Surprise! The Fake Heiress is Actually an Ancient Master of Metaphysics! - Chapter 2

Tan Lingyin turned on the light and scanned the pitifully small room.

This was originally meant to be a storage room, smaller even than the servants’ quarters, yet she had lived here for thirteen years.

Not a single day of the privileges befitting the eldest daughter of the Tan family had ever been hers.

As she packed away her talisman paper and cinnabar, she glanced at the torrential rain outside and drew a few more talismans.

She quickly gathered a few dresses and undergarments, stuffing them into a canvas bag along with the cinnabar, talismans, and calligraphy brushes.

Yes, a canvas bag.

As the eldest daughter of the Tan family, she didn’t even own a proper handbag—she used the crossbody canvas bag given to students by her school.

There was nothing of value in this room.

Tan Lingyin slung the canvas bag over her shoulder and headed downstairs. The living room was already empty.

She walked to the entryway and picked up an umbrella.

The next second, it was snatched from her hands.

Tan Yayue appeared out of nowhere, her voice soft and fragile. “Lingyin, that umbrella is broken. Use this one instead.”

Tan Lingyin pressed her lips together, staring at Tan Yayue’s face before suddenly smiling. “Sure.”

Her beautiful fox-like eyes curved into crescents, and her porcelain-like, delicate face took on an air of purity and charm.

A natural-born beauty.

A flash of jealousy crossed Tan Yayue’s eyes as she handed the umbrella to Tan Lingyin.

If not for that stunning face, she wouldn’t have minded letting Tan Lingyin stay in the Tan family as her plaything, a slave to torment.

But such beauty would only make her, the true heiress, pale in comparison.

Still, she had to destroy that face!

Tan Lingyin took the umbrella and said with a smile, “Just a heads-up—you’d better fall asleep before two o’clock, or something unexpected might happen.”

Tan Yayue didn’t understand what she meant, eager to shoo Tan Lingyin out the door. “Got it. You should leave now while you can still catch a taxi.”

Tan Lingyin turned and walked out of the villa without looking back.

Passing through the long corridor in the courtyard, she stepped out of the gate.

Bang!

The heavy iron gate slammed shut the moment she stepped outside—as if afraid she might return.

Tan Lingyin opened the umbrella as she walked.

Through three holes in the fabric, icy raindrops landed on her face.

A knowing glint flickered in her eyes.

Good thing she’d come prepared.

She pulled out a pre-drawn talisman from her bag, murmured an incantation, and the talisman flew onto the umbrella.

Instantly, the three holes stopped leaking.

The “Sky-Mending Talisman” she’d invented in her spare time actually worked.

She’d named it casually—it couldn’t actually mend the sky, but it could repair any broken object and make it functional again, though it still looked damaged.

Since her back was to the gate, the security cameras didn’t capture this.

Tan Lingyin glanced back at the camera at the entrance and flipped it the bird.

Watching the surveillance feed, Tan Yayue saw the “friendly” gesture and nearly twisted in rage.

“Damn you, Tan Lingyin! You’re dead tonight!” She clenched her fists so hard her manicured nails almost snapped.

“Yueyue, you’ve suffered.” Liu Yun’s voice suddenly spoke up as she gently patted her daughter’s shoulder.

Watching the white-clad figure gradually disappear into the rain on the monitor, Liu Yun’s eyes also flashed with hatred.

She said softly, “If not for your fate of an early death, I wouldn’t have needed to find someone to take your place in bearing the calamity.”

“Master Ming said that if she had died at the age of five, you would have grown up safely. If she didn’t die, then you would have to wait until you turned eighteen to completely escape your fate of an early death.”

“But that wretched girl’s life is stubbornly tenacious. She held on until you turned eighteen, making you suffer outside for all those years.”

Tanya Yue asked plaintively, “Since she was already taking on my misfortunes, why did I still have to live such a hard life…?”

Although her parents often visited her, she still had no money, still had to cook and do laundry herself—life couldn’t have been harder.

Liu Yun said sympathetically, “Master Ming instructed that you must endure hardship before turning eighteen to completely alter your fate.”

“Your mother’s heart ached for you, so we made that little wretch work as a maid at home, living in the storage room, just to ensure she never had it better than you.”

“Every hardship you endured, she had to suffer twice as much!”

“Don’t worry. To guarantee your safety in the future, it’s better if she just dies.”

…

Amid the rain, Tan Lingyin walked while calculating Tanya Yue’s fate.

So it turned out to be a life of early death—a fate where one, due to past sins, could not enjoy prosperity in this life.

Someone had to bear this ill-fated fortune for Tanya Yue so she could escape the calamity of an early demise.

Though Tan Lingyin lived like a servant in the Tan household, she attended an elite school, rode in luxury cars, and appeared to outsiders as the glamorous Tan family heiress.

“What a brilliant scheme—deceiving heaven to reverse fate.”

Tan Lingyin’s eyes turned icy. She was eager to find out just which “master” had guided the Tan family behind the scenes.

If she caught him, she would crush his Xuanling bones!

In the rainy night, a black car sped toward her.

Its trajectory aimed straight at Tan Lingyin, who held a bright yellow umbrella.

Tan Lingyin paused her steps, a talisman appearing in her hand.

Raindrops connected like threads, the car’s yellow headlights illuminating her face.

Yet the vehicle only accelerated.

The talisman in Tan Lingyin’s hand glowed faintly as her gaze flicked to another car approaching from the street corner.

Even in the pitch-black night, the purple dragon aura coiling around that car was unmistakable.

Her eyes brightened instantly, and she abandoned her plan to evade the collision.

Channeling Xuan energy into the talisman, Tan Lingyin planted her feet firmly, watching as the car hurtled closer.

“Bang—”

Her body was flung into the air, the bright yellow umbrella sent flying.

She soared like a white butterfly, tracing a graceful arc before crashing into the rain-soaked ground.

Her white dress quickly stained with mud—torn, tragic.

A man’s voice rang out immediately, “Hey! You hit someone!”

The black car sped away without stopping.

“That hit-and-run bastard!” the man shouted, rushing to Tan Lingyin’s side.

She opened her eyes and weakly pleaded, “Save me…”

The purple aura must be connected to this man.

Li Heng, relieved she could still speak, quickly said, “Can you move? I’ll call an ambulance.”

Tan Lingyin frowned slightly. There wasn’t a trace of purple energy on this man.

Her gaze shifted to the car in the distance, where an overwhelming surge of purple energy emanated. There must be someone else inside.

She had to meet that person!

Just as Li Heng pulled out his phone to dial, the girl on the ground stood up.

His eyes widened in shock as he scanned her from head to toe. “Y-you… you’re okay?”

Unbelievable!

She was just hit and sent flying—how is she standing now?

Tan Lingyin said weakly, “Don’t call an ambulance… I… I don’t have the money…”

Limping, she walked over to pick up the yellow umbrella from the ground and stubbornly continued forward.

Li Heng watched her walk away, momentarily unsure whether to stop her.

The rear car window slowly rolled down, and a deep, cold voice reached Tan Lingyin’s already perked-up ears.

“Get in. I’ll cover your medical expenses.”

Tan Lingyin turned around, her fox-like eyes clear and innocent. “Really?”