When Chen An received the task from Pei Xiu, he was at first baffled.
But when Pei Xiu emphasized that this father and daughter might have a suspicious background, perhaps even connected to the current collusion between the Canal Gang and the Prefect, Chen An, after much deliberation, decided to report everything honestly.
He truly did admire the girl called Xiao Hong. And precisely because he admired her, he hoped even more that she was pure and innocent.
What's more, "connected" didn't necessarily mean "complicit", they could also have been listed as offerings in the human sacrifice...
In that case, Chen An had even more reason to ensure that there was nothing wrong with them.
In truth, he didn't believe they could be that suspicious.
That Old Ape-Head had appeared around the Eastern Court Lake about ten years ago, which was right around the time the Chen Family began to rise.
He had already been traveling with Xiao Hong back then, referring to her as his daughter.
For a full ten years, Old Ape-Head had fished on the Eastern Court Lake for a living, never once showing any unusual behavior. He lived just like any ordinary fisherman, his life was plain and quiet.
No one even knew his real name.
He'd earned the nickname "Old Ape-Head" simply because of his unusually long arms, almost as long as an ape's.
Over time, people just used the nickname as his name, and he accepted it without any protest.
That wasn't unusual at all. Among the thousands of fishermen on Eastern Court Lake, at least half had no official household registration, or chose not to disclose their real names.
As for Xiao Hong's real name...
There were likely only two people in the world who knew it: Old Ape-Head, and Chen An himself.
Chen An had never thought about investigating her past.
But this time, he had to, he needed to prove her innocence.
"Her real name is Hong Xueshao. 'Hong' is her family name, not part of her given name," Chen An said seriously. "She's from Dongning Prefecture in the Liang Kingdom."
He held a small wooden token in his hand. It was inscribed with an audio spell formation, allowing brief communication, though at great cost in Spiritual Energy.
Though convenient, it was mostly used one-way. Chen An didn't have nearly enough Spiritual Energy to sustain a long call.
If the matter were important, it was usually handled in person, otherwise, identity fraud couldn't be ruled out.
Pei Xiu went quiet for a moment, likely dispatching people to search through their records.
Since she claimed to be from Liang, this would be easy to verify.
And more importantly, it was an uncommon name.
The Soil True Officials were built upon the palace and court's intelligence network. Investigating a Liang citizen was no trouble at all.
Soon, Pei Xiu got a response.
He paused and said, "Chen An. Dongning Prefecture... Hong Xueshao..."
"There's no such person."
Chen An's pupils contracted. He immediately said, "Impossible. She told me herself. There's no way she'd lie about something like that, it wouldn't even make sense.. Fabricating an identity doesn't help her gain anything from me... and this is the kind of thing that can easily be disproved."
"Hold on, stop panicking," Pei Xiu said, his voice thoughtful. "Then describe it in detail, everything she's ever told you about this identity. The more detailed, the better."
Chen An replied, "I'm not panicking."
Pei Xiu responded, "Right, right, you're calm."
Chen An: "..."
He was silent for a while before saying quietly, "She said the Hong family was a wealthy household in Dongning Prefecture, dealing in textiles. The patriarch was kind and charitable..."
He spared no detail, down to the number of spots on the family dog's belly and the kind of tree planted in the corner of their courtyard.
Pei Xiu checked the documents in his hand. The agents had moved fast, and the Hong family's records were all there.
The result was...
A perfect match to Chen An's description.
Pei Xiu couldn't help clicking his tongue.
If it weren't clearly recorded that the Hong family's patriarch had only one son and no daughters, he might have believed it.
But if she were an outsider, she couldn't possibly know all those intricate details.
It was uncanny, this Hong Xueshao was like a ghost living inside the Hong family.
Pei Xiu couldn't make a judgment and passed the intel along to Chen Kuang.
...
Qi Sibai frowned. "Could Xiao Hong still be immersed in the illusion realm, mistaking herself for the daughter of the Hong family?"
Chen Kuang shook his head. "You said before, those driven mad by the Demon Sword believed they were someone else. And that identity is usually the complete opposite of their original self."
"But there's one thing that always remains the same, their name! That's what traps them in the illusion."
"But Xiao Hong... it's as if she took the real world and made up an identity within it. And all the detailed intel provided by Pei Xiu actually proves that her identity is 'real.'"
"Given how much Tie Baiyuan treasures her, and how he sees her as the reason he was able to walk away from the illusion realm, I have a theory-"
Chen Kuang paused, then didn't continue.
Qi Sibai waited patiently, but Shen Meinan couldn't sit still and slapped the table. "Just say it already! What's Xiao Hong's real identity?!"
She had already fully immersed herself in this as if it were a detective serial. Being cut off right at the juicy part was agonizing.
Only then did Chen Kuang speak:
"Xiao Hong may be... a person from within the illusion realm."
Qi Sibai's pupils contracted. "A person from the illusion realm?"
Shen Meinan gaped, stunned for a long time before managing to ask, "That doesn't make sense. People affected by the Demon Sword all enter the illusion and, when they come out, aren't they just replaced with someone from inside?"
Chen Kuang shook his head. "Those people merely had their minds and perceptions changed but Hong Xueshao... never existed in the real world to begin with, she was manifested by Tie Baiyuan from inside the illusion realm!"
Shen Meinan stared for a long time. "So Xiao Hong... is actually a piece of the Great Void Illusion?"
Chen Kuang nodded.
Qi Sibai said gravely, "I see..."
"So Tie Baiyuan isn't sane he's convinced the illusion is real because he managed to bring his daughter out of it!"
Chen Kuang added, "That's why I was thinking, if he could bring a part of the illusion into the real world... then perhaps others can enter the illusion in reverse."
"All we need to do is figure out how he brought her out. That may be the key to breaking this entire situation."
Qi Sibai stood up immediately. "There's no time to lose. I'll go find Tie Baiyuan."
Chen Kuang stopped him. "You're no good fort this. Let Chen An go."
"If Hong Xueshao shared all this with him, then she must have some feelings for him. Let him try to push her."
So they had Pei Xiu assign a new task to the already stunned Chen An.
Qi Sibai said he had seen another glimpse of fate and needed time to confirm it.
Chen Kuang and Shen Meinan returned to the Chen residence guest rooms.
Shen Meinan couldn't help asking, "If someone really can go in... who's going?"
Chen Kuang shrugged. "Me."
Shen Meinan hesitated. "What if you can't come back?"
Chen Kuang grinned. "Are you worried about me?"
He expected her to get flustered, but instead, she nodded emphatically. "Yes. I'm worried."
This time, Chen Kuang was the one who fell silent.
He quickly changed the subject. "Let's sleep for now. We still don't know if Tie Baiyuan will cooperate. We'll deal with it tomorrow."
He walked Shen Meinan back to her room, then returned to his own in the eastern wing.
In truth, he was a little anxious too, if he entered the illusion realm, who would handle affairs in the Chen family?
But soon, that worry vanished.
[You have uncovered the truth behind the Great Void Illusion and gained the passive skill "One Split Mind": Your spiritual consciousness is exceptionally powerful and can be divided in two.]
A split mind is not just a clone, it's a single thought, divided into many.