"Excuse me, I'll be right back." With that, Sheng Feiyan returned to the private room and came back out wearing a red evening gown.
She was already striking, and with makeup tailored specifically for her and the form-fitting dress, she looked even more stunning. Her appearance set Yunyangzi's heart aflutter from his spot in the corner.
Song Lian, on the other hand, was entirely focused on the fruit platter, as if he were starving.
Yuyin followed his gaze, and her own mouth began to water—several kinds of fruit on the table were her favorites.
As it turned out, in the eyes of normal people, filling one's stomach was far more important than gazing at a beauty.
Sheng Feiyan walked up to Yuyin and offered a faint smile. "Hello, my name is Sheng Feiyan."
During the introduction, she deliberately stressed the surname Sheng to emphasize the worlds-apart difference in status between herself and Yuyin.
Yuyin looked her up and down with a smile. She could tell that Sheng Feiyan took immense pride in being a daughter of the Sheng Family; her face was full of arrogance, and she clearly considered herself superior. Even her smile looked forced.
The main reason Yuyin disliked Sheng Feiyan was her physiognomy.
Sheng Feiyan had triple-whitened eyes—a facial feature indicating a strong streak of jealousy, stubborn selfishness, and a vengeful nature. She couldn't bear to see anyone else doing better than her, and her methods were ruthless.
"I've heard of Miss Sheng. Not only are you a top student and a beauty, but you're also kind and charitable, actively doing charity work every year." Knowing what the other woman wanted to hear, Yuyin deliberately flattered her.
"Lots of people do charity; it's hardly worth mentioning." Sheng Feiyan smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, speaking eloquently on the subject, terrified that others wouldn't know how kind-hearted she was.
"Very well, then we won't mention it. But the charity Miss Sheng does seems different from everyone else's. I hear you've donated money to build several Taoist temples." Yuyin relentlessly dropped veiled sarcasm, wanting to see just how long Sheng Feiyan could hold her tongue.
Hearing the mention of Taoist temples, the smile on Sheng Feiyan's face faltered. She realized this Yuyin wasn't as simple as she appeared on the surface, deliberately poking at her most criticized sore spots.
Ever since the day she turned eighteen, she had known she wasn't the true daughter of the Sheng Family. That was why she had donated to numerous Taoist temples and purchased countless consecrated divine artifacts to bless her wealth and prosperity.
Yet, at the same time, she was an all-around top student in the eyes of her teachers and a standout in high-society circles. Fearing mockery, she had done all of these things in secret; only a handful of people knew about them.
Just what kind of background did Yuyin have to know about this?
Sheng Feiyan's smile grew even wider as she sat down right next to Song Lian, deliberately leaving Yuyin standing without an invitation to sit. "Song Lian, is this Miss Yuyin a friend of yours?"
"No." Song Lian shook his head, drawing a clear line between himself and Yuyin.
They had merely crossed paths; they could hardly be called friends.
Yunyangzi had been invited by Sheng Feiyan. Now that he had backing, he was in no hurry to leave, eager to stay and expose Yuyin's true identity.
"Miss Sheng, she's nothing more than a fraud who goes around swindling people under the guise of my grand-uncle's name. I've already calculated that she isn't the real Yuyin, and she must have an ulterior motive for sneaking into this club."
"Oh? Then let me ask how Miss Yuyin managed to get in. I don't recall sending you an invitation." Sheng Feiyan's tone was aggressive as her gaze turned icy toward Yuyin.
She devoutly believed in the Mystic Gate, yet she despised swindlers more than anything else.
With a smile, Yuyin picked up a piece of apple from the fruit platter and crunched down loudly on it.
Sheng Feiyan grew anxious and shoved the fruit platter aside. "If Miss Yuyin won't speak, I'll have people throw you out."
"She's Cheng Fangnan's former fiancée." Song Lian glanced at Yuyin, though he had no idea what she was up to.
Sheng Feiyan and Cheng Fangnan were good friends, and she knew about his fiancée. Hearing the words "former fiancée" took her completely by surprise.
Who in the entire city didn't know that Cheng Fangnan, the son of the richest man, had a fiancée from the Mystic Gate? His parents had forced him to remain pure for her, leaving him single even at thirty.
Recalling how Cheng Fangnan had hidden away upon arriving, Sheng Feiyan couldn't help a dry remark. "No wonder he hid the moment he walked in. So he was hiding from Miss Yuyin."
"Indeed. He feels he isn't good enough for me and doesn't want to be an eyesore in my presence." Yuyin looked at Sheng Feiyan and shot right back with fearless defiance. No one could ever win an argument with her.
If anyone dared to win, she'd simply seal their mouth with a talisman.
Sheng Feiyan froze for a moment, then let out a teasing laugh. "It turns out Miss Yuyin loves to joke around."
