Chapter 314

Chapter 314: No Match-Not Even Close!

Jiang Liu Bin spotted Yu Zhi Yi starting to pull her leg back and wailed in a sobbing voice: “Second Sister!”

Yu Zhi Yi touched her nose and changed the subject, asking calmly: “Are you hurt?”

At that, the feelings Jiang Liu Bin had just forced down swelled up again. Still a little pale, he shook his head and said with relief: “Thanks to you arriving in time.”

He wasn’t physically hurt, but the shock of seeing a ghost-fear and disgust mixed together-felt a hundred times worse than any wound. Hadn’t his third brother basically gone stupid from it?

By comparison, he thought he was holding up pretty well. In the eyes of the world, among the five sons of the Jiang Clan, his eldest brother was steady and calm, his second brother was gifted, his third brother was charming, and his fifth brother was a young prodigy. Only he, the fourth, seemed to have no strengths. For that, he had brooded more times than he could count; when outside, he used cheer and a rebellious grin to hide the dull ache inside. Now, seeing his third brother lying on the bed with blank eyes, he oddly felt a bit more balanced. Still, he couldn’t help worrying as he asked: “Will Third Brother be okay?”

Yu Zhi Yi glanced at the bed. Jiang Liu Shuang had put his clothes back on; he looked like he’d been drained dry. She shook her head and answered: “He’s fine. His soul is just unsettled from fright. Rest for a while and he’ll recover.”

Then she narrowed her eyes at Jiang Liu Bin and asked: “Where are the jade pendants I gave you?”

To spare her own father the pain of losing a nephew, she had given Jiang Liu Bin two life-saving charms. Yet right now, she couldn’t sense either pendant on him.

Jiang Liu Bin rubbed his neck, embarrassed as he admitted: “I took them off this morning when I changed clothes, set them aside, and… forgot to put them back on.”

Yu Zhi Yi fell silent for a beat: “…”

[If you can forget a life-saving talisman, no wonder you keep missing your chance to dodge disaster.]

Good thing he wouldn’t be staying long at the Martial Alliance, and he wasn’t her blood brother; otherwise she might not resist using her rights as a sister to teach him a harsh lesson.

While they spoke, Jiang Liu Shuang finally came around. As Third Young Master Jiang, he had lived smooth and easy since childhood and never lost out in matters with women. After what happened, he felt he might never go near women again. He swallowed and asked in a hoarse voice: “Second Sister, are there really ghosts in this world?”

Yu Zhi Yi tipped her chin toward the nearby female ghost and replied dryly: “Didn’t you just see one?”

Realizing he’d asked a silly question, Jiang Liu Shuang rubbed his nose, then frowned and pushed on: “I just don’t get it-why is she haunting me?”

Jiang Liu Bin rolled his eyes and shot back: “Third Brother, you’ve let down so many women; how can you ask that?” In his mind, Third Brother must have wronged some decent girl and gotten haunted for it.

Jiang Liu Shuang felt terribly wronged and protested: “I did not!” Then he remembered he didn’t need to explain himself to his silly brother and hurried to face Yu Zhi Yi, saying earnestly: “Second Sister, I truly haven’t done cruel, wicked things, nor have I betrayed a decent woman.”

[Come on, I have standards. I’d never ruin a good girl, and even in a brothel, if a woman isn’t willing, I don’t force her.]

Yu Zhi Yi turned to the female ghost and said coolly: “You tell them.”

From the moment Yu Zhi Yi appeared, the female ghost had cowered like a quail. She could still muster a flicker of defiance against Li Yu, a fellow vengeful ghost, but in front of this human young lady, she didn’t even dare meet her eyes. As for why she was clinging to Jiang Liu Shuang, she found it hard to say. She fidgeted, hoping to muddle through without answering.

Li Yu’s palm cracked through the air and slapped her. The chilling force nearly shattered the ghost. Maggots tumbled from the ghost’s face onto the floor, and the rotten flesh decayed faster than the eye could track.

The Jiang Clan brothers gagged on the spot; Jiang Liu Shuang couldn’t hold it and leaned over the bed to throw up. Yu Zhi Yi’s mouth twitched; she sealed off her sense of smell in the next instant. The double hit of sight and stench was too much. [I keep to myself; I’m not some block of wood.]

Seeing her master’s face darken, Li Yu shrank like a child who’d been caught misbehaving, and her grudge against the female ghost spiked. This time, though, she didn’t dare strike again. Instead, she raised a small ghost domain that only held herself and the female ghost.

Inside the ghost domain, the female ghost trembled and fell to her knees, thinking in panic: [No match! Not even close!]

She burst into sharp sobs and choked out: “I’ll talk!”

With a snort, Li Yu dispelled the ghost domain. The female ghost twisted her fingers in shame-forgetting her hands were no longer human-and her two ghostly hands wound together like a rope.

Yu Zhi Yi said nothing.

Everyone else also fell silent.

The female ghost spoke at last: “Third Young Master Jiang doesn’t remember me, but I can’t forget you. I was the maid of Sister Hong Yan at Wan Chun House. My name is Juan’er.”

Jiang Liu Shuang blinked, blank: “Juan’er?” He truly had no memory. Everyone who frequented brothels knew they went to see the courtesans who posted for clients. Who stared at maids unless a maid was a rare beauty? In all his years among flowers, he hadn’t seen a maid outshine a courtesan.

Juan’er gave a bitter smile and said softly: “You are a heaven’s chosen, while I’m mud underfoot. Of course you don’t remember me. That’s why your small kindness meant so much.”

Outwardly, Sister Hong Yan seemed gentle and kind, good at understanding men. In private, she was petty and jealous. As the head courtesan, no one could surpass her-neither in the brothel’s favor nor with men.

Juan’er wasn’t as pretty as Hong Yan, nor skilled in the arts, but she was quick-witted, so her years in the house weren’t too bad. Her family had sold her there at age ten to raise dowry money for her brother. She understood early that there was no place for her at home. After a few years among other sold girls, she learned that even if one redeemed herself, she couldn’t truly go back.

If she wanted a better life, she had to save up to buy her freedom. So she acted sweet and obedient. Besides the one tael she earned each month, she coaxed a few tips from clients. Because she was clever, many patrons liked her even though she wasn’t very pretty. That made Hong Yan unhappy. No matter how many times Juan’er promised she wouldn’t steal Hong Yan’s guests or status and only wanted to save to redeem herself, Hong Yan still came to hate her.

At sixteen, Hong Yan pushed her out to take clients. Her first client was a fat, greasy pervert. That night, he tormented her until there wasn’t an unbroken patch of skin left; by dawn, she was breathing out more than in.