Chapter 22: The Madwoman Part 2

Since Sang Xi began recounting the past, Yu Ruoyin had not spoken a word, but her mind grew clearer.

She still did not fully understand this world, but she could analyze their motives.

Yu Ruoyin felt she should ask Sang Xi’s last wish—not just on Jiang Huaining’s behalf, but out of her own compassion.

She sympathized with Sang Xi.

Though she wondered if she had the right.

Before she could speak, Lu Qingzhen beat her to it and addressed Sang Xi. “You can sacrifice your soul and body separately? How is that possible?”

“I possess an innate power—that’s why Zhuang Suping took me as his disciple…” She paused, then continued. “Sometimes I think if I hadn’t talked about my sister so much, Zhuang Suping wouldn’t have targeted her. Actually… I got her killed.”

“You…” Yu Ruoyin squatted down, staring intently at Sang Xi. “Don’t think that way. You just said He Fengxi had an extremely yin life constitution, the perfect body for turning into a zombie. If Zhuang Suping wanted a jade puppet, he would have found him eventually. It has nothing to do with you.”

Sang Xi stared at her in a daze, clearly surprised that someone from the Four Spirits Shop would comfort her.

She could not help looking at Yu Ruoyin a few more times, finding her increasingly strange. “Have I met you before?”

So it was not just her who found Sang Xi familiar—Sang Xi felt the same about her.

Yu Ruoyin searched her memories carefully but found no trace of Sang Xi. She shook her head honestly. “No, we haven’t met.”

“I thought so.” Sang Xi clearly had no recollection related to Yu Ruoyin either. She forced a smile, but it would not come. “Young miss, I failed to protect you and couldn’t avenge you and your mother. Am I too useless?”

“No, no, no!” He Meijie was extremely agitated. “Boss Jiang, can you hurry up? At least… at least let my stepmother see our enemy die.”

She didn’t dare to order Jiang Huaining around and could only plead carefully.

Yu Ruoyin took a step back and tugged at Jiang Huaining’s hand hanging by her side. “Auntie Ning, just agree to it.”

It was probably because He Meijie’s family had suffered too much.

She found it hard to hate He Meijie anymore and only hoped that Jiang Huaining would quickly help her get revenge.

“Okay.”

Right after Yu Ruoyin spoke, Jiang Huaining took action.

She stepped forward half a pace, then suddenly turned back. Looking down at He Meijie from above, she asked, “He Meijie, do you want to get revenge yourself?”

“Me?”

“Mm.” Jiang Huaining nodded lightly. “I can give you power.”

“I do! I do!” He Meijie handed Sang Xi to Yu Ruoyin, who seemed the safest, and crawled toward Jiang Huaining. Her soul trembled faintly with excitement. “Boss Jiang, please help me. I want revenge. I want to get it with my own hands! He Fengxi, Zhuang Suping—they both have to die. They must die!”

Yu Ruoyin wasn’t someone with a heart of stone, and besides, Sang Xi felt strangely familiar to her.

She carefully held Sang Xi steady, letting the blood mixed with bits of flesh soak her clothes, while cautiously watching Jiang Huaining.

Jiang Huaining glanced at them and reached out to help He Meijie up.

“Okay.”

A table suddenly appeared in front of Jiang Huaining, covered with bottles and jars, and she held a paper cup in her hand.

Yu Ruoyin didn’t recognize most of the materials on the table, only catching a faint fragrance, but Lu Qingzhen shrieked from the side. “Jiaolong Tendon! Boss Jiang, how can you put Jiaolong Tendon in tea? That’s such a criminal waste. Jiaolong are impossible to find now—once it’s used up, it’s gone forever!”

Jiang Huaining ignored the clamoring Lu Qingzhen and added all the materials on her own, then poured in a white liquid. It really looked like a cup of milk tea.

Except for the black bits floating on top, which looked hard to swallow.

Clearly, the milk tea’s appearance wasn’t in Jiang Huaining’s considerations. She handed the paper cup to He Meijie. “Drink it. This tea will help you devour the Guardian Soul Spirit’s full power, return your soul to your body, and grant you the ability to repair the damage Tong Sangqian inflicted. With the soul of one puppet corpse and dual ghost kings, dealing with a jade puppet won’t be a problem. I’ll send you to your stepmother first, then go find Xia Yu and bring that sorcerer to you.”

Her face remained cold, but her tone was exceptionally gentle.

“I’m a soul. I can’t…”

Jiang Huaining silenced He Meijie’s objection with a single look. “You should believe in me.”

“Yes!” He Meijie froze, then took the milk tea. “I can only believe in you.”

She was completely different from when they’d first met.

The brutal truth had turned her into another person—mature, steady, with a clear goal of revenge.

He Meijie downed the milk tea in one gulp and lowered her gaze to Sang Xi. “Stepmother, wait for me.”

“Okay.” Sang Xi responded. “Miss, I won’t go down easily.”

Unlike their grief, Lu Qingzhen was still heartbroken over the Jiaolong Tendon. “Boss Jiang! You’re really willing to part with it!”

Jiang Huaining gave Sang Xi a deep look. “A’Zhen, getting revenge with her own hands should leave fewer regrets.”

“Yes…”

Lu Qingzhen agreed reluctantly. Jiang Huaining looked somewhat helpless as she tossed one of the jars into her arms, then put away the table. “A’Zhen, talk less and focus on healing.”

“Got it.” She muttered. Only after Jiang Huaining had walked far away with He Meijie did she add, “When did Boss Jiang start doing charity? Using up Jiaolong Tendon like that?”

No one answered her.

Lu Qingzhen’s gaze swept around, and Xing Ruoyan finally acknowledged her. “Lady Jiang isn’t stingy.”

