True Daughter 5

"Jiaojiao, let's go. This place is too eerie. I heard people say it's haunted here. Remember that person from earlier? She died around here." The girl with long hair was quite scared, her voice trembling as she warned her friend. 

"Nonsense, how can there be ghosts in this world? Don't scare yourself. Besides, she died on her own. What does her death have to do with us? Oh, the country girl went into the restroom. Let's hurry and lock the door." Saying that, the girl with the bun rushed over, closed the iron door of the restroom, and wedged it shut with something. 

The restroom was pitch black, but A’Yang stood calmly inside. Dripping sounds were clearly audible, and suddenly, a head of long hair floated down from the ceiling, about to wrap around A’Yang’s neck. 

Zhou Yang was so frightened that she stuttered, "Gh—gh—ghost… Ghost!" 

Unexpectedly, A’Yang reached out and grabbed the hair, pulling the female ghost down and tossing her on the ground, causing her to roll back and forth. 

Outside, the girl with the bun, Jiaojiao, heard no noise from inside. She grew puzzled. "Did that country girl faint from fright?" 

"Jiaojiao, let's just leave. I'm scared." 

"Geez, why are you so timid?" Jiaojiao scowled at her impatiently, opened the iron door of the restroom, and peered inside. It was pitch black. 

Jiaojiao turned on her phone's flashlight and aimed it inside, but it was still far too dark for her to see anything. 

"Pan Cheng, turn on the light on your phone too." 

After waiting for a while without receiving a response from Pan Cheng, Jiaojiao turned around to look, only to find that Pan Cheng had disappeared. 

"Pan Cheng? Pan Cheng? Where are you?" 

There was no one behind her. Jiaojiao thought Pan Cheng might have been too scared and had made a run for it. As she looked ahead at the gloomy darkness, she couldn't help but waver in her determination. While Jiaojiao thought about leaving, she noticed something strange—the door was gone. 

The door she had just entered through had disappeared. 

"Pan Cheng. Pan Cheng!" 

Lin Jiao was extremely frightened. She believed that calling Pan Cheng's name loudly would keep any evil spirits away. 

Something brushed against her face, and Lin Jiao shone her the light upward, revealing a bloody, gruesome face right in front of her.

“Aaaah!”

———

With red eyes, Xue Yuan watched as Lin Jiao's parents approached her. "Uncle Lin, Auntie Lin, I'm sorry. It's all my fault. I'm the one who caused harm to Jiaojiao.”

Mother Lin refused to accept her apology. She slapped Xue Yuan hard in the face as she rebuked, "What did you do to our Jiaojiao? She was fine. How did this happen?" 

"I'm truly sorry, Auntie Lin. My younger sister and I had a small disagreement, and Jiaojiao wanted to help me. I truly didn't know what happened to her…" 

"Your younger sister?" Mother Lin recalled that the Xue family had adopted a daughter, but she had learned from her own daughter that the girl was actually Xue Jianping's illegitimate child. 

"I apologize on behalf of my younger sister." 

"Why should you apologize for her? If she did something wrong, she should come and make the apology herself,” Father Lin said bluntly. 

Xue Jianping and his wife, upon receiving the news, hurried over and overheard Father Lin's words. 

"Yuan-yuan, you're still protecting her at this point."

Wu Meijun looked at her with concern and took out her phone to call A’Yang, only to realize that she didn't have A’Yang’s number. 

"It seems that she doesn't have a phone." It took Xue Jianping a moment to remember that Zhou Yang didn't have a phone, so they had no means of contacting her. 

"Maybe we could call Hu Ma and ask if she's at home," Xue Jianping suggested. 

After hearing from Hu Ma that Zhou Yang had locked herself in her room and refused to come out, Xue Jianping grabbed the phone. "She still has the nerve to hide after causing this to happen? Tell her to get herself to the hospital immediately." 

After what seemed like hours of waiting, and just as everyone's patience was wearing thin, they finally saw Zhou Yang heading toward the hospital slowly.

"Sister, what took you so long? Do you have any idea how long Mom and Dad have been waiting for you?" Xue Yuan reproached Zhou Yang. 

"How would I know that the way to the hospital is so long? It’s already quite a feat for me to walk here," Zhou Yang retorted. 

"You walked here?" Xue Jianping stared at her with a speechless expression. 

"Indeed, how else did you think I could’ve gotten here?" Zhou Yang's retort caught Xue Jianping off guard, reminding him that she didn't have money and couldn't afford the bus fare. 

"Sister, why didn't you get your brother to send you here?" Xue Yuan asked. 

"I'm not familiar with him." Jiao Lin's parents didn't want to get into an argument over whether Zhou Yang had taken the bus. 

"Mr. Xue, I want to ask how my daughter's situation will be handled. You owe me an explanation." 

Bringing up this topic caused the Xue family's expressions to change again. 

"Sister, what did you do to Jiaojiao? How did she end up unconscious?" 

Zhou Yang raised an eyebrow curiously. "Who is Jiaojiao?" 

Xue Yuan hesitated for a moment and then explained the situation. "Sister, Jiaojiao was trying to help me. You weren't hurt either, so how could you do this to her?" 

"Let me get this straight. You saw me and then your friend wanted to teach me a lesson. You didn't stop her, and she got hurt, so you’re blaming me for this. Is that it?" 

Xue Yuan was taken aback by Zhou Yang's brashness. 

"Jiaojiao didn't mean it." 

Zhou Yang smirked. "Alright, I won't play along with your little drama. Just so you know, I don't even know who Jiaojiao is, and I haven't done anything to her." 

"Sister, it's okay to make mistakes. Recognizing them and changing is important. I believe that Uncle and Aunt won't blame you for your wrongdoings this time." Xue Yuan tried to mediate the situation.

"Mr. Xue, your daughter's conduct isn't good at all. She's stubborn even when facing death." 

Zhou Yang finally turned her head to glance at Jiao Lin's father, showing her approval. "I think you make a good point. It's not just your daughter. Even your son's conduct isn't any better." 

Xue Jianping's face turned livid. What kind of words was she using? 

Father Lin didn't have time for these pointless arguments. "My daughter is in trouble, and you must take responsibility for this." 

"Do you not believe me?" Zhou Yang asked. 

"Of course not." One was her daughter's best friend, and the other was a recently recognized illegitimate daughter trying to enter their circle. Whom should they believe? 

The answer was clear.

Just as the doctor came out, he saw the group of people and frowned. "The patient just woke up, and her emotions aren’t very stable." 

"Thank you, Doctor." Father Lin politely dismissed the doctor and then glared at Zhou Yang with a cold expression. "Since Jiaojiao woke up, we'll go in and clarify things." 

"Sure." 

The group entered the hospital room. As they stepped through the door, Xue Yuan felt her shoulder grow heavier as if someone was leaning on her shoulder. However, when she touched her shoulder, there was nothing there. 

Mother Lin held Jiaojiao's hand, looking at her pale face. "Jiaojiao, tell me, was it her who did this to you?" 

Jiaojiao