novelraw Chapter 915: A Clever Vixen
Chapter 915: A Clever Vixen
’She revealed a secret with such ease?’
The thought echoed in Han Yu’s mind, not with panic, but with sharp clarity.
This woman...
She was dangerous.
Not because she knew.
But because she chose to show that she knew.
Han Yu looked at her, truly looked this time.
The relaxed posture.
The faint smile.
The drifting red smoke.
All of it painted the image of someone at ease.
Yet beneath it lay something far more calculating.
A mind that did not simply observe.
It dissected.
’A clever vixen,’ Han Yu concluded internally.
Outwardly, he allowed a faint smile to return.
"If my Lady has already seen through it," he said calmly, "then there is little point in denying it further."
There was no panic in his voice.
No resistance.
Only acceptance.
Lady Rot Rose’s smile deepened slightly.
"Good," she said softly.
The atmosphere shifted once more.
The game had changed and both of them knew it.
Han Yu sat across from her with a calm exterior, yet inside, every instinct he had cultivated over the years had risen to its peak.
The ease with which Lady Rot Rose had exposed his secret left a lingering chill in his thoughts. If a single cup of wine could be used to reveal something so deeply hidden, then what else could she uncover with time, patience, and intent?
He did not allow that tension to show.
His posture remained relaxed, his breathing even, his gaze steady. Yet beneath that composure, his mind was already restructuring its approach. Every word now carried weight. Every response had to be measured.
For a few seconds, silence lingered between them.
Then Lady Rot Rose chuckled.
It was soft, almost amused, as if she had noticed the subtle shift within him.
"I apologize if I’ve offended you," she said.
Han Yu inclined his head slightly.
"Not at all, my Lady."
His reply came smoothly, neither defensive nor dismissive. It carried just enough courtesy to maintain balance without appearing submissive.
She watched him for a moment, her eyes glinting with quiet interest.
"Well," she continued, "since I’ve revealed a secret of yours, it is only fair I reveal one of my own."
Han Yu’s wariness did not lessen.
It sharpened.
Secrets were not things that cultivators gave away lightly, especially those who had lived for centuries and stood at the peak of power. A person like Lady Rot Rose did not trade information without purpose.
If she was offering something, then it was not a gesture of fairness.
It was a move and Han Yu understood that he had already been drawn into the game. He did not speak, he simply listened. For that was the safest approach.
Lady Rot Rose lifted her pipe slightly, letting a thin trail of red smoke drift upward before it dissolved into the air.
"How do you like this place?" she asked.
The question seemed casual.
Almost irrelevant.
But Han Yu knew better.
He glanced around briefly before answering.
"It is beautiful," he said. "Refined, deliberate, and perfectly crafted. Much like its owner."
He did not hold back on the praise. It was expected and appropriate. Lady Rot Rose gave a faint smile.
"This is my personal estate," she said. "It was left to me by my grandfather."
Han Yu’s expression did not change immediately.
But inwardly, his thoughts paused.
Grandfather?
The word itself was not unusual, yet in this context, it carried implications.
Someone capable of creating or owning a spatial realm like this was not an ordinary cultivator. Even among the sect’s highest ranks, such possessions were rare. Yet Han Yu did not interrupt.
He waited.
Lady Rot Rose tapped her pipe lightly against the side of the lounger, her gaze drifting briefly toward the surrounding space.
"He was an old man," she continued. "With the name Xuexing Meigui."
The name lingered in the air.
Han Yu frowned slightly, not out of confusion, but recognition that had not yet fully surfaced. The name felt familiar, like something buried within the depths of his memory.
Xuexing Meigui.
He repeated it internally.
Once.
Twice.
And then it struck him.
His eyes widened ever so slightly before he could suppress the reaction.
Shock surged through him.
"You mean..." he began, his voice steady but carrying a trace of disbelief, "the Blood Garden Immortal? The former Patriarch of our sect?"
Lady Rot Rose chuckled softly.
"It is good that you know the history of our sect."
Han Yu felt it then.
A surge of pure astonishment.
If his Eight Emotions energy had been active externally, it would have flooded the entire pavilion in that instant.
The Blood Garden Immortal.
That was not a name spoken lightly.
He was a figure carved into the very foundation of the sect’s history. A Patriarch from two generations ago, a man whose strength and achievements had placed him among the legends of the cultivation world.
He had broken through the Immortal Ascension realm.
He had truly ascended.
Few had ever reached that stage.
Fewer still had left behind a legacy as profound as his.
Han Yu’s mind raced as fragments of history aligned.
Xuexing Meigui had been one of the key figures responsible for unraveling the secrets behind the barrier surrounding the Blood Continent. His research and breakthroughs had laid the groundwork for future generations.
It was through his efforts, and those who built upon them, that the sect had eventually reclaimed what they called their birthright temple.
He was not just powerful.
He was foundational.
And now...
Han Yu looked at the woman before him again.
She was his granddaughter.
Everything began to make sense.
The secrecy surrounding her identity.
The absence of clear records.
The way information about her seemed incomplete, scattered, or deliberately erased.
This was not coincidence.
This was design.
She did not merely possess influence.
She inherited it.
’No wonder,’ Han Yu thought. ’No wonder her reach is so vast. No wonder she can act as she pleases.’
A descendant of a former Patriarch, especially one who had ascended, would carry weight beyond ordinary authority. Even if the sect did not openly acknowledge it, such lineage could not be ignored.
’And this estate...’ Han Yu glanced around once more.
It fit the lineage perfectly.