Just as Jiang Ning was about to pour a second glass of water, Nangong Ya and Luo Siyi walked in.
The couple was startled to see Jiang Ning there, but upon noticing the lifeless Nangong Muyan in her arms, they had no time to question anything else.
"Yan'er, Yan'er, my Yan'er..."
Luo Siyi's eyes were swollen and red, her tears seemingly endless. She rushed to the bedside and snatched Nangong Muyan's still-warm body into her arms, wailing loudly.
"Heavens! Heavens! Why do this to me? Yan'er, please don't scare your mother, wake up, please..."
Luo Siyi's heart-wrenching cries echoed through the room. Nangong Ya's face was also streaked with tears. He shuffled towards the bed like a frail old man, his steps as heavy as if they weighed a thousand pounds. He reached out to touch Nangong Muyan's face.
That face, once as beautiful as peach blossoms, now lay still with closed eyes. Having died by hanging, her face bore the grayish tinge of death, though it wasn't yet pronounced. Both cheeks bore red finger marks, with the left side more severely swollen – the result of Nangong Ya's slap.
"Yan'er..."
Nangong Ya's voice was as hoarse as if his throat had been scraped by countless rough stones, sounding inhuman. He touched that face, his other hand gripping the edge of the bed. His entire body bent forward, head hanging low, as if all strength had been drained from him.
Nangong Muyan, your revenge is complete!
Jiang Ning thought resignedly, silently rising to stand aside, quietly watching this scene of parents burying their child.
A deep sense of helplessness washed over Jiang Ning. She could no longer avenge Nangong Ling.
As the crying continued, Jiang Ning watched the grief-stricken couple and the deceased Nangong Muyan. For some reason, she recalled something that woman had once told her.
She had said, "What we call fate – living is luck, dying is destiny."
When was that?
Jiang Ning thought for a moment. It must have been after her first mission, when she had killed a somewhat well-known philanthropist named Jiang something Tao. The woman had said this to her upon her return.
Jiang Ning remembered that when the woman spoke those words, there was a hint of compassion in her eyes that Jiang Ning couldn't quite understand.
Even now, Jiang Ning didn't understand the meaning behind those words. Perhaps the woman had been drunk that day.
"Yan'er! How can your mother go on living without you..."
Luo Siyi's heart-rending cry brought Jiang Ning back to her senses. She raised her hand to massage her temples, feeling a headache coming on, and turned to leave.
Just as Jiang Ning took a step, she suddenly felt a tremor within her internal space.
Jiang Ning could sense that the sky filled with blood-red lotuses was twisting and collapsing, as if desperately resisting some external force.
On the barrier-like screen, all the slowly floating lotuses now rushed towards the highest point in the sky as if gone mad.
When all the lotuses had gathered in one place, Jiang Ning clearly felt something resonating with this space.
What on earth was happening?
Jiang Ning massaged her temples, utterly perplexed. This space had never shown any abnormal activity since she discovered it.
The wailing continued in her ears. Jiang Ning decided to return to her room to enter the space and investigate properly. However, as she casually glanced up, she thought she saw Nangong Muyan's lifeless hand, hanging off the bed, twitch its fingers.
Jiang Ning's heart skipped a beat. She stared intently at that spot, doubting her own eyes yet hoping.
Perhaps the spirit spring water really did have the power to bring the dead back to life?
If so, she might still have a chance to exact her revenge personally.
Inside the space, the blood lotuses had converged into a bright red dot. Jiang Ning felt more and more distinctly that the unknown pulling force was growing stronger with each passing moment.
Nangong Muyan's finger moved again!
This time, Jiang Ning saw it clear as day!
"Yan'er?"
Nangong Ya called out in disbelief. He had been touching Nangong Muyan's face and saw her eyelashes flutter.
Nangong Ya, suspecting his tears had blurred his vision, quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve. Looking back at that face, he saw Nangong Muyan's eyeballs slowly moving.
"Yan'er!" Nangong Ya cried out in shock and joy, immediately patting Luo Siyi's shoulder incoherently, "Siyi, Siyi, Yan'er's eyes are moving, they're moving, they're moving! She's not dead, she's not dead!"
