Chapter 23
Chi Lin had held onto a sliver of hope.
She hadn’t truly believed she would find the Empress’s reincarnation so easily.
Despite her preparations, the questions, the tea, she had mentally prepared herself for a long and arduous search.
But the confirmation of her suspicions, or rather, the lack thereof, left her feeling deflated and uncertain.
Had the Preceptor been wrong about the clues and hints? He had never used the Soul-Chasing Secret Art before. How could he know about reincarnation?
It was a contradiction.
Lost in thought, she hadn’t heard a word Liu Huixin had said.
When she finally tuned back in, she noticed Tan Luo and Teng Jiang looking at her strangely.
“Your sworn sister is so nice to you. I’m so jealous,” Liu Huixin said, staring at Chi Lin with a saccharine smile.
Chi Lin, initially confused, understood when Liu Huixin emphasized the words “sworn sister.”
Whenever Liu Huixin mentioned her “sworn sister,” it meant trouble.
Liu Huixin’s infatuation with Teng Jiang was obvious. She would seize any opportunity to discredit Chi Lin in his eyes.
But spreading rumors in front of the person in question seemed… foolish.
“I don’t have a sworn sister,” Chi Lin said, her usual calm demeanor replaced by a chilling coldness.
She had initially dismissed Liu Huixin’s petty attempts at sabotage, but her repeated provocations were becoming tiresome.
And dragging Lou Mi’s name through the mud was unacceptable. Lou Mi, a respected figure, reduced to a scandalous rumor by Liu Huixin’s malicious gossip.
Chi Lin’s disappointment over her failed attempt to identify the Empress turned to anger.
“You admitted it yourself! Why are you denying it now?” Liu Huixin shrieked, feigning shock and clutching her chest, looking at Teng Jiang and Tan Luo for support, then leaning closer to Chi Lin, her voice loud enough for everyone to hear. “Did you dump your sworn sister?”
Chi Lin’s gaze locked onto Liu Huixin’s. “I never said I had a sworn sister. I’d appreciate it if you stopped spreading these false rumors.”
Liu Huixin was taken aback by her sudden assertiveness.
Was this the same quiet, timid Chi Lin?
Her palms began to sweat.
But this was a library. Chi Lin couldn’t possibly attack her here, right?
Teng Jiang, see what kind of person she really is!
“I can’t believe you’d do this,” Liu Huixin wailed, turning to Teng Jiang and Tan Luo. “Your sworn sister was so good to you, buying you gifts and food, and now you’ve dumped her for someone better? And you’re denying it? We’ve been deskmates for over a year. Does anyone in Class 6 know you better than I do? I considered you a friend! How could you do this? I always thought you were just… academically challenged. I never judged you for your bad grades. But now… I’m so disappointed in you.”
Liu Huixin continued her dramatic performance, embellishing her fabricated story. She had no proof of any gifts or favors, but what other reason would someone have for a “sworn sister” relationship? Her assumptions were perfectly reasonable.
That poor, single-parent Chi Lin must have been taking advantage of her sworn sister.
Teng Jiang and Tan Luo remained silent, their expressions unreadable.
Chi Lin, facing Liu Huixin’s accusations, simply stared at her.
Liu Huixin braced herself for an outburst.
Come on, show your true colors!
You got away with it at the Cultural Festival, but not this time!
To her surprise, Chi Lin didn’t explode. She smiled.
She reached out and patted Liu Huixin’s wrist.
“Why are you so agitated? I told you, you’re imagining things.”
The seemingly innocuous pat, however, held a hidden purpose.
With a swift, undetectable movement, Chi Lin’s fingers pressed two pressure points on Liu Huixin’s wrist.
“I do have a sister, but she’s not a ‘sworn sister.’ She’s my mother’s boyfriend’s daughter. I mentioned it once, and you’ve been obsessed with this ‘sworn sister’ idea ever since. It’s not what you think.”
Chi Lin’s tone was light and casual, her explanation simple and straightforward. She withdrew her hand.
