The Ghost Insists on Giving Me a Beautiful and Powerful Wife! - Chapter 45

When Yu Ruoyin drifted back into consciousness, the first thing she heard was the sound of Jiang Huaining and Yingzhu arguing.

She hadn’t heard the beginning of their conversation, only Jiang Huaining’s sharp questioning: “Yingzhu, do you have any idea what kind of stupidity you’ve committed? You actually tried to gather her soul? Don’t you know exactly what kind of person she is?”

“I know I was wrong. I’ve known for a long time. But she is, after all…”

“If you knew you were wrong, you wouldn’t still be trying to make excuses now.”

“I… I…”

A mix of anger and guilt filled the air. Even without opening her eyes, Ruoyin could feel the heat of the fury and the dejection of the guilty party. She tried desperately to wake up and see what was happening, but her conscious mind wasn’t strong enough to force her eyelids open. She remained trapped in darkness, a passive listener to their fight.

She wasn’t very familiar with Yingzhu’s voice, but fortunately, she could easily distinguish Jiang Huaining’s: “If you had succeeded in gathering her soul, I really would have killed you.”

“Relax, I don’t have that kind of ability, and neither does anyone else,” Yingzhu replied, her voice hesitating—a far cry from the arrogant and overbearing impression she had previously left on Ruoyin. “Huaining… I don’t want to lie to you. I did succeed at the time, but… it was only a single wisp of a soul… and in the end, that wisp didn’t stay. I thought I didn’t need to tell you all; once I returned to the Underworld, no one would find out. I didn’t expect you to run into Zhuang Huaishu, I…”

“If you succeeded, how could it not stay? You’re lying to me.”

“Jiang Huaining, I’m really not! Some brat stole the soul I worked so hard to manifest.”

“Who could possibly steal something from you?”

“That little girl from the Kang family.”

“How old was she even then?”

“Ten. She was ten years old. Ridiculous, right? But that’s exactly what happened. I’m not lying—that Kang girl snatched that wisp of soul right out of my hands. She was a total lunatic. She saw through my identity and even threatened me, betting on the fact that I wouldn’t dare make a scene. She took my things—she was utterly malicious!”

“What did she want with that soul?”

“I don’t know. I was driven mad with rage at the time and returned to the Underworld in a fit of pique. But I’m certain that wisp of soul eventually dissipated; not a trace of it remains.”

“When will you ever consider the consequences of your actions? What if she took that soul and went down a dark path?”

“That’s unlikely. With her talent, she wouldn’t need to…”

“Yingzhu, even if she wasn’t a good person, her soul was a ‘good thing’ (a powerful item).”

“…” Yingzhu’s voice suddenly spiked in volume. “Huaining, you have to help me with this. Help me check on that Kang girl. If she really did swallow that soul, I… I will definitely kill her!”

Ruoyin didn’t hear Jiang Huaining’s answer. Jiang Huaining seemed to sense something and suddenly said, “Quiet.”

The arguing stopped instantly. Ruoyin couldn’t even hear breathing to determine if they were still there until she heard footsteps.

As the steps drew closer, Ruoyin felt a hand brush against her forehead. “Ayin, Ayin.”

The excessive softness of the palm made her instinctively lean into the touch; the tender voice made her want to respond.

“Ning…”

The sound she managed to squeeze out was just a single syllable, sounding more like a mumble in a dream. She wanted to wake up, but her eyelids felt heavier by the second.

Warm breath brushed against her eyelids, and the scent of Jiang Huaining enveloped her. Soft lips grazed her eyes. “Sleep. Keep sleeping. You need the rest.”

Ruoyin’s consciousness blurred until she could no longer hear anything or think at all. Because of her deep slumber, she didn’t hear the subsequent plans made by Jiang Huaining and Yingzhu.

She truly woke up the next day, back at the Four Spirits Shop. Although Yingzhu was still there, she and Jiang Huaining had made up. The conflict was gone, and Ruoyin had no further opportunity to overhear key information.

Lying in bed and staring at the ceiling, Ruoyin pieced together the conversation she had eavesdropped on.

