Chapter 126: Puppet

“Sister.”

Jiang Jian said softly.

“You’ve asked me this question twice already.”

“You should know me.”

He stood up and raised his wrist.

The identity device scanned.

The separating light screen dissolved.

“Zhao Jianxue, hello.”

Jiang Jian stepped forward, offering a formal smile.

By the porthole edge.

Hearing Jiang Jian speak, Zhao Jianxue turned her head, surprised.

She hadn’t expected him to suddenly approach and greet her.

Facing Jiang Jian.

Her emotions were complex.

Since childhood, her grandfather had told her he had arranged a marriage contract for her.

Zhao Jianxue had long decided.

No matter what he was like, whether he came from the Shadow Zone, or whether he had any good Divine Gift talent.

She would obey her grandfather’s wishes.

Fulfill the Divine Proof Covenant and marry him.

But later.

The Zhao family head and her sister Zhao Chenshuang believed Jiang Jian was from the Shadow Zone and highly unlikely to obtain a good Divine Gift talent.

So, while she was still underage and lacked a full identity device, they used their status as direct guardians to quietly terminate the covenant.

After all.

According to the Divine Proof Covenant, she was required to marry into the Shadow Zone the moment she turned eighteen.

At that time, the Divine Gift Examination had just begun, and Jiang Jian’s Divine Gift talent was unknown.

The Zhao family refused to take the risk.

The old Zhao family head had passed away.

The current head was always stubborn and self-willed.

Even though the old head’s Qi-Reading talent was renowned.

But the current head had always resented his father.

Not just this matter.

Even the other major decisions the old head had arranged before his death.

Were all overturned and redirected by him.

Zhao Jianxue’s Divine Proof Covenant was merely one of them.

“We were strangers to begin with.”

“Now.”

“We’re still strangers.”

“Just classmates.”

Thinking of this.

Zhao Jianxue suddenly felt light-hearted, as if clouds had parted.

For a moment, she had resolved a long-standing emotional knot.

“Classmate Jiang Jian, hello.”

Zhao Jianxue stood up, smiling, and lightly shook Jiang Jian’s hand, “I’m Zhao Jianxue.”

At this moment.

Her emotions were utterly calm.

The deceased grandfather, the Zhao family’s sordidness.

Seemed to have drifted far away from her.

Jiang Jian asked: “Do you know how your grandfather and my guardian first met?”

Zhao Jianxue shook her head gently and said: “My grandfather told me about this when I was ten.”

“Perhaps we should start by examining my grandfather’s identity device, and also thoroughly investigate the public care center in the Shadow Zone.”

She paused, her gaze steady, “Our only goal is to find your original household registration record.”

“After a person dies, the identity device is destroyed, but the city government usually keeps a data backup.”

“The public care center should also retain surveillance footage from seventeen years ago.”

“We’ll begin our investigation on these two fronts.”

“Classmate Jiang Jian, what do you think?”

Hearing this.

Jiang Jian nodded and said: “Alright, I’ll assign this inspection squad to you. Return to the Zhao family first and search your grandfather’s belongings for any clues.”

“My sister and I will go to the public care center.”

“Then we’ll go together to the city government to look for the data backup.”

Zhao Jianxue smiled faintly: “This arrangement is perfect.”

After finalizing the plan.

Jiang Jian greeted her and returned to his seat.

His sister was staring at him with a strange look.

Jiang Jian asked: “What’s wrong?”

Jiang Zhao picked up the identity device and said: “I asked you again whether you liked Zhao Jianxue because I saw this video.”

On the holographic screen.

A clip was displayed.

In the footage, Jiang Jian’s gaze was desolate as he murmured softly: “I won’t give up on Jianxue!”

Seeing this.

Jiang Zhao burst out laughing.

The next second, she stopped smiling and waved her hand: “Don’t worry—this video hasn’t leaked. A friend sent it to me.”

Jiang Jian’s expression remained calm: “At the time, I was desperate to terminate the Divine Proof Covenant, so I played along to get more Alliance coins.”

Jiang Zhao said: “Actually, my roommate Zhong Ling also likes you.”

Jiang Jian shook his head and said softly: “Jiang Zhao, I have a question for you.”

Jiang Zhao raised an eyebrow.

Jiang Jian looked at her and asked: “My guardian is also your guardian—why are you completely indifferent to this?”

The girl froze.

After several seconds.

She turned her head away, as if avoiding Jiang Jian’s gaze, and said: “The only guardian I’ve ever had in my heart is Xu Laopo from the public care center.”

“She raised all those children, including you and me.”

“Ever since Xu Laopo died and the public care center was outsourced to non-citizens.”

“I’ve had no guardian at all.”

Jiang Zhao’s tone was firm.

As she spoke, Jiang Jian stared coldly at her.

After a long silence.

Jiang Jian suddenly spoke: “Jiang Zhao, you’re hiding something from me.”

Inside the formation light screen.

Dead silence, not even a pin could drop.

The two stared calmly at each other.

Another dozen seconds passed in silence.

Jiang Jian spoke again, his voice softer: “Sister, have you remembered something?”

As soon as the words fell.

The sister, so close, sighed.

At the same moment.

Deep in her gaze, a silver tide of moonlight surged.

“After I recovered, I did remember some things,” Jiang Zhao said. “I know who my guardian is.”

