Michelle's face turned deathly pale in that instant.
She didn't know how to explain things to her mother.
She glanced at Duan Chen with some hesitation, as if hoping he would explain for her, looking as pitiful as a little rabbit.
However, as her mother, Zhong Yu knew her best and wouldn't be deceived by such a facade.
Zhong Yu didn't trouble Duan Chen.
Instead, she looked at Michelle sitting beside her with a serious expression, tightening her grip on Michelle's hand slightly.
"Xue'er, tell Mommy, who is Mi Le? Don't think about lying to me! I can feel the unusual fluctuation in your mood when this name is mentioned."
Duan Chen looked at Zhong Yu with some surprise, not expecting her to be so perceptive.
Perhaps this was the sensitivity a mother had for her child.
Michelle struggled in vain and finally revealed everything.
Zhong Yu remained silent for a very long time. Michelle thought her mother had been dealt a severe blow and had just opened her mouth to comfort her when she suddenly heard a cold laugh.
"As expected of him! He always has a backup plan in everything he does. I knew it, why did the initial check say it was twins, and then he suddenly fell silent, and when he checked again, he told me there was only one daughter."
Many memories from the past resurfaced at this moment.
Zhong Yu couldn't help but think of her husband's unusual behavior back then.
"Brother Duan Chen, does this pocket watch hold any secrets?"
While her mother was reminiscing about the past, Michelle couldn't hold back her curiosity and asked Duan Chen about the secret of the pocket watch in her hand.
Duan Chen merely glanced at the pocket watch in Michelle's hand and spoke a few words.
Not only Michelle but also Zhong Yu, hearing what Duan Chen said, were greatly astonished.
"It contains a cultivation technique. You can understand it as a cultivation technique, a method, or the kind of skill transfer you read about in martial arts novels."
"When the time is right, you should be able to comprehend it. However, it is restricted by bloodline. Only those who are recognized by the bloodline owner can learn the technique passed down from it."
"Did Dad leave it..."
Michelle's eyes became distant.
She bit her lip, looked up at Duan Chen, and asked, "But Brother Duan Chen, didn't you agree to Mi Le's condition?"
Duan Chen shook his head and spoke to comfort her, a doting smile on his lips.
"Silly girl, don't worry about it. I'll handle it. You just need to know that you are safe now, and there will be no danger."
He said it with utmost certainty.
Michelle instinctively believed him.
Looking at Duan Chen's figure, her eyes sparkled with a pinkish light.
Brother Duan Chen always seemed so trustworthy, never disappointing anyone.
Her face flushed slightly, and then she heard Duan Chen's farewell.
"Alright, since you are safe, I need to go back and handle matters for the Spirit Hunter Guild. So much has happened recently, and there are still many things waiting for me."
Although Michelle felt a pang of reluctance, she also knew that Duan Chen was always busy and couldn't be held back by her own feelings.
So she nodded with regret and stood up, seeing Duan Chen off at the door.
After Duan Chen left and reached the underground parking lot, as he got into his car, he was still thinking about the sword technique he had glimpsed earlier.
It was a sword technique of immense power, making it imaginable how formidable Michelle's father must have been.
What could have caused such a person to abandon his wife and daughter—oh, wait, there might have been a son, though its authenticity was uncertain—and disappear without a trace?
Mulling over this matter, Duan Chen pursed his lips slightly and pushed the thought away.
His current concern was not that, but the curse Mi Le had placed on him and Michelle.
Mi Le probably never imagined that someone could replicate another person's talent and abilities!
Sitting in the car, before it started, Duan Chen closed his eyes slightly, sensing the non-existent virtual space.
He raised his hand, his fingers dancing in the air, making a gentle grasping motion.
His brow furrowed tighter and tighter, a faint cold sweat beading on his forehead.
After all, this was the first time he was using a cultivation technique he had just replicated and hadn't yet mastered.
Relying on his own understanding, he searched within this virtual space.
When he was replicating Mi Le's abilities, he discovered that Mi Le's abilities would continuously store parchment at set intervals in a special location.
With the enhancement of psychic energy, these transformed parchments could be imbued with power.
When needed, they could be directly retrieved for use.
What he was looking for were the used parchments.
The energy was the same, and the abilities were the same.
He naturally had the ability to find Mi Le's storage space.
Duan Chen's eyes snapped open in the car, a glint of joy flashing within them.
Two parchments were held between his hands.
One was the parchment from Michelle, and the other was the parchment personally signed by Duan Chen.
A slight smile curved his lips.
He applied a little force with his hands.
Although he was not the creator or signatory of these two parchments, possessing the same abilities, it was easy for him to destroy them.
It only required expending some spiritual energy.
And now, they were not in that village, where spiritual energy could be replenished, so Duan Chen felt no regret. Watching the two pieces of paper turn to ash in his hands, Duan Chen's heart finally felt at ease.
The cultivation technique on the pocket watch was of utmost importance and must not fall into the hands of heretics.
For Michelle to obtain it was only natural.
The only child recognized by Mi Jun so far was Michelle.
After resolving matters here, he drove to the Su City Spirit Hunter Guild branch, preparing to deal with the events that might unfold.
The sudden appearance of Mi Le had brought a sense of unease to his heart.
The other party would definitely not give up, meaning a storm was brewing.
However, no matter what happened, Duan Chen had his own means to deal with it.
A sharp glint flashed in his eyes.