Stepdaughter of a wealthy family? The little darling of a Beijing tycoon

Shen Jingshu's expression suddenly turned serious, and she spoke in a slow and deliberate tone: "This matter concerns you personally. What I'm about to say may completely overturn your understanding, so you'd better be mentally prepared."

Seeing her serious and solemn appearance, Bai Zhi's heart tightened. Her relaxed expression instantly became tense, and she subconsciously clenched her palms. However, she still bit her lip and nodded calmly: "I'm fine, Jing Shu. Just tell me, I'm listening."

Have you been feeling constantly tired, sleepy, and weak lately, even though you haven't done anything?

"Moreover, you can clearly feel that your body and mind are aging faster for no reason, and your condition is getting worse day by day."

"You secretly went to the hospital for a full set of tests, but all the results showed that you were healthy, your organs were fine, and they couldn't find any cause of illness, right?"

Every word accurately pinpointed all of Bai Zhi's abnormal conditions.

Bai Zhi's pupils dilated slightly, her face filled with disbelief and astonishment. She nodded repeatedly, her voice trembling slightly, "Yes! They all match!"

"I have never mentioned these things to anyone, not even my parents. I secretly went to the hospital for check-ups time and time again, but each time the results were unknown. I just assumed that I was physically weak and kept it a secret from everyone, afraid that my family would worry about me."

Even now, her thoughts and concerns are still all about her family.

Looking at her innocent, gentle, and utterly forbearing appearance, Shen Jingshu's eyes grew even colder, and her tone became increasingly icy: "Then do you know the root cause of why you've become like this?"

Bai Zhi shook her head blankly, a trace of fear flashing through her heart. She whispered, "Could it be... that I'm being haunted by some kind of evil spirit?"

"It's not the work of evil spirits." Shen Jingshu directly denied it, her words clear and hitting the truth. "You weren't possessed by an evil spirit, but rather someone deliberately stole your luck, depriving you of your vitality and longevity."

"What?!"

Bai Zhi shuddered, her face turning deathly pale. Her eyes were filled with disbelief, as if she had misheard: "Stealing fortune, depriving one of life? How could this be… Aren't a person's destiny and fortune predetermined from birth and accompany them throughout their life? How could someone else take it away?"

"You don't understand the ways of the Xuanmen," Shen Jingshu explained slowly. "Xuanmen magic is profound and unpredictable. For those who are truly skilled, transferring someone else's fortune or stealing another's blessings and lifespan is not difficult at all."

These few words completely shattered Bai Zhi's entire understanding of the world.

She felt a chill run through her body, a cold sweat creeping down her back. In an instant, she understood everything that had happened, her voice trembling: "So... someone stole my destiny and fortune, draining my entire life force?"

"Yes."

Bai Zhi's breathing quickened slightly. She immediately looked up at Shen Jing Shu, her eyes filled with urgency and helplessness: "Jing Shu, can you figure out who did this to me?"

"Okay." Shen Jingshu nodded. "Tell me your birth date and time."

Bai Zhi didn't dare to delay and immediately gave her accurate birth date and time.

Shen Jingshu focused her mind and calmed her spirit, lightly forming hand seals and chanting, deducing the trajectory of her destiny based on the Eight Characters. A moment later, she suddenly opened her third eye.

With her clear and transparent Heavenly Eye open, Bai Zhi's life from childhood to adulthood, the changes in her destiny, and the secret scenes of being secretly manipulated by others all turned into flowing silhouettes, flashing through her mind like a revolving lantern, revealing every detail clearly and without any omission.

A series of dark, sordid, and meticulously calculated truths are fully revealed.

As the Heavenly Eye closed, Shen Jingshu slowly withdrew her gaze. Her usually calm and composed eyes were now filled with turbulent emotions, her heart filled with horror and rage.

There are countless wicked schemes in the world, but this kind of insidious method, which involves eroding the fate of one's closest relatives, stealing their lives, and using them as stepping stones, is truly despicable and vicious!

