Following Zhang Yun, they arrived on the second floor and walked all the way to the room at the deepest end.
Pushing open the door, Ling Huan could see inside at a glance.
Just like in so many comics and novels, it was extremely dim, without many light sources.
Only a massive jade stone floated in the center of the room.
“Young Master, at this point, please let your younger sister go in alone. If there’s even one more person, the test results won’t be accurate.”
Ling Huan looked at Yin Luoling, a bit worried that she might be afraid of the dark.
Darkness always seems to stir up people’s imagination and memories; as soon as you close your eyes, countless scenes and distressing memories can all resurface.
If it’s just some embarrassing past, that’s not so bad.
But if those cruel and terrifying moments return to Yin Luoling’s mind as clearly as ever, that’s a problem.
He understood this deeply.
Some things can’t be forgotten, even after living another life.
“If you don’t want to, let’s just skip it. It’s so dark in there. I believe you have a spiritual root; we can just buy a cultivation method and go home.”
Hearing Ling Huan say this, Yin Luoling was taken aback for a moment.
What does he mean?
Does he look down on me?
Is he mocking me for being timid?
Without another word, Yin Luoling strode straight into the quiet room.
The door creaked and then shut with a loud “bang”.
All light was completely cut off.
The surroundings seemed to turn into an endless abyss, and darkness rushed in like a tide.
“Tsk…”
Yin Luoling clicked her tongue.
She wasn’t actually afraid of the dark; rather, she could feel it.
Despite being reborn and having a thousand years of experience and a mind tempered by a millennium, for some reason, when facing Ling Huan, she could never stay calm or composed.
Could it be that after reincarnation, not only her cultivation but even her own mental state was reborn as well?
Thinking back over this whole journey, the plans she made couldn’t be called meticulous at all—in fact, they were rough and impulsive.
Her steadiness and composure were nowhere to be found.
Curiously, when Ling Huan wasn’t in sight, Yin Luoling’s heart was very calm.
But as soon as she saw Ling Huan, her anger would surge uncontrollably.
As she gradually calmed down, Yin Luoling recalled everything that had just happened.
Even if she was unwilling to admit it, it seemed like… she was being cared for by Ling Huan, being spoiled by Ling Huan, as if she really was his little sister.
He bought her things, spent money for her, and didn’t even care about using spirit stones.
But…
There were too many suspicious points.
First of all, where did all those spirit stones come from?
In her previous life, she often helped her adoptive parents with accounts and had seen the ledgers.
From the time she joined the Ling family until she went to the sect, the Ling family only had a few hundred spirit stones in storage.
Yet Ling Huan would spend dozens or even hundreds at a time—obviously not from the adoptive parents.
No matter how much they doted on Ling Huan, it wasn’t to the extent of letting him squander like this…
Suddenly!
A name she’d forgotten for so long suddenly floated up from her dusty memories.
In that cold and damp woodshed, Ling Huan had once said, “Great! The system really didn’t lie to me!”
When she was in the human realm, Yin Luoling had tried to find such a person’s name, or an organization with that name, but in the end, she found nothing.
She couldn’t find any record of this person or organization, but instead stumbled upon a method to reverse time…
After that, she had thrown herself wholeheartedly into researching that method.
If Ling Huan had been following someone’s instructions… and that’s why he treated her that way… then in this life, without the “system’s” instructions, that’s why his behavior was so different from her previous life…
In that case, with the mysterious source of the spirit stones… and everything that happened today… it all made sense.
But why persecute her?
Could it be those old geezers in the Immortal Realm, afraid she’d compete for the emperor’s throne, deliberately crossing time and space to plant a heart demon in her?
That wasn’t impossible.
After all, the one she had the deepest grudge with was that old man who mastered the laws of time and space.
If it was him, he could certainly cross time and space to forcefully plant a heart demon and prevent her from attaining the Dao and becoming emperor.
But thinking like that was too arbitrary.
After contemplating in the dark for a while, Yin Luoling laid out her next steps.
The most important thing right now was to improve her strength.
Pause any attempts to frame Ling Huan.
This way, she could not only observe Ling Huan better, but also, if he revealed his true nature and started doing evil, she wouldn’t be left powerless.
Second best, start with the people around Ling Huan—gradually erode their trust in him and isolate him.
