Chapter 26: Is Xi Xinyan… Pregnant?

Su Liumeng’s smile had grown oddly stiff.

Images began flashing through her mind—ones she didn’t want, couldn’t stop.

A warm bath in the Jade Pool.

A romantic rendezvous.

A lover’s embrace under crimson curtains and flickering candlelight.

She was smart—painfully smart.

Too smart to keep lying to herself.

She wanted to be a fool.

She truly did.

To keep playing dumb.

To pretend this hollow feeling in her chest was just a coincidence.

But—

By the time the two of them reached the commercial street—

She could no longer hold back.

Without thinking, her hand moved.

She gently pulled me toward a nearby freezer.

“This one’s pretty good,” she said lightly.

“It’s a new flavor that just came out. Want to try?”

She looked at me with gentle eyes—timid, a little hopeful.

Like a cautious little deer, waiting to see if she’d be accepted.

I bit my lip and shook my head.

“Better not… I haven’t been feeling great today.”

That one line—

Dropped into Su Liumeng’s heart like a stone into still water.

Her hand curled at her side.

Fingernails digging so deep into her palm they nearly broke the skin.

She knew—

She had no right to question the things I’d done.

But still—

She couldn’t stop.

She needed to know everything about me.

Every little detail.

Every thread.

Every broken sentence.

All of it…

Was slowly knitting itself into a single answer.

Su Liumeng had a feeling.

A gut-deep suspicion she couldn’t shake.

And now—

She wanted to find that bastard.

Whoever it was.

Rip him apart. Burn him to ash.

She watched me quietly leave the shop—my every step cautious, careful, as though I was protecting something fragile inside me.

Who was it?

Who was so important to me—

That I’d carry a pregnancy alone, without telling a soul?

Who could’ve left me like this—

And still made me want to protect their child?

Just thinking about it made Su Liumeng’s eyes sting.

Was he really that important to you?

Then what did it mean—that you agreed to let her chase you?

Did that man toss you aside the moment things got hard?

And now that he’s gone—

You’re free to love someone else again?

More and more scenes bloomed inside her head—each one more unbearable than the last.

Su Liumeng stared at my back.

And in that instant, a thousand ugly thoughts rushed in all at once.

“You…” she suddenly muttered through clenched teeth.

“Don’t… love him too much.”

“He already threw you away… how can you still…”

“Hmm?” I turned my head.

The street noise was loud—I hadn’t heard her clearly.

Su Liumeng took a deep breath.

Forcing it all down.

Silencing the thoughts.

Maybe… maybe I’m just overthinking it.

Maybe it wasn’t what she thought.

Maybe she’d guessed wrong.

After all—she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes yet.

Everything… was just guesswork.

Su Liumeng kept repeating that to herself in her head.

I noticed her closing her eyes again, like she was calming herself, and asked casually, “What did you just say?”

Her thoughts were such a tangled mess now that she didn’t even know how to respond.

Her gaze mirrored her mood—complicated, unreadable.

Staring at my delicate profile, she blurted something out at random.

“How about… crab for dinner tonight?”

I blinked, not even pausing to think.

“I’ve got something else tonight, so I won’t be eating with you.”

The pressure was mounting for me, too.

Just like someone who knew their death was near, I was doing everything I could to hold on—to pretend nothing was wrong, to keep the lie going until the bitter end.

As long as there was no proof, I’d never admit it.

Not even if it killed me.

Damn it—

That was the final straw.

Whatever tiny thread of denial Su Liumeng had been clinging to—snapped.

So he really was that unforgettable, huh?

So unforgettable that I was still carrying the burden alone—still protecting his child?

Of course…

She gave a bitter, mocking laugh.

After all, it’s his blood.

I walked a few steps ahead of her.

Su Liumeng suddenly slowed, letting her steps fall behind.

She couldn’t lie to herself any longer.

Like someone resigning herself to the inevitable—

She quietly, behind my back, undid the clasp of her bracelet.

If Nine Yan had once been her dream man—

Then Xi Xinyan was now her only goddess.

And now—

She was going to find out.

Find out who it was—

That filthy bastard who had dared taint the girl she held sacred.

The silver bracelet glittered faintly in the sun, little star-shaped charms catching the light as the clasp gave way.

And with one clean motion—

It slid from her wrist and fell.

Just like her heart,

Heavy.

Silent.

Refusing to accept, but already breaking.

Bustling crowds, the vibrant heart of the commercial district.

Students coming and going, their steps seemed to freeze in that very moment.

Time, for a brief second—stood still.

Only Su Liumeng knew: it was all an illusion.

It was simply her heart skipping a beat.

The silver bracelet, now clasped tightly in her palm, felt ice cold.

Up ahead—

The delicate silhouette of the girl shimmered under the sunlight, each step swaying with gentle elegance.

And in that instant—

She saw it.

She saw my fate.

A pure white aura—far more radiant than that of any normal person.

And within that aura, something else…

A new color, faint and yet unmistakably forming.

Su Liumeng had long suspected my fate was extraordinary.

After all, those who passed the Su clan’s Four Trials were never anything less than dragons among men.

Much like the former prodigy Su Yi, Su Liumeng’s current cultivation realm limited her vision—

She could see the forming life in my womb…

But not the black, swirling core hidden within it.

That blackness—

Was the terrifying ghostly qi that belonged to a ghost fetus.

But now—

That ghostly energy was being steadily shrouded, concealed deep within the sea of the soul, as the physical form gradually took shape.

This,

Was what had so deeply unsettled that red-robed Taoist master.

Because once that ghost fetus was fully born…

She would become not only a complete human,

But a terrifying ghost emperor, one capable of sweeping across the world.

