This Is What a Villain Is Like

"Sister, were you forced into this?" His voice was a little hoarse and shaky.

Chu Chan shook her head. Without offering an explanation, she simply said, "I’m very satisfied with my life now. At least I no longer have to run myself ragged for resources, worry about pleasing others, suffer their bullying, or endure their contempt."

"The food I eat, the clothes I wear—everything is beyond what I could have ever imagined before. Even when I travel, I have a carriage with an escort of maids and guards."

"And now, I can give you a better life, too..."

Chu Yun’s fists clenched tighter, his knuckles turning white.

He lifted his face and asked in a raspy voice, "So you’re okay with giving yourself to another man for all this? You don’t mind the cost? What’s the point of a life like that?"

He couldn’t bring himself to ask the next part—about the nights she spent pleasing her master—feeling it would wound his sister’s heart and self-respect.

Chu Chan’s face was expressionless. After a long moment, she sighed and said, "All I can say is that this world is a cruel place. I’m just an ordinary woman with no prominent family, no great talent, and certainly no luck. So I can only use what I have to the best of my ability."

"At least, from the way things are now, my choice wasn’t a mistake. The Young Master likes me a great deal and treats me very well, and I’m very grateful to him."

Chu Yun gave a bitter laugh. He finally understood the source of the unease he’d been feeling. His sister had changed.

"But why didn’t you reconsider? Why couldn’t you have just waited? What if I could have changed everything for us in the future?" he asked, his head hanging in dejection. His voice was listless, unable to accept this "willingly debased" version of his sister.

Chu Chan sighed. "I had no choice and no opportunity to reconsider."

"If you think I’m tainted now, I can stay away from you from now on. But I hope you won’t blame me, and please, don’t hate me."

Silence.

Chu Yun gave another bitter laugh, pushing down the heavy, painful feeling in his chest. "What right do I have to look down on you, Sister? I’m only alive today because you raised me. It just breaks my heart to think of you being forced into a situation you couldn’t control."

"Really, as long as you’re happy and living well, that’s all that matters."

What was done was done. Nothing he could say would change that now.

A relieved expression appeared on Chu Chan’s face. "It looks like you’ve really grown up, Yun," she said. "You’ve gotten smarter, too."

Chu Yun didn’t press the heavy subject any further.

He changed the subject. "So, Sister, why did you come looking for me?"

"I want to bring you back to Anyang City. I’ve already bought back our ancestral home. You can live there from now on, and I can provide you with all the resources and Cultivation Techniques you’ll need."

"The second thing," Chu Chan said, "is about that Jade Pendant I sent you last time with the Spirit Stones and Elixir Pills. Where is it now?"

Chu Yun froze, surprised that his sister would bring up the Jade Pendant.

"What is it, Sister? Do you need the Jade Pendant?" he asked. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Chu Chan nodded. She didn’t try to hide the truth. "It’s mainly for Young Master Jiang. I need to bring it back to him."

Chu Yun asked again, "Did that Young Master Jiang ask you to bring the Jade Pendant to him?"

’According to Dahuang, that Jade Pendant was a Token left to the Chu Family by his master, the Purple Mist True Monarch. It could be used to travel to the True Monarch’s abode and receive his inheritance.’

’Could that be why Young Master Jiang is treating my sister so well? Is he after the Chu Family’s Jade Pendant?’

At this thought, Chu Yun’s heart clenched.

"Not exactly. It’s just that while I was cleaning the ancestral home, I discovered some old records. It turns out the ancestors of our Chu Family had deep ties to the Purple Mist True Monarch, the one who’s been causing such a stir recently."

"And that Jade Pendant is very likely the Token that the Purple Mist True Monarch left for our Chu Family," Chu Chan said.

She trusted Chu Yun, so she spoke frankly about such a private matter, hiding nothing.

Chu Yun was stunned to hear this. ’So it’s not what I thought?’

’Then again,’ he thought, ’it’s also possible that Young Master Jiang fed her that story long ago.’