The Ghost Insists on Giving Me a Beautiful and Powerful Wife! - Chapter 51.1

Yu Ruoyin was struck with consternation. Jiang Huaining remained quiet for a long while before saying, “The person who laid this formation doesn’t seem to want me staying on the Yin side. I was being hounded by things just now, which is why I couldn’t contact you until I finally shook them off. But now, I’ve been pulled into a ‘re-enactment of the past.’ The timing isn’t ripe yet; once I break character or deviate from the setting, those ghosts will turn into vengeful spirits and retaliate. There are still many living civilians trapped in this formation. I can’t return to the Yin side.”

Hearing Jiang Huaining’s words, it seemed the Yang side was also undergoing a re-enactment of history. This piqued Kang Miaoxian’s curiosity: “On our side, it’s ghosts performing the past. What about your side? Demons? What kind of thing could control that many demons?”

“No,” Jiang Huaining shook her head. “Not demons. Puppet Corpses.”

Puppet Corpses.

The last time Yu Ruoyin had seen a Puppet Corpse was when she encountered He Meijie and the Jade Puppet was drawn out.

While Puppet Corpses were inanimate objects like zombies, the person refining them was a living being. Thus, it was Puppet Corpses performing the past on the Yang side.

Through the space where they stood, they could catch glimpses of the situation on the Yang side.

Ghosts constantly passed by the courtyard gate—some playing men, some playing elders, and even teenage girls playing children. There was no discernible pattern, save for the sheer, overwhelming number of them.

Too many.

So many it was unsettling.

Yu Ruoyin gradually realized that some of their identities were repeating. Most obvious was a specific four-person group that had passed their gate five times; they were playing a child’s father, mother, and a blind grandmother. That blind grandmother was particularly conspicuous, especially since she was being played by female ghosts with bright, black eyes.

Yu Ruoyin instinctively reached out to tug at Jiang Huaining before speaking, but her hand passed right through the spectral arm.

She froze, her curled fingers slowly pulling back. “They… their roles seem to be repeating.”

Jiang Huaining was sharper and more knowledgeable; she had noticed it long ago. “A-Yin, remember that story about the mountain demon I told you? If I’m not mistaken, this ‘past’ is the story of Miss Zou before she died. On that day, there were only 421 people in Mingxia Village—422 if you count the Taoist. With tens of thousands of souls trapped in this array, roles are bound to repeat. Your roles will likely repeat as well, but… only 422 can enter the final act. Which means…”

Before Jiang Huaining could finish, Kang Miaoxian grasped the implication. “Which means we have to take out the other groups playing our same roles if we want to reach the end.”

After a brief thought, Kang Miaoxian immediately said to Kang Shuming, “Aunt, since we have to kill vengeful spirits to reach the end, those little Taoists probably won’t make it through. Why don’t we just break the array now? Even if all these ghosts turn into vengeful spirits, I can still get you out. Wiping them all out isn’t impossible.”

“What do those people have to do with me? They aren’t even colleagues. Even if they die…”

Jiang Huaining’s phantom image flickered as she moved her left hand, and a vision appeared before them.

The image showed a massive pit filled with countless people.

Tiny infants, frail mothers, and most shockingly—pregnant women.

The Red Jade Nut on Yu Ruoyin’s chest stirred again, and the mother-daughter spirits emerged. They were visibly distraught, the mother already weeping: “Save… save the children…”

Yu Ruoyin finally understood how these mother-daughter spirits came to be. They had been trapped for an unknown amount of time. The deep pit was already full of corpses, wrapped in swirling masses of resentment. The souls had likely been sucked into the center of the formation, while the lingering grievances gathered to form these spiritual shells.

The vision vanished, and Yu Ruoyin ushered the spirits back into the Red Jade Nut.

Kang Shuming tugged at Kang Miaoxian, who stopped talking about breaking the array early. Instead, she changed her tune: “Competing with a few ghosts for a role? Simple enough.”

Jiang Huaining’s expression did not soften; she remained clouded with worry. “If I’m right, once your own plot begins, you won’t be able to use your Hua Wu (Painting Witchcraft) techniques. If you force them, it will likely count as breaking the array prematurely.”

Kang Miaoxian stopped smiling. “What kind of wicked thing laid this array? This is despicable!”

If it came down to brute force, Jiang Huaining and Kang Miaoxian weren’t necessarily lacking the power to fight. But this formation used petty methods to bind them—stripping them of their occult techniques while forcing them to battle evil ghosts. It wasn’t that Kang Miaoxian couldn’t do it; it was just that it would be incredibly troublesome and consume several times more energy.

She questioned Jiang Huaining, but Jiang Huaining didn’t have a definitive answer yet.

Jiang Huaining’s phantom began to show signs of fading. She gazed at Yu Ruoyin as if she had a thousand words to say, which ultimately dissolved into a soft sigh.

A phantom had no right to an embrace. Jiang Huaining could only gaze at Yu Ruoyin with eyes full of tenderness. “A-Yin, I suspect the true scheme is hidden on your side. Once you get your role, you must find Zhuang Huashu. If you encounter danger, Yingzhu can go directly to her side. Yingzhu won’t let anything happen to you.”

At the mention of Yingzhu’s name, Kang Miaoxian uncomfortably pulled Kang Shuming behind her.

