“W-What is that?” Xiao Jinglan, lying on the bed, saw the strange phenomenon for the first time. Her face instantly turned pale, and her delicate body trembled uncontrollably.
“That’s the ‘King Yama’s Curse Mark’.”
Truth be told, Xiao Jinglan wasn’t the only one frightened—Ye Yunshen was nervous too. Before inheriting the Ninefold Profound Art, he had been an ordinary person. He had never been involved in geomancy or mysticism, not even medicine or martial arts. This was actually his first time performing an exorcism, and there was no way he could be completely calm. But he forced himself to stay composed, closed his eyes, silently circulated the Ninefold Profound Art, and rapidly formed hand seals.
He pointed and said, “Vanish!”
In the next moment, a talisman ignited. The strange black mist also caught fire at the same time, burning until it turned to ash. Then, everything fell silent. The villa was deathly still.
Xiao Jinglan’s body shuddered on the bed, then she suddenly felt completely relaxed from head to toe. “Huh? What just happened?” The refreshing sensation surprised her—she had never felt so light and unburdened before. She turned to look at Ye Yunshen.
“The technique of the ‘King Yama’s Curse Mark’ has been temporarily neutralized,” Ye Yunshen explained.
Before Xiao Jinglan could be too happy, Ye Yunshen added, “Don’t celebrate just yet. This is only a temporary suppression. With my current ability, I’m far from being able to eliminate such a high-level spell. In about two months, ‘King Yama’ will climb back onto you again.”
“Shhh…” Her face instantly paled again, a bone-chilling fear sweeping over her.
“And it’s not just you,” Ye Yunshen continued, making her even more speechless. “Now that I’ve dispelled the dark magic from your body, I’ve likely absorbed some of its karmic entanglement too.”
Even her little brother got dragged into this?
“I’ll be training like mad for the next two months!” A sharp glint flashed in Ye Yunshen’s eyes. “Whether it’s for you, Sister Jinglan, or the old Dragon King’s illness, I need to reach a certain level of cultivation before I can completely break through!”
“Then…” Xiao Jinglan looked at the blood-red Dragon Blood Ginseng.
“Sister Jinglan, do you have a spare room at home? Clear one out for me—I’ll use this chance to refine the Dragon Blood Ginseng!”
“Yes! Come with me!” Xiao Jinglan quickly brought Ye Yunshen to a vacant room and closed the door behind him.
But the Dragon Blood Ginseng alone wasn’t enough—he also needed to learn alchemy. He hadn’t forgotten that he still owed Lin Ruoxi a life-saving pill. That was another vast and profound domain. Ye Yunshen immersed himself in study and cultivation.
Outside the room, Xiao Jinglan occasionally glanced at the door. Several times she wanted to go in, but always stopped herself. She paced back and forth, deep in thought.
The next moment, she made a phone call. “Hello? Intelligence Organization, from now on, you no longer take orders from me in Sucheng. I’ll introduce you to a new master. Your operations from this point on will fully comply with his wishes!”
“…”
There was a long silence on the other end of the line before a dry female voice responded, “Yes, Miss.”
But her tone was full of reluctance. After all, the Intelligence Organization existed solely for Xiao Jinglan. Now she wanted them to follow someone else? Who was this person? Could he really compare to their lady?
The Intelligence Organization had doubts.
Meanwhile, Shen Qingqiu and the other three daughters still didn’t care about Ye Yunshen’s whereabouts. They firmly believed that within a month, he’d come crawling back to apologize. The divorce registration form? Absolutely unnecessary.
To emphasize this belief, Shen Qingqiu pinned the divorce form in a prominent spot next to the calendar, marking each passing day with a red circle. The countdown to the official one-month reflection period had begun. The source of this chapter is g.com.
In the meantime, they were also busy trying to find the mysterious blood donor.
“So, any results yet? Have you found anything?” Shen Qingqiu asked.
Lin Ruoxi and Xia Anran both shook their heads. “Not a single lead.”
