Just as Lin Langtian was about to speak, a surge of electricity shot straight into his mind.
When he looked at Liu Ruyan again, Lin Langtian was shocked to find that the slightest flutter he had felt for her had vanished without a trace. In its place was... an intense sense of rejection and disgust.
Lin Langtian was stunned.
What was going on? Could it be that he truly had no feelings for Liu Ruyan?
As the Demon Emperor, Lin Langtian had always been decisive and followed his heart. He had even disdained lying.
He raised his head slightly and said indifferently, “I’m sorry, Ruyan. I think there must have been some misunderstanding. I don’t like you.”
“Did you hear that, Ye Wushuang? I knew Brother Tian had feelings for me...”
“Brother Langtian, what are you saying?!”
Liu Ruyan’s taunt toward Ye Wushuang came to an abrupt halt. She stared at him in disbelief, her mouth slightly open and her eyes wide, as though she had been struck by lightning.
What had she just heard?
Lin Langtian had said that he didn’t like her? How was that possible?
Then what had all their romantic moments beneath the flowers and moonlight been? What about their vows of eternal love?
Ye Wushuang felt secretly delighted.
This was a sure thing now.
Under normal circumstances, if Lin Langtian had said that he liked Liu Ruyan, Ye Wushuang believed Liu Ruyan would have attacked her without hesitation.
But now, Lin Langtian’s words were a devastating blow to her. She could not even find a reason to kill Ye Wushuang anymore.
“Did I hear that right? Young Master Lin said he doesn’t like Liu Ruyan?”
“How could that be? I’ve watched the two of them grow up together. They’ve always been inseparable, and they often went on outings together!”
“But even if Young Master Lin had some leverage over him in Ye Wushuang’s hands, the look on his face doesn’t seem fake.”
“From what I know of Young Master Lin, he never lies.”
“So Liu Ruyan was just imagining things all along?”
The crowd below buzzed with discussion, and even the corner of Lin Aotian’s mouth twitched awkwardly.
Lin Langtian and Liu Ruyan had grown up together. Lin Aotian had seen everything with his own eyes and had already acknowledged Liu Ruyan as his future daughter-in-law.
Yet he had never expected Lin Langtian to openly declare that he did not like Liu Ruyan.
This meant that some irreconcilable rift had seemingly formed between them.
“Alas.”
Lin Aotian let out a long sigh.
“Since Young Master Lin says he doesn’t like Liu Ruyan, could it be that he likes Miss Ye?!”
“Of course. Ye Wushuang is the daughter of the distinguished Sword Mountain Manor, with an incomparably noble status. How could an orphan like Liu Ruyan compare?”
“Exactly. If she wasn’t good enough herself, she should have accepted that. Instead, she tried to stop Young Master Lin from marrying into the Ye family. I say Liu Ruyan is just a toad lusting after a swan, trying to cling to our Young Master Lin!”
“She brought this humiliation upon herself!”
The discussions among the crowd continued. Many people looked at Liu Ruyan with ridicule.
Even the elders of the Lin family began whispering among themselves.
“Brother Langtian, Ye Wushuang must have threatened you, right?”
“You weren’t like this before!”
“Why?!”
Liu Ruyan was on the verge of losing control. She looked as though she was about to burst into tears.
She could not understand why Lin Langtian had suddenly become a completely different person.
It made Liu Ruyan feel as though he had become a stranger. They had been perfectly fine just yesterday!
Liu Ruyan even wondered whether some powerful expert had taken control of Lin Langtian’s mind.
However, the master inside her ring transmitted a message to her mind, telling her that everything was normal.
“There’s no why. A true man born between heaven and earth must have the courage to face his own actions. If I don’t like you, then I don’t like you. Why must there be so many reasons?”
Lin Langtian spoke indifferently.
Looking at Liu Ruyan’s tearful face, Lin Langtian did not know why, but the disgust he felt toward her only grew stronger.
At present, even looking at Liu Ruyan for another moment made him feel sick.
