Chapter 98 is boring.

“You…” Qiao Xinyu looked at them, disbelief surging in his heart, but far more intensely, an indescribable bitterness.

“Mmm? What’s wrong, sister?” Qiao Xinran linked her left arm with Shen Qingyun’s, her body leaning against him as if by design, her expression radiating pure sweetness and happiness.

“Qingyun-ge, what’s happening?” Qiao Xinyu suddenly couldn’t bear to witness his sister like this and instead fixed his gaze on Shen Qingyun. Gazing upon his handsome features, Qiao Xinyu sensed an overwhelming falseness, yet it was undeniably real.

“Do you really need me to explain?” Shen Qingyun offered an unprecedented radiant smile. “Qingyun and Xinran are together.” As he spoke, Shen Qingyun turned his head, gazing at Qiao Xinran with unmistakable fondness.

“So you shouldn’t call me Qingyun-ge anymore.” Shen Qingyun turned back to Qiao Xinyu. “You should call me, brother-in-law.”

The word “brother-in-law” struck Qiao Xinyu like a lightning bolt from a clear sky. His mind went utterly blank. Only the image and voice of Shen Qingyun uttering those two syllables lingered, echoing endlessly.

“No, no, this can’t be true. I don’t believe it!”

Qiao Xinyu shook his head, staggered back a step, then clutched his ears in collapse and bolted away.

“I don’t believe it. None of this is real!”

Yet when he saw Qiao Xinyu fleeing, neither Shen Qingyun nor Qiao Xinran showed the slightest trace of anxiety or other emotion. Their expressions and gazes returned to perfect calm as they watched Qiao Xinyu’s retreating figure grow fainter and fainter.

Their forms gradually dissolved, finally vanishing from the square outside the task hall, as if they had never existed at all.

…

Qiao Xinran lifted her gaze to the sky, where the sun hung directly overhead, clearly midday.

“This isn’t the Ghost Valley?”

A faint surprise crossed her features as she surveyed her surroundings and realized the scenery felt strikingly familiar.

“Miss! Miss! Why are you still here? The ceremony is about to begin! Little Red knows you’re heartbroken, but this is the second young miss’s joyous day. You not attending would be truly inappropriate!”

“Little Red, how did you end up here?” Qiao Xinran watched the petite Little Red rush straight to her, a flicker of doubt in her eyes.

A wave of warmth spread through her chest, stirring a wave of nostalgia. Little Red had always been her devoted personal maidservant, but a certain illness had left her body frail. To prolong her life, she had been sold into the Qiao residence as a servant girl.

At the time, Qiao Xinran had desperately needed a personal maid and, seeing her, had selected her on the spot.

Little Red had served her faithfully for a long time.

Yet Little Red’s death remained a scar in Qiao Xinran’s heart.

Even if Little Red claimed it had been her illness, her fate, Qiao Xinran still believed their deaths were inextricably linked.

Seeing Qiao Xinran frozen in place, Little Red looked at her with confusion. “Miss, what’s wrong? Where else would I be if not here?”

Then Little Red clapped a hand over her mouth in shock. “Could it be that Miss has been so deeply affected? Oh my!”

Before Qiao Xinran could speak, Little Red continued muttering to herself. “I know what happened a few days ago really upset you, but don’t punish yourself like this. If you can’t forget, don’t forget—there are plenty of men in the world, and Miss like you should have no trouble finding one.”

“Wait… what exactly are you talking about?” Qiao Xinran pressed her forehead, feeling dizzy.

“Miss, you really forgot what happened a few days ago?” Little Red blinked, staring at her.

Hearing those words, Qiao Xinran felt something was amiss. She jerked her head down and looked at herself. The white skirt was still there.

This was still the attire of an inner sect disciple of Cangyun Sect.

Relief washed over her, but she quickly raised her head. The scenery around her had grown familiar, every blade of grass and tree identical to her memories, unchanged in the slightest.

“Is this… am I at home?” she murmured in disbelief.

“You’re not at home, then where?” Little Red tilted her head, eyes brimming with confusion. Today’s miss was truly strange—had the stimulation been so strong?

“Big happy day, sister’s big happy day?” Qiao Xinran suddenly turned to Little Red. “My sister’s big happy day with whom?”

“Of course it’s the second young miss and her brother-in-law.”

“I know it’s her brother-in-law! I’m asking who her brother-in-law is!”

“Her… her brother-in-law is Shen Qingyun.” Little Red was startled by Qiao Xinran’s behavior, thinking the miss today must have been severely stimulated—forgetting even who brother-in-law was.

In that instant, Qiao Xinran felt her mind go completely blank. No matter her usual composure, she was shaken to the core. A current of electricity seemed to surge from the soles of her feet straight to her brain. While her mind was blank, her scalp prickled.

“Brother-in-law is Shen-gongzi?”

“Yes.” Little Red answered.

Upon hearing the reply, Qiao Xinran staggered back a step.

This couldn’t be possible. Brother-in-law was Shen-gongzi! It was impossible, it was impossible!

Seeing Qiao Xinran’s face freeze after taking one step back, Little Red checked the time and realized they were running out. She hurried forward, grabbed Qiao Xinran’s hand, and tried to drag her along forcibly.

But the petite girl could never easily pull Qiao Xinran away when she didn’t want to.

Qiao Xinran snapped back to herself, watching Little Red yank at her without effect. Suddenly she realized this was all fake.

Shaking off Little Red’s grip, Qiao Xinran lowered her head and gently bit her lower lip. “Little Red, what exactly happened today?”

