True Daughter 12

Seeing that A’Yang was fine, Lin Siyu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

As they relaxed, they noticed a delightful fragrance that stimulated their hunger. They wanted to devour the source of that scent. 

They followed the scent, and they saw what A’Yang was holding.

"What is this?"

"The essence of the Ghost King's inner core."

As A’Yang spoke, Lin Siyu's expression changed.

Those who reached a certain level of cultivation would condense an inner core, and their entire cultivation would come from it.

For spirits like them, the Ghost King's inner core was a valuable nourishment.

"You actually defeated the Ghost King?" Lin Siyu regained her composure after being momentarily stunned by A’Yang’s words.

Although she had never seen the Ghost King, she knew that to become one, one must be extremely powerful. They would have countless ghost soldiers and generals under their command. A’Yang had seemingly spent a very short time inside, but when carefully considered, it hadn’t been that long. In just a short time, she managed to obtain the Ghost King's inner core.

Zhou Yang glanced at A’Yang and plucked up the courage to stick her head into the black vortex to take a look. It was empty, devoid of anything.

"This Ghost Realm doesn't seem that big," she remarked.

"How is that possible?" Lin Siyu couldn't believe it and also peered inside. Indeed, the Ghost Realm was not large. It was about the size of a floor of a building. For a Ghost King, this was indeed very small.

"I think this Ghost King was sealed here before fully maturing, which explains why I could easily defeat him," A’Yang explained and looked at Lin Siyu. "You should be thankful that the Ghost King was sealed. Otherwise, you would’ve been dragged into the Ghost Realm and turned into a part of his inner core."

"That's why you died here and became a vengeful spirit so quickly," Zhou Yang added.

Even Lin Siyu herself felt a bit frightened. She had already died once. Being dragged into the Ghost Realm was just a step away.

"Thank goodness. Thank goodness…" Lin Siyu patted her chest.

"If there's nothing else, let's go back," A’Yang said, clutching the bronze coin in her hand. She had found the other half of the bronze coin under the Ghost King's throne. She was certain that the person who had set up this array was responsible.

A’Yang's fingers trembled, feeling the pain spreading from her bones. Her face turned pale as she was repeatedly struck by heavenly punishment. The hatred in her heart was taking root as she endured it.

She hated it. Hated his lack of trust in her.

She hadn't done anything wrong, so why did he insist on making her admit to something she hadn't done?

"Immortal, Immortal, are you alright?" Zhou Yang inexplicably felt afraid as she watched A’Yang’s expression. She didn't know why, but fear had crept into her heart. She reached out and tugged at A’Yang's clothing.

Suddenly, A’Yang woke up. Looking at the mottled walls around her, she knew that she had already emerged from the sealing dungeon. She couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

In an instant, they were back at the Xue family's villa.

A’Yang tossed the Ghost King's inner core to Zhou Yang. "You keep this. It’ll make it easier for you to cultivate."

"Immortal, did you get the Ghost King's inner core for my sake?" Zhou Yang held the inner core cautiously as she stared at A’Yang, deeply moved.

Lin Siyu watched Zhou Yang with envy, feeling that she was quite lucky. In her most destitute moment, she had received help from A’Yang. Unfortunately, she hadn't been so fortunate herself.

A’Yang didn't want to explain. After returning to her room, she closed the door.

She was starting to lose control of herself. There was a voice in her mind constantly urging her to shed blood, and she really wanted to.

To prevent herself from losing her sanity, A’Yang set up one barrier after another around her. She even conjured a chain to bind herself.

She could feel her consciousness scattering, a sensation she was all too familiar with. Now, all she could do was grip the bronze coin tightly in her hand.

…

Inside the abandoned building, several men dressed in black suits searched the area but found nothing. They returned to their car.

Inside the car, there was a man with a pale face. He had a string of beads around his wrist that looked like a Buddhist rosary but upon closer inspection, they were not.

"Mr. Meng, the Ghost Realm's barrier has been broken, and the Ghost King is nowhere to be found. Should we send people to search for him?" When the man heard this, his face finally showed some emotion. He turned his gaze toward the person speaking and stared at them intently. "No need. The Ghost King is already dead."

"Dead? He's dead?" Li Yu couldn't believe it. They had put a lot of effort into trapping the Ghost King here. If there was a way to deal with the Ghost King, why would they bother sealing it here?

He didn't think Mr. Meng in front of him was lying but just surprised. Who could be so powerful as to resolve the Ghost King?

"So, Mr. Meng, do you have a way to find the person who dealt with the Ghost King?"

"Why do you want to look for that person?” 