This only strengthened Lin Langtian’s conviction that he did not like Liu Ruyan.
By comparison, a male disciple of the Lin family among the crowd, with sharp brows, bright eyes, and an imposing bearing, attracted his attention far more...
“Damn it. Could this body have a thing for men in this life?”
Lin Langtian cursed inwardly and forcibly shifted his gaze away from the male disciple.
At those words, Liu Ruyan’s breathing stopped for a moment, and her face turned deathly pale.
Seeing this, Ye Wushuang decided to add fuel to the fire and make sure the two of them would never have anything to do with each other again.
After all, two future Great Emperors working together posed a much greater threat than one alone.
“Ahem, let me say something.”
Ye Wushuang cleared her throat.
“Sister Ruyan, since Young Master Lin doesn’t like you, why do you insist on clinging to him? What’s that saying again? Sometimes love means letting go. Please have some self-respect~”
When Liu Ruyan heard this, she trembled with rage. “Ye Wushuang, you shameless woman! It must be because of you that Brother Langtian no longer likes me! I’ll make you pay!”
With that, Liu Ruyan prepared to attack.
“Liu Ruyan, you can eat whatever you want, but you can’t say whatever you want!”
Ye Wushuang said solemnly, “I, Ye Wushuang, didn’t do anything just now. Everyone here can testify to that.”
“Besides, I, Ye Wushuang, have always conducted myself openly and honorably. I believe in winning people over with virtue. Why would I ever do something like force a man into submission?”
Her words were righteous and dignified. Anyone who did not know her might have thought she truly lived by such principles.
“No! Brother Langtian, tell me this isn’t true! Do you really like Ye Wushuang?!”
Liu Ruyan’s mind completely collapsed, and her voice was filled with sobs.
Judging from Lin Langtian’s reaction, there was no sign that he had been forced into anything!
To him, as long as he could increase his strength, he actually did not care whether he married into the Ye family.
After all, what he lacked most right now was resources.
If he could obtain cultivation resources by marrying into the Ye family, his strength would quickly recover. When that time came, let alone the tiny Ye family—even the entire Qinghe City would be trampled beneath his feet.
Seeing that Liu Ruyan was still refusing to let the matter go, Lin Langtian’s expression turned displeased. The inexplicable disgust he felt toward her deepened further.
“I don’t like you, and I don’t like Ye Wushuang either. I only like men.”
Lin Langtian was dumbfounded.
Although the final sentence had merely flashed through his mind a moment ago, he had never intended to say it aloud.
Yet under the influence of the Orientation Conversion Talisman, he had somehow blurted it out.
The instant his words fell, the entire venue fell deathly silent.
Many people looked at Lin Langtian with extremely strange expressions.
Even Lin Aotian stared at Lin Langtian in disbelief.
No one present could believe that Lin Langtian actually preferred men.
This...
How could this be possible?!
How could Brother Langtian like men?!
The one who suffered the greatest shock was naturally Liu Ruyan. To her, those words were no different from a bolt from the blue.
After all, the person she had loved for so many years had suddenly told her that he liked men. Anyone would have been unable to accept that.
At that moment, a crack even appeared in Liu Ruyan’s Dao Heart.
“Clap, clap, clap!”
A round of applause rang out.
“Young Master Lin truly is a man of passion and conviction. In this life, the person I admire most is a remarkable man like you, someone who dares to take responsibility for his own feelings. Since Young Master Lin has a preference for men and appreciates the finer, more delicate things in life, I won’t force this marriage alliance. From now on, we can address each other as sisters.”
Ye Wushuang’s expression held three parts admiration and seven parts respect.
The entire venue erupted into an uproar.
“I never would’ve guessed Young Master Lin was into men. Why didn’t you say so sooner? I could…”
“Bah! Even if he had, do you really think you’d stand a chance? Just look at your ugly mug.”
“Then everything makes sense. The young master still hasn’t taken a wife or concubine, and all these years, he’s never been captivated by women. He even said that women would only slow down the speed at which he draws his sword…”
