After hearing this, everyone knew that if Yu Lin did not have something she could not reveal to others, she would not have fled like that.

Since she ran away, she must be hiding something shameful that she could not let them see.

For a moment, everyone fell silent.

Only Xiao Shou hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Just now, in Fellow Daoist Yu’s blood mist projection, I saw a mist image forming a talisman. It looked very similar to something I once saw in an ancient text. It was described as an ancient technique that’s now lost called the Slave Servant Talisman. The book said it can turn a person into the puppet of the talisman’s master and completely controlled at will, unable to decide life or death for themselves."

After saying this, he glanced subtly at Chi Jia and Xiao Ran within the sword net.

Originally, he had thought Chi Jia was just like what was written in the book Longevity Love, a foolish man blinded by beauty who would commit various wrong deeds.

After Xiao Ran’s rebirth, his downfall in the story seemed like deserved retribution.

However, the blood mist just now had exposed everyone’s inner thoughts and Chi Jia’s mind contained only swords.

When Xiao Ran attacked Yu Lin and forced her to flee, he only asked a single question about whether it would affect their movement.

His reaction did not seem like he cared much.

Xiao Shou suddenly felt something was wrong.

In the original story, it was written that not long after her rebirth, Xiao Ran discovered that Yu Lin had been subtly telling Chi Jia that Xiao Ran had feelings for him.

Yu Lin also hinted that the cultivation techniques that Xiao Ran cultivated were highly effective for dual cultivation.

Because of this, Chi Jia had repeatedly approached Xiao Ran.

After Xiao Ran understood this, she instead pretended not to notice Chi Jia nearby and casually mentioned to others that Yu Lin had a twisted personality, acting like she liked someone but using another person’s name to get close instead.

After that, Chi Jia stopped approaching Xiao Ran and instead grew closer to Yu Lin.

Meanwhile, Xiao Ran herself kept pretending in front of Yu Lin that she cared about Chi Jia.

Xiao Shou had originally thought everything would unfold exactly as in the original story, especially regarding personality traits and moral behavior.

Even if there were changes, they should only be butterfly effects caused by his arrival.

However, just now, while enduring discomfort and extending his divine sense, he clearly saw something formed from Yu Lin’s blood mist.

It was extremely similar to the Slave Servant Talisman from a broken ancient talisman compendium that Young’er had brought back several years ago.

That thing was even more cruel than a slave contract.

It controlled life and death, preserving a person’s consciousness and cultivation while turning them into a puppet that could only obey their master.

Seeing this kind of talisman projection and recalling that Yu Lin had even dared to reveal her transmigrator identity in front of Chi Jia at the beginning.

The other people were just characters in a book.

And the claim that Chi Jia would die for her, compared with the current reality where Chi Jia’s mind contained only the sword, made Xiao Shou suddenly have a thought.

Perhaps in the previous life before Xiao Ran’s rebirth, Chi Jia had been completely controlled by that kind of talisman.

That was why Yu Lin had dared to openly reveal her true nature, personality, and origin without restraint.

At least from a woman’s perspective, Xiao Shou understood this very well.

Except for those with unusual personalities or lacking sense, most women would try to present their best side in front of any man they were interested in, while hiding their flaws.

So if Yu Lin had not treated Chi Jia as a complete human being, how could she have shown such shameless and vile behavior in front of him without any concern?

That suggested that in the original story, after Xiao Ran’s rebirth, Chi Jia might still have been hit by the Slave Servant Talisman under Xiao Ran’s misdirection and eventually became a disposable pawn.

And after his transmigration, in order to escape that fate, Xiao Shou had hinted to Yu Lin that Xiao Ran might have problems.

That may have unintentionally helped Chi Jia avoid disaster.

Thinking of this possibility, Xiao Shou felt a brief moment of sympathy for Chi Jia.

A perfectly good main male lead in Yu Lin’s version of the original story had been ruined by her manipulation.

Then he looked at the man in front of him who only had swords in his mind with his eyes shining as he shattered countless blood mist sword shadows, and thought of how this person, like in the original storyline, might end up as cannon fodder despite doing nothing wrong.

That fleeting sense of sympathy made him unable to hold back and speak up, hoping that Xiao Ran would think more deeply about it and perhaps change something.

Something so obvious even his own simple mind could think of.

The moment he mentioned the Slave Servant Talisman, Xiao Ran immediately recalled earlier doubts.

Her expression changed drastically.

She glanced at Chi Jia with a complicated look, then suddenly ignored everything else and flew toward the direction where Yu Lin had disappeared.

In an instant, she vanished, leaving only her voice echoing through the blood colored space.

"I will go bring Senior Sister Yu back."

I need to see whether she really has that kind of talisman.

I need to search her soul completely and find out her true intentions.

I need to know whether Chi Jia really did... really did...

Countless thoughts flashed through Xiao Ran’s mind.

Then she suddenly paused mid-flight.

If Chi Jia had not betrayed or used her, but instead had been manipulated by Yu Lin...

What would she do then?

That question made her body hesitate for a moment.

But only for a moment.

She immediately continued forward.