"Oh?"

Su Xuan's eyes narrowed in astonishment as he heard the girl reveal such a tremendous secret.

But he immediately said to her, "What does this have to do with me?"

"It will have something to do with you very soon." The girl gazed at Su Xuan and said slowly, "Since you've gone to such lengths to disguise yourself, you obviously didn't come from the Immortal Mountain. If Ning Zhendao were to find out about this, your life would be in danger, wouldn't it?"

"Does my origin matter?" Waves of power from the Longevity Realm emanated from Su Xuan.

"It matters," the girl said seriously. "The Ge Family are Ning Zhendao's lapdogs. You annihilated them but gave him none of the spoils, and he's furious about it. He invited you to the City Lord's Mansion for drinks specifically to probe your background. If you reveal the slightest flaw—for instance, if you don't seem like you're from the Immortal Mountain—you will never leave the City Lord's Mansion alive."

"Is he that afraid of the Immortal Mountain?" Su Xuan asked.

"Afraid!" the girl made another shocking declaration. "He *is* from the Immortal Mountain!"

Su Xuan was stunned.

What the hell? The one backstory I casually fabricated turned out to be a massive coincidence! If I had known, I would've said I was from anywhere else!

"What exactly do you want from me?" Su Xuan then asked her.

This girl claims to be Ning Zhendao's daughter, but she also says he's an impostor. What is her goal?

"Help me kill Ning Zhendao," the girl said, enunciating each word. "He killed my real father, the true City Lord of Hua Shui City. I want revenge!"

"He doesn't know you exist?" Su Xuan asked.

Things are getting complicated. I need to sort this out. If the current Ning Zhendao is a fake who killed the real one—this girl's father—how is she still alive and well? Don't tell me he's unaware of her existence because she's been invisible this whole time.

"He knows I exist," the girl said. "But he doesn't know that I know he's a fake."

"Uh…" Su Xuan pursed his lips. That actually makes a twisted sort of sense.

"The reason I came to you," the girl continued, stating her purpose directly before Su Xuan could ask, "is to have you kill the fake Ning Zhendao!"

"And if I refuse?"

"Then your secret won't remain a secret for long." A smirk played on the girl's lips, as if she had him right where she wanted him. "The fake Ning Zhendao is from the Immortal Mountain. He dreams day and night of returning, and you are his chance to do so. But if he finds out you're also a fake, he will be enraged, and your life will be forfeit. The one thing he hates most is being lied to."

"Aren't you lying to him, too?"

"All the more reason he deserves to die."

"If he's from the Immortal Mountain, why can't he just go back?" Su Xuan voiced his doubt.

He was starting to believe her, especially since Ning Zhendao had casually mentioned during their drinks that he wanted to visit the Immortal Mountain to see it for himself. In hindsight, that comment was highly suspect.

"I don't know," the girl said, shaking her head. "I'm also puzzled as to why he can't go back. Perhaps there's some hidden secret."

"Then why did he kill your father and take his place?" Su Xuan asked.

"My father had power and wealth. Wouldn't you want that?" the girl countered. "Does one need any other reason to kill a man and secure a lifetime of riches?"

"I can't help you."

"I'm not in a hurry." The girl's figure slowly began to fade. "You'll help me eventually. I'll be back."

Before her voice faded completely, she had turned invisible. The window creaked open again.

"Couldn't you use the door?" Su Xuan asked, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Oh." A faintly cute voice sounded in the air, and then the door swung open.

"The world of cultivators is rife with deceit and danger," Su Xuan muttered, rubbing his forehead as he glanced between the open window and door. "The mortal world is so much simpler…"

He stood up, reverted to his appearance as Lu Dachun, and walked over to close the door. As he moved to shut the window, his gaze fell upon a spot outside, and he frowned again. "Little Tang, I told you to get some rest."

Tang Shu stood there nervously, clutching a knife as if she had been guarding him the entire time. "I..." She lowered the blade, looking embarrassed. "I heard a noise in your room and was worried the Ge Family had come to make trouble while you were asleep. You'd been drinking, so I was afraid you wouldn't wake up... I-I'm fine now."

With that, Tang Shu headed toward an adjacent room. She didn't tell Su Xuan that because he had promised to make her father the steward here, she already saw this place as her home and didn't want anything bad to happen to it.

Su Xuan shook his head, closed the window, and went to bed.

「Early the next morning.」

The weather had cooled, and a thin layer of mist hung over all of Hua Shui City. After informing Su Xuan, Tang Shu went to buy a mount to go fetch her father, while Su Xuan rode his white horse toward the Nine Cauldrons Sect.

Along the way, he thought about the girl's words from last night, but he didn't give them too much weight. His only purpose in Hua Shui City was to acquire medicine. As soon as the Third Elder finished refining the pills for him, he would leave. He couldn't be bothered with such messy affairs. Besides, there was no reward in it. Why should he bother?

If the girl knew what Su Xuan was thinking, however, she would have been furious. After all, she had always been considered a princess in Hua Shui City. Excellent young men lined up to court and please her. Never mind receiving favors from her; they would be thrilled to death if she so much as glanced their way. She was hailed as one of the most beautiful women in Hua Shui City, and she hadn't even fully matured yet. Once she did, she was bound to be even more irresistible to men.

And though Su Xuan hadn't given the girl a second thought, she couldn't stop thinking about him.

At that moment, she was sitting in her pavilion, chin in her hands, gazing at the morning scenery, lost in thought.

He'll probably give my words some serious thought, right? He might come looking for me at any moment... He wouldn't really wait for me to go find him, would he?

As she thought about it, she suddenly grew angry for no reason. She glared at the empty air and pouted, "So what if you're handsome? Why do you have to be so cold and unreasonable? You're just a con man yourself! What's so wrong with helping me?"

But where are you really from? And how do you have the cultivation of the Longevity Realm? You're so young!

"Xiao Wan, not going to see your master today?" a voice suddenly called from behind her. It was Ning Zhendao.

She turned, a brilliant smile blossoming on her face. "Of course I am! I'm on my way now!"

Then she clasped her hands behind her back and skipped away. But the moment her back was turned to him, her expression became as cold as ice.

You will die, she said to her false father in her heart. And it will be a beautiful death.

The girl rode a purple deer out of the City Lord's Mansion. Before long, she arrived outside the Nine Cauldrons Sect and saw a white horse slowly landing before its main gate.

Yes, she was headed to the Nine Cauldrons Sect. The Third Elder was her master.

And Su Xuan was about to face a difficult problem...

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