Jiang Huaining shot her a look. “Kang Miaoxian, you stole something from Yingzhu.”

It wasn’t a question; she was demanding an admission.

Kang Miaoxian knew the Four Spirits Shop had deep ties with the Underworld. Since Jiang Huaining said it to her face, she must have already verified it with Yingzhu.

She shielded Kang Shuming more firmly, arguing with Jiang Huaining alone: “That belonged to my family in the first place.”

Seeing her admit it, Jiang Huaining immediately pressed further: “Where did you take the Hun (Soul)?”

“Soul?” Kang Miaoxian dithered for a moment, then quickly recovered. “No, what I took was a Po (Vigor/Physical Soul).”

“A Po?”

“Yes, a Po. Since I’ve admitted to the act, there’s no reason to lie to you.”

Jiang Huaining frowned. Her phantom was growing fainter; there was no time to haggle over where the soul had gone. She could only say hurriedly, “Whether it’s a Hun or a Po, you took something from Yingzhu. You owe her. And since Yingzhu owes me quite a bit, you have to protect A-Yin. You must help her get her role.”

“…” Kang Miaoxian’s face contorted slightly. She wanted to force a smile, but she could only grit her teeth and say, “Boss Jiang, if you want me to protect her, you could just say so directly. You don’t need to go in such a circle to threaten me.”

“I am not threatening you. I am requesting…”

Jiang Huaining’s last words scattered as her phantom vanished. The Red Jade Nut dimmed along with her.

Yu Ruoyin hung her head, her eyes fixed on the Nut, her rims slowly reddening.

She hated Jiang Huaining begging anyone for her sake.

She felt a sudden surge of resentment toward Kang Miaoxian.

“Aunt, that’s hardly the attitude of someone asking for a favor…” Kang Miaoxian’s complaining cut off abruptly when Yu Ruoyin looked up. She saw the same look in Yu Ruoyin’s eyes that she herself often wore. She clicked her tongue and swallowed the rest of her words. “You’re a bit like me. I wouldn’t mind being assigned the role of your father. Aunt…”

Kang Miaoxian looked deeply at Kang Shuming. “Aunt has to take the role of the mother.”

“You’re out of your mind.”

Kang Shuming snapped at her, but Kang Miaoxian wasn’t angry. She suddenly spoke to Yu Ruoyin: “Don’t you go hating me. I’m the one who should hate you. Jiang Huaining gives you far more than my aunt gives me.”

“…” Yu Ruoyin, her thoughts exposed, felt a bit embarrassed. “That… that’s different.”

“It’s not different at all.” Kang Miaoxian dragged a chair from the house and sat down. Since it still wasn’t their turn, she continued talking to Yu Ruoyin: “You probably know about the Kang family curse, right?”

“Yes.” Yu Ruoyin nodded slightly. “Yue-jie said that Hua Wu isn’t a heritage, but a bloodline curse.”

“Bloodline?” Kang Miaoxian lowered her head, half her face hidden in shadow. “Then she was wrong.”

She said it was wrong, but didn’t explain how.

Yu Ruoyin turned to Kang Shuming. Kang Shuming glanced at Kang Miaoxian and actually answered: “It’s not a bloodline curse. It’s a soul curse.”

“Soul?”

“Yes. A bloodline curse would be unfair. Souls reincarnate; those who can be born as humans are generally those without sin or those who have cleared their debts in the Underworld. If it were a bloodline curse, wouldn’t these souls be burdened with a karma that doesn’t belong to them the moment they are born into the Kang family? Therefore…”

Kang Shuming’s voice trailed off. Kang Miaoxian looked mockingly at her aunt’s sudden silence. “Why stop there, Aunt?”

She was asking a question she already knew the answer to. Kang Shuming remained silent.

Kang Miaoxian sneered and took over the explanation: “Yu Ruoyin, those of us in the Kang direct bloodline are actually the people who were implicated during the ancestor’s generation. These people weren’t all Kangs—there were wives, concubines, and adopted children. It looks like a continuation of a bloodline, but it’s actually seventy-two souls in a constant cycle of reincarnation. Husbands and wives become grandparents and grandchildren, or siblings, or aunts and nephews…”

Yu Ruoyin was horrified. She looked at Kang Miaoxian and Kang Shuming in disbelief. Kang Shuming showed no reaction, but Kang Miaoxian’s eyes were red. “That is the most malicious part of the curse.”

“You have the memories?”

“Not all the memories. They just come back in fragments at specific times.” Kang Miaoxian stood up. “What kind of torture would a curse be if you remembered nothing?”

“When are these ‘specific times’?”

Kang Miaoxian’s smile became even more cynical. “After having a child. The most ridiculous part is that you can tell this secret to outsiders, but you can never tell your own child.”

Yu Ruoyin understood.

The curse didn’t bind the “Kang Family” as an entity, but rather the seventy-two individuals who carried that specific karma. As long as there was a vacancy in the Kang bloodline, one of those seventy-two souls would immediately reincarnate. Even at its peak, the direct bloodline never exceeded seventy-two people; even at its lowest, it would never drop below one. Their lineage would never end.

They would awaken a segment of their original memories after having a child, remembering their true original relationship with a family member—be it grandparent, parent, or spouse.

Other relationships were manageable, even if the seniority was scrambled.

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