"Of course, to recruit her into our group," Li Yu said matter-of-factly.

Mr. Meng tapped the window lightly with his finger, causing Li Yu to feel uneasy with the constant rhythm.

He admitted that Mr. Meng was quite capable, but his health wasn't great. Perhaps it was his physical weakness that allowed him to see things others couldn't.

Just as he was thinking this, Mr. Meng suddenly went into a coughing fit, and it got worse progressively. When he covered his mouth, blood seeped from between his fingers.

Li Yu's expression darkened. "Quick, take Mr. Meng to the hospital."

If something happened to Mr. Meng in his car, his superiors wouldn't let him off the hook.

Perhaps because he was driving too fast, but drops of Mr. Meng's blood fell onto the beads around his wrist. This made him furrow his brows, looking somewhat unhappy.

"Slow down." He took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped the blood off the beads.

Li Yu only glanced back once but didn't ask the driver to slow down. Mr. Meng continued to cough, and blood began to spurt out of his throat with every cough, which was quite alarming.

It wasn't until they arrived at the hospital that Li Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

As he watched Mr. Meng lying on the hospital bed, Li Yu took out his phone, intending to contact his family, but he realized he didn't have their contact information.

After much thought, he had no choice but to report the situation to his superiors.

When he turned to check on Mr. Meng, he found that Mr. Meng had disappeared.

Li Yu asked everyone who had come with them, but no one had seen Mr. Meng. None of them knew how he had left.

Meanwhile, Lin Siyu had found a room to stay in at the Xue family's residence. When she had had enough of staying inside, she floated out to find something to do.

As she was about to move around in the courtyard, she saw Zhou Yang trembling by the window, looking outside in fear.

"What's wrong with you? Are you cold?" Startled by Lin Siyu's voice, Zhou Yang quickly gestured for her to speak softly.

"Look outside. That man is really strange," Zhou Yang whispered, pointing to the man loitering outside.

She had been practicing for a while and remembered A’Yang's advice not to absorb too much at once or it could burst her soul. She felt she had absorbed enough and didn't want to overdo it, so she stopped.

When she came out of the room and saw that the window was open, she thought of closing it. However, to her surprise, she saw a strange person standing at the door.

He stood under a tree, apparently looking at another.

Lin Siyu leaned closer to take a look and murmured with a smirk, "Whoever he is, if he dares to come in, we’ll make sure he won’t leave in one piece."

As soon as she said this, the man turned and looked in their direction, his sharp eyes seeming to see right through them.

"Oh my God. That scared me!" Lin Siyu exclaimed, taking a few steps back and clutching her chest.

Despite the distance, it felt like he had seen right through her.

"Who is he, anyway?" Lin Siyu gathered the courage to look over again, but the man's figure was nowhere to be seen.

…

When A’Yang woke up and scanned the room in disarray, she knew she had caused the mess when she lost consciousness.

Fortunately, she was still tied up, which prevented her from getting out.

She used a technique to untie the ropes and got up to leave the room.

Once she opened the door and took a few steps, the bright sunlight seeping through the window pane made her feel uncomfortable.

"Immortal, you're out," Zhou Yang said as she saw her and floated over. She had just absorbed the essence from the Ghost King's inner core, so her energy was particularly high.

Although she was still a soul, she could now interact with some physical objects. She was delighted with the progress. 

A’Yang looked at them and asked thoughtfully, "Did you two hear any noises just now?"

"No, we didn't hear anything," Zhou Yang replied.

"It's just that there was a strange man outside who stood there for a while and then left," Lin Siyu added, pointing outside.

A’Yang walked to the window, looking in the direction Lin Siyu indicated. She didn't see anything, but she sensed a presence.

A familiar presence that made A’Yang's face change dramatically.

In a flash, she reached the spot where the man had been standing just moments ago. It felt like her bones were about to crumble, and she trembled all over.

"Immortal, are you okay?" Zhou Yang was perplexed. She found this version of A’Yang somewhat frightening.

"I'm fine." A’Yang snapped back to her senses abruptly and clenched her fists tightly, reminding herself not to lose her composure in any circumstance.

It took her a while to calm herself down.

"Let's go back."

Zhou Yang nodded repeatedly and followed her back to the villa.

Lin Siyu watched A’Yang's back with suspicion, feeling that something was off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Looking around, she also sensed a familiar aura as if she had encountered it somewhere before.

After a few steps, it dawned on her. When she tried to make Lin Jiao pay with her life at the hospital, it was this aura that had pushed her back.

Could it be that the man was Xue Yuan's fiancé? Upon closer examination, he didn't seem quite right for that role.