Volume 3, Chapter 352 – Does This Count as Eloping?

“Pack a few things quickly. I am taking you out of here right now!”

The words had barely left Chi Xiyan’s mouth when she felt a tug on her hand.

“What is it?” Chi Xiyan asked, puzzled.

“Sister.” Lu Zhuxin’s brow was drawn tight. She gripped Chi Xiyan’s arm firmly, her expression grave. “Do you know what you are doing?”

“I am saving you,” Chi Xiyan said.

Lu Zhuxin heard her out and then shook her head. “Sister, that is not what I meant… Do you know what this means for you?”

Chi Xiyan was quiet for a moment. Her gaze dropped slightly. “Now is not the time for this.”

Lu Zhuxin still would not let go. “Sister, I think this needs to be said right now. I do not want my situation to be the reason you come to harm.”

Seeing that she would not be moved, Chi Xiyan let out a soft sigh.

“To defy the family head is to betray the family.”

“Chi Jingwen will not tolerate a disobedient daughter continuing to live under the Chi roof.”

Lu Zhuxin’s eyes went wide. “Sister!”

“Even so, I cannot accept what he has done,” Chi Xiyan said. “Muxue, Chi Jingwen has lost his mind.”

“Between you and Lingxiao Sword Sect, he chose Lingxiao Sword Sect.”

“Ha. How laughable…” Chi Xiyan let out a cold laugh. “Does he trust Lingxiao Sword Sect’s character that much?”

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“Is he not afraid that Lingxiao Sword Sect will play along for now and turn on him afterward?”

“Rather than stake my future on someone else’s conscience, I would much sooner keep hope firmly within my own hands.”

“Chi Jingwen’s choice is far too foolish.”

“Sister!” Lu Zhuxin cut her off. Her grip on Chi Xiyan’s hand tightened. “So sister made this choice because you disagree with the family head’s decision. Because you believe I am worth more than Lingxiao Sword Sect. Is that it?”

“Muxue…” The question caught Chi Xiyan off guard. She looked into the girl’s eyes.

The girl’s eyes were rimmed with red. Those wide, glistening eyes held an expression she could not quite name.

Was she nervous?

What was she afraid of?

“Muxue… I am not Chi Jingwen. He is who he is, and I am who I am.” Chi Xiyan reached up and placed her hand on Lu Zhuxin’s shoulder. “No matter what happens, you are the future hope of the Chi family. I will never abandon you.”

“Sister?” The girl tilted her head back, staring at Chi Xiyan in a daze.

Chi Xiyan went on. “Chi Jingwen is a pure businessman. To him, blood relations are nothing more than goods to be traded.”

“I am the Chi family’s eldest daughter in name.”

“But from the time I was seven years old, I already understood that the title of Chi family eldest daughter was nothing but an ornament. A label Chi Jingwen used to show off his image as a loving father.”

Chi Xiyan let out a long, heavy sigh. “Even so, I let myself dream. I hoped that man still had some shred of humanity in him.”

“For more than ten years, I worked hard at playing the role of an obedient daughter. I told myself that even if I was not his flesh and blood, as long as I tried hard enough, proved my worth well enough, he might care for me a little more. Might come to treat me as a true daughter.”

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“But only now do I see that I was wrong.”

“This man can be so ruthless toward his own flesh and blood.”

“So how could he ever spare any real warmth for me, this false Chi family eldest daughter?”

“I have given up on those old dreams.”

“Chi Jingwen is beyond saving.”

“The Chi family cannot be left in the hands of someone so cold and heartless.”

“Muxue, I have made arrangements. Tonight we leave this place. Once the matter of Lingxiao Sword Sect is resolved, I will take back the Chi family together with you.”

Lu Zhuxin lowered her head and fell into silence.

At that angle, Chi Xiyan could not see the faint, indifferent smile that touched the corners of Lu Zhuxin’s eyes.

Chi Xiyan, you really do have a way with words.

The only question was how much of what she had just said she actually meant.

Lu Zhuxin knew Chi Xiyan far too well. In the original story, after Chi Xiyan’s marriage, she had used the backing of Lingxiao Sword Sect to bring the entire Chi family firmly under her control.

There had never been any father-daughter bond between her and Chi Jingwen. Not a real one.

The plot had diverged from the original, but the underlying direction had not changed.

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Chi Xiyan was abandoning the act she had kept up in front of Chi Jingwen. She had made up her mind to take the Chi family’s fortune for herself, directly.

Chi Xiyan, what a greedy girl you are.

She wanted the family’s wealth. She wanted the person too.

The only question was how much of her motivation right now was for the Chi family’s fortune, and how much was for Chi Muxue.

After a moment, Lu Zhuxin raised her head and pulled a smile for Chi Xiyan.

“Sister, does this count as eloping?”

Something flashed through Chi Xiyan’s eyes when she heard that. She lowered her lashes. “Of course it does,” she said softly.

“We leave this place together. No more restraints. No more watching anyone else’s expression…”

“We will find the freedom that belongs to us.”

“Sister.” Lu Zhuxin said, “I trust you. I want to leave with you.”

“Only… the Chi residence is layered with formations. Without the family head’s permission, there is no way for us to get out, is there?”

Chi Xiyan shook her head. “The family head did not permit me to come see you, and yet here I am.”

“These formations cannot hold me.”

The Chi family’s formations were intricate and sophisticated, but no matter how intricate or sophisticated a formation was, it had still been built by people hired by the Chi family. Nothing was ever perfect.

Chi Xiyan had been preparing to wrest control from Chi Jingwen by force for a very long time.

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The formations of the Chi family’s main residence were naturally one of the problems she had needed to solve.

Given a high enough price, one could always hire a sufficiently skilled formation master to do the job.

After years of quiet maneuvering, she still could not dissolve the Chi family’s formations entirely. But smuggling one person out through them was more than manageable.

“Sister.” Lu Zhuxin pressed her lips together. “What about Lan Shuang’er? We have to bring Lan Shuang’er with us, surely?”

“Lan Shuang’er…” Chi Xiyan murmured.

Lan Shuang’er was a Fifth Realm martial artist, a rare combat asset. There was no telling what dangers lay ahead on their journey. Having her along would naturally be ideal.

But…

Chi Xiyan closed her eyes briefly. “I am sorry… I cannot.”

Lu Zhuxin glanced at her. She was not surprised.

“But sister… Lan Shuang’er is my personal attendant. We cannot just leave her here alone…”

“If we both disappear, what if the family head takes his anger out on her…”

Lu Zhuxin kept her head down, her lips pressed tight. “She was hurt because of me. Ever since she was locked away in the abandoned wing, I have not gone to see her once…”

“I do not even know how she is doing now…”

Chi Xiyan looked at her. Her gaze darkened slightly. In a low voice, she said, “I am sorry, Muxue. I have no way to smuggle out a Fifth Realm martial artist on top of everything else.”