He looked at the fierce, burning glare she was levelling at him.

He saw the tight clench of her jaw and the righteous, furious indignation practically radiating from her small frame.

For a moment, he stared at her, absorbing the unfiltered hostility.

And then, the stoic Vanguard Commander threw his head back and laughed.

Unlike Xiao Yichen or other protagonists, it was a loud, booming, chest-deep roar of genuine hilarity that echoed out over the serene waters of the lotus lake, startling a flock of sleeping cranes into the night sky.

Ji’an flinched, completely thrown off balance by the reaction.

"What is so funny?!" Ji’an snapped, her voice cracking slightly, abandoning any pretense of polite young-master decorum. She slammed her teacup down onto the stone table, the liquid sloshing over the sides. "Are you laughing at me? Because I don’t find this situation amusing in the slightest, Commander!"

Lin Feng’s laughter slowly subsided into a series of deep, rumbling chuckles. He wiped a tear of mirth from the corner of his eye, shaking his head slowly.

He didn’t stay on his side of the table.

He stood up, his massive, armour-clad frame moving with grace. He walked around the circular stone table, completely ignoring the defensive, panicked stiffening of Ji’an’s shoulders. He stopped right beside her jade bench.

Before Ji’an could even think to scramble away or reach for the spatula hidden at her calf, Lin Feng raised his right hand.

He didn’t draw a weapon or grab her by the collar again.

He simply curled his fingers, leaving his index finger and thumb extended.

With the casual, lightning-fast precision of a man who had done it a thousand times before, he brought his hand forward.

Thwack.

Lin Feng playfully flicked her squarely in the centre of her forehead. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Ow!" Ji’an yelped, a completely involuntary sound escaping her lips.

Her hands flew up to cover her forehead, her eyes watering instantly from the sharp, stinging pain.

Because of his profound cultivation base, even a playful flick from the Vanguard Commander felt like being hit in the face with a flying brick.

"What is wrong with you?!" Ji’an complained loudly, glaring up at him through her fingers, completely forgetting her fear in the face of pure, annoying, older-sibling audacity.

"You were thinking too loudly," Lin Feng chuckled warmly, looking down at her with an expression that was devoid of any dark, possessive shadows.

He looked, for the first time since he had ridden into the plaza, like a completely normal, exasperated older brother dealing with a dramatic younger sibling.

He casually leaned his hip against the edge of the stone table, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

"I have spent the last ten years commanding an army of hardened veterans, little bird," Lin Feng mused, his silver-flecked eyes dancing with amusement. "I have interrogated barbarian spies and outmaneuvered demonic warlords. Do you honestly believe I cannot read the facial expressions of a teenager?"

Ji’an rubbed her forehead, her glare intensifying. "I am not a teenager. I am a—"

"You are currently sitting there," Lin Feng interrupted smoothly, his voice dropping into a teasing, knowing cadence, "staring at me with eyes full of righteous fury, silently calling me a traitor. You are sitting there, burning with resentment, convinced that I am a callous, petty hypocrite who has completely abandoned the memory of the fragile little sister who used to cry in the courtyards."

Ji’an froze. Her hands slowly lowered from her forehead.

’He read me perfectly,’ she realised, a cold shiver of shock tracing down her spine. ’He didn’t just guess. He extracted the exact narrative of my internal monologue just from watching my face.’

"You think," Lin Feng continued, his smile softening into something incredibly melancholic and profound, "that I looked at you, a fierce, bright, fascinating new soul, and simply decided to replace her. You think I didn’t care about her at all."

Ji’an swallowed the thick lump in her throat. She looked away, unable to meet his eyes. "Well... you said you didn’t care who I was. You said the weeping child was gone, and you were fine with it. If you truly loved her, you would be mourning her. Not... not flirting with the demon who stole her body."

The word ’flirting’ made Lin Feng huff a quiet, amused breath, but the amusement quickly faded, replaced by a gravity so immense it seemed to bend the moonlight around him.

He reached out, placing his large, calloused hand gently on top of her head. He didn’t stroke her hair this time; he simply let his hand rest there, a heavy, warm, comforting anchor.

"Rest assured, little bird," Lin Feng murmured, his voice dropping into a solemn vow that resonated with the weight of ancient iron. "Whatever dark, tragic narrative you are spinning in that brilliant mind of yours... You are entirely wrong. I did not abandon her. I could never abandon her."

Ji’an looked up, her brow furrowing in profound confusion. "But... but you said—"

"I said I did not care if you were a demon or a wandering spirit, because I knew the truth the moment I saw you," Lin Feng interrupted gently.

He moved his hand from the top of her head, his knuckles lightly brushing against her cheek.

His eyes, dark and infinitely deep, locked onto hers. The absolute sincerity radiating from him was staggering.

"Don’t worry," Lin Feng whispered, the words hanging in the cool night air like a revealed prophecy. "You belong to this world, and you are my sister, not a stranger. You are not a demon, nor a wandering spirit who stole her body."

Ji’an’s breath stopped entirely.

Her heart gave a violent lurch, slamming against her ribs so hard it bruised.

"What?" Ji’an breathed, the word barely a wisp of sound.

’What was he talking about? Why can’t I understand anything of it?’

"I knew what the Matriarch was doing," Lin Feng continued, his voice tightening with a sudden surge of guilt.