Ling Ling
The quiet little shop was now noisy and chaotic, with people who were originally sitting at the round table eating making a mess.
Qi Yuan frowned and turned to the source of the sound. It was a burly man with a stubble beard and several shocking scars on his face. He was forcefully pulling a girl who looked to be about thirteen years old.
His face wore a wicked, greasy smile that made Qi Yuan feel nauseous: "Fuck your mother, you still dare to disobey? Pretending to be virtuous, you bitch!"
The little girl's face was filled with terror, tears streaming down her cheeks. She struggled desperately, but she still couldn't escape this demon.
Abducting a young woman in broad daylight? Qi Yuan couldn't stand it anymore. She flashed to the burly man's side and slapped him twice. In the few seconds that he loosened his grip, she protected the little girl behind her.
"Need any help?" Zhu Fu stood aside with his arms crossed, watching indifferently, as if it were none of his business, and only asked out of politeness.
The answer was, of course, no. These low-level thugs don't need two people to deal with them.
"Fairy Sister, he's my father! He killed my mother! Please save me!" The little girl cried, tears streaming down her face.
This man is worse than an animal; he even dared to touch his own daughter!
She suddenly dropped to her knees and began kowtowing repeatedly, her head clattering loudly on the floor: "Please!"
The people eating around were startled and watched with a sense of morbid curiosity.
Qi Yuan was startled. She carefully helped her up and then stood in front of her, watching the big man warily.
"Hey, what a hot chick. Come on, little sister, give your big brother a few more whacks, it'll feel so good~" He chubby cheeks bulged together and licked his lips lewdly.
So he's a masochist.
Zhu Fu's face darkened.
He felt like he was about to bite his back teeth off, and an unnamed fire rose in his heart as if it would devour him.
This is the person he's trying to seduce! What right does this sleazy guy have to covet her!
Before Qi Yuan could react, Zhu Fu swiftly kicked the pervert to the ground. He was truly pathetic. Zhu Fu firmly pinned the burly man's hand down, then bent down and forcefully choked him until the lecherous man was nearly suffocating.
Seeing that the burly man had already fainted, Qi Yuan turned around and bent down slightly to be level with the little girl. Her eyes were filled with care and pity, and her voice softened unconsciously: "It's alright, it's alright. We'll find you a safe place."
The girl wiped away her tears and awkwardly patted her small chest: "Fairy Sister, I'm still very capable! I can definitely help a lot!" Her eyes shone with light, as if she truly regarded Qi Yuan and Zhu Fu as her hope.
Overwhelmed with gratitude, she cried out, "Ling'er thanks the fairy sister for saving my life!" Just as she was about to kneel down again, Qi Yuan quickly stopped her.
This child is really something. Qi Yuan unconsciously relaxed her brows and eyes, took Ling'er's hand, and prepared to lead her away.
Strange... How come these hands are so smooth and delicate, without any wounds or calluses?
Qi Yuan became suspicious and turned to give Zhu Fu a look. Zhu Fu immediately understood, stepped to Ling'er's left, and said with a smile, "Ling'er, be good, your older brother and sister will buy you candy."
…What's with this sudden tacit understanding?
But in reality, neither of them knew where to take the child.
One of them has no sense of direction, and the other has never been here before.
The three of them kept walking along a strange route, going straight when there were no turns and going left and right when there were turns, without realizing that they had gone around in circles.
Ling'er couldn't take it anymore. Her face flushed red as she spoke first: "Brother and sister, where are we going?" She blinked, looking very helpless.
Zhu Fu and Qi Yuan exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with confusion. They said they would find her a safe haven, but they didn't know where to start.
Not wanting to lose face in front of the younger generation, Zhu Fu forced a smile and reassured them, "Come on, I'll take you to eat something delicious."
These food stalls are everywhere, and there are plenty of choices.
"Shopkeeper, three candied hawthorns, please."
"Shopkeeper, three servings of osmanthus cake, please."
"Shopkeeper..."
