The Lingxu Temple was located on a mountain in the suburbs of Longjiang City, where the houses along the way grew increasingly sparse and low-rise.
Qi Quan glanced out the window and spotted a sizable stretch of wasteland with several dilapidated factory buildings, above which hung a dense mass of dark energy.
This must be the fiercely contested northern suburban land Huang Qifeng had mentioned.
Su Rong, being a ghost, was naturally sensitive to his kind. He frowned and said, "This place isn’t far from Lingxu Temple. Why is the yin energy so heavy here?"
No one answered him.
The car wound its way up the mountain road and finally arrived at the temple entrance.
True to its reputation as a renowned temple, the gate was grand and solemn, with layers of buildings nestled among the mountain trees, exuding an air of secluded tranquility.
"Stay here," Qi Quan instructed Su Rong to guard the entrance while she entered the temple.
Three cars parked almost simultaneously, not far from Su Rong.
The tattooed young man in one of the cars sent a message to Du Jiaming: "Brother Du, she’s gone into the temple."
He had already informed Du Jiaming of the location when they were at the foot of the mountain. After all, there was only one Lingxu Temple on this mountain. No matter what Qi Quan was doing here, she couldn’t escape.
Du Jiaming replied: "Be there soon."
Before long, three more luxury cars, each worth millions, pulled up at the temple entrance.
Du Jiaming recognized the familiar vehicles nearby and scowled. Furious, he flung the car door open but tripped as he stepped out, nearly face-planting on the ground.
The other two men suffered the same fate.
The trio dismissed it as a coincidence and quickly straightened up.
"Yang Su, Zhang Chengyan, what are you two doing here?" Du Jiaming glared at his former brothers—now rivals in love—with reddened eyes.
Yang Su sneered. "What, is this temple yours?"
"Hey, let’s not argue," Zhang Chengyan, the most timid and superstitious of the three, didn’t want to cause a scene in front of the temple for fear of offending the Taoist deities. "You’re both here for Qi Quan, right? How do you plan to teach her a lesson?"
The invisible Su Rong nearby thought: Tripping them was definitely the right move.
Having overheard their subordinates reporting about the "master," he guessed they were here to cause trouble for Qi Quan. So, he’d given them a little warning when they stepped out of their cars.
Now, it seemed the warning hadn’t been enough.
"She came alone. Why not scare her a bit? She writes horror stories anyway—she can handle it," Yang Su suggested.
The three huddled together, whispering their plan.
Su Rong scoffed silently.
From the entrance to the main hall, there was a long flight of stone steps. As soon as they began climbing—
Thud! Du Jiaming fell flat on his face.
Crash! Yang Su landed nose-first, howling in pain.
"Ah!" Zhang Chengyan clutched his scraped palm, fear creeping in.
Tourists milling around the temple entrance stifled laughter at the sight of the three men tumbling in unison.
"Did they offend the deities?" someone in the crowd muttered.
Zhang Chengyan, the most superstitious, hugged himself nervously. "This is weird. I tripped when I got out of the car, and now I fell again on the steps. Is this a sign from the deities that they don’t approve of us scaring people here?"
"Pathetic. And you think you can compete with me for Ruoruo’s affection?" Du Jiaming mocked. "If you’re too scared, I’ll go alone!"
The mention of "Ruoruo" reignited Zhang Chengyan’s determination. He pushed aside his unease and stood up to try again.
Bang! All three fell once more.
"Enough! Three strikes and we’re out. Today’s just not our day—better not push our luck," Zhang Chengyan declared, brushing himself off. "I’m not scaring anyone. I’m going to get a protective charm instead."
He tentatively lifted his foot onto the step—and this time, he didn’t fall!
Elated, he sprinted up the stairs, shouting, "Thank you, deities!"
Du Jiaming: "..."
Yang Su: "..."
The two stubbornly tried again—only to eat dirt once more.
Yang Su, now thoroughly spooked, muttered, "Maybe… we should get protective charms too?"
Du Jiaming’s face darkened.
In the end, the trio abandoned their plan and settled for buying protective charms.
From behind a tree, Qi Quan watched the three men clutching their charms, her gaze shifting to Su Rong outside the temple.
She had lured them here intending to guide them toward the charms, but before she could act, her newly acquired ghost servant had inadvertently completed the task.
Quite useful indeed.
Qi Quan released three strands of spiritual energy, attaching them to the men’s charms, then left with Su Rong for the Qi residence.
The moment they stepped inside, the tense atmosphere was palpable.
