The Ghost Insists on Giving Me a Beautiful and Powerful Wife! - Chapter 50.1

Yu Ruoyin’s intuition was correct.

Kang Shuming could indeed leave this place. Of course, she wasn’t leaving the array itself, but rather moving from the space they occupied to Kang Miaoxian’s side.

The willow-leaf silver bracelet on her wrist didn’t contain Kang Miaoxian’s blood; instead, it was physically linked to Kang Miaoxian’s body—it was essentially a part of her. This was one of the Kang family’s ancestral treasures, capable of merging with the bloodline of the family head. it stored portions of the power of previous heads for the next generation to ensure the family leader remained sufficiently powerful. However, in Kang Miaoxian’s hands, this object had found a new use.

It acted more like a surveillance monitor she had installed on Kang Shuming. Through the bracelet, she could monitor Kang Shuming’s condition at any time and control the magical artifacts placed on her, ensuring Kang Shuming’s safety even when they were apart. Its function was somewhat similar to the Red Jade Fruit; while Jiang Huaining could speak to Yu Ruoyin through the fruit, Kang Shuming could talk to Kang Miaoxian through the bracelet—though she couldn’t hear Kang Miaoxian’s voice in return.

The willow-leaf silver bracelet could lead them to Kang Miaoxian, but Kang Shuming refused.

The reason for her refusal was only revealed after they had been at a standstill for half an hour.

Strictly speaking, the “Painted Shaman” (Hua Wu) was not a heritage, but a bloodline curse. They were the most powerful shamans, but also the most unfortunate. In shamanic lore, their clan was known as the cursed betrayers. Members of the Painted Shaman clan were born with Yin-Yang eyes, able to see ghosts and spirits without any initiation. This resulted in everyone having an “extreme cold” constitution; they had to study shamanic arts just to survive. Simultaneously, every member of the Kang family had exceptional talent for Yin-Yang arts, which was precisely the most tragic part. Whenever a member with excessive talent appeared, the Kang bloodline would rapidly wither and perish.

Kang Miaoxian was that person of excessive talent.

Since her birth, she had been continuously losing her relatives. At first, the loss brought helplessness and pain, but as more family members died, that helplessness evolved into despair, and despair eventually turned into madness.

In terms of status, Kang Shuming was Kang Miaoxian’s aunt and her last living relative.

There had originally been another person in the house named Kang Shuying, who was Kang Shuming’s aunt and Kang Miaoxian’s great-aunt.

Because of Kang Miaoxian’s birth as a peerless genius, everyone in the Kang family suffered varying degrees of physical decay—except for Kang Shuying. Her body remained perfectly healthy with no signs of decline. Kang Shuming had believed that Kang Shuying would be able to stay by Kang Miaoxian’s side forever, but unexpectedly, Kang Shuying suddenly committed suicide when Kang Miaoxian was ten years old.

Perhaps the curse was simply too powerful; such a healthy person was suddenly gone.

After Kang Shuying’s death, the gravely ill Kang Shuming became Kang Miaoxian’s sole reliance. This led to Kang Miaoxian’s gradual descent into madness. She used any means necessary to keep Kang Shuming by her side. Kang Shuming’s body had been slowly transformed day by day using Kang Miaoxian’s own blood, eventually turning her into a “living corpse”—her name was gone from the Book of Life and Death, yet her body remained “alive.”

Yes, theoretically, Kang Shuming’s body was still alive.

Within a sufficiently close range of Kang Miaoxian, she could be considered a healthy Painted Shaman, capable of normally using shamanic techniques.

This was a form of disguised imprisonment. Kang Shuming didn’t know where a ten-year-old child got such power; she only knew she had completely lost her freedom.

The closer she was to Kang Miaoxian, the more she felt like a living person. The further away she was, the more she felt like the dead.

She naturally wanted to feel like a living person—it had become her obsession—but she also didn’t want to be too close to Kang Miaoxian.