“Strange. How could we not find anyone?” The three daughters frowned deeply.
With their connections and resources, finding someone shouldn’t have been difficult. Yet there was not even a trace. It was as if the blood donor had vanished into thin air.
“Do you think… could it have been Ye Yunshen?” Suddenly, Lin Ruoxi raised a possibility.
“Impossible!” The surprising part was that it was Cheng Zewen who immediately rejected the idea.
All three girls turned to look at him in shock.
Cheng Zewen explained, “The blood donor and Brother Shen gave me blood on the same day. Since Brother Shen already donated once that day, why would he do it again? It doesn’t make sense!”
“And if it really was Brother Shen, why wouldn’t he tell us? This would’ve been the perfect chance to win favor!”
Shen Qingqiu and the others nodded in agreement.
If the blood donor had been Shen Yunshen, he definitely would’ve boasted about it, demanding their praise. He wouldn’t have sulked and snapped at them.
They dropped the suspicion.
Ring ring ring— Suddenly, Xia Anran’s phone rang. It was her father, Xia Taishan.
“Anran, where are you? Come home quickly, something amazing just happened to our family!” Xia Taishan sounded ecstatic on the other end.
“Huh? What amazing thing?” Xia Anran asked.
Shen Qingqiu and Lin Ruoxi also leaned in curiously.
“I can’t explain over the phone. Just come home!” With no other choice, Xia Anran headed home.
“Our family has formed a connection with the financial queen!” As soon as Xia Anran arrived, Xia Taishan announced proudly.
Still dazed, Xia Anran asked, “The financial queen? Which one?”
But even before the words were fully out of her mouth, she froze.
“Exactly! I went to visit her! I, your father, was the very first person in all of Sucheng to meet her face-to-face. She even accepted the gift I brought!”
“Really?!” Xia Anran was overjoyed, as if she had won the lottery.
Visiting and getting a gift accepted were completely different things. The former could mean nothing more than a brief encounter, easily forgotten. But once a gift was accepted, it meant the financial queen acknowledged them. Just as her father said—they had officially established a connection!
A blessing beyond imagination had fallen into their lap!
“Dad, are you sure she really accepted it?” Xia Anran confirmed again.
“Absolutely! I hadn’t even finished speaking before she asked for the gift!”
“Then we don’t need to fear Wu Sanye anymore! With Queen Xiao behind our Xia Family, forget Wu Sanye—the underground king—even the Emperor of Su wouldn’t dare underestimate us!”
Wu Sanye was the reigning king of Sucheng’s underworld, holding power over the Xia Family. And the Emperor of Su was even more terrifying—the true ruler of the entire city! Three years ago, it was the Emperor of Su who had ordered Ye Yunshen’s death.
But now, with their connection to the financial queen, the balance of power had shifted.
“Those three slaps from Wu Sanye—I might just return them!” A cold glint flickered in Xia Taishan’s eyes.
Xia Anran was filled with hope too, but when she thought of Ye Yunshen, she scoffed inwardly. The idea of getting revenge for her father? That was pure wishful thinking.
“By the way, daughter, I also discovered a secret about Queen Xiao…” Xia Taishan’s expression changed as if he remembered something important.
He lowered his voice and whispered to Xia Anran, “When I was delivering the gift, I found out there was a man hiding in Queen Xiao’s house…”
“What? A man?”
Hiss… Xia Anran’s mind nearly exploded. She gasped sharply, eyes wide. “That’s impossible! Queen Xiao is famous for hating men! She’s always been career-focused. How could she be hiding a man in her house?”
That’s what Sister Qingqiu always said. Queen Xiao was her ultimate idol. She dreamed of becoming like Xiao Jinglan—talented, beautiful, graceful, and powerful. In her words, Queen Xiao was flawless—a perfect woman with no weaknesses!
But secretly hiding a man? Who would believe that?
“Oh, right. That man’s voice sounded exactly like Shen Yunshen…” Xia Taishan added.
“Shen Yunshen?!”
BOOM—Xia Anran was completely shaken…