That was another way.
Especially a certain person in the Ling residence—someone extremely important.
In her previous life, Yin Luoling only learned at the end that such a formidable person was hidden in the Ling residence.
If she could win that person’s favor and help early on, her cultivation would surely be smooth sailing.
A detailed plan could wait until she got home.
For now, she had to finish the test.
Yin Luoling stepped forward and touched the test stone in front of her.
As expected, the test stone immediately emitted a dazzling light as bright as day, instantly dispelling all the darkness in the quiet room.
At that moment, the door behind her swung open, and Zhang Yun’s surprised voice came from behind: “Congratulations, Miss! The brilliance of this test stone is so dazzling—your spiritual root must be extraordinary! It might even be a top-grade Thunder Spirit Root!”
Yin Luoling paid no attention; she instantly noticed… Ling Huan was gone!
She looked around, but the corridor was only so wide.
No matter where she looked, there was nowhere to hide.
Zhang Yun saw Yin Luoling’s expression and thought she was flustered from not seeing her brother.
Smiling, she comforted, “Don’t worry, your brother had to step out for a bit. He’ll be back soon.”
Stepped out…?
He’ll be back soon?
Heh…
So that’s how it is?
Yin Luoling sneered in her heart.
Just like putting a pig’s nose on a scallion—pretending to be an elephant.
Deliberately flaunting wealth to seem generous, but when it came time to pay, he’d vanish in a flash.
But reality simply wouldn’t let Yin Luoling get it right even once.
Seeing Yin Luoling in a daze, Zhang Yun thought she was worried about money and immediately said, “Miss, you don’t need to worry. The Young Master already deposited five hundred spirit stones with our shop and instructed me that you may purchase whatever you need.”
So… it’s not a trick?
“Miss, while you were being tested, I brought the product catalogue. Please take a look. You can tell me what you need, and I can give you suggestions. If you worry my advice isn’t professional enough, our store can hire a professional—”
“No need,” Yin Luoling waved her hand to interrupt.
When it comes to expertise, she believed no one in the entire Qingmu City could surpass her.
She had really thought Ling Huan had run away…
It seemed… in this life… he truly hadn’t been influenced by that “system” from her previous life?
Thinking this, Yin Luoling took the product catalogue Zhang Yun handed her, and after confirming multiple times that Ling Huan had indeed left spirit stones, she began to choose what she needed.
The items in this catalogue weren’t expensive and were fairly priced.
She bought all the pills, herbs, and even the alchemy furnace that aided cultivation, spending only about a hundred spirit stones.
Yet these things were enough to help her break through to the third layer of Qi Refining in a short time.
The spiritual energy in the human realm was thin, and in a place like Qingmu City, even thinner.
To reach the third layer of Qi Refining relying on these pills and herbs was no small feat.
Most importantly, if the spirit stones’ source was dubious, it would be easy to return everything.
Out of the five hundred spirit stones, she only spent one hundred.
Zhang Yun didn’t seem bothered; her attitude remained respectful and kind, without a trace of greed.
After confirming everything several times, she led Yin Luoling to the VIP lounge to wait, then went to the warehouse to fetch the goods.
Everything went very smoothly—so smoothly it made her uneasy.
Based on Yin Luoling’s previous life experience, it felt odd not to have an assassin suddenly break in right now, yelling about killing her…
The VIP room was very quiet.
Opening the door and window, only then did the lively hustle and bustle of the outside world drift in.
Yin Luoling poked her head out and immediately spotted Ling Huan in the bustling crowd on the street.
At that moment, Ling Huan was squatting in front of a pet stall, picking something out.
But suddenly, Ling Huan ran off.
Without hesitation, he dashed away like the wind.
His small figure darted nimbly through the crowd.
He ran away?!
So he really was just putting on a show, he—
Yin Luoling stepped onto the window ledge, ready to jump down, but then reconsidered… wait, five hundred spirit stones were left in the shop.
Even if he ran, it wouldn’t matter, right?
Then why did he run…?
She… couldn’t figure it out.
She truly couldn’t figure out Ling Huan.
But how could Yin Luoling know that Ling Huan ran so fast because, on the next street, two women were fighting fiercely, tearing each other’s clothes to shreds.