Chapter 24: Ailment of the Heart Part 1

Jiang Huaining returned very quickly, bringing back not only Zhuang Suping but also the long-missing Xia Yu.

They might have had a quarrel; neither of them looked too good.

Yu Ruoyin hesitated over whether to ask, but Lu Qingzhen had already beaten her to it: “Xia Yu, did you piss off Boss Jiang again? Looks like I need to move my plan to the Four Spirits Shop up the schedule, or else if you anger Boss Jiang to death, I won’t make it to autumn.”

She was always like this.

Her thoughts were complicated and sensitive, full of suspicions—not wild imaginings, but constant hesitation, always getting preempted by others.

Yu Ruoyin felt a bit envious of Lu Qingzhen, envious of her straightforwardness, envious of how she blurted everything out. It wasn’t exactly a virtue, but at least it kept her from bottling things up.

Xia Yu irritably rubbed her ears. Even without drinking, her tone wasn’t great: “Lu Qingzhen, I’ve told you, I’ll kill you before autumn comes.”

“Then I’ll have to accept my fate and curse you a thousand times before I die. I absolutely won’t let you have it easy.”

Xia Yu sneered: “What, are you gonna say you’ll haunt me even as a ghost?”

“You’re so stupid.” Lu Qingzhen rolled her eyes: “I’m already a ghost.”

Xia Yu was about to retort when Lu Qingzhen didn’t give her the chance.

She circled around to Jiang Huaining and started chattering: “Boss Jiang, do you have any left? Did Xia Yu upset you? If she did, you have to tell me. Even though I can’t beat her, I’ll definitely curse her out. Oh right, I need to tattle to you—your little wife went behind your back to do business with someone else.”

Lu Qingzhen had tattled something like this last time too.

Yu Ruoyin’s thoughts wandered a bit. Then she heard Jiang Huaining’s gentle, firm voice by her ear: “A’Zhen, she has the right to. Our A’Yin is the lady boss of the Four Spirits Shop.”

Jiang Huaining really did have a nice voice. Yu Ruoyin’s ears perked up involuntarily, and even her gaze was drawn to her face.

She happened to meet a gentle smile.

Jiang Huaining wasn’t particularly gentle, but she reserved all her tenderness for her.

It was strange, yet utterly enjoyable.

Yu Ruoyin zoned out. Jiang Huaining slowly approached her: “What business did A’Yin do?”

The gentle question snapped her back to reality. Instead of answering Jiang Huaining first, upon seeing her pale lips, Yu Ruoyin instinctively asked, “Auntie Ning, are you okay?”

Jiang Huaining was a little surprised.

Her trembling eyelashes betrayed an unsettled heart.

But she was skilled at controlling her emotions and quickly composed herself: “I’m fine, very fine.”

The look in her eyes was too scorching. Yu Ruoyin’s skin heated up inch by inch. She instinctively averted her gaze—and just happened to spot Sang Xi struggling to escape her arms: “You…”

Yu Ruoyin wasn’t decisive enough in her actions. While she pondered what to say, Sang Xi had already crawled out of her embrace.

Blood dripped continuously from her body, leaving trails of bloodstains wherever she crawled.

“Sang Xi!”

Sang Xi heard Yu Ruoyin call her name but didn’t stop.

Her extremely weakened face was full of resolve as she dragged her broken body step by step toward the faintly breathing Zhuang Suping.

She had no strength left—only her heart was resolute.

When her hands failed, she used her legs; when her legs gave out, she inched forward with her body.

Xing Ruoyan instinctively moved to intervene, but Jiang Huaining stopped her.

With Jiang Huaining blocking her, no one else dared to act.

Yu Ruoyin felt an odd discomfort in her heart. She didn’t think Jiang Huaining was so cold and heartless. Recalling her guess that Jiang Huaining needed Sang Xi’s gratitude, she scrambled up from the ground. For once, her movements were decisive and forceful as she rushed over, dragging Zhuang Suping right in front of Sang Xi.

