Chapter 19: Painting Witch Part 2

She hesitated, but her mother brought in Xing Ruoyan and a distant great-aunt to deceive her together, even using the honey trap.

Back then, they exploited Zhuang Ciyue’s ignorance of painting yin masters, tricking her into believing that painting yin masters shared a deeper bond with their contract partners than painting spirit masters. They had to marry and perform spirit intercourse to become true painting yin masters. Once achieved, the painting yin master’s power would double, and their ghost energy capacity would surge.

Zhuang Ciyue’s heart moved at the thought of seeing ghosts via a shortcut—and gaining a yin messenger wife to boot.

Always relying on her hard fate to withstand Yu Ruoyin’s doom was no way to live.

Better to become a powerful painting yin master; maybe she could even help Yu Ruoyin find a solution.

Zhuang Ciyue was loyal. Before leaving, she placed a protective talisman—blessed by a Buddhist temple—in Yu Ruoyin’s phone to ease her mind. That talisman paper was a treasure, obtained by Xing Ruoyan through her status as a yin-severing yin messenger from the abbot of Rongjiang Temple.

According to Zhuang Ciyue’s plan, she would be back in Chong City in at most a year.

Unexpectedly, her distant aunt and Xing Ruoyan had teamed up to trick her into the deep mountains, where they dragged things out every day with excuses that she was still too young, fooling her into cultivating and telling her not to think about shortcuts.

It was only half a year ago, after she came of age, that she urged Xing Ruoyan to let her get married.

When Xing Ruoyan and the others saw they really couldn’t stall her anymore, they finally told her the truth.

At that time, Zhuang Ciyue threw a fit and demanded to go back, but her skills weren’t up to par yet, and Yu Ruoyin often came to chat with her, so she didn’t leave the mountains. She just silently cursed Xing Ruoyan a thousand times in her heart.

Yesterday, her aunt said that Yu Ruoyin had an expert by her side who had persuaded Zhuang’s mother to let her continue being friends with Yu Ruoyin, so they rushed back to Chong City overnight.

She had originally wanted to go find Yu Ruoyin, but her aunt heard that a jade corpse had appeared in Chong City and insisted on coming to help.

Zhuang Ciyue had no choice but to follow, and unexpectedly got dragged into the barrier. Inside the barrier, she even saw Yu Ruoyin and her ex-girlfriend.

Ever since her lies were exposed, Xing Ruoyan had never appeared before her again. This was their first meeting since their falling out.

Yu Ruoyin understood everything and was deeply moved. “Thank you, Sister Yue.”

She only knew that Zhuang Ciyue was good to her, but she hadn’t realized that Zhuang Ciyue was thinking of her in every way, even defying her family just to stay friends with her.

Zhuang Ciyue wasn’t modest at all. She said loudly, “You’d better thank me. I’m not like you—I have humanity but no lust.”

Who was it that had just said they were tempted by the idea of gaining an extra Yin Messenger wife?

Yu Ruoyin silently grumbled to herself but didn’t refute out loud.

She was secretly watching Xing Ruoyan, who had already put some distance between herself and Zhuang Ciyue, trying hard to distance herself from the relationship.

Jiang Huaining pulled Yu Ruoyin, whom Zhuang Ciyue had been pushing forward, back to her side. She pointed at Xing Ruoyan, who was furtively lagging at the rear. “She probably doesn’t count as deceiving you. Intercourse with ghost spirits really is a shortcut for Painting Yin Masters’ cultivation…”

“My Lord!”

Xing Ruoyan cried out in alarm, inwardly crying that things had gone wrong.

Sure enough, Zhuang Ciyue’s eyes lit up brilliantly. She took two quick steps back and circled around to Xing Ruoyan’s front. “Is that true?”

Xing Ruoyan didn’t dare answer her, but she had no way to shut Jiang Huaining’s mouth either.

Jiang Huaining’s tone was indifferent. “It’s not just spirit intercourse. You could also choose to eat ghosts or devour souls. As long as you half-ghostify your body, you’ll definitely become stronger than your aunt.”

“My Lord, why are you tempting her into wrongdoing!”

Xing Ruoyan couldn’t help but call out to stop Jiang Huaining.

Jiang Huaining held Yu Ruoyin’s hand and walked forward without even glancing back at Xing Ruoyan. “Didn’t she say I’m fierce and cruel? Isn’t this exactly the kind of thing someone like me would say?”

Zhuang Ciyue’s neck stiffened slightly. She uncertainly asked Xing Ruoyan, “Ex-girlfriend, did I offend the Four Spirits Shop owner?”