“I… I’m not stingy! This didn’t require using Jiaolong Tendon. She could’ve just captured them and let He Meijie carve them up one slice at a time. It might lack some satisfaction, but it’d vent the anger just fine.”

Xing Ruoyan said, “You must be deaf.”

Lu Qingzhen recalled what Jiang Huaining had just said and deflated. “I really don’t like talking to you.”

Xing Ruoyan’s gaze slowly shifted, and she squeezed out a polite smile at Lu Qingzhen. “But Lady Lu, it seems I’m the only one here willing to talk to you.”

“Who says so!” Lu Qingzhen wasn’t convinced. She clutched the jar Jiang Huaining had tossed her and called out, “Xiao Yu! You’re just going to ignore your matchmaker like this?”

Yu Ruoyin had been focused on Sang Xi’s worsening complexion, but Lu Qingzhen’s shout snapped her back.

She shuddered, steadied herself, and asked, “Sister Qingzhen, did Auntie Ning just say you were injured?”

“I’m heartbroken—you’re only noticing now.” Lu Qingzhen clutched her chest and squatted beside Yu Ruoyin, pointing at the people slumped in the blood. “If I weren’t injured, I wouldn’t be stuck with this old, weak, sick, and crippled bunch. I’d have gone to help Xia Yu ages ago.”

Her words naturally made those people uncomfortable.

But only a young-looking Daoist spoke up. “Lady Lu, that’s a bit much.”

“You still dare to speak? If you hadn’t run your mouth and offended Xia Yu, they wouldn’t have suffered with you—not just tormented by Xia Yu, but beaten by the jade puppet and evil sorcerer too.” Lu Qingzhen paused, then added another jab. “Oh, I forgot—you lot even fought among yourselves, friend against friend. Especially you, little Daoist, using yin beasts to hurt people and wasting all your energy on that. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be in such a mess.”

She tallied up the accounts, and the young Daoist fell silent.

This delighted Zhuang Ciyue. “Lady Yin Official is right!”

Xing Ruoyan glanced sideways at her. “What are you so happy about? We’re all trapped in this barrier. How come they found the jade puppet, but you couldn’t?”

“My bone brush broke. I…”

The old lady Zhuang Ciyue was supporting stopped her. “Ruoyan, why be so harsh? Little Ciyue’s bone brush is in Lady Xia’s hands. We sorcerers…”

Before Xing Ruoyan could respond, an old Daoist nearby spoke first. “Old lady, your disciple is useless, so why defend her?”

“…”

They bickered back and forth, one sentence at a time. Yu Ruoyin’s head ached from the noise, so she carefully dragged Sang Xi a bit farther away.

But Sang Xi was covered in wounds, so she didn’t dare move too far.

Sang Xi watched their argument coldly and muttered, “Idiots.”

When they’d first run into them, she had considered asking for help. But this group attacked on sight of the jade puppet and treated her as an evil corpse-raiser. Many of her wounds were from those Daoists. If Lu Qingzhen hadn’t insisted on dragging her back to the Netherworld and protected her carefully, she would’ve died at their hands when she lost to Zhuang Suping.

They were injured too, but if they swarmed her, she wouldn’t have stood a chance.

Zhuang Suping was a beast, but he was right about a few things—like Yin Messengers being useless and fellow practitioners being idiots.

Her gaze grew colder.

Her gentleness had always been reserved for family.

“Are you okay?” A soft voice of concern reached her ear, drawing Sang Xi’s gaze to Yu Ruoyin.

She blanked out for an instant, then quickly came to. “I’m fine.”

Sang Xi barely had the strength to speak anymore, but she still asked, “That person just now… is she the owner of Four Spirits Shop?”

“Yes.”

“And you?”

Sang Xi had used a respectful term for her, which made Yu Ruoyin embarrassed. “I… I…”

She didn’t know how to answer when Lu Qingzhen’s eerie voice drifted over. “Xiao Yu is the lady boss of Four Spirits Shop.”

Lu Qingzhen really loved to talk. She joined in the commotion over there while still having breath left to fill in the answer for her.

“Lady boss?” Sang Xi barely tugged at the corner of her mouth. “No wonder the Four Spirits Shop owner listens to you so much.”

Yu Ruoyin was always afraid, especially in an environment like this.

She knew no one here would hurt her, but she still feared many things—like the blood and flesh chunks on Sang Xi.

She didn’t dare look at Sang Xi’s wounds and only stared at her face. The thick bloody stench made her words stumble. “N-No, not really.”

“Yes, she does.” Sang Xi used all her strength to nod faintly. “I’ve never been to Four Spirits Shop, but Zhuang Suping mentioned it. Four Spirits Shop only does business with those fated for it. No matter how many spirits beg and offer sky-high prices, they’re refused at most buying a tea that replenishes spiritual energy. The Four Spirits Shop owner is powerful and aloof. If you hadn’t urged her to help us with revenge, she probably wouldn’t have hurried over, let alone thought of letting Miss get revenge herself to make up for the regret. Thank you.”

“No…” Yu Ruoyin wanted to explain for Jiang Huaining, but hearing that thank you suddenly reminded her of Jiang Huaining’s reminder in her ear.

She suddenly understood Jiang Huaining’s intent. Jiang Huaining had waited for her to speak precisely to shift Sang Xi’s attention to her—to let her own kindness shine while Yu Ruoyin played the aloof role, paving the way to ask about Sang Xi’s wishes.

What was the goal?

Yu Ruoyin racked her brains and figured it could only be Sang Xi’s gratitude.

Someone who had severed all her own paths forward didn’t have much left to give.

She didn’t know Jiang Huaining’s purpose, but she knew she couldn’t disappoint her expectations.

Yu Ruoyin swallowed her words and said instead, “You’re welcome. Do you… do you have any other wishes?”