Chapter 47: Cry for Help Part 2

The same scorching heat had happened last time with Lu Qichun.

The same burning, the same urge to flee.

Yu Ruoyin subconsciously touched her forehead, where the blue mist stripped from Sang Xi and Lu Qichun lingered.

As Yu Ruoyin had summarized before, the blue mist was the spiritual power her body craved.

That meant some spiritual power she desired had appeared in the Four Spirits Shop. She instinctively looked toward the mother-daughter spirits’ bodies, but the feeling didn’t arise. That was normal too—based on the previous two instances, that power only appeared in ordinary living people. The spirits who approached her on their own, whether He Meijie back then or Nan He, only served as guides.

No new people had appeared in the Four Spirits Shop.

Yu Ruoyin suppressed the heat as her gaze swept through the shop.

Suddenly, a force directed her gaze toward Xia Yu.

Fear, panic.

She wanted to run away.

Yu Ruoyin had just taken a step when Jiang Huaining grabbed her arm: “A’Yin, what’s wrong?”

Xia Yu… Xia Yu gave her the same feeling as Lu Qichun and the others. That meant Xia Yu might possess the power she needed.

Yu Ruoyin’s heart skipped half a beat.

She knew all too well how powerful Xia Yu’s strength was. If she could obtain it, wouldn’t she qualify to protect Jiang Huaining?

No, no, no—that was Xia Yu.

No matter how unlikeable Xia Yu’s personality was, she was a natural guardian spirit bearing heavy responsibilities.

She couldn’t have an accident, and neither could her power be given to anyone.

Yu Ruoyin hurriedly quashed the thought. She couldn’t answer Jiang Huaining and swallowed her lowly, filthy idea alone.

Perhaps.

Perhaps Xia Yu’s power had affected the red jade fruit.

After all, this wasn’t the first time she had seen Xia Yu. If Xia Yu truly had the power she needed, why hadn’t it reacted before?

Because… because Xia Yu’s power had lost control today.

The answer that instantly floated into her heart made Yu Ruoyin feel panicked. She didn’t dare to think further. Xia Yu was different from Lu Qichun and the others; she wasn’t human, but a spirit, one who followed Jiang Huaining to guard nature. Jiang Huaining would help Sang Xi and Lu Qichun at any cost to gain their gratitude and obtain spirit power from them. But what about Xia Yu? Would she still firmly help her obtain spirit power?

Yu Ruoyin tried her best to suppress it, but such thoughts kept entwining her.

She couldn’t help but imagine: if she and Xia Yu were in trouble at the same time, would Jiang Huaining choose to save her first?

Perhaps she could create some danger…

Yu Ruoyin’s hypothesis hadn’t even begun when she startled herself with it. She hurriedly ran outside, feeling that if she stayed with Xia Yu any longer, she would have thoughts of either Xia Yu destroying her or her destroying Xia Yu—the former seemed more likely, as Xia Yu far surpassed her in combat ability.

Jiang Huaining chased after her out of the Four Spirits Shop. “Xiao Yu, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing.” No longer in the same place as Xia Yu, the temperature of the red jade fruit had dropped quite a bit. Yu Ruoyin let out a sigh of relief. “Auntie Ning, are we going to Ming Shan Village now?”

Jiang Huaining briefly lost her composure. When she snapped back, her voice carried a plea. “A’yin, could you wait for me at home?”

Ever since she met Jiang Huaining, the woman had hated to be even a step away from her, even getting angry upon waking to find her gone. Now, she was proactively suggesting they split up. There was only one possibility: Ming Shan Village was very dangerous, so dangerous that even Jiang Huaining had no confidence in escaping unscathed.

A place where even the owner of the Four Spirits Shop had no assurance.

Yu Ruoyin admitted she was a selfish person. She grabbed Jiang Huaining. “Auntie Ning, why don’t you go either?”

