Speaking of Science in a Supernatural Livestream 36

Chapter 36: Making Up for Regrets (Part 1)

Sang Jing saw Sang Lingfei walking towards her and leaned against a nearby pillar, unfazed.

Sang Lingfei stopped a step away from Sang Jing, her brow furrowed tightly, her guard up and her disgust unconcealed. “Are you a Ghost Master?”

Sang Jing’s gaze fell on the horsetail whisk in the crook of her arm, which was slightly raised. She had no doubt that if she were to nod or let this person discover Xie Yu at this moment, the horsetail whisk would be whipped at her directly.

So Sang Jing replied, “What’s that?”

To ask such a question in a metaphysical family was strangely foolish.

At least, that’s what Sang Lingfei thought. She sized up Sang Jing and indeed found no ghostly energy on her.

Could it be that she had been mistaken at the time?

Sang Lingyun, who had finished paying her respects to the old lady, heard their conversation and walked over with a sneer. “Sister Lingfei, what’s the point of asking her these things? She doesn’t even know how to draw a talisman or recite an incantation.”

Hearing this, Sang Jing nodded and looked at them with a smile. “That’s right.”

In the past, she had never had any contact with these things in the Sang family. The head of the family, Sang Ciying, also did not allow her to learn them because her mother was the Ghost Master who had harmed the entire Sang family.

“Really?” Sang Lingfei squinted her eyes. She always felt that this person’s smile was strange, but she couldn’t pinpoint what was strange about it.

The horsetail whisk fell back into the crook of her arm. Sang Lingfei turned to pay her respects to the old lady.

Sang Lingyun moved to Sang Jing’s side and gritted her teeth in a low voice, “Sang Si, you’re really something. You dare to trick me. Just you wait. I’ll break your legs this time.”

As soon as her voice fell, a small thing suddenly flashed before her eyes, opening its mouth wide to bite. Sang Lingyun was so scared she retreated several steps. After steadying herself, she saw that the thing was the small black snake on Sang Jing’s hand.

Sang Lingyun glared at Sang Jing. “Sang Si! You dare to let this little animal hurt me!”

Everyone in the mourning hall looked over. The only ones left were Sang Lingfei and the people from the Sang family’s main courtyard. They looked at Sang Jing with surprise, as if they couldn’t believe that this Sang Si, who had little presence, would dare to make a move on Sang Lingyun.

Sang Ciyun came over, gave Sang Jing a displeased look, then looked at Sang Lingyun with concern to see where she was hurt.

After checking, Sang Ciyun shielded Sang Lingyun and said to Sang Jing in a cold tone, “Xiao Si, you’re the older sister. How can you bully Lingyun?”

From beginning to end, Sang Jing hadn’t moved. She watched the two of them act in front of her.

“No!” Sang Lingxi, who had been quiet on the side for a long time, stood up, her young voice clear and loud. “It was Seventh Sister who said she was going to break Sister Sang Jing’s legs. That’s why the little snake opened its mouth to bite Seventh Sister. And the little snake didn’t even bite Seventh Sister. Second Auntie, you can’t blame Sister Sang Jing.”

“Xiao Jiu!” Sang Lingyun probably hadn’t expected Sang Lingxi to say it so directly.

Although Sang Jing had no status in the Sang family’s main courtyard, it was the old lady who had kept her in the first place. They couldn’t make things too ugly on the surface.

Sang Ciyun turned her head and glanced at her daughter, her eyes filled with some blame. Sang Lingyun lowered her head and said nothing.

“What’s all the noise?” Sang Ciying spoke. She waved at the child beside Sang Jing. “Xiao Jiu, come here.”

Sang Lingxi looked up at Sang Jing reluctantly, then obediently walked to Sang Ciying’s side.

Later, the head of the family had to decide who would keep watch at night, and this matter was lightly brushed over.

After some taboos and rules were taken into account, the ones left to keep watch happened to be Sang Jing and Sang Lingyun.

