The Ghost Insists on Giving Me a Beautiful and Powerful Wife! - Chapter 54.2

Xia Yu was truly bizarre. She clearly knew Yu Ruoyin sided with Jiang Huaining, yet she wanted validation from her. What was she supposed to validate? The “Guilty Jiang Huaining” theory?

Yu Ruoyin looked at the increasingly frantic Xia Yu and pointed out the key fact in one sentence: “Aunt Ning never said she would take other people’s lives to find me.”

Yu Ruoyin couldn’t guess the various pasts between her and Jiang Huaining, and it was her first time hearing that Qiu Luo—who was so well-spoken of by others—also had a lover. But she had personally witnessed some of Jiang Huaining’s actions.

She touched the Red Jade Fruit at her chest. The scalding fruit was glowing, and its owner was also a beam of light. Jiang Huaining had indeed found her and was forcibly saving her. But she wasn’t using the lives of others; she was using half of her own spiritual power. She hadn’t harmed anyone. She had only made herself very haggard.

Yu Ruoyin didn’t know how Jiang Huaining had helped Qiu Luo’s lover, but she felt that based on Jiang Huaining’s style, the only one who suffered loss was likely herself. Wasn’t that how she acted when she helped Sang Xi and the others?

Xia Yu could say that she (Yu Ruoyin) wasn’t a good person, and Yu Ruoyin certainly wouldn’t argue—she had felt herself to be base more than once. But she wouldn’t negate Jiang Huaining, and she certainly wouldn’t curse her. Jiang Huaining just had a bit of a temper occasionally.

Yu Ruoyin rubbed her wrist, suppressing the cowardice in her heart. Without warning, she slapped Xia Yu across the face. After absorbing Lu Qichun’s spiritual power, her strength had increased significantly. Xia Yu, having no defenses up, was actually slapped right out of the pot and fell heavily to the ground.

Everyone was shocked by the sudden turn of events, including Xia Yu herself: “You dare to hit me?”

“Xia Yu, why aren’t you arguing with me anymore?” Yu Ruoyin didn’t answer her. She crouched down in front of Xia Yu, looking at her face which had calmed down because of the slap, and laughed. “Because you know I’m telling the truth, don’t you? Xia Yu, you really don’t act like a Guardian Spirit at all.”

Yu Ruoyin could clearly feel the dread in her heart—it was the animal instinct to avoid danger. But a voice louder than the one telling her to run was screaming: Slap her.

Yu Ruoyin gripped the Red Jade Fruit tightly. Her palm was almost scorched through by the heat, but she didn’t let go. The Red Jade Fruit provided strength to the not-so-brave Yu Ruoyin, allowing her to crouch firmly in front of Xia Yu, her other hand itching to reach out again.

Xia Yu saw through her thoughts and said coldly: “That’s enough from you.”

“Xia Yu.” Yu Ruoyin called her name with a smile, speaking slowly and deliberately: “You aren’t actually that guilt-ridden, are you? Guilt just provides you with a perfect excuse for your alcoholism. Resenting yourself is a way to deceive those who want to hate you. Since you already ‘loathe’ yourself so much, how could they possibly find the room to hate you as much as you deserve? You didn’t help Chun Shen gather the soul out of nobility; you did it because you felt that if sins can be washed away with blood, then why not do it? From beginning to end, you never viewed the ordinary people who needed your protection as complete lives. You don’t love them.”

Yu Ruoyin had no memories of that period, but just based on the fact that so many practitioners had their lineages severed, she could imagine the tragedy of that time.

Miss Zou was innocent, but weren’t the people who became sacrifices for her soul-gathering just as innocent?

Chun Shen wasn’t innocent, and Xia Yu was the very definition of the word ‘evil.’

Yu Ruoyin had felt that she herself had been quite extreme lately, but compared to Xia Yu and Chun Shen, she felt she was doing just fine.

A Guardian Spirit without “Great Love” was truly terrifying.

The disgust in Yu Ruoyin’s eyes was too prominent for Xia Yu to miss: “Shut up! Shut up!”

Xia Yu’s red hair instantly ignited, and her eyes turned so red they looked ready to drip blood. She lunged and grabbed Yu Ruoyin’s neck. A ferocious fire instantly swallowed her, and Yu Ruoyin along with her.