Gu Qiao sat on the sofa, tearfully clutching her phone while Qi Changrong comforted her softly. Seeing Qi Quan enter, his expression turned complicated. Qi Lin frowned, looking as though he wanted to say something but held back.
"What’s wrong?" Qi Quan asked politely.
The heavy silence broke.
Gu Qiao, her eyes red, said, "Xiao Quan, I… I haven’t been fair to you. I didn’t consider your feelings, and I made you suffer."
Earlier, spurred by Su Nuanuan’s words, she had asked Qi Yuan for the title of Qi Quan’s novel. After reading the fictionalized—or perhaps not so fictional—account of Qi Quan’s struggles, she and Qi Changrong shared the same realization: they had indeed neglected their biological daughter’s emotional well-being.
Even Qi Lin, not entirely heartless, felt a pang of guilt after reading the line about "not having a clear mind."
A girl struggling just to survive couldn’t possibly access quality education. He had overlooked Qi Quan’s hardships, attributing her sharp, defensive personality to "not having a clear mind." It was ignorance and indifference on his part.
He looked at his calm, seemingly resigned sister and said earnestly, "I read your novel. The imagination is… impressive."
Qi Quan: "..."
She nodded slightly. "Thanks. I’ll head upstairs now."
In the second-floor reception room, Wang Hua had been ordered to wait. Hearing Qi Quan return, he floated to the staircase to greet her—only to come face-to-face with Su Rong.
"Master! Who’s this?" Wang Hua exclaimed.
Su Rong lifted his eyelids, gave him a once-over, then closed them again.
An ordinary-looking ghost with no competitive edge. Not worth his attention.
"Su Rong, you two can chat in the reception room. I’m going to my room."
After giving instructions, Qi Quan returned to her bedroom to work on that night’s chapter update.
[Master, "Yearning Glances" gifted 1,000 deep-water torpedoes, "Everlasting Prosperity" gifted 1,000, "Awe-Inspiring Presence" gifted 1,000, and with contributions from "Ocean of Trees" and other readers, your current reputation points total 576,000—equivalent to roughly 570.6 days of lifespan, or rounded up, two years!]
This is the perk of clinging to a master’s golden thigh!
Qi Quan smiled genuinely.
In her past life, her greatest regret had been her short lifespan. Though two years was far from a century, her novel had only just begun.
Qi Yingxue had been busy filming these past two days and hadn’t had the energy to check Qi Quan’s updates. At 10:30 p.m., after finishing her night shoot, she finally remembered she’d missed two chapters and braced herself to see how Qi Quan had slandered her this time.
By the end of Chapter 4, she was seething.
What kind of nonsense is—
“She has no idea about all the troubles at home”? What does “she’s such a lucky person” even mean?
Did something happen at home? But no one called her!
Qi Yingxue initially wanted to call home immediately, but then she remembered how late it was and worried about disturbing her parents’ sleep, so she decided against it.
Frustrated, she left a comment.
[Red Plum Blossoms: Ugh, why does Qi Baishui keep making shady remarks about the fake heiress? Being switched at birth wasn’t her fault—blame fate. Honestly, it’s giving bitter, jealous vibes.]
Night owls were always browsing novels.
Luo Xiaoyu lay in bed after finishing the latest chapter, scrolling through the comments section, when she stumbled upon “Red Plum Blossoms’” remark.
She’d seen this username in previous chapters too—always leaving negative reviews. Upon closer inspection, this person consistently defended the fake heiress’s perspective, which was… unusual.
After some thought, Luo replied: [Fate may have played its part, but if the privileged party acts like an innocent victim while showing no remorse and even tries to suppress the real heiress, that’s just heartless. At the very least, the fake heiress should show some gratitude to the parents who raised her and treat their biological child with kindness.]
Most readers agreed with Luo Xiaoyu’s take.
Qi Yingxue was so furious she lost her composure: [How do you know this isn’t just the real heiress making up lies to smear the fake one?]
[RemindMeToPrepLessons: Uh… isn’t this just a novel? The author wrote it this way—why are you taking it so personally?]
Qi Yingxue: …
She’d been too angry to think straight.
Whatever. Time for the next chapter.
[Surprises always come unexpectedly.
A few days later, Uncle Su inexplicably gifted me a generous sum of money and a villa.
He said it was to thank me for fulfilling his lifelong wish.
I accepted it.
…]
Reading this, Qi Yingxue’s eyes widened in shock.
Uncle Su… had he lost his mind?
