In the twenty-three years of her life, this was the first time Bai Shuishui had been kissed by a man.
And that too was by a smelly fish.
"Qi Zhi!" Bai Shuishui pushed him away with an angry and panicked look.
Bai Shuishui, pressed against the dressing table by Qi Zhi, had nowhere to escape. Every time she moved, the carefully arranged cosmetics prepared by the Bai family on the dressing table scattered all over the place.
The sound of glass bottles hitting the ground made her even more flustered.
Bai Shuishui's eyes flickered with confusion, seemingly not understanding how she and Qi Zhi had progressed to the point of kissing and hugging.
It must be because this smelly fish is too audacious!
Qi Zhi looked quite innocent and took a step back to let her calm down.
Bai Shuishui was so embarrassed and angry that she wanted to yell at him to leave, but she remembered they hadn't finished talking about the important matter. She subconsciously pursed her lips and suddenly remembered that these two lips had just been kissed by Qi Zhi.
"Ahem, it was my fault just now." Qi Zhi's mouth was as quick as it was overdue for an apology.
He coughed twice and muttered, “Who told you to be so beautiful, I couldn’t help myself.”
"You stinky fish, get out!"
Unable to contain her anger any longer, Bai Shuishui swung a fist at him, forcing Qi Zhi to leap out the window.
Seeing him leap out, she leaned against the wall, panting. Her chest heaved, and it took a while for her to calm down.
Qi Zhi didn't leave and instead he hung outside the window. Seeing that Bai Shuishui was no longer angry, he whispered like a thief, "Shuishui, let me in quickly, or someone will see."
Bastard!
Hearing his voice, Bai Shuishui cursed silently.
This stinky fish is really bold. With so many Bai family servants around, he actually dares to dangle in mid-air!
She glared at him fiercely.
Qi Zhi smiled flatteringly while trying to hide his smug expression.
After their little scuffle, Bai Shuishui’s gaze sharpened. “I’ll go to the back courtyard again tomorrow night.”
Talking about serious matters, Bai Shuishui's face was filled with righteous determination, and all traces of embarrassment were gone. “If there’s anything evil, it’s my responsibility to deal with it."
“Alright,” Qi Zhi softly responded, his eyes filled with a smile as he praised, "Daoist Bai embodies great righteousness, truly a role model for us.”
Having settled their plan, Bai Shuishui looked up at him. “Qi Zhi, you still haven’t answered my question.”
“What question?”
“What do you know?” Bai Shuishui closed her eyes, her voice tinged with bitterness. “Tell me everything.”
Bai Shuishui never needed Qi Zhi to protect her like a delicate flower.
Late into the night, Qi Zhi revealed the truth about how she had gone missing, recounting everything in detail except her past life’s tragic ending.
Of course, this was only Qi Zhi’s side of the story.
After hearing it, Bai Shuishui’s eyelids trembled. Though she had mentally prepared herself, she couldn’t hide her disappointment.
"So, I was abandoned."
In hindsight, it made sense.
With the Bai family's immense wealth, if she had really been accidentally kidnapped by human traffickers, how could the Bai family have failed to find her with their power and influence.
Taking a deep breath, Bai Shuishui suppressed any budding affection for the Bai family. Her eyes turned cold. “As soon as I went missing, my mother fell seriously ill and died. There must be more to it.”
Qi Zhi gave a slight nod, inwardly unable to deny the possibility. However, the exact circumstances of her mother's death remained a mystery to him due to the passage of time.
“You don’t need to worry about it,” Qi Zhi said, gently patting her shoulder, his expression unusually gentle as he looked at her.
"Mm." Bai Shuishui closed her eyes and silently recited, "May the infinite blessings of the Heaven be upon us."
Qi Zhi’s eyes flickered. Daoist Bai was truly resilient.
Hearing this, a flicker of surprise showed in Qi Zhi's eyes. Daoist Bai is indeed Daoist Bai, her mental fortitude is formidable.
*
At dawn the next day, Bai Shuishui went to a cemetery with Father Bai to pay respects to her mother.
"Your mother passed away young, she was just thirty that year." Bai Father's face was filled with sorrow, as if mourning his late wife.