“No.” Jiang Huaining’s beautiful brows furrowed tightly. “Ruoyan and A’Zhen are still in Ming Shan Village, and if something really happens there, things will get very bad.”

Yu Ruoyin didn’t see disappointment in Jiang Huaining’s eyes, but she still felt that Jiang Huaining was utterly disappointed in her at that moment.

She knew very well that the seemingly cold Jiang Huaining actually harbored great love in her heart, completely different from a cowardly, weak, and inwardly dark stinky rat like her. They weren’t in love; what Jiang Huaining liked wasn’t her, but that lively and playful girl who looked just like her.

If she wanted more love, she should be like her.

Yu Ruoyin forced a smile at the corner of her mouth and pretended to look anxious. “Sister Xing and Sister Lu are my friends too. Wouldn’t it be better if we went together?”

“A’yin.” Jiang Huaining gently touched her cheek. “You don’t need to force yourself. I’ll be back soon.”

“No… I’m not…” The words “forcing myself” got stuck in her throat.

Yu Ruoyin thought her acting was decent, but at that moment, it strangely faltered. It was as if Jiang Huaining had suddenly seen through her selfishness.

No, she couldn’t be like this.

This wouldn’t be like that person.

Yu Ruoyin’s smile brightened a bit more. “Auntie Ning, I want to help you. Half of your spirit power is in me. Sister Lu said that the closer I am to you, the easier it is for you to use that spirit power. I can tell Ming Shan Village is very dangerous. I’ll try hard not to be a burden to you.”

Jiang Huaining fell silent for a moment. She hadn’t decided whether to take Yu Ruoyin along.

Zhuang Huaisu came out with the mother-daughter pair of spirit shells.

Behind her followed Nan He and Zhuang Ciyue.

“Let’s all go together.” After Zhuang Huaisu turned back into her elderly appearance, her emotions stabilized quite a bit, making her seem much more reliable. She pointed at the mother-daughter spirit shells. “They just mentioned Ming Shan Village too. I suspect they’re from there.”

The door to the Four Spirits Shop was pushed open again, and Xia Yu floated out from inside.

She glanced obliquely at the group and soon vanished from the spot.

Though Xia Yu said nothing, Yu Ruoyin understood she had no intention of traveling with them and had rushed ahead to Ming Shan Village.

Yu Ruoyin watched Xia Yu’s departing figure. In just a few instants, Xia Yu completely disappeared from sight, which undoubtedly told her that Xia Yu possessed extremely strong power.

Once greed arose, it seemed impossible to extinguish.

Yu Ruoyin unconsciously licked her lips. If she could have Xia Yu’s power…

She frantically suppressed the thought. Her body instinctively moved closer to Zhuang Ciyue, wanting to use Zhuang Ciyue’s body to shield herself. She was very afraid Jiang Huaining would see through her false affection and pettiness.

Clearly… she hadn’t been like this before.

Jiang Huaining’s gaze darkened. She followed Yu Ruoyin’s hiding body with her eyes, feeling that she relied on Zhuang Ciyue more than on herself.

Zhuang Ciyue was oblivious and even stepped forward, completely blocking Yu Ruoyin. “Xiao Yu, you were scared by that Xia Yu too, right? I think she’s terrifying too. She’s not some guardian spirit at all; she’s practically a demon. Listen to how she just questioned Boss Jiang—anyone who didn’t know would think she killed those people! A guardian spirit with such a bad temper, so impatient, even committing murder. She must have hurt my great-aunt on purpose last time.”

Nan He stood on her other side, her eyes staring straight at Yu Ruoyin.

Yu Ruoyin didn’t hear a word of Zhuang Ciyue’s chatter. She suddenly remembered that Nan He was abnormally sensitive to inner emotions.

She was afraid, afraid that Nan He would read her malice.

But there was nowhere to hide.

Suddenly, her wrist was grabbed by Jiang Huaining. Before she could react, she was pulled to Jiang Huaining’s side.

