Transmigrated as the Villain’s Sword - Chapter 29

Qingtan’s face went pale for an instant, her widened eyes filled with daze and shock. “What do you mean?”

Guan Luowei looked thoughtful, her gaze sweeping past her to the remaining servants in the room.

After a brief lapse, Qingtan understood Guan Luowei’s implication almost immediately. A person’s soul cannot remain outside the body for too long; if it does, it will either dissipate, leave for the Ghost Realm, or be devoured by other evil entities.

However, Qinghan’s situation was different. Her soul had been missing for over ten years, yet it hadn’t dissipated—instead, it stayed nearby and influenced her. For this to happen, there was only one possibility: Qinghan’s soul had been within Lingbao Pavilion all along, carefully nourished by someone.

In all these years, it wasn’t just that they had searched Lingbao Pavilion countless times; they had even sent people to the Ghost Realm on several occasions.

Under such a rigorous search, the fact that Qinghan’s soul remained unfound made it hard not to suspect someone on the inside.

Once Qingtan grasped the reality of the situation, she immediately turned to Manager Li. “Go and find everyone who has been at Lingbao Pavilion for more than ten years.”

Manager Li responded with a “Yes” and hurried out.

The remaining Qingtan sat by the bed with a bitter smile, gently tucking in Qinghan’s blanket. She looked up at Guan Luowei. “Miss Guan, if you were to search our Lingbao Pavilion inch by inch, could you find Hanhan’s soul?”

Guan Luowei looked up and replied, “Your Lingbao Pavilion has searched for over ten years without success. You should know that the culprit possesses a special treasure capable of hiding a soul.”

Qingtan sighed, but just as she was about to speak, the silver sword beside her suddenly chirped: “But why was Miss Qinghan fine for the last ten years, yet suddenly fell ill just when my Master arrived?”

Boom.

After a brief daze, Qingtan looked at the silver sword as if struck by lightning.

Yes—why was she fine for over a decade, only to worsen exactly when she invited Guan Luowei here? It was because the person behind this realized Guan Luowei actually had a way to track the soul. They were afraid, and they were rushing to destroy the soul now.

And on the day Guan Luowei offered her help, the only person present besides herself was Manager Li.

Almost instantly, Qingtan stood up. She ordered people to watch over Qinghan and, without even having time to bid Guan Luowei goodbye, she led her guards away, her body trembling with fury.

Guan Luowei had clearly known this from the start. She showed no surprise as Qingtan left to find Manager Li. Instead, she looked at the silver sword that had pointed out the key detail and raised an eyebrow. “You are quite clever.”

Ling Chenyan giggled, then asked curiously, “Master, you must have known Manager Li was the problem all along. Why didn’t you just tell Miss Qingtan?”

Guan Luowei gave her a deep, unreadable look but didn’t answer. She only said, “Come, let’s go see for ourselves.”

By the time Ling Chenyan followed Guan Luowei to Manager Li’s room, the scene was already under control.

Manager Li was being held on his knees, his head lowered, refusing to say a word. To the side, Qingtan sat in a chair, looking exhausted and powerless as she stared at the kneeling man.

Qingtan had moved fast, but even so, by the time they arrived, Manager Li had already used the treasure to destroy the section of the soul corresponding to Qinghan’s legs. Qingtan had captured him, but facing this old man who had been with her since childhood—who was like a grandfather to her—she truly didn’t know what to do.

“Manager Li, speak. Why on earth did you do this?”

From the beginning until now, the kneeling Manager Li had kept his head down, offering no defense or words of resentment. Now, facing Qingtan’s weary voice, he finally lifted his head slowly to look at the woman who seemed drained of all energy.

Their eyes met. Manager Li saw the intense disappointment and sorrow in her gaze. His body trembled slightly as he shook his head. “This is all this old servant’s fault. Please punish me, Eldest Miss.”

The atmosphere froze. After a long silence, Qingtan finally spoke, word by word: “In that case… Manager Li is expelled from Lingbao Pavilion, never to set foot here again for the rest of his life.”

Qingtan’s father had countless branches of Lingbao Pavilion across the cultivation world. He was a philanderer with innumerable children; a single daughter naturally wouldn’t be treated with much regard.

From the time she was a toddler, Manager Li had been by her side, teaching her to speak and read. The first word she ever spoke wasn’t “Father” or “Mother,” but “Grandpa.” As she grew, he taught her management and business. When she saw her first market profit under his guidance, Manager Li was happier than she was, even making an exception to drink three cups of wine while praising her as the best in the world.

