawing Liu Yue’s attention.
“Uncle, Aunt, the Teleportation Array is ready. We can activate it at any time.”
Compared to the relatively dangerous Endless Sea, his “secret base” was much safer.
The sooner they could head back, the better.
This move successfully bailed out Su Nian, who was so embarrassed she was about to explode on the spot.
“Good, good!” Su Zhentian nodded immediately.
The meal ended in this sweet yet awkward atmosphere.
The embers of the campfire flickered in the night wind, casting the last of their warmth onto the cool beach.
The wooden house on the back of the Giant Mountain Turtle was, after all, only a temporary lodging.
Although it had basic supplies, it was too primitive.
It was time to leave.
Chu Tian stood up and walked toward the Teleportation Array, which was glowing faintly in the night.
The massive array was carved into the solid ground, with countless mysterious runes forming a complex and precise circle.
As Chu Tian and Little Violet injected their magic, the runes lit up one by one.
A ghostly purple light overflowed from the lines, flowing slowly as it pulled the surrounding spatial energy, emitting a low hum.
After Liu Yue stood in place, she turned back and waved at Su Nian and Chu Tian, who were still standing outside the array.
A mischievous smile that said “I understand, you young people need some private time” was plastered on her face.
Su Zhentian carefully supported Liu Yue as they were the first to step into the array.
“Come, wife, stand steady.”
Su Nian’s cheeks began to burn again.
She dawdled, not wanting to get close to that man.
However, the light of the array suddenly flared with brilliance in the next moment.
The purple light soared into the sky, forming a massive pillar of light that instantly swallowed the figures of Su Zhentian and Liu Yue.
Following that, the light spread toward the spot where Su Nian and Chu Tian were standing.
Space was violently distorted and folded.
A powerful sensation of weightlessness suddenly hit.
Su Nian stumbled, her body swaying uncontrollably.
She instinctively wanted to grab onto something to steady herself.
At that exact moment, a warm and powerful hand grabbed her arm with perfect timing.
It was that familiar touch, carrying a scorching temperature.
Su Nian’s body stiffened.
Logic screamed at her to shake him off but her bodily instincts overwhelmed her logic in this instant.
Not only did she not break free, she actually shifted a fraction closer to that steady support.
She didn’t find Chu Tian’s touch repulsive.
In fact…
Deep in her heart, a tiny voice was saying that she was vaguely looking forward to something.
‘As I thought. Was I really in such an intimate relationship with this man before?’
A moment before being completely consumed by the violent spatial energy, she uncontrollably looked up, the thought flashing through her mind.
Her gaze crashed right into Chu Tian’s smiling eyes.
For a moment, her heartbeat accelerated out of control again.
Her soul felt as if it were half a beat late in returning to her body.
When the feeling of solid ground returned beneath her feet, Su Nian felt the air around her was cold and damp, carrying the scent of earth and rock.
The feeling of the world spinning had lasted for God knows how long.
They were in an enclosed room.
The walls were made of massive, unpolished stone, and water stains seeped through the corners.
The magic lamps overhead emitted a dim, yellow glow, making the place look like a Dungeon.
It seemed this was an extremely well-hidden underground teleportation point.
The side effects of the long-distance teleportation were more severe than she had imagined.
Su Nian felt groggy, her temples throbbing with pain.
She raised her hand, rubbing them weakly.
Right then…
A pair of warm hands reached out from behind her, gently replacing her own hands as they pressed against her aching temples.
The owner of those hands stepped forward as if possessed.
From behind her, he used a posture that was nearly an embrace to help massage her.
The pressure from his fingertips was neither too heavy nor too light, carrying a gentle magic that accurately pressed into the most aching acupoints.
For a moment…
Both of them froze.
The warm chest behind her transmitted a clear heartbeat through the thin fabric of their clothes.
Beat after beat, it formed a strange resonance with her own racing heart.
Su Nian’s body was completely rigid; even her breath hitched for a second.
This was too close.
This distance had far exceeded the safety range.
She should push him away immediately and use the coldest tone possible to warn him not to touch her again.
But… the dizziness and pain occupying her mind really did ease significantly under his massage.
To the side, Liu Yue and Su Zhentian watched the scene, both holding back their laughter in a silent understanding.
In their eyes, this was nothing more than a young couple who had been quarreling finally making up.
Those two gazes, full of relief, were like two needles that made Su Nian’s cheeks sting with heat.
She suddenly raised both hands, covering her burning face but she still didn’t move.
Nor did she push him away.
‘Forget it. Since my head hurts anyway, I’ll just let this guy… massage me for a bit.’
‘Just for a bit.’
Chu Tian soon called over a steward who was dressed appropriately and had a respectful demeanor.
He gave concise orders, telling the manager to arrange the most comfortable and quietest rooms in the Castle District for Su Nian’s parents.
He also emphasized that they were to satisfy every single one of their needs.
The look the manager gave Su Nian contained a trace of subtle inquiry and respect.
Su Nian looked around the place, her mind forming several more guesses regarding Chu Tian’s identity.
The scale of this “secret base” was much larger than she had imagined.
Everything here was in perfect order, almost like an independent small town.
To be able to control such a place, this man named Chu Tian was definitely no ordinary person.
After settling her parents, the two of them were alone.
An ambiguous yet awkward atmosphere lingered…
“Next, we are going back to Academy City.” Chu Tian was the first to break the silence.
He felt he should strike while the iron was hot and teleport back to Shadowmoon Manor overnight.
That place was their true “home” together, the key location for her to recover her memories.
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