With the truth now confirmed, the bitter curve at Su Liumeng’s lips no longer faded.

Yet strangely—

After the initial wave of turmoil, she began to calm down.

That… was the tenacity unique to Su Liumeng.

The harder things got, the more her grit was sharpened.

Her mind began racing, faster than ever before.

In August, Xi Xinyan had still been living in the Su family estate—under the same roof as her.

So then—

When did she meet the bastard?

This question quickly led to the most crucial point—

When exactly had Xi Xinyan become a girl?

Only by determining when she had transformed…

Could Su Liumeng deduce when she’d gotten pregnant.

Because for a fetus to develop its own aura…

It would already need to have formed a heartbeat.

That required—at minimum—about a month.

So then—

What had Xi Xinyan been doing a month ago?

Su Liumeng suddenly felt a headache coming on.

Because she realized something…

Every time she’d met Xi Xinyan—she had never truly looked her in the eye.

Perhaps this was the most authentic version of mutual disgust: two people who simply couldn’t stand each other.

She remembered it now.

After Xi Xinyan left the Su family, she had come looking for her once.

Back then—she had already become a girl.

And yet, Su Liumeng hadn’t noticed a thing out of the ordinary.

She couldn’t help but think further.

Could it be that Xi Xinyan had already transformed long before that—

Just that she’d kept it hidden during her final days at the Su residence?

It wasn’t until she left completely that she started being herself again.

The Su family had cut ties with Xi Xinyan in July.

Which meant—

The transformation must’ve happened after July,

Otherwise, there’s no way she could’ve hidden it from the clan elders’ sharp eyes.

That also lined up perfectly… with the timeline of the pregnancy.

Su Liumeng considered another possibility.

In this vast and strange world, if a gender reversal could happen…

Then maybe—pregnancy in a single night wasn’t all that impossible either.

But that part didn’t matter to her.

What mattered was—there was no way Xi Xinyan could have gotten pregnant on her own.

There must have been someone else.

A man who had used her, then discarded her.

And now she was just trying to cover up the heartbreak of abandonment with a brand-new relationship.

Su Liumeng was smart.

Exceptionally so.

But what she lacked was firsthand experience—

And that was what made her deductive path take a wrong turn at the end.

*****

“Hey—what are you doing?”

I had walked up to the entrance of a snack shop.

When I turned around, I noticed Su Liumeng was still standing back where I’d left her.

“I was just… thinking,” she replied, quickly catching up.

Her expression had returned to its usual calm.

She looked at my clean and delicate face, about to ask the question lodged in her throat—

But the words got stuck halfway.

“You want to go in and buy something?”

The very fact that I refused to speak of that matter…

Was proof enough.

It had to be a painful memory.

If she asked me directly—I would only be forced to relive the pain and embarrassment.

The mere thought of someone she loved…

Being taken and abandoned by another man…

Made Su Liumeng want to rip that man apart on the spot.

No, she couldn’t ask who the bastard was. Not yet.

It would hurt me too much.

And I wouldn’t tell her anyway.

Su Liumeng clenched her hand.

In that moment, she understood clearly—

What she needed to do now.

Take her time.

Keep her distance, gather clues slowly.

They were bound to interact often.

Even a few scattered words from me would be enough to piece together the full picture.

“Yeah,” I said softly.

“I want to get some snacks. In case I get hungry later tonight.”

Through the glass storefront, I caught the faint reflection of the silver bracelet on her wrist—

Still gleaming quietly under the sunlight.

*****

Inside the snack store—

I was planning to grab some fresh milk when Su Liumeng suddenly tossed a huge pile of beef jerky into the cart.

“This stuff’s delicious. Plus, it’s great for protein,” she said.

I gave her a slightly puzzled look, only to be met with those sparkling, smiling eyes of hers.

She made it seem like such a casual suggestion.

…Huh?

“It is tasty,” I replied with a soft smile.

If Su Liumeng had guessed anything, I was already mentally prepared.

Dealing with smart people was always simple.

As long as she didn’t say anything out loud, I would just assume she didn’t know a thing.

That way, things wouldn’t get awkward between us.

And yet—

Had Su Liumeng really guessed it?

Could she really still act this calm and casual, knowing I was already pregnant?

Pretend like nothing happened… and even continue wanting to pursue a relationship with me?

I didn’t think so.

Which was why I leaned toward believing—

She still hadn’t figured it out.

I took the big bag of weighed beef jerky and casually dropped it into the shopping cart, right on top of the milk carton.

“What else do we need?” Su Liumeng asked.

Though she directed the question at me, it felt more like she was thinking aloud.

“Let’s get a case of bottled water too. I get thirsty at night sometimes, gotta have something to drink.”

“Oh, and we’ll need a water heater.”

“Yeah, we should grab one of those too.”

As we wandered through the store, she kept picking things up—left hand, right hand—while I had only intended to buy a single carton of milk.

In the end, the little cart was crammed full.

Su Liumeng naturally reached over and took the cart from me.

“Here, I’ll push it.”

I stared at my now-empty hands, big question marks floating above my head.

Wait a minute.

Am I some delicate little weakling who can’t do anything on her own?

Su Liumeng gave a polite cough and gestured to her height—just a little taller than mine.

“It’s only right for the big sister to take care of her little sister, don’t you think?”

“Relax, don’t overthink it.”

“……”

“Hold up—when did you become the big sister?”

This was the first time in my life someone had ever called me that.

I was totally caught off guard.

Su Liumeng had never even called me “gege” when I was a guy—she always used my name.

And now she was suddenly calling herself “jiejie”?