Chapter 220

Chapter 220: Glad That the Little Girl Has Nothing To Do With the Great Expert

Yu Manor.

Yu Ming Yu stared at the tribulation lightning in the sky, his face turning pale. [I have a bad feeling this terrifying lightning has something to do with little sister.]

Why would little sister be struck by lightning? He wanted to help, but then he thought of the truth: he was only an ordinary man. [If I go, what help can I be?]

Even the emperor was alarmed. After the tribulation lightning faded, the emperor sent people to check.

When the Imperial Guards arrived, they found no clues at all, only a stretch of land blasted beyond recognition. Someone looked at the deep crater and shivered, saying: “How terrifying must that lightning be to dig a pit this big?”

The others agreed. The crater looked five or six meters deep and more than ten meters wide. Charred, jagged lightning scars covered everything inside it. It was scary to look at. They did not even want to imagine what would happen if that lightning hit a person.

Suddenly, someone cried out: “Look!”

Everyone turned. The speaker pointed at a patch of ground and said: “When we first got here, that spot was bare, with no life at all. But in just a moment, tender green grass has started to grow there.”

Another person shouted: “Look in the pit!”

They looked down. The crater that had been ruined not long ago was now sprouting fresh, tender grass.

They all drew in a sharp breath: “Heavens! That’s amazing!”

In half a night, they watched grass go from nothing, to sprouting, to strong growth. Everyone was shocked and at a loss for words. When dawn broke, the grass stopped growing. Only then did the Imperial Guards return to report.

After they left, a daoist figure crept up to the crater. Seeing spiritual energy spilling out of it, the old woman’s eyes filled with deep jealousy. “Damn it, she actually escaped!”

[Heaven is unfair.] The righteous build their foundation and Heaven pours them spiritual energy to raise their strength. To those on the demonic path like her, Heaven is stingy and harsh, ready to drop thunder punishment and kill them if they make one wrong move.

After a long time, the old woman forced herself to calm down. [Forget it. Opportunities that aren’t mine, I won’t covet.] That had been her rule for nearly a hundred years. Of course, if a chance showed up, she might still gamble for it.

For now, her target was that little wretch, Yu Zhi Yi. She should be glad that girl was just a stray with no teacher. She had nothing to do with the master who had reached the foundation establishment realm.

Thinking of this, the old woman returned to the city to choose her next target. The Conception Pill she promised to Consort Yu was fake, but the need for nine souls was real. All nine had to be women, and all had to be pregnant. Before they died, they would watch their babies cut out before their eyes and lose all life. In that horror, these women would become red-clothed vengeful ghosts.

And that was not the end. She would fuse the nine vengeful ghosts into one and make a vengeful female ghost. No matter how skilled that little girl was, she would never beat a vengeful female ghost.

She sneered to herself, saying under her breath: “Little girl, I’ll take my time digging. When the vengeful ghost you want justice from kills you, that feeling will be awful, right? Hahaha!”

The next day, night fell. Someone knocked on the door of a clinic in the city. A young pregnant woman inside called out: “Sorry, our clinic is closed.”

The knocking kept going, along with a weak cry from a woman: “Sister Liu, help… help me…”

The voice sounded familiar. The pregnant woman opened the door at once, saying: “Xiao Xue, what happened?”

Xiao Xue answered weakly: “My mother had another attack.”

Xiao Xue was a regular at this clinic. Her mother was in poor health, so they often needed the clinic’s physician to make house calls. The one who did the house calls was the young pregnant woman.

For years, she had gone to Xiao Xue’s home at least ten times a year. Xiao Xue’s family was poor and could not pay, so the bills had been put on credit. Over the years, the debt had reached more than ten taels. The young woman had a kind heart, and the clinic was her family’s, so she never pressed them for payment.

Late-night calls like this were not common, but they were not rare either. The young woman sighed and said: “Wait here, I’ll go call my husband.”

She turned toward the back rooms, not noticing the apology hidden under Xiao Xue’s lowered lashes.

As she headed for the backyard, the clinic’s temperature dropped suddenly. She had dressed warm, but soon she was shivering. She looked around, confused about why it was suddenly so cold.

Just then, Xiao Xue’s voice sounded behind her: “Sister Liu…” Liu Lian Qiao turned, and heard Xiao Xue add two words: “I’m sorry…”

The next second, Xiao Xue clamped a hand around her throat. Liu Lian Qiao struggled to pry it off, but she had lost the first move, and she was pregnant and weak. Xiao Xue, who had worked farms for years, was much stronger.

Soon Liu’s eyes rolled white, and her mind grew fuzzy. When she thought she would be choked to death, a cold woman’s voice said: “Enough. Keep choking and she’ll die.”

Xiao Xue let go, and Liu Lian Qiao collapsed to the floor, still barely conscious. It did not help. The clinic was not on the busiest street, but it was not remote either. Curfew had not started yet, and people walked by outside now and then. No one noticed anything strange inside. No one saw that a helpless pregnant woman was about to be killed.

Behind the clinic was the family’s living space. Right then, Liu’s in-laws and her husband were in the backyard getting ready to eat. Liu had gone to the latrine and happened to hear the knocking, so she came out to check. Who could have guessed this would happen?

[Why hasn’t my family noticed I haven’t come back after so long?] She tried to call for help. Her throat, almost crushed, could only make a faint sound that could not reach the backyard.

A hunched old woman in a black cloak shoved a dagger into Xiao Xue’s hand and, with a raspy voice edged with a smile, urged: “Go, cut the baby out of her belly.”

Liu Lian Qiao’s pupils shrank. She was terrified. Watching Xiao Xue shake her head while asking her for forgiveness yet still walking toward her, Liu felt both anger and despair. Why? Why had the person she had helped for years turned out to be an ingrate?

A huge wave of helplessness and hatred rose in her heart.