Sang Xi gratefully glanced at her, then slowly extended her trembling hands toward Zhuang Suping’s neck: “Why… why… why destroy everything I have? My sister, my daughter, my… Master, aren’t you my master? How could you bear to do this to me? You… cough cough cough…”

She coughed up a mouthful of blood mixed with bits of flesh, spitting it onto Zhuang Suping’s face.

Zhuang Suping wasn’t young anymore, but he still looked youthful—only in his thirties, even younger than Sang Xi.

His limbs were all immobilized now; only his head could turn slowly.

Zhuang Suping arduously turned his head, glaring venomously at Sang Xi: “How did I end up with such a stupid disciple? I thought you were crazy, but you’re just an idiot. Risking your life to ruin my plan—if you’d cooperated with me, with our master-disciple talents, how many Jade Puppets couldn’t we create? Those are Jade Puppets! Properly cultivated, they might not lose to a Jade Corpse in power. With a Jade Corpse’s power, even if it meant your sister, your niece, that child you adopted—all died, and the whole world with them—it’d be worth it!”

Zhuang Ciyue was the first to lose her patience. She rushed forward: “How can you… how can you have such insane ideas? Do you want to destroy this world?”

“Destroy?” Zhuang Suping let out a sinister chuckle: “Just some people dying—nothing that scary. The Netherworld has so many ghosts; grab them all and send them to reincarnate, and you’ll have people again. If the Netherworld thinks unrepentant sinners can’t reincarnate, what’s so good about trapping them there to atone? Poor Yin Generals busting their asses managing them. Better to send all those wicked ghosts to reincarnate here for us to refine into corpses. I could solve the Netherworld’s problems, hahaha!”

His laughter grew more manic. Sang Xi clenched her fists tighter.

But she truly had no strength left. The hands on his neck couldn’t inflict any harm.

Yu Ruoyin had been watching quietly when something hard was suddenly stuffed into her hand behind her back.

She turned to see Jiang Huaining with a calm expression. She brought the hard object into view.

It was an intricately carved traditional dagger. No eye contact, no explicit order—yet Yu Ruoyin understood Jiang Huaining’s intent. She drew the dagger and handed the sharp blade to Sang Xi: “Want a knife?”

Sang Xi was undoubtedly grateful. Her trembling hands gripped the dagger tightly.

Seeing the blade, Zhuang Suping clearly panicked, shrinking his neck: “You… Sang Xi, are you going to commit patricide against your master?”

“You have no disciple like me, and I have no master like you.” Sang Xi thrust the blade tip toward Zhuang Suping’s neck with all her force—but she was too weak. In her hands, the sharp edge dulled like a blunt tool, losing its keenness and leaving only shallow marks.

Zhuang Suping sneered: “You really are…”

His voice cut off abruptly because Yu Ruoyin suddenly gripped Sang Xi’s hand, helping drive the blade tip into Zhuang Suping’s neck.

He couldn’t speak anymore, only hearing Yu Ruoyin say: “Let me help you.”

Overcoming her fear, under everyone’s shocked gazes, Yu Ruoyin pushed Sang Xi’s hand forward. Whenever she felt Sang Xi exerting force, she immediately helped stab Zhuang Suping again. Her vision blurred with blood, her nostrils filled with its scent.

She was afraid.

Afraid enough to curl up on the spot.

But her actions were resolute—one thrust after another.

Until Xing Ruoyan suddenly picked her up. Xing Ruoyan could hardly believe it. From their first meeting, Yu Ruoyin had seemed frail and timid to her. Even as Jiang Huaining’s person, she hadn’t thought Yu Ruoyin powerful herself. But now, seeing her covered in blood, even her features smeared red, none of her prior assumptions held.

“Have you gone mad? If you kill someone, you can’t reincarnate normally. Your soul returns to the Netherworld for judgment, possibly hell’s punishments. You can’t seriously expect Lady Jiang to storm the Netherworld to save you. Even with Boss Jiang as your backer, this is a violation.”

