Chapter 17: Contract

Tong Sangqian.

The moment He Meijie heard Tong Sangqian’s name, she bristled like a porcupine ready to lash out at anyone.

The resentful energy she had barely suppressed surged up again. Her pale green pupils began to bleed, and the scar left from her split-open skull cracked open inch by inch.

Dense ghostly energy spread out, and He Meijie’s aura was far stronger than it had been that day when she tried to seize Yu Ruoyin’s body. A layer of dark bruising covered her pale face, her throat swelled bit by bit, and she let out a low, hoarse roar, as if she wanted to destroy everything here. The pressure made it hard for Yu Ruoyin to breathe.

She rubbed her arms and scooted closer to Jiang Huaining.

Yu Ruoyin was probably quite the grudge-holder; she easily recalled how He Meijie had tried to dominate her body before.

Jiang Huaining noticed her little movement and pursed her lips slightly. ‘You can dissipate her.’

Jiang Huaining’s voice rang out clearly, as if she were not joking at all.

The current Jiang Huaining seemed like a completely different person from the one who had forced her to help He Meijie earlier.

Yu Ruoyin and Xing Ruoyan both turned to look at Jiang Huaining at the same time. Yu Ruoyin was puzzled, while Xing Ruoyan was alarmed. “Milady, she is not yet an evil ghost. You cannot strike down a good ghost!”

If Xing Ruoyan had not said those words “good ghost,” Yu Ruoyin probably would not have said anything.

But facing those two words, she could not tolerate it. “She admitted it herself earlier. She has tried to harm people plenty of times. If not for the guardian soul spirit binding her soul and preventing her from possessing others’ bodies, who knows how many people she would have harmed by now.”

Xing Ruoyan knew full well that a guardian soul spirit would stop its master from doing evil.

But as a yin messenger, she had principles she had to uphold.

She still wanted to speak up for He Meijie, but Jiang Huaining suddenly repeated, “A’yin, dissipate her.”

Yu Ruoyin hesitated a bit. “Me?”

“Mm.” The short syllable affirmed her.

Frost filled Jiang Huaining’s beautiful eyes. Xing Ruoyan’s words of admonition reached her lips, but her mouth shivered first. “Milady…”

She had a gut feeling that He Meijie had offended Jiang Huaining at some point without her knowing.

The Jiang Huaining in her memories was cold on the outside but soft on the inside. She rarely made things hard for others, let alone dissipated ghosts.

Xing Ruoyan did not dare delay any longer. She took out the nether token and slapped it hard against He Meijie’s forehead. “Since Tong Sangqian was willing to give you her guardian soul spirit, it could not have been her who harmed you.”

He Meijie regained her reason but still acted like a madwoman. “If not her, then who? If not her, why did she try to possess my body?”

If she had not seen Tong Sangqian’s soul possessing her body with her own eyes, He Meijie would not have been willing to believe that Tong Sangqian wanted to harm her.

She had met Tong Sangqian when she was ten years old.

Tong Sangqian had been only eight that year.

He Meijie had been pampered by her parents from a young age, so her temper had never been good. She had even less patience for the person who suddenly joined her family. In her eyes back then, the young Tong Sangqian was just a little pet she could tease at will. She often played mean pranks to torment Tong Sangqian.

But Tong Sangqian had never gotten angry with her. She only pitifully called her “big sister” and begged for hugs.

As long as He Meijie patted Tong Sangqian’s head, even if she had been crying loudly the second before, the next second she would sweetly call out, “Big sister is so nice.”

He Meijie often suspected that she had been brainwashed by Tong Sangqian’s repeated cries of “big sister is nice.” She even started trying to be a good big sister: buying two portions whenever she bought anything, specially buying a house near Tong Sangqian’s school to accompany her because it was far away, and even breaking off ties with her best friend because that friend said they had no blood relation and that Tong Sangqian was only coaxing her for her family’s money.

Over twelve years of living together day and night, she had been nothing but devoted to Tong Sangqian for at least ten of those years.

He Meijie could accept her own death, but she could not accept that Tong Sangqian and Sang Xi had harmed her.

Tong Sangqian was the little sister she had cherished with all her heart for a decade.

Though Xing Ruoyan had just argued with He Meijie, at a time like this, she still tried her best to soothe this unstable ghost soul who could be overwhelmed by hatred and resentment at any moment. “This still needs time to investigate. We will find out as soon as possible.”

“As soon as possible?” He Meijie sneered. “My birth mother died twelve years ago, and you’re only now discovering it might have been a jade puppet. How much longer do I have to wait?”

Xing Ruoyan fell silent.

It was not that she had not investigated; she had been investigating all these years, but there were too few leads.

Though her strength was not weak, she was still considered junior among the yin messengers in terms of seniority.