The interaction seemed perfectly normal. Liu Huixin, seeing Chi Lin’s smile, scoffed internally. Still so timid, even when being bullied.
As Liu Huixin began to recount Chi Lin’s past failings to Teng Jiang, a spasm shot through her arm.
It traveled up her shoulder to her neck, her head jerking to the side uncontrollably.
“Uh… uh?”
Her eyes widened in panic. She couldn’t control her neck. It felt limp and weak.
Her head tilted further, her chin almost touching her shoulder. Her arm went numb, her entire left side unresponsive.
“What’s wrong?” Teng Jiang asked, alarmed by her strange behavior.
Liu Huixin’s fingers twitched, her neck contorting at an unnatural angle.
Sweat beaded on her forehead, her mouth twisting, her features contorting.
What’s happening to me?!
She tried to stand and call for help, but her tongue felt heavy and useless, her legs numb and unresponsive. She couldn’t feel them.
Tan Luo watched in horror as Liu Huixin, unable to speak, drooled and made unintelligible sounds.
“Uh… uh! Uh!”
Her arm twitched spasmodically, hitting the table repeatedly, the sound echoing through the quiet library.
Other patrons, initially curious, quickly averted their gazes, disturbed by her contortions.
Some moved away, fearing contagion. Others whispered amongst themselves, speculating about her condition. One person even started filming her with their phone.
“Miss, are you okay? Should I call an ambulance?”
Liu Huixin’s face was drenched in sweat and saliva.
The more she struggled to speak, the worse the spasms became.
As Teng Jiang and Tan Luo dialed emergency services, Liu Huixin suddenly made a sound. She could speak again!
Her neck slowly straightened, the feeling returning to her arm, her fingers, her tongue.
“Are you okay?” Teng Jiang asked, waving his hand in front of her dazed eyes.
“I… I…” Liu Huixin, still in shock, remembered Chi Lin’s touch.
Chi Lin had never touched her before. That pat had been strange.
A tingling sensation had shot through her wrist, followed by the loss of control over her body.
It had to be Chi Lin!
Tan Luo, seeing her dazed expression, asked, “Are you alright?”
“Chi Lin! What did you do to me?!” Liu Huixin shrieked, pointing at Chi Lin.
Her voice echoed through the library, drawing everyone’s attention.
Chi Lin remained calm. “What could I possibly do? I can’t even solve the simplest problems.”
“You…” Liu Huixin looked around for a weapon.
Chi Lin wasn’t worried. If Liu Huixin attacked her, she could easily incapacitate her without anyone noticing.
“Calm down,” Teng Jiang said, handing her a tissue. “Wipe your mouth.”
Liu Huixin, realizing her drooling had been witnessed by her crush, felt a wave of shame. Teng Jiang’s look of disgust was more devastating than any physical attack.
Mortified, she covered her face and fled the library.
The other patrons stared, stunned. Xie Buyu and the others were also shocked, speculating about Liu Huixin’s sudden ailment.
Only Lou Mi suspected the truth.
The martial arts, the upside-down hanging, the sword dancing… and now this?
And Chi Lin’s earlier remark about curses…
Lou Mi understood. She was certain.
Chi Lin’s recent transformation, her newfound confidence and assertiveness… it all made sense.
She must have found a secret martial arts manual!
With Liu Huixin gone, Chi Lin felt a sense of anticlimax.
The pressure point technique she had used only lasted for a minute, with no lasting effects, just temporary paralysis and public humiliation.
She hadn’t used it since she was a teenager, a childish prank.
And now, she had used it again, for another childish prank.
Neither Teng Jiang nor Tan Luo seemed to be the Empress. She thanked them for their time and left.
“Wait, where are you going?” Teng Jiang asked, trying to stop her.
“Let her go,” Tan Luo said, watching Chi Lin leave with a smile. “She’s harder to win over than I thought.”
As Chi Lin left, Lou Mi quickly closed her book and announced, “It’s getting late. Let’s call it a night. I’m heading home.”
She hurried after Chi Lin.
