**
Wang Ya awoke from deep slumber when daylight had fully brightened the room, and she was alone inside. She lifted the covers and saw a set of clean clothes placed at the bedside. The bloodstains on her body had been cleaned, medicine applied, the old cyan bruises gone, and the wounds from the Azure Vine bindings healed, leaving only faint marks. The faint pain from below stabbed at Wang Ya’s nerves, and scenes from the previous night flashed before her eyes. If Huang Qi hadn’t arrived in time, just as her breathing stopped and Soul Separation occurred, performing timely rescue; if after Soul Separation she hadn’t floated directly to the Bardo Realm and happened to encounter Grandma who sent her back—she would already be a dead person.
Wang Ya had gone back and forth between life and death. Combined with the Laoshan Taoists before, Zhang Qingshui last night, and Grandma’s words, it was as if clouds had parted before her eyes. What she saw wasn’t a bright moon, but it shattered her last illusions, making her fully clear-headed.
In the past, she had only wanted to save Grandma, take her dad to settle in a city, rely on her skills in ghost catching and demon exorcism to help people in trouble, earn money to support them, and live a stable, prosperous small life. Her surname was Wang, not Feng; the Feng Family’s extermination grudge had nothing to do with those surnamed Wang. Cycles of vengeance never end; the older generation was nearing the grave, and the younger ones who hadn’t participated in those events were innocent. Let bygones be bygones, buried in the past. But the Ghost Family, Zhang Family, and Laoshan Taoists made her realize it was all her one-sided wishful thinking. The Feng Family matter from back then was far from over. Her not holding grudges, yielding, and magnanimity only brought intensified persecution. Wang Ya had no right to forgive them, and they had even less qualification to deserve her forgiveness. Even if she were a true demon wreaking havoc on the world, they could slay her in the name of eliminating demons and guarding the Dao, and she would have no complaints. But they bullied her, humiliated her, schemed against her, seized under the guise of demon exorcism—they fought for selfish gain!
She didn’t hate Zhang Qingshui; she didn’t even feel much anger. Her heart was filled more with icy chill, feeling that the world was as cold as her body temperature. She didn’t hate Zhang Qingshui, but she wanted Zhang Qingshui dead.
Wang Ya slowly put on her clothes, slung the small leather bag containing the ancient bronze coin and Ghost Collecting Bell over her shoulder, and went downstairs. She walked into the dining room and saw Old Tang, Wang Cheng’an, Zhang Qingshui, Old Wu and his wife, and Old Wu’s mom all there, eating breakfast. Her gaze fell on Zhang Qingshui, who was sitting upright and turning her head to look at her.
Wang Cheng’an saw Wang Ya and cheered, “Yaya!” He set down his chopsticks and ran toward her, joyfully calling, “A’qi said you’d wake up soon, and you really did. That’s great!”
Everyone in the room stood up upon seeing Wang Ya approach and looked at her.
Wang Ya ignored the crowd’s gazes and slowly walked up to Zhang Qingshui. A low, slow, indifferent voice spilled from Wang Ya’s lips: “Will you take your own life, or shall I do it? Choose for yourself.”
Zhang Qingshui stood before Wang Ya and said in as calm a tone as possible, “If you kill me, how will you find your grandma? How will you and Wang Cheng’an survive? Wang Ya, you can take revenge on me, but not now. We’ve already found the place; we can set off right after breakfast. You’ll find your grandma soon, and after that, if you still want to kill me, you can do it then.”
Wang Ya let out a cold snort of laughter and said, “You think I can’t kill you now? You think you hold my dad and grandma’s lives in your hands, so you dared to act so recklessly last night?”
Zhang Qingshui said, “With me here, at least you won’t face large-scale encirclement; at least there’s a slim chance of survival. Wang Ya, I’m very sorry for last night. I lost my mind and committed a grave error. I solemnly apologize to you. When you face life-and-death peril in the future, I will spare no effort to protect you.”
Wang Ya found Zhang Qingshui’s words utterly ridiculous! Zhang Qingshui would give her a way to live? Zhang Qingshui wasn’t killing her only because the time wasn’t right; she still had use value, so Zhang Qingshui had to keep her alive for now. But she also understood that the current Zhang Qingshui was an excellent shield for survival. She might not care about her own life, but she couldn’t disregard her dad’s life or Grandma’s. Grandma had raised her for twenty years, pouring her heart into nurturing her to adulthood—not for her to bring harm to them or sever the Feng Family Inheritance. Zhang Qingshui’s words stabbed word by word into Wang Ya’s heart, like a sharp knife, making her heart feel like it was dripping blood. Perhaps because her heart hurt too much, or the world was too laughable or tragic, extremes reversed—Wang Ya actually laughed out loud. She lightly chuckled and replied, “Good, I’ll spare your life for now.” She accepted Zhang Qingshui’s earlier words; she would keep Zhang Qingshui alive now. The time wasn’t right yet! It was already a mountain of blood debts waiting for her to collect; letting Zhang Qingshui owe this one more and settling it all together later—what harm was there? Zhang Qingshui, the Zhang Family, those so-called righteous sects wanted her dead—couldn’t she want them dead too? Until the very end, who dared say who would be the final winner?
Wang Ya felt sorrow in her heart and found the world and these people laughable, which made her chest ache unbearably. She simply cleared her mind, ate to build up her strength for what was to come. She sat at the dining table, picked up a clean set of bowls and chopsticks prepared nearby, filled a full bowl of rice, and ate breakfast. She kept her head down, shoveling the steaming fragrant rice without lifting it. Her body was cold, her heart cold; the hot rice couldn’t warm her heart but could warm her stomach and body, making her feel less cold.
Poor yaya 🙁