Volume One, Chapter 2: Check the Surveillance Before Slandering Me

A silence so absolute that one could hear a pin drop.

The entire Chi family was stunned into immobility by those words.

Chi Yueyao was the first to recover. She lowered her head, covering her face as she sobbed.

"I'm sorry. I know that all these years, I’ve taken your place and enjoyed happiness that was never meant for me. In your eyes, I must seem no better than a thief. I’m so sorry."

Her sobs shook the family from their daze.

Chi Zhenghua could no longer restrain his rage. "Chi Xingwan, why are you so malicious? Do you have any respect for your elders at all?"

Yang Jing looked wounded. "Xingwan, how could you say such things? I thought you were a good child, that you and Yueyao would get along. But you’ve truly disappointed us."

"Get out of my house!" Chi Qianyu’s eyes blazed with fury; she looked as though she wished she could peel off Chi Xingwan’s skin.

Only Chi Baiyu remained aloof, watching the drama unfold as a bystander, silent and neutral.

Chi Xingwan spread her hands. "See? This is your true face. Frankly, I don’t care how you treat me. I just can’t stand people putting on a show in front of me. It’s disgusting. Don’t bother pretending anymore."

She glanced upstairs and asked, "Where is my room?"

Chi Qianyu’s face flushed with anger. Pointing at Chi Xingwan, she shouted, "If you have any pride, don’t come back! Don’t live in my house!"

Chi Xingwan replied earnestly, "That’s fine. But I want to reclaim my parents’ inheritance."

She turned to Chi Zhenghua. "I heard that the Chi family business today was all built by my parents. Uncle, you’ve managed it for so many years—it must have been hard on you. Just hand it back to me now, and I’ll pay you a salary at market rate."

Chi Zhenghua’s face turned red, then green. With a single sentence, Chi Xingwan had jolted him from his fury.

She wasn’t wrong; legally, all the Chi family’s assets now belonged to Chi Xingwan.

He had held these assets in his grip for over a decade—he absolutely could not let her take them back.

But neither was he willing to forgo the marriage alliance with the Xiao family. They’d invited some renowned master to read Xiao Yue’s fortune and insisted on the engagement to save his life, so the Xiao family demanded the marriage contract be honored.

He couldn’t bear to let Yueyao marry an idiot, but he also couldn’t give up the opportunity to climb the social ladder with the Xiao family. That was why he’d brought Chi Xingwan back.

Now, he needed her.

Understanding this, Chi Zhenghua, even as anger simmered within, could only suppress it.

He summoned a housekeeper. "Auntie Yu, take her to her room."

Chi Xingwan picked up her luggage and went upstairs without sparing anyone a glance.

The room they’d assigned Chi Xingwan was poorly situated. Even at noon, it was rather dark, but she didn’t mind. In fact, she preferred such shadows.

The room was well-equipped. She checked all the electronic devices—phone, computer—found no surveillance, then installed a firewall for good measure.

She had spent her time in spirit form during her rebirth learning all sorts of technology to avoid being left behind by the era. A bit of hacking was child’s play to her.

After organizing the original host’s belongings, she opened her internal realm.

Three thousand years ago, she had been the eldest disciple of the Heavenly Profound Sect, one of the most accomplished cultivators in the arcane arts. She had already established her own internal realm, akin to a space that belonged to her alone, where her treasures were stored.

When tidying the room, she noticed that everything was provided—except money.

Although the original host’s death had nothing to do with her, she had taken over the body; sooner or later, she would reclaim what was rightfully hers.

Yet for now, even if she took back the Chi family business, she lacked the means and manpower to manage it. She might only squander her parents’ legacy. It was better to leave it in Chi Zhenghua’s hands for the time being.

Thus, she had to earn money herself.

She took out a teacup from her internal realm—an ordinary item to her, but now an antique from millennia past, worth a fortune.

She hailed a car, preparing to head to the largest antique market in Yanjing.

As she left her room and reached the stairway, she ran into Chi Qianyu.

Chi Qianyu’s face was dark as she blocked Chi Xingwan, furious that Xingwan had dared lay claim to the family business.

"Hey, country bumpkin, this is my house. You’re just a charity case. Keep your head down and don’t get any ideas, or I’ll make sure you meet a miserable end."

Chi Xingwan’s voice was cold. "Move."

Chi Qianyu arrogantly raised her chin. "I won’t. If you want to go, crawl under my feet."

Chi Xingwan glanced at her, then, in a blur, tried to pass by.

In the blink of an eye, Chi Qianyu saw Xingwan already at her side. She lashed out, trying to push her down the stairs.

A glint of chill flashed in Chi Xingwan’s eyes. With a flick of her finger, an invisible force struck Chi Qianyu at the waist, sending her tumbling.

"Aaaah—"

Chi Qianyu rolled down the stairs like a giant potato.

Chi Zhenghua and Yang Jing rushed over at the commotion, only to see Chi Qianyu unconscious at the bottom, while Chi Xingwan stood atop the stairs, her face cold.

"You wretched girl! Qianyu had no grudge against you. Just because she said a few words, you had to attack her? How could you be so vicious!" Yang Jing, seeing her beloved daughter hurt, abandoned all pretense of the gentle, virtuous wife and mother, and began to curse.

Chi Xingwan descended the stairs, pointing at the security camera. "Next time you accuse me, check the footage first, or you’ll just look absurd."

With only about thirty yuan left, Chi Xingwan took a cab to the antique market. Finding a trustworthy buyer, she sold the teacup for ten million.

Leaving the market, she didn’t head home but instead went to an obscure old alley in Yanjing.

Yangguan Alley.

At the end of the alley stood an old courtyard, long abandoned, its gates tightly shut—no ordinary person could open them, no matter how hard they tried.

But the doors weren’t truly locked; only spiritual energy could open them.

Chi Xingwan stood before the doors and gave a gentle push. With a creak, they swung open.

Inside was a different world entirely.

Before her stretched an ancient street, filled with the scent of history, red lanterns hanging overhead, bathing the entire street in their glow.

The street was forever shrouded in darkness—hence its name, Evernight Street.

This was the nation’s only officially sanctioned, legal market for spiritual practitioners. Every city had an entrance, drawing together practitioners from all over the country.

Talismans, magical artifacts, spiritual elixirs—everything one could desire.

Chi Xingwan wandered the street. She knew how to paint talismans, refine pills, forge artifacts.

In the end, she bought only cinnabar and talisman paper before she left.

Meanwhile, Chi Qianyu awoke in her hospital bed.

"Papa, Mama, it was Chi Xingwan who pushed me down the stairs. You must avenge me!"

Chi Zhenghua and Yang Jing exchanged a glance, but said nothing.

Chi Qianyu frowned. This wasn’t right. She’d been pushed down the stairs—so why weren’t her parents reacting at all?