The remaining four team members exchanged excited whispers.
“So that was the sister!”
“Did you see her face? She’s pretty!”
“Not just pretty, she’s gorgeous!”
Hu Hu said thoughtfully, “She looks like that girl from the viral sword dance video.”
“What sword dance video?” Zhuo Jinglan asked.
“The one from the Cultural Festival,” Pagoda said. “Chi Lin from South Lake Third High.”
Xie Buyu, her gaze fixed on Tan Luo, said, “So that wasn’t Mi-jie’s sister. I wonder if I have a chance.”
Pagoda: “Didn’t you just say she looked shady…?”
Xie Buyu smirked. “I like shady.”
Pagoda: “…”
Zhuo Jinglan: “Weren’t we supposed to have dinner after team building? They just left?”
Hu Hu sipped his water quietly.
…
Liu Huixin didn’t come to school for two days after the library incident.
When she returned, looking pale and gaunt, she asked Ms. Qi to change her seat.
She claimed her hearing had deteriorated and she needed to sit closer to the front.
She had a doctor’s note confirming her diagnosis, so Ms. Qi, after consulting with her mother, agreed.
Seat changes after midterms were a regular occurrence at South Lake Third High.
Students with improved grades moved forward, while disruptive students were relegated to the back.
Liu Huixin moved to the second row, far away from Chi Lin.
Chi Lin, her grades improved, moved three rows forward, becoming Lin Xiaozhi’s deskmate.
Ms. Qi had asked Lin Xiaozhi if she was willing to sit with Chi Lin and help her with her studies.
“Chi Lin is showing signs of improvement, and we should encourage her. As class president, would you be willing to mentor her?”
Lin Xiaozhi, smiling sweetly, readily agreed.
“Of course, I’d be happy to help Chi Lin.”
With Chi Lin and Lin Xiaozhi now deskmates, Wei Zhuoning, having neglected her studies for her novel, became the new bottom-ranked student in Class 6, banished to a solitary desk in the corner.
Chi Lin and Lin Xiaozhi became inseparable, spending all their time together, discussing difficult concepts, working on practice problems… or just whispering to each other, their conversations inaudible to the eavesdropping Wei Zhuoning.
They were like two peas in a pod.
One day, after school, Lin Xiaozhi called out to Wei Zhuoning, who was walking ahead. Wei Zhuoning turned, then quickly boarded a bus, avoiding her.
Lin Xiaozhi, her hand outstretched, smiled to herself.
Soon…
Come into my web, little rabbit.
…
“Mimi, your Auntie Peng and I will be back tomorrow. We’ve brought you lots of gifts and local specialties. Aren’t you excited to see me? Pick up Xiao Lin after school and meet us at West Wharf for dinner.”
Lou Mi woke up to another handwritten message from her dad.
Reading a handwritten message in this era felt like receiving a handwritten letter twenty years ago.
She and her dad seemed to operate on different time zones. The message had been sent at 5:30 am.
It was now noon. As she was about to leave for the club, she saw Chi Lin emerging from the bathroom.
Lou Mi, about to enter the elevator, stepped back. “Aren’t you going to school?”
“It’s Saturday,” Chi Lin replied.
“Oh, right. My dad wants us to have dinner together tonight.”
“Us?”
“Yeah, your mom is coming back too.”
Chi Lin hadn’t realized their parents’ business trips coincided.
“You think it’s a bit suspicious too, don’t you?” Lou Mi chuckled. “They weren’t on business trips. They were on a romantic getaway. Finally decided to come home after gallivanting for two weeks. Do you know West Wharf? The restaurant?”
Chi Lin shook her head.
Lou Mi considered telling her to take a taxi, then changed her mind. “I’ll pick you up at 4:30. Stay home today. Don’t wander off.”
“Okay.”
So obedient today.
As the elevator doors closed, Lou Mi smiled to herself.
And Chi Lin still had her straight, black hair. She wondered how her parents would react.
Lou Lixing might not notice, but Peng Ziyuan would probably feel like she had a new daughter.
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