Even birds do not wish to be trapped in a cage, let alone a human being.

Kang Shuming was conflicted. She found Kang Miaoxian detestable, yet occasionally found her pitiful. She loathed not only her current body but also that heart of hers that would still ache for Kang Miaoxian. It was a terrible feeling.

This wasn’t a new thought; she wanted to escape every single moment.

However, it was always easy for Kang Miaoxian to find her. Only now, having fallen into this troublesome array, did she have such a long period of freedom. She didn’t want the silver bracelet to drag her back to Kang Miaoxian’s side.

Ten years old. Ten years old.

A conversation surfaced in Yu Ruoyin’s mind—a dialogue she had heard in a daze between Ying Zhu and Jiang Huaining.

“Jiang Huaining, I’m not lying to you. Some brat stole the soul I worked so hard to get.”

“Who could 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 what happened. She took that wisp of a soul right out of my hands. She’s a total lunatic. She saw through my identity and threatened me, betting I wouldn’t dare make a scene, and took my things. Pure evil!”

“What did she want with that soul?”

“I don’t know. I was so furious I committed suicide on the spot to return to the Underworld. But I’m certain that wisp of a soul eventually dissipated; not a trace remains.”

“…”

Kang Shuying hadn’t committed suicide because of a curse; she had been driven to it by Kang Miaoxian.

This was strange.

Yu Ruoyin didn’t know what “soul” Ying Zhu was referring to, but according to Kang Shuming, Kang Miaoxian had a morbid desire for control over her remaining kin. If so, why didn’t she control the healthier Kang Shuying instead of stealing her things?

Could it be that she had realized early on that Kang Shuying wasn’t a real Kang family member, but an incarnation of the Wheel-Turning King (Zhuanlun Wang) in the human realm?

It wasn’t impossible, but that possibility only made Kang Miaoxian seem even more terrifying.

To dare to steal from the Wheel-Turning King at age ten—and succeed. Just how powerful was she?

Yu Ruoyin had many doubts: Kang Miaoxian herself, the events of that year, that specific soul…

Naturally, Kang Shuming couldn’t answer these for her; she knew even less than Yu Ruoyin did.

She pushed her doubts down and observed the increasingly pale Kang Shuming. Compared to when they first met, a chill was radiating from her body. She looked less and less human. Standing beside her, Yu Ruoyin felt a freezing cold. Kang Shuming’s lips were turning purple, and small corpse spots were beginning to appear on her arms.

Yu Ruoyin saw them, and Kang Shuming noticed them too.

She rubbed her arms, but the tiny spots didn’t vanish; they became even more prominent.

Finally, Kang Shuming pinched a spot, then silently closed her eyes, seemingly deciding that if she couldn’t see it, it wouldn’t bother her.

…

Seeing the corpse spots appear, Yu Ruoyin truly understood the depth of Kang Shuming’s imprisonment. Yu Ruoyin thought she herself had been morbid enough lately, but compared to Kang Miaoxian, she felt relatively normal.

Perhaps being a Painted Shaman affects one’s temperament, she thought, secretly finding another excuse for herself. It was as if having enough excuses made her own darkness seem less severe.

“Cough, cough.” Before Yu Ruoyin could think of how to persuade her, Kang Shuming’s body revolted. She covered her mouth and let out a low cough, spitting out ice crystals mixed with blood. Her eyes gradually turned red, her breathing slowed to a stop, and her pale skin began to show more purple bruising.

Kang Shuming was too far from her “antidote” and had been away for too long.

She stared deathly at the willow-leaf silver bracelet, still refusing to go. Yu Ruoyin feared that if this stalemate continued, Kang Shuming’s body would completely die before her. She wasn’t just worried about Kang Shuming; she was worried that without her, she wouldn’t be able to get out. The Red Jade Fruit had not brought her Jiang Huaining’s voice or status.

Yu Ruoyin couldn’t help but speak up: “Sister Shuming, the reason you didn’t kill your own ‘Delusion’ earlier… was because you couldn’t bear to, right?”

