Ch 45: The Malevolent Monster Just Wants To Farm

Night.

The courtyard of the Chen household’s matron was eerily quiet.

Madam Jiang lay on the bed, staring blankly at the canopy above her.

She had been “sleeping” in this bed since the previous night.

Her personal maid was nowhere to be found, and the courtyard was now filled with Chen Bo’an’s people. They told others that she had contracted a severe illness and needed to be given medicine twice a day.

After drinking that medicine, her entire body became paralyzed. Although she remained fully conscious, she couldn’t speak or move.

At this point, what was there left for her to not understand?

The deaths of A-Lin and A-Jin were indeed related to her husband!

And now, he was even planning to harm her, his own wife!

Madam Jiang had never felt so cold and heartbroken.

Her mind was filled with the image from last night of the blood-soaked girl ghost, with her dirty dress, crying pitifully.

A-Jin loved cleanliness so much and was always so delicate and afraid of pain.

When those people attacked her, she must have been terrified, right?

She didn’t even dare to think too deeply about the few words A-Jin had said, as if by avoiding those thoughts, she could stop imagining the horrible things that must have happened.

Then, perhaps her A-Jin and A-Lin wouldn’t have experienced such horrors.

“Auntie.” A clear voice called out to her.

Tears slid down from the corners of Madam Jiang’s eyes. Another hallucination.

Since she received the terrible news about the two children, she often heard someone calling her “auntie,” even though she knew it wasn’t real. The ones who would call her that were no longer in this world.

But this time, the voice was so clear, and it seemed to be getting closer:

“Auntie.”

Madam Jiang strained to turn her head, her eyes widening.

In the dim candlelight, a young man and woman stood by her bedside.

The gentleman was refined, the lady delicate and beautiful. She could never mistake their appearance.

She struggled to open her mouth, trying to say something, but no sound came out.

“Qingluo, help Auntie,” Jiang Lin said.

The young girl in the green dress responded crisply and walked over to Madam Jiang’s bedside. After a quick glance, she said, “There’s poison in her body.”

As a plant spirit who had also studied the healing arts in the Nine Spirits Technique under Jiang Lin, Qingluo was very skilled at purification and healing.

She brushed her small hand over Madam Jiang’s body, and Madam Jiang immediately felt a weight lifted off her.

She suddenly exclaimed, “A-Lin! A-Jin!”

Qingluo tilted her head to look at Jiang Lin, her large eyes filled with an expression that said, “Please praise me.”

Jiang Lin smiled warmly and praised her, “Qingluo, you did great!”

But A-Jin, standing to the side, glared at Qingluo with disgust and huffed.

This annoying little demon! If her brother hadn’t said they had saved him, she would have figured out a way to get rid of them!

Anyone trying to steal her brother from her—it’s best if they all died.

Madam Jiang sat up, staring blankly at the two children in front of her, and suddenly said, “Am I about to die?”

Jiang Lin chuckled, “Why would you think such a thing?”

Madam Jiang’s eyes were filled with sorrow. “If I weren’t about to die, how could I see you two?”

A-Jin, however, began to laugh.

She sat by the bed, just like she used to, affectionately leaning against Madam Jiang.

“Auntie,” she said, her eyes gleaming with malice, “A-Jin now knows that A-Jin misunderstood you. Auntie didn’t harm A-Jin and Brother, and A-Jin won’t harm Auntie either.”

As she spoke, she deliberately changed her appearance slightly—the clean, tidy clothes she wore became stained with blood, and she exuded a strong, bloody scent.

She was no longer the same A-Jin as before. She trusted no one but her brother.

She wanted to see how Auntie would react.

Madam Jiang instinctively shivered.

The girl beside her was as cold as ice, with no warmth of a living person, and the smell of blood was nauseating.

Everything about her was a stark reminder that the girl by her side was no longer the sweet, soft, fragrant A-Jin.

Instead, she was a vengeful ghost.

But Madam Jiang didn’t push A-Jin away, nor did she tremble in fear.

Her face was filled with nothing but heartache and guilt.

A-Jin was stunned.

Then she felt warmth—it was Madam Jiang pulling back her blanket, carefully wrapping it around her, and then holding her tightly.

A soft hand gently rested on her head, just like how Auntie used to do whenever A-Jin would act spoiled.

Madam Jiang’s cheeks were already wet with tears, but her voice remained gentle and warm, as if the girl in her arms was still the delicate young girl from before: “Why is A-Jin so cold? Auntie will hold you, and you’ll warm up soon.”

Ghosts aren’t supposed to feel the warmth or coldness of the living world.

But A-Jin felt it.

Madam Jiang’s embrace was like a warm, gentle light, cutting through the thick, poisonous resentment and darkness, and it touched the emptiness in her heart.

Her body trembled, and then the cold form in Madam Jiang’s arms disappeared.

Surprised, she looked up to find the young girl had returned to her previous spot by the bed.

Awkwardly, she explained, “I’m a ghost now. If you touch me, it won’t do you any good.”

Jiang Lin, who had been standing nearby, finally spoke up: “Auntie.”

Madam Jiang looked at him with loving eyes. “A-Lin, you’re the older brother. No matter where you are, you must take good care of your sister.”

She knew these two children very well, and it was obvious that something was terribly wrong with A-Jin now.

In comparison, A-Lin seemed much more normal.

“I will,” Jiang Lin nodded.

Then he asked, “Auntie, do you know why we’ve come here tonight?”

Madam Jiang’s expression changed, and she replied softly, “I know.”

