"Mother once said that when she was pregnant with my sister, she would softly hum nursery rhymes to her belly every day, hoping this child would come into the world safe, sound, and healthy."
"It had truly felt Mother's warmth and expectations, so it could never understand—understand why Mother would heartlessly abandon it. It waited and waited, stubbornly believing that Mother would definitely come looking for it, take it home, and never leave it to die alone in the freezing snow. Over the years, this obsession eventually transformed into resentment and hatred."
"When I found my sister's remains, it had already become a dying resentful spirit. Over the years, it struggled to escape from demons and evil entities time and time again, just to stay here and keep waiting, holding on bitterly. Perhaps even it had forgotten what it was waiting for. Therefore, I built an inn here, guarding it, and also binding it within the inn, just to keep it safe."
"Are you truly doing this just to protect it?" Jiang Zhiyu suddenly spoke up.
"Then what was your intention in distributing the rice wine brewed with its remains for everyone to taste earlier?"
At these words, Zhu Yu, who had just been immersed in grief, suddenly shifted her gaze away. Shame, helplessness, guilt... a myriad of emotions intertwined and surged within her.
She took a deep breath and had no choice but to reveal her entire plan:
"Before Mother passed away, the only thing she couldn't let go of was my sister. She kept muttering that my sister must have reincarnated and gone to a good family... If she knew that my sister had now become a resentful spirit wandering the world, who knows how heartbroken she would be."
"Later, I accidentally heard from a wandering Taoist priest: by using the remains as a catalyst, dissolving them in water and drinking it, one could become a medium to attract the ghost infant. If the ghost infant finds a compatible woman among them to acknowledge as its mother, it will enter her womb and be reborn through her."
Chai Xiaomi's pupils dilated in shock.
So it really would drill into someone's belly!
She looked down at her own lower abdomen, then looked up at the gazes that everyone unanimously cast upon her.
"So that's how it is!" Yan Xingxiao smashed a fist into his palm. "That little ghost took a liking to Miss Chai from the very beginning, but for some unknown reason, it didn't succeed. So, flying into a rage out of humiliation, it turned to our room and took its anger out on Lady Yue!"
Regarding his speculation, Zhu Yu did not deny it, but explained, "Before this, it had never harmed anyone. Escort Leader Yan, could you tell me why you think it took a liking to Miss Chai?"
Chai Xiaomi answered herself, "Because it originally came looking for me last night, and it came tonight too."
"No wonder..." Zhu Yu suddenly realized. "No wonder as soon as it was summoned back just now, the first person it looked for was you."
"But, why did it... last night..." Zhu Yu spoke hesitantly, feeling that asking this was a bit presumptuous.
"Why it didn't succeed, right?" Chai Xiaomi finished her sentence.
To be honest, she was also quite curious herself. The noises in the room had clearly appeared, yet the little ghost didn't approach her in the end.
At the time, she kept hearing rustling sounds from the overhead beams, like many legs crawling around.
She remembered that before Wu Li left, he seemed to have said, "Guard this place tonight."
Although she didn't know what he was talking to, it was likely his doing.
"Perhaps..." Chai Xiaomi poked the Qiankun bag at her waist. "I have the magical treasure Brother Yu gave me. The immortal sect's artifact might have made the little ghost wary, so under its initial probing, it didn't rashly approach."
Jiang Zhiyu nodded. "Indeed, the artifacts of the Jingming Terrace all carry a purifying aura, which can deter some low-level ghosts and spirits."
Chai Xiaomi smiled gratefully. "Oh my, it's really all thanks to the gift Brother Yu gave me!"
She was just making up a random excuse to brush it off.
After all, if she said it was the protection set up by Wu Li, knowing full well that there was a soul-locking array and a little ghost in the inn, yet he hadn't informed his companions Jiang Zhiyu and Song Yueyao...
They would definitely be suspicious of him.
Thinking of this, Chai Xiaomi suddenly looked at Wu Li.
It would have been fine if she hadn't looked, but one glance gave her a fright.
She suddenly met the youth's dark and indiscernible eyes, carrying a hint of resentment. His thin lips were slightly pursed, and the aura around him was gloomy and terrifying.
It was as if a mass of dark, malevolent energy was burning like a raging fire behind him.
The rising resentment on his body was probably heavier than that of the resentful spirit.
Who knew how long he had been staring at her like this.
Alarm bells instantly went off in her head!
Ahhhhh!
She had been so engrossed in listening to the story that she almost forgot about the promise of one incense stick's time!
From a distance, she saw the youth's lips move.
A bizarre smile tugged at the corners of his lips.
His beautiful lip line curved up bit by bit, silently mouthing four words to her:
You—are—dead—meat—
Chai Xiaomi sprinted a hundred meters to him, revealed a smile she thought was flawlessly sweet, and then lied through her teeth:
"Just in time, exactly one incense stick's worth of time. Come, hand the child over to me."
Figuring he didn't have a watch or any electronic devices, he couldn't possibly time it that accurately.
If she said it was one incense stick's time, then it was one incense stick's time.
Watching Chai Xiaomi run off like a brisk breeze, Zhu Yu was stunned for a moment, and suddenly understood—
Why her sister would like her and choose her to be her mother.
Even she herself would be deeply attracted by such a vibrant and bright appearance.
That was the thing they had spent their entire lives searching for.
A flower that grew up amidst doting and care, bright and radiant. Seemingly fragile, yet appearing to possess the power to embrace everything. Never easily feeling inferior, never cowering, always carrying the underlying confidence of having been securely loved.
That kind of love couldn't be achieved just relying on a mother; it also needed a father.
Zhu Yu looked at the youth again.
While she was speaking the whole time, she was always keeping an eye on her sister, so her gaze couldn't help but constantly drift toward the youth.
Zhu Yu noticed that his gaze had always been entirely and intently focused on that girl.
It had never wavered in the slightest.
It seemed she didn't just have the favoritism of her parents, but also the passionate focus of this young gentleman.
Truly enviable.
She gloomily retracted her gaze. After Mother left, she would probably never possess anyone's favoritism in this life.
Zhu Yu lowered her head, her entire person enveloped in a despondent aura that made everyone's hearts clench upon seeing it.
But the near-fatal disaster was ultimately born of her scheme.
Jiang Zhiyu stayed silent for a moment before finally speaking: "Borrowing a womb to be reborn goes against the laws of heaven to begin with. Even if obtained by force, that child would not live long and would die prematurely. Having accumulated sins, the underworld wouldn't accept it, and in the end, it would still just be a wandering spirit and a wild ghost."
"This scheme of yours harms others, and harms yourself even more."
Jiang Zhiyu's tone gradually deepened. "Now that this ghost infant has developed murderous intent, if left unchecked, the consequences will be unimaginable. The only way right now—"
At this point, he suddenly paused.
Even Song Yueyao was touched in some soft spot of her heart by this brief silence. She suddenly asked in a low voice, "Could it be that there's no other way? Must its soul be dispersed?"
