The Ghost Insists on Giving Me a Beautiful and Powerful Wife! - Chapter 17

Tong Sangqian.

The moment her name was spoken, He Meijie bristled like a hedgehog, only this hedgehog lashed out wildly with its quills.

The resentment she had barely forced down surged back up again. The pale green pupils in her eyes began to bleed, and the scar splitting across her skull cracked open inch by inch.

Thick ghostly aura spread through the air. He Meijie’s presence was far stronger than the day she tried to seize Yu Ruoyin’s body. Her pallid face was covered in a bluish hue, her throat swelled up bit by bit, and from it came a hoarse growl, as though she intended to destroy everything here. The oppressive force pressed down on Yu Ruoyin until she could hardly breathe.

She rubbed her arms and edged closer toward Jiang Huaining.

Yu Ruoyin was the type to hold grudges—she could easily recall how He Meijie once tried to steal her body.

Jiang Huaining noticed the small movement and pursed her lips slightly.
“You can scatter her.”

Her words were firm, not spoken in jest.

At this moment, Jiang Huaining seemed like a completely different person from the one who once forced her to help He Meijie.

Yu Ruoyin and Xing Ruoyan both turned toward Jiang Huaining—Yu Ruoyin in confusion, Xing Ruoyan in alarm.
“My Lady, she isn’t an evil ghost yet. You cannot harm a good ghost!”

If Xing Ruoyan hadn’t used the words good ghost, Yu Ruoyin probably wouldn’t have said anything.

But faced with that phrase, she could not stay silent.
“She admitted it herself—she’s tried to harm people many times. If it weren’t for the guardian soul binding her, preventing her from taking over others’ bodies, who knows how many she would’ve already harmed.”

Xing Ruoyan knew well that guardian souls stopped their hosts from committing evil.

But as an underworld messenger, she had principles she was bound to uphold.

She was about to continue speaking for He Meijie when Jiang Huaining suddenly repeated,
“Ruoyin, scatter her.”

Yu Ruoyin hesitated. “Me?”

“Mm.” Jiang Huaining’s short reply left no doubt.

Her beautiful eyes were coated in frost. Xing Ruoyan’s lips trembled with cold before she could speak.
“My Lady…”

She had a gut feeling—He Meijie must have offended Jiang Huaining in some way she didn’t know about.

In her memory, Jiang Huaining was cold outside but gentle inside. She rarely made things difficult for others, let alone scattering a ghost’s soul.

Xing Ruoyan dared not delay. She lifted her underworld badge and slammed it onto He Meijie’s forehead.
“If Tong Sangqian was willing to give you her guardian soul, then she cannot have been the one who harmed you.”

He Meijie regained some clarity but was still like a madwoman.
“If not her, then who?! If not her, then why did she take my body?”

Had she not seen Tong Sangqian’s soul occupy her body with her own eyes, He Meijie would never have believed Tong Sangqian would harm her.

She had known Tong Sangqian since she was ten.

Back then, Tong Sangqian was only eight.

Raised pampered by her parents, He Meijie’s temper was never good. Toward the girl suddenly added to her family, she had even less patience. To young He Meijie, Tong Sangqian was just a pet to tease at will. She often played cruel pranks on her.

But Tong Sangqian never once grew angry. She would only call her “sister” pitifully, begging for a hug.

All He Meijie had to do was pat her head, and no matter how hard Tong Sangqian had been crying a moment ago, she would instantly beam and say sweetly:
“Sis, you’re the best.”

Many times, He Meijie wondered if she had been brainwashed by that constant refrain. Somehow, she truly began trying to be a good sister. She bought two of everything, purchased a house near Tong Sangqian’s school to accompany her, and even broke off with friends who claimed Tong Sangqian only flattered her for her family’s money.

Out of twelve years spent together, at least ten were filled with her wholehearted care for Tong Sangqian.

She could accept her own death. But she could not accept that Tong Sangqian and Sang Qian had killed her.

Tong Sangqian was the sister she had cherished for ten years.

Although Xing Ruoyan had just argued with her, at this moment she still tried to calm the unstable ghost who might drown in hatred at any moment.
“This will take time to investigate. We’ll find out the truth as soon as possible.”

“As soon as possible?” He Meijie sneered.
“My birth mother has been dead for twelve years. Only now you find it may have been a jade puppet? How much longer must I wait?”

Xing Ruoyan fell silent.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t been investigating—she had, for years. But clues were too few.

