Volume 3, Chapter 181 – I Am Not a Good Person

“For cultivators, hiding their cultivation level is actually quite easy. There are many methods to accomplish this.”

“However, during the cultivation process, cultivators develop certain special habits.”

“Among these, the most obvious is their breathing technique.”

Lin Xiu said contemplatively, “Most cultivators won’t deliberately observe what an ordinary person looks like.”

“They’ve already grown accustomed to their long, sustained breathing. Even if they deliberately disguise themselves as ordinary people, that forced breathing technique will still lack a certain naturalness compared to genuine common folk.”

“Of course, besides breathing techniques, there are other particular details. like a sword cultivator’s hand movements, or a spiritual cultivator’s eyes…” Lin Xiu listed a few examples. “These details are easily overlooked and require careful observation. One also needs to be extremely familiar with cultivator habits to notice anything suspicious.”

Chi Xiyan pondered for a moment. “So, although she’s not truly a farm girl, she’s not a cultivator hiding her strength either.”

“Based on the observations obtained so far,” Lin Xiu said, “that’s correct.”

“Mm…” Chi Xiyan turned her gaze back to the courtyard in the center of the manor.

She hadn’t told Lin Xiu Yu Lizhi’s actual identity. This matter involved too much. Before Chi Xiyan could verify Yu Lizhi’s situation with Chi Jingwen, the fewer people who knew, the better.

Moreover, Chi Xiyan had made Yu Lizhi sign the Seventh-Order Dao Contract early on.

As long as the contract was in hand, Chi Xiyan could ensure Yu Lizhi’s loyalty.

Lin Xiu didn’t know about this matter either.

If Chi Jingwen learned that Chi Xiyan had made Yu Lizhi sign that kind of contract, which was like selling herself, then Chi Xiyan would be finished.

Through the Dao Contract, Chi Xiyan could clearly sense Yu Lizhi’s spiritual essence.

That weak spiritual essence was like a candle flame in the night, as if it would extinguish with the slightest breeze.

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A farm girl without cultivation posed no threat whatsoever to Chi Xiyan.

Very few people in the outside world knew about the Chi family bloodline matters.

Even if someone wanted to scheme something using the Chi family bloodline, they couldn’t possibly choose such a worthless farm girl. They would be even less likely choose to appear before Chi Xiyan. Instead, they would take the jade hairpin directly to find the Chi family head, Chi Jingwen.

That would be more reasonable.

Therefore, Chi Xiyan didn’t think there would be any problem with Yu Lizhi’s identity.

She might be hiding some past she didn’t want others to know about, but she couldn’t possibly know her true background.

Thinking of this, Chi Xiyan smiled with relief.

“Lin Xiu, your observations are excellent,” Chi Xiyan said. “However, that girl won’t have any problems. I can be certain of that.”

If Yu Lizhi truly had problems, she wouldn’t have dared to sign that contract.

“Watch over her and protect her as you would protect me,” Chi Xiyan said.

“Understood, Young Lady,” Lin Xiu nodded.

He didn’t continue asking Chi Xiyan why she trusted that girl so much, nor did he inquire about the girl’s true identity.

As a subordinate, he only needed to follow the young lady’s orders.

…

Chi Xiyan returned to the courtyard. She stood at the courtyard entrance without going inside.

She saw that girl Yu Lizhi patiently wiping the old woman’s face.

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She was also speaking softly to the old woman.

“Mother, do you know? I thought I’d never hear your voice again.”

“Sister Chi really is a good person.”

“If not for her, I might never have seen you again…”

“That I could escape from that terrifying den of evil called Five Immortals House, that I could see you wake up… It’s all thanks to Sister Chi…”

“Sister Chi has been so good to me, I don’t even know how I could ever repay her…”

Chi Xiyan lowered her eyes slightly. She didn’t go inside. She also didn’t want to disturb Yu Lizhi’s time with her mother.

Failing to save that old woman was Chi Xiyan’s mistake.

If Chi Xiyan’s judgment had been more accurate…

No… If Chi Xiyan had been more attentive from the start, if she had taken the old woman away last night and continuously monitored the medicine’s effects, rather than leaving her there for Yu Lizhi to care for alone, it wouldn’t have turned out this way.

All of this was because of Chi Xiyan’s arrogant pride. She had been too confident in her medical skills and diagnosis, which led to this situation.

Chi Xiyan hadn’t directly told that girl about her mother’s condition.

But just because the girl came from a farming family didn’t mean she was stupid.

On the contrary, she should have already guessed her mother’s situation.

“So, I shouldn’t disturb them now…”

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“Let them treasure this precious final time together…”

Chi Xiyan said to herself. She withdrew from the courtyard.

She left the courtyard, left the manor.

Chi Xiyan looked toward the distant commandery city and couldn’t help but laugh self-mockingly.

“A good person?”

“I’ve never been a good person…”

If Chi Xiyan truly were a good person, she wouldn’t have made Yu Lizhi sign that contract.

Chi Xiyan paused briefly, then her eyes became resolute once more.

“Miss… excuse me, how do I get to Lin Family Manor?” A voice pulled Chi Xiyan back into consciousness.

Chi Xiyan looked toward the middle-aged woman who had spoken to her.

The woman was dressed like a farm wife, around thirty or forty years old, with a pack on her back. Her dark face was covered in sweat, looking travel-worn.

At this moment, she wore a smile, asking Chi Xiyan for directions with a simple, honest expression.

“I’m not from the commandery city. I came to Beihe Commandery to visit a distant relative, and now I’ve gotten lost…”

“So, Miss… do you know the way to Lin Family Manor?”

Lin Family Manor?

Wasn’t that Chi Xiyan’s property? It wasn’t far from here either.

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Was this woman a distant relative of one of the manor’s farming households?

Chi Xiyan didn’t think much of it. She raised her hand and pointed in the direction she had come from.

“Madam, that’s Lin Family Manor. If you continue forward for another 5 kilometers, you’ll be able to see the manor.”

“Thank you, kind young lady.” The woman expressed her gratitude to Chi Xiyan.

“No need to be polite. I just came from Lin Family Manor. It’s just a small effort,” Chi Xiyan said.

After the dark-skinned woman said a few more words of thanks to Chi Xiyan, she turned and walked quickly in the direction Chi Xiyan had indicated.

Chi Xiyan didn’t notice that on the dark-skinned woman’s hidden hand, a dark red crescent-shaped mark was visible.

After Chi Xiyan parted from the dark-skinned woman, her mind was still mulling over when to inform Chi Jingwen of Yu Lizhi’s identity.

That old woman probably wouldn’t live much longer. Bringing her back to the Chi residence now would be too cruel, so…

Chi Xiyan twitched her nose slightly. She seemed to have caught a whiff of an unusual scent.

There was a smell of medicine and a faint bloody odor.

Though very subtle, Chi Xiyan had definitely smelled it.

This seemed to have been picked up when she was talking with that dark-skinned woman.

Chi Xiyan’s eyes widened. She whirled around abruptly.

Within her field of vision, the old woman’s figure had long since disappeared.