Even though the story sounded as absurd as a myth and reminiscent of Nezha's legendary three-year gestation and his birth as a fleshy sphere, Chen Kuang didn't doubt it.
After all, this was a high-fantasy world of martial cultivation.
Considering the saying that "saints are beyond reincarnation," it was completely plausible that a prodigious child might be born pointing to the sky and earth, declaring, "Heaven and Earth alone honor me above all."
However, the real issue was this: a birth with such a mystical omen should indicate peerless talent, or at the very least, a terrifying past life.
Yet Shen Meinan had repeatedly emphasized that her talent was average at best.
Earlier, during introductions, each person had mentioned their cultivation level.
Shen Meinan, fifteen years old, was at the Innate Vital Energy Realm, the lowest among them prior to Chen Kuang's arrival.
But in Chen Kuang's eyes, that level was already quite impressive for someone her age.
After all, Li Hongling had reached Tower Ascension at eighteen with brazen arrogance.
Shen Meinan might not be any worse, really...
That said, such praise only held true from an average person's point of view. If she were to be compared to Shen Xingzhu, she truly seemed unremarkable.
Which brought back the fundamental contradiction, how could someone with average talent be born with a divine omen?
Unless...
A bolder and more irreverent thought bubbled up in Chen Kuang's mind.
Could it be that Shen Xingzhu's "omen" was... her placenta gaining sentience and being born ten years later as her little sister?
...Obviously impossible.
But something about this didn't sit right. Chen Kuang felt there was a deeper secret here, one clearly being hidden from the world.
And the logic was simple:
If there was nothing to hide, why conceal Shen Meinan's existence at all?
Even Shen Meinan herself seemed to subconsciously suppress her own identity.
If it was about protection, that excuse didn't hold much weight.
Li Hongling could rely on her saintly backer and act untouchable. Shen Meinan, with a sister who was the Dao Child of the Mysterious Divine Path Sect, ought to enjoy similar protection.
So what was the truth being hidden?
For now, Chen Kuang remained in the dark.
Still, two details from Shen Meinan's own recounting stood out:
First, before birth, Shen Xingzhu had supposedly beaten and kicked her in the womb, leaving her body bruised at birth.
Secondly, her birth was delayed by ten years.
Shen Meinan had described it in a joking tone, even making it sound amusing, but the actual situation might have been gravely dangerous.
Among the common folk, there's a saying that twins or triplets sometimes "compete" for nourishment, often leading to a significant size or health disparity at birth.
Given the stark difference in aptitude between Shen Xingzhu and Shen Meinan, it was hard not to suspect something deeper.
In fact, that ten-year delay in birth might have been a cover, a means of hiding the fact that they were twins.
Even if it was not the only reason, it was surely connected.
"Why aren't you saying anything?" Shen Meinan pouted, her voice tinged with grievance. "I knew it. You don't believe me either."
"If you knew who my sister was, you'd definitely refuse to believe it. You might even scold me for being childish and disrespectful."
She spoke with conviction, as if she had heard it all before.
"Who says I don't believe you?" Chen Kuang suddenly smiled. "And who says I don't know who your sister is?"
Shen Meinan blinked, then shook her head rapidly like a rattle-drum.
"Impossible! There's no way you'd guess!"
She muttered under her breath, "No one has ever guessed correctly... You're just humoring me."
To be fair, most people really wouldn't guess.
Even if someone did piece things together based on her description, they'd likely dismiss it immediately.
Just then, they reached the door to Chen Kuang's guest room.
Shen Meinan had earlier asked a maid for the key and unlocked the door, but she hesitated, not entering.
With her hands behind her back, she turned to him.
"This is your room. You can go in yourself. There's not much inside. You should be able to find your way."
Standing at the doorway, Chen Kuang said:
"Miss Meinan, won't you come in and sit for a bit?"
The moment he asked, she became visibly flustered. Her expression changed several times, like a divine battle was playing out inside her head.
In the end, she said, a little too firmly:
"I just remembered, Ming Yan invited me to watch the lake view from her room. I won't bother you anymore."
But the moment she said it, she regretted it, quickly biting her lip in frustration.
