Zhao Wenrong wasn’t foolish. How could he dare remove the whisk hanging at the door?
“Yingniang, I was blind, but I really don’t want to die. How about forty years from now, I come find you?”
“Ha!” Yingniang snapped angrily, “It hasn’t even been forty years since I died, and you’re planning to enjoy forty years of pleasure while I live as a widow?”
Zhao Wenrong hurriedly said, “If Yingniang finds someone else, I’d never stop you!”
Lu Zheng, watching from the side, nearly burst out laughing. It wasn’t a critical moment yet, so he was happy to keep observing.
Yingniang’s expression darkened, sending a shiver through Zhao Wenrong.
“Back then, I was betrayed and hanged myself, becoming a ghost. I thought you, also shunned by cultivators, were my perfect match, fated by heaven.
I comforted you with kindness, even gave myself to you, and you promised we’d be together forever.
Now, a month later, if we continue for two more months to reach a hundred days, you could become a ghost, and we’d be together forever.”
Zhao Wenrong trembled in the room.
Yingniang paused, then said sharply, “And now you’re going back on your word!”
Zhao Wenrong was on the verge of tears.
When Yingniang first appeared, speaking words of care, Zhao Wenrong had shared his conflict with Lu Zheng, receiving her warm comfort.
He found her gentle, kind, and understanding, with youthful beauty and radiant charm, so they consummated their bond that night.
For over a month, Zhao Wenrong revelled in nightly bliss, feeling light and refreshed, thinking it was due to his clear mind and healthy living. But that evening, a wandering Taoist revealed he was entangled with ghost energy, on the verge of becoming a ghost himself.
Zhao Wenrong hadn’t believed the Taoist’s nonsense, scolding him fiercely. Unfazed, the Taoist said he was deeply affected by the ghost and gave him the whisk to hang at the door.
If nothing happened overnight, he could discard it. If something did, he could find the Taoist at Tonglai Inn the next day.
Though Zhao Wenrong trusted Yingniang, doubts lingered, so he hung the whisk on the outer wall. When Yingniang approached, she let out a piercing shriek.
Zhao Wenrong: 〣(ºΔº)〣
The whisk broke Yingniang’s spell, and Zhao Wenrong’s mind cleared, noticing more and more things amiss about her.
Why had he never visited her home next door? Why had he never mentioned her to his servants? Why had he never doubted her?
Now awake, how could Zhao Wenrong dare remove the whisk?
“You bewitched my mind, controlled me. Of course, I said what you wanted!” Zhao Wenrong argued desperately.
Yingniang snapped, “I only made you not suspect my ghostly nature. I never tampered with our feelings!”
Zhao Wenrong, “…”
Speechless, he stayed hidden in the room.
Yingniang stared at the whisk above the door, her gaze growing more dangerous.
“We swore eternal love. You said you’d be with me forever. I planned to turn you into a ghost slowly, preserving your soul.”
Looking at Zhao Wenrong with boundless affection, she said softly, “Killing you directly will weaken your soul for a while, but don’t worry, Zhao Lang, I’ll help you recover.”
“What!?”
In the next moment, Yingniang lunged forward, enduring the whisk’s aura. Her form flickered, then she struck the whisk, sending it flying out of the courtyard.
With the whisk gone and its aura dissipated, Zhao Wenrong’s room was defenceless.
Yingniang’s aura wavered, but she looked at the stunned Zhao Wenrong with a gentle smile.
“Zhao Lang, don’t be afraid. It won’t hurt. Soon, you’ll be like me, and we’ll be together, envying only mandarin ducks, not immortals.”
“I… I… you… you…”
Zhao Wenrong collapsed, scrambling back on his hands, “No, don’t come closer!”
As Yingniang advanced step by step, she raised her hand…
Suddenly, she turned sharply, spotting another person in the room.
“Who are you?”
Yingniang’s pupils contracted as she fixed her gaze on Lu Zheng.
“Master Lu!”
Zhao Wenrong cried out, crawling to Lu Zheng’s feet, hiding behind him and clutching his trouser leg.
“Master Lu, save me!”
Lu Zheng tugged at his trousers, “Let go, let go! Have some decorum!”
“Yes, yes, yes!”
Zhao Wenrong released him, scrambling up, peeking out timidly, “Master Lu, save me!”
“You’re that Lu Zheng?” Yingniang’s eyes narrowed, “You’re meddling in my affairs with Zhao Lang?”
Lu Zheng shook his head, “In theory, your private matters are none of my business.”
Yingniang’s expression softened, while Zhao Wenrong stiffened.
“But someone’s about to die,” Lu Zheng continued, “If Zhao Wenrong willingly dies to join you, I wouldn’t interfere.”
Zhao Wenrong blurted, “I’m not willing, not willing!”
Joking aside, he was living well and didn’t want to die. What if a Taoist exorcised him soon after? How unjust would that be!
“Master Lu, you’re my brother now. Please, in your great mercy, save me!” Zhao Wenrong stammered.
Yingniang’s eyes narrowed, “You want to save him?”
Lu Zheng smiled, “Since he doesn’t want to become a ghost with you, why force him?
Why not focus on your cultivation, become a ghost immortal or a human, and then unite with Zhao Wenrong without harming his lifespan? Wouldn’t that be perfect?”
Zhao Wenrong nodded vigorously.
Yingniang disagreed, “That sounds easy, but how long would it take? Who knows if I’d succeed?”
Pausing, she glared at Lu Zheng, her eyes flashing with menace, “I comforted Zhao Lang and avoided troubling you to make him distrust cultivators, not because I feared you.
A mere outer disciple dares to meddle? Step aside, or I’ll kill you too!”
Lu Zheng leaned back tactically, “Kill me too?”
Yingniang’s eyes gleamed, “That Taoist was too confident. Zhao Lang, once I kill this man to avenge you, we’ll hide in the netherworld for a while.”
“What?” Zhao Wenrong was stunned.
In an instant, Yingniang’s red skirt fluttered, her black hair moved without wind, her eyes turned pitch black, and dark energy surged behind her, her presence overwhelming.
Zhao Wenrong’s pupils dilated, nearly despairing.
“Swish!”
Yingniang flashed forward, reaching Lu Zheng in an instant, clawing at his chest to rip out his heart.
“Slash!”
“Pfft!”
“Buzz!”
“Where did you get the confidence to think you could kill me so easily?”
