Chapter 23: Mom, Save Me!

Ruan Yu was so bewildered by Nan Yuanman’s unconventional approach that she even forgot to scold her for trespassing. She instinctively asked, "What did I drop?"

In the next second, a pitch-black ghost flew out of the small coffin in Nan Yuanman’s hand. It scurried rapidly across the ground, shrieking and weeping as it crawled: "Mommy, Mommy! She’s so scary, Mommy! Save me, Mommy!"

Ruan Yu: "!!!"
Cheng Yi: "!!!"

"Mom, watch out!" Cheng Yi instinctively kicked the black figure that was crawling toward Ruan Yu, shielding her.

Ruan Yu looked at Nan Yuanman in shock and disbelief. Isn't this the ghost child she sent out to kill Meng Lei? How did it end up in this little girl's hands?

Having escaped from the "little demon," the ghost child had expected a warm embrace from her mother, but instead, she was met with a foul-smelling foot. Enraged, her eyes turned blood-red. Filled with hostility and resentment, she glared at Cheng Yi and Ruan Yu, demanding, "Mommy, didn't you say that I and my brother were your only children? Didn't you say you would love me forever?"

"Who is this person?! Why does he call you Mommy too? Why didn't you stop him when he hit me?"

"Mommy..." Her sharp, angry voice gradually grew mournful. "Don't you love me anymore?"

It was Cheng Yi's first time encountering something so eerie. He trembled with fear and asked, "Mom, what is this thing? Why... is it calling you Mommy?"

Ruan Yu’s face turned pale. "I... I..."

"She is not your mother!" the ghost child shrieked jealously, scuttling across the floor toward Ruan Yu. "She is the only mother to me and my brother! I won't let you call her that!"

"Mommy, it’s okay, I forgive you. We can be together very soon." In the blink of an eye, the ghost child was before Ruan Yu, her pitch-black hands tightly clutching Ruan Yu's calf.

The heavy Yin energy and resentment radiating from her instantly enveloped both Ruan Yu and Cheng Yi.

Ruan Yu screamed in terror: "No—!"

Nan Yuanman glanced at them indifferently and ignored them, trotting into the villa on her short legs. Those who raise ghost children must be prepared for the inevitable backlash. This was karma between Ruan Yu and the ghost child; she would not intervene.

***

Meanwhile, the villa’s attic was in chaos.

Jia Ping'an was suspended in the air, bound by thick, dark Yin energy. The hand that had touched the ritual urn was twisted at an unnatural angle, and his chest had been pierced through by the dark energy; his eyes were wide open, and he had already ceased to breathe.

Meng Lei huddled in a corner, shielding Meng Qinian, while Master Zhang and his second apprentice, Wen Yongkang, were being chased around the room.

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you all! You damned, stinking Taoist!"

Master Zhang ran for his life, tears and snot streaming down his face. Wen Yongkang scrambled after him, wailing, "Master! Think of something!"

Meng Lei’s face was livid, and he urged anxiously, "Master Zhang! Hurry up and deal with it!"

"Even your master has no ideas left!" Master Zhang was on the verge of tears. In desperation, he pulled talismans from his bag and threw them at Zhuangzhuang, who was on the ground, chanting frantically: "Heaven and Earth, root of all energy, four spirits of the heavenly lamp, six Jia and six Ding, assist me in destroying the essence, let the demon perish!"

The talismans landed on Zhuangzhuang but had absolutely no effect.

Master Zhang: "!!"

"Life moves, life dies; ghosts move, ghosts perish! By the order of the Supreme Lord Lao, act with haste!"

Still, it was useless.

Zhuangzhuang let out a mocking laugh. "Are you cheering for your own death? How interesting!"

Master Zhang: "..." He was filled with despair. My life ends here!

Using Meng Lei as cover, Meng Qinian tremblingly pulled out his phone to call Nan Yuanman, only to realize with further despair: Nan Yuanman! She! Did not! Have! A phone!

It’s over! Everything is completely over!

In the blink of an eye, Zhuangzhuang caught up to Master Zhang and his apprentice, lifting them into the air with Yin energy and twisting their necks at an unnatural angle.

Meng Qinian trembled all over. Taking a deep breath, he pulled out the peace talisman Nan Yuanman had given him and threw it toward them.

The moment the talisman touched the Yin energy, it burst into flames, burning away the dark force binding the master and his apprentice.

Zhuangzhuang let out a muffled groan of pain, glaring at Meng Qinian with scarlet eyes. In a fit of rage, he flung a ball of Yin energy at him. "You’re asking for death!"

Meng Qinian’s pupils contracted: "!!"

Meng Lei quickly pulled Meng Qinian into his arms, using his own back to block the incoming ball of Yin energy. When the energy hit him, Meng Lei felt a searing heat where the peace talisman was tucked into his chest.

A second later, the heat faded, replaced by an extreme, bone-chilling cold.