Jiang Ning returned to the bedside, staring intently at Nangong Muyan.
Luo Siyi stopped crying, half-believing, half-doubting, and moved back a little. But she had cried so much today that everything she saw was blurred with a layer of afterimages. She couldn't see the changes Nangong Ya spoke of; she could only hope and pray for a miracle.
Three pairs of eyes watched Nangong Muyan with utmost attention.
The next moment, Nangong Muyan's long eyelashes fluttered again, and then those tightly closed eyes opened. Her eyes flashed with a cold light, like arrows, with undisguised killing intent.
Jiang Ning's pupils contracted sharply. It was as if a bolt of lightning had struck her head; the only word she could think of was "absurd."
She knew that look all too well.
This wasn't Nangong Muyan!
It was... her!
The moment "Nangong Muyan" opened her eyes, she saw Luo Siyi holding her. She violently pushed Luo Siyi away, while her hand swiftly brushed past Luo Siyi's hair.
In an instant, Luo Siyi's plum blossom jade hairpin was in "Nangong Muyan's" hand. Jiang Ning watched as her wrist flicked, the hairpin lunging towards Luo Siyi's neck with a fierce attack.
In that split second, Jiang Ning's body reacted before her mind could. She yanked Luo Siyi away with one hand while grabbing "Nangong Muyan's" wrist with the other, stopping her action.
"Second Sister!"
Jiang Ning called out in a deep voice, her eyes filled with warning.
"Nangong Muyan" looked at Jiang Ning, shock filling her eyes as she recognized her face.
Jiang Ning took advantage of the moment to take the plum blossom jade hairpin from her hand and throw it to the ground, but she kept one hand firmly gripping her wrist.
All these changes happened in the blink of an eye. Nangong Ya and Luo Siyi hadn't yet reacted until the plum blossom jade hairpin fell to the ground, breaking into two pieces with a crisp "crack," bringing them back to their senses.
"You... were trying to kill your mother?"
The joy Nangong Ya had felt at his beloved daughter's resurrection vanished in an instant, replaced by this terrifying realization. He stared at "Nangong Muyan," his eyes bulging, his chest heaving.
"Nangong Muyan," however, ignored him completely, focusing only on Jiang Ning.
The scene was too unexpected. Jiang Ning struggled to maintain her composure. Where Nangong Ya and Luo Siyi couldn't see, she tapped a rhythmic pattern on the underside of "Nangong Muyan's" wrist.
It was the organization's secret code.
"Situation — complicated, do — not — move — rashly"
"Nangong Muyan" obediently lowered her eyes, contemplating the current situation.
"Say something! Were you really trying to kill your mother? You beast!"
Seeing her not respond, Nangong Ya asked again, his voice filled with anguish. As he finished speaking, he raised his hand high, about to slap "Nangong Muyan's" face.
"Nangong Muyan" suddenly looked up, eyeing Nangong Ya's hand. A smile played at her lips, but her eyes were filled with cold, undisguised killing intent.
This was getting out of hand. Wasn't this courting death?
Jiang Ning, the only one aware of the true situation, watched with mounting alarm.
Before that hand could fall, Jiang Ning quickly intercepted Nangong Ya: "Father, Second Sister must not be thinking clearly. She doesn't know what she's doing. It wasn't intentional."
As Nangong Ya was about to say something more, Jiang Ning pushed both him and his wife out of the room. "Let me talk to Second Sister first. We can discuss everything else later."
The door slammed shut with a "bang," leaving Nangong Ya and Luo Siyi staring at each other in utter confusion.
Jiang Ning turned around after closing the door to find "Nangong Muyan" already standing in front of her, her eyes filled with deep confusion: "N, what's going on?"
Jiang Ning walked to the table and sat down, pouring herself a glass of water. After drinking it leisurely, she looked at "Nangong Muyan," who had also sat down at the table. She tugged at the corner of her lips and, instead of answering, asked, "Did you die? How did you die? Tell me about it."