Xiao Han, I beg of you, Sister...

Yu Zhiwen's divine sense exploded outward, purple spiritual energy swirling around Pei Yuhan, pinning him in place. Behind her, a purple lotus manifested, then transformed into a lotus leaf half a palm in size.

Yu Zhiwen's slender fingers pinched the corner of the lotus leaf and pressed it into Pei Yuhan's forehead. Her violet starry eyes flickered as she gazed into his divine sense.

"Senior, what are you..."

Pei Yuhan felt the strange sensation of being pried open and was about to ask, but his rosy lips were silenced by her pale fingers.

"Shh, little brother, let Sister give you a check-up..."

Yu Zhiwen's eyes were bright, her face full of affection as she looked at Pei Yuhan. Her divine sense gently probed his entire body. A Nascent Soul True Lord's powerful divine sense naturally encountered no obstacles examining a Core Formation cultivator, but Yu Zhiwen was terrified of harming her little brother in the slightest.

The more meticulously she examined, the heavier Yu Zhiwen's expression grew. In the end, her starry eyes were filled with disbelief, and her eyes instantly reddened, veiled with a mist of tears.

"Impossible... impossible... impossible!"

"How can there be no problem at all? Rao Yuexi, you despicable bitch, what did you do?!"

Yu Zhiwen couldn't accept this truth. She had been certain her little brother had been tampered with to forget her, but the examination revealed nothing wrong...

A Nascent Soul True Lord's divine sense was formidable, and Yu Zhiwen was especially skilled in this area—there was no way she had missed anything.

The most unbearable truth surfaced before her. Yu Zhiwen felt the truth weigh a thousand pounds, suffocating her until she could barely breathe.

Her little brother had truly forgotten her, with no one pulling any strings...

Her little brother didn't want to acknowledge her as his sister anymore...

At this thought, Yu Zhiwen's eyes reddened instantly, tears streaming uncontrollably. Her voice trembled, laced with grievance and despair, as she looked at Pei Yuhan with a pleading expression.

"Xiao Han, it was all Sister's fault before. Sister shouldn't have abandoned you. Can't you stop pretending you don't know me?"

"Yu Han" and "Yu Han" sounded similar, and Yu Zhiwen was now convinced he was her little brother—why else would he take such a close name?

Pei Yuhan looked blankly at the Nascent Soul True Lord acting spoiled before him, feeling a headache coming on, but he still answered honestly.

"Senior, this junior truly has no memory of you..."

Yu Zhiwen ignored what Pei Yuhan said, fixated only on dragging him away. Her eyes red as she looked at him, as if hoping to catch a hint of pretense in his expression.

"Xiao Han, someone must have tampered with you. I'm your sister—how could you not recognize me?"

"Come back with Sister to the Qingyou Dao Sect. Let Sister's master help you remove the hidden danger."

Rao Yuexi watched the scene unfold and heard Yu Zhiwen trying to take Xiao Han away. She found it amusing.

How could her own nephew just follow some unknown woman into that den of demons? But as she listened to Yu Zhiwen's next words, Rao Yuexi's mocking expression darkened.

This Saintess was not only trying to abduct Xiao Han right in front of her by playing the victim, but she was also slandering her?

"Sage Yu, this True Lord is Senior Nephew Pei's elder. How could I possibly do such a thing?"

"Is the Saintess slandering this True Lord out of thin air to drive a wedge between my uncle and nephew?"

Rao Yuexi interrupted Yu Zhiwen's words with displeasure. Why did this Yu Zhiwen keep throwing mud at her? If she let her keep talking, Rao Yuexi felt the label of "obsessed woman" would stick to her and never come off.

At that thought, Rao Yuexi guiltily lowered her eyes. I, Rao Yuexi, am just concerned for Xiao Han as an elder—how could I be an obsessed woman?

Pei Yuhan heard his master's words and looked at the red-eyed "sister" clinging to him, frowning slightly.

In Pei Yuhan's view, he didn't know this Sage Yu at all. If they were peers, her earlier lunge at him was already presumptuous, and now she was badmouthing his master to his face. Pei Yuhan naturally couldn't believe her.

If it were before, anyone speaking ill of his master would earn a stern warning from Pei Yuhan.

But looking at Yu Zhiwen's pitiful, wronged expression, Pei Yuhan somehow couldn't bring himself to speak harshly. He only looked at her with some dissatisfaction.

"Senior Yu, this junior has been cared for by Master Rao since childhood. Master Rao is like a second master to me. I don't believe Master Rao would do anything harmful to me."

Yu Zhiwen saw Pei Yuhan standing still, refusing to leave with her, and sensed the displeasure in his tone. Her already aggrieved heart grew more anxious, as if she might burst into tears again at any moment.

Why wouldn't her Xiao Han just come with her!

Silly little brother, weren't you clever enough in the palace? How are you letting yourself be sold now and not even knowing it?

That old woman tricked you with a single sentence—I'm your sister!

Yu Zhiwen regretted it. The moment she saw her little brother being taken advantage of by a bad woman, and an old woman throwing her weight around at that, she couldn't help but want to teach her a lesson.

Originally, Yu Zhiwen thought that once she took off her veil, she and her little brother would recognize each other. Then, no matter how stubborn that old woman was, relying on her status as the Qingyou Dao Sect's Saintess, she could definitely take Xiao Han away!

But that required her little brother's willingness. Yu Zhiwen had calculated everything except that her little brother truly didn't remember her. And now he was inexplicably treated as a kept man by this other Nascent Soul True Lord old woman, making her task exponentially harder.

Yu Zhiwen bit her lip in frustration. She should have just knocked Xiao Han out and tied him up, like she'd originally planned!

Ruined, I've ruined everything!

Little brother... now that you're right in front of me, I still can't take you away?

Yu Zhiwen felt a wave of powerlessness again, just like when she learned her hometown had been slaughtered. She could only watch helplessly, unable to do anything...

Back then, she couldn't protect her little brother, and now she could only watch as that old woman slowly corrupted him...

"Sage Yu, Senior Nephew Pei's words make sense. Does the Qingyou Dao Sect only teach useless divisive schemes?"

Rao Yuexi's tone was cheerful as she shot back. She had been annoyed at being slandered, but hearing her nephew call her his "second master," her anger was instantly soothed like spring water.

Xiao Han called me master...

Rao Yuexi was delighted at today's major achievement, but she wasn't satisfied. She didn't want to be the "second" anything, nor just a "master."

She wanted to possess Xiao Han completely—wake up to his face every morning, drain him without restraint every night, and fully replace Jiang Shiyuan's position!

[One more chapter this afternoon]