Die Faust zerschmettert alle Himmel und unzählige Welten

Kapitel 97

Feng Ning slowly released her grip. The woman took a step back, then suddenly peered into the alley from the corner of the wall and said to Feng Ning, "Come with me."

Feng Ning seemed to be under a spell and actually went with her. The two turned three or four corners and entered a small house. The house was simply furnished with a small bed, a table and a desk, and a small cabinet against the wall. Although the items were different, Feng Ning vaguely felt as if she were seeing the house in the secluded corner of the Long family's courtyard.

"Who exactly are you?" Feng Ning asked first.

"I am Feng Ning, and who are you?" the woman who called herself Feng Ning said with certainty.

"I am Feng Ning." Feng Ning felt extremely dizzy and leaned on a chair to sit down.

The woman stood there, looked at her, and said, "The man you were following just now is called Lan Hu. He is Bao'er's biological father. Bao'er has a cinnabar birthmark on her butt. I haven't seen it since I gave birth to her, so this is the only thing I remember."

Feng Ning's eyes widened, and for a moment she felt like she couldn't breathe. She struggled to say, "Don't lie to me. Did Mother tell you? Of course she would know about Bao'er's mole."

The woman sat down as well: "Are you really forgetful? Don't you remember who you are? So you just accept whatever others tell you to be?"

Feng Ning felt a cold sweat break out, but she still said, "I am Feng Ning, Long San would not lie to me."

"Long San." The woman repeated the title, smiling bitterly, "I've been married for three years, and I still only call him Third Master, and Second Master. They always have that mocking and sarcastic look in their eyes. As for Master Long, it goes without saying. He looks at everyone as if they're his enemy. I try my best to please him, but no one likes me."

Feng Ning sat stiffly, recalling the scene when she first woke up in the Long family. She listened as the woman continued, "The Long family has never treated me like a daughter-in-law. But that's true, I didn't marry into the family to be their daughter-in-law. You must know about the feud between the dragon and the phoenix. My mother sent me to steal the treasure, but the Long family was on guard at every turn. With my strength, plus the maids who came with me, how could I possibly succeed? But my mother refused to give up, so I just lived one day at a time until I met Lan Hu."

Feng Ning stared at her, and she looked back at Feng Ning: "Lan Hu is very funny and considerate. I accidentally revealed my affairs with the Long family, and he said he could help me. At that time, I had been lonely for too long, and I fell in love with him. So we discussed how to cooperate to steal the treasure."

Feng Ning recalled that dark night, the icy river water, the damp riverbank, and the man who asked her, "Where is the thing?" It was as if her memory overlapped with her own, as if the same person had been split in two, one half was her, and the other half was her, with the same appearance and voice. But what had happened? How could this be?

The woman's thoughts weren't as scattered as Feng Ning's. She continued talking about her relationship with Lan Hu: "But I gradually realized that Lan Hu cared more about the treasure-stealing than about me. I was pregnant and didn't dare stay at the Long residence, so I went back to my parents' home and secretly gave birth to Bao'er. I wanted to tell him when I came back, but the first thing he said to me was to blame me. He blamed me for having such an important matter that I had to leave for so long, and that the treasure-related matters had been delayed. I suddenly wasn't sure if I should tell him about the child. During that time, I stayed home as little as possible, afraid that the Long family would find out about the child, and also afraid that he would find out. But later he treated me very well, and I eventually believed him. I didn't want to give the treasure to my parents anymore. I promised Lan Hu that I would give it to him after the treasure was stolen."

The woman paused, as if recalling something, and continued, "So that day, I finally stole that little box. I ran all the way to the Liang River, sat in the woods and waited. It was a cold night, and as I looked at the moon, I suddenly felt very uncertain. What would I do if I handed over the box? I remembered that Lan Hu had never agreed to take me away. If he didn't want me anymore, I couldn't go back to the Long family, and I couldn't explain it to my parents. I even have a daughter. So I got scared. I took the box and secretly left. I wanted to find a place to settle down first, think things through, and then go back to Lan Hu. Anyway, the box was in my hands; I had leverage."

Feng Ning closed her eyes, and Lan Hu's voice echoed in her mind again: "Where are the things?" He really only wanted the things and had no intention of saving her.

Feng Ning gritted her teeth and replied, "Even if I lost my memory, I could still make up these things." Long San was hers, Bao'er was hers, and she wouldn't give up either of them.

The woman thought for a moment and said, "Then ask me. Pick something that neither Lan Hu nor my mother knows and ask me. If I can answer it, will you believe me?"

Feng Ning glared at her and asked another question: "Why has Lan Hu tried to kill me time and time again?"

