What about her?
Yu Ruoyin suddenly thought of her own death. She had once thought it was a curse on herself, but she had no past-life memories. Even after dying, she still had none. The only memory segment was the one she had accidentally seen in the Ghost Market.
If it really was a curse, whose curse was it?
Hers? Or… Jiang Huaining’s.
Yu Ruoyin’s heart pounded wildly. Before she could think deeper, she heard Kang Miaoxian pestering Kang Shuming. “Auntie, isn’t the curse cruel? Husband and wife turning into aunt and nephew?”
Kang Miaoxian’s grumbling reached Kang Shuming’s ears. Kang Shuming covered her ears. “Shut up. No matter what we were before, now we’re just aunt and niece.”
Kang Miaoxian suddenly looked delighted. “Looks like Auntie remembers a bit too.”
Kang Shuming didn’t deny it, but her rejection was obvious. “Kang Miaoxian, you’re noisy.”
Yu Ruoyin still didn’t fully get it. “Shuming-jie, you two don’t have children. Why do you have memories?”
“Idiot.” Kang Miaoxian swept a disdainful glance at Yu Ruoyin. “Didn’t your wife say it? I took something from Ying Zhu. A wisp of remnant po is enough to remember a lot.”
Yu Ruoyin finally had the chance to ask about this. She no longer hated Kang Miaoxian. She even felt a bit sorry for her, and her address grew more familiar. “Sister Kang, why do you say Ying Zhu-jie’s thing originally belonged to the Kang family?”
“Of course the remnant po of the Kang ancestor belongs to the Kang family.”
“The soul and po are the Kang ancestor’s? Then why is Ying Zhu-jie gathering soul for the Kang ancestor?”
“Who knows.” Kang Miaoxian couldn’t help but roll her eyes at her. “I wanted to ask why she came to the Kang Family too. But I still have to thank her for coming. If I hadn’t accidentally discovered that she was the Wheel-Turning King reincarnated, I wouldn’t have found a way to keep my aunt around.”
She didn’t sound like she was calling her aunt at all. Her tone was both playful and offensive.
Her expression wasn’t serious either, without much respect.
Kang Shuming eyed her coldly, but she didn’t change. She continued on her own: “If there’s a chance to see Great-Aunt again, I’ll definitely burn more incense and make offerings.”
Ying Zhu probably didn’t want to see Kang Miaoxian.
Yu Ruoyin had heard that Ying Zhu had been driven to death by Kang Miaoxian back then.
She didn’t voice it out loud. The array didn’t give them more time to talk either. Yu Ruoyin’s feet suddenly moved uncontrollably toward the courtyard gate. The greeting she uttered next also changed: “Big Brother, Sister-in-Law, do we really have to go? I truly feel that Sister Ruolian doesn’t seem like a demon.”
Kang Shuming hooked her arm around Kang Miaoxian’s as they walked out. She replied to Yu Ruoyin: “The village chief has spoken, so of course we have to go.”
Kang Miaoxian had one arm held by Kang Shuming and used her other hand to take Yu Ruoyin’s: “Sigh, let’s go. Whether she’s a demon or not, what does it matter? That daoist has spoken, so she can only be a demon. You two can’t take her as a good person just because she shared some grain with our family. If she weren’t a demon, why wouldn’t she age?”
Yu Ruoyin gave a muffled hum: “It really is strange. Last time, Xiao Yun’s scissors accidentally poked Sister Ruolian, but there wasn’t a single mark on her. Xiao Yun thought the scissors were broken and jabbed herself hard, bleeding all over the floor and scaring us all.”
Hearing about the blood pooling on the floor, Kang Shuming leaned even closer to Kang Miaoxian: “Then… let’s hurry and go. We’ll kill the demon soon and sleep soundly at night.”
They stopped talking. The three of them huddled together and hurriedly left the courtyard.
After leaving the courtyard, both Yu Ruoyin and Kang Shuming were a bit tense, but Kang Miaoxian was extremely smug: “Ruoyin, Big Brother and Sister-in-Law will protect you.”
