Chapter 671: Extra 1: What a pity, it's a girl

I don't understand, I really don't understand.

I know I became like this; it must be the Chief's doing, but I don't know by what means they're controlling me.

I'm not resigned either.

I was once the Shi Family's hope, my grandfather's pride, and the 'Lingnan Black Widow' of the entire South Ridge populace.

I'm tough, I'm strong, I was decisive in the marketplace… but all of that has long since changed unnoticed into the past.

The Chief lurked in the shadows, completely altering my life's course, yet I don't even know when she made her move.

Let alone who she is or what she looks like.

At this very moment, I watch my belly grow bit by bit, helpless, and even as I watch, a fierce motherly love wells up in my heart, making me forget my situation and fear.

The next moment, the silhouettes of two children appeared before me—the larger one a girl, the smaller a boy.

The little girl held the boy's hand, tears welling as she looked at me and cried, 'Mom… Mom…'

My heart clenched instantly; I remembered my two unborn children—they've come to find me!

'Mom, I'm cold, I'm in pain—why don't you want me?'

'Mom, don't you want us to be your children?'

'No, I do!' I blurted, defending and repenting, 'It's Mom who's wrong, Mom who failed to protect you both—it's all Mom's fault…'

At that time, I couldn't even wonder why I could speak underwater, nor notice that my two legs had atrophied into fish tails.

I simply reached out with both hands, wanting to pull them tightly into my embrace and never let go.

But just as my hand was about to touch them, their silhouettes began to fade rapidly; from where they stood, specks of light rose from the ground, continually converging toward my belly.

My belly didn't grow larger, yet I felt strong fetal movement—my skin tightened in waves, my body ached in waves, as if I were about to give birth.

The pain awakened a sliver of reason; I closed my eyes, endured the discomfort below, and shouted loudly, 'Chief, I know you're there—now that it's come to this, will you still hide like a turtle, afraid to face me?'

'You've schemed against the entire Shi Family—don't you fear retribution?'

'My two children… were they killed by you, right?'

While shouting, I calmly drew a sharp dagger from my waist.

This dagger was given to me by my grandfather when I was little; supposedly a family heirloom that cuts iron like mud, it's my protective magic item—but after the Shi Family washed their hands of gold, life stayed fairly peaceful, so the dagger never saw use.

Who would have thought today it would become my sole bargaining chip to threaten the opponent?

I gripped the dagger and pressed its sharp tip against my belly.

'I'm not pregnant,' I continued, 'You want to use me as a vessel, to conjure from my body whatever you desire—no way!'

Saying that, I ruthlessly drove the dagger into my belly, trying to stir the flesh and blood.

From the day I told Jin Wuya my final decision, I've been ready to perish together.

At the critical moment, a wave surged forward, knocked my hand aside, and swept the dagger away.

That single strike decided the outcome.

The opponent is a cultivator.

I steadied my mind, looked ahead, and saw a youth wearing dark red armor robes, a black leather waist belt, and leather boots.

If I didn't scrutinize his face, he'd give off a feeling of fine clothes and an angry steed.

But when I met his eyes and brows, which are eighty percent like mine, I froze.

Looking further down, I was even more shocked.

The lower right half of his face was actually a skull.

No flesh, just stark white bone exposed, looking utterly terrifying.

I suppressed my shock; as my gaze swept over his neck, I noticed he lacked an Adam's apple—could this be a woman?!

'The Shi Family's direct bloodline truly is iron-willed and steadfast.' The woman's lips didn't move, yet her voice sounded: 'It's a shame—you are the perfect work I selected and created; how could I truly let you seek death?'

Her voice was strange; in just two short sentences she shifted among three tones—soft, neutral, clear—switching at will.

She tossed aside the dagger in her hand, stepped forward, pinched my chin to lift it, forcing me to meet her eyes: 'I know you hate me yet can't help wanting to study me—no matter. Today everything will end; I've finally awaited this day, I'm in good spirits, so let's have a proper talk.'

She leaned close; a faint fragrance came from her, as if familiar.

'Am I not beautiful?' she suddenly asked with a laugh.

I instinctively nodded and said, 'Beautiful.'

'But what good is beauty anyway?' she said, 'I was born during the peak of the Mount-Removing Strength lineage; back then, that lineage had already left the imperial court—I am the sixth-generation heir, born with a golden spoon in my mouth.'

She paused, sighed, and said, 'It's a pity—I'm a girl.'

'I am the child they conceived by timing, whether by calendrical calculations or night sky observations—all said I was born destined to be Chief; that beautiful dream shattered the moment I was born.'

'The Chief's position passes only to males, not females.'

'Less than an hour after my birth, my cousin arrived healthy and sound—he is truly a boy.'

'Shi Rou, do you understand what I mean?'

'If the news gets out that I'm a girl, the Chief's position will go to my cousin, and our five‑generation glory will have to be handed over—do you think they could just watch this happen?'

'No!'

Her emotions flared: 'Because no one expected me to be a girl, and my cousin's birth was too close in time, they couldn't pull off a heavenly swap.'

'To keep the Chief's position, they declared me a boy outwardly; on the full‑month ancestral rite, they will strip my clothes before the whole clan to prove and examine.'

I exclaimed in disbelief, 'They… how did they pull off heaven‑covering deceit?'

Since the child was already born and couldn't be swapped immediately, any anomaly in the following month could be seized upon.

Even with that cousin around, the infant is frail; with enough malice, whether she survives to the full month is an open question……