The Red Jade Fruit brightened once more, its golden light shaking off the encroaching flames. Yu Ruoyin’s back collar was suddenly yanked, and she was hoisted up by Kang Miaoxian and thrown backward, forced away from Xia Yu.

Zhuang Ciyue scrambled to catch the flying Yu Ruoyin and glared at Kang Miaoxian in displeasure: “Hey, hey, hey, Kang kid! Can’t you be a little more gentle!”

Without the plot’s control, Kang Miaoxian arrived in front of Zhuang Ciyue in an instant. She was still smiling, but her eyes were cold: “Who gave you permission to call me that?”

“I did.”

Zhuang Huaishu stepped behind Zhuang Ciyue and glanced at Kang Miaoxian.

Kang Miaoxian retreated to Kang Shuming’s side and suddenly smirked: “Little Great-Aunt, why don’t I see your old flame?”

Ever since Kang Shuying died, they had become strangers. For years, they had either avoided each other or pretended not to be acquainted. Now that they had collided, they stopped pretending. Kang Miaoxian knew exactly how to make Zhuang Huaishu miserable; she could respect her, but only if Zhuang Huaishu didn’t make things difficult for her.

She was, of course, referring to Ying Zhu.

At the mention of Ying Zhu, Zhuang Huaishu’s expression immediately darkened.

Kang Miaoxian felt much better. She was about to taunt her further when Kang Shuming suddenly tugged her hand: “Xiao Xian, look at the sky.”

As Kang Miaoxian looked up, Yu Ruoyin and the others followed her gaze. The scenes of the past had vanished. The vast number of stars were gone, and the blood moon had changed. It was no longer soft and dim; the red light was so dazzlingly bright it was almost burning.

It didn’t look like a moon anymore. It looked like a sun.

It was hot.

Yu Ruoyin tugged at her clothes, but nothing provided relief. Her lips began to crack, and she tasted blood. Her head, which had finally cleared, became dizzy and heavy again. Only Zhuang Ciyue’s voice rang in her ears: “Look over there.”

Pulled by Zhuang Ciyue, Yu Ruoyin looked toward Xia Yu.

The flames on Xia Yu had not gone out. Not only were they burning more fiercely, but they were also turning her skin red. Cracks began to appear on her body. How was this possible? Xia Yu represented summer; she was of the fire element. Fire was her weapon and part of her body. But now, her own fire was harming her.

Most bizarrely, the humans and ghosts who had just seemed to break away from the old scene were now trapped in the plot again. They had put Xia Yu back into the pot. The fire wasn’t extinguished by the water; it burned hotter. They kept throwing wood onto her. The “Village Chief,” the “Taoist Priest,” and the little nun stood by the pot. They stood at different positions, forming a triangle around Xia Yu.

Yu Ruoyin gripped the Red Jade Fruit, her eyes suddenly stinging as if burned by fire. She instinctively shrank back. As the cracks on Xia Yu’s skin multiplied, the red light grew stronger. Looking closely, tiny sparks emerged from the cracks in Xia Yu’s skin and entered the bodies of the Village Chief and the others, turning into blood-red threads that floated into the sky… that was likely the cause of the blood moon’s change.

The more sparks that flowed, the more cracks appeared on their bodies.

Not just them. Yu Ruoyin noticed small wounds appearing on Zhuang Ciyue’s skin as well.

“Sister Yue…” The words were unclear. Yu Ruoyin felt it was too difficult to speak. She reached out to touch her, only to feel a scalding heat.

Kang Miaoxian was the first to see the truth. She touched the willow-leaf silver bracelet on Kang Shuming’s wrist, and two pieces of black cloth embroidered with red plums appeared in her hands. The black cloth wrapped around Yu Ruoyin and Kang Shuming. Yu Ruoyin didn’t know what it was, but the burning sensation dissipated significantly.

“Sister Kang…”

Yu Ruoyin forced a sound out, but her throat felt dry, parched, and incredibly painful. Her voice had become low and hoarse, as if her throat had been burned through. She covered her throat in disbelief, unable to finish her sentence.

Kang Miaoxian knew what she wanted to ask: “We’ve all been deceived. This is the Yang side. This array is devouring the Summer Spirit’s power. Fire overcomes evil, but you guys… hopefully this helps.”

“How is that possible? They are all ghosts.”