A-Jin suddenly began to laugh.

Her laughter was clear and crisp like silver bells, but in the stillness of the night, it only made the atmosphere feel more eerie.

A-Jin said, “Auntie, do you remember the letter that uncle gave me and Brother that day?”

Madam Jiang’s eyes flickered, realizing that she was about to uncover the truth she had longed to know.

A-Jin continued, “There was no birthday banquet, and we didn’t have an accident on the way.”

She touched her face, now covered with thin layers—something her brother had put on her. It wasn’t a human skin mask, but it was even better.

Her current face had been hand-drawn by her brother.

A-Jin loved it.

Her eyes showed a mix of fear and resentment. “We were sent to a secluded estate, locked up like livestock. We were kept there for several days, and then I was taken to a quiet room, filled with candles.”

“They tied me to a stone bed and, while I was still alive, they used a knife to slowly, piece by piece, peel off my face. I wasn’t dead yet.”

She heard them discussing how perfectly they had peeled her face, how the master would surely like it.

The young girl on the stone bed, her face covered in blood, endured endless pain, staring hopelessly at the void above her until her life ebbed away.

She died with her eyes wide open, unable to find peace.

Madam Jiang covered her mouth, her vision already blurred with tears. She wanted to say something, but the pain in her chest made it impossible to breathe.

Suddenly, she thought of something and looked at Jiang Lin.

Jiang Lin nodded to her gently.

Madam Jiang let out a sob and buried her head in the bedcovers.

She hated herself for being so powerless, for allowing her children to fall into such cruel hands.

She hated those beasts in human form, and she hated…

“Auntie,” A-Jin’s voice sounded in her ear, “It was uncle who sent Brother and me away for his own ambition.”

Madam Jiang suddenly lifted her head. Even though she had suspected it, hearing A-Jin confirm it still made her grip the bedcovers tightly.

“Chen Bo’an…” she trembled, her teeth chattering with rage.

“A-Jin,” Jiang Lin disapprovingly patted A-Jin’s shoulder.

Chen Bo’an deserved to die, but Madam Jiang was innocent. She was a victim too. Her husband had caused the deaths of her niece and nephew, and the pain in her heart was probably no less than anyone else’s.

A-Jin speaking of these things in front of her was only adding to the pain of this kind-hearted woman.

“We don’t blame you, neither A-Jin nor I have ever blamed you, Auntie,” Jiang Lin said gently, looking at the woman before him.

Madam Jiang began to sob, “A-Jin, A-Lin, it’s Auntie who has wronged you both!”

This poor woman was thinking, if only she had let the siblings stay quietly at home, everything would have been fine.

But there was no “if only.”

Jiang Lin lowered his gaze; he wasn’t very good at handling such situations. He wasn’t one to comfort people, nor did he believe that comforting words would have much effect.

Besides, they had already delayed here too long tonight.

He spoke bluntly, “Auntie, Chen Bo’an must die.”

Chen Bo’an may not have been the one to kill them, but he handed the knife to those who did.

Jiang Lin didn’t know what Madam Jiang would think or how she would react, but neither he nor A-Jin would change their minds because of it.

Madam Jiang sat on the bed, staring blankly. When she heard his words, her expression slowly turned resolute. “Chen Bo’an deserves to die!”

“But…” Madam Jiang thought of her own children. “Auntie has a favor to ask of you both.”

Jiang Lin and A-Jin left Madam Jiang’s room.

“Do you feel better now? Auntie truly loves us,” Jiang Lin said.

He had deliberately brought A-Jin to see Madam Jiang to show her that even though there are those with hearts like devils in this world, there are also those who carry a light, no matter how faint, that never goes out.

Qin Ling was standing outside. As a Daoist, he couldn’t enter Madam Jiang’s room.

Hearing Jiang Lin’s words, he couldn’t help but laugh, “You’re a vengeful spirit, yet you talk and act like an enlightened monk.”

Jiang Lin replied casually, “Maybe it’s because I’ve lived too long and seen too much.”

Qin Ling scoffed, thinking he was just joking.

During the day, he had learned about Jiang Lin and knew that he was just barely past twenty.

Chen Bo’an stayed in the study that night. He had distributed only a few of the talismans given by the Daoist to his children, while the rest were posted around the study. He held the sword that had once injured A-Jin close to his chest as he slept in his clothes.

Even so, he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in days. Knowing that a vengeful spirit was after him, it was impossible for anyone to rest easy.

Chen Bo’an suddenly jolted awake. He had just had a nightmare in which the vengeful spirit of A-Jin had come. This time, the spirit ignored the array set up in the Chen residence and wandered through the courtyard, finding him with unnerving precision.

Those blood-red, cruel eyes had terrified him awake!

He opened his eyes and, seeing the familiar setting of his study, sighed in relief. It was just a dream. But why was it so cold?

He suddenly realized something and slowly turned around, only to find himself face-to-face with a pair of blood-red eyes gleaming with excitement…

Outside the study, Jiang Lin waved his hand, casting a barrier to muffle the screams.

“Have fun, A-Jin,” he said softly.

Qin Ling stood nearby, looking at him with a complicated expression. “I can’t tell anymore if you’re a good or a cold-hearted person—or rather, spirit.”

He had just overheard Jiang Lin asking that demon, Huaiyin, what is the best way to torture someone so that they would neither live nor die. And then he had A-Jin use it on Chen Bo’an.

“Does it matter whether I’m good or cold-hearted?” Jiang Lin smiled faintly. “I simply do what I believe needs to be done. What others think of me is of no concern.”