Bai Shuishui’s expression remained indifferent, unmoved by his words.
Standing before her mother’s grave, she gazed at the black-and-white photo that resembled her own face. A wave of sadness welled up in her heart, and her expression was filled with grief. She spoke with a heavy heart:
"My mother, Qian..." Facing the tombstone, Bai Shuishui recited a mourning verse that the Daoist priest would use to bid farewell to the departed soul.
Meanwhile, Bai Father, standing beside her, listened to Bai Shuishui's spiritually infused words and his face twisted for a split second. He took a step back and disappeared into the mausoleum.
After finishing the recitation, Bai Shuishui noticed his unusual behavior. Her mind stirred, and her gaze turned cold as frost.
She fiddled with her prayer beads, then slipped them back onto her wrist and placed a prepared bouquet before the tombstone.
First, she bowed in a Daoist salute to the grave, then prepared to kneel and kowtow to pay her respects.
As she knelt, her string of beads accidentally clinked against the empty space in front of the tombstone, making a crisp sound.
Bai Shuishui froze in place, her eyes flickering as she tapped the stone with her knuckles.
The tombstone is empty.
The warm summer sun cast long shadows from the tombstones, when glanced at from a certain angle, the shadows looked like ghosts of the tomb owners.
Bai Shuishui took a deep breath and concentrated her spiritual sense. The eerie wind blew through the graveyard, and her father had long since disappeared.
*
Meanwhile, as the sky started to lighten, Qi Zhi was dragged to the company by his assistant and secretary.
"Boss, you've been so carefree lately. Don't you even want Qi Corporation anymore?" the assistant complained. "There's a CEO who's trying to lower the price at Beijing port and we're at a stalemate."
Suddenly, the assistant lowered his voice: "He's the prince of the Shark clan. We small fry can’t handle him; you need you to step in.”
Due to the visitor's special status, Qi Zhi was dragged to the office for meetings and business matters.
Before Qi Zhi even reached his office, he heard a hearty laugh from inside: “Hey, cousin! Long time no see.”
The Shark Clan and the Mermaid Clan were close relatives, making Qi Zhi and this Shark Prince distant cousins so the other party called him cousin.
Qi Zhi raised an eyebrow and looked at the blue-eyed man in front of him, who was sitting in the main seat of the office, and casually said, “You didn’t even give me a heads-up before coming.”
The Shark Prince grinned, showing off his pearly white teeth, and winked ambiguously. “I heard my cousin has taken a liking to a human girl recently?”
Qi Zhi arched an eyebrow. "Since when did you become so gossipy, cousin?"
The Shark Prince leaned closer, whispering, “Is she the daughter of the Bai family?”
“Aren’t you here to negotiate prices with Qi Corporation?” Qi Zhi changed the subject and asked the Shark Prince rhetorically.
"Why, we're all family."
The Shark Prince laughed sheepishly. His eyes darted around as he explained his purpose. “How about we discuss the shipment price of that batch of goods again, brother?”
He patted Qi Zhi’s shoulder, adding casually, “If my cousin needs anything, just speak up.”
Qi Zhi’s eyes flickered as he smiled. “With that offer, what more could I ask for?”
They haggled over the details all morning. Around noon, as they wrapped up their negotiations, Qi Zhi finally said to the Shark Prince:
“I don’t need you to do anything extra, cousin.”
The Shark Prince CEO looked up, waiting for Qi Zhi’s next words.
"During this time, keep an eye on the movements of the Bai family for me," Qi Zhi's tone was slightly cold.
The current Bai Corporation was a merger of the Bai and Qian families. The Qian portion rightfully belonged to Bai Shuishui, but was now controlled by her father and Bai Tianying.
Bai Shuishui had a unique background and was dedicated to Dao. She had no business acumen or experience. If she wanted to get back the Qian assets, Qi Zhi would help her.
"Got it," the Shark Prince said boldly. "I’ll keep a close eye on the Bais."
*
At night, dark clouds obscured the moon. Qi Zhi stood on his home’s rooftop, looking at the Bai family’s backhouse. He could barely make out its desolate and quiet outline.