“I even know more.”

The girl looked at Jiang Jian.

In her pupils, reflected the surging silver-white.

Within his pupils, reflected the surging silver-white.

Jiang Jian said calmly: “Tell me.”

Jiang Zhao shook her head.

Jiang Jian stared into her eyes, silent.

“Jiang Jian,” the girl suddenly spoke, “you’re hiding something from me too, aren’t you?”

“Like my illness.”

“Like your sword.”

“Like—”

The girl whispered, her eyes shimmering with silver tide, “my bloodline.”

Jiang Jian stared at her, his expression shifting between light and shadow.

Memories surged back abruptly.

Past scenes flooded in, one after another.

……

……

……

“Are you truly certain you want to cure her illness?”

Beneath the wide robe, the figure asked.

The boy nodded slightly.

The figure chuckled softly: “But are you truly willing to pay the price?”

The boy said: “She is my sister.”

“I know.”

The figure said, “But her fortune is poor—her bloodline differs from yours.”

“You were born noble. Are you truly content to be a mortal?”

After a few seconds of silence,

the boy said: “Cure her.”

The figure nodded and said: “Once the bloodline is stripped, it can never be recovered. Will you not regret it?”

The boy smiled and said: “In my eyes, there is no high or low, noble or base.”

“She is my true sister, sharing the same blood and origin.”

“Let this bloodline go to her.”

“It won’t be wasted.”

“Besides—”

The boy whispered, “Now, I am merely a mortal of Earth.”

“This bloodline is not just a burden to me—it is a shackle.”

“Stripping it away is a good thing.”

“I do not wish to walk someone else’s path.”

Hearing this,

the figure beneath the black robe seemed to ponder.

After a long while,

the figure extended a slender, pale hand and said: “After the bloodline is stripped, you must mend your soul alone.”

“The four realms of Earth and Moon—star rings are thin.”

“To cultivate here—”

“The Soul Platform is utterly out of reach.”

The figure’s tone carried a hint of jest: “Don’t die on the path of cultivation.”

The boy whispered: “I will not die.”

The figure finally spoke: “Good.”

……

……

……

The sister walked over and sat beside him.

“Jiang Jian.”

Her voice softened.

Jiang Jian glanced at her, saying nothing.

Jiang Zhao sighed softly: “Brother.”

“Jiang Zhao.”

Jiang Jian was speechless: “What exactly are you trying to do?”

Jiang Zhao said: “I’ll tell you the truth.”

Jiang Jian cut her off: “No need to tell me.”

The girl blinked: “Really?”

Jiang Jian nodded: “Really.”

The girl asked again: “If one day I leave, you’ll have no family left—will you be sad?”

“Yes,” Jiang Jian replied succinctly, “you are my sister.”

Hearing this,

Jiang Zhao fell silent for a long moment, then said: “Then I’ll tell you what I know.”

“The guardian doesn’t actually exist.”

She drew in her school uniform sleeve, her slender, ivory fingers pointing toward Zhao Jianxue.

“In other words—”

“This is nothing but a farce staged by Old Master Zhao himself.”

“We landed in Guangling City and were picked up by the Zhao family.”

“Old Master Zhao possessed the Heaven’s Gaze talent and faintly sensed your talent exceeding Level Three.”

“So he simply made up a Zhao family member as guardian, forged a Divine Oath Contract.”

“Old Master Zhao seized our flyer.”

“And dumped both of us into the Public Care Center.”

“He hoped to bind you permanently through the Divine Oath Contract, to serve the Zhao family.”

“But he never imagined he’d die so quickly.”

“And he never imagined—”

“After his death, the Public Care Center was outsourced to non-citizens.”

“All the hidden surveillance lines he planted inside to watch us became useless.”

“And Old Master Zhao’s final safeguard—the Divine Oath Contract—”

“Should have enraged him even more.”

Jiang Zhao smiled: “He never dreamed his own son would be so unfilial—he outright rejected everything he’d decided, including this Divine Oath Contract.”

With those words,

silence returned to the array’s light barrier.

Jiang Jian remained expressionless, as if lost in thought.

Jiang Zhao continued: “This time we return to Guangling, we must find the flyer.”

“The flyer Old Master Zhao seized and hid somewhere.”

“It’s still hidden somewhere in the Zhao family.”

“Perhaps even the current family head doesn’t know it exists.”

“All those who knew back then were killed off by Old Master Zhao.”

“If I hadn’t awakened my memories, I’d never have learned these secrets.”

She kept talking.

But she didn’t notice—

Jiang Jian’s gaze had grown dim.

“Jiang Zhao, enough.”

He said softly.

The girl raised an eyebrow.

Jiang Jian said: “What do you intend to do with the flyer?”

Jiang Zhao smiled: “Of course I want to uncover every hidden secret. You know—I hate being kept in the dark.”

Jiang Jian stared at her: “I don’t believe that.”

“I think the you now isn’t you.”

“You’re a puppet controlled by bloodline instinct.”

Jiang Jian’s voice was cold.

Between the black robes, golden threads scattered faint light.

The girl remained silent.

Moments later.

Jiang Zhao’s face twisted in pain; she clutched her head, convulsing and struggling.

In her eyes, endless silver light roared.

(End of Chapter)