“Nothing is impossible. Because the ghosts didn’t die—the master of the puppet corpses died.” Yu Ruoyin still didn’t understand, so Kang Miaoxian gave her a hint: “Remember that deep pit Jiang Huaining showed us? Think carefully, did those dead people really die?”

“Those people…” Yu Ruoyin couldn’t answer. Seeing them lying motionless, she had instinctively assumed they were dead. Surely Kang Miaoxian and the others felt the same, but it was hard to determine if someone was breathing just from a vision.

Kang Miaoxian knew she understood. With a low curse, she moved toward Xia Yu: “I finally understand why those three were chosen for the main roles. A Taoist, a nun, and a Spirit Painter—all those who can suppress Spirits are here!”

Yu Ruoyin didn’t have Kang Miaoxian’s keen eyes; she only noticed after the reminder. That “Village Chief” was actually a Spirit Painter, and the “Taoist” was a genuine priest with real cultivation. Spirits are born of nature and generally have no natural enemies, except for stronger versions of themselves. However, the Buddhist and Taoist heritages are ancient and possess methods to suppress Spirits.

Jiang Huaining was right; the real scheme was indeed here.

Puppet corpses move with their masters. A body with a detached soul isn’t technically dead. Kang Miaoxian meant that the mastermind killed the masters of the puppet corpses to turn them into dead objects, then extracted the souls of the living to make them look like ghosts. In reality, they were souls. By using the array to provide power to the souls and making them look like powerful wraiths, it was hard for anyone to detect the problem.

The blood moon had tricked them into letting their guard down. Those who entered were practitioners who responded to the Underworld’s call—people used to dealing with ghosts. Most were capable, like the top Shadow Painter Zhuang Huaishu or the gifted Shaman Painter Kang Miaoxian. They would instinctively look down on ghosts, and those around them were influenced by that. The consequence was that they were deep in a trap without knowing it.

They weren’t fighting ghosts; they were becoming sacrifices. Sacrifices to strip Xia Yu of her power. Underestimating the enemy is a fatal mistake.

Yu Ruoyin hadn’t underestimated the enemy, but she lacked the ability.

“Cough, cough.”

Yu Ruoyin was in too much pain. She clutched the black cloth and crouched down. Next to her was Kang Shuming, in a similar state. Among the Four Spirits, Xia Yu had the strongest restraint against evil; fire is always the best weapon against the sinister. Both Yu Ruoyin and Kang Shuming were the “living dead”—usually they didn’t fear sunlight, but sunlight reinforced by Xia Yu’s power was a different story.

If the array was completed, everyone here would die. When the two boundary stones were opened, the sunlight would fall into the true Yin side, and Lu Qingzhen and the others trapped there would also die. It was a certain-death trap.

No, one person could live. Jiang Huaining, a living being sent to the Yin side.

The mastermind didn’t fear Jiang Huaining’s power; they just didn’t want to sacrifice her. Who was it? Was it Chun Shen, who also needed to coexist with Jiang Huaining like the Summer Spirit? Was she awake? Since when? Could a Spirit wake up without Jiang Huaining knowing?

It was so chaotic, so hot. Yu Ruoyin could no longer think.

Suddenly, she heard Ying Zhu’s voice: “Zhuang Huaishu, what you’re doing is useless. The sacrificial array is complete. You haven’t even found the eye of the array, let alone broken it. Before you can break it, those two living-dead over there will be scorched to death! Your only choice now is to compete with the array for power. Slow down the rate at which the array absorbs energy. If you can seize half of Xia Yu’s power, even if the array isn’t broken, half of the people won’t have to become sacrifices.”

Zhuang Huaishu cursed back: “Ying Zhu, if the array isn’t broken, even if we have a way to extract Xia Yu’s power, it will be absorbed directly by the array!”

“Others might not be able to do it, but if the true owner of this power comes to take it, it will surely work… cough cough… hurry… if Xia Yu stops breathing, it’s over…”

“Ying Zhu, you’re spitting blood.”

“Huaishu, if you cared for me like this normally, I’d be happy. But there’s no time. Quickly, bring Ruoyin over here!”

“…”

Her? Me?

Was she the “true owner” of that power? Could she possess such immense strength?

Wait… if Xia Yu died, what would happen to the seasons? What would happen to this summer? Would the temperature completely collapse? Or… could she become the new Summer Spirit? And if so, would Jiang Huaining become her master?

…That actually sounded quite nice.

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