Surprise! The Fake Heiress is Actually an Ancient Master of Metaphysics! - Chapter 21

Tan Lingyin had never driven before, but at this late hour, hailing a cab wasn’t convenient either.

“I’ll take you,” Li Heng said, turning around and quickly changing into casual clothes before stepping out. “Let’s go.”

“Well… no, it’s fine. Forget it.” Tan Lingyin felt it was better not to involve Li Heng in this matter.

After a moment’s thought, she said, “How about this? Teach me how to drive, and once I learn, I’ll go myself.”

“What? Are you serious, Miss Tan?” Li Heng looked at her as if she’d grown a second head.

“Mm, let’s go.” With that, Tan Lingyin strode toward the front gate.

Li Heng hurriedly picked a car from the courtyard and drove it out.

Tan Lingyin sat in the passenger seat while Li Heng earnestly explained how to press the accelerator and brake, along with the series of steps to take after getting in the car.

She listened attentively and watched Li Heng drive for a while before saying, “Alright, let me try now.”

Li Heng swallowed hard. “This… isn’t a good idea…”

He wasn’t ready to die young!

“Take this. You won’t die.” Tan Lingyin tossed him a charm pouch. “A protection talisman.”

Li Heng caught it and, remembering how she’d been hit by a car last time without a scratch, instantly felt reassured.

They switched seats, and Tan Lingyin took the driver’s side.

Running through Li Heng’s instructions in her mind, she executed each step flawlessly.

Then, she pressed down on the accelerator, and the car slowly began to move.

At first, she felt a strange sense of weightlessness—as if she wasn’t walking yet still moving forward—but she quickly adjusted.

Under Li Heng’s stunned gaze, she smoothly navigated turns, decelerated, and accelerated with ease.

“How do I reverse?” Tan Lingyin suddenly realized she hadn’t learned that part yet.

Li Heng pointed at the gearshift. “Pull it back, and you can reverse.”

Following his instructions, Tan Lingyin gently eased the car backward.

She effortlessly executed a reverse U-turn. “Got it. I’ve learned now.”

Then, she sped off, dropping Li Heng back at the estate’s front gate.

“Assistant Li, you can head back first. I’ll go on my own.”

Li Heng stiffly unbuckled his seatbelt and gave her a stiff wave.

Only after the car vanished into the night did he snap out of his daze.

“What the hell? How can someone be this much of a natural? Learning to drive after just one lesson?”

He shook his head, comforting himself. “It must be because Miss Tan is a mystic. If she can catch ghosts, what’s driving to her?”

“Definitely a piece of cake!”

“That’s got to be it!”

……

The car Tan Lingyin was driving was just an ordinary black sedan, one that Huo Jingyan never used—it was usually for the bodyguards.

She parked the car by the roadside, pulled out the keys, and tucked them into her crossbody canvas bag before walking into the night.

There was still some distance to the Tan residence, and she didn’t want the surveillance cameras at the gate to capture the car passing by, so she stopped farther away.

As she neared the range of the cameras, Tan Lingyin halted.

She looked up at the towering villa behind the walls.

In the darkness, the villa was shrouded in thick, swirling black energy, layers of it coiling around the building until it was nearly engulfed.

This phenomenon wasn’t surprising—after all, the Tan family still housed three malevolent spirits, and they had been lurking there for thirteen years.

Over time, they had absorbed a great deal of yang energy from Tan Lingyin, and now, they truly had some power.

Originally, they only stayed in the storage room, but now without Tan Lingyin, they naturally began to move freely throughout the villa.

On the night of her coming of age, Tan Lingyin had decided to eliminate them all, but unfortunately, Liu Yun interrupted her.

However, it now seemed like a blessing in disguise.

She had no obligation to help them exorcise the ghosts.

The villa was pitch black, indicating that everyone inside was asleep.

Tan Lingyin glanced around—the surroundings were eerily silent.

Past midnight, this area, far from the city center, saw little activity.

She pulled out a talisman she had prepared earlier, chanting an incantation under her breath. The talisman emitted a golden glow in the darkness.

The golden spiritual patterns illuminated her porcelain-like face. Her slightly closed eyes suddenly snapped open as she commanded in a low voice, “Go!”

Five spiritual talismans flew along the perimeter wall, landing in five different directions, with one settling right at the Tan family’s front gate.

The moment the talismans touched the ground, they vanished into the earth.

Tan Lingyin continued murmuring her incantations as an invisible grand formation slowly rose, enveloping the Tan residence.

Under the moonlight, everything appeared normal, as if nothing had happened.

The Five Elements Yin-Gathering Formation—it gathered yin energy and nourished malevolent spirits.

The Tan family already had three evil ghosts, and in time, it would attract even more sinister entities.

Those living here would suffer from depleted yang energy, gradually wasting away, plagued by endless nightmares and misfortunes as their luck was eroded.

This was an extremely malicious formation, typically used only by unscrupulous occult masters who had strayed from the righteous path.

But today, Tan Lingyin had been harassed multiple times by the Tan family, and she was thoroughly sick of watching them strut around.

Besides, the Five Elements Yin-Gathering Formation was her creation. As the revered founder of the mystical arts, what was wrong with using it?

The reason Tan Lingyin dared to set up such a formation was that she knew the Tan family had no live-in servants.

The housekeeper usually left after preparing dinner, returning early the next morning to clean, make breakfast, and then go grocery shopping for lunch before tidying up in the afternoon.

Because Liu Yun was so possessive of Tan Hongzheng, she forbade anyone else from staying overnight, fearing a servant might try to seduce him.

Tan Lingyin turned to leave but hesitated, feeling it wasn’t enough.

The Tan family knew an occult master—a crooked one at that, capable of deceiving heaven and altering fate.

The Five Elements Yin-Gathering Formation was inherently unorthodox, and that rogue occultist might be able to dismantle it.

Her Xuanling Bone was still too weak at this stage; even Master Xuanqing could break the formation if he came.

After some thought, Tan Lingyin gritted her teeth and bit her fingertip, drawing blood.

She took out a fresh talisman, channeling her spiritual power into her fingertip as she mixed it with her blood to draw a protective formation talisman.

This talisman, infused with her blood—her soul now fully aligned with her body—carried divine energy, making it unbreakable by anyone.

“Go!” With a wave of her hand, the crimson-glowing talisman soared over the wall and landed in the center of the courtyard before disappearing.

Tan Lingyin watched as a layer of red light shimmered over the formation, finally satisfied.

She walked to the roadside and drove off.

Li Heng had stayed up, waiting for her return.

“Miss Tan, you’re finally back! I was so worried!” Seeing her safe and sound, he sighed in relief.

Tan Lingyin tossed the keys back to him. “Here, take your keys. Get some rest, Assistant Li.”

She waved at him over her shoulder, her steps light.

Tonight, she would surely sleep soundly.

…

That night, Tan Yayue had another nightmare.

This time, in her dream, she clearly saw the face of the man entwined with her.

Though somewhat blurred, she still found him incredibly handsome.

In the dream, the man lavished her with affection, taking her again and again.