IMGH Chapter 68

The Will of Heaven Can Be Defied

Jiang Yi’s gloomy expression made Chen Yuhe deeply uneasy. She stammered, “I… I… we ran into each other by chance!”

Chen Yuhe’s expression was an obvious lie, and Jiang Yi was hardly someone who could be easily fooled. His face turned stern as he pressed her, “Ran into each other by chance? Explain yourself!”

Chen Yuhe lowered her head and twisted her fingers together, fidgeting and squirming for a long while without managing to get a single word out.

Seeing her like this, Jiang Yi had already guessed much of what had happened. His expression turned so cold it made one’s blood run chill. “Yuhe, is your old habit acting up again?”

Chen Yuhe was so ashamed she wanted to sink into the ground. She shrank into herself and mumbled defensively, “Don’t make it sound so awful. I just saw that magical instrument and thought it looked incredible, so I wanted to borrow it and play around with it for a few days.”

“That’s theft,” Jiang Yi said helplessly. This girl’s grasp of the law was so poor she might as well have been legally illiterate.

“It was borrowing — borrowing, alright! I never said I wouldn’t return it!” Chen Yuhe argued shamelessly.

“Where is it now?”

“It’s at home! You have no idea — I struck gold this time!” The moment magical instruments came up, Chen Yuhe’s eyes lit up and she launched into an enthusiastic explanation. “Jiang Yi, do you know about spirit-energy bullets? They can pierce through any barrier and can slay all demons and monsters!”

Jiang Yi waved his hand to cut off her lengthy speech. “Stop, stop! That’s not what we’re talking about right now. How exactly did you run into Han Yuancheng?”

Chen Yuhe’s excitement cooled in an instant. She looked at Jiang Yi carefully and said, “That day, I was being chased. In a panic, I jumped into his car!”

“Does he know your identity?”

“He… he knows my identity! He came looking for me again after that — on the very day the blind date was arranged. He said a friend of his was in trouble and wanted my help.”

Jiang Yi gestured for her to continue. Chen Yuhe went on, “I didn’t agree. I made up an excuse and got away!”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner that you’d run into Han Yuancheng!”

Chen Yuhe was deeply worried. Her small mistake could very well jeopardize the entire plan.

After a moment of silence, Jiang Yi said, “It’s fine. He won’t be able to find anything.”

“But…” Chen Yuhe started to speak and then held back, her instincts telling her that something bad was about to happen.

“It’s fine! You’ve been in close contact with me — sooner or later they would have grown suspicious anyway.” Jiang Yi tapped his chin lightly with his finger, thinking it over. “You don’t need to worry about this. At this meeting, I’ll dispel their suspicions one by one.”

Though Jiang Yi sounded completely confident, a few inexplicable flickers of dread still rose in Chen Yuhe’s heart.

“Little girl, behave yourself lately,” Jiang Yi said, his expression darkening as he warned Chen Yuhe. “You’d better kick that old habit of yours as soon as possible. If I ever find out you’ve stolen again, I’ll put righteousness above family ties and hand you over to the Taoist Association to be disciplined!”

“No, please!” Chen Yuhe wailed, grabbing onto Jiang Yi’s sleeve and pleading, “Jiang Yi, you can’t be so heartless!”

“Who told you to keep repeating the same mistakes — you won’t shed a tear until you see the coffin!” Jiang Yi pulled his sleeve back and gave Chen Yuhe a cold sidelong glance.

(TL: 不見棺材不掉淚 ‘won’t shed a tear until you see the coffin’=won’t give up until faced with the worst outcome (very stubborn, only regrets when it’s too late))

Chen Yuhe pouted, nodding aggrievedly. “I understand. I’ll never steal again.”

Jiang Yi held back a smile and handed her the dish he had just finished cooking. “Alright, stop standing around here. Take this out to the living room.”

Chen Yuhe obediently took it and turned to walk toward the living room.

The moment she left, the previously composed Jiang Yi’s expression turned grave and somber. He reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a red slip of paper, slowly unfolding it to reveal the large characters written in deep black ink.

“Chiseling stone and dredging rivers — all effort wasted in vain; fine gold and beautiful jade — none to be gained. Mountains and rivers stretch ten thousand li along a rugged road; through life and death one must journey to the four corners of the land.”

This was none other than the fortune slip he had drawn at the City God Temple that day. He had always believed that his fate should be in his own hands, and so he had naturally dismissed the slip’s message as nonsense. But today, from the emotions that Chen Yuhe had been straining so hard to conceal, Jiang Yi had keenly sensed that something was off.

Could it truly be as the fortune slip foretold — that everything he sought would ultimately amount to nothing but an empty dream?

Jiang Yi’s eyes narrowed slightly. The darkness within them seemed like deep-sea waves capable of stirring up a raging storm — yet before long, the churning black tide gradually stilled.

He slowly clenched his fist, the red slip of paper crumpling into a ball.

Who said one’s fate could not be rewritten? Who said the will of Heaven could not be defied? Whatever he wanted to obtain, he would stop at nothing to get it — even if it meant destroying the heavens and shattering the earth.