Persecutory Delusion Disorder

Luo Yu awkwardly closed his mouth, but the way he stared at Qin Yue was still as guarded as if he were protecting himself from a wolf, as though he longed to search Qin Yue’s mind with his spiritual sense to see if he harbored any unlawful intentions.

Qin Yue felt a throbbing headache and covered his eyes. “Since you know how serious this matter is, don’t speak of it to anyone else from now on. Even if you must, wait until you’re strong enough to protect yourself before considering it.”

Luo Yu nodded vehemently and confirmed again, “You won’t… do anything to me, right? You don’t have any bad thoughts?”

Qin Yue replied coldly, “Do you think you’re some peerless beauty?”

Luo Yu let out a sigh of relief and said earnestly, “Keeping me around means you’ll have someone to make pills for you. Killing me would be a huge loss.”

Qin Yue replied, “That’s enough. Any more nonsense, and I can’t guarantee I won’t actually want to kill you.”

Luo Yu quickly shut his mouth and carefully watched Qin Yue’s expression. It seemed stable enough for now, not the kind that would suddenly turn violent, so he gradually relaxed.

Qin Yue gave him a glance but said nothing more, turning away coldly and leaving.

Luo Yu sat alone on the sofa for a long time, his thoughts in chaos: sometimes he speculated about Qin Yue’s character, sometimes about his background, trying to analyze how his circumstances might have shaped his personality—could he be a potential murderer, or did he harbor ambitions of dominating the world?

In Luo Yu’s eyes, Qin Yue seemed cold but also kept his promises. But seeing how ruthlessly he trained every day, Luo Yu suspected he might have considerable ambition and a fiery temper—perhaps even prone to crime. However, recalling how Qin Yue buried Master Shui Jian, he felt Qin Yue still possessed a sound humanity. He probably wouldn’t do anything to him, right? After all, Luo Yu had always treated him well and had done nothing to wrong him! Besides, Qin Yue had just warned him not to tell anyone about this matter, which showed he was quite concerned for Luo Yu’s safety… But perhaps he was just stalling for time, making Luo Yu let down his guard?

Luo Yu was utterly conflicted. Staring at the tightly closed guest room door, he thought: Should I sneak a look at his face? See if he looks fierce or calm?

As someone who always put thoughts into action, Luo Yu decided at once, tiptoed quietly to the door, and extended his spiritual sense to secretly observe inside.

Qin Yue sat silently on the bed, absentmindedly stroking the bracelet on his wrist. In the dim light, his handsome features were somewhat blurred. His head was slightly bowed, his expression cold, but his eyes could not conceal the sorrow, emptiness, and loneliness within—emotions that seemed light-years away from sunlight, drowned in a sea of gray chaos.

A sudden pang struck Luo Yu’s heart. He no longer wanted to spy and prepared to withdraw his spiritual sense.

But his withdrawal was too abrupt, and the person inside immediately noticed. Like a wolf, Qin Yue’s gaze swept over in an instant. Even with the door between them, Luo Yu felt as though those eyes had seen straight through him, making him freeze and not dare to move.

The two remained in silence.

After a long while, Luo Yu steeled himself, opened the door, and walked in.

Qin Yue’s expression had returned to calm, and his eyes merely glanced at Luo Yu indifferently, saying nothing.

“Um…” Luo Yu struggled to find his words. “I didn’t mean to… suspect you… I…”

Qin Yue replied coolly, “You’re right to be suspicious of me.”

Luo Yu said, “Don’t be angry…”

Qin Yue asked, “Why should I be angry?”

Luo Yu mumbled, “Then just now…”

Qin Yue was silent for a moment before saying, “That has nothing to do with you.”

Luo Yu, for some reason, felt a bit upset. “Wasn’t it because of me that you were like that? What do you mean it has nothing to do with me?”

Qin Yue regarded him deeply before averting his gaze. “I was just thinking about other things.”

Luo Yu fell silent, as if something was stuck in his throat that he could not voice.

Qin Yue said, “You needn’t worry. If I wanted to kill you, it would be too late for suspicion.”

Luo Yu replied, “I’m not… I…”

Not what? Clearly, he was uneasy, which was why he came to check. Yet what he saw was different from what he’d expected… So what now? Continue to be wary and secretly cautious? Or simply drive him away? But… seeing him just now, Luo Yu felt a bit of pity… If he kicked him out and Qin Yue, deprived of care, really turned to crime, would he come back with a grudge and kill Luo Yu to silence him? Anyway, as Qin Yue said, he already knew everything—being suspicious now was too late. Better to get along with him and make him feel too guilty to hurt Luo Yu… Yes, that’s the plan!

Luo Yu made up his mind. “I won’t doubt you anymore. Don’t be angry.”

Qin Yue stared at him for a long time, his thoughts inscrutable. Finally, in a strange tone, he asked, “Really? You won’t suspect me anymore?”

Luo Yu’s heart trembled. He closed his eyes and said, “Yes. There’s no point in suspecting you. I might as well trust you.”

Qin Yue let out a cold laugh. “How easily you let go.”