Whose soul were they talking about? Why was it with the Kang family? Could the last descendant of the Spirit-Painter clan truly have strayed? If so, wouldn’t she be incredibly difficult to deal with? If not, why did she snatch the soul Yingzhu had gathered? Did Jiang Huaining eventually agree to help Yingzhu check on the Kang family’s sole survivor?

Soul. The Kang family.

These two terms flashed repeatedly in her mind, cluttering her thoughts so much that she didn’t even hear what Jiang Huaining and Yingzhu were saying to her.

“Yu Ruoyin!”

Yingzhu lunged at the foot of the bed, half-kneeling on the mattress in an exaggerated movement to startle Ruoyin awake.

Ruoyin finally focused her gaze on her, looking somewhat bewildered at how close Yingzhu was. Jiang Huaining grabbed Yingzhu by the back of her collar and pulled her away slightly. Yingzhu shuffled forward on her knees, refusing to get off the bed. “Let go of me, I just want to say a few words.”

She struggled in Jiang Huaining’s grip, but seeing that Jiang Huaining wouldn’t let go, she didn’t persist. She craned her neck to talk to Ruoyin. “Hey, did you hear what I just said? I said I’m leaving.”

“No.”

Yingzhu choked for a second, then stretched her neck even further. “Well, you’ve heard it now.”

Ruoyin looked at Yingzhu with uncertainty. “Do… do you need me to say goodbye?”

“Shouldn’t you?”

She spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Jiang Huaining and Yu Ruoyin both frowned simultaneously. With a firm tug, Jiang Huaining tossed her off the end of the bed.

Ruoyin watched her with confusion, suppressing the swarm of questions in her mind. Truthfully, Yingzhu’s attitude toward her was strange—one moment claiming they didn’t know each other, the next treating her like an old friend. Whether she stayed or left, why did she insist on a goodbye from her?

Of course, it might not be for her.

Ruoyin recalled the image of the spirited young girl again, and her head drooped slightly, her gaze darkening. If Yingzhu was also just looking for a shadow of someone else in her, Ruoyin certainly wasn’t going to let her have her way.

She pulled the blanket up, almost burying her head inside, and cast a pleading look at Jiang Huaining. “Aunt Ning, I’m still very sleepy.”

Hearing her say she was tired, Jiang Huaining immediately pushed Yingzhu out the door. “Get out.”

“Huaining, I won’t be loud.”

“Actually…” Jiang Huaining blocked Yingzhu as she tried to sneak back in. “Shouldn’t you go say goodbye to Zhuang Huaishu? Isn’t she your ‘old flame’?”

The words “old flame” made Ruoyin’s ears perk up. Her head, which had been mostly hidden under the covers, slowly emerged. She saw Yingzhu pat Jiang Huaining’s shoulder before hurried away from the door.

Jiang Huaining closed the door. When she turned back to look after Ruoyin, half of the girl’s body was already out from under the blankets. She had clearly been watching them for a while. Jiang Huaining wanted to laugh. “Ayin, I thought you were tired?”

“I…” Ruoyin rubbed her palms together and slowly raised a hand to point at the door. “I-I’m curious.”

She could ask about things that didn’t involve herself directly with ease. Knowing this, Ruoyin admitted her curiosity quite openly. She wasn’t particularly a gossip, but if one traced the lineage through Zhuang Ciyue, then Zhuang Huaishu was technically a relative.

Jiang Huaining sat on the edge of the bed and pressed her back down, tucking the blanket around her. “She said she and Zhuang Huaishu had a history.”

Ruoyin gripped the edge of the blanket, staring unblinkingly at Jiang Huaining. “Ex-girlfriend?”

“If they bowed before the altar, I suppose it would be ‘ex-wife’.”

They even had a wedding ceremony?

Ruoyin popped out from the blankets again, grabbing Jiang Huaining’s arm. “Aunt Ning!”

Her blatant thirst for knowledge made Jiang Huaining chuckle. She couldn’t help but lightly tap Ruoyin’s forehead. “Even if you ask me, I don’t know much more. You’d probably have to go downstairs and ask them yourself.”