Though not weak, she was still a junior among underworld messengers.

The real problem was that four thousand years ago, during the era of chaos, too many legacies had been lost. Even after Jiang Huaining spoke of the dead borrowing the living’s lifespan, she still couldn’t understand how it was done.

Perhaps the long-lived underworld officials knew. But for something that happened in her own jurisdiction, there was no hope of them handling it. Every official had their own burdens to shoulder.

Xing Ruoyan looked at Jiang Huaining. After He Meijie calmed somewhat, Jiang Huaining no longer mentioned scattering her. But her expression was still grim.

He Meijie noticed Xing Ruoyan’s glance. Her voice softened.
“I don’t believe you.”

Then she stepped before Yu Ruoyin and Jiang Huaining.
“Weren’t you here to do business with me? Then help me avenge myself! Find the ones who killed me and my mother, and help me get revenge!”

The commanding tone grated on Yu Ruoyin.

Her instinctive resistance deepened when she thought Jiang Huaining would certainly agree.

But to her surprise, Jiang Huaining did not. She held Yu Ruoyin’s hand and led her to sit.
“Why should we? Didn’t you hear me? Rather than doing business with you, I’d rather scatter you.”

“My Lady!” Xing Ruoyan hurriedly shielded He Meijie behind her.
“If you let that girl scatter a soul, she will never—”

Never return?

Was that why Jiang Huaining had just urged her to do it?

Xing Ruoyan’s words tugged sharply at Yu Ruoyin’s sensitive nerves.

She shook her head, unwilling to suspect Jiang Huaining of such malice.

But He Meijie, for once, was quick on the uptake. Looking at Jiang Huaining tightly holding Yu Ruoyin’s hand, she suddenly understood.
“You never wanted to do business with me. You meant to scatter me from the start. If your companion hadn’t stopped you, you already would have… Is it just because I tried to harm your wife?”

Both Xing Ruoyan and Yu Ruoyin froze.

Xing Ruoyan wondered when Jiang Huaining had gotten a wife, while Yu Ruoyin recalled that day’s events.

Indeed—if not for Xia Yu’s interference, He Meijie might already have been scattered, long before Jiang Huaining asked her to act just now.

She had been wrong. She shouldn’t have suspected Jiang Huaining.

If Jiang Huaining truly wished her destroyed, with her status, there were countless ways to make it happen.

“He Meijie… you, I didn’t even hurt your wife. You arrived so quickly, I—”

Jiang Huaining cut her off.
“If I hadn’t left my power on her, your tongue would have snapped her neck.”

The memories surged back, and at last He Meijie felt true fear.

She was hot-tempered, not stupid.

Yan Xihong had already spoken to them inside the red jade fruit about Four Spirits Hall. And from Xing Ruoyan’s attitude, she now realized Jiang Huaining was indeed formidable.

Her pale face grew even whiter, her lips trembling uncontrollably.
“I… I understand. I’ll give you my soul. Just avenge me! So long as I can have revenge, I’ll do anything!”

“My Lady,” Xing Ruoyan hesitated, “hadn’t you promised Lord Yama to avoid taking souls as payment whenever possible?”

“You said it yourself—whenever possible.”

Xing Ruoyan opened her mouth again, but Jiang Huaining merely lifted a finger. A red light flashed, and suddenly her limbs felt shackled, her throat voiceless.

He Meijie realized more than ever Jiang Huaining’s power. She immediately knelt down.
“Help me! Please!”

The arrogant ghost was gone. All that was left was a desperate soul yearning for truth and justice—not only for herself, but for her mother.

Jiang Huaining still didn’t answer. She tugged Yu Ruoyin lightly.
“Ruoyin, what do you think?”

He Meijie realized something.

She crawled forward, kneeling before Yu Ruoyin.
“I shouldn’t have harmed you. As long as I can have revenge, I’ll accept soul-scattering. Please, agree.”

“You—”

“Let me avenge her!” He Meijie seized Yu Ruoyin’s hand.
“Please!”

Yu Ruoyin flinched, yanking her hand back.
“Don’t beg me anymore. I’ll agree.”

The moment she nodded, a scroll flew from Jiang Huaining’s embrace, unfurling before He Meijie. On it were painted three monsters—one red, one white, one black—each with eight mouths.

Jiang Huaining tapped her finger lightly. A streak of spiritual light shot into the scroll.

