After Swapping Identities With My Archenemy - Chapter 38

Chapter 38: The Vanishing Master

They were trapped inside the painting, while the physical scroll remained outside beyond their reach.

Jiang Huaiyi pondered for a moment. Seeing the others turn their attention back to the weasel to interrogate it for more information, she sidled up to Shen Wensi.

“I think I should burn a message to my Master,” she whispered. “I really don’t know how to handle this situation. What do you think?”

Shen Wensi raised an eyebrow. This place was a minor Yin Precinct; since arriving, she hadn’t felt a shred of fear. This world was an exact replica of the hometown she had lived in during her early years. She didn’t know who had moved her old home here, but even the servants in the mansion hadn’t realized she was an outsider. Being here felt like a homecoming.

She wanted to see how Jiang Huaiyi would solve this, though she was prepared to step in if necessary. However, if Jiang Huaiyi had a plan, she was 100% behind it.

“Alright. Should we find an excuse to step away?”

Jiang Huaiyi didn’t notice Shen Wensi’s hand draping over her shoulder again. She just felt that Shen Wensi was very tactful—by conspiring like this, the others couldn’t overhear.

“What’s the excuse?” Jiang Huaiyi asked.

After another round of questioning, the weasel still hadn’t coughed up much of value. As the others turned back toward them, Shen Wensi blinked.

“Pretend to faint.”

Jiang Huaiyi pointed at herself suspiciously. “Me?”

Shen Wensi glanced at the two women who were just about to turn around. “Hurry.”

As she spoke, she gently squeezed the back of Jiang Huaiyi’s neck. Jiang Huaiyi’s face flushed instantly. Gritting her teeth, she closed her eyes and collapsed into Shen Wensi’s arms.

Shen Wensi caught her steadily. This was Jiang Huaiyi’s first time faking a faint, and her face burned with heat. She had rarely lied to her Senior Sister growing up, and doing it like this felt surreal.

The others rushed over. “What happened?”

Shen Wensi replied without batting an eye, “She seems to have a fever. Her constitution is a bit weak.”

Jiang Huaiyi kept her eyes shut, unable to see what was happening. She was terrified that if she opened them, she wouldn’t be able to maintain her expression. However, she could still hear Mu Ze’s mocking voice.

“Her? Weak? I’ve never seen her sick a day in her life. Tell your ‘Junior Sister’ to stop pretending to be kind. She’ll probably trick you out of every cent of your savings before you know it.”

Chu Lianxue snapped back, “You think everyone is as rotten as you? We know exactly who the bad seed is. Stop your chirping. Junior Sister, take our friend back to rest.”

Mu Ze smashed something in a fit of rage. “Are you a pig? I bet she’s 80% faking it!”

Chu Lianxue: “If you have a problem with me, say it to my face. Let’s settle this once and for all today.”

Shen Wensi’s cold voice cut through: “Please watch the creature and don’t let it escape. I’ll take her to rest and be back soon.”

Song Rong flusteredly agreed. She actually wanted to follow them, but she didn’t get the chance—the other two had already started fighting again. She could only drag the chair with the tied-up weasel away, trying to avoid the flying fists and kicks.

Jiang Huaiyi felt Shen Wensi circle her waist and lift her up in a princess carry. She couldn’t help it; she snapped her eyes open.

“You don’t have to carry me like this,” she whispered urgently. “Couldn’t you just help me walk?”

Shen Wensi looked at her, noting the girl’s overly beautiful profile from this angle. “You ‘fainted.’ How can you walk? If we’re going to act, we do it right.”

She held her very tightly. Jiang Huaiyi couldn’t move and was afraid that if she struggled, the two brawlers behind them would notice. She could only let herself be carried into another room.

The moment Shen Wensi kicked the door shut, Jiang Huaiyi jumped down as if escaping a fire. Shen Wensi sat down at the table with an air of composure, making Jiang Huaiyi feel like the awkward one.

Taking a few deep breaths, Jiang Huaiyi sat across from her. Shen Wensi produced a basin, and Jiang Huaiyi placed the paper offerings inside. She lit them with a candle from the table, chanting her Master’s name and birth details.

But the paper ash didn’t drift upward as it usually did. Instead, it just sat heavily in the basin. Confused, she threw in a pile of paper gold ingots. Usually, this was how they communicated, but today it wasn’t working. The ingots burned, but the spiritual connection felt dead.

Jiang Huaiyi frowned. “It’s not going through. I don’t know how to reach back.”

Shen Wensi suggested, “Why not try sleeping? Maybe she’ll send a dream?”

Jiang Huaiyi nodded and lay down on the bed. The bed was clean—so clean she almost felt like changing out of her travel clothes, but given the circumstances, she didn’t care.