Ruoyin threw back the covers, actually preparing to go down. Jiang Huaining caught her by the shoulder and pressed her back into bed, caught between laughter and sighs. “Ayin, aren’t you tired?”

Tired, and her mind was a mess—hence the urgent need for a distraction.

Curiosity and the desire to suppress her emotions were split fifty-fifty, but she couldn’t tell Jiang Huaining that. She could only repeat, “I’m just curious. Grandma Zhuang is Sister Yue’s great-aunt, which makes her my great-aunt too. I… I’m worried about her. What if she’s being bullied by an Underworld official?”

Jiang Huaining’s opinion of Yingzhu seemed to match Ruoyin’s. She didn’t speak up for Yingzhu, instead following Ruoyin’s lead: “Then your concern is a bit late. Whatever was going to happen happened a long time ago. Besides… Ayin, they probably won’t tell you about the past.”

That made sense. Zhuang Huaishu didn’t seem like the type to revisit past pains, and as for Yingzhu not talking—it was probably out of a guilty conscience. Subconsciously, Ruoyin didn’t feel like Yingzhu was a “proper” Underworld official. Judging by Zhuang Huaishu’s attitude toward her, she couldn’t be a particularly good one.

After concluding that she wouldn’t get any answers, Ruoyin gave up on the urge to go downstairs. Even though it didn’t feel like much time had passed, she was incredibly exhausted. Her claim of being sleepy hadn’t been an excuse. She couldn’t tell if she was just physically weak or if the trauma from Yin City was taking its toll.

Ruoyin yawned, her eyes fluttering shut. As her vision faded, the clearest sensation was the smooth texture against her palm. She was still clutching Jiang Huaining’s soft arm. The delicate, supple skin was softer than any pillow. In her state of fatigue, her longing for warmth and softness was heightened. She instinctively burrowed into Jiang Huaining’s embrace, resting her head against Jiang Huaining’s stomach, letting the warm fragrance and softness envelop her.

She nuzzled Jiang Huaining’s arm lightly. It really was softer than a pillow.

Jiang Huaining didn’t push her away; she only smiled and tucked the blanket around her. Her reaction was the best encouragement, giving Ruoyin a reason to push her luck further.

Ruoyin had essentially pulled Jiang Huaining onto the bed. As she leaned in, she turned her head downward, burying her face against Jiang Huaining’s abdomen. Her nose was filled with the gentle scent, and she wiggled her nose contentedly, the sleepiness growing heavier.

Pushing her luck.

That was Ruoyin’s own assessment of herself. Jiang Huaining clearly didn’t think so. She reclined half-way on the bed, supporting Ruoyin’s head so it rested in the softest position. One hand rested lightly on Ruoyin’s back, while the other slowly straightened the covers. “Sleep.”

The hand on her back patted her rhythmically, making Ruoyin’s heavy eyelids impossible to keep open. Since her grandmother disappeared, it had been a long time since anyone had coaxed her to sleep like this.

She thought she would become increasingly obsessed with Jiang Huaining. Definitely.

Ruoyin couldn’t.

She buried her head deeper, wishing she could melt herself right into Jiang Huaining’s flesh.

Jiang Huaining steadied her head, lifting it slightly while looking at her flushed face with amusement. “Ayin, aren’t you afraid of suffocating?”

Seeing that smiling face showed no signs of pain, Ruoyin knew she had been telling the truth earlier. Overjoyed, she clung back onto Jiang Huaining excitedly. “It’s not suffocating at all! You smell so good!”

This nonsense caused a rare hint of a blush to appear on Jiang Huaining’s face. She stroked Ruoyin’s hair—messy from long sleep—with eyes full of indulgence and tenderness. While Yu Ruoyin was drowning in the moment, Jiang Huaining was clearly enjoying the girl’s dependence on her.

Perhaps the scent was too intoxicating, or perhaps the stimulation of smooth skin against skin was too much; Ruoyin’s sleepy consciousness grew sharper. She didn’t fall asleep, yet neither of them moved. One was pretending to sleep, while the other was pretending not to notice that she was awake.