As she grew older, her beauty began to attract trouble. She remembered the first time she used her looks to close a deal that other clansmen couldn’t handle; Manager Li had criticized her harshly. He said business was about attracting interests, but by using her face, she was demeaning herself as a piece of merchandise. He said there was already enough gossip about women in business, and he hoped she would have to endure as little as possible. He said, “Little Tan’er, remember: compared to those riches, you are the most precious thing.”

Yes, perhaps only in Manager Li’s heart was she truly the most precious.

And yet, this person—the one person she wouldn’t have suspected even if she were dying—had imprisoned her sister’s soul for decades under her very nose.

Qingtan considered herself a merchant who prioritized profit. Facing such a betrayal, she should have tortured the culprit to death, but she couldn’t. She had her own selfishness; she was letting the person who imprisoned Qinghan go. This was her failing. She felt she owed Qinghan, and she would spend the rest of her life seeking atonement.

After giving the order, Qingtan waved her hand for them to take him away. But at that moment, the silver sword suddenly spoke.

“Manager Li, if you’re hiding something, you’d better tell Miss Qingtan now. You might think taking all the blame and hiding the truth is good for her, but to her, you are a very important person. If something happens to you, she will be devastated.”

The sword’s words made Manager Li pause. He finally lost control, looking at Qingtan with a trembling gaze, only to see her covering her mouth, her eyes red as tears streamed down her face.

Under his teaching, Qingtan’s emotions were usually very stable; even when dissatisfied, she met others with a smile. She rarely lost control like this, yet today, she was breaking down because of him, a mere servant.

Manager Li’s throat hitched. He finally couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh. “Alas, Little Tan’er, don’t cry. When you cry, this old servant’s heart trembles. It is my fault. Since you want to know why, then I shall tell you…”

Manager Li’s gaze turned distant, as if traveling back through time to their first meeting.

“Back then, I was just a minor manager. One day, the Master found me and said he had a task for me. That task was you. He said he was too busy to keep you with him, but he had few people he could trust, so he gave you to me. He wanted me to raise you until you were eight years old for a fee of ten million spiritual stones. I agreed.”

“The snow was heavy that day. I saw you for the first time—a tiny bundle in a red swaddle. Big dark eyes, a fair face… oh, you were so cute. You weren’t afraid of strangers at all; you even giggled at me. Right then, I thought, I must raise you well.”

“But problems came quickly. I was a grown man! You were a baby girl who needed milk, and I couldn’t exactly produce it,” Manager Li chuckled at the memory. “So I sent people everywhere for a wet nurse. But in the winter, few were willing to come to the door. I carried you and a bag of stones, going from house to house. When you were full, you’d open your eyes and smile at everyone. The wet nurses all loved you.”

“Back then, I didn’t know a child’s mealtime was different from an adult’s. I fed you on a breakfast-lunch-dinner schedule, but you’d wake up in the middle of the night crying. I couldn’t soothe you until I asked a wet nurse, who told me babies don’t eat like us…”

“Then you grew and started babbling. I taught you to say ‘Father’ and ‘Mother,’ but occasionally I had a selfish thought and taught you to say ‘Grandpa.’ I thought if your first word was ‘Father,’ I’d tell the Pavilion Master so he’d be happy and remember he had a daughter. But to my surprise, the first thing you ever said was ‘Grandpa’…” Manager Li wiped a tear and smiled. “I was so happy that night. I told the matchmakers who came to my door that I wouldn’t marry; having you as my child was enough for a lifetime.”

Qingtan listened quietly, seemingly traveling back to that day through his words. An old man had chosen never to marry or have his own children just because her first word was “Grandpa.” She wanted to call him a fool, but she could only let her tears fall.

Manager Li smiled and continued: “And you didn’t disappoint me. You were clever, remembering everything I taught you and rarely making mistakes. Watching you grow day by day, my heart was both happy and complicated. In a flash, you were eight, and my task was done. I told you your father was coming to take you home. I thought you’d be happy, but you asked me if I would go too. I said no, and you fell silent. Later, you spoke with the old Master. He left in a rage, paid me my fee, and told me he didn’t care if I kept raising you or not.”

“Ten million stones was enough for me to live a life of leisure. But looking at you at eight years old, and looking at how the others in Xiling City were carving up Lingbao Pavilion, I couldn’t bear it. I stayed by your side.”