When she learned who the watchers were, Sang Lingyun smiled at Sang Jing and mouthed silently, Just you wait.

Sang Jing lowered her eyes, a smile appearing on her lips.

If Xie Yu had seen Sang Jing smile like this, she would probably have stayed far away from her.

It was almost midnight, and the people in the mourning hall gradually left, leaving only Sang Jing and Sang Lingyun. Sang Jing knelt in front of the portrait, burning paper, while Sang Lingyun was behind her.

Just as Sang Lingyun was about to kick her.

“You’d better think clearly about the consequences of doing this,” Sang Jing said abruptly.

Sang Lingyun’s action paused. Hearing her words, she sneered, then decisively raised her leg and kicked.

In an instant, a wind suddenly rose in the mourning hall, swirling the burning paper in the brazier. The white banners on all sides were also blown up.

Sang Lingyun’s leg suddenly stopped midway. She felt a hand pulling at her leg. She looked at the movement around her in surprise and couldn’t even pull her leg back.

Sang Jing slowly stood up and turned around, just smiling at Sang Lingyun.

Then she raised her leg and kicked Sang Lingyun in the lower abdomen, sending her flying out of the mourning hall and falling miserably in the outer courtyard.

Sang Lingyun’s fall was not light. She felt like that kick had almost killed her. She frowned in pain, but her mouth still didn’t forget to say, “Sang Si! You dare to kick me!”

“I was originally thinking that if you didn’t provoke me this time, the karma with the Sang family would be broken, and I wouldn’t pursue the past. But…” Sang Jing stood on the steps, looking down at the prone Sang Lingyun with a smile. “You’re not being good.”

Sang Lingyun was about to die of anger. She pushed herself up from the ground and looked up at Sang Jing. She vaguely saw a figure beside her, which was even more obvious against the swirling firelight from the mourning hall behind her.

“You! You’re raising a ghost!” Sang Lingyun’s eyes widened in shock. “You actually learned the art of raising ghosts! You’re a Ghost Master!”

“Hey, how can she see me?” Xie Yu asked in confusion.

Just now, she had pulled on Sang Lingyun’s leg, wanting to trip her, but Sang Jing had stopped her. But seeing Sang Jing kick her so hard, she also felt a sense of satisfaction.

“A Ghost Master!” a voice came out of nowhere.

A horsetail whisk was thrown over, heading straight for Xie Yu. Sang Jing raised her hand, wrapped it around her waist, and retreated, but the mourning hall was behind her, and there was nowhere to retreat.

Sang Jing touched the golden bell and shook it with a raise of her hand.

A crisp bell rang. In that instant, time seemed to stand still. Only the wind that kept pouring into the mourning hall swirled the unburnt paper from the brazier in mid-air.

The specks of firelight were like golden light, falling on the few people. Sang Jing’s eyes moved, and she saw those light spots ignite her, burning from her fingertips to her arm, and finally engulfing her entire body.

When she opened her eyes again, Sang Jing felt like she was squatting.

Until the person beside her bent down and pushed her back, a familiar voice followed, “Child, this is your home.”

Sang Jing looked over slowly and saw the person she had just sent off not long ago. “Granny Lin?”

Granny Lin’s appearance had changed. She was not so old, and the traces of time on her face were not so heavy, as if she were much younger.

A flash of inspiration in her mind, Sang Jing quickly looked at herself.

She was also younger, four years old.

“Go on.”

Granny Lin pushed Sang Jing. Sang Jing stepped into the gate of the Sang family’s main courtyard. When she looked back, Granny Lin was gone, and behind her was a blank space, with no way back.

She said this was her home, but no one had come to pick her up.

Sang Jing no longer had the unease of the past. She strode towards the main hall.

At that time, she was afraid that those people would be impatient, so she had run. She had even fallen midway. It was raining, and she had gotten all dirty.

To suddenly experience all this again was probably related to the old lady’s regret.