Worst of all, the chaos from over four thousand years ago had severed too many lineages. Even though Jiang Huaining had said the dead could borrow life from the living, she still did not understand how to achieve it.

The veteran yin officials who had lived long might know, but for something happening in her own jurisdiction, how could she hope for yin officials to handle it?

The yin officials all had their own duties.

Xing Ruoyan glanced at Jiang Huaining. After He Meijie regained her reason, Jiang Huaining said no more about dissipating her, though her expression remained poor.

He Meijie also noticed Xing Ruoyan’s little glance. She whispered, “I do not trust you.”

He Meijie walked up to Yu Ruoyin and Jiang Huaining. “Weren’t you going to do business with me? I want revenge! I want you to find out who killed me and my mother, and help me get revenge!”

Her commanding tone made Yu Ruoyin uncomfortable.

She instinctively resisted and felt even more depressed thinking that Jiang Huaining would definitely agree.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Huaining did not agree. She took Yu Ruoyin’s hand and sat down on the chair. “On what basis? Did you not hear just now? Compared to doing business with you, I want to dissipate you even more right now.”

“Milady.” Xing Ruoyan hurriedly shielded He Meijie behind her. “If you make that girl dissipate a departed soul, it will harm her and prevent her from entering reincarnation.”

Prevented from entering reincarnation?

Was that the reason Jiang Huaining had just asked her to act?

Xing Ruoyan’s words tugged at Yu Ruoyin’s sensitive nerves.

She shook her head, unwilling to speculate on Jiang Huaining with such malice.

For once, He Meijie was clever. She looked at Jiang Huaining’s tight grip on Yu Ruoyin’s hand and suddenly understood. “You never wanted to do business with me at all. From the start, you wanted to dissipate me. If not for your companion stopping you, you would have already acted… You… Could it be just because I tried to harm your wife?”

Xing Ruoyan and Yu Ruoyin were both stunned.

Xing Ruoyan wondered when Jiang Huaining had gained a wife, while Yu Ruoyin recalled the scene from that day.

Indeed, if not for Xia Yu’s obstruction, He Meijie might have already been dissipated by Jiang Huaining, and there would not have been a need for Jiang Huaining to ask her to act just now.

She had been wrong after all. She should not have thought that way of Jiang Huaining.

If Jiang Huaining wanted to keep her out of reincarnation, given her status, she had plenty of ways to do it.

“Jiang Huaining… I, I did not harm your wife. You arrived so quickly… I…”

Jiang Huaining cut off He Meijie’s attempted excuse. “If I had not left power on her body, your tongue would have already twisted her neck.”

He Meijie recalled the scenes from that day and only now truly felt afraid.

She was not stupid, just bad-tempered.

Yan Xihong had already told them some things about the Four Spirits Shop from inside the red jade fruit. Now, from Xing Ruoyan’s attitude toward Jiang Huaining, she could tell that Jiang Huaining was no ordinary figure.

Her pale face grew even more ashen, her lips trembling uncontrollably. “I… I understand. I will give you my soul. Help me get revenge! As long as I can get revenge, I will do anything!”

“Milady.” Xing Ruoyan hesitated to speak. “Did you not promise the Nether King that when seeking compensation, you would try not to touch souls?”

“You said it yourself—try.”

Xing Ruoyan wanted to say more, but Jiang Huaining lifted the tip of her index finger. A red light flashed by, and Xing Ruoyan’s hands and feet felt as if bound by chains. She could not make a sound from her throat either.

He Meijie gained a deeper understanding of Jiang Huaining’s power and immediately knelt down. “Help me! Please!”

The arrogant and domineering female ghost was gone. Now, He Meijie’s mind was filled only with the desire for truth and justice.

Not just for herself, but for her mother too.

Jiang Huaining still did not answer her. She gently tugged Yu Ruoyin. “A’yin, what do you think?”

He Meijie realized something.

She crawled forward a bit and knelt before Yu Ruoyin. “I should not have harmed you. As long as I can get revenge, I am willing to let my soul scatter. Please agree.”

“You…”

“Let me get revenge!” He Meijie grabbed Yu Ruoyin’s hand. “Please!”

Yu Ruoyin jumped in fright and yanked her hand back. “Stop begging me. I agree.”

After Yu Ruoyin nodded, a scroll flew out from Jiang Huaining’s embrace. The scroll unfurled before He Meijie’s eyes, revealing a painting of three strange beasts—one red, one white, one black—each with eight mouths.

Jiang Huaining tapped the tip of her finger lightly, and a ray of spiritual light flew into the scroll.

The red eight-mouthed beast opened its tightly shut eyes and leaped down from the painting, pouncing toward He Meijie.

The eight-mouthed beast bit off He Meijie’s index finger in one go and carried it back into the painting, closing its eyes again.

