Chapter 41

Just as Xue Ming suspected, the eerie, grand palace was the lair of the Hundred Crow Ghost King and the location of Jiang Ruoming’s final Yin Gathering Array.

Previously, Yan Yuhe and Gu Jinglan had destroyed six of Jiang Ruoming’s Yin Gathering Arrays. Perhaps Jiang Ruoming had kept a trump card, placing the last array in the Hundred Crow Ghost King’s lair.

Black crows circled the sky, creating a dense, ominous canopy. Xue Ming’s skin prickled as she glanced up.

As they approached the palace, night had fallen, and the moon hung high, bright, and round, casting a silver glow. When the palace gates suddenly opened inward, a howling wind and the crows’ shrill cries swept past them, filling Xue Ming’s ears with noise. She glanced at Yan Yuhe, who remained calm and felt reassured.

Inside the gates, everything was pitch black, and the endless cold wind suggested danger. You Yin burrowed into the ground, leaving Xue Ming and Yan Yuhe standing together.

Yan Yuhe felt Xue Ming’s light touch on his hand and saw her anxious eyes. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Xue Ming nodded firmly, gripping his hand and following him inside. Darkness enveloped them, and a thick smoke soon blinded Xue Ming. She called out, “Yan Yuhe…” but received no reply. The once noisy surroundings turned deathly quiet, and she realized she was alone.

Fear crept in, but she stayed still, blinking in the darkness. Suddenly, a light appeared ahead.

The light appeared for only a moment, and when Xue Ming blinked again, her surroundings had changed entirely. She saw a courtyard painted blue, filled with children’s play equipment and a large sandbox, surrounded by laughing children aged four to ten.

It seemed like an orphanage, though not officially recognized, as the caretakers had no formal qualifications and took in unwanted children from nearby villages. Xue Ming was one of those children. In her memory, the orphanage had long been demolished after the director’s death, and the children were sent to official orphanages.

“Xue Ming.” A voice called from behind. She turned to see a young Director Li smiling warmly. “How was school today? Did anyone bully you? Did you have enough to eat at lunch? Did you waste any food?”

Xue Ming stared at her, speechless. Director Li wasn’t particularly attractive, but her gentle smile made the children fond of her, many calling her “Mama Li.” After her death, Xue Ming often dreamed of her, but her image faded over time.

Before she could react, the sunlight brightened, and the air filled with the scent of flowers. Xue Ming looked down to find herself in her high school uniform, standing on a semi-open balcony, bathed in golden sunlight, surrounded by vibrant teenagers.

“Xue Ming, I like you. Will you be my girlfriend?” A boy’s voice called. She looked up to see a handsome boy, slightly taller than her, with curly black hair and a shy but sincere expression.

He was a high school classmate, though she couldn’t recall his name.

A group of boys and girls cheered, urging her to accept; their excitement was palpable.

The scene shifted, and Xue Ming found herself in a spotless office with polished white tiles reflecting the fluorescent lights above. Colleagues in formal attire clapped and congratulated her, “Congratulations, Xue Ming, on winning the Employee of the Month bonus again.”

Xue Ming realized this was her life.

Was this a life review? Was she dying, seeing her life flash before her eyes? But something felt off; her life wasn’t this simple.

“Don’t you want to go back?” A woman’s voice whispered, soft and magnetic, tugging at her heart. Xue Ming looked around but saw no one. “Jiang Ruoming, afraid to face me?”

The taunt had no effect. Jiang Ruoming’s voice remained gentle, “This is the life you were meant to have, isn’t it? Don’t you want to return to the beautiful life you once had?”

Anger surged in Xue Ming, “You ruined my life!”

“So let me help you return. Will you accept?” Jiang Ruoming’s voice moved from her left ear to her right. “These events have nothing to do with you. Just nod, and I’ll send you back. Everything that happened will be just a dream.”

Xue Ming’s mind wavered, her face showing confusion and hesitation.

Jiang Ruoming, hidden in the shadows, saw her reaction and felt halfway to success. She needed a soul born in the yin year, month, and hour to extend her body’s life. Somehow, she had summoned a strange soul whose life and world were unfamiliar.

Jiang Ruoming believed that Xue Ming, angry at being wronged, longed for her past life. If she desired to return, the illusion would amplify that desire, trapping her.

If Xue Ming agreed, losing her will to resist, Jiang Ruoming could tear her soul apart and do as she pleased.

Just as Jiang Ruoming prepared to push further, she saw Xue Ming close her eyes. Moments later, the surroundings twisted and changed, alarming Jiang Ruoming as she realized Xue Ming was altering the illusion with her mind.

The familiar blue courtyard reappeared, with a tearful young Xue Ming sitting on the steps, her white dress dirty and her knees scraped and bleeding.

“What are you doing here?” Director Li appeared again, looking down at Xue Ming without a smile.

Little Xue Ming looked up, her eyes swollen from crying, and stood up to say to Director Li, “They said I was an unwanted orphan and took my things, hitting me…”

Director Li said, “The teachers at school said you started the fight.”

Little Xue Ming rubbed her eyes and said, “Because they…they said I was an unwanted orphan.”

“You’re nine years old now. No one will take care of you forever. If you’re going to school, you must learn to get along with others,” Director Li said coldly. “They weren’t wrong; you are an orphan without one to care for you. Why get angry? Why do so many kids only target you? Doesn’t that say something about you?”

Director Li disdainfully added, “Clean your clothes yourself. If you cause trouble at school again, don’t come back.”

The scene shifted to Xue Ming in her high school uniform, standing by a desk and picking up scattered books. Whispered comments and bright laughs surrounded her.

“Why not sell her books to the scrap collector?”

“Yeah, she doesn’t study. Didn’t she skip classes in junior high to learn dancing? And they didn’t even want her because she was so bad at it.”

“She must be destitute, with no sense of decency, clinging to Zhao Peng for food and drinks, then rejecting his confession for the sake of studying. It’s laughable.”

“She’s just freeloading.”

The words, though whispered, were clear and hurtful, wrapping around her.

Xue Ming’s expression remained calm, as if unaffected.

The scene changed again to Xue Ming in a not-so-new, ill-fitting suit, standing outside a door with a cup in hand. Inside, a few colleagues whispered.

“How is Xue Ming Employee of the Month again?”

“Did she use some trick? This is the third month in a row.”

“Does she even work overtime? I don’t really notice her.”

“Not sure, but even if she did, can she win the bonus every month? It’s not like others don’t work overtime.”

“She must have some connection with the manager. Last time I saw her in his office for half an hour. Who knows what they were doing?”

“Let’s give her a break. She’s so poor, you see her clothes? They don’t even fit, probably second-hand. She wears the same few outfits all summer.”

Jiang Ruoming couldn’t understand these words but felt their malicious intent, like swords hanging around her.

“I found you.” A voice, smiling, came from behind.

Jiang Ruoming turned sharply to see Xue Ming smiling. The illusion continued, with three scenes overlapping and the hurtful words repeating.

Xue Ming faced Jiang Ruoming calmly, while Jiang Ruoming seemed slightly panicked.

“See? This is my life,” Xue Ming said, seemingly indifferent, as if watching a stranger’s life. “At my worst, I ate frozen buns, couldn’t afford school fees, and worked endless overtime. I’ve never done evil yet faced endless malice for being poor. Do you think such a life is precious to me?”

Her face turned cold, her eyes piercing Jiang Ruoming’s. “Jiang Ruoming, I’ve lived through such hardship and pain not to die at the hands of someone like you.”