Bai Shuishui planned to probe the back courtyard under the cover of night.
After changing her clothes, she avoided the servants and slipped into the courtyard.
“You’re here,” Bai Tianying sat in the courtyard making tea, seemingly waiting for Bai Shuishui.
Perhaps due to the night or for some other reason, Bai Tianying’s complexion was even paler than the day Bai Shuishui first met him. The deathly aura on his forehead had grown more intense.
Bai Shuishui looked at him coldly and remained silent.
Bai Tianying poured the scalding tea over a tea pet, and the toad figurine instantly shone with golden light, while thin wisps of steam rose into the air.
He lowered his voice, "When you first returned, I warned you not to step into the back courtyard.”
Bai Shuishui raised her eyebrows and performed the Daoist salute to Bai Tianying. "May boundless blessings from Heavenly Lord be upon us."
"This humble daoist observes a dark aura on your forehead, a sign of an early demise...”
Before Bai Shuishui could finish, Bai Tianying chuckled softly. He looked up, his usually lifeless eyes suddenly sparkling with vitality.
“You are truly blessed, unlike me.” Bai Tianying pushed a tea cup towards her.
With his movement, a fierce wind blew, slamming the back courtyard door shut with a loud bang.
Bai Shuishui stood straight and watched him with vigilance and wariness.
“The person you should be wary of is not me.”
Bai Tianying's eyelids trembled, and a fragile look flashed across his face. He whispered: "If you don't leave now, it will be too late."
Then he started coughing violently. “Cough, cough, cough.”
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, tea spilled all over the place, and the teacup rolled down to Bai Shuishui’s feet. She mobilized her spiritual power, only to see a black mist covering his body, devouring his life force little by little.
“Bai Tianying!” Bai Shuishui quickly formed a series of hand seals as she chanted under her breath.
Seeing her trying to dispel the deathly aura from him, Bai Tianying let out a light laugh. His handsome face, bearing some resemblance to Bai Shuishui’s, showed a hint of apology.
“Sorry.”
After a quarter of an hour, Bai Shuishui managed to stabilize his breath.
"How did my mother die?" She asked.
Bai Tianying’s eyes flickered as he recalled the gentle and virtuous woman. A cold smile played at his lips as he spat out a few cold words:
"Died in the backhouse."
"Because... Madam discovered the secret of the backhouse. "
Hearing this, Bai Shuishui’s expression hardened. She gripped her sword and poised to enter the room.
As he watched her walk in, Bai Tianying’s gaze gradually dimmed. “Cough, cough.”
Another death, another one about to die.
Entangled by a wicked Daoist for so many years, barely surviving, he should have died long ago.
Bai Shuishui stepped into the inner room, where the pale moonlight filtered through the gauze window.
A graceful woman dressed in a beautiful embroidered qipao sat in the main seat. Her face, which Bai Shuishui had seen earlier at the grave, exuded grace and dignity.
Seeing her, the qipao-clad woman smiled softly at Bai Shuishui, her eyes filled with warmth. "Shuishui, I'm your mother."
Bai Shuishui met her gaze, murmuring, “Mother?”
“Yes.” The woman in the qipao beckoned gently, her voice soft as water: "Good child, come here quickly. "
Bai Shuishui’s grip on her sword loosened slightly. Her expression turned dazed, her pupils dilated as she unconsciously moved towards the woman.
"Shuishui, come to me." A voice like heavenly music suddenly sounded behind her.
In an instant, a burst of spiritual energy hit the qipao woman from behind Bai Shuishui.
Her previously gentle and beautiful face twisted grotesquely, her eyes rolled around, emitting an eerie red light.
Seeing this, Bai Shuishui returned to clarity in the blink of an eye, and her grip on her sword tightened again.
She glanced sideways and noticed a handsome young man in a white shirt, standing out strikingly in the darkness.
It was Qi Zhi.
Qi Zhi stepped forward and held Bai Shuishui's arm. Noticing her dazed expression, he waved his right hand in front of her face.
“Stunned silly? Do you still remember who I am?”
“...Stinky fish.”