Wang Ya frowned and said, “Zhang Qingshui, if you have something to say, just say it straight.”
Zhang Qingshui said, “When you were little, you must have often done things that were out of the ordinary, right?”
Wang Ya’s eyes darkened. She returned to the previous chair, sat down, and said, “Zhang Qingshui, I find that you really look like a fortune teller right now.”
Zhang Qingshui let out a “hmph” with a chuckle, then said seriously, “If I’m not mistaken, there’s always been a demon inside your body. It never showed before, probably because you always carried a supreme evil-suppressing treasure like the ancient bronze coin and cultivated a Cultivation Method that restrained demons and evils. But ever since you entered the Yellow Springs, opened the Yin Spirit Scroll, and released the Other Shore Demon Flower True Body sealed in the Yellow Springs, things changed. You can no longer suppress the demon inside you.”
Wang Ya remained silent, neither admitting nor denying it. She simply watched Zhang Qingshui quietly, waiting for her conclusion.
Zhang Qingshui said, “The Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower Demon inside you is slowly performing Body Seizure. Wang Ya, are you really able to turn a blind eye to the changes in yourself right now, or even accept them gladly? Are you willing for the day to come when your body is controlled by the consciousness of that Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower Demon inside you? Are you willing for your body to be gradually infiltrated and transformed by her Demonic Power into a demon? Don’t tell me you’re treating the consciousness in your mind that doesn’t belong to you as the voice of your past life. Ask yourself—is that your voice, your consciousness speaking?” She paused, then continued, “That Leaf Demon captured you first, wanted to kill you, then let you go later—haven’t you wondered why?” She paused again and said, “Even if you don’t care about all that, the Demonic Power in your body right now makes you even more nourishing than a Ghost Demon Inner Core. If the Xuan Men people find out you’ve become like this, all the big shots from the Xuanmen Orthodox Sects will come down the mountain to catch you! A millennium-old Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower Demon, a Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower Demon connected to the Three Realms—the Yin Spirit Scroll can directly open the Bardo Realm because your True Body is in it. It can devour the essence, souls, and blood of all surrounding evils and living beings. Whether it’s refining a pill from the Demonic Power and soul inside you or sacrificing you to refine into a magic treasure, the effects would be excellent— a hundred times stronger than a Ghost Pill!”
Wang Ya wanted to say Zhang Qingshui was just scaring her, but Zhang Qingshui spoke with solid evidence, and she couldn’t refute a single point. After thinking for a moment, she asked Zhang Qingshui, “Do we have a way to resolve this?”
Zhang Qingshui said, “Promise to find a Ghost Pill for Little Qi, and I’ll tell you. Wang Ya, I’ll be upfront with you—protecting you and making this deal isn’t easy for us either. The Ghost Family has your Birth Chart and found the Heavenly Mechanism Divine Calculator to track your whereabouts. Even if I set up decoys, provided cover for you, and laid arrays to conceal your stops, it won’t last long. My Little Aunt came all the way here specifically to confirm things with you. If you help Little Qi, she’ll mobilize all her connections and power to protect you as much as possible, buying you time no matter how difficult. If you refuse, for Little Qi’s sake, we’ll have no choice but to oppose you, capture Wang Cheng’an, seize your scroll, and follow the map on the Yin Spirit Scroll to find those mausoleums where Ghost Pills or Corpse Dans might appear. It’ll just involve more dangers, crises, manpower, and resources—even forcing deals with those major sects for little benefit.” She paused and said, “Wang Ya, your personality can be extreme at times. You won’t sit idly by; you’ll even fight us to the death, dragging everyone down the Yellow Springs like last time. You’ve done it once, you could do it twice. What good does that do you? You enter the Yellow Springs to escape pursuit from the human world, and then what? Turn into a demon? Hand over your body and soul to the Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower Demon? The Feng Family didn’t even pass it to collateral branches—why would they pass it to you, an outsider? Were the skills Feng Yuqin taught you really taught to you?”
Zhang Qingshui’s words stabbed like knives straight into Wang Ya’s heart. She stared at Zhang Qingshui for a long while before standing up and walking straight out.
Zhang Qingshui called after her, “Wang Ya, even though we’ve set up arrays in the hotel to conceal you, they can still divine your general location using your Birth Chart. We need to move tomorrow morning at the latest—you can’t stay in one place for long.”
Wang Ya nodded lightly and left Zhang Qingshui’s room directly.
Once the door closed, Zhang Han looked at Zhang Qingshui and said, “You scared her.”
Zhang Qingshui said, “But what I said is the truth. I didn’t want to tell her so much at first, but she’s the type who won’t shed a tear until she sees the coffin. I’ve tried talking to her properly several times before, but she always pushed back. If I don’t spell it out, she won’t get it. Wang Ya isn’t bad at heart, but she’s stubborn, loves extremes, and her style has an evil edge—too many variables.” She paused and said, “Little Aunt, you’ve seen Wang Ya now. What do you think of her?”
Zhang Han said, “Hard to say. Just be extremely careful.”
Zhang Qingshui knew her Little Aunt had seen through it, so she smiled and said, “That’s why I asked you to come pick up Little Qi. If you’re worried about Ghost Granny retaliating against Little Qi, I can arrange for someone to send Little Qi back to the Zhang Family Old Residence for a while.”
Zhang Han scolded lightly, “What are you saying? If you don’t let Little Qi follow you, I’ll tell Big Brother about Wang Ya’s situation and have him call you back. You—hmph, wings grown hard, huh? Lesson not enough, still want to show off!” As she spoke, her slender jade finger poked Zhang Qingshui’s forehead hard. “Something this dangerous, and you rush right into it. Now you’re in deep, riding a tiger, and you still want to send Little Qi back to fight alone?”
Zhang Qingshui didn’t dare refute her Little Aunt at all and could only ask, “What did they say up top?”
“If Wang Ya is still in control, do as you said. If Wang Ya is out of control, withdraw immediately. You be careful of the Ghost Family too—Ghost Granny won’t let it go. If you encounter Ghost Granny, take her Ghost Pill if you get the chance; I’ll handle the Ghost Family side.”
My guess right now is that Wang Ya and the flower demon are a lot closer to being the same person. Maybe the original wang ya actually did die before being adopted