Since she was back, she would send her off properly.

Sang Jing walked along the corridor and stopped at a corner, her small face filled with seriousness.

She peeked out and saw two people arguing. It was the old lady and Sang Ciying.

“Sang Cixin is already dead! I am the head of this family!” Sang Ciying roared at the old lady, her face full of anger.

The old lady’s hair was gray and messy, her eyes red and swollen. She looked at Sang Ciying, her hands trembling with anger. She couldn’t bear it anymore and slapped her. “No matter what, she was your sister, and my daughter! That child is also a child of the Sang family. She must stay!”

Sang Ciying’s face was turned to the side, her chest heaving violently. She took a deep breath and laughed self-deprecatingly. “Yes, Sang Cixin is your daughter. What about me and the second sister? The child can stay, but she won’t have the ‘Ling’ character and won’t be on the family tree.”

“If you don’t agree, then I’ll have someone throw her out right now. She’s so small. I don’t know if she can survive outside,” Sang Ciying said, raising her hand to wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth, her eyes cold as she reminded her, “Now, I am the head of the family.”

Sang Ciying left. The old lady’s back suddenly hunched, as if she had aged a lot in an instant. She sighed weakly and turned to see the small child standing on the side of the long corridor.

“You…” The old lady was stunned for a moment, then her eyes filled with tears as she tentatively called out, “Xiao Jing?”

At that time, Sang Jing had not seen the argument between the old lady and Sang Ciying and did not know that they had had such an ugly fight.

Sang Jing didn’t move. The old lady came over on her own, squatted down, and stroked the child’s head. Then she reached out with a trembling hand to touch the familiar features, and finally hugged Sang Jing and cried out.

After the old lady had cried enough, she wiped her tears and took Sang Jing’s hand to walk to the main hall. “Come, we’re home.”

For the latter half of the journey to the main hall, Sang Jing was held by the old lady. But at that time, she had walked alone.

Just like in her memory, the main hall was full of people. But this time, because the old lady was present, those people did not look at Sang Jing with mockery and disgust, nor did they say those things so unscrupulously. They all looked at the head of the family.

Sang Ciying’s expression was extremely ugly.

The old lady held Sang Jing’s hand and, with the air of a matriarch, looked directly at Sang Ciying. “This child must be on the Sang family tree. If you don’t agree, then remove me from the family tree as well.”

The people beside them were so scared they couldn’t sit still and quickly stood up to dissuade her. “Old lady, calm down.”

Sang Ciying couldn’t remove the old lady from the family tree, and the old lady insisted that Sang Jing be on the family tree. For a time, the two sides were in a stalemate.

Sang Jing listened to their argument, her head bowed.

So, the old lady’s regret was that she hadn’t personally brought her back and hadn’t been able to argue with Sang Ciying about the family tree?

Slowly, the voices in her ears faded, and the hand holding hers also disappeared.

Sang Jing had grown a little older. She was now nine years old.

Although the old lady wanted to make up for those regrets, the facts would not change. Sang Jing still lived in the side courtyard.

She hadn’t grown much. Long-term malnutrition had left her with little flesh, and her hair was dry and frizzy.

Sang Jing sat on a stone in the courtyard, holding a few pebbles in her hand. She casually cast a divination.

Before she could see the result, a foot suddenly came over and kicked all the stones away.

Sang Jing looked up and saw a five or six-year-old child standing in front of her, her hands on her hips, shouting at her, “Sang Si! I don’t like you! Our whole family doesn’t like you! Get out!”

A smile slowly appeared on Sang Jing’s face.

Oh, Sang Lingyun.

Sang Lingyun was so scared by her smile that she couldn’t help but retreat. “You, what do you want to do!? Let me tell you, if you dare to bully me, I’ll tell my mom and the head of the family, and have you locked up! And not give you any food!”

Sang Jing extended her hand towards her—

“Ah! Sang Si!!! You jinx! You dare to hit me!!”