Xing Ruoyan shot her an irritated sideways glance. “What do you think?”

“Oh no, oh no. Auntie’s going to scold me to death.” Zhuang Ciyue shrank her neck and rubbed her hands.

Xing Ruoyan gave her a slanted look. “Me too.”

Zhuang Ciyue rolled her eyes. She was considering whether to rush over and hug Jiang Huaining’s leg, begging bitterly for mercy.

Being able to bend and stretch when needed was a virtue too.

Zhuang Ciyue still remembered how she and her aunt had suddenly been drawn to the Four Spirits Shop. They hadn’t even exchanged two sentences before they were forcibly sent back to the mountains. The feeling of her body being completely out of her control was still fresh in her memory.

The ability to manipulate space wasn’t something just anyone could do. She knew very well that Jiang Huaining was not to be provoked. The moment she saw her, she realized this was the expert her aunt had divined. But this person spoke without thinking, blurting things out.

She pondered the feasibility of lunging forward.

Yu Ruoyin beat her to it and hugged Jiang Huaining’s arm first. “Auntie Ning, don’t be mad at Sister Yue. She didn’t mean it.”

If her eyes hadn’t deceived her, the instant Yu Ruoyin hugged her, Jiang Huaining’s expression improved.

The frost in her eyes melted away extremely quickly. When she turned to look at Yu Ruoyin, there was no trace of her former dominance and ferocity—only the posture of a fragile woman. “A-Yin, she’s cursing me. She even just told you to leave me.”

If Zhuang Ciyue hadn’t witnessed Jiang Huaining’s methods, she might have actually believed her fragility.

She didn’t buy it, but someone else did.

Yu Ruoyin had many fears, and now one more was added.

She was afraid of Jiang Huaining feeling wronged.

“I…” Yu Ruoyin carefully tugged at Jiang Huaining’s sleeve. “Auntie Ning, Sister Yue doesn’t mean what she says. I won’t leave you.”

Jiang Huaining’s lips curved slightly. “Really?”

“Of course it’s real.”

Yu Ruoyin could hear the anticipation in Jiang Huaining’s voice and agreed without hesitation.

With the affirmative answer, Jiang Huaining put her arm around Yu Ruoyin’s shoulders and became much more amenable. “A-Yin, I won’t get mad at your friend.”

A smile returned to Jiang Huaining’s face. Yu Ruoyin let out a breath of relief and couldn’t help smiling along with her. “Auntie Ning, you’re so nice!”

“Dead…”

Zhuang Ciyue couldn’t stand seeing Yu Ruoyin looking so bewitched.

She was just about to curse when her mouth was covered.

Xing Ruoyan’s movements were swift and precise. Zhuang Ciyue had barely made a sound when her entire mouth landed in Xing Ruoyan’s palm.

Zhuang Ciyue struggled in dissatisfaction. Seeing she couldn’t break free, she simply bit down hard on Xing Ruoyan’s palm.

Xing Ruoyan endured the bite with only a slight furrow of her brow and didn’t let go.

Zhuang Ciyue could only hum discontentedly into her palm. Yu Ruoyin heard the faint noise and looked back. “Yin Messenger Xing, what are you doing?”

“It’s nothing.” Xing Ruoyan said without changing expression. “The yin energy ahead is too heavy. There’s probably a ghost king around. She’s too noisy—if she disturbs the ghost king, it’ll be trouble.”

“Oh, oh!”

Yu Ruoyin looked ahead warily with full of doubts, not noticing Zhuang Ciyue’s pleading gaze.

Would five Yin Messengers fear a ghost king?

Perhaps they would.

But didn’t they have Jiang Huaining too?

Yu Ruoyin didn’t know much about ghost rankings and felt Xing Ruoyan had a point. She deliberately lowered her voice. “Yin Messenger Xing, then we can keep our voices down, right?”

Because she knew so little, Yu Ruoyin kept her posture very humble.

She figured that since she couldn’t help, at least she shouldn’t cause trouble.

Jiang Huaining held her shoulders as they walked forward. “Speaking loudly is fine.”

“But…”

Yu Ruoyin looked back at Zhuang Ciyue and finally saw her flushed face. She grabbed Jiang Huaining’s hem, gripping the fabric tightly for courage before speaking. “Yin Messenger Xing, Sister Yue doesn’t look well. Could you let her go?”

“Oh, is that so?” Xing Ruoyan promptly released Zhuang Ciyue and gave her a warning glare. “I didn’t notice.”

