The Ghost Insists on Giving Me a Beautiful and Powerful Wife! - Chapter 52.1

She heard Kang Miaoxian say to Kang Shuming: “Auntie, did you see what just crawled out of her mouth?”

“It crawled back in too fast. I didn’t get a good look, but it seemed… it seemed like a Soul-Losing Gu. But who would plant that on her? I recall that aside from blurring the host’s memories of the planter, the Soul-Losing Gu is useless. On the contrary, the planter has to feed it frequently with their own fresh blood. It’s a tedious hassle.”

“Auntie, it seems there’s more than one in her body. How about I swing her around a few more times to see if I can make her spit out another one?”

“Xiaoxian, let her go.”

“…”

When Yu Ruoyin woke up again, they had already encountered the fourth wave of ghosts holding the same roles as them. During her unconsciousness, Kang Miaoxian had become even more reckless in using her as a weapon. The speed at which they dispatched the ghosts was increasing, and Yu Ruoyin felt like her head was covered in bumps; her arms and legs ached terribly.

“Awake?”

Before she could even respond to Kang Shuming, Kang Miaoxian threw her out again. This time, her head slammed into a fierce ghost’s forehead. The red jade nut on her chest lit up, and the mother-daughter spirit duo actually poked their heads out, taking a vicious bite out of the ghost and devouring a significant amount of yin energy.

Yu Ruoyin watched in wonder: “This is…?”

“Your wife is protecting you.”

Kang Miaoxian replied casually. Yu Ruoyin quickly realized that only she and Jiang Huaining could control the red jade nut. Since she had been unconscious, it could only have been Jiang Huaining controlling the nut to release the mother-daughter spirits.

The spirits were composed of lingering fragments and lacked complete consciousness; devouring yin and spiritual energy was merely an instinct. Jiang Huaining likely couldn’t bear to see Kang Miaoxian swinging Yu Ruoyin around like a tool and decided to help resolve the ghost situation so Yu Ruoyin would suffer less.

The mother-daughter spirits were also ghostly powers, so it didn’t count as breaking the rules.

Kang Miaoxian moved fast, and in a flash, the fourth wave of ghosts dissipated. Yu Ruoyin, enduring the dizzying sensation, tried to strike up a conversation: “Sister Kang…”

She wanted to ask how many more ghosts they had to deal with before they could officially enter the plot. To her surprise, the moment she opened her mouth, Kang Miaoxian raised an eyebrow: “Why aren’t you calling me ‘Daddy’ anymore?”

“Daddy?” Yu Ruoyin froze. Her fragmented memories weren’t enough to recall much. She rubbed her aching head. “Did I say something nonsensical while I was out?”

Kang Miaoxian seemed to be in a decent mood, looking at Yu Ruoyin amiably: “Nothing much. You just kept crying out for ‘Daddy’ and ‘Mommy.’ To play along, I even answered you a few times.”

“…”

Yu Ruoyin felt that Kang Miaoxian wasn’t “playing along”; she was simply taking advantage of her to assert seniority. Kang Miaoxian wasn’t just a maniac; she had a hobby of taking cheap shots.

As Yu Ruoyin grumbled inwardly, Kang Miaoxian suddenly asked: “Do you know that you have two Soul-Losing Gu inside you?”

“Soul-Losing Gu? What is that?”

“You don’t know? Don’t tell me Boss Jiang never mentioned it?”

Kang Miaoxian couldn’t help but be surprised. She knew she was strong, but she wasn’t confident enough to think she surpassed the master of the Four Spirit Shop, who had lived for an unknown amount of time. If she could discover the Soul-Losing Gu, there was no way Jiang Huaining hadn’t.

Yu Ruoyin glanced down at the red jade nut and shook her head honestly. Now that the three of them had gone through life and death together, and Yu Ruoyin knew the Kang family’s secret, she was quite honest when they questioned her.

Kang Shuming and Kang Miaoxian exchanged a glance. Kang Shuming took over the conversation gently: “Soul-Losing Gu is a very special type of parasite. It has no offensive power and causes no harm to the host. Its only function is to blur the host’s memory of the person who planted the Gu. Is there anyone very important to you whom you simply cannot remember?”

“My father, my mother!” Yu Ruoyin answered quickly. “And my grandmother.”

Kang Miaoxian remained silent, so Kang Shuming asked softly: “Are your parents and grandmother no longer with you?”

Mentioning the kin who were completely blurred in her memory, Yu Ruoyin’s expression grew lonely: “My father passed away when I was eight. My mother passed when I was ten. And my grandmother suddenly disappeared when I was fifteen.”

“That’s not right,” Kang Miaoxian said as she led them further into the crowd of ghosts. “Soul-Losing Gu is special and troublesome; it has no power but requires the planter to feed it with blood regularly, otherwise it dies inside the host. If your parents or grandmother planted it, then it’s impossible for them to be dead. Besides, they are your family—they’d have no reason to do this. Think carefully: is there anyone else? Someone you feel is very important but whose face you can’t recall at all?”

“No.”

Kang Miaoxian hadn’t encountered a situation like Yu Ruoyin’s before. She scrutinized the girl, and seeing that she didn’t seem to be lying, followed up: “Then are you certain your parents are dead?”

Yu Ruoyin had been certain before, but under Kang Miaoxian’s questioning, she suddenly couldn’t provide a definitive answer: “Maybe… perhaps.”

“You really are…” Kang Miaoxian was almost laughing in frustration. “Aren’t you a Picture Shaman? Can’t you just check for yourself if they are alive or dead?”

“I only started learning Picture Shamanism recently.” Yu Ruoyin hesitated for a moment before adding, “The last time we met at the Ghost Market, I hadn’t even entered the threshold of the craft.”

