A heavy darkness lingered for a long time.
Jiang Sui and Bo Yao just lay there, both feigning sleep with their eyes barely closed, and neither of them spoke.
Finally, it was Jiang Sui who broke the silence, stretching lazily and teasing,
“Little Bo, didn’t your family etiquette lessons say you should knock before coming in? If you’d come in any earlier, wouldn’t you have seen everything?”
She could tell Jiang Sui was joking, but Bo Yao only replied coolly,
“What’s there to see? You’re not Lu-gege.”
If it were Chen Yunze, she wouldn’t have minded being seen? Jiang Sui was genuinely relieved it wasn’t the real Lu Yunze here. If Chen Yunze wanted to see, he’d have to ask for her consent first.
“Since we parted ways in Ankang Town, I’ve been investigating your identity this whole time.”
River Li still carried an air of wary tension, but she didn’t attack recklessly as she had before.
As for the purple-haired woman appearing beside Chen Yunze, River Li had always been wary of her presence. She’d not only asked the police bureau to look into it, but even sent people herself to investigate, yet found nothing at all.
No matter if it was in Ankang Town or Lancheng City, there wasn’t a single trace of her. It was as if this person had appeared out of thin air, leaving no information in the world behind.
If she hadn’t appeared in front of Bai Yi and Lu Yunzhu, River Li would have given up this pointless search. But unexpectedly, at a time like this, they met again.
And this time, the woman calling herself Xiao Yan had done something even more despicable.
“You’re the one who made Lu-gege disappear, aren’t you?”
“If I say I don’t know, will you let me go?”
River Li didn’t answer, but instead snapped her fingers.
Suddenly, a fierce wind swept through the room, slamming all the windows shut. The swirling dust almost made Jiang Sui squint her eyes.
“Who exactly are you? What power are you from? Why are you getting close to Lu-gege?”
Faced with these rapid-fire questions, Jiang Sui was about to brush her off with a ‘you guess’, but changed her mind. Perhaps it was time to give this disguise a whole new identity.
“This question…”
Jiang Sui put the robe she’d worn that day back on. The smile under her hood flickered as she looked up.
“It’s normal you couldn’t find me, because I’m a Practitioner—a person who has hidden her past.”
“What?” River Li frowned.
“I come from a place… well, let’s just say you’ll never imagine where I’m from.”
“As for me approaching Chen Yunzhu, I did it for his own good. Would you believe that?”
“You think I’d believe a word you say?”
“These days, people believe lies and not the truth,” Jiang Sui shrugged helplessly.
River Li’s three questions—Jiang Sui answered them all like an old proctor, not a single lie among her words.
Calling herself a Practitioner who hid her true identity was certainly not wrong.
Coming from a place River Li could never imagine—she would never suspect the girl before her was actually a transmigrator, and in her previous life, a man.
And as for “for Lu Yunzhu’s good,” Jiang Sui had indeed always offered him warmth and support, helping him grow stronger. Wasn’t that really for his good?
“Fine, since you won’t tell the truth, I’ll take you back and interrogate you later.”
“Then I can’t comply. I’m on a schedule.”
“Don’t even think about leaving!”
Jiang Sui had just taken a step forward when a sharp gust of wind rushed past her, carving a long gash across the floor of the prep room and slicing off a corner of her robe.
Even if it was a cheap nine-yuan special, she couldn’t help but feel a pang at the loss.
To make the wind as sharp as a blade—that was River Li’s Secret Art, able to freely manipulate the wind’s currents.
“The door’s right behind me, but do you think you’re faster than the wind?”
River Li’s nose twitched as she raised her hand.
As soon as that hand fell, the currents would form a Wind Screen, trapping Jiang Sui inside. Even if she tried to escape, sharp Wind Blades would cut off her path.
Jiang Sui folded her arms as if truly considering the question. After a few seconds, she replied,
“No, I’m not.”
“Then surrender obediently. I don’t want to use force—it wouldn’t be polite.”
But Jiang Sui only grinned,
“If you’d attacked from the very beginning, I really wouldn’t have had any chance of escaping. Thank you for your troublesome family etiquette—it gave me so much extra time.”
“Hmm?”
River Li’s gaze swept around, searching for any sign of attack.
Did she already make a move? But she hadn’t noticed anything strange at all.
This prep room was rarely used, so it was never cleaned much, and there was always a faint dusty smell upon entering.
But she’d focused all her attention on Jiang Sui, and so she ignored the subtle, lingering scent in the air.
By the time she realized what that scent was, her eyes flew wide.
The hidden air currents suddenly became wild, whipping up a violent storm inside the room, blowing away the nearly undetectable Mist Incense that Jiang Sui had released earlier.
She didn’t forget to attack Jiang Sui—one hand waved to scatter the incense, the other was enough to deal with her.
But as she struck, the surroundings were distorted by an unusual force. The whole world went pitch black, as if transported to a space without a single ray of light.
