The creaking Lin family mansion; the broken wooden door of a desolate courtyard at the corner was pushed open by Li Tan, who walked in slowly, his loose black hair appearing somewhat disheveled under the setting sun.
“I’m back.”
Li Tan softly called out to the empty courtyard, hesitated for a moment, then headed toward the storage room. Pushing the door open, the ancient zither was draped in a beautiful golden veil from the light streaming through the window, and dust continuously rose.
“Jiang Xin?”
Li Tan called tentatively but received no response. He then muttered while pinching his chin, “The house isn’t that big, where could she have hidden?”
He sat on a chair, stroked the zither strings, and began playing the same piece from yesterday. He planned to use this to lure Jiang Xin out, then attempt to awaken her consciousness.
“What beautiful music!”
Outside the courtyard, Lin Cui suddenly slowed her pace, closing her eyes with a somewhat enraptured expression. But soon she furrowed her brows and curiously muttered to herself, “Who’s playing the zither? Could it be Li Tan?
Impossible, right? How could Li Tan play this well?”
Filled with doubt, she followed the source of the music inward, circling around to the backyard of the house. A small window on the left front wall was where the exquisite sound was coming from.
Lin Cui approached, stood on tiptoe, and looked through the window.
Li Tan’s back was to her as he gently plucked the strings, producing ethereal and exquisite notes. In the shadowy corner to the right front stood a stunning white-robed woman in her twenties.
Lin Cui’s eyes widened, a hint of anger flickering as she rudely interrupted the enticing melody: “Li Tan, how dare you bring another woman here behind my back!”
As her words fell, she strode around to the front yard and stormed into the room.
However, inside, there was no woman—only Li Tan, sitting expressionless like a statue.
Frowning, Lin Cui asked, “Where is that woman?”
A flicker of displeasure crossed Li Tan’s eyes as he calmly replied, “There’s no woman here, only a shrew.”
“A shrew?
Where?”
Lin Cui looked around confusedly, suddenly realizing the shrew comment referred to her, and angrily retorted, “Li Tan, how dare you mock me!”
Li Tan shrugged and said, “Coming into someone else’s room shouting and making a scene, what else could you be but a shrew?”
“Hmph, don’t change the subject. Where did you hide that woman?”
“What are you talking about? There’s no woman here besides you.”
Lin Cui coldly pointed at the corner of the wall and said, “I saw her clearly, right over there. Don’t think you can fool me.”
“I already said, there’s no woman. If your eyes are failing, I suggest you see a doctor soon.”
Li Tan quickly shot back, then asked, “Besides, what business is it of yours if I bring a woman here?”
“Of course it’s my business. I’m your…” Lin Cui abruptly stopped mid-sentence.
Li Tan glanced at her and calmly asked, “You’re my what?”
Lin Cui was momentarily at a loss for words.
What she had intended to say was, “I’m your wife,” but their relationship was merely in name only. Li Tan was nothing more than a tool for a political marriage, unworthy of being her husband. Reflecting on her actions over the past few minutes, she realized they seemed rather foolish.
Why had she gotten angry over such a trivial matter as another woman in Li Tan’s room?
After careful thought, Lin Cui offered what she believed was the correct answer: “You’re my nominal husband. If you bring another woman here, what will others think of me?”
Li Tan slightly raised his head and said, “Once again, if your eyes are failing, see a doctor. I don’t have time for your nonsense. If you think there’s a woman here, go ahead and look. If you find one, I’ll bow to you three times to apologize.”
“You remember that!”
Lin Cui glared fiercely at Li Tan, then ran out to search elsewhere.
Almost simultaneously, the air in the right front corner of the storage room rippled, and a semi-transparent ethereal figure appeared, staring directly at Li Tan.
Sighing, Li Tan took out Jiang Xin’s pendant and said with some emotion, “Thanks to that crazy girl Lin Cui, I finally figured out where you were hiding. I never imagined the pendant’s material would be Hunyu (Soul Jade). Brother Cui really spared no expense.”
Hunyu is an extremely high-grade jade with the ability to nourish one’s soul. In battle, it can rapidly restore mental energy and enhance the range and accuracy of spiritual perception.
Even the peak-level Li Tan before his rebirth had long coveted such a treasure.
Earlier, when Lin Cui angrily rushed in, Li Tan was troubled about how to explain Jiang Xin’s spiritual presence, but then her figure vanished. In an instant, Li Tan caught sight of an almost imperceptible glow rushing toward the pendant—since she had been able to hide inside all day without detection, it was almost certain the pendant was made of Hunyu.
Another pleasant discovery was that the zither music from just now seemed to have restored some of Jiang Xin’s consciousness. Her eyes already showed a glimmer of clarity, and she could understand some simple commands.
Before Lin Cui entered, she had disappeared in accordance with Li Tan’s order.
To prevent Lin Cui from seeing the Hunyu, Li Tan had Jiang Xin temporarily hide, and he quickly put the jade back into his pocket. Soon after, Lin Cui returned, panting and with slightly flushed cheeks. Obviously, she had found nothing.
Could she really have been seeing things?
Looking at Li Tan’s relaxed expression, Lin Cui felt strange but gritted her teeth and reluctantly ended the conversation: “Today, you just got lucky, but don’t get too cocky. If I find out you’ve done anything improper, you’ll regret it.”
Li Tan said indifferently, “Fine by me. Speaking of which, what did you come here for?”
“Hmph, you actually have the nerve to ask, don’t you know what you’ve done?
“Fine, you crippled Lin Jingwu, but why did you cripple Lin Yuan as well? Lin Yuan is the legitimate grandson of the Second Elder’s lineage. You’ve caused a huge problem.”
Lin Cui stared coldly at Li Tan.
Li Tan replied carelessly, “So what? If that’s all, you may leave now.”
This attitude angered Lin Cui somewhat, but considering the bigger picture, she restrained herself: “The Second Elder’s lineage opposed the marriage from the start. Now that you’ve crippled Lin Yuan, what do you think they’ll do?”
“You mean they’re going to come after me?”
“Hmph, tomorrow they’ll definitely take action against you through the family affairs office. Remember, if you don’t want to die, do whatever I say when the time comes.”
With those words, Lin Cui turned and left without looking back.
“The Second Elder’s lineage opposed the marriage. There must be something fishy going on,” Li Tan muttered thoughtfully as he pinched his chin.
The purpose of the marriage between the Li and Lin families couldn’t possibly be unknown to them. Since they opposed it, they must have had a better plan to deal with the Liu family.
But according to Li Tan’s knowledge, the only way to counter the Liu family was through marriage. What trump card did the Second Elder’s lineage of the Lin family possess?
Before his rebirth, Li Tan hadn’t paid much attention to the Lin family. By the time he escaped from the Domain of Fallen Immortals, they had already been reduced to ashes like his own family, leaving no way to investigate.
But now, it seemed that hidden secrets existed not only in the City Lord’s Mansion and the Li family but also within the Lin family.
“Hey, don’t move around.”
Li Tan tried to press his right hand against his chest but ended up grasping at empty air as the young eagle nimbly wriggled free.
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