Yunyangzi chimed in with a laugh. "Still keeping up the act? Even though I've never met that grand-uncle of mine, I know she is young, capable, and possesses extraordinary cultivation—hardly inferior to my master. My master will be here today, so you little swindler, just wait to be taken down!"
"Blind and devoid of judgment—that describes you perfectly. You'd better change careers and go find yourself a wife early on. With a person like you, even if you stay unmarried for a lifetime, your cultivation will never improve... Besides, you've already lost your virginity as a youth, haven't you?" Yuyin mercilessly dismantled him, leaving Yunyangzi no room to maneuver.
"You damned wretch! Who do you think you are, daring to fortune-tell for me? I'll teach you a lesson in a minute!" Yunyangzi's face flushed crimson. If his master Xu Meirong ever found out he had broken his vows of purity, he wouldn't be far from being expelled from the sect.
Song Lian and Sheng Feiyan harbored different thoughts, astonished that such a private matter could be divined.
"Want a duel of mystic arts? I'll gladly keep you company." Yuyin sat up straight. Ever since entering the Mystic Gate, her favorite thing to do was mete out justice on behalf of the heavens. Since Yunyangzi was courting death, she would gladly give him the chance.
She spread out five Emperor coins on the table. Staring at Yuyin's face, Yunyangzi began to silently chant an incantation.
Seeing Song Lian lean in to watch the excitement, Yuyin warned him, "Step back, lest you get splattered with blood."
Sheng Feiyan secretly pulled out her phone, intending to record it.
Yunyangzi had neglected his studies for far too long and was only a half-baked amateur at divination, especially when faced with an expert like Yuyin. Fueled by rage, the backlash rushed to his heart.
"Impossible..."
Yuyin stood up, forcing Yunyangzi to stumble backward step by step. "Figure something out, did you?"
With his lips pressed tightly together, Yunyangzi couldn't utter a single word before he was so frightened that he passed out cold. Right before losing consciousness, Yunyangzi vomited a large mouthful of fresh blood, splashing much of it across the upper half of Sheng Feiyan's outfit.
With his breathing weak and his body beginning to stiffen, Yunyangzi terrified Sheng Feiyan, who hurriedly pulled out her phone to call an ambulance.
Feeling Yunyangzi's pulse, Yuyin confirmed he was in no mortal danger and had someone carry him outside.
This was the backlash.
Yunyangzi lacked sufficient cultivation, yet he had forcefully attempted to divine her fate. His vital energy flowed in reverse, causing him to faint temporarily.
"Vixen! Where are the guards? Get her out of my sight right now!" Terrified that someone might actually die, Sheng Feiyan trembled down to her lips.
Cheng Fangnan and Chen Shujing, hiding in the shadows, dared not show their faces, equally terrified.
Such a massive incident at the club alarmed Mrs. Sheng. Her husband, Sheng Anguo, had not yet returned from picking up the Mystic Gate Master, so she had no choice but to bring people to find Yuyin herself, terrified that some truly unclean entity might have snuck in.
Besides Yunyangzi, they had also invited Yunyangzi's master, Chen Meirong. Now that the master hadn't arrived, the disciple had nearly been scared to death while dueling someone, and she worried she wouldn't be able to answer to Chen Meirong.
"Feiyan, are you alright?" Seeing her daughter's dress covered in blood, Mrs. Sheng Lin Qin ran over and pulled her close to check her over.
Looking aggrieved, Sheng Feiyan cast a tearful glance toward her mother and poured out her grievances. "It was all this woman's doing! She used some kind of sorcery to make Master Yunyangzi vomit blood and pass out."
Lin Qin looked over at Yuyin. An icy expression settled upon Yuyin, yet somehow, she couldn't bring herself to be truly harsh.
If Sheng Feiyan could put on an act, Yuyin could act even better.
Gazing at the woman suspected to be her biological mother, Yuyin spoke in a half-spoiled tone. "He was the one who insisted on fortune-telling for me. I didn't make a single move; the surveillance footage here will prove it."
She looked even more innocent and guileless than Sheng Feiyan. Especially when she pouted like that, Lin Qin's heart melted completely.
This was the first time Yuyin was seeing Lin Qin, and she found her kind and gentle.
With sharp eyes, Yuyin spotted a five-centimeter-long white hair resting on Sheng Feiyan's shoulder under the lighting.
Judging by its length and thickness, it belonged to a man.
She had seen magazines featuring Sheng Anguo; his hair was half-white.
Since Lin Qin was Sheng Anguo's wife, the hair undoubtedly belonged to him. Who would have thought that getting a strand of Sheng Anguo's hair would be so easy?
"You..." Lin Qin wanted to say something, but her words suddenly caught in her throat. She felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity emanating from Yuyin.