“Why won’t the offerings burn through?” Jiang Huaiyi murmured as she lay down. “Is it because we’re already ‘down here,’ so there’s nowhere for them to go?”

Shen Wensi shook her head but said nothing.

Jiang Huaiyi’s mind began to wander. If this was a minor Yin Precinct with the privileges of the underworld, could she meet her Master directly? She had never seen her in person in the real world—only in dreams where she saw the “Little Old Lady” without fully being conscious of it.

She didn’t have much time to test the theory; after a few blinks, she fell fast asleep.

In her dream, she returned to the familiar Qingyun Temple. She lay on her bed and recited the mantra as usual. But after a while, the familiar figure didn’t appear.

She got up from the carved bed and walked around the temple. The Little Old Lady was nowhere to be found. This was strange; usually, the old lady would be waiting in a rocking chair by the door. Upon hearing the call, she would come in and smile at her precious disciple.

After searching the whole grounds, Jiang Huaiyi went to the back rooms. She gripped the jade pendant hanging from her neck, calling out for her Master in her heart.

When she entered the room, her footsteps froze.

On the red table lay the grey robe she had burned for her Master recently. Above it hung a portrait of her Master as a young woman.

But the center of the portrait was a total blank.

Jiang Huaiyi lunged forward, grabbing the painting from the wall. Suddenly, she felt her body being shaken violently. She snapped her eyes open, waking from the dream in a cold sweat.

Shen Wensi was gripping her shoulders with a grim expression, trying to shake her awake.

“What happened to me?” Jiang Huaiyi managed to ask.

Shen Wensi let go. “As soon as you fell asleep, you started thrashing your arms. You looked like you were suffocating. What did you dream about?”

Jiang Huaiyi took a deep breath. “My Master is gone. I can’t find her.”

Shen Wensi pondered for a moment. “Perhaps it’s because we’re currently in the Yin Precinct that you can’t see her. Don’t worry too much.”

But Jiang Huaiyi felt a suffocating sensation she had never experienced before. She had accepted the absurdity of swapping identities, but she had never considered that the Master who had been with her since childhood might one day disappear.

Her heart felt like it was exploding, sinking into a deep, nameless terror. It was a thousand times stronger than the fear she felt when she was in the desolate graveyard. A metallic taste of blood rose in her throat, and her thoughts were a chaotic mess.

She couldn’t think about the painting or the mission anymore. Shen Wensi frowned. “What’s wrong?”

Jiang Huaiyi couldn’t speak. It felt like something had detonated in her brain. She waved her hand, wanting Shen Wensi to leave her alone, but she had no strength.

Suddenly, voices approached the door.

“I’m telling you, she’s faking! Your Junior Sister has already been bewitched by her. If you don’t believe me, open the door and see!”

“I’ll open it! Mu, stop slandering others! You think everyone is as devious as you?”

Before Song Rong could stop them, the door burst open. The three of them entered.

Seeing Jiang Huaiyi sitting on the bed, Chu Lianxue’s voice died in her throat. Her expression became incredibly complex. Mu Ze, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow triumphantly, as if to say, I told you so.

Song Rong followed behind them. She had wanted to mediate, but seeing the scene, she just pulled the chair with the weasel further back and shut her own mouth.

Chu Lianxue pointed a trembling finger at them. “You…”

Mu Ze rolled her eyes and slapped Chu Lianxue’s hand away. “I told you—”

Suddenly, Jiang Huaiyi coughed up a large spray of fresh blood. Mu Ze’s words stopped instantly.

Jiang Huaiyi could no longer support herself. The world spun, and she collapsed. This time, the faint was real.

The room became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The two who had been arguing stood frozen. Only Song Rong rushed forward in a panic.

Shen Wensi pulled Jiang Huaiyi tightly into her arms. Her sleeve was soaked through with the blood Jiang Huaiyi had coughed up. She sat there, rigid, staring in disbelief at the blood on the girl’s lips. Her trembling hand reached out to slowly wipe it away.

After laying her down, Shen Wensi turned slowly, her face devoid of emotion as she looked at the two women.

“Are you satisfied now? All you do is argue, argue, argue. Is this what you wanted? For her to die?”

Song Rong was terrified by the aura Shen Wensi exuded. Tears began to stream down her face as she threw herself by the bed. “Xiao Jiang! You can’t die! Xiao Jiang!”

The other two lowered their heads and stepped forward to check on Jiang Huaiyi. She lay on the bed, her face as pale as gold leaf but still retaining a feverish flush. Her breath was so shallow it seemed she might slip away at any moment. This was clearly no act.

As Song Rong wept and shook her, a piece of jade slipped out from Jiang Huaiyi’s clothes.

Chu Lianxue, who was about to take Jiang Huaiyi’s pulse, froze. She looked up at Shen Wensi with an expression of profound shock and realization.

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