Jiang Huaining finally relented. “Since that’s the case, let’s go together. But I have to say it upfront: if Ming Shan Village really has tens of thousands of corpses, the situation could be very bad. You all…”

“I’ll protect Little Ci well.”

Among them, the weakest was Yu Ruoyin, followed by Zhuang Ciyue.

Jiang Huaining would protect Yu Ruoyin, so Zhuang Huaisu naturally took responsibility for protecting Zhuang Ciyue.

“Just you alone might not be enough.”

Jiang Huaining’s gaze lingered on Nan He, as if waiting for Nan He to volunteer to follow Zhuang Ciyue.

Zhuang Huaisu shook her bone brush. “Boss Jiang forgot, I have outside help too.”

Jiang Huaining was somewhat surprised. “I thought you hated her and wouldn’t want to see her again.”

“Of course I hate her.” Zhuang Huaisu smiled, the wrinkles on her face deepening. “A place that even Boss Jiang thinks is dangerous should have a chance to kill a Netherworld yin god, right?”

High-ranking yin officials were also known as yin gods, a title that reflected their power.

If they could really kill a yin god, could they themselves survive?

Strangely, Jiang Huaining didn’t stop Zhuang Huaisu’s unrealistic fantasy. She silently looked at her several times before saying, “Do you know what happened in Ming Shan Village?”

Zhuang Huaisu had hidden the secret of her acquaintance with Ying Zhu for many years. Now that the secret was exposed, she seemed like a different person.

She wasn’t one to smile much, but now her face almost always bore a smile—cold and mocking. “The cause of the chaos four thousand years ago. That’s all I know.”

Jiang Huaining: “It sounds like she really loves you, even telling you that.”

“Love?” Zhuang Huaisu laughed even harder, her wrinkles trembling with her skin. “Boss Jiang has known Ying Zhu for many years, right? Doesn’t Boss Jiang know what kind of person she is? ‘Love’ is too heavy a word for her. How could she deserve it? She only saw me as a diversion in her game of playing in the mortal world.”

“Ying Zhu just has a heavy playful streak.”

Zhuang Huaisu couldn’t laugh anymore. She put away her bone brush. “Now I understand why Xia Yu is so extreme, irritable, and unreasonable. Boss Jiang, as the owner of the Four Spirits, doesn’t seem very fair either.”

“You!”

It was hard for Yu Ruoyin not to get angry.

Anything related to Jiang Huaining could easily drive her mad.

Zhuang Ciyue nervously blocked in front of Zhuang Huaisu. “Xiao Yu, she’s my great-aunt.”

Yu Ruoyin barely regained a bit of reason but still couldn’t help defending Jiang Huaining. “Granny Zhuang, the Wheel-Turning King is under the Nether King’s jurisdiction, not Auntie Ning’s.”

“Right, right, the Nether King!” Zhuang Ciyue soothed Yu Ruoyin and immediately coaxed Zhuang Huaisu. “Great-aunt, that Wheel-Turning King really wronged you. We can go complain to the Nether King! Didn’t Xing Ruoyan always say how just their Nether King is?”

Zhuang Huaisu straightened her collar and gestured for Zhuang Ciyue to push her ahead first. “Little Ci, do you think a yin god secretly reincarnating into the mortal world could really do so without alerting the Nether King at all?”

They left first.

Jiang Huaining and Yu Ruoyin didn’t move.

Nan He had been entrusted to Jiang Huaining by Lu Qichun, so she naturally didn’t move either.

Jiang Huaining seemed stunned, not budging an inch. Yu Ruoyin almost couldn’t see Zhuang Huaisu and Zhuang Ciyue anymore.

She didn’t speak; it was Nan He who asked, “Boss Jiang, what’s wrong?”

“I…” Jiang Huaining snapped back, her beautiful eyelashes trembling lightly, a flash of suspicion in her eyes. “It feels like I haven’t seen Shan Rong in many years.”