But I never expected her to be so ungrateful, actually colluding with Zhou Yi. How long have she known Zhou Yi? She actually made a deal with him for him—no, maybe she wanted to escape that crystal coffin back then.

But no matter the reason, betrayal is betrayal. Zhou Cong will never forgive this kind of betrayal.

He released his powerful spiritual sense to search for Yang Qiuyu's presence, but to his surprise, he couldn't find her. That afternoon, while at the bank, he heard from bank staff that his safe had been emptied and returned that morning; Yang Qiuyu should have still been in Y City then. How could she have disappeared so quickly?

Even if she wasn't in Y City, she wouldn't be too far away, and Zhou Cong was confident that with his strong spiritual sense, he couldn't possibly fail to detect her. Therefore, there was only one reason: she possessed a powerful shielding artifact.

But her storage bracelet was stolen by Chu Mei, so where would she get any magical artifacts? Unless…

Zhou Cong was shocked, but quickly began to doubt his own conjecture: Could there really be such a powerful magical artifact in that ancient tomb?

Although he left in a hurry, his spiritual sense had explored the entire tomb thoroughly since he entered it, and he found no magical artifacts whatsoever.

As the saying goes, a woman's heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea. Despite having lived for so many years, Zhou Cong had absolutely no clue what women were thinking, nor could he possibly imagine what women might do behind his back.

When Yang Qiuyu first met Chu Lan at the outdoor equipment store, she keenly sensed that Zhou Cong didn't really want to talk to Chu Lan, and she felt something was wrong at the time.

At that time, she did not know that Zhou Cong was a time traveler. She sent people to investigate Zhou Cong's high school life thoroughly and also learned that Zhou Cong and Chu Lan had always had an ambiguous relationship.

Next, she sent people to investigate Chu Lan thoroughly, even finding out the whereabouts of her ex-husband, whom Chu Lan herself was unaware of.

Therefore, when Zhou Cong mentioned the train heading to the Northwest that Chu Lan, Hu Xin, and Zhang Yao were on, she already suspected that Chu Lan might have taken her daughter and best friend to stay with her aunt.

She felt that while she couldn't find Chu Nian, finding Chu Lan and the other two would be very easy. So, after transferring her assets as soon as possible, she went to Chu Lan's aunt's house in the Northwest.

She found that she could not find out where Chu Lan and the other two were, but her eyes could clearly see Chu Lan cooking in the kitchen through the open window not far away.

She knew that Chu Mei must have secretly placed a shielding barrier, preventing her and Zhou Cong from discovering the exact location of Chu Lan and the other two. Luckily, she had acted early and thoroughly investigated Chu Lan's situation; otherwise, she really wouldn't know where to find these three.

She realized that she now shared a common enemy with Chu Mei, so she couldn't afford to clash with Chu Lan and the others as she had before.

Taking advantage of the absence of Chu Lan's aunt and her family, she used magic to sneak into the kitchen. At this time, Zhang Yao was watching TV with Hu Xin in the living room, and Chu Lan was the only one in the kitchen.

Upon seeing Yang Qiuyu suddenly appear, Chu Lan's heart skipped a beat, and she almost fainted from fright.

"Don't be afraid," Yang Qiuyu said quickly when she saw that her expression was strange. "I came to find you not because I wanted to hurt you, but because I have something to contact that Chu Mei about."

Chu Lan glanced into the living room outside the kitchen and noticed that Zhang Yao and Hu Xin were unaware of what was happening in the kitchen.

Yang Qiuyu said, "I cast a spell, so they won't know I was here."

Chu Lan said helplessly, "I don't know how to contact Chu Mei."

Yang Qiuyu paused for a moment, then said, "It's alright. I suspect she has already cast a spell on you. No matter where you go, she knows everything you do. She may have already noticed that I'm standing here talking to you, and she may even have heard everything we're saying."

"You scoundrel!" At this moment, the two women heard a clear, cold female voice from the void above their heads. It was Chu Mei from before.

Then, the two saw a small paper figure emerge from the void, stand in the air with its arms crossed, and look down at them with a disdainful air.

Yang Qiuyu had only said it casually before, but she never expected that this person would actually come "like this": What does this mean? In the past, she had heard her master mention that there were immortals in ancient times who were skilled in the Great Void Technique, which could only be done by those who had a sufficient understanding of the laws of space.

Recalling the Great Void Technique that her master had once told her, she found it quite similar to the way this little paper figure appeared before her.

Yang Qiuyu felt a bitter taste in her mouth as she stared at the little paper figure that had just emerged from the void, her eyelids twitching uncontrollably. If it weren't for Zhou Cong, would she have been able to face someone like him? She had no idea when Zhou Cong attacked Hu Xin; she only found out about it after Zhou Cong mentioned it to her.

Realizing that she hadn't actually caused any real harm to Chu Lan and the others, a sense of hope welled up within her. She respectfully performed an ancient ritual between cultivators towards the small paper figure and called out, "Senior."

The little paper doll said, "You've finally learned to be pragmatic."

Yang Qiuyu hurriedly said, "I was bewitched by Zhou Cong before, which is why I acted foolishly. Later I found out that he was a villain who possessed Zhou Cong's body, and the real Zhou Cong had already been swallowed by him."

Chu Lan was shocked to hear this, but when she remembered what Chu Nian had said before, that the current Zhou Cong was no longer the Zhou Cong of the past, but was just occupying Zhou Cong's body, she finally understood what she meant.

The little paper figure said, "What do you want to do by contacting me through Chu Lan?"

Yang Qiuyu: "This junior wishes to reconcile with the senior and no longer wish to be an enemy of the junior."

Little paper doll: "Heh."

Yang Qiuyu: "I was nearly killed by that fake Zhou Cong and want to avenge myself, but I can't think of a way. I'm seeking you out to join forces with you..."

The little paper figure interrupted her coolly: "With your abilities, what can you do to help me? What benefits would I gain from joining forces with you?"

Yang Qiuyu's lips twitched, and she said, "Senior was originally an ancient sword collected by Zhou Cong. Now it has transformed into energy and taken human form. It also takes good care of Zhou Cong's old friend. It must be that you still have feelings for that Zhou Cong."

This junior dares to speculate that, given your abilities, the fact that you allowed the fake Zhou Cong to remain alive is most likely because you were using his soul to preserve the real Zhou Cong's physical body, hoping to find an opportunity to resurrect the real Zhou Cong.

The little paper figure chuckled and said, "You do have some discernment."

Chu Lan was somewhat surprised and saddened upon hearing this. She looked up at the little paper figure and said with deep emotion, "So you really aren't Chu Mei."

The little paper figure said, "I've already said I'm not. My name is Dao Nian." After saying that, it turned to look at Yang Qiuyu.