Chen Xiao was sent flying backward, his entire being stunned.
Although he had been caught completely off guard, it was by no means an easy feat to send him flying.
The most crucial question was, how could Li Ziqing possess such immense energy within her body?
"Chen Xiao, are you alright?"
Seeing Chen Xiao propelled away, Li Ziqing was instantly dumbfounded. She had no idea what had happened.
"Was that power you just emitted?"
Chen Xiao asked incredulously.
"Yes."
Li Ziqing nodded. "But I don't know what's going on. A power inexplicably erupted from within me."
"Let me take a look for you."
Chen Xiao realized that the situation was not simple. It seemed something was hidden within Li Ziqing's body.
He probed her body with his divine sense, but found nothing.
"Could it be that it only appears under specific circumstances?"
With this doubt, Chen Xiao took Li Ziqing's hand again, slowly channeling spiritual energy into her meridians while continuing to scan her body with his divine sense.
Suddenly, Li Ziqing's body erupted in golden light!
A tremendous surge of energy burst forth once more. This time, Chen Xiao was prepared and withstood the energy, not being sent flying again.
He also managed to capture a glimpse of the entity within Li Ziqing's body.
Though it was as fleeting as a mayfly, appearing for only an instant, Chen Xiao saw it clearly.
It was an entire tapestry of dense, tadpole-like runes, spread throughout all of Li Ziqing's meridians, leaving no fine or short branch untouched.
As the golden light flashed, the runes appeared within Li Ziqing's meridians, and simultaneously, the immense power erupted.
As the golden light faded, the runes also vanished, disappearing without a trace.
Such strange runes, such a peculiar way of existence, were utterly unknown to Chen Xiao.
For a moment, Chen Xiao fell into deep thought.
"Husband? What's wrong? Am I going to be okay? Don't scare me..."
Seeing Chen Xiao's demeanor, Li Ziqing became instantly nervous and frightened.
Chen Xiao shook his head.
Li Ziqing breathed a sigh of relief and patted her chest. "It's good that you're okay, it's good that you're okay..."
Chen Xiao shook his head again. "Wife, my shaking my head doesn't mean you're fine. It means I don't know if you'll be alright."
"Ah?"
Li Ziqing looked as if she had seen a ghost. "Even you don't know? Husband, are you joking with me?"
In her eyes, Chen Xiao was omnipotent.
Yet now, facing the situation within her body, Chen Xiao said he didn't know. She was terrified.
Chen Xiao comforted her, "But wife, you don't need to be afraid. The thing inside you has likely been with you for a long time. Since you were fine before, you probably won't have any problems in the future. And I will definitely find a way to figure out what exactly is inside you."
Despite Chen Xiao's words, Li Ziqing's mind was in turmoil.
She hugged Chen Xiao, her voice trembling, "Husband, I'm scared. What did you find inside me?"
"It's a set of runes."
Chen Xiao did not hide it from Li Ziqing. "When I channeled spiritual energy into your meridians, that set of runes appeared... I've never heard of such a situation."
Hearing this, Li Ziqing was even more bewildered. "Runes? How could there be something like that in my body?"
At this moment, Chen Xiao suddenly remembered something.
"Wife, do you remember, when we first met, you said an unorthodox master told you that you had a solitary fate and couldn't be intimate with men? I examined you then and found only a Gu worm in your body."
"I've already removed that Gu worm, but I always feel there's a connection between that and the runes in your body. Do you know who that unorthodox master was?"
Li Ziqing shook her head again. "I don't know..."
After a pause, she suddenly added, "But I think someone might know."
"Who?"
Chen Xiao immediately asked.
Li Ziqing gritted her teeth fiercely. "My father's eldest brother and third brother. They might know."
Chen Xiao's brow furrowed slightly. "That would be your paternal uncle and third uncle? Why have I never heard you mention them before?"
Li Ziqing sneered. "They are not my uncle and third uncle. I have no relation to them, not anymore!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Xiao immediately understood. This was another entanglement of grievances.
Li Ziqing looked at Chen Xiao and said softly, "Husband, you must be very curious about what grievances I have with the five great families of the Imperial City, right?"
Chen Xiao nodded. He respected Li Ziqing, so he had never asked before.
Li Ziqing fell silent for a moment, as if lost in distant memories. Then she spoke, "Actually, when I was very young, our Li family had a very glorious period in the Imperial City."
"My father single-handedly brought the Li family to a height it didn't originally belong to. Even in a place like the Imperial City, where talents emerged in droves, my father was momentarily unrivaled, associating with the elite and nobility."
"Later, by chance, my father saved Wang Yanhui's life. Wang Yanhui then became sworn brothers with my father, and from then on, my father's prominence grew even greater."
"Our Li family even became second only to the five great families in the Imperial City... Oh, right, you might not have heard of Wang Yanhui. He was the young master of the Wang family at the time, the legitimate heir to the patriarch's position."
Hearing this, Chen Xiao couldn't help but secretly admire his father-in-law's capabilities.
However, Li Ziqing's tone suddenly shifted.
"But no one expected that this event would be the beginning of a nightmare. It turned out that Wang Yanhui befriended my father only because he had taken a liking to my mother."
"Not long after, Wang Yanhui revealed his true colors. While my father was away, he attempted to assault my mother. Fortunately, my father returned in time and stopped his beastly act."
"In a fit of rage, my father crippled Wang Yanhui... and then, our family faced the furious retaliation of the five great families."
"An arm cannot twist a thigh. Our family of three soon lived a life of constant hiding and fleeing."
"It was then that my father's eldest brother and third brother publicly declared they had severed all ties with my father, and in fact, they did just that... They took advantage of our misfortune, plundered and embezzled our family's assets, and repeatedly betrayed my father, revealing my father's hiding places to the five great families."
"Fortunately, my father was vigilant enough to evade their pursuit several times, braving dangers and escaping to Wei City to seek refuge with my maternal grandfather. You know what happened later; my maternal grandfather also betrayed them..."