“I went to see him later, and he found out that the things were fake. Then, of course, he also found out that the injured woman he saw by the river that night was not me. He wanted me to go back to the Dragon Mansion to help him, so he had to get rid of you.”

"Then why don't you show up? If you can prove I'm fake, why don't you come directly to the Dragon Mansion to expose me?"

The woman's eyes revealed disgust: "I don't want to stay in that place for another second."

Feng Ning replied, "That's the happiest place I've ever been in my life."

They looked at each other, seemingly trying to understand each other's feelings. After a while, the woman asked, "You really don't remember anything? Where did you come from? Who are you?"

Feng Ning also asked, "What's in the dressing box in my room?"

"So you discovered it too." The woman smiled slightly and answered confidently, "In the bottommost compartment, there are some colorful silk ropes and a map." She paused, "This is something that neither Mother nor Blue Tiger knew about. Nobody knew except me."

Feng Ning stared blankly at her, feeling a mix of emotions. She was still struggling with the question: "Then what are you doing here? And what is Lan Hu doing here?"

"Lan Hu initially wanted me to return to the Long family, but I refused no matter what. He couldn't force me any further, so he led a group to the Long mansion to steal treasures, but they failed. Later, the Long mansion investigated more closely, so he and his brothers went into hiding temporarily, afraid to show their faces. Under those circumstances, it was impossible for me to return to the Long mansion, so he gave up and planned to find another opportunity. I followed him and lived a comfortable life for a while. Later, I couldn't help but tell him about Bao'er. He went to inquire and came back saying that Bao'er had been taken to the Long mansion, and he planned to take his daughter back. That time, he saw my mother and left her a message. When the two of them met, my mother realized that you were an imposter."

Feng Ning understood that everything this person said was reasonable and could withstand scrutiny, but she still couldn't believe it. How could it be such a coincidence? She gritted her teeth and said, "You haven't answered my question yet."

"Isn't this about the cause and effect? Why are you in such a hurry? Okay, I won't go into the details. The truth is, I felt that Lan Hu was sometimes nice to me and sometimes not, and I felt that he wasn't sincere towards me. So I secretly followed him here to see what he was up to."

"Didn't he want the treasure? Mother and Father went treasure hunting, why didn't he go with them?"

“He didn’t tell me what he was talking about with Mother.” The man who called himself Feng Ning poured himself a glass of water and said, “You don’t need to doubt me anymore, I really am Feng Ning.”

"If you are Feng Ning, then who am I?"

73. The Long couple, burdened with unspoken worries

"I'm also very curious about this. Who exactly are you?" The woman who called herself Feng Ning stared at Feng Ning.

Feng Ning stared at her too: "You say you are Feng Ning, do you really believe it?" She paused, then said: "In any case, there is no reason for us to look so alike."

The woman frowned, and Feng Ning frowned as well. She still couldn't believe she wasn't Feng Ning. She said, "That night, I woke up by the river. Lan Hu rushed over and asked where the things were. That's the earliest thing I remember."

He thought you were me.

"Later, when the Long family arrived, he ran away."

The woman who called herself Feng Ning lowered her eyes and bit her lip: "As expected, he intends to take the treasure and ignore my life or death." She then looked up at Feng Ning and asked: "Did the Long family plan this all along, find you here, and deliberately leave you there on the day I stole the treasure, so as to lure Lan Hu into a trap?"

Feng Ning glared at her. The woman thought for a moment and murmured, "My mother and Lan Hu both said that you were hired by the Long family to impersonate me and trick them into taking the bait." But now that she had seen her, she felt that something was amiss.

Feng Ning propped her head up, feeling extremely dizzy: "I vaguely remember being knocked into the water by an assassin from the Soul-Slaying Pavilion."

"What a coincidence?" the woman asked incredulously.

"What a coincidence!" Feng Ning felt like she couldn't breathe. "If I'm not Feng Ning, then who am I? How could I not be Feng Ning?"

The woman remained silent, staring at her. Feng Ning raised her eyes and glared at her: "So, what do you want now?"

The woman was speechless. What did she want? She didn't know.

“I heard someone was impersonating me, and I was curious, but I didn’t want to go back to the Long family. Lan Hu and my mother both said to leave this matter to them and to wait. But now that I’ve seen you, and you look exactly like me, I feel that things might not be so simple.”

"Mother said I'm an imposter?" Feng Ning murmured, "Then what about Father?" On the way to find the treasure, Feng Zhuojun had indeed shown her care and love. It was the love and pampering a father truly showed to his daughter. She could feel it. How could she not be his daughter?

“After I left the Long family, I never saw my father again. Lan Hu came to my mother, and she came to see me. She said not to tell my father about this beforehand, in case it caused any complications. She told me to tell him after everything was settled.”