Luo Yu glared at him without replying.

And so the matter was more or less settled. For the next two days, Luo Yu watched Qin Yue nervously but noticed nothing out of the ordinary; everything went on as usual. Gradually, he truly relaxed and resumed his friendly camaraderie with Qin Yue. Through study and discussion, they discovered that the “void” in the dantian was not so easily detected—at least, Qin Yue hadn’t noticed it at first. Only after his spiritual sense grew much stronger did he slowly begin to sense it.

They guessed that the human body must have certain rules and boundaries. Unless your spiritual sense greatly exceeded those limits, many things would remain undetectable, even with the right idea—confirmation would be impossible. For example, the rules and proportions for concocting pills were learned by generations of alchemists through countless failures. Yet Luo Yu, as a novice, could experiment and succeed, thanks mostly to his extraordinary spiritual sense and logical thinking.

They named the “void” in the dantian the “spirit wall.” In addition to their daily routines of spiritual sense practice, mana cultivation, absorbing pills and spiritual energy, and lucid dream exercises, they added one more: practicing control over the spirit wall. As long as they could direct it, half an hour a day would, over time, allow them to use it freely. Of course, Luo Yu also spent extra time studying plants, medicinal herbs, and programming, leaving his days tightly packed.

In the blink of an eye, the semester ended. By this point, Luo Yu’s cultivation had reached the fifth level of Qi Refining, almost entirely propped up by pills—his spiritual roots were so poor that a month of effort couldn’t match a single pill. Qin Yue, meanwhile, had reached perfection; the next step was preparing for Foundation Establishment. In the world of cultivation, there was a saying: “One part cultivation, ninety-nine parts bottleneck.” This meant that even if you had filled your current realm with spiritual energy, in relation to the next stage, you had only taken one step. If you couldn’t surpass the bottleneck, all your effort was wasted. Many cultivators spent most of their time stuck at bottlenecks, seeking out auxiliary medicines, and countless died in the attempt.

But ever since Luo Yu and Qin Yue learned to control the spirit wall, this chasm had become a thoroughfare; as long as they filled their spiritual energy, that was enough. The time required was greatly reduced, and Qin Yue could prepare for Foundation Establishment ahead of schedule.

On the very day vacation began, Uncle Chu called Luo Yu and Qin Yue in for a meeting. After four or five months in the Luo household, Qin Yue was used to Uncle Chu’s lectures. Now, he and Luo Yu both sat calmly on the sofa, listening to their elder’s admonishments.

Uncle Chu took an elegant sip of tea, placed his cup down, and began slowly, “Xiao Yue, you’ve been living in our home for a few months now—do you have any thoughts?”

Qin Yue gazed at the ceiling. “No particular thoughts.”

Seeing that the target was not himself this time, Luo Yu smirked quietly at the side.

Uncle Chu cast him a glance, and Luo Yu immediately straightened up.

“After this period of observation, Uncle Luo thinks you’re a very responsible, persistent, and hardworking child. You’ve done all the chores assigned to you, and your personal tidiness surpasses Luo Yu’s. However, your attitude toward housework isn’t entirely correct—you lack patience and sometimes slack off. When mistakes are made, you and Luo Yu push the blame onto each other. I’ve been teaching for over ten years; I’ve seen every kind of student. It’s easy to tell right from wrong. Do you think my punishments of you two have ever been unfair?”

Qin Yue kept a straight face and replied, “Uncle Luo is wise.”

Uncle Luo nodded. “Don’t be impatient. I’ve met plenty of students who secretly curse their teachers. Don’t think that just because you’re neither my student nor my son, I’ll turn a blind eye. Though you have many strengths, there’s one flaw: you lack organization in your actions—here, you’re not as good as Xiao Yu. This needs to be corrected. Are you aware of this shortcoming?”

Qin Yue said, “After Uncle Luo’s guidance, I’m aware of it now.”

Uncle Luo’s expression turned stern. “You should reflect and summarize your own faults! Why should you need me to point them out?”

Luo Yu couldn’t help but chuckle quietly at the side.

Qin Yue replied calmly, “I’ll be more mindful of the consequences of my actions in the future.” — Qin Yue had already learned the two-word secret to dealing with Uncle Luo: yield graciously, or your ears would suffer.

Uncle Luo, satisfied, continued, “Having watched your cultivation for so long, I’ve calculated that you’ve used up thirty-two wild mountain ginseng roots, each at least a hundred years old. At thirty grams each, that comes to nine hundred and sixty million yuan, a rough estimate. I know your background isn’t ordinary, but even for a deity, acquiring that much money isn’t easy. In my opinion, neither you nor Xiao Yu could manage it without resorting to crime. So much money—your family must have provided it, right?”

Qin Yue blushed a little. “Yes.”

Uncle Luo said, “You’ve been living here, and I’ve treated you like my own child. All this time, you’ve never mentioned your family. I hadn’t planned to ask, but your family can’t support you forever, can they?”

Qin Yue answered, “No.”

Uncle Luo continued, “Could you tell me a bit about your family background?”