According to Kang Shuming, delusions are born from oneself—they are desires and fears. Yu Ruoyin desired Jiang Huaining but feared her, hence the morbid “Jiang Huaining” she saw. The reason Kang Shuming saw two “Kang Miaoxians” wasn’t hard to guess. She yearned for the ten-year-old Miaoxian who relied on and respected her, but feared the twenty-eight-year-old Miaoxian who bound and controlled her. It made sense not to kill the ten-year-old one, but she hadn’t killed the twenty-eight-year-old one either. Perhaps the one controlling her wasn’t Kang Miaoxian, but herself.

Being a complicated person herself, Yu Ruoyin found it difficult to decipher such strange psychological states.

Kang Shuming didn’t blame her for exposing her hidden thoughts. She pointed at the bracelet and said, “I couldn’t bear to, but she certainly could.”

Who? Kang Miaoxian?

Just now, Kang Miaoxian had controlled the Green Jade Bracelet to kill Kang Shuming’s delusion. Given the close link between her and the silver bracelet, she should have recognized the aura of those two “Kang Miaoxians” as her own, yet she had struck without hesitation. She had killed “herself,” and Kang Shuming seemed to be blaming her for that.

If Yu Ruoyin wasn’t mistaken, Kang Shuming was throwing a tantrum.

Yu Ruoyin was speechless. By that logic, she had just killed the “Jiang Huaining” who shared the same aura as the real one—shouldn’t Yu Ruoyin be holding a grudge against her right now?

She found Kang Shuming a bit childish, and even… melodramatic.

Yu Ruoyin didn’t dare say it out loud, but Kang Shuming saw through her. Perhaps because her body was eternally stuck in her twenties, even though she often tried to act like an elder, she was far from mature. Upon sensing Yu Ruoyin’s thoughts, she muttered: “If you keep cursing me like that, I won’t take you out of here.”

“Huh?”

Yu Ruoyin didn’t expect this reaction. Her shocked expression made Kang Shuming feel a bit self-conscious. Kang Shuming eventually reached out her hand toward Yu Ruoyin: “Give me your hand.”

Yu Ruoyin didn’t move, so Kang Shuming reached over and grabbed her wrist.

An icy sensation instantly spread from her wrist to her entire body, making Yu Ruoyin shiver. She instinctively tried to pull away from the freezing hand, but before she could, several of the treasures on Kang Shuming’s wrist lit up simultaneously—the willow-leaf silver bracelet glowing the brightest.

The space where they stood was suddenly ripped open. The crack grew larger, and a powerful, biting Yin wind blew out, forcing both of them back half a step.

The Red Jade Fruit on Yu Ruoyin’s chest lit up, its golden light instantly dispelling the Yin wind. This caused Kang Shuming to give her a second look.

Without a word, Kang Shuming gripped her wrist and charged toward the rift.

She was incredibly fast. Yu Ruoyin stumbled; if she hadn’t received spiritual energy from Lu Qichun earlier, she might not have been able to keep up.

As they passed through the rift, the first thing they saw was a blinding red light.

This place was different from the previous space—no dense weeds, no silence.

Yu Ruoyin saw the ruined village as it had once been: small, interconnected courtyards, thatched roofs rustling in the wind, and curls of smoke rising from chimneys, signifying life. Chickens and ducks fluttered in the yards, leaving stray feathers behind. It looked very lived-in, but the red light bathing everything lacked any warmth.

The source of the light was a moon hanging in the sky.

Looking at that crimson moon, Yu Ruoyin’s vision suddenly blurred. She instinctively raised her hand to cover her eyes, but the arm held by Kang Shuming wouldn’t move. She had to use her free hand.

It was only when she felt a sharp pain in her wrist that she lowered her hand.

When her vision cleared, she saw a young woman standing beside them. She looked exactly like the twenty-year-old delusion.

Kang Miaoxian!

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