After nine lifetimes of reincarnation, the yandere villainous heroine descends.

Half an hour later.

The car was parked in front of a small suburban building.

"Come down."

Xie Zhixia spoke in a flat tone.

Shen Shuchou got out of the car as instructed, his gaze instinctively sweeping behind him—the faint sense of being watched was still lingering behind him.

"What are you standing there for? Come in."

Xie Zhixia's slightly displeased voice immediately reached his ears.

Shen Shuchou turned around and saw that she had already pushed open the door to the first floor and was standing inside looking at him.

He suppressed his thoughts and stepped inside.

"There are slippers in the shoe cabinet, change into them yourself." Xie Zhixia said this and then turned and walked into the inner room.

Shen Shuchou bent down to open the shoe cabinet, changed into a pair of clean slippers, and looked around the living room.

The sight before him startled him slightly; the entire living room looked chaotic.

Several pieces of clothing were casually draped on the sofa, and you could even glimpse a few pieces of women's underwear.

Snack bags and empty drink bottles were scattered on the coffee table, and there wasn't a single place where one could sit down comfortably.

Just then, the bedroom door creaked open, and Xie Zhixia came out.

She seemed to have changed her clothes; she was now wearing loose loungewear, her hair casually pulled back.

His face, now without sunglasses, was expressionless, but his gaze lingered on Shen Shuchou, scrutinizing him as if examining an object.

"She's just not bad looking."

Xie Zhixia glanced at Shen Shuchou, grabbed the half-finished drink on the coffee table, tilted her head back, and took a swig.

She then took a cigarette out of her pocket and lit the lighter with a "click" sound.

A pale blue flame licked the cigarette butt, igniting a crimson glow.

Xie Zhixia took a deep breath, and when she looked up again, a wisp of pale white smoke slowly escaped from her red lips.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the smoke happened to drift in the direction of Shen Shuchou.

Seeing that Shen Shuchou didn't move, not even lifting his eyelids, she raised an eyebrow and offered him the cigarette pack: "Want one?"

Shen Shuchou shook his head slightly: "I don't smoke."

"It's boring."

Xie Zhixia withdrew her hand, leaned back on the sofa, and lazily took another drag, the smoke swirling in front of her eyes.

"Your surname is also Shen?"

Xie Zhixia looked him up and down. "What's your relationship with Shen Wanfu?"

Upon hearing this name, Shen Shuchou's doubts about the "familiar voice" were completely resolved.

It was that blonde woman, the Shen family member who claimed to be his sister.

When he first learned that he had the blood of the Shen family of Kyoto flowing through his veins, he was indeed momentarily stunned, but he quickly put it out of his mind.

For him, whether he still had relatives in the world or whether the Shen family's mark was hidden in his blood was irrelevant.

Unexpectedly, Shen Wanfu knew his whereabouts during his trip to Yandu and even sent someone to pick him up.

Shen Shuchou instantly realized that he had probably been under surveillance by someone all along, but he had just not paid attention to it.

"Let me guess, you're also from the Shen family, right?"

Seeing that he remained silent, Xie Zhixia continued speaking to herself.

"no."

Shen Shuchou's voice was very calm.

"no?"

Xie Zhixia raised an eyebrow, a playful smile playing on her lips.

"That's interesting. You're not from the Shen family, so are you Shen Wanfu's lover? Or her kept man? No wonder she kept telling me not to get any ideas about you."

She glanced at Shen Shuchou from head to toe, her tone laced with disdain: "But someone like you, I really wouldn't be interested in. Now you just stay put and wait for Shen Wanfu to come so she can take you away herself."

Shen Shuchou did not reply, but his gaze suddenly turned to the doorway, where a faint killing intent was quietly seeping in.

"Go into the room."

He said in a deep voice.

He could clearly sense that Xie Zhixia had no spiritual energy fluctuations within her body; she was just an ordinary person.

The murderous aura outside the door was clearly directed at him, and it even contained a rather powerful presence.

