Chapter 6: Save Me

Spiritual energy? What spiritual energy?

Yu Ruoyin did not quite understand what they meant, but she clearly saw that although the old lady shouted fiercely, she had no intention of approaching at all.

They seemed to fear some kind of power emanating from her body.

Could it be the half red jade fruit that Jiang Huaining had given her?

Yu Ruoyin had just wanted to set down the chainsaw and use the half red jade fruit to protect herself when the black cat at the front suddenly charged toward her. ‘Even after becoming ghosts, you’re all so cowardly. No wonder you get bullied.’

The black cat’s voice was shrill and thin, piercing enough to rupture eardrums.

Yu Ruoyin uncontrollably wanted to cover her ears. In the instant her fingers loosened slightly, the chainsaw flew out of her palm, smashing heavily toward the group of ghosts still standing outside the door. The still-revving chainsaw sliced off the heads of the twins closest to the door, severed the woman’s right hand, and was finally blocked by the old lady’s cane, crashing to the ground and shattering into pieces.

“Ah! My head!”

The twin sister’s severed head exaggeratedly cried out twice on the ground before suddenly bouncing up.

Sticky red liquid stained the concrete floor, and white brain matter mixed in, emitting a foul stench.

The twin sister’s severed head slowly regrew. She said nothing, her narrowed eyes fixed on her sister’s head.

She suddenly reached out and precisely grabbed the head bouncing like a ball on the ground, forcefully pressing it back onto her neck. The head finally returned to its place.

“Sister.” The twin sister pitifully tugged down her collar, revealing the dark scar left from her head separating from her neck.

Clearly, the sister was the stronger of the two. Bluish flames trailed from the sister’s palm to the sister’s neck, gradually burning away the unsightly scar.

The woman was equally disheveled. She grumbled discontentedly, “I told you she had heavy spiritual energy on her. That chainsaw must be a magic tool, but some people just wouldn’t believe it.”

She crouched down and placed the infant on her lap.

Her left hand struggled to press the severed palm back onto the stump, but no matter how she tried, it would not reattach.

The infant’s hand slowly extended, long enough to hook the severed palm. A ball of black flame ignited in the infant’s palm.

In the instant the flames dissipated, the severed palm returned to its place.

The uninjured old lady watched the scene coldly before suddenly questioning the black cat. “Hey, you caused us to get hurt. Don’t you have anything to say about that?”

The black cat let out two eerie laughs. “So what if it’s a magic tool? We’re not allies. We just happened to run into each other. If your souls scatter to the winds, all the better—no one to compete with me for this body full of spiritual power!”

When the old lady heard that she wanted to possess Yu Ruoyin’s body, she suddenly retreated two steps. “Don’t blame me for not warning you. If you take her body, you’ll become a malevolent ghost.”

Yu Ruoyin somewhat understood now. These ghosts were not a group, and they had sought her out for different reasons.

The black cat wanted to seize her body, while the old lady and the others did not seem to intend to harm her.

The sisters and the mother-daughter pair seemed more familiar with the old lady. After the old lady spoke, they all tacitly retreated half a step, distancing themselves from the black cat.

The black cat ignored them.

Her eyes suddenly narrowed, and her body slowly grew larger.

In an instant, the black cat’s body transformed into a red-clothed female ghost. Blood flowed from every inch of her skin, her long hair soaked in blood and plastered wetly to her scalp. Her face was somewhat pretty, but there was an obvious wound from her forehead to her jaw, as if her head had been split in two by some sharp weapon.

The pitch-black scar oozed blood mixed with white fluid. With every word she spoke, more and thicker liquid flowed out.

The foul smell permeated the air, and Yu Ruoyin’s sense of smell began to protest.

She wanted to flee, but fear rooted her limbs in place. She could only stand there dazedly staring at the female ghost.

Yu Ruoyin had originally thought Lu Qingzhen’s appearance was scary enough, but she had not expected one ghost to outdo another in terror. Regardless of the female ghost’s power, this sight was too bloody and horrifying.

The red-clothed female ghost seemed quite capable.

Ignoring the scrutinizing gazes of the ghosts behind her, she charged toward Yu Ruoyin at extreme speed. “Little sister, can you lend me your body?”

She was not asking.

Her long tongue hooked around Yu Ruoyin’s neck, and in the next instant, it could force out all her breath.

She truly was unlucky.

If she had not died at Jiang Huaining’s hands, she was destined to die by a ghost’s.

The lack of breath made her brain grow dizzy. Yu Ruoyin struggled violently when the red jade fruit hanging from her neck suddenly emitted a dazzling light, shooting out a light barrier that forcibly pushed apart the tongue wrapped around her neck. As the light barrier expanded, the female ghost had no choice but to retract her tongue.

She stared at Yu Ruoyin and, refusing to believe it, lunged again.

Yu Ruoyin hurriedly reached for the red jade fruit but had not touched it when a person suddenly appeared in the living room.

Jiang Huaining!

Jiang Huaining looked even worse than when they had parted, but her aura was no weaker.

She grabbed the female ghost’s extended tongue, her gaze sharp and dangerous. “You want to possess her body?”

“Who are you?”

The female ghost struggled discontentedly, but no matter how hard she tried, Jiang Huaining held her tongue firmly, standing motionless.

Yu Ruoyin rubbed her still-sore neck and ran behind Jiang Huaining, pointing at the female ghost. “It’s her.”

She practically had “She bullied me, hurry and avenge me” written on her face.

Perhaps because her fate lacked someone to rely on, Yu Ruoyin easily developed dependency on others.

