After closing the door, the smile on Gu Qinghan’s face slowly faded.
A hair’s breadth from disaster.
No exaggeration could better describe it.
Ten minutes earlier, an incident had occurred here—one that could have decided Gu Qinghan’s life or death.
Sunlight streamed through the window, spilling across the floor. Beneath the lab table, inside a massive chest, a soft golden glow shimmered.
Illuminated by the morning light, the books seemed almost deliberately alluring.
Gu Qinghan’s gaze locked onto their covers, cold sweat beading on his brow.
Steamy novels.
Seductive poses, voluptuous curves—emblems of “earthly justice.”
Per church doctrine, such novels weren’t prohibited; some masterpieces were even deemed collectible artifacts.
It was precisely these books that had shielded Gu Qinghan.
And Katarina, the prosecutor, could only retreat before such “justice.”
Imprisonment? Hypnosis? Gu Qinghan had never heard of such things.
All thanks to that old pervert Hohenheim—how dare he stash so many bizarre items at home?
What was even appealing about these steamy novels?
His eyes remained fixed on the chest, unmoving.
A closer look revealed the books rising and falling slightly, as if breathing.
And they were.
Life hid within these pages.
Gu Qinghan took a slow breath and stepped toward the chest, each footfall making the floorboards creak.
He crouched, reached gently into the pile, and touched one book—
*Hypnotizing My Childhood Sweetheart: I Become the Ultimate Villain*.
Bold pink lettering, a charming anime-style cover adorned with a heart.
He tossed it aside without hesitation.
“What a trashy title.”
Readers of “Bolo Bao” would never touch such hollow trash—books offering nothing but cheap thrills.
Everyone preferred refined literature.
He reached again.
*Revenge Hypnosis: Their Humiliation and ‘Discipline’*.
Far more provocative.
Still unacceptable.
“Lowbrow! Vulgar!”
His gaze stayed locked inside the chest as he repeated the motion.
Two books. Four. Six…
With each removal, the pile shrank, scandalous titles piling beside him—each steamier than the last.
Until finally, the true treasure hidden deep within was revealed:
A gentle maiden.
Not printed on any cover, but resting peacefully at the chest’s bottom.
His fiancée, Liana.
A genuine, breathtaking beauty.
Arms crossed, lips slightly parted, breathing evenly, curled like Snow White amid the steamy novels.
Katarina had been one step away from finding her—and sending Gu Qinghan to prison.
Staring at Liana’s sleeping face, Gu Qinghan felt a cold sweat prickle inward.
He’d violated Article 8 of the Crime of Indiscriminate Love—and nearly every clause before it.
Deceiving an Inspector? That compounded everything.
Only now did the weight on his chest finally lift.
Truthseeker.
An ability that sought clues, exposed lies, uncovered truths.
Having played the original game, Gu Qinghan knew its terror well.
Across the entire Kingdom of Pure Love, Katarina’s power ranked among the elite.
She’d rise swiftly among the Inspectors—thanks to this very gift.
But that bred a fatal flaw:
Overconfidence.
People trust conclusions they reach themselves. Especially someone like Katarina—gifted, diligent, certain.
*The Truthseeker never errs. If it seems wrong, the error is yours.*
Psychologically, it mirrored the “endowment effect”—clinging to one’s own judgment, overvaluing it.
Gu Qinghan had weaponized that certainty.
He’d staged it all.
After hypnotizing Liana, he left the shattered vase and rumpled sheets plainly visible—not to hide the novels, but to *invite* suspicion.
He *wanted* Katarina to believe he was lying.
So she’d smugly “uncover the truth,” slash the lock open… and face the dissonance.
Then she’d instinctively reactivate the Truthseeker.
*Had he lied?*
Of course.
But the Truthseeker couldn’t detect the nuance.
*“The woman I hid is entirely inside this chest, untouched.”*
Every word—technically true.
A faint smile touched Gu Qinghan’s lips as he gazed at the real girl beneath the novels. Relief washed through him.
The chest of steamy novels had been the perfect smokescreen.
A razor’s-edge gamble. One misstep, total ruin.
Fortune had favored him.
Katarina would never suspect her most trusted Truthseeker had been turned against her.
Nor that Gu Qinghan had turned the tables.
That white powder.
—Hypnotic Powder.
A single dose could plunge an innocent girl into unconscious obedience to Hohenheim’s will.
Gu Qinghan’s final trump card.
He’d used only half a dose on Liana—just enough for partial effect, not total surrender.
The rest? Sprinkled across the chest’s surface.
The “dust” Katarina saw.
When she slashed the lock open, she inhaled it.
For three days, any encounter with Gu Qinghan would deepen the trance, blinding her scrutiny.
*Alive. By a thread.*
Gu Qinghan gently placed his palm on Liana’s faintly flushed cheek.
Her peaceful sleep stirred something in him.
A flicker of guilt for her fiancé—but no better path remained.
Perhaps letting him wear the “green hat” wasn’t such a bad outcome.
As long as the truth stayed buried… who could prove the hat ever existed?
He took a slow breath and spoke his first and final command to the sleeping beauty:
“Forget me. Go live happily with the one you love.”
His voice was calm, face unreadable—yet a faint glimmer flickered deep in his eyes.
In three days, no one would remember today.
Except one.
Who would savor the memory alone.
