The Hidden Message

As they reached the entrance, Zhuang Jingbai stood up.

She walked over to Lu Chen and patted his shoulder.

“Brother Lu Chen, I was emotional that day.”

“My hatred for Lin Tian shouldn’t have been taken out on you.”

“I apologize.”

Lu Chen’s body trembled.

He was about to speak when he felt something brush against his chest.

Looking down, he saw Zhuang Jingbai’s fingers slide across the inside of his lapel.

She slipped something into his inner pocket without a sound.

Then she withdrew her hand as if nothing had happened.

“Alright.”

Lin Tian hadn’t noticed a thing.

He laughed and threw an arm around Lu Chen’s shoulders.

“Hard work, junior brother!”

“I’ll treat you to a drink sometime!”

“N-no need.”

“I want to rest.”

Lu Chen stepped back.

His heart ached.

He truly saw Lin Tian as a brother.

But Lin Tian had no idea what had happened these past two days.

He didn’t know the guilt Lu Chen felt just looking at him.

“Alright, alright!”

“Junior brother, get some good rest!”

Lu Chen nodded and strode out.

As soon as he was outside, he reached into his pocket.

It was a handkerchief embroidered with twin lotus blossoms.

There were spots of blood on it, like plum blossoms.

Inside the cave dwelling, Lin Tian picked up the bedding from the floor, shook it out, and prepared to spread it back on the bed.

Wait.

There was a strange smell on the bedding.

Lin Tian paused and leaned in to sniff.

“Wife, why does this bedding smell like alcohol?”

Zhuang Jingbai’s expression flickered.

“I-it’s wedding wine.”

“I was in a bad mood and had a few drinks!”

Lin Tian didn’t dare ask further.

He was the reason she felt bad, after all.

“And I’ll wash this myself!”

“Don’t worry about it!”

Zhuang Jingbai said, then packed the bedding into her storage pouch.

“About Mei Ji… I can explain…”

“No need.”

“I haven’t forgiven you yet.”

Lin Tian fell silent, embarrassed.

After a moment, Zhuang Jingbai spoke.

“Lin Tian, I always thought you were a man who understood the big picture.”

“In important situations, you know what to do.”

“But this time, you’ve disappointed me so much.”

“Jingbai, Mei Ji’s life was in danger.”

“I just… I didn’t want to lose her…”

“So you can lose me instead?”

“Fine.”

“Now I want you to choose.”

“Me or Mei Ji?”

“Pick one.”

Lin Tian’s head throbbed.

He wished he’d left with Lu Chen just now.

“Jingbai, don’t make this hard for me.”

“I…”

“Alright.”

“I already know the answer.”

Her voice was unreadable.

She gathered her things and left Lin Tian’s cave.

Two days later.

Lu Chen, now recovered, sat in his cave staring blankly.

What had happened recently brought back terrible memories.

When he’d been transported into this book, his first stop wasn’t the Xuantian Sect.

It was the Hehuan Sect.

He’d been taken as a furnace from the start.

But luckily, he had five spiritual roots.

With his extraordinary bearing and top-tier looks, he quickly won the favor of the demonesses.

In this world, besides cultivating immortality, everyone also awakened their own fate, used to aid cultivation.

Fates varied widely, covering all sorts of things.

To put it simply, they were like attributes.

Lu Chen’s attribute was ‘One Hit, Certain Hit.’

It sounded powerful, but unfortunately, his spiritual root cultivation was too slow and his cultivation too low.

The damage he dealt was negligible.

But who would have thought?

The demonesses of the Hehuan Sect used his attribute to develop a unique path, and an entire industry.

During that time, they drained his energy relentlessly.

He saw no hope.

Then, just at that moment, a spy from the Xuantian Sect who’d been lying low in the Hehuan Sect sacrificed himself to save Lu Chen.

The spy died, leaving no remains.

From the moment he was rescued, Lu Chen vowed to treat the savior’s family well.

After drifting around, he finally reached the Xuantian Sect.

He learned that he’d entered a novel he’d once read.

In this book, almost everyone was righteous.

When they learned Lu Chen had been saved by their own disciple, they accepted him quickly and helped him find the fallen disciple’s family.

“Sigh, what a mess.”

“What does Zhuang Jingbai mean by giving me this plum blossom handkerchief?”

Lu Chen wore a bitter expression.

As for Zhuang Jingbai, she was the daughter of the Moonlight Palace’s sect leader, a neighboring sect.

She married Lin Tian because they loved each other.

But then Lu Chen’s physical intervention had caused problems…

Just as Lu Chen was feeling at a loss, his communication token suddenly lit up.

The sender was Chen Xuejiao.

The token didn’t make a sound.

Instead, words slowly appeared on its surface.

[Bad news!]

[Hu Wei is about to find out about our collaboration!]

Lu Chen shot to his feet.

His hands trembled.

He had foreseen this day, but not so soon.

His master had been as good to him as a father, giving him a place to live, resources for cultivation, even begging for the top-grade foundation-building pill.

But his master’s child had gone wrong.

And Chen Xuejiao had taken other measures.

If Hu Wei found out… he didn’t dare imagine the consequences.

But why was he exposed?

Normally, he barely met with her.

Could it be that his master had noticed he wasn’t the real thing?

Seeing that Lu Chen hadn’t replied, Chen Xuejiao quickly sent another message.

[Today, when our righteous alliance was besieging a demoness from the Hehuan Sect, she spilled secrets about you!]

[She said your life force has been sold all over the righteous alliance, that you have offspring in every major sect.]

[Now everyone is panicking and investigating you!]

[What do we do?]

[I’m so scared of being exposed!]

[What exactly did that demoness say?] Lu Chen finally responded.

[She only said you have a unique attribute that makes women 100% pregnant, and that with your multiple spiritual roots, your offspring would likely inherit the mother’s talent.]

[Got it.]

[Contact me if anything comes up.]

Hearing those words, Lu Chen breathed a little easier.

If that was all the information, then he wasn’t in immediate danger of exposure.

As for why the child was his, it was because Hu Wei was infertile, and Lu Chen’s attribute was ‘One Hit, Certain Hit’, which naturally included that aspect.

So Chen Xuejiao had bought his life force through the black market, along with a temporary projection of Lu Chen.

When she learned the source was Lu Chen, she froze.

But she desperately wanted a child.

And knowing Lu Chen’s character, looks, and talent, she eventually used it.

Knowing the source wasn’t so bad.

And though she had done wrong, it didn’t stop her from loving Hu Wei.