Whether it was Zhuang Ciyue back then or Jiang Huaining now.

Jiang Huaining did not find it abrupt. With her free hand, she subconsciously pushed Yu Ruoyin further behind her and coldly swept her gaze over the female ghost. “Courting death.”

“Boss, she’s not a malevolent ghost yet!”

Xia Yu’s voice came from outside the door. Yu Ruoyin looked over following the sound and realized not only Jiang Huaining had come—Xia Yu had too.

The alcohol smell on Xia Yu had dissipated somewhat.

Her gaze was much clearer, quite different from the icy hostility she had shown toward Jiang Huaining during the day.

While fighting the ghosts, she found time to speak to Jiang Huaining. “If you scatter her, the Netherworld will pester us endlessly. I hope you won’t bring trouble on yourself.”

Seeing Jiang Huaining swayed by her words, she turned her attention back to the ghosts. “Though you haven’t become malevolent ghosts yet, tailing a living person home is surely ill-intentioned. Today, I must teach you a lesson.”

Though the ghosts were suppressed by Xia Yu in the fight, none were fully convinced.

Only the old lady was different. Not only did she not fight back, she nodded repeatedly in agreement as Xia Yu scolded them. “Lady Xia is right. But we had no intention of seizing this little maiden’s body. Only He Meijie had that idea. We’re not with her. We just wanted to absorb some of the spiritual energy on her.”

She completely distanced herself and the other non-attacking ghosts from the blame, pushing all the sin onto the red-clothed female ghost.

Yu Ruoyin first thought the old lady cunning, but on second thought, the old lady ghost truly had not attacked her and had even tried to dissuade the red-clothed female ghost earlier.

Seeing she could not break free, the red-clothed female ghost simply severed her own tongue and looked warily at Jiang Huaining. “What are you?”

Jiang Huaining examined the female ghost, her brows furrowed.

As the female ghost questioned her, a smile suddenly appeared on her face. “I’m A’yin’s wife.”

Yu Ruoyin was not sure if it was an illusion, but she felt Jiang Huaining deliberately raised her voice when saying this.

Not only did the red-clothed female ghost hear it clearly—the ghosts outside did too.

The old lady’s expression suddenly changed. Yu Ruoyin caught in her peripheral vision that after Jiang Huaining answered the red-clothed female ghost, the old lady’s feet began shifting backward, her solid body gradually blurring.

Yu Ruoyin raised her hand and pointed toward the old lady. “She, she’s trying to run.”

Hearing her, Jiang Huaining picked up the wooden chair near her and hurled it precisely at the old lady outside the door. The chair’s four legs perfectly encircled the old lady’s torso, landing steadily on the ground.

A splinter pried from the chair remained in her palm.

Jiang Huaining coldly glanced at the red-clothed female ghost before stepping forward and slapping her throat.

The female ghost uncontrollably spat out her tongue again. Just as the tip emerged, it was pierced by the splinter. Jiang Huaining yanked back hard, pulling the tongue to its full length before tossing the splinter, nailing the tongue’s tip to the wall.

Before the female ghost could react, Jiang Huaining had grabbed another chair. She shattered the backrest and hurled the splinters at the female ghost.

Each splinter landed precisely on the tongue, pinning it to the wall and floor.

Soon, the female ghost’s long tongue was covered in splinters until the last small section was also fixed to the ground, forcing her entire body to kneel.

Jiang Huaining seemed very strong.

Yu Ruoyin zoned out, and Jiang Huaining thought she had been scared silly.

She patted the dust from her palms and gently touched Yu Ruoyin’s frightened face. “A’yin.”

The moment Jiang Huaining spoke, Yu Ruoyin hugged her tightly.

There was the thrill of surviving a disaster, the relief of finding someone to depend on amid extreme fear, and some inexplicable pride.

She pitifully called to Jiang Huaining, “Pretty wife, they bullied me.”

Jiang Huaining stroked her face and gently pinched it, her eyes full of tender amusement. “A’yin, I’m here.”

A faint red floated at the tip of Jiang Huaining’s index finger, like deliberately applied rouge.

The spot she lightly pinched also gained a touch of red. Yu Ruoyin felt too shy to meet Jiang Huaining’s eyes brimming with affection, so she stared at Jiang Huaining’s hand, her gaze following the red at the fingertip as it moved.

Yu Ruoyin clearly knew she and Jiang Huaining were not that close yet, but her intuition told her Jiang Huaining would not harm her.

If she said she would protect her, it must be true.

Who could resist such a pretty wife?

Yu Ruoyin foolishly giggled, and Jiang Huaining found it odd.

Her palm slowly slid upward to Yu Ruoyin’s head. “Could she have been scared silly?”

Yu Ruoyin’s gaze followed Jiang Huaining’s index finger. When she saw the red shift upward, she could not help tilting her head up, rising onto her tiptoes. Her eyes tracked the fingertip, her nose tip nearly touching Jiang Huaining’s palm.

Jiang Huaining watched her actions, her brow arching slightly as her fingertip slid over Yu Ruoyin’s delicate nose tip.

It tickled, with a faint coolness.

Yet the hand on her wrist was hot, the warmth seeping into her skin and driving out the lingering chill.

Impulsively, Yu Ruoyin chased the fingertip, pressing her nose against it again to feel Jiang Huaining’s temperature clearly.

Jiang Huaining was stunned for an instant before smiling again. “A’yin—”

The soft trailing tone was full of indulgence.

Yu Ruoyin felt she might not be such a jinx after all. It seemed her luck was finally turning…