“Hahaha.” In the eerie silence, Xia Yu’s laughter suddenly rang out: “She couldn’t anyway… pfft…”

Before Xia Yu finished, her smile faded bit by bit. Blood mixed with tiny sparks spewed from her mouth, scorching her own clothes red-hot.

The sudden change stunned Yu Ruoyin and the others. Lu Qingzhen recovered first, clapping and cheering: “Finally, you’ve gotten your comeuppance!”

Xia Yu glared viciously at Lu Qingzhen, then turned her gaze to Jiang Huaining.

She let out a low chuckle and said no more.

Yu Ruoyin wanted to intervene but couldn’t find an opening. She broke free from Xing Ruoyan’s grip and crouched back beside Sang Xi: “Is it enough?”

“You…”

Xing Ruoyan reached to pull Yu Ruoyin away again, but Lu Qingzhen blocked her: “Hey, lighten up, ghost. He’s no good anyway—dead is dead. Who kills him doesn’t matter. Besides… heh heh, Boss Jiang’s woman won’t die easily…”

“What does that mean? Could Boss Jiang… mmph…”

Xing Ruoyan, who had always been the one muffling others, now got muffled herself.

Her personality was rigidly honest—neither as lively as Lu Qingzhen nor as perceptive.

Zhuang Ciyue couldn’t resist commenting on Xing Ruoyan: “Ex-girlfriend. A Yin Messenger like you—strong but brainless—is pretty rare, huh.”

“Shut up, shut up!” Lu Qingzhen raised her hand to signal Zhuang Ciyue quiet, then leaned to Xing Ruoyan’s ear with gossipy eyes: “A’Yin, what ex-girlfriend?”

To hear the gossip, she loosened her grip on Xing Ruoyan a bit.

But the moment she did, Xing Ruoyan straightened up: “My Lady, I won’t stand by and watch you violate rules. If you want to use some extreme method to extend your wife’s lifespan, then kill me first.”

“Tch.” Xia Yu sneered mockingly: “She’s more rule-abiding than you. Of course, I’m not. Just a heads-up: those two Jade Puppets’ Corpse Pills are mine.”

Xing Ruoyan replied stiffly: “Lady Xia, that’s a violation.”

“I know, didn’t I tell you?” Xia Yu slowly approached Xing Ruoyan, resting a hand on her shoulder with a beaming smile: “I’m not much for rules.”

Xing Ruoyan struggled but soon realized she couldn’t break free.

Even weakened from spitting blood, Xia Yu’s strength far outmatched hers.

She looked toward Jiang Huaining: “Lady Jiang, you’re not intervening?”

Jiang Huaining ignored her, walking to Yu Ruoyin’s side to check on Sang Xi together.

Xing Ruoyan tried to speak again, but Lu Qingzhen yanked her from Xia Yu, clamping her mouth shut irritably: “Ugh, seriously! You’ll get me killed one day. Xing Ruoyan, you’re the most rigid Yin Messenger I’ve ever seen. If you’re so by-the-book, remember: I’m the Yin Official handling the Four Spirits Shop. Chong City’s Yin Messengers don’t get to boss around Four Spirits Shop people.”

Xing Ruoyan stared at Lu Qingzhen in disbelief. They faced off in silence; no one else dared speak, everyone eyeing the Four Spirits Shop group strangely.

Jiang Huaining ignored them and asked Yu Ruoyin again: “A’Yin, what business did you want to do?”

“She…” Yu Ruoyin helped Sang Xi up. Under Sang Xi’s expectant gaze, she said: “She really wants to see her sister one more time.”

Jiang Huaining didn’t nod immediately: “Her sister’s soul scattered long ago. This isn’t simple.”

Sang Xi reached agitatedly for Jiang Huaining, her body shaking violently, breaths coming faster: “Just once! Even in a dream—please!”

Jiang Huaining pushed away her hand, appearing exceptionally cold.