“You forgot? Miss, things didn’t happen today—that was all a few days ago.” Little Red said, “A few days ago, the second young miss and brother-in-law walked hand in hand into the main hall, announcing in front of you and the old master that they were together. While everyone was stunned, brother-in-law took out a large box of gold and called it betrothal gifts.”

“At that time Miss went completely mad, rushing to brother-in-law and demanding to know why. But he only replied, ‘Two hearts in love, it has nothing to do with you.’”

“After that Miss cried and left, returning here to lock herself in the courtyard for hours. If it weren’t for today being the second young miss and brother-in-law’s wedding day, I wouldn’t have barged in to find you.”

Little Red rattled off the entire story in one breath. Qiao Xinran listened calmly, her heart as still as an ancient well.

Once Little Red finished, Qiao Xinran spoke calmly, “Let’s go.”

Little Red was stunned and asked instinctively, “Go where?”

“Of course to attend sister’s wedding ceremony.”

“Oh.” Little Red clapped her forehead. “Miss, please follow me!”

Qiao Xinran followed Little Red out of the courtyard. She noticed that besides her own courtyard, every other place in the Qiao residence was decorated with lanterns and festive lights, extremely joyous.

Gazing at the towering red couplets and colorful lanterns, Qiao Xinran’s heart remained calm as a deep pool, as if none of it concerned her.

“Bow to Heaven and Earth!”

At that moment a voice rang in her and Little Red’s ears.

Little Red’s expression shifted. She urged hurriedly, “Miss, the ceremony has started—let’s hurry!”

Qiao Xinran said, “No rush. We’ll go slowly. We’ll still make it.”

“Miss, Little Red knows you haven’t forgiven the second young miss and brother-in-law yet. But acting like this isn’t appropriate at all!” Little Red looked anxious.

“Little Red, you still don’t understand me well enough!” Qiao Xinran said calmly. She saw the crowd ahead, the festive atmosphere surrounding everyone, yet she stopped, her gaze quietly fixed on the two figures bowing to each other in the center of the hall.

“Ah? What are you talking about, Miss!”

“Little Red, you’re not Little Red at all, are you?”

“Ah?” Little Red was startled. A coldness flashed in her eyes. “Miss, Little Red doesn’t understand what you’re saying.”

Qiao Xinran’s gaze sharpened considerably. She wasn’t accustomed to this expression, but after an instant it returned to normal. She murmured to herself, “When I was young, if sister wanted something, I never fought with her. Even if it was something I wanted and loved, as long as she asked, I gave it to her.”

Qiao Xinran looked at Little Red. “Moreover, you committed the greatest mistake of all—that being Shen-gongzi. Shen-gongzi is not such a person. I can feel it: his care for our sisters was limited to his own siblings.”

“His heart was locked by an invisible shackle, and no one could open it.”

After saying that, Qiao Xinran smiled mockingly. “No, even getting close to it was impossible.”

“So those are the mistakes I’ve made?” Little Red’s tone suddenly changed, sounding chilling and out of place amid the surrounding joy.

“No, that isn’t even the greatest mistake you’ve committed.” Qiao Xinran shook her head slightly.

“Oh?” Little Red’s lips curved upward. “What other mistakes?”

“The greatest mistake is you!” Qiao Xinran pointed at Little Red, her tone growing colder and edged with fury. “Little Red, you are a dead person! The person I watched die in my arms!”

“And you want to pretend to be her. When you appeared, I already suspected you.”

“Tell me—who exactly are you?!” Qiao Xinran demanded.

Strangely, Qiao Xinran’s voice rose sharply, yet the guests in the hall and the two figures in the center continued as they were, unaffected in the slightest by her angry shout.

“So the greatest mistake was here. The illusion shaped by the few people you imagined, pretending to be the third person deepest in your obsession—yet it turned out to be the biggest flaw!”

Little Red sneered. “Then why didn’t you expose me from the beginning?”

“I don’t know.” Qiao Xinran shook her head, but she already had the answer in her heart.

Perhaps what Qiao Xinran most wished for was that Little Red had never fallen into her arms but continued serving her exactly as in the illusion.

Then perhaps the guilt in her heart would diminish a little.

“Congratulations on breaking the illusion.” Little Red gave a disdainful snort, then raised her head to look at the sky…

In the Ghost Valley, Shen Qingyun faced the figure hidden in the darkness. Around him, others had already shattered the illusion and awakened.

Now only the two sisters remained trapped inside it.

In the darkness, that figure seemed to laugh coldly. “Boring. Too boring.”

As his words fell, both sisters’ bodies trembled at once. They came to their senses and looked around in the illusion.

Qiao Xinyu suddenly pounced on Shen Qingyun’s body, tears glistening at the corners of his eyes, voice breaking as he cried, “Qingyun-ge, you won’t abandon me, right?”

At the same time, Qiao Xinran stepped forward. “Shen-gongzi…”

Before she could finish, Qiao Xinyu had already turned his head and glared at her warily, the look of a protective little kitten. Qiao Xinran, meanwhile, looked like the villain trying to steal the kitten’s food.

Qiao Xinran was startled by the sight.

A moment later, Qiao Xinyu returned to normal. He stepped off Shen Qingyun’s body and walked to Qiao Xinran, lowering his head. “Sister…”

Before she could be astonished by Qiao Xinyu’s change, Shen Qingyun shouted, “Don’t even think about running!”

“If I tell you not to run, then you won’t run? Then I’d be very embarrassing.”

In the darkness, the figure slowly faded, as if it truly meant to vanish before everyone’s eyes.

“Strike!”