Kang Miaoxian smiled at Yu Ruoyin, her eyes full of scrutiny. “I wasn’t going to ask, but now I’m truly curious. What method did Boss Jiang use to allow you to practice Picture Shamanism? For years, so many people have craved that power. They’ve gone to any lengths to replicate the bloodline, running endless experiments, and no one ever succeeded. That power is born of blood. Why did you succeed?”

Yu Ruoyin couldn’t answer.

Kang Miaoxian didn’t insist on a result. She steered the conversation back to Yu Ruoyin’s parents. “Since you are Jiang Huaining’s wife, haven’t you asked her to help find your grandmother or check on your parents? That shouldn’t be difficult for her.”

“I didn’t want to trouble Auntie Ning.”

There was another reason: it seemed that after meeting Jiang Huaining, her desire to find her kin had faded.

Kang Miaoxian’s smile deepened, and Kang Shuming grabbed her hand, pulling down sharply. Kang Miaoxian’s mocking grin softened slightly as she tried to put on a helpful front: “Then trouble me instead. Once we get out of here, tell me their birth dates and times, and I’ll check for you.”

“I don’t know their birth dates.”

“Their names?”

“I… I don’t remember…” Yu Ruoyin’s voice grew quieter. Even she found it ridiculous—how could a child not even know her parents’ names?

Kang Miaoxian couldn’t help but ask: “Do you actually have parents?”

At that moment, Yu Ruoyin began to doubt her own memory. She had found too many inconsistencies. There were no photos, but what about identification documents? She seemed to have never seen those things, yet she had never questioned it.

Yu Ruoyin suddenly lost faith in her memories. She started to wonder: Do I really have parents and family?

No, I do.

Zhuang Ciyue could prove it. Zhuang Ciyue had mentioned her grandmother more than once and had been helping her look for her for years. It was just that Zhuang Ciyue didn’t remember the grandmother’s birth date or name either, and her appearance was likely blurred as well. Why? Why was it so eerie, and why was she only facing this now?

Zhuang Ciyue gave her confidence. Yu Ruoyin spoke up: “I… I have a grandmother.”

Having given a firm answer, Kang Miaoxian glanced at her: “And your parents?”

…

Parents.

Yu Ruoyin was suddenly less sure.

“I… I think so.”

Yu Ruoyin closed her eyes. She saw blurred faces. They all seemed to have long hair and very pale skin, whether they were wearing suits or long dresses.

A voice rang in her ear: “Little Fish, Mommy will be back soon. You have to wait for Mommy, okay?”

A gentle woman picked up the small, thin child. A soft kiss fell slowly onto Yu Ruoyin’s cheek. It was soft, carrying a fragrance. She smelled a warmth like sunlight—that was… the scent of a mother.

Fa… Father?

Yu Ruoyin saw a black suit. It hung in the entryway, waiting quietly for its owner to put it on.

The answer became clear again. She did have a father. That suit was his favorite clothing. However… she only seemed to be able to remember that suit. The suit proved she wasn’t an orphan.

Yu Ruoyin regained her confidence and said again: “I have them. My father was very good to me, my mother was very good to me, and my grandmother was very good to me too.”

Truly good.

Though she couldn’t remember much, she felt that if her parents hadn’t died and her grandmother hadn’t disappeared, she might have drowned in her family’s love. They had adored and protected her so much, they…

Yu Ruoyin’s expression became painful again. Those memories, so vital yet so blurred, refused to become clear.

This made her believe in the Soul-Losing Gu even more. She tugged at Kang Miaoxian’s sleeve: “Sister Kang, I can’t remember my family. Does that mean they were the ones who planted the Soul-Losing Gu? And since it needs constant feeding with fresh blood, does that mean they are still alive?”

Still alive.

The thought made Yu Ruoyin’s heart nearly leap out of her chest.

“You’ve forgotten three people, yet you only have two Soul-Losing Gu in you.” Kang Miaoxian wasn’t trying to throw cold water on her, but Yu Ruoyin’s hypothesis had too many holes. If her family had planted them, why? Why would family members need to be forgotten? And if they were still alive and had been lurking near her all these years to feed the Gu, why would they stage their deaths and disappearances? Most importantly, she was missing memories of three people, but there were only two Gu. It’s not like two of those people were actually the same person.

Father, mother, grandmother—three completely different identities.

The idea of any of them being the same person was absurd. Putting aside whether someone would do such a thing, even imagining a reason for it felt ridiculous to Kang Miaoxian.

What was this? Family roleplay?

Yu Ruoyin knew Kang Miaoxian was right, but she wasn’t ready to give up. Her free hand instinctively reached out to her own body. She didn’t know where the Gu were located, so she just felt around blindly. Naturally, she felt nothing. She couldn’t help but pin her hopes on Kang Miaoxian: “Sister Kang, you’re so capable. Can you help me take the Soul-Losing Gu out? If they’re gone, I should be able to remember my family, right?”

“Indeed,” Kang Miaoxian confirmed, but she didn’t move. “But I have to warn you: if the Gu dies, the planter suffers a backlash. If they are strong, they might manage, but if the person who planted it is just an ordinary human, the backlash could be fatal. According to your theory, the planters are your family. Are you sure…?”

Kang Miaoxian didn’t need to finish. Yu Ruoyin was shaking her head frantically the moment “backlash” was mentioned: “No, then I don’t want to.”

The story had reached a dead end again, with no breakthrough in sight.

Kang Miaoxian didn’t want to waste more time on this. She continued forward with Yu Ruoyin and Kang Shuming.

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