Darkness could be influenced by wind, but it couldn’t bind River Li for long. As soon as Jiang Sui succeeded, her figure flickered and slipped out of the prep room.
But as she dashed past the doorway, a violent whirlwind struck her directly, forcing Jiang Sui to become visible midair and crash to the ground.
“Ouch, that hurts,” Jiang Sui muttered, clutching her chest.
With no other choice, she forced herself up, relying on her own speed to scramble away.
“Stop right there! I won’t let you get away this time!”
River Li’s voice echoed from behind. Jiang Sui pretended not to hear, heart pounding as she desperately searched for a way to shake off River Li.
Just as she reached the stairs, a figure suddenly appeared ahead.
It was Chen Yunze, and he was wearing a spare suit!
He hadn’t expected the girl he met in Ankang Town to show up before him now. Lu Yunze was momentarily stunned, then found himself yanked into Jiang Sui’s arms as the two tumbled down the stairs together.
“Ouch, ouch! What are you throwing me for?!”
Once they landed, Lu Yunze immediately flipped over, pinning her beneath him as he demanded,
“This… it’s a long story.” For a moment, Jiang Sui forgot what kind of persona she was supposed to be playing.
“Why are you here?” Chen Yunze frowned, though the hand pressed against her shoulder slowly loosened.
“Well, I…”
Before Jiang Sui could answer, the wind from above swept even closer.
She gritted her teeth, sprang up, and pushed Chen Yunzhu aside. In her haste, her ample chest pressed right against Chen Yunze’s arm, momentarily scrambling his thoughts as he tumbled to the floor.
Now it was girl-on-top, boy-on-bottom.
“Lu Yunjin, only you can help me escape from her right now!”
“Please, River Li.”
“Will you help me or not?”
Faced with her anxious expression, Chen Yunze didn’t immediately agree, but instead asked,
“Answer one question, and I’ll consider helping you.”
“Go ahead.”
Jiang Sui agreed without hesitation.
Just as the furious River Li floated down the stairwell on a gust of wind, she spotted Chen Yunze not far away, dusting off his suit.
“Lu Yunze!”
Seeing her beloved Lu Yunze, River Li didn’t relax—she rushed right up to him.
And then—
SMACK!
A slap came out of nowhere, leaving Chen Yunze completely dumbfounded. What? What did I do to make her so mad?!
“Keep acting, go on, keep pretending.” River Li sneered, “Don’t think you can fool me.”
“Come on, are we still playing ‘roles’ or is this Truth or Dare?” Chen Yunze forced a smile, “If you want to play, at least give me a heads-up next time.”
His reaction didn’t seem fake at all, and River Li began to sweat. “Are you really Lu Yunzhu?”
“Who else would I be?”
Lu Yunjin’s quick-fire answers didn’t make her smile. Instead, her expression grew even more serious.
“When’s my birthday?”
“Ninth month, fifteenth day.”
“What’s the name of the pet we raised together when we were kids?”
“Netcai.”
“How much did our engagement keepsake cost?”
“Bullshit, we never had anything like that.”
When it came to keepsakes, Chen Yunze only knew about the Four-Leaf Pendant, and he and River Li never had anything of that sort.
Three questions, three correct answers. River Li’s expression finally collapsed.
“Lu-gege, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
“It’s fine, really,” Chen Yunze waved it off, which finally soothed her anger.
“Lu-gege, where did you just go?”
“After my performance, I had a stomachache and was in the bathroom for a long time.”
“Was it diarrhea?” River Li’s aura diminished noticeably, “Looks like someone took advantage of your absence.”
“Someone pretended to be me, didn’t they?”
“Yes! It was that woman from Ankang Town—the purple-haired one who calls herself Xiao Yan!”
River Li recounted everything she’d just experienced, adding a few embellishments for effect. Lu Yunze listened, seething with anger.
“Damn, so she’s that evil?” Chen Yunze clutched his stomach dramatically.
“Lu-gege, did you see her?” River Li’s anxious gaze landed behind him, searching for clues near the wall, where several boxes were stacked suspiciously.
Lu Yunjin’s face tensed up as his mind raced, then he stood in front of her.
“I saw her.”
“Where?”
“She went downstairs.”
“Really?”
“You don’t trust the fake, and now you don’t trust me either?” Chen Yunze joked, “I just came from the bathroom, my stomach still hurts, so I’ll have to leave the revenge to you.”
“Alright, since Chen-gege says so!”
A cold glint flashed again in River Li’s eyes.
“Not only did she impersonate Chen-gege to deceive me, she even managed to hurt the real Lu-gege. Once I catch her, I’ll make sure she learns to fear the River family’s methods!”
With that, she marched off, heading downstairs.
As for Lu Yunze, he finally let out a long sigh of relief.
“Can’t believe I’ve reached the point of actively lying to River Li for another woman.”
If it were just for Jiang Sui, that’d be one thing—but now, Lu Yunzhu felt he was truly out of his depth.
He couldn’t help but feel as if he’d fallen into the depths of a Sinful Abyss, controlled by some invisible hand.
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