Ma Steward stared at the open-doored bamboo hut for a while, finding it empty without the monsters he had imagined, and breathed a sigh of relief.
However, just as his mind began to relax, a sudden weight fell on his shoulder.
Ma Steward turned his head to see a pale, whip-scarred hand resting on his shoulder.
"Ah!"
Ma Steward's heart suddenly tightened. He whirled around to find a female ghost with disheveled long hair and a festering face standing behind him, motionless, staring at him. Two streaks of fresh blood ran from beneath her eyes.
"Ah! Ghost! G-g-g-ghost..."
Ma Steward's legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground, trembling as he crawled towards the bamboo hut. The gravel dug into his palms and knees, but he paid no heed, focused only on getting inside the hut and closing the door to keep the female ghost out.
To his horror, after crawling just a short distance, the female ghost followed. Her tattered white clothes were soaked in blood, a truly terrifying sight.
"Don't come near... Stay away... I haven't harmed anyone, don't come after me, please don't..."
Ma Steward's entire body shook uncontrollably, and he was on the verge of tears.
The ghost seemed to understand, stopping in her tracks, but then slowly opened her mouth: "Ma~ Stew~ard~"
Her voice was both mournful and chilling, intensifying Ma Steward's fear.
"Don't you recognize me?" the ghost spoke again, her voice tinged with a faint sigh.
Hearing this, Ma Steward tried to steady himself and carefully examined the ghost before him.
The female ghost wore a tattered white hemp dress, its sleeves stained red with blood. Her exposed hands lacked the color of the living, instead a deathly pale gray, with fresh, unhealed wounds on the backs.
Her long hair hung loose, framing her face. Ma Steward summoned his courage to look at her face, seeing a ruined visage. Both cheeks bore palm-sized wounds, as if the skin and flesh had been seared off with a red-hot iron.
Ma Steward's eyes widened in recognition of this horrific face. He had seen it before.
"Th-Th... Third Miss?"
It took great effort to utter those simple words, and he understood why the ghost had come for him.
"Ma Steward, you caused my death. I died so horribly, I cannot rest in peace. I'll drag you down to hell with me..."
Ma Steward saw a cold, murderous intent in the ghost's eyes. With these curse-like whispers, the ghost moved towards him.
"No! No! Third Miss, please spare me! Spare me..." Ma Steward pleaded, tears streaming down his face as he crawled backward.
"Spare you? Why didn't you spare me back then?"
The ghost approached him, a cold, gleaming dagger suddenly in her hand.
Ma Steward watched her raise the knife and stab towards his body. Survival instinct made him raise his hand to block, but he touched the ghost's hand, cold as ice.
The ghost easily pinned his hand and drove the dagger straight into his stomach.
Pain surged through him instantly. Ma Steward's eyes bulged as he lay on his back on the gravel, the blood-red sky gradually losing its luster in his vision.
Jiang Ning saw his gaze grow unfocused, knowing he was on the brink of death. In about fifteen minutes, this man would be completely dead.
Which meant she could take a short break.
"Huff, huff, huff!"
Jiang Ning withdrew her hand, stamping her feet and blowing hot breath into her palms to warm up her nearly frozen joints.
It was so damn cold!
Jiang Ning couldn't help but curse.
To maintain the ghostly illusion, she couldn't wear too much. Standing in this frigid weather in thin, drafty rags for so long had left her whole body nearly numb.
Jiang Ning quickly ran back into the bamboo hut, grabbed a thick cloak from the bed, and wrapped it tightly around herself, finally feeling some warmth return to her body.
After donning the cloak and coming back out, Jiang Ning circled Ma Steward. She hadn't removed the knife, so there wasn't much blood, just a large stain around the wound.
As Ma Steward drew his last breath, Jiang Ning poured some pre-prepared spirit spring water down his throat and simultaneously pulled out the knife.
The wound healed at a visible rate. Jiang Ning waited patiently, and when she saw Ma Steward's eyeballs start to move, she threw him out of the space, letting him land in that alley.
Ma Steward regained consciousness moments later.
Opening his eyes, he saw a jade-white moon in the pitch-black sky. Moving his fingers, he felt the cold, hard flagstones. Looking left and right, he realized he was in the alley leading out from Wei Fangxiong's house.
He wasn't dead?
Was it all a dream?
Ma Steward sat up and reached for his belly. It was intact, but his clothes had a hole, with a bloodstain around it.
Not a dream!
What on earth had happened?
Hadn't Third Miss turned into a vengeful ghost to claim his life?
Had Third Miss spared him?
Ma Steward stood up, his heart pounding wildly. The empty alley seemed to echo with the sound of his heartbeat.
Inside the space, Jiang Ning watched Ma Steward's confused state with satisfaction. This was exactly the effect she wanted.
And this was only the beginning.
Ma Steward stood dazed for a moment, then suddenly took off running.
This place was too eerie, his experience too bizarre. He wanted to get back quickly and tomorrow, he'd invite a powerful monk to put Third Miss's soul to rest.
But he had barely run ten steps when his shoulder was tapped again. The next instant, he fell heavily onto the gravel, the scene before his eyes once again transforming into that strange place.
"Ma Steward, I died so horribly~"
The female ghost's voice came from behind him again. Ma Steward turned to see Third Miss walking towards him step by step, dagger in hand. Remembering the pain of being stabbed earlier, his face turned pale, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
"Th-Third Miss, please spare me, please..."
Ma Steward pleaded for mercy as he shrank back.
The ghost remained unmoved, approaching him and plunging the dagger into the right side of his chest.
Ma Steward lay helplessly on the ground, feeling his life ebb away drop by drop.
Once, twice, three times...
After waking up unharmed in the alley yet again, Ma Steward understood. Third Miss's ghost would haunt him endlessly, torturing him, making him die and revive repeatedly, never finding peace.
So on the fifth time entering the space, before Jiang Ning could even begin her intimidation, Ma Steward fell to his knees before her with a thud.
"Third Miss, I'm just a servant. I didn't dare disobey Second Miss's orders. She forced me to do it! The guilty should be punished, please spare me! I truly know I was wrong..."
Ma Steward finished speaking through tears and began kowtowing to Jiang Ning. He knocked his head forcefully, the gravel cutting his forehead until it was covered in blood.
Ma Steward had begged for mercy as a last resort, not expecting it to actually work. But the female ghost seemed to stop, slowly lowering her raised dagger.
Second Miss...
Nangong Muyan!
Jiang Ning's lips curled into a slight smile. From Lingshan Town to the Capital City, after all this trouble, she had finally learned the identity of Nangong Ling's true enemy.