Kang Miaoxian had called her by name. Yu Ruoyin stared at her in shock, eyes wide: “You… how did you…”
Yu Ruoyin suddenly realized they could speak freely. As long as they finished the lines set for their roles in this old scene, and the other old scene characters didn’t need to speak, they could communicate normally. Their bodies still followed the old scene’s movements, but the ghosts passing by them were each immersed in their own plots, as if they couldn’t hear a word.
Kang Miaoxian seemed extremely pleased with their family roles in the old scene, beaming like she’d hit the jackpot.
Kang Shuming’s face darkened. She gripped Kang Miaoxian’s arm harder and harder, nearly digging into her flesh. Her knuckles bulged with veins from the force.
Yu Ruoyin winced just watching. Kang Miaoxian showed no reaction. She deliberately said it again: “Ruoyin, Big Brother and Sister-in-Law will take care of you.”
Kang Shuming’s face paled with anger. She said nothing, but Yu Ruoyin felt her fury.
Kang Miaoxian probably feared angering Kang Shuming to death again. She stopped insisting on declaring their roles in the old scene and finally asked Yu Ruoyin properly: “I heard you and Jiang Huaining mention the mountain demon story. What does it have to do with Ming Shan Village?”
Yu Ruoyin quickly recounted the mountain demon and Ruolian’s story, deliberately omitting her own speculations.
Even so, Kang Miaoxian, who was afraid of so little, seized the key point: “Mountain demon? They’re all calling her an evil daoist out there. Where did Jiang Huaining make up this mountain demon from? Demons are naturally restrained by daoists. No matter how strong she is, she wouldn’t dare team up with evil sorcerers to do evil. Those sorcerers are ruthless and will turn on her in a heartbeat. Who knows who’d end up controlling whom then.”
She found the mountain demon identity ridiculous and laughed freely: “What was your wife thinking? If she was going to make something up, it should’ve been more believable. This is worse than just going along with their evil daoist label.”
Perhaps because demons were closer to spirits, and mountain spirits already had the nickname of mountain demon.
The natural spirit and mountain spirit weren’t far apart. Claiming a mountain demon identity wouldn’t cost her too dearly.
Something Yu Ruoyin hadn’t pieced together clicked into place after Kang Miaoxian’s offhand remark. Jiang Huaining had sent her to Zhuang Huaisu instead of the stronger Xia Yu. Setting up an array that trapped everyone wasn’t something an ordinary person could do, but Xia Yu could.
Was Xia Yu the one behind this?
Yu Ruoyin thought carefully. Xia Yu’s shocked and angry expression upon learning about the tens of thousands of corpses in Ming Shan Village didn’t seem feigned.
Was it Xia Yu, or some other spirit?
But… the other three spirits were all in slumber.
Yu Ruoyin couldn’t figure it out. Kang Miaoxian kept guessing wildly: “What if it was a yin god from the Netherworld? Given the Four Spirits Shop’s ties to the Netherworld, Boss Jiang might be willing to lie and cover for them.”
Kang Miaoxian was still guessing when the three female ghosts ahead of them suddenly stopped.
The three ghosts mimicked their movements almost exactly. The middle one had her right arm hooked, left hand holding another. Kang Miaoxian reacted first: “They’re here.”
Kang Miaoxian started to act, then realized both her hands were pinned.
She froze: “We’re not fighting like this, are we?”
She guessed right. Not only her—Yu Ruoyin and Kang Shuming were stuck in their poses too. One held by her hand, the other tightly hooked to her arm.
Kang Miaoxian, the strongest fighter among them, couldn’t move her hands. This was bad news.
Kang Shuming laughed sarcastically and called out: “Good Big Brother.”
“Auntie, I can be Sister-in-Law too.”
The three ghosts binding them were in a similar bind, unable to let go. But the array’s maker had given them an advantage—their bodies could still partially undergo ghostification. As three long tongues lashed toward their faces, Kang Miaoxian lost her composure for once. If one of those slimy tongues licked Kang Shuming’s face, she’d surely break the array in a rage.
