The First Encounter Back Then

Where were we?

Just as Lou Ji had said, the vicious and beautiful woman's poison skills originated from her. Within a few breaths after Xu Yuan realized he was poisoned, he regained control of his body.

Standing up straight, Xu Yuan brushed the snow off the older woman's shoulder as he muttered to himself:

"Oh right, we were just talking about how you planned to frame my father after you arrived in the capital. What happened then?"

"What else can we do? We failed."

Lou Ji raised her hand to thwart Xu Yuan's pretentious gesture, and gently sprinkled some invisible powder onto the mean-spirited beauty on the ground.

Upon contact with the powder, after a brief silence, the cruel and beautiful woman's corpse quickly withered away amidst the swirling snowflakes.

Xu Yuan watched quietly, but then a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

It's common knowledge that intelligence agents carry corpse-dissolving powder to destroy evidence, but Xu Yuan suddenly realized that this woman was no ordinary person.

The fact that this middle-aged beauty could render him unable to react and dare to try to control him in front of Lou Ji suggests that she is most likely a powerful being at the Origin Beginning.

And this powder actually

"Spirit-Dissolving Powder"

Looking at the empty, human-shaped indentation in the snow, Lou Ji casually explained, "It's useless to living people. This powder will react with the Source Qi, and it will turn into green smoke with a little effort."

She paused for a moment, a slight smile playing on her lips, and added:

"Oh, this thing was also invented by your Fourth Sister. It's said to be for carving intricate array patterns on some scales. Later, I discovered that it was also effective on the human body, so I took it, renamed it, and continued using it."

"." Xu Yuan.

He silently sighed to himself that without Little Four, this family would fall apart sooner or later, and then he saw Lou Ji leaving without any lingering attachment.

Xu Yuan quickly caught up and asked in a low voice:

"Sis, I heard that woman call you 'sister' too?"

"I thought you weren't curious at all."

Lou Ji glanced at Xu Yuan and said softly:

"Xinming is the child I picked up from that Black Alley."

Black Alley?

Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow.

He had heard of this place because it was located in Di'an City.

Just as most gentlemen in the world have a kind heart and can't bear to see others suffer, the Emperor of Great Yan is no exception.

Because the high-ranking officials and nobles inside couldn't bear to see people suffer, they drove all the unfortunate people to the Black Alley.

In layman's terms, it's a slum.

Just as Xu Yuan thought that the mean-spirited beauty was an SR character that Lou Ji had randomly drawn, Lou Ji said softly:

"I found her in my second year in Beijing. She was about five years old then, and about this tall."

As she spoke, Lou Ji lowered her eyes and gestured to her waist:

"Wrapped in a tattered rag, huddled in a corner shivering, I saw her as I passed by. I saw myself in her, so I gave her a blanket and some food I had snatched from other beggars."

"Wait a minute." For the first time tonight, Xu Yuan interrupted Lou Ji's narration.

"Hmm?" Lou Ji looked slightly surprised, raising her eyes and waiting for Xu Yuan's words.

Xu Yuan sorted out his thoughts.

First of all, after Lou Ji arrived in the capital, she immediately set her sights on his father, preparing to scheme and curry favor with him. But why has she suddenly changed her tune and started fighting with beggars for food?

After carefully considering his words, Xu Yuan said softly:

"Sister, didn't you say before that you had your eye on my father?"

"Yes." Lou Ji said matter-of-factly, "But didn't I just say I failed?"

"After the failure, you went to the Black Alley?"

"."

Lou Ji hesitated for a moment, then chuckled softly and said in a low voice:

"That's true. One second you're plotting against your powerful father, and the next you're reduced to fighting with beggars for food. The contrast is indeed quite stark, but there's nothing we can do about it."

As she spoke, Lou Ji glanced up at the sky and said softly:

"Those years I spent away from home gave me a false sense of security. I always thought that as long as I wanted to do something, I could definitely do it, but now I realize how naive I was."

"My initial intention was indeed to get close to and exploit your father, and I worked hard at it. After several twists and turns, my scheme finally succeeded in the third month."

In the forty-third year of Yongqing, Lou Ji met Xu Yinhe alone for the first time.

But her carefully calculated approach back then seemed like a joke to the other person.

In the tea-scented pavilion of the tavern,

A richly dressed young man gently stroked the little girl's messy long hair, his voice soft and smiling.

[Little girl, this is a one-time exception.]

Their first meeting ended after this half-joking remark.

At this point, Lou Ji's expression became somewhat complicated.

Xu Yuan looked at his older sister's profile and felt a little curious:

"What's wrong? Feeling a little flutter in your heart?"

Lou Ji turned around and glared at the boy:

"Yes, I did, but my heart was beating so fast I almost suffocated and passed out."

"Nervous?"

"Fear."

"Huh? But according to your account, my father didn't do anything to you."

"Hmm, this is probably just innate intuition."

"Intuition?"

"From a distance, I didn't feel anything, but the moment I saw your father alone, only one thought remained in my mind: I had to get away from this person, because my intuition told me that what was standing in front of me was not a person, but a monster."

Lou Ji spoke softly, then chuckled and smiled sweetly:

"Looking back now, my intuition was right; the person standing in front of me back then was indeed a monster."

Xu Yuan remained silent.

He didn't quite understand intuition, this kind of metaphysics, but it seemed to really exist.

Old Man Luo once mentioned during a casual chat on the way back to the capital that when he was preparing to ambush the main character in Jingjiang Prefecture, Qin Mo had considered avoiding him, but he didn't choose to trust his intuition and thus died.

Thinking of this, Xu Yuan suddenly had an idea.

This feeling is less of an intuition and more of a concept similar to good fortune or luck.

The attributes of the Big Ice Block Treasure Hunter have been repeatedly verified, and the attributes of him and the Blouse Princess Eyebrow Pencil are also obvious to all.

Perhaps, in this world where cultivation is possible, the concept of destiny truly exists.

It's just that cultivators haven't discovered and utilized it yet.

My divergent thinking stopped abruptly at this point, because there was no need to think about it further, and thinking wouldn't change anything.

Even if good fortune and luck truly exist, the fact that the protagonist of the story was killed shows that good fortune is not absolute.

Humans can also conquer nature.

Thinking of this, Xu Yuan suddenly chuckled softly:

"Sister, aren't you afraid I'll report you for talking about my father like that?"

Lou Ji shrugged indifferently.

He won't care about these things.

"That's true."

Xu Yuan nodded in agreement, then asked, "However, I don't think my father would let you leave like that."

Given his level of cultivation, it was impossible for his father not to see Lou Ji's cultivation aptitude.

Moreover, the fact that a nine-year-old girl could meticulously plan for three months to get close to him and ultimately succeed is something Xu Yuan would probably have started raising as a loli if it were him.

Lou Ji's subsequent explanation put Xu Yuan at ease.

Xu Yinhe did notice the little girl named Lou Ji, but he also sensed her fear of him, so he decided to go with the flow and not force her.

If she is raised freely and grows up to be successful, that would be best. But if she dies halfway through, it only shows that her potential is limited to that stage.

During this period of free-range living, Lou Ji was naturally forced to go to the infamous Black Alley of Di'an City, where she took in the woman who had been replaced by Xinming, and also met Granny Long who took her in.

I'll be a bit busy during the Chinese New Year holiday, so I'll try updating 2,000 words a day for now.