CHAPTER 598: CHAPTER 598: EXCHANGED SOUL

Long Yifan walked to her side, his expression unreadable. "Gu Jin," he said quietly. "There is something you must see. Someone has been found."

Gu Jin turned her head, sensing the unusual tone in his voice. "Who?"

Long Yifan’s eyes locked on hers. His voice was steady, but his words cut through the air like a blade. "Gu Aihan."

Gu Jin’s body froze when she heard Long Yifan’s words.

"Gu Aihan?" she whispered, her eyes sharp yet trembling slightly. "How... how did you find her?"

Long Yifan’s voice was quiet, steady, but his gaze was heavy. "She is here. In the living room. You should see for yourself."

Without waiting for her reply, he turned and started walking. Gu Jin followed behind him. Her heart was strangely calm, not shaking like it would have years ago. Still, when she stepped into the living room, her eyes locked on the figure kneeling on the floor.

For a moment, she could not believe it was Gu Aihan.

The woman looked thin, her body covered in scars and bruises. Her clothes were old, torn, and dirty. Her hair was messy, her eyes unfocused, like someone who had been broken for a long time.

Gu Jin stood still. She had thought that seeing Gu Aihan again would make her furious, would make her heart burn. But now... she felt only numbness.

Honestly, she had never hated Gu Aihan to the core. In the world where the strong survived and the weak perished, Gu Aihan had done whatever she could to live.

She had used schemes and lies, but it was all for survival. What Gu Jin despised was not her will to survive, but the fact that she had stolen her parents’ love.

If the parents of the Gu family had not looked like the parents from her past life, she would not have cared at all. She would not even have bothered to take revenge.

But because of Gu Aihan’s selfishness, Gu Jin had been forced to stay away from her own parents for years. Five years. Ten years. All those years she could have been with them, she had lost because of Gu Aihan.

That thought filled her with rage.

But the figure before her now... did not bring back that rage. Instead, it was like watching a stranger.

Suddenly, the ragged woman on the floor lifted her head. Her eyes, cloudy and strange, focused on Gu Jin. And then, she started to laugh.

Her laughter was sharp and eerie, echoing in the room like a broken bell.

Mr. Gu, who was sitting on a chair nearby, slammed his hand against the armrest. His voice was angry and filled with disgust. "Shut up! Stop that awful laugh, or I will cut off your tongue!"

But the woman only laughed louder. Her thin shoulders shook, her body trembling with the force of it. Then, she raised a trembling finger and pointed directly at Gu Jin.

"You will die!" she shouted.

A heavy pressure suddenly filled the air. The temperature of the room dropped, and everyone felt a chill run down their spine.

In the next moment, Gu Jihu appeared. His figure blurred into existence, and with one swift motion, his hand struck across Gu Aihan’s face.

The sound of the slap echoed like thunder.

Her head snapped to the side, but instead of fear, she turned back and laughed again.

"You cannot protect her," she whispered, her voice filled with a strange certainty. She stared directly at Gu Jihu. "Not you."

Then she turned her head toward Long Yifan. Her eyes gleamed with madness, and her lips curled into a cruel smile.

"And not you either."

Long Yifan’s face changed at once. Anger rose in him like a storm. His teeth clenched tightly, and his hands trembled.

"If it were not for you," he growled, "I would have long ago married Gu Jin. If it were not for you, I would not have had to beg for forgiveness again and again."

His fury exploded. Without holding back, he reached out and wrapped his hand tightly around her throat. His eyes blazed with hatred.

"I will kill you!" he shouted.

The woman’s lips twitched, and then she chuckled. Her voice was raspy, but the sound of amusement was clear.

"You will not be able to," she said softly, her eyes locking on his with a strange calmness.

Her words sent a wave of confusion through the room. Everyone’s brows furrowed, unsure of what she meant.

Gu Jin, however, had been watching closely. Her sharp eyes caught every detail of her expression, every flicker of madness and amusement. Suddenly, she spoke.