Zhu Fu led the two girls through various food stalls, and soon the three of them had so many things in their hands that they couldn't carry them all.
He didn't come away empty-handed. At least he figured out that Qi Yuan liked sweets.
Whenever there's a sweet treat, Qi Yuan's usually calm face will briefly light up with joy, and she'll start eating even faster.
Wouldn't this make it even easier for him to seduce Qi Yuan?
Ling'er ate happily. She licked the sugar stains from the corner of her mouth, her eyes darting around, and said playfully, "Brother and sister, Ling'er still has relatives in this world who are kind to me. It's my elderly grandmother. Ling'er wants to go see her."
Qi Yuan's eyes remained calm as she patted Ling'er's head and said, "Alright. Ling'er, lead the way."
Zhu Fu had no objections and followed closely behind them. His gaze towards Qi Yuan was somewhat complicated, with an ambiguous emotion in his dark eyes.
For some unknown reason, Zhu Fu suddenly smiled mockingly.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, Ling'er stopped in front of a rather secluded, dilapidated house. The house was truly in a terrible state, so much so that Qi Yuan couldn't help but wonder if a gust of wind would cause it to collapse.
It was indeed a long-abandoned building, with moss and cobwebs covering the corners. Even though it was daytime, the area was pitch black, without a single light, and it didn't look like a place where anyone lived at all.
Ling'er lowered her head, her voice trembling with tears, "It's too dark, I...I'm too scared to go in! Could you...could you come in with me, older brother and sister...?"
“Okay,” they both said.
The moment I stepped into the old house, the lights suddenly came on and kept flashing. A strong, eerie wind swept in. If this were a TV drama, a menacing ghost would appear the next second!
"Hahahaha! You guys are so easy to fool, you fell for it so easily." Ling'er had already shaken off the two men before stepping into the old house, and ran ahead to face them from a short distance.
Her still-young face was contorted, and she laughed maniacally, looking utterly wicked.
A person—no, a ghost—darted out from beside Ling'er.
The female ghost stretched her suspended body, looking at the two young men with excitement and eagerness. She was covered in bruises, dressed in the red clothes that most female ghosts wear, her hair was disheveled, and she was licking the hideous wounds on her hands.
A circle filled with spiritual energy and entirely green fell from the sky, precisely encircling Ling'er and the female ghost, and then suddenly tightened.
Ling'er:………
Female ghost:………
Ling'er and the female ghost were so hastily bound together by a special magical artifact that flew in, leaving them both shocked and unwilling.
Zhu Fu smiled and said, "Little sister, such poor acting skills won't fool anyone~" His casual tone sounded more like a provocation.
Such an obvious trap, only a fool would believe it.
The female ghost was furious, glaring at Zhu Fu, twisting and writhing incessantly, struggling desperately but unable to escape her restraints. This kind of celestial artifact is specifically designed to deal with prisoners and villains; no one but its owner can undo its magic. Such a treasure is extremely rare, yet it was a gift that Yun Xingjun casually gave to his disciple.
The female ghost's expression shifted from disdain to fear to despair. Her voice trembled as she pleaded desperately, "Please, heroes, spare me! I'll confess everything! I'll confess everything!"
Under Qi Yuan's scrutinizing gaze, the female ghost bit her lip and said, "I am a vengeful ghost, nourished by the lives of humans. About a year ago, I captured the rich girl Ling Ling. I originally intended to bite her to death, but that bitch was really afraid of dying. She said that as long as I spared her life, she would do anything. We reached an agreement: she would bribe a lecherous man to act out the same play in different places, and then bring kind-hearted people to replenish my nourishment. For every two people she deceived, I would let her live for another half month."
Ling Ling screamed, "I was forced!!! Is it wrong for me not to want to die?!"
At this moment, Ling Ling's ferocious face was completely different from Ling'er's smiling face as she ate at a roadside stall.
The hope that Lingling had in her eyes back then might have been real; she probably just thought that seeing the two people who came to her door meant she could live a little longer.