The only silver lining was her strength remained. She lifted both hands, hoisting Yu Ruoyin and Kang Shuming off the ground.
Kang Miaoxian held them steady, sidestepped to dodge the tongues, then spun around. With a leap, she landed squarely on all three tongues. Better yet, they were now in the yin realm, brimming with yin energy. They could harm ghosts without spells or talisman paper.
The three ghosts cried out in pain and yanked their tongues back.
Kang Miaoxian’s eyes gleamed. She hoisted them and stamped in place rapidly. Each time a tongue retracted an inch, she stomped a new spot. By the time the tongues fully withdrew, they were paper-thin.
Having the upper hand, Kang Miaoxian didn’t stop. She charged forward. While the ghosts mourned their tongues, she rammed her head and Yu Ruoyin’s into two of their bellies. Kang Shuming, of course, was spared—Kang Miaoxian had pulled her back.
The two ghosts flew back. The third, connected to them, yanked desperately. Before she could pull, Kang Miaoxian leaped and kicked her flying even farther.
Yu Ruoyin wanted to vomit. Held aloft by Kang Miaoxian, her body swayed with every move, giving her motion sickness.
It was too nauseating.
Where did Kang Miaoxian get such strength? She treated Yu Ruoyin and Kang Shuming like lightweight accessories, using her head and legs to batter the three ghosts without mercy.
No wonder Jiang Huaining wanted Kang Miaoxian to watch her. She was truly strong. But… she was strong to the point of disregarding Yu Ruoyin’s safety, since her hands were occupied.
She cherished Kang Shuming and was all too willing to use Yu Ruoyin as a weapon.
Yu Ruoyin’s head butted ghost bellies now and then, her legs sweeping across ghost necks.
In the end, Kang Miaoxian kicked down two of the three ghosts’ heads with her legs.
It didn’t hurt.
Kang Miaoxian’s combat prowess was undeniable—fast and powerful.
She cornered the ghosts into a melee brawl they couldn’t win.
But Yu Ruoyin was dizzy. She was either airborne or about to be, her head turned into a battering ram repeatedly. Of course, she couldn’t blame Kang Miaoxian. She was harsh on Yu Ruoyin but harsher on herself—headbutting, kicking, even biting. Yu Ruoyin saw her tear chunks of yin energy from the ghosts multiple times, swallowing them hastily.
Kang Shuming got premium treatment. Kang Miaoxian’s right arm, hooked by her, barely moved, held at an angle to keep her safely behind the main fight, away from stray hits.
Yu Ruoyin was too dizzy. She couldn’t help wishing that if she was doomed to be an accessory, could she hang somewhere else?
She wanted to hang on Jiang Huaining. She surely wouldn’t “mistreat” her like this.
No, better not.
She wouldn’t drag Jiang Huaining down.
Hanging like this wasn’t bad. Just a bit dizzy—she could endure.
Speaking of which, after swallowing so much yin energy, would Kang Miaoxian get indigestion?
Yu Ruoyin’s mind was a mess. She couldn’t think straight anymore.
She missed Jiang Huaining.
Not just Jiang Huaining—her grandmother too.
Not just her grandmother—her parents.
Yu Ruoyin had long forgotten what her parents and grandmother looked like. There were hardly any photos at home growing up. She couldn’t sharpen those faded memories. Among all those important loved ones, she could only vividly recall Jiang Huaining’s appearance—ink-black hair, perfect features.
Too dizzy.
Dizzy enough to jumble her memories, dizzy enough to vomit.
Yu Ruoyin did vomit. She didn’t know what came up. In a haze, she saw a black suit, neat edges, dark gold buttons.
It was her father’s favorite suit. Yu Ruoyin chased after it, running and running.
The suit draped over someone with a slim, familiar back. She ran faster and finally grabbed the hem: “Dad!”
The owner of the black suit slowly turned. Yu Ruoyin couldn’t make out the face, only long hair falling to the chest…
