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And he starved her for two days, not giving her anything to eat or drink, as if he had forgotten that her wronged husband was still locked up in the dark room. Finally, on the third day, he remembered. Lu Zhiyuan, who had been hungry for two days, looked at six big buns and fell into silence.

This treatment was far worse than what Jiang Junlin had received. When Ji Chi imprisoned Jiang Junlin, he even made Buddha Jumps Over the Wall for him.

Gu Ci summoned her courage and opened the door.

When Lu Zhiyuan saw the light, he looked up. Although he was the one who had been locked up, Gu Ci looked even more disheveled. Lu Zhiyuan felt sorry, but his gaze remained calm.

“Cici, take a good look at me. Who do I look like?”

Gu Ci’s heart trembled. Lu Zhiyuan had a smile on his face, but there was no trace of humor in his eyes. He looked like Third Young Master, and also like Third Master. Third Master only smiled when he played the role of Third Young Master.

He was indeed pretending!

“Is deceiving me so much fun?” Gu Ci asked. “Aren’t you afraid that 1’11 really shoot you, and that will be the end of it, both of us dying together?”

Lu Zhiyuan raised his chin, smiling wickedly, and then relaxed. He gestured for her to look at the surveillance camera. “Do you want Gu Ziyu to see the scene of his mother killing his father and then committing suicide?”

He lazily sat on the ground, leaning against the bed, but he didn’t look like a prisoner at all. Instead, he had the relaxed demeanor of a stroll in the park. “Cici, do you hate me?”

Gu Ci watched him warily, her mind in turmoil.

Who was he really?

Lu Zhiyuan whispered, “Ziyu told me everything. In the previous life, your madness was caused by my death, and Ziyu’s tragedy was all because of me. There’s something you might not know. Gu Chuyun confessed her feelings to me when she was in high school, but I rejected her. You two fought and had conflicts since childhood, and 1 always favored Gu Chuyun, scolding you to your face. I never thought that she would misunderstand because… you were underage, struggling in the Gu family. If I showed any signs of liking you, Gu Chuyun would have intensified her attacks on you, but she still noticed it. So… that engagement banquet, you ended up in prison, and I was the trigger. If 1 had never been in your life, there would have been no disaster, even if you were bullied by Gu Chuyun since childhood, you have a vengeful personality. Even if you suffered, once you turned eighteen, you could have left the Gu family. Gu Chuyun bullied you for fun, but she wouldn’t have sent you to prison and ruined you. You’re smart, always hiding your abilities. You would have excelled in the college entrance exam and gone to A University to study the major you liked. After graduating from a top university, your future would have been promising. You could have left the Gu family. Maybe you would have met a boy you liked in college, and with Jiang Junlin’s support, you would have had a good life. But instead, he let you endure a lifetime of suffering, Cici, all your misfortunes were caused by me. Do you hate me?”

Ordinary, normal, perhaps she would have become a financial executive or a doctor. When she grew up, if Jiang Junlin saw her, he would definitely become suspicious and investigate her background. With Jiang Junlin backing her, she would have lived a good life.

But he had made Gu Ci endure a lifetime of suffering.

“Did Gu Chuyun confess her feelings to you?”

Lu Zhiyuan frowned, Gu Ci emphasized the point, but he still nodded. “I rejected her. From childhood to adulthood, 1 didn’t even get a clear look at her.” Gu Ci chuckled, “Do you know why you were disliked in high school?” “Because I always protected Gu Chuyun, and you misunderstood that I liked her.”

“You actually knew everything?” Gu Ci frowned. “But you never explained why.” “Cici, I’m very busy,” Lu Zhiyuan said lightly. “As a race car driver, time is precious, and I don’t want to waste a single second on such boring matters.”

“If everything about me is boring, then why did you marry me after I was released from prison?” Gu Ci asked, bringing up the past life. “Lu Zhiyuan, after you woke up from your five-year coma, meeting me was probably similar to your current mindset. Why did you marry me?”

Lu Zhiyuan looked at Gu Ci, his gaze distant as if he were seeing another person. He recalled the Gu Ci of the previous life, who had been mentally confused and had attempted suicide multiple times. He had let go of everything and taken care of her meticulously, never closing his eyes for twenty-four hours. He had figured out her preferences, helped her rebuild a utopia, and painstakingly made her develop a tiny bit of attachment to him.

The current Gu Ci was so much like the Gu Ci of the previous life when she had just been released from prison.

No!

She had become even worse, the constant cycle of recovery and relapse tormenting her.

“Cici, let me tell you a story,” Lu Zhiyuan’s voice softened a bit. “Sit down and listen.”

Gu Ci knew that Lu Zhiyuan was changing his approach. When being tough didn’t work, he was trying a softer approach. Regardless of what story he was going to tell, it probably aimed to make her leave him.

“A long time ago, there was a secluded small kingdom where people lived in peace and prosperity. They were untouched by war and had no worries about food. They lived in a paradise away from the world, where citizens were not allowed to leave the boundaries, and outsiders were not allowed to enter. It was a monarchy, but the imperial power resided in the temple, where the deity protected generations of its people. One day, a young girl entered the boundaries by mistake and met a priest from the temple. Out of compassion, the priest hid the girl, and over time, they fell in love, committing a grave taboo. The priest was the only servant in the temple, and those chosen to become priests entered at the age of three and served for life. They interpreted omens for the royal family, took brides from among the chosen, prayed for rain during droughts, and begged for food during famine. The priest was the bridge between the divine and the people. But upon entering the temple, they were cursed with a half-god’s lifespan and a lifetime of solitude. If they ever fell in love, they would bring disaster upon the people, a catastrophe that could not be quelled.”

Gu Ci leaned back on the couch, feeling that this story was strangely familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere before.

She remembered now. One year, she had accompanied Zhou Jinjin to Bodhi Mountain, and there was a fortune teller halfway up the mountain who had told her a similar story. She wondered if the second part of the story Lu Zhiyuan was about to tell was the same.

“The priest, when in love, would bring calamity. In that year, hailstorms struck in May, lasting for a whole month. Crops were frozen, and countless people were injured or killed by the hail. The Emperor and his officials prayed at the temple for three days and nights, but the punishment persisted. Rumors spread, disasters multiplied, and the blame fell squarely on the priest. From the very first day of the calamity, the priest had wanted to send the young girl away, but he was discovered by the royal guards, and in the end, to avoid further punishment, the young girl, with her strong-willed nature, took her own life in front of the temple. It turned out that the girl was merely a test given to the priest out of boredom by the temple’s priests. She was a test of the priest’s feelings. The priest resented the curse, the system, and the heartlessness of the temple’s priests. He set fire to the temple, broke the boundaries, left his homeland, and wandered the world like a lost soul. He tirelessly searched for his beloved, year after year, traveling all across the land. He hoped that his beloved would be reborn, so he could see her once more. But five hundred years passed, and there was still no trace of her..”