“Murder!” Zhuang Ciyue bared her teeth at Xing Ruoyan, itching to pounce and bite her a couple times.

Xing Ruoyan swept her with a cold glance and lightly patted the nether token.

Zhuang Ciyue immediately shut her mouth.

Yu Ruoyin didn’t know what game they were playing, but suddenly her ears were quiet, and she wasn’t quite used to it.

As they kept walking forward, a thick black fog suddenly appeared before them.

The increasingly dense black fog was about to block their view. Yu Ruoyin suddenly remembered the night Lu Qingzhen had scared her. She couldn’t help leaning toward Jiang Huaining, pressing her whole body against Jiang Huaining’s embrace before daring to continue forward.

“Squeak squeak squeak—”

Strange sounds rang out from the black fog. Yu Ruoyin caught a faint whiff of blood.

She grabbed Jiang Huaining in a panic. “A-Auntie Ning, Sister Yue hasn’t… hasn’t explained what a Painting Witch is yet?”

Yu Ruoyin wasn’t acting out of curiosity right now. She desperately needed some noise in her ears to drown out those eerie sounds.

“A Painting Witch… they…”

Jiang Huaining hesitated on how to put it, but Zhuang Ciyue had no such qualms. Her voice drifted over immediately. “Strictly speaking, a Painting Witch isn’t an inheritance—it’s a bloodline curse. They are the most powerful witches and also the most unfortunate ones. In witch legends, their clan are the cursed betrayers. Painting Witch clansmen are born with yin-yang eyes and can see ghosts without opening them. This also makes each of them have an extremely cold constitution; they can only survive by learning witchcraft. It’s said they have demon spirit bloodline from their ancestors, born able to paint spirits and paint yin without needing contracts. Their true method is replication. Powerful Painting Witch clansmen can replicate all demon spirit techniques and even forcibly strip malevolent spirits of their power, sealing them into talisman paper to make ghost soldiers for their command.”

“How could such powerful strength be a curse?”

“This…” Zhuang Ciyue paused. “Auntie didn’t say. She only told me to steer clear of Painting Witch clansmen because being friends or enemies with them is equally troublesome.”

Yu Ruoyin tugged at Jiang Huaining. Jiang Huaining sighed softly. “Any inheritance hopes for a genius among its descendants to shoulder the heavy responsibility and bring glory to the sect. But… the Painting Witch Clan’s total power is limited. The curse doesn’t allow their family to prosper. The higher their talent, the thinner the bloodline becomes, until it dooms all their blood relatives to death, or even… everyone close to them.”

Zhuang Ciyue cried out in shock. “Doesn’t that mean the stronger the talent, the faster their family dies off!”

Yu Ruoyin froze.

She still remembered Xing Ruoyan saying the Painting Witch Clan had produced a genius.

“Yin Messenger Xing, didn’t you say the Painting Witch Clan had a genius? How many are left in her family?”

“All dead.” Xing Ruoyan’s gaze flickered blankly for an instant. “Now only that child remains.”

“I… I see.”

When Yu Ruoyin learned from Zhuang Ciyue that she was even more unfortunate than a heaven-scourged lone star, she hadn’t felt sad—after all, she’d always known she was unlucky. But now, hearing there was someone else in the world just like her, sorrow welled up from her heart. They were the same: dooming parents, blood kin, friends—forever destined to be alone.

Yu Ruoyin’s palms were already slick with sweat. “Auntie Ning, will I doom you and Sister Yue to death too?”

“No.”

Yu Ruoyin looked up, her eyes misty with tears. “Don’t lie to me.”

Jiang Huaining held Yu Ruoyin’s hand and rubbed her forefinger with her thumb. “A-Yin, have you forgotten?”

Yu Ruoyin’s memory was stirred, recalling once more the scene of bones mixed with flesh surging out.

Right.

She wouldn’t doom Jiang Huaining and Zhuang Ciyue to death.

Because she had already doomed herself.

At first, Yu Ruoyin couldn’t face her own death, but now she actually felt relieved.

She was glad she had died first.

“That’s great!”

She sighed sincerely, but didn’t get agreement from Jiang Huaining, who gripped her hand tightly. “A-Yin, it’s not great at all.”

Yu Ruoyin and Jiang Huaining couldn’t argue further on this, because Xing Ruoyan had received a message from her subordinate Yin Messengers. “My Lord, Sang Xi really is Tong Weixue’s half-sister from the same father. I also had them check Tong Weixue’s tomb—it’s empty inside.”