"She is not Gu Aihan."

The room went silent.

Even the woman herself froze, her laughter caught in her throat. She turned her head slowly toward Gu Jin, her eyes wide for a second before narrowing into an unreadable gaze.

"You... you are truly smart," she whispered. Her lips curled into a smile, but this time it was not madness.

Gu Jin’s voice was calm, steady as a blade. "Then who are you?"

The woman’s smile widened, becoming strange again. "I am not Gu Aihan. I am another soul that has been living in her body. Since the moment I can remember, I was brought into an organization. They used this body... they wanted to use it for breeding."

Gasps filled the room.

"What?" Mr. Gu’s eyes were wide in shock. "What are you saying? Where is Gu Aihan’s soul?"

The woman chuckled, the sound low and eerie. "You can test my blood, test my body. You will find I am Gu Aihan. But if you test my soul with an artifact, you will see the truth. I am not her. I have never been her."

Her eyes shifted, locking onto Gu Jin. She leaned forward slightly, her smile turning sharper.

"And you, Gu Jin... why are you so smart? It is wasted on you. You are going to die anyway."

The air grew tense. Long Yifan’s eyes burned with fury. He stepped forward, his hands clenching into fists. "You dare curse her?" His voice was low and dangerous. He grabbed the woman’s collar, ready to strangle her on the spot.

But the woman only laughed again, her voice hoarse but mocking. "I want to die anyway. So why not die at the hands of someone close to her? Would that not be fitting?"

Gu Jin raised her hand. "Wait, Yifan."

He turned, his face twisted with anger. "Why? She dares say you will die, and you want me to back away? She is mocking you!"

Gu Jin shook her head. Her eyes were calm, but deep inside there was a heaviness. "No. She is not mocking me. She is telling the truth."

Everyone was stunned.

Mr. Gu’s mouth fell open. "What do you mean? How could this be the truth? She is only trying to scare you!"

But Gu Jin’s gaze never wavered. She walked forward slowly, step by step, until she stood in front of the kneeling woman. Her voice was soft but sharp.

"Why do you say I am going to die? Tell me."

The woman’s lips twitched, and amusement flickered in her eyes. "I did not want to answer you. But you are clever. So I will give you a hint."

Her voice lowered. "You will die in the hands of the mighty mage couple."

The entire room fell silent.

Everyone stared at her in disbelief.

"The mighty mage couple?" Gu Jihu repeated, his face filled with shock. "They are the ones destined to protect the god of the mage world. Why would they kill her?"

"Will she offend the gods?" Gu Jichun muttered.

"Or maybe... maybe she will offend the couple themselves?" Gu Jishi added.

The woman chuckled at their guesses, her voice filled with strange amusement.

"No," she said softly. "She will not die because she offends them. She will not die because she offends the god. She will die because she is Gu Jin. And unless she dies, the mage world will not survive."

Her words were like poison dropped into water, spreading through everyone’s hearts.

"What does that mean?" Long Yifan shouted. "Explain yourself!"

But the woman only smiled. Slowly, her eyes fluttered shut, and her head dropped forward. She looked as if she had fallen unconscious.

Long Yifan rushed forward, shaking her shoulders. "Wake up! Tell us what you mean!"

But she did not move. Her body was limp, her breathing steady like someone in deep sleep.

"She is pretending," Gu Jin whispered, her eyes narrowing. "She wants to avoid saying more. She knows something that could bring her trouble."

Her calm words made the room even heavier. Everyone stared at the strange woman in Gu Aihan’s body, their hearts filled with questions they could not answer.

Gu Jichun frowned, her arms crossed as she stared at the limp figure of Gu Aihan. Her voice was sharp and doubtful.

"I still don’t believe it," she said. "How can a person’s soul suddenly change just like that? And why would she be so kind to tell you, Gu Jin? If she’s an enemy, why not just keep quiet?"