Zhuangzhuang appeared behind him, his small palm morphing into the shape of an awl, stabbing fiercely at Meng Lei’s back.

Meng Qinian’s eyes nearly burst: "Dad—!"

At the critical moment, a coffin descended from the sky. Just as it was about to crush Zhuangzhuang, his entire body dissolved into a black mist and vanished.

Zhuangzhuang: "!!!"

"Who goes there?!" Zhuangzhuang growled, his face twisted in a ferocious, vigilant snarl.

"The one who's coming to collect you!" A crisp, soft, and milky child's voice rang out from atop the coffin lid. Nan Yuanman tossed out the limping straw doll. "Xiaocao, attack!"

Xiaocao charged straight at Zhuangzhuang. Zhuangzhuang shrieked, pouncing on Xiaocao without fear, his small hands turning into sharp claws, intent on tearing the straw doll to shreds.

Xiaocao performed a 360-degree flip in mid-air, kicking Zhuangzhuang’s spine hard with its one remaining intact leg. Under the force of the blow, Zhuangzhuang was sent flying backward.

Nan Yuanman coordinated by opening the coffin lid, capturing the stunned Zhuangzhuang inside. "Done!"

The girl and the straw doll worked in perfect harmony, capturing Zhuangzhuang in the blink of an eye.

A dumbfounded Meng Qinian: "...!!"

Holy cow! Since when do straw dolls become sentient?!

Nan Yuanman patted her soft little hands, stowed away the shrunken coffin, and turned to ask Meng Qinian with concern, "Brother Qinian, Uncle Meng, are you alright?"

"We're fine..." Meng Qinian let out a heavy sigh, his legs turning to jelly, and he couldn't help but collapse to the floor.

Meng Lei was also drenched in cold sweat. He looked at Nan Yuanman with gratitude. "Yuanman, thank you for arriving in time. We are safe."

He turned and looked at Master Zhang, who had been knocked unconscious by the Yin energy, and Jia Ping'an, who had already lost his life. "It's just... what about Master Zhang and the others..."

"Master, my foot! That guy is a complete fraud!" After regaining his composure, Meng Qinian spoke excitedly. "I told you to call Yuanman early on! You wouldn't listen, and now look—someone's dead! Let's see how you're going to clean up this mess!"

Meng Lei smiled sheepishly, not daring to speak. He had just... thought that an adult would be more reliable. Who would have guessed he’d end up hiring a con artist...

"Yuanman, what exactly is going on? Where is that ghost?" Meng Qinian asked.

Nan Yuanman hopped off the coffin. With a flick of her fingers, the coffin shrank and returned to her hand. "I’ve captured him. He and the ghost child I caught yesterday were both raised by a woman in this villa."

"Oh, right. When I arrived, I saw her trying to escape, so I let yesterday's ghost child out to go play with her."

Nan Yuanman tilted her head. "I bet they’re having a great time playing right now, aren't they?"

Meng Qinian had no words to describe his feelings: "..."

He suddenly felt that compared to the ghosts, Yuanman was much, much scarier.

***

After Meng Lei calmed down, he called his assistant to clean up the aftermath. While waiting, he and Meng Qinian moved the unconscious Master Zhang and Wen Yongkang, along with Jia Ping'an’s body, down from the attic.

Then, they joined Nan Yuanman in the villa's front yard to see exactly who had been raising ghost children to harm them.

Upon reaching the front yard, Meng Lei looked at the two people lying unconscious on the ground and was completely bewildered. "How could it be them?"

Meng Qinian was surprised, but not the least bit shocked. He sneered, "I knew that mother and son were up to no good. Now, look, they've invited a wolf into the house."

Meng Lei’s emotions were complex. He opened his mouth and looked at Nan Yuanman. "Yuanman, can you wake Ruan Yu up? I... I want to ask her."

Nan Yuanman nodded. With a wave of her hand, the ghost child, who had been curled up in Ruan Yu's arms, was summoned over.

The ghost child instinctively glared at the newcomers with dissatisfaction, but upon seeing Nan Yuanman, her neck shrank, and she didn't dare to make a sound.

Without the ghost's control, Ruan Yu let out a soft groan and slowly opened her eyes. When she saw the grim-faced Meng Lei and the sneering Meng Qinian, she realized instantly that they had found out.

She looked panicked, gazing at Meng Lei with a weak, innocent expression. "Brother Lei, it was those ghost children who forced me to do it! I didn't want to, I didn't want to hurt you!"

"I love you so much, how could I ever hurt you?"

"You're lying!!" The ghost child in Nan Yuanman’s hand became instantly agitated. She glared at Ruan Yu with vicious resentment. "It was you! You were the one who gave me the order to go and kill this man!"

Ruan Yu’s expression changed drastically, turning hideous. "Shut up!"

The ghost child bared her teeth. "I won't!"

She was filled with malice. "You evil woman! You also told me to kill this big brother’s mother! All the sins on us come from you! You will never be able to shake us off for as long as you live!"