The Gusu Mistake - Chapter 10

“Are you really going to get involved in this?” Jiang Yilan asked Yuan Ruo as they walked.

Yuan Ruo looked at Jiang Yilan. “So, you want me not to?”

“Ahem!” Jiang Yilan cleared her throat. “No, you should.”

“Why pretend to be so indifferent to other people’s problems?” Yuan Ruo gave Jiang Yilan a slight smile, then focused on the path ahead. “I think if I said no, you’d be more anxious than I am!”

Jiang Yilan pouted, not denying it. “It’s just that I can’t handle things like this myself!”

“But you know I can!” Yuan Ruo looked at Jiang Yilan again. “You seem… unwilling to let people see your true nature?”

“Me? Kind?” Jiang Yilan pointed to herself. “Am I?”

Yuan Ruo nodded. “When we met that man just now, you acted a bit rude, but you were concerned about him in every way.”

“I was concerned about him?” Jiang Yilan immediately denied it. “That lecher, he deserves to die!”

“But you didn’t know he was that kind of person at first!” Yuan Ruo paused, then asked softly, “You probably didn’t have a good time back in the Jiang family, did you?”

“The Jiang family…” Jiang Yilan gave a sarcastic laugh. “If it were good, why would I have come to the Han family?”

Yuan Ruo asked, “When you found out my elder brother was 32, you must have felt incredibly wronged, right?”

“I didn’t really feel wronged,” Jiang Yilan said. “I just felt a bit sad. No matter what, that was my family, yet for their own selfish reasons, they completely disregarded the rest of my life.”

Yuan Ruo didn’t say anything more. She patted Jiang Yilan’s shoulder twice and then concentrated on walking.

“Is that the house?” Jiang Yilan asked, spotting a building.

Yuan Ruo focused her gaze for a moment. “The negative energy is so strong. It must be it.”

“What do we do now?” Jiang Yilan asked.

“Just stick with me.” Yuan Ruo walked forward, heading straight for the house. The closer they got, the more they felt an eerie and sinister aura.

Although Jiang Yilan wasn’t a master of spiritual arts, she could feel it. “Why is it so cold in here?”

“There’s a ghost, so it’s naturally cold,” Yuan Ruo said casually. She formed a hand seal, ready to knock on the door, when it suddenly opened from the inside. A young woman stood there.

“Who are you looking for?”

Yuan Ruo asked, “Are you Widow Zhou?”

The woman nodded. “My husband’s family name was indeed Zhou. Who are you two?”

Now that they had found the person they were looking for, Yuan Ruo wasted no time. She pushed Widow Zhou aside and went straight into the inner room.

“What are you doing?” Widow Zhou quickly tried to stop Yuan Ruo. “Are you, a big man, going to bully me, a mere woman?”

Yuan Ruo glanced at Widow Zhou without a word, her eyes scanning the room, searching for the hiding place of the succubus.

“What exactly are you looking for?” Widow Zhou grew angry. “There’s no one else in my house, and I have no money!”

“Ma’am, just take a break,” Jiang Yilan said, forcefully pulling the woman to the side. “You know what you’ve hidden, don’t you?”

“I…” The woman looked away, feeling guilty. “What could I possibly have hidden in my house?”

“That’s strange!” Yuan Ruo stroked her chin, a look of surprise on her face.

“What’s wrong?” Jiang Yilan asked. “You didn’t find it?”

The woman angrily asked, “What are you two looking for?”

Yuan Ruo ignored the woman and just answered Jiang Yilan. “The negative energy here is even stronger than outside. It must be hiding here, but it’s very strange, there are no traces of it.”

“Are you… Taoists?” The woman finally reacted, her face changing dramatically.

“She is, I’m not,” Jiang Yilan said. “But I’m not a good person either. I use(gu, a type of poison). If you don’t talk, I’ll have to find a way to make you.”

“You… what do you want me to say?” The woman shrank back, fearful and guilty. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“A succubus!” Yuan Ruo looked at the woman. “It specializes in sucking the essence out of men. You’re raising it and using it to harm people!”

“Harm whom?” The woman suddenly became agitated. “I’m a widow whose husband died, with no family to return to and no children. Do you know how those disgusting men treat me?”

There’s a saying that widows are often subject to gossip and trouble. Both Yuan Ruo and Jiang Yilan were women, and they could somewhat understand her plight. But still: “That’s no reason for you to raise this evil spirit!”

Yuan Ruo challenged the woman, “Do you know that if this evil creature absorbs enough essence, it will turn into a demon and bring disaster to the region? At that point, the sins of those innocent people will be on your head!”

“I…” The woman was speechless.

“It’s not wrong to want to protect yourself,” Jiang Yilan said. “But raising such an evil creature is unacceptable.”

“I have no other way!” The woman looked down, then lifted her chin, suddenly becoming defiant. “You’re not me; you don’t understand my hardships at all!”

“Sigh,” Yuan Ruo sighed. “It’s true that I haven’t experienced your suffering, so I can’t say much. But I must eliminate that evil creature today.”

“You…” The woman gnashed her teeth, then suddenly grabbed a broom and began hitting them. “Get out of my house!”

“Calm down!” At first, the two just dodged without fighting back. Finally, Jiang Yilan grabbed her arm and held her still. “I’ll find you another husband.”

The woman, who had been struggling fiercely, suddenly stopped. A look of sorrow crossed her face. “What did you say?”

“You’ll remarry,” Jiang Yilan said. “With a man protecting you, no one will dare bully you again.”

Hope flickered in the woman’s eyes for a moment, but then her expression became even more sorrowful. “A woman like me, who in this area would want me?”

“Then we won’t look in this area,” Jiang Yilan scratched her head. “After we get rid of the succubus, you’ll come with us. We’ll go somewhere else. I’ll pay to find you another husband.”

The woman was tempted, but still had doubts. “How do I know you’re genuinely trying to help me?”

“If you don’t believe me, do you have any other options?” Jiang Yilan said with a smirk. “Even if we can’t find the evil creature right now, we’ll find it eventually. After all, your house is only so big!”

“You…” The woman bit her lip. “Are you really going to force me to my death?”

“What is wrong with you?” Jiang Yilan was exasperated. “I told you, I’ll find you another husband, and I’ll make sure you won’t be bullied again!”

The woman was still hesitant. “Will someone be willing to genuinely treat me well?”

“We won’t take anyone who isn’t genuine,” Jiang Yilan said, taking out a silver ingot. “This is 20 taels. You keep it for yourself. When you remarry, I’ll give you another 20 taels as a dowry.”

The broom fell from the woman’s hand. She stared at the silver in her palm, stunned. “You’re really trying to help me!”

“Isn’t that obvious?” Jiang Yilan was starting to lose patience. “Hurry up and tell me, where is it?”

The woman’s gaze slowly shifted to the side, finally settling on the space under the bed. Yuan Ruo understood. She flipped the bed over and saw a small, sealed jar in the corner.

“So it was here!” Yuan Ruo didn’t hesitate and immediately struck it with her sword.

Clang! The small jar shattered, and a wisp of red mist floated out. The next moment, it shot straight toward the woman.

“The evil creature wants to harm someone else?” Yuan Ruo formed a hand seal and thrust her palm forward. But she didn’t expect the evil creature to simply feint, luring Yuan Ruo to save the woman before quickly smashing through the window and escaping. By the time Yuan Ruo chased after it, it was long gone.

“How was it? Did you catch it?” Jiang Yilan asked as she ran out.

Yuan Ruo shook her head. “It got away.”

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