Jiang Huaining withdrew the Eight-Mouthed Beast Scroll and also released Xing Ruoyan.

Now free again, Xing Ruoyan gave Yu Ruoyin a deep look. “When did you get a wife, Milady?”

“A few days ago, A’Zhen acted as matchmaker.”

“You are truly good to your new wife.” Xing Ruoyan forced a smile and helped He Meijie up. “Why be so hasty? Now that we’ve traced it to the jade puppet, if it really was a jade puppet, your revenge is certain. Why risk your soul?”

As the possibility that the culprit was Tong Sangqian grew smaller, He Meijie suddenly calmed down a lot.

She pushed Xing Ruoyan away. “If I truly enter reincarnation, will I still be He Meijie? I know I will not. Only He Meijie is Tong Weixue’s daughter. My mother used soul scattering to exchange for my survival. Can I not use soul scattering to make her killer pay? I cannot wait. I want revenge now. The Netherworld cannot do it, but the Four Spirits Shop… the Four Spirits Shop definitely can.”

He Meijie’s pleading gaze fell on Jiang Huaining, but Jiang Huaining did not look at her and only gave a soft “mm.”

Jiang Huaining was looking at Yu Ruoyin, who had dazed off at some point.

“She wouldn’t have been scared silly, would she?”

Xing Ruoyan vaguely remembered that not long ago, Yu Ruoyin had sympathized with evil ghosts. She could tell Yu Ruoyin was a kind-hearted girl. Suddenly learning that the place she stayed traded in souls and lives, it was understandable if she struggled to accept it. She herself had once questioned why the Nether King allowed it, but after exposure, she gradually understood.

Too many people suffered more alive than dead, and too many ghosts’ obsessions persisted even after their souls scattered.

If it truly was a jade puppet behind it all, then Jiang Huaining’s price was not excessive.

That was a jade puppet, after all.

A jade puppet that had not appeared in over four thousand years.

She did not entirely approve of Jiang Huaining’s methods, but she understood that if it was a jade puppet, and He Meijie wanted revenge herself, only the Four Spirits Shop could help her.

Even Xing Ruoyan would need to gather forces from multiple sides to deal with a jade puppet; she had no chance of winning alone.

She thought Yu Ruoyin was sympathizing with He Meijie and spoke up to comfort her on Jiang Huaining’s behalf. “Reincarnation wipes all memories, turning one into another person entirely. Is that not a form of dissipation too? The Four Spirits Shop is not a charity hall. These trades are all voluntary on the customer’s part. You need not feel bad for her.”

Yu Ruoyin pulled her hand free from Jiang Huaining’s grasp and slowly slid down from the chair.

She squatted on the ground, hugged her knees with both hands, and buried her head between them, refusing to respond to Xing Ruoyan.

Jiang Huaining lowered her gaze slightly, golden mist flickering in her eyes. “Are you blaming me?”

Only when she heard Jiang Huaining’s voice did Yu Ruoyin snap back to her senses. She lifted her head and looked up at Jiang Huaining. “Beautiful wife, I was wrong. I’m sorry.”

?

The unexpected response left Jiang Huaining somewhat at a loss.

Before she could react, her calf was hugged by Yu Ruoyin. “I should not have suspected that you asked me to dissipate He Meijie because you meant to harm me.”

Yu Ruoyin clung tightly to her leg and looked up. “I know I was wrong. I will never let my thoughts run wild again. Whatever you ask me to do must be for my own good.”

“Beautiful wife, next time I will definitely obey!” Yu Ruoyin no longer squatted; she knelt on the ground very straightforwardly, staring unblinkingly at Jiang Huaining. “If you tell me to go east, I absolutely will not go west. Whatever you tell me to do, I will obey obediently!”

Yu Ruoyin could have kept quiet about it, but she felt she had wronged Jiang Huaining. Jiang Huaining had been good enough to her; it was she who was bad, always making wild guesses.

She apologized with utter sincerity, but unexpectedly, Jiang Huaining’s face turned deathly pale in an instant. She nervously grabbed Yu Ruoyin’s arm. “No! You cannot!”

Her eyes lost focus for an instant, and suddenly she bent down, caressing Yu Ruoyin’s face. “Don’t listen to me, absolutely don’t.”

Jiang Huaining’s reaction was completely different from what had been imagined. The hand she placed on Yu Ruoyin’s face trembled uncontrollably.

Her thin, moist lips trembled as well, and the golden mist pooling in the depths of her eyes nearly overflowed.

She seemed afraid, but what could possibly frighten Jiang Huaining?

Drip—

The golden mist gathered and fell straight down.

A faint scalding heat on the surface stung the skin.

Yu Ruoyin thought she would touch a patch of wetness, but instead she felt a golden pearl.

It was very beautiful, just like Jiang Huaining.

Yet touching it stirred an inexplicable urge to shed tears.