Chapter 606 - 188: Death Qi
The eyebrows and eyes still resemble the look of Lu Xiuting from a few days ago, and one can see some similarities with Lu Sisi.
But the appearance value somehow fell short by a few points.
The person providing the report didn’t notice this, given that it was a photo from more than twenty years ago. At that time, beauty filters, makeup, and photography skills were far from what modern society could offer. In that high school photo, Lu Xiuting’s appearance seemed at most a six out of ten, hardly drawing any strange reactions.
But Chen Yan felt something was off!
Because the second photo was of Lu Xiuting during her internship at Yang Jiaming’s company after graduation.
In this photo, Lu Xiuting’s facial features and outlines were still there, but her appearance value had vastly improved!
It wasn’t due to plastic surgery or cosmetic treatments; it was as if her appearance had suddenly transformed.
The ugly duckling turned into a swan.
The just-graduated Lu Xiuting, her photo exuded youthfulness. That face, so similar to Lu Sisi, had a high appearance value—no wonder that Hong Kong guy, Yang Jiaming, was instantly captivated by her.
But Chen Yan saw that this was by no means the transformation due to beauty technology or photography or makeup techniques! Nor was it the result of cosmetic treatments.
Because... the third photo in the file showed Lu Xiuting after giving birth to Lu Sisi, and her appearance value declined again.
It wasn’t the kind of aging that happens to women after childbirth, but as if her entire appearance value, including her aura and Essence, Qi, and Spirit, had all of a sudden been vastly reduced.
Chen Yan touched his nose.
The first photo from Lu Xiuting’s high school days rated her appearance between five and six.
The second photo during her internship placed her appearance close to nine.
The third photo of Lu Xiuting after giving birth to Lu Sisi saw her appearance dropping to around six or seven.
Chen Yan recalled seeing Lu Xiuting in the restaurant a few days prior. At forty-one, Lu Xiuting seemed to have maintained herself well—but it was due to skincare and beauty technology, the life of a well-kept rich lady.
Yet her appearance was still far from her peak, looking merely around six or seven.
And another aspect of the report that piqued Chen Yan’s interest was the background of Lu Xiuting.
Actually, Lu Sisi had mentioned her family situation to Chen Yan before, mainly focusing on Yang Jiaming’s side of things. Regarding her mother, Lu Xiuting, Lu Sisi didn’t say much—because there wasn’t much to say.
Lu Sisi claimed that her mother Lu Xiuting had barely any family left. Her parents, whom Lu Xiuting referred to as her grandparents, passed away early. And Lu Xiuting had no siblings; perhaps there were some distant relatives, but they weren’t in Jinling Prefecture, so they hadn’t been in contact for years—in fact, as a child who wasn’t favored at home, Lu Sisi didn’t know much more.
But the investigation report stated;
Lu Xiuting’s mother died young from illness.
Her father, when she was a girl, died from severe injury, suddenly! The cause of death was unclear!
And she actually had a cousin who had served eight years in prison. After release, his whereabouts were unknown.
This last detail made Chen Yan’s eyes flicker with a trace of an unusual gleam.
The inexplicable Death Qi surrounding Lu Xiuting seemed to have a source now!
·
The day after obtaining this investigation report, Chen Yan went out alone, driving to Hengxi located in the southern suburbs of Jinling Prefecture.
After leaving the highway onto a rural road, Chen Yan followed the navigation, spending some effort to finally find a village east of a reservoir.
This was Lu Xiuting’s old home.
Parking the car at the village entrance, Chen Yan strolled into the village with a relaxed air, buying a pack of cigarettes and a bottle of iced cola from a small shop at the east end. Pretending to smoke at the shop entrance, he crouched down to play with the shopkeeper’s large yellow dog.
Casually, Chen Yan chatted a bit with a middle-aged fat lady at the shop.
In view of Chen Yan buying two packs of Chunghwa cigarettes, the middle-aged fat shopkeeper lady became talkative.
"The Lu Family, huh? There are no more Lu Family members in the village. The Lu Family’s daughter was my classmate in primary school back then. She later went to the city for college and reportedly married a wealthy big boss, enjoying life in the city. She hasn’t returned in many years."
Chen Yan smiled: "Marrying a wealthy big boss, isn’t that pretty good?"
"Good, oh yes, very good." The shopkeeper lady obviously rolled her eyes, pouting: "The heavens really have no eyes. Despite all the unscrupulous things that family did, the daughter still managed to marry well, tsk!"
Chen Yan smiled again, casually taking the most expensive ice cream from the freezer: "Add it to my tab."
He feigned eating the ice cream and asked casually: "Why do you say the heavens have no eyes? What unscrupulous things did they do?"
Perhaps because Chen Yan bought another pricey ice cream, the shopkeeper lady was quite pleased. Moreover, the Lu Family were extinct in the village, so she had no reservations. She pouted, lowered her voice, and said: "I’ll tell you, this family did disgraceful business! They dealt in flipping soil!"
"Flipping soil?" Chen Yan pretended not to understand: "What do you mean?"
"That is, going up mountains, digging graves! Excavating ancient graves, old graves, and then selling off treasures, antiques, and such that they found.
Would you say doing this is unscrupulous? Digging up people’s ancestral graves and engaging in such things, wouldn’t you say the heavens have no eyes?
Later, some died, some were arrested, and the family just fell apart like that."
Chen Yan nodded.
Lu Xiuting’s cousin, who served eight years in prison, was indeed recorded in the investigation report as having been charged with trafficking cultural relics.
The report stated he was sentenced to ten years, but eventually it seemed due to good behavior in prison and possibly some merit, reductions here and there led to him serving eight years before being released.