Chapter 643: Mysterious Clan

"Heh..."

The woman sneered lightly.

"Your mother passed away many years ago. I want her to be alive more than you do, but unfortunately, she can never come back to life."

Mentioning the person who had passed away, a soft light appeared in the woman's eyes.

But the softness was fleeting.

The woman said to Jin Wan'er in a commanding tone: "Tomorrow you will come back with me. I will adopt you as my goddaughter, and you will be the next Clan Leader of the Ji Family."

"Power, countless wealth—at that time, you will be the happiest woman in this world."

Jin Wan'er:...

What is this even about?

Making her a Clan Leader out of the blue?

But as for this Clan Leader business, she didn't care for it at all.

So she refused decisively: "No, I won't go with you. My family must be worried sick looking for me. Let me go back; I want to be with my family."

The woman mocked: "Do you have a masochistic streak? That mother-in-law of yours is the most troublesome mother-in-law in the world, isn't she? If it were me, I couldn't spend a single day with her, yet you actually want to go back and be with her?"

Jin Wan'er was speechless again.

Could you stop twisting the concept, please?

When she said she wanted to go back to be with her family, she mainly meant her husband Jian Yining, as well as her sister Shi Youxuan, and her grandparents.

Of course, her mother-in-law was family too.

She explained: "The family I mentioned isn't just my mother-in-law; it also includes my husband, my sister, and my grandparents."

"They were before, but from now on they aren't. Starting today, your only family is me, your aunt."

Jin Wan'er:...

She wanted to argue.

But before she could open her mouth, the main door opened again, and many servants and people who looked like guards filed in.

They lined up neatly in two rows.

They knelt on one knee, one hand supporting their chest and the other hand resting on their knee, performing a kowtow ritual to Jin Wan'er: "This servant greets the Young Master. Peace to the Young Master." So they could talk after all.

Not only could they talk, but their articulation was quite clear.

It was just that the accent was very strange, one Jin Wan'er had never heard before, different from the accent of any place in the world.

But it was the twenty-first century now; were there still people who called themselves servants?

And what was this about Young Master and Old Master?

Jin Wan'er didn't care for it; she just wanted to leave this place as soon as possible and return to her husband's side.

"Don't kneel to me, get up quickly." Having been educated since childhood, she was not used to this kind of unequal way of interacting from before the nineteenth century.

No one moved from their position.

The woman said: "The Young Master told you to get up, so get up."

Only then did these people stand up from the ground and bow as they retreated.

"Were you frightened by those people just now? It's fine, you'll get used to it."

The woman said: "These people are nothing, and these jewels are nothing either. When you come back with me, you will have as much of these things as you want."

"At that time, as long as you manage the Clan well, you will be able to summon wind and rain, and live a life others wouldn't even dare to imagine."

She believed these reasons were enough to make Jin Wan'er's heart flutter.

However, it did not.

"I don't care for it. Let me leave. We can be relatives in the future and visit each other, but if you insist on making me go with you, then we won't even be able to be relatives." Jin Wan'er was angry.

This woman who claimed to be her aunt was too self-righteous.

Did she think having money meant possessing everything?

Was having money and power the same as happiness?

And could she just impose her will upon her?

Jin Wan'er didn't have such a deep craving for money and power, mainly because she had never lacked them.

"Are you threatening me?" The woman's face darkened, and a flash of ruthlessness appeared in her eyes.

Jin Wan'er: "No, don't over-interpret it. Let me leave now; I want to go home."

In their short conversation, this was already the third time she had requested to leave.

The woman's expression became even uglier, and with a wave of her hand, she ended the topic: "Dream on!"

She disappeared from the room quickly, at a speed that didn't seem human.

"Hey, don't go, come back, let me go!"

Jin Wan'er hurriedly chased after her, but upon reaching the door, she was stopped by the guards: "Young Master, please come with me; your room is this way."

The Swamp.

Dusk.

The sun had already set, and it would be dark soon.

This place didn't even have roads, so naturally, there couldn't be streetlights.

Even the GPS was lost; driving at night was too dangerous.

Sheng Hanyu suggested to his wife: "Xuanxuan, let's go back first. We'll bring more people to search tomorrow."

"Okay."

Shi Youxuan agreed, although she was unwilling to leave just like that, but it was about to get dark.

Staying here for the night is likely dangerous.

The two of them walked toward the direction where they had parked.

Having searched for nearly an entire day, Shi Youxuan had only drunk a few sips of water and had not eaten a single bite of food.

Because she was worried about whether her younger sister was safe, she did not feel hungry.

It was just that her legs were so weak she could barely walk anymore.

Reed flowers hung from her hair, her face was smudged with black and white patches, her clothes were filthy beyond recognition, to say nothing of her Spring Shoes.

Her Spring Shoes and socks were completely soaked through and covered in mud.

Sheng Hanyu felt a pang of heartache; he stood in front of his wife, crouched down with his back to her, and said, "Get on, I'll carry you."

"No need, I can walk myself," Shi Youxuan refused.

Her husband had accompanied her in the Swamp for the whole day.

She had only been following her intuition, but Sheng Hanyu had stayed by her side the entire time, pushing aside reeds for her, watching the path underfoot, and keeping an eye out for the snakes that occasionally slithered past.

In truth, Sheng Hanyu was even more exhausted, but he had simply never mentioned it.

"Then I'll support you, let's go slowly."

"Mm."

The married couple walked forward while supporting each other, but when they reached the spot where the car was parked, they froze—where was the car?

Never mind the car, there were not even any tire tracks.

"Hanyu, did we take the wrong path?" Shi Youxuan looked left and right, trying to identify the direction.

However, the sun had already set, and everything around them was gray and hazy.

The bright areas were water, and everything else was reeds.

Trying to identify the direction here was simply impossible.

"We must have taken the wrong path."

Sheng Hanyu knew clearly in his heart that they had not taken the wrong path.

But he could see that his wife was anxious now, so he went along with what she said to comfort her.

He took out his mobile phone and opened it with the attitude of trying one more time—as expected, there was still no signal.

This place was very peculiar; not only was there no signal, but even a compass could not be used.

It was said that there was a magnetic field underground that would interfere with signals.

The special geographical environment meant this area could only be used for fish farming and nothing else, so it had never been developed.

With no signal on the phone, they couldn't make a call, and with the compass malfunctioning, they could only grope their way to find a path out.

The two of them had not walked for long before the sky turned completely dark.

"Hanyu, I can't walk anymore."

Shi Youxuan plopped down onto the ground, gasping for air, no longer caring whether it was dirty or not.

The last bit of strength in her body had been drained away; she truly could not walk any further.

Sheng Hanyu was in a dilemma.

He wanted to continue looking for the car, but he was worried about his wife being unsafe here alone.

He wanted to carry his wife on his back and keep going, but his own legs felt as if they were filled with lead!

Shi Youxuan said, "Hanyu, don't keep walking. I have a premonition that we will be able to walk out tomorrow during the day; if we stumble around tonight, we won't get out."

He agreed.

"Mm, you must be hungry, right?"

Reminded, Shi Youxuan's stomach immediately let out a "gurgle" sound, betraying her.

Very well, now without his wife needing to answer, Sheng Hanyu knew she was hungry.

He was hungry too.

They had eaten almost nothing all day and had spent the whole day searching in the reed marsh; it would be strange if they weren't hungry.