These words were spoken bluntly and clumsily.
There was no languid, teasing probing like Qing Xuan's, nor any subtle, implicit hints.
Just like the person herself, straightforward and frank to the point of being laughable.
Gu Han fell silent.
She looked at Empress Ling Shuang's eyes, which were filled with earnestness and frankness, and for a moment, she did not know how to respond.
Refuse?
But the other party hadn't explicitly expressed anything, just saying she wanted to give a gift.
Accept? That was even more impossible.
"There is no need."
In the end, Gu Han could only choose the most official response, while simultaneously drawing her hand back calmly,
"Discussing the Dao and exchanging ideas is a common occurrence; let's forget about the gift..."
Empress Ling Shuang seemed somewhat dissatisfied with her answer, her brows slightly furrowed:
"You can accept what that woman Qing Xuan gave you?"
She took another step forward, bringing them closer.
"Why can't you accept what this Empress gives?"
Being closer, Gu Han could smell the faint, refreshing fragrance emanating from her, as well as her somewhat accelerated heartbeat.
"Gu Han."
Empress Ling Shuang's voice lowered, carrying a nearly stubborn earnestness:
"This Empress rarely recognizes others."
"Long Teng was the first, and you... are the second."
If these words were spoken by someone else, they might be a compliment.
Gu Han felt even more helpless seeing her like this.
"Fellow Daoist Ling Shuang..."
Gu Han tried to make her voice sound calmer.
But her slightly leaning-back body and the fingertips that instinctively gripped her sleeves betrayed the slight panic in her heart.
Empress Ling Shuang, however, seemed determined not to give up until she received an answer.
She even leaned in closer; Gu Han could almost count the tiny ice crystals condensed on her long, slender eyelashes.
"You haven't answered this Empress's question yet."
Her voice was extremely low, carrying a stubborn tone, and her warm breath brushed against Gu Han's ear.
Gu Han's earlobes uncontrollably began to burn.
This feeling was too strange!
She was a powerhouse of Immortal Ascension who could shatter a Secret Realm with one palm and carried two quasi-immortal artifacts!
How could she be forced into such an awkward situation by women one after another?
"This... this is different."
She managed to find her voice, attempting to persuade the other party with logic, and also to persuade herself,
"Empress Qingxuan's bracelet was given as... as a token of friendship between Fellow Daoists."
"Between us, there is no need for these..."
"Why is there no need?"
Empress Ling Shuang interrupted her, a trace of unquestionable assertiveness flashing in her ice-blue eyes,
"If she can give, why can't this Empress? Or is it that..."
Her gaze sharpened like an ice pick, seemingly wanting to pierce through the true thoughts beneath Gu Han's calm facade.
"In your heart, is she different from others?"
This question was asked even more directly, and it was even more dangerous.
Gu Han's heart skipped a beat, and she denied it almost immediately:
"Naturally not! My relationship with Fellow Daoist Qing Xuan is merely..."
Halfway through her sentence, she suddenly paused.
What exactly was her relationship with Qing Xuan?
A chance meeting? A friendship over tea?
Or...
Empress Ling Shuang keenly captured this moment of hesitation, and the light in her eyes intensified.
Her tone, however, suddenly softened, carrying a barely audible, almost aggrieved undertone:
"Then why do you treat us differently?"
This sudden display of weakness caught Gu Han even more off guard than the previous assertiveness.
She looked at Empress Ling Shuang's face, which was close at hand—stunningly beautiful yet filled with earnest stubbornness.
The irritation that had arisen from feeling offended strangely dissipated for the most part.
Replacing it was a deeper sense of helplessness and a subtle wavering that she herself had not even realized.
"I..."
Gu Han opened her mouth, but did not know how to handle this complex situation
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