The red eight-mouthed beast opened its eyes, leaping off the paper and pouncing at He Meijie.

It bit off her index finger in one snap, then carried it back into the scroll before closing its eyes once more.

Jiang Huaining retracted the scroll and released Xing Ruoyan.

Now freed, Xing Ruoyan looked deeply at Yu Ruoyin.
“My Lady, since when do you have a wife?”

“A few days ago—Ajin acted as matchmaker.”

“My Lady is truly devoted to her new bride.” Xing Ruoyan forced a smile, helping He Meijie up.
“Why be so hasty? The trail already points toward the jade puppet. If it truly is one, your revenge is assured. Why throw away your soul?”

But now that suspicion was shifting away from Tong Sangqian, He Meijie was strangely calm.

She pushed Xing Ruoyan aside.
“Reincarnate and I won’t be He Meijie anymore. Only He Meijie is Tong Weixue’s daughter. If my mother could give up her soul to keep me alive, why shouldn’t I give up mine to see her murderer punished? I can’t wait. I want revenge now. The Underworld can’t give me that, but Four Spirits Hall… Four Spirits Hall surely can.”

Her pleading gaze fell on Jiang Huaining. Jiang Huaining didn’t look at her—she only gave a quiet “Mm.”

Her eyes were fixed on Yu Ruoyin, who at some point had fallen into a daze.

“Has she been scared silly?”

Xing Ruoyan vaguely remembered how Yu Ruoyin had sympathized with an evil ghost not long ago. She could tell Yu Ruoyin had a kind heart. Learning that this place traded souls and lives must have been hard to accept. She herself had once questioned why Lord Yama allowed it—but with time, she understood.

Too many people suffered more in life than in death. Too many ghosts clung to obsessions, their spirits persisting even after dispersal.

And if it truly was a jade puppet at fault, Jiang Huaining’s price was hardly unreasonable.

A jade puppet.

Something unseen for over four thousand years.

Though she didn’t agree with Jiang Huaining’s methods, she knew if it was indeed a jade puppet, only Four Spirits Hall could help He Meijie take revenge.

She tried to comfort Yu Ruoyin, thinking she was distressed for He Meijie.
“Reincarnation wipes away memory—it’s another kind of dispersal. Four Spirits Hall isn’t a charity. Every trade is voluntary. You don’t need to feel sorry for her.”

Yu Ruoyin pulled her hand free of Jiang Huaining’s, sliding slowly off the chair to crouch on the ground.

She hugged her knees, burying her head between them, refusing to respond to Xing Ruoyan.

Jiang Huaining lowered her gaze slightly, golden mist flashing in her eyes.
“Do you blame me?”

Yu Ruoyin stirred at the sound of her voice. She lifted her head, looking up at her.
“Pretty wife, I was wrong. I’m sorry.”

?

An unexpected answer left Jiang Huaining stunned.

Before she could react, Yu Ruoyin hugged her leg tightly.
“I shouldn’t have doubted you—thinking you told me to scatter He Meijie because you wanted to harm me.”

Clutching her leg, Yu Ruoyin looked up.
“I know I was wrong. I won’t overthink again. Whatever you ask me to do must be for my own good.”

“Pretty wife, next time I’ll obey for sure!” She stopped crouching and went so far as to kneel firmly on the ground, staring unblinkingly at Jiang Huaining.
“If you tell me to go east, I’ll never go west. Whatever you say, I’ll obey.”

She didn’t need to say it aloud. But she felt guilty for doubting Jiang Huaining. Jiang Huaining had been nothing but good to her—it was she who kept suspecting.

She had laid out all her sincerity in apology.

Yet Jiang Huaining’s face instantly turned deathly pale. She gripped Yu Ruoyin’s arm tightly.
“No! You mustn’t!”

Her eyes lost focus for a moment. Suddenly she bent down, cupping Yu Ruoyin’s face.
“Don’t ever listen to me. You absolutely must not.”

Her hand on Yu Ruoyin’s cheek trembled uncontrollably.

Her lips quivered too, golden mist nearly spilling from her eyes.

She looked afraid. But what could make Jiang Huaining afraid?

Drip—

The golden mist gathered and fell straight down.

Warm drops burned on the skin, stinging faintly.

Yu Ruoyin thought she’d feel wetness, but what she touched was a golden pearl.

Beautiful—just like Jiang Huaining herself.

Only, holding it stirred an inexplicable urge to cry.

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