She had really wanted to keep talking with him.
She didn't know why, but she felt a strange, inexplicable fondness for this young man she had only just met, as if they had known each other before.
But then she remembered that he didn't even believe her. He was probably just being nice, humoring her like everyone else.
After all, no one had ever believed her, not about being twins, and definitely not about the truth of her sister.
That her sister, the peerless, world-renowned Shen Xingzhu, might not be the person everyone thought she was..
Shen Meinan tried to let go of his hand, but before she could, Chen Kuang grasped her hand in return.
"Eh?!"
Her black-and-white eyes went wide, fingers frozen mid-motion.
Her entire body went stiff, as if under a paralyzing spell.
It felt completely different from earlier, when she was the one who had taken his hand.
Now, she couldn't move, because he was holding her hand... and gently pulled her closer.
He leaned toward her ear and whispered with a grin:
"I know. Shen Xingzhu is a bad woman. A very, very bad woman, bad to the core."
He enunciated every word slowly and clearly:
"I really do know."
Shen Meinan's world suddenly spun.
She stumbled forward two steps, dazed, as he turned her gently in place, led her into the room, and quietly shut the door.
Thump-thump, thump-thump...
Her heart raced uncontrollably.
She stood there, overwhelmed and completely unsure of what to do.
He had said something taboo, yet she was the one who felt like she'd broken a rule.
Chen Kuang raised an eyebrow.
"So... did I guess right?"
Shen Meinan whispered:
"How... how did you know?"
Chen Kuang pointed at his blindfold with a serious expression:
"I foresaw it. These eyes... can reveal the secrets of Heaven."
"That incredible?"
Shen Meinan immediately believed him.
She leaned in nervously:
"Then... then have you seen anything else?"
Chen Kuang nodded.
"I once heard a tale. A cautionary story about blood relatives... and a so-called 'Supreme Bone.' Would you like to hear it?"
Shen Meinan immediately pulled up two stools, sitting down with rapt attention.
And so Chen Kuang recounted a story, a veiled allegory.
"Two cousins, and one of them steals the other's talent, claiming it for himself..."
When he finished, Shen Meinan murmured in shock:
"People can really be that evil..."
Then she looked at Chen Kuang. The blindfolded young man sipped tea with a calm expression, as if he had merely told a bedtime story.
Yet she couldn't help but feel she had become part of that story.
Could it be... had her own talent been stolen?
No, no... was her sister really that bad? Probably not..
Back when their father scolded her for being lazy in cultivation, her sister did sneak her some candied hawthorn...
She started to spiral into confusion.
That was when Chen Kuang changed the topic:
"By the way, Brother Lin gave me two musical scores earlier, but my eyes aren't convenient. Might I trouble you to read them for me?"
He placed the Zither and the score on the table with a warm smile:
"I'll play a piece for Miss Meinan to thank you."
Naturally, Shen Meinan was more than happy to agree.
She had wanted to hear another song anyway, one just for her.
But for some reason, as the melody began, her mind kept drifting back to that story.
When Chen Kuang finished playing, he said softly:
"By tomorrow evening, we may have to part ways. Let this song serve as a farewell gift."
"Tomorrow?" she blinked. "But I thought the ship won't dock until the day after tomorrow..."
Chen Kuang shook his head and touched his blindfold.
"But I have already seen Heaven's secrets."
A vein throbbed on his forehead.
Blood Premonition... was stirring again!
Elsewhere.
After leaving the others, Zhou Yanwei did not return to his room as promised.
He stood on the top deck, resting against the railing, gazing at the distant mountains.
"Yanwei? What are you doing up here?" Lin Eryou asked, surprised.
Zhou Yanwei pointed into the distance.
"We're almost at Guandu Port," he said lazily. "I'm debating whether to jump ship early, to avoid unnecessary trouble."
Lin Eryou's steps froze and his expression shifted slightly.
He gave a dry laugh and twirled his fan.
"Surely you jest, Brother Yanwei. What trouble could there possibly be?"
Zhou Yanwei replied calmly:
"Naturally..."
He turned his gaze toward Lin Eryou, eyes narrowing as he enunciated two chilling words:
"Man-made calamity."