"You're wrong. Your actions have killed many more innocent people," Qi Yuan rebuked coldly.
Indeed, Ling Ling was trying to survive.
The two men traded for half a month, but it took them a year. This shows utter disregard for the lives of nearly fifty innocent people!
Zhu Fu tossed a Heart-Eating Pill into the female ghost's mouth and secretly cast a spell to force her to swallow it. As the name suggests, the person who takes this pill will endure the pain of poisonous insects corroding their body and devouring their heart for seven consecutive days.
Seven days later, the aftereffects of the Heart-Eating Pill will last for two months, making the person who took the pill feel like they are dying. During this period, if the person who took the pill has suicidal thoughts, the remaining poisonous insects will secrete a large amount of saliva to form a protective film, preventing them from dying.
The female ghost finally realized that Zhu Fu was not a good person, but before she could shout "He is a demonic cultivator!" she felt intense pain in her body. Thousands of poisonous insects were tearing at her flesh and sucking out her black blood! She couldn't help but scream loudly, her voice filled with unbearable agony.
The sound was sharp and piercing, making Zhu Fu's ears ache. He roughly grabbed a piece of toilet paper and stuffed it into the female ghost's mouth, which finally quieted things down a bit, but the "uh" sound was still annoying.
Qi Yuan didn't know that the pill was a forbidden drug called the Heart-Eating Pill, but she was sure it wasn't a good thing.
She tied up the female ghost alone, temporarily released Ling Ling, and coldly looked at the girl kneeling on the ground, panting and clutching her neck.
Ling Ling had been silent with her head down while the female ghost was explaining, only speaking up when questioned. Qi Yuan had thought she was going to defend herself or deny it, so this surprised her instead.
Ling Ling suddenly looked up, her eyes glistening with tears. She crawled to Qi Yuan's side, tugged at her skirt, and pleaded urgently, "Fairy Sister! Please save Ling'er! Please save Ling'er! Ling'er was wrong..."
After waiting for a long time without receiving a reply from Ling Ling, she looked up at the "fairy sister" but was suddenly met with a pair of cold eyes. She shuddered and subconsciously let go of the hand that was holding onto Qi Yuan's skirt.
A sigh reached her ears, and Qi Yuan closed her eyes and shook her head: "Your crime does not warrant death. You may be spared the death penalty, but you cannot escape punishment."
Upon learning that she wouldn't die, Ling Ling breathed a sigh of relief, but her heart tightened again when she heard the second half of the sentence. She clenched her fists tightly, her mouth filled with the taste of blood.
She loosened her fist. Just not dying was enough. Ling Ling smiled with relief.
Zhu Fu had already reported to the local officials, and now he came over as well: "If you are not someone we can deal with, then naturally it is up to your mortal officials to handle. Stay here, someone will be here soon."
He simply tied Ling Ling up, but after all, she was only a thirteen-year-old girl, and he was at a loss.
But she was only a thirteen-year-old girl.
Qi Yuan still felt sorry for her; how wonderful it would have been if she could have remained the innocent and naive Ling'er forever.
When the person bound by a celestial artifact dies, the artifact's spirit will return to its master. Therefore, one need not worry about the fate of the artifact.
Once you leave the dilapidated house, it's no longer dark; it's almost dusk.
Qi Yuan couldn't help but be curious, so she asked casually, "What kind of pill did you give that evil thing?" It looked quite powerful.
"It's nothing. Just an ordinary poison pill. It's just that this female ghost is so stubborn that you may have to wait several months before you can see your immortal artifact again," Zhu Fu said casually.
Lingling's family was all killed by that female ghost.
Thirteen-year-old Lingling had to be humble and subservient to her enemies every day, bearing a blood feud with them.
She was to play Ling'er, a character whose circumstances were different from her own but equally tragic.
How pitiful.
Because of her childhood experiences, Qi Yuan is more sensitive to death.
Qi Yuan wasn't someone with deep empathy; they were just kindred spirits in the same boat.
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