Qingtan thought of that year. At eight, she already knew how to hide her emotions. When her father said he would take her back to the clan to eventually marry her off into a noble family, she refused. She said she wanted to stay in Xiling and wouldn’t depend on a man, and that since he never visited her, she didn’t need his management. But in truth, she just didn’t want to leave Manager Li.

“Later, I taught you the business. You were young, but you learned by analogy and studied in secret at night. You weren’t like other playful children, but often I wished you weren’t so sensible. I knew you stayed in Xiling to prove yourself, and I supported you. Finally, when you were sixteen, we cleared out the outsiders. But unfortunately, the Pavilion hit a crisis that the old Master couldn’t solve. If not for a benefactor, we would have gone bankrupt.”

“During that crisis, I saw you losing sleep and weight, so I took you out for a stroll. Fate is a strange thing; we found a child nearly frozen to death in the street. Little Tan’er is the kindest soul, so you took her back, and thus you had a sister.”

“Having a sister changed you. Miss Qinghan was very wary and wouldn’t eat what others gave her. To prove the food wasn’t poisoned, you tasted everything yourself before feeding her. Seeing you coax her reminded me of how I used to coax you. So when you asked if she could stay, I agreed instantly.”

“I watched you use the same tricks I used on you to coax her. I was both relieved and conflicted. Fortunately, she eventually lowered her guard. Life got better. But I didn’t expect that this girl we picked up was so sharp in business…”

“She proposed many strange ideas to build the Pavilion. Under the two of you, Xiling became prosperous. Later, the Master found out. He admired Miss Qinghan and asked her to teach his sons. He grew more satisfied with her, even making her his goddaughter, making you sisters in every sense.”

“As you both grew, your bond was strong. But the seat of the Xiling branch was never officially decided. Every time the Master ate with you both, he showed more admiration for Qinghan, often joking about giving her the branch. Every time dinner ended, I only had to look at your face to know you’d be staying up all night to study. This old servant has no great talent, but I know your life’s pursuit is to get his recognition—to prove a woman can succeed.”

“But because of Miss Qinghan, he was blind to everything you did. You were the one who designed the removal of other factions since you were ten; you were the one who built this. Her ideas were brilliant, but the one who put in the hard work behind them was you…”

Manager Li closed his eyes, a line of tears falling. “So, that night, when the Master kept her alone to discuss giving her the Xiling branch, I truly felt it was unfair for you.”

“I knew she had an appointment with you that night. So before you arrived, I used a treasure I obtained in my youth to forcibly extract her soul. Because… as long as she became a fool, you could achieve the wish you’ve always held…”

By now, his motive was clear.

Qingtan’s tears had stopped, but her eyes were still red. She looked at the wrinkled Manager Li and choked out, “Manager Li, you were so foolish. A man like my father would never truly hand over a major industry to an outsider. Everything he showed, everything he did, was just a test for Qinghan.”

This was something Qingtan only understood later. She too had eavesdropped on that conversation and felt conflicted, which was why she missed the appointment. But she never expected Qinghan to be trapped for ten years because of it.

Manager Li finally understood. He wept, his gaze toward Qingtan full of parental love. “Little Tan’er, it is my fault…”

Qingtan shook her head, but just as she was about to speak, Manager Li suddenly stabbed himself in the chest. Blood sprayed instantly. The dagger fell from his hand as he collapsed. Through tear-blurred eyes, he looked at the woman rushing toward him, his lips slowly curling. “Little Tan’er…”

Qingtan hugged him, her hands shaking. She saw the words he didn’t say: Don’t cry.

Qingtan’s composure finally shattered completely. She wailed, “Grandpa! Grandpa!”

She had called him “Grandpa” as a toddler. Later, he had forbidden it, citing their difference in status. After all these years, their bond began with “Grandpa” and ended with it.

Ling Chenyan couldn’t help but start sobbing as well. She looked at the unmoved Big Villain and choked out, “Cry! Why don’t you cry?!”

The Big Villain’s mouth twitched. She stepped forward and pushed aside the weeping Qingtan. “Let go. If you keep holding him like this, he really will die.”

Amidst the tear-blurred gazes of the crowd, Guan Luowei looked calm and devoid of sadness. She said, somewhat speechlessly, “He was probably too excited and his hand shook; he didn’t hit the heart. He can still be saved.”

Everyone: “???”

Author’s Note:

Ling Chenyan: …Stuck.

Everyone: Silently taking back their tears.