I stared blankly at her, unable to recall knowing such a middle-aged woman.

“Are you Mu Chengtao’s daughter?” she asked.

Hearing my dad’s name, I nodded frantically: “Yes, it’s me! My dad—he—”

“Your dad is at our health clinic! There are too many patients here, so we’ve sent some to the next street. He asked me to check on you, worried that you might not find him if it’s been on the news.”

He’s still alive! That old geezer!

I quickly asked, “Is my dad okay?”

“He’s injured, but his spirits are good. Come on, I’ll take you to him.” The middle-aged woman pulled me towards the door.

As I followed her out, something struck me, and I asked, “How did you know I am Mu Xiao Qiao?”

If it was a stranger sent by my dad, she shouldn’t have met me before. How did she identify me so accurately?

“Your dad showed me a photo on his phone! He said the prettiest one in the crowd is his daughter, hehehe,” the middle-aged woman chuckled.

Anxious, I didn’t probe further and hurriedly followed her to the next street.

Just as we reached the corner, a strange fragrance suddenly covered my mouth and nose…

“Ah… such tender and beautiful flesh… I so want to invade her body, the taste must be wonderful…”

“Hehehe, sorry, Ghost King, I’m a woman, I can’t help you invade her, hehehe.”

“Such a beauty, and she’s going cheap to that Jiang fellow… I was just one day, just one day away! Just one day away from possessing her father and leaving my mark inside her body…”

“It’s not too late, Ghost King. Later, use a spell to extract the still-forming spirit embryo, then you can possess her father—”

“No, it’s no good… that old fool would rather die than let me stay… get her changed and send her down—”

I kept my eyes shut, listening to two voices talking nearby, one a hoarse male voice I had heard before!

It was that blood-red ghost face!

The other voice was the middle-aged woman who had lured me out.

Soon, I felt hands fumbling with me, taking off my shoes.

“Stop pretending you’re asleep,” the middle-aged woman said with a laugh.

I slightly opened my eyes, and the person in front of me nearly scared me to death!

There was only one person there! Half her face was that of the middle-aged woman, and the other half’s flesh bulged out, showing the blood-red ghost face!

Her face was stretched grotesquely, the skin so thin it seemed about to burst from the strain of the ghost face!

A wave of nausea hit me, and I retched.

The red wedding attire that should have been locked up by my dad, and the red embroidered shoes my brother had refused, were all held in her hands, emitting a choking dust scent.

The middle-aged woman sneered at me, “You’re really fortunate, having a pure Yin life and not fearing spirits entering your body, it’s like you were born to serve the dead.”

“Why… why don’t you find a female ghost?” I asked, staring at the wedding attire, worried this meant another ghost marriage was on the cards.

The middle-aged woman paused, then laughed, “That’s funny, if it was just about flipping dragons and phoenixes for fun, plenty of spirits are waiting to serve the Ghost King. But how would two spirits have a child? Your fate and body are rare vessels not seen in years! Of course, the Ghost King should enjoy it… It’s just… that Jiang guy got there first!”

My mind was a mess, so I was doomed from birth?

The middle-aged woman reached to take off my clothes, and suddenly screamed as her palm emitted a hissing black smoke.

The blood-red half of the ghost face immediately howled in frenzy, “Let go! Let go! She’s wearing something!!”

Her hand looked as if it had been scorched, the flesh turning black and bone showing, while the blood-red ghost face struggled violently on her face, pulling back to reveal her ghastly white teeth.

I was terrified. The ugly ghost husband had mentioned before that the red ghost face dared not touch this jade plaque, and it seemed true.

“Kill her! Kill her! Chop off her limbs! Dig out her womb! What I can’t have, neither can that Jiang guy—” the blood-red ghost face croaked hoarsely.

My hands and feet were tied, and I could only watch as the middle-aged woman grabbed a kitchen knife—

“Bang!!”

A huge commotion erupted outside the mud house, as if something had slammed into it, shaking the entire building.

“The array’s broken!” the middle-aged woman exclaimed.

Hearing the array was broken, the blood-red ghost face struggled fiercely, tearing apart the middle-aged woman’s half-face, turning into a black shadow and fleeing through the roof tiles.

Blood splattered everywhere, and as I looked at the middle-aged woman, half her face flayed into ribbons, her scalp partially torn, exposing her ghastly white skull.

“Ah!!” I closed my eyes and turned away, the scene too horrific!

Blood “gurgled” from her mouth as she raised the kitchen knife—

“Bang!” A huge blast broke through the door, flinging the middle-aged woman against the mud wall, and I heard the sound of bones shattering.

When the dust cleared, a menacing ghost mask appeared before me.

My face was covered in dust and blood, a pitiful sight. Seeing who had come, I couldn’t help but cry.

“What are you crying about! So stupid yet still wandering around!” he scolded in a low voice.

He untied my hands and picked me up, drawing a talisman in the air with his hand.

His fingertips glowed with a white chill, and the talisman in the void drifted onto the corpse of the middle-aged woman, hissing with smoke, and soon, both the body and clothes disappeared.

“Why… why are you here?” I asked softly.

He sneered, “What do you think?”

Could it be… he came to rescue me?

Just as this thought emerged, his words doused it with cold water.

“Seven days’ time, today is the last day, miss the hour and all is wasted, why do you think I’m here?” he snorted.

Seven days… I grimaced and grinned wryly, so he was here on time to complete his “task.”

He had tormented me for six nights, and last night, due to the lubricant, my body had reacted exaggeratedly.

That trace of budding emotion…

Was shattered by his indifference.

He came only to timely “finish” his task.

It was my brother’s SUV that had broken through the array. I didn’t know how he ended up with my brother, only that he had thrown me into the back seat of the car, telling my brother, “I need the car for a bit.”

The entire car was immediately enveloped in a protective array. I lay in the back seat, feeling him pull off my dusty clothes, then lean over and press down…

The entry was awkward.

He shifted slightly, dissatisfied, “Weren’t you biting so well last night? And so sensitive that you sprayed so much… why are you so stiff today?”

I lifted my hand to shield my tearful eyes. I didn’t want to see him.

Whatever, be it a sacrifice or a tool.

I hope after tonight, we can go our separate ways.