He didn't want unrelated people to get involved in this conflict.

"What do you mean?"

Xie Zhixia's face instantly showed displeasure, clearly dissatisfied with this sudden order.

But before she could finish speaking, the door was pushed open from the outside with a "bang," and two figures walked in one after the other.

The man walking in front was the same middle-aged man who had tried to persuade Shen Shuchou to take a ride at the airport.

Upon seeing these two people, Xie Zhixia's expression changed slightly, finally realizing that things were not simple.

"Who are you? Do you know where you are, or who I am?"

She forced herself to remain calm and questioned him in a cold voice.

"Hehe... We naturally know about the young lady of the Xie family in Yandu."

The middle-aged man wore a fake smile, but his eyes darted toward Shen Shuchou. "We're here to pick someone up from Miss Xie."

Xie Zhixia instantly understood who he was referring to, and her beautiful eyebrows furrowed tightly.

She was just helping Shen Wanfu pick someone up; she never expected to get into such trouble.

But after only a moment's hesitation, she took a step forward: "Since you know I'm from the Xie family, you should understand the Xie family's influence in Yandu. Now, get out of here."

"Hehe... Miss Xie, you're exaggerating."

The middle-aged man's smile remained unchanged, but his tone carried a hint of disdain.

"We're just here to pick up a 'friend,' not to harm Miss Xie. Even if the Xie family finds out, they probably won't be able to find anything wrong with us."

"roll!"

Xie Zhixia abruptly stubbed out her cigarette and reached out to grab Shen Shuchou, trying to pull him behind her.

"He's my friend now, Xie Zhixia, and nobody can touch him!"

But as soon as she took a step, an invisible force suddenly struck her, like a giant hand shoving hard into her chest.

Xie Zhixia gasped in surprise, her body falling backward uncontrollably and crashing heavily onto the sofa.

"Stop talking nonsense! Get to work and finish this quickly."

The young man next to the middle-aged man finally spoke, his voice as cold as ice.

He didn't take this Miss Xie seriously; for them, completing the mission was the priority.

"I'm sorry, Miss Xie."

The middle-aged man said this, then turned to Shen Shuchou, his face plastered with that fake smile again: "I said we're destined to meet again. Mr. Shen, you must have guessed who we are. You're just an ordinary person, so you'd better come with us to see someone, or you'll suffer unnecessary trouble."

"Who wants to see me?"

Shen Shuchou's gaze swept calmly over the two of them.

He could sense that these two were only at the peak of the Golden Core stage, and were nothing in his eyes.

What we really need to be wary of is the aura of a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator lurking outside the house. It's comparable to my current cultivation level, clearly a backup plan left by the other party.

"Hehe, you'll find out once you come with us."

The middle-aged man avoided answering.

Shen Shuchou pondered to himself: Perhaps he could feign agreement first and then make a plan after meeting the person behind the scenes.

But just as the thought crossed his mind, a noise suddenly came from behind him.

Suddenly, Xie Zhixia grabbed an empty wine bottle, her eyes red, and charged at the two men, yelling, "Get out of my place!"

Seeing this, the young man's eyes flashed with murderous intent. He didn't take this ordinary woman seriously at all. With a flick of his finger, a wisp of condensed true energy shot out, heading straight for Xie Zhixia's face.

Shen Shuchou was surprised to see that this seemingly cold woman would be so reckless.

If this true energy were to fall upon her, even if she didn't die, she would certainly suffer mental damage and become a cripple.

Almost without hesitation, Shen Shuchou stirred his aura, and an invisible force burst forth instantly, precisely shattering that wisp of true energy.

With a soft "bang," the aftershocks of the dissipated true energy caused the air to tremble slightly.

This sudden turn of events caused the expressions of the two people in front of them to change drastically.

The middle-aged man, in particular, instantly lost his fake smile, his eyes sharp as knives as he stared intently at Shen Shuchou: "You're actually a cultivator?"