A gentle evening breeze blew, and the terrace was completely silent, save for the faint sounds of noise coming from the banquet hall in the distance, which made the place seem even more desolate.

Shen Jingshu concealed the shock and anger in her eyes, raised her gaze to Bai Zhi, whose face was pale and body tense, and spoke the cruelest truth, word by word:

"The one who attacked you wasn't a stranger, it was your own family."

Bai Zhi's body trembled violently, she staggered half a step, her eyes instantly filled with confusion and despair, her voice trembling uncontrollably: "My...family? Impossible! How could it be them?"

She was a well-behaved and sensible child, filial to her parents and kind to her family. She never argued with anyone in her family, and even though they all favored her younger brother, she never said anything. How could her parents do such a vicious thing to her?

Seeing her incredulous expression, Shen Jingshu sighed inwardly and slowly revealed all the secrets she had gleaned through her Heavenly Eye:

"You are born with abundant blessings and a noble destiny. You are destined for wealth, longevity, and prosperity."

"Your Bai family has a shallow foundation and weak fortune, which cannot support the sudden rise of a wealthy family. The rapid wealth and entry into the upper class in just two years may seem glamorous, but in reality, it is all achieved by overdrawing your destiny."

Bai Zhi stood there blankly, her ears ringing, tears welling up in her eyes without warning: "This is what I got in return for overdrawing myself?"

"That's right." Shen Jingshu's tone was icy, each word piercing to the heart. "Your parents favored sons over daughters, and you have a younger brother, right?"

Bai Zhi nodded blankly.

"Your younger brother's fate is ordinary; a mediocre and unproductive life is his original trajectory. In order to change his fate and make him rich and powerful, and to make the Bai family rise overnight and gain both fame and fortune, your parents secretly sought out a master of evil arts and set up a vicious life-changing and life-locking array."

"They use you as a sacrifice, locking away your blessings, longevity, fortune, and vitality, drawing them out day after day and transferring them to your younger brother."

"You are becoming increasingly weak and listless, your spirit is declining, and you are aging rapidly, but no cause can be found. It's not that you're sick; it's that your good fortune is being drained, and your vitality is slowly slipping away!"

"And the Bai family's rapidly increasing wealth, connections, and opportunities over the past two years, as well as your brother's ever-improving fortune, studies, and future, were all forcibly taken from you!"

After hearing those words, Bai Zhi felt a chill run through her body, and her blood almost froze completely.

She always thought that her weak body was a problem of her constitution, and she always felt guilty for not being healthy enough. She was also always worried about her parents and was careful to accommodate her family in every way.

It turns out that all her illnesses, exhaustion, and decline were not fate's will, but a deadly cage that her closest relatives had set up for her!

They traded her good fortune, her lifespan, and her life for the wealth and honor of their entire family and the bright future of their younger brother.

She sacrificed her life to benefit the entire Bai family.

"Too cruel...too cruel..." Bai Zhi murmured to herself, tears streaming down her face. Her heart felt like it was being torn apart, the pain making it hard to breathe. "How could my closest family members be so heartless...I'm their child too..."

Nothing is colder than the human heart, and nothing is more poisonous than fratricide.

Seeing her break down in tears, Shen Jingshu's expression grew even colder: "That's not all."

"Once this formation is set up, it will backfire year by year. When your luck is completely drained and your life force is cut off, that will be the day you are exhausted and die young. At that time, your brother's fate will be completely stable, the Bai family's fortune will be unrestrained, and everyone will enjoy wealth and honor. Only you will suffer the fate of dying and your soul disappearing without a trace."

Bai Zhi trembled all over, despair engulfing her.

She lived for over twenty years, gentle and kind, and sincere to others. She never harmed anyone, but in the end, she was worn down to death by her own parents and younger brother, becoming a stepping stone for her family to reach the top.

The evening breeze on the terrace was biting cold, chilling her to the bone, and shattered the last vestiges of hope and warmth in her heart.