Chapter 17: I’m Very Busy

Elder Shui was utterly speechless; children these days truly had too many schemes. He’d always believed that Ouxinlai, being Ouchenfeng’s daughter, inherited a few sly ways, which made sense. But Ouxinya was Ouchendong’s child, and yet she still played tricks on her own father—everything she displayed was mere pretense. At this thought, Elder Shui frowned in distaste. Cunning could be a virtue, but using it against one’s own kin was something he deeply disliked.

Just as Ouxinlai had surmised, Ouxinya was indeed a shrewd girl, but it was a pity her schemes were spent only within her own family.

“Father, are you all right?” After helping Ouchendong back to his room, Ouxinya grew anxious seeing him still stiff and motionless as a stone.

Ouchendong gradually caught his breath. Though his body remained immobile, at least he could speak. “I have no idea what that little witch Ouxinlai did to me, but I can’t move a muscle. Hmph, it must be Ouchenfeng’s doing!” He thought to himself that since Ouxinlai was Ouchenfeng’s only daughter, there was no way he’d allow her to remain an ordinary person without any cultivation talent.

In reality, seeing that Ouxinlai had no hope with her powers, Ouchenfeng had sought an alternative path, teaching her a host of peculiar skills. It was impressive how patient they both were; not until Ouxinlai had mastered these arts did Ouchenfeng allow her to display them. Had the rest of the family known Ouchenfeng had found such a formidable technique just to teach Ouxinlai alone, the entire Ou family would have been thrown into chaos.

“What should we do next?” Ouxinya looked helplessly at Ouchendong, though inside she was in turmoil. She truly hadn’t suspected that the once foolish, pigheaded Ouxinlai—who used to cling to Prince Xuan all day—had secretly been practicing martial arts, fooling them all completely.

“Hmph, so what if Ouchenfeng found those strange arts? I’ll find a way to force him to hand them over!” Ouxinlai’s skills, though bizarre, were indeed formidable. For someone entirely lacking in powers to render him helpless—this alone proved just how extraordinary those techniques were.

After today’s incident, everyone in the Ou family knew that Ouxinlai was no longer the same girl she had been. Even if she still lacked any powers, her uncanny ability to control others’ bodies at will was enough to make people wary. Unless someone’s abilities far surpassed Ouchendong’s, no one would dare challenge Ouxinlai before besting him.

This outcome pleased Ouxinlai greatly.

“Lai’er.” Watching Ouxinlai curled up in her room again, Ouchenfeng let out a long sigh. “When did you become so fond of staying still?”

“Your daughter has always been this way, father—perhaps you simply never noticed before.” Ouxinlai could no longer be sure whether Ouchenfeng had realized she was no longer the original soul inhabiting Ouxinlai’s body. If he hadn’t noticed, he was certainly much harsher with her than before. If he had, then considering the enormous resources required to activate the Five Elements Feng Shui Array and the way he’d used his position to get her, at fifteen, into the array—if she wasn’t his own daughter, he’d have to be mad to pay such a price just to destroy a wandering spirit that had possessed his child’s body.

“If you dislike being active, should I find ways to encourage you to move more?” Ouchenfeng’s gentle gaze was as warm as the spring breeze in April, yet to Ouxinlai, it brought a chill. After all, winter always came before spring. So, whenever Ouchenfeng looked at her kindly, Ouxinlai felt as if a cold gust slipped down her neck.

“Father, please have mercy,” Ouxinlai pleaded, wanting nothing more than to bow before him. “Father, your daughter is truly busy—so busy, in fact, that she’s nearly dead from exhaustion.”

No matter how composed Ouchenfeng was, even he could only surrender before Ouxinlai’s shamelessness.

Ouchenfeng sat in his chair while Ouxinlai, ever since their conversations, always remained lying on her bed. Who had ever seen a young lady discuss matters with her father while lounging about, refusing even to get up?

More importantly, to prove just how busy she was, Ouxinlai rolled back and forth on her bed, again and again, putting on a grand show of just how ‘busy’ she truly was.