Jean Qiao’s True Nature

Lily Bai said honestly, "I'm here because of Jean Qiao. You remember her, right?"

Claire's expression changed. "For her? What do you mean?"

"How much do you actually know about her?" Lily Bai asked.

Claire frowned. "Honestly, there might not be anyone in the world who knows her better than I do!"

"Oh?" Lily Bai prompted. "Can you tell me about her? There's another case, and she's involved."

Claire nodded and said, "When she was a child, my mother adopted her as a foster daughter. She was several decades older than me, so I called her 'big sister.' Back then, my mother was Divine Marquis Lann Yin's attendant, and we all lived together in the Lumina Realm. Life was pretty good."

"Oh? There's a chapter like that?" Lily Bai was surprised. "I had someone investigate her before, but none of that came up."

"She's got a seriously strong possessive streak," Claire said. "My mother gradually realized she was always trying to push me—the real daughter—aside, just to have my mother all to herself."

A lot of her actions made my mother really unhappy.

But at that time, she was still young, and my mother couldn't bear to abandon her.

So, my mother pulled some strings and found a Phoenix Goddess, who used a bloodline tracking spell to locate Jean's family and sent her back.

It was only then that we learned, when my mother first adopted her, she lied and claimed her family had abandoned her. That wasn't true at all.

She actually ran away because she hated how poor her family was and longed for a life in the Divine Realm. She did it all on purpose."

"She was scheming like that even as a kid?" Lily Bai raised her eyebrows.

Claire nodded. "She was really unwilling to go back, but my mother sent her home anyway. After that, she held a grudge against us forever."

"So, she seduced Faustin not because she liked him, but just to get back at you?"

Claire looked embarrassed and nodded.

"Then why do you keep being mad at him?" Lily Bai frowned. "Isn't that just hurting yourself and making the enemy happy?"

"She did it just to make my life miserable, but Faustin... he couldn't resist the temptation!" Claire gave a bitter laugh. "Honestly, it's embarrassing... They even had a child!"

"I've traveled with my master for years, and after you left, he started drinking himself into a stupor all the time! When he's drunk, he's totally out of it—you could cart him off and sell him and he wouldn't know." Lily Bai said, "Honestly, instead of assuming he cheated while drunk... maybe Jean Qiao used magic to get pregnant?"

"But back then..." Claire bit her lip. "I saw it with my own eyes..."

Lily Bai took a deep breath. "Let's set that aside for now! Aside from her childhood, how much do you know about what happened to her later?"

"She was once a disciple at Evercrest Immortal Mountain," Claire said. "Later, somehow, she ended up serving Lord Sky Xiao."

"Evercrest Immortal Mountain?" Lily Bai raised her eyebrows. "None of my sources found that. Looks like she's got some real skills at hiding things..."

Claire sneered. "She's incredibly ambitious. She'll do anything to climb higher—no matter what it takes! And she's not afraid of anything!"

Lily Bai nodded. "Anything else?"

Claire thought for a moment. "She's from the water clans—the fastest kind, actually! When we were kids, I saw her race through the sea, and honestly, she was almost as fast as a dragon!"

Lily Bai's heart skipped a beat. "She's really that fast?"

Claire nodded firmly. "Super fast."

"So, do you think if she was in the ocean, the Demon Whale Beast could really have eaten her?"