Unusual Fate Records

Chapter 376, Section 068: Master and Servant
Back room.

Chen Xingtong looked at the old butler with a resentful expression, her face dark and silent.

Grandpa Hanaoka looked helpless and said with a wry smile, "Miss, didn't we agree to talk nicely?"

"He was the one who started by putting on airs and acting all high and mighty."

Chen Xingtong snorted.

“This… He is the head of the family, and he has the dignity of a family head. Miss knows that Master is not usually like this.”

"I was just furious when I heard it," Chen Xingtong said stubbornly.

Mr. Hanaoka remained noncommittal, believing that family reveals a person's most authentic self, and for them, this way of getting along might be more comfortable and natural than hiding their feelings from each other.

“I watched the head of the family grow up since he was a child. In some ways, his personality is very similar to yours, which is why An Ran treated you like her own daughter after that incident.”

"Which one?" Chen Xingtong raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm..." Old Master Hanaoka pondered for a moment, his eyes showing a thoughtful expression.

"Fine, I might as well tell you."

Chen Xingtong, playing the straight man, teased, "Quite mysterious."

“Miss Chen… don’t you find it strange that you’re here with my young lady?” The old butler was clearly not used to changing his address.

"Ok?"

"Do you remember what happened to my young lady before this?"

Chen Xingtong's heart skipped a beat, and she thought for a moment, "You said we were attacked by thugs, the murderer killed Madam Qi, and I was the only survivor..."

"Yes." The old butler nodded.

"But why am I here?"

“You were probably in the form of a wandering spirit at the time, entering my young lady’s empty shell, so you slowly regained consciousness and took over this body,” Hanaoka said.

"How do you know? Wait, an empty shell?" Chen Xingtong's eyes flickered repeatedly.

“Yes.” Hanaoka’s expression turned somewhat melancholy as he said, “My young lady actually died in an incident several years ago.”

"An evil destiny resides within her. Back then, that destiny used her as a host to heal her wounds, and at the same time, it used her to regain her power."

"That oracle is called 'mutual destruction,' and it is most adept at using negative human emotions to turn even the closest of friends into mortal enemies."

The old butler sighed slightly as he said this: "The master's wife was bitten to death by the original young lady."

Chen Xingtong was somewhat incredulous, but the word "bite" made her feel extremely disgusted.

"When we discovered it, the young lady's soul had already been completely devoured by [mutual slaughter], so the head of the family instructed me to make this evil omen disappear from the world completely."

Grandpa Hanaoka pondered for a moment and said, "It was after this incident that the head of the family aged a lot. He stared at Miss Chen's body for a long time in a daze. But before he could do anything, Miss Chen, you started moving."

The old butler looked at Chen Xingtong with a smile in his eyes: "When you first woke up, your eyes were all blurry, and you were so startled. We found it funny to watch. Your eyes seemed to be rolling around. Were you trying to hide something or make up an excuse? Anyway, we'll just play along with you."

Chen Xingtong's face burned; she hadn't expected that she would be exposed the moment she arrived in this world.

Looking back now, how could my little bit of cleverness have possibly fooled those old guys?

She finally realized how many father-daughter games Qi Tongli had played with her over the years, and now that she thought about it, she realized that she was the clown.

Thinking of this, she felt embarrassed. She glared at the old butler, wanting to vent her anger but having no reason to do so.

"So in your eyes, this is just a game, a father-daughter game to kill time when you're bored?"

"Maybe." Hanaoka shrugged, his expression indifferent. "Games are addictive because they bring joy."

Chen Xingtong was speechless with anger.

"They're all a bunch of old foxes."

She scoffed indignantly.

"Miss, you're not bad either," the old man teased.

"At the beginning, you were always sneaking around in order to get information. If it weren't for you, sir, I would have thought you were a spy from somewhere."

Chen Xingtong was completely numb.

My little tricks were completely exposed to them.

"Then why don't you kill me?" Chen Xingtong retorted, her neck stiff and her eyes wide with a defiant look.

The old butler smiled but offered no explanation.

"The head of the family said he believes in you."

The old man with gray hair combed back, his short mustache twitched as he spoke, and a subtle, distant smile played beneath his two white, sword-like eyebrows.

“I remember, at that time, his blank eyes slowly regained focus, just as you were waking up from this body, he was just quietly looking at you.”

"Still motionless, eyes fixed."

Chen Xingtong felt inexplicably irritated and interrupted him: "Stop being so wishy-washy and let me go right now."

“I can’t do it without the head of the family’s order,” Old Master Hanaoka said calmly.

Suddenly, his expression changed drastically.

Almost instantly, the old butler's body, hidden beneath his well-tailored suit, resembled a giant black hole, its gravity slightly distorting all the light and space around him.

But it quickly returned to normal.

Chen Xingtong's arrogant words choked on her lips.

This oppressive aura appeared only briefly, and for a moment, she thought she was being twisted and exploded by the compressed air.

My heart seemed to stop for a few breaths, and only after the pressure subsided did I belatedly realize that it was pounding wildly.

This is definitely an ancient monster that has lived for hundreds of years!

The smile on Hanaoka's face slowly froze, leaving only a cold and stern expression.

“Miss, now is not the time to be willful. The head of the family is also in danger.”

"I am a servant of the Qi family, and I must also protect the life of the head of the family. I have already set up my 'field' here. As long as you don't go out, someone will come to pick you up after the storm is over."

"Wait a minute," Chen Xingtong stopped her. "Come with me. I also have people to save."

She seemed to have forgotten the vast difference in their social standing, meeting his gaze without flinching or avoiding it.

Butler Hanaoka looked her in the eye, paused, and after a long while, said:
“If you can break my ‘field’ while I’m here, I will no longer interfere with your freedom.”

Having said that, the old butler bowed deeply once more, and when he raised his head, his eyes had become extremely solemn:

"Miss, take care."

As soon as he finished speaking, strange phenomena began to appear around the elderly man in a suit and slicked-back hair.

Countless twinkling starlight spread out from him as the center, evenly distributed and rotating automatically. As the starlight became dazzling and active, the background behind the old man also began to distort, like watercolors being stirred and kneaded into a mess.

Chen Xingtong was startled, but quickly, before she could react, the distorted light and shadow reversed and returned to normal, and the old man's figure had disappeared.

The house fell silent.

She came to her senses and looked around the unfamiliar guesthouse.

The old housekeeper once said that he had set up a "field" here.

Chen Xingtong didn't understand what "field" meant.

But there's definitely someone who knows.

Chen Xingtong glanced around at the layout and decorations, seemingly casually, and asked:

"Hey, are you still there?"

(End of this chapter)