Finally, Ruoyin couldn’t hold back any longer. Recalling the events in Yin City, she asked, “Aunt Ning, you said in Yin City that the flow of time in the barrier was different from the outside world. Since you woke up naturally, how much time has actually passed?”

“Ayin, it’s already August.”

August. That meant they had spent over ten days in Yin City. Ruoyin hadn’t expected time to move so fast. They had stayed so long, yet they still hadn’t managed to give Nan He a happy ending.

Thinking of Nan He, Ruoyin looked up slightly. “Aunt Ning, how is Nan He?”

“She is still very sad, but that’s normal. It takes time to forget someone.”

“Aunt Ning, do you really think Nan He can forget Gou Nanchun?”

“It’s difficult.” Jiang Huaining looked down, her ink-black hair cascading over her shoulders. A few stray strands tickled Ruoyin’s nose. “Even though she is a Guardian Spirit (Baojia Spirit), to her, Gou Nanchun was her only master.”

Following the scent of her hair, Ruoyin stretched her head upward. Sniffing the air and craning her neck, she looked exactly like a small puppy.

Jiang Huaining couldn’t help but pinch her nose, pressing her head back against her abdomen while smiling down at her. “In fact… he was more than just a master.”

Lying in Jiang Huaining’s arms, Ruoyin stared at her unblinkingly. She felt that Jiang Huaining had changed at some point. She had always been gentle, but occasionally Ruoyin could tell it was a deliberate performance. Now, there was a maternal radiance emanating from within—soft and warm. Ruoyin felt she might drown in such a gaze, but at the same time, a sharp pang of jealousy rose. She couldn’t stop herself from wondering: Who exactly is she looking at when she looks at me?

Ruoyin retracted her gaze, nuzzling into her embrace, her voice muffled. “Forgetting is hard, isn’t it?” She was asking about Nan He, but also about Jiang Huaining.

Jiang Huaining hummed in agreement. “Very hard, especially when trying to forget someone important.”

Was she analyzing Nan He, or speaking about herself? Ruoyin didn’t dare confirm. Her hands tightened around Jiang Huaining’s waist as she suddenly asked, “Aunt Ning, would you like to accept my offerings?”

“Hmm?”

Ruoyin mustered her courage to look up and give her a smile. “Once you’re on my offering table, you’ll belong to me alone.”

Jiang Huaining didn’t catch the double meaning. She leaned closer to Ruoyin with a smile. “But I already belong only to you.”

Her smile was brighter than Ruoyin’s, and her sweet words were even more enchanting. Ruoyin fell for it instantly, her faint worries suppressed by a surge of joy. She called out emotionally, “Beautiful Wife!”

“I’m here.”

It wasn’t an illusion. Jiang Huaining had indeed become softer and more patient. Fearing Ruoyin might not hear her, she repeated several times, “Ayin, I’m here.”

No one could reject such tenderness; certainly not Ruoyin. She fell easily into the tides of affection. She couldn’t help but roll around in Jiang Huaining’s arms, repeating “Beautiful Wife” over and over. In this moment, she finally remembered she was an eighteen-year-old girl and felt she had the right to be a little childish.

Her rolling was eventually stopped by Jiang Huaining, who pulled up the blanket that had been kicked aside and wrapped Ruoyin up like a zongzi (sticky rice dumpling).

The immobilized Ruoyin looked at her with a resentful gaze. Tucking in the corners of the blanket, Jiang Huaining said sincerely, “You’ll catch a cold.”

As if.

In Ruoyin’s current state—somewhere between life and death—it wouldn’t even be easy for her to die, let alone fall ill. She was clearly just tired of her moving around. Irritated by the clumsy excuse, Ruoyin pouted even as her head remained cradled in Jiang Huaining’s arms. “You are truly too much.”

Jiang Huaining embraced her, neither denying nor admitting it. She seemed to be enjoying the peaceful embrace, her arms tightening around Ruoyin. “Ayin.”

There were many things Jiang Huaining couldn’t say. Fortunately, the emotionally sensitive Ruoyin could sense the deep attachment within those few short words. Jiang Huaining was relying on her… or, perhaps, on the person she saw in her.

“Aunt Ning, you seem different.”

“Is it bad? Didn’t Ayin say that no matter what I became, you would like me?”

Ruoyin immediately remembered the confession she had blurted out in Yin City. Was Jiang Huaining’s change because of those words? Because of her?

Ruoyin felt her heart nearly jump out of her chest. Her hand squeezed out of the blanket, hurriedly reaching for Jiang Huaining’s chest to find a heartbeat that matched her own. Before she could touch that softness, her hand was patted away. “Ayin, what are you doing?”

“Just… just a touch.”

Ruoyin only realized how suggestive her action was after she said it. The ambiguity made their breathing grow heavy. Jiang Huaining didn’t dodge again, nor did she refuse. She was waiting, but now Ruoyin was the one who didn’t dare. She shrank back into the blanket, leaning against Jiang Huaining and mumbling nonsense even she didn’t understand.

Jiang Huaining found it funny. “How can you be so…”

Before she could finish, Ruoyin hurriedly cut her off. “No matter how I am, you’ll still like me, won’t you?”

“Yes.” Jiang Huaining pulled her up, moving Ruoyin’s head from her abdomen to her chest. “I like you. I’ve always liked you.”

Jiang Huaining granted her wish, letting her rest against that softness. Ruoyin froze in her arms, her breathing quickening. “Aunt Ning!”

“What is it?”

“You…”

Jiang Huaining was not just gentler, but more tolerant. She no longer minded the formal “You” and asked patiently again, “Ayin, what’s wrong?”

Is it really me that you like? Do you like this sensitive, fragile, overthinking Yu Ruoyin?

The words remained stuck in her throat. She was afraid that if she pierced the veil, that “spirited girl” from the memory would become an insurmountable wall between them. She knew she was trapped in a vicious cycle—competing with a memory and slowly drifting toward self-destruction—but she couldn’t save herself.

Ever since those memories appeared, her possessiveness had grown like wild weeds, filling her heart in a short time. She couldn’t cut it down or burn it away.

Her desires dimmed. She lowered her head and whispered, “I’m sleepy.”

Jiang Huaining coaxed her softly, “You can sleep a while longer. I’ll stay with you.”

Jiang Huaining had no intention of letting her go, and Ruoyin was loath to leave. Just as sleepiness began to wash over her, a strange noise erupted from downstairs, and the room began to vibrate unnaturally.

Sensing danger, Ruoyin snapped her eyes open. The floor was jumping, and the bed was shaking violently. Because Jiang Huaining was holding her, her body was anchored, but her head wobbled uncontrollably. Her nose bumped against Jiang Huaining’s chest, her head hit her collarbone, and her lips grazed the pale skin of Jiang Huaining’s neck several times, leaving faint crimson marks.

Ruoyin couldn’t tell if she was in pain or in bliss. She worried the bed might split apart or the floor might shatter. It took her a moment to realize the source was downstairs. Two voices arguing reached her ears.

There was no more sleep to be had. She scrambled out of Jiang Huaining’s arms, breaking free of the blanket. “Aunt Ning, are they fighting?”

She couldn’t tell who it was yet. It couldn’t be Zhuang Huaishu and Yingzhu, right? Zhuang Huaishu couldn’t make this much noise. She wasn’t that reckless; in the face of someone with Yingzhu’s absolute power, her greatest resistance would only be a few sharp words. She wouldn’t be so foolish as to start a physical fight. Even if she didn’t care about herself, she would care about Zhuang Ciyue.

Jiang Huaining was much calmer. With a single thought, she could sense exactly what was happening below. She tapped the bedside lightly and gave Ruoyin the answer: “She really has started a fight with Xia Yu.”

“She.” No name was needed. In the Four Spirits Shop, only one person had the standing to trade blows with Xia Yu besides Jiang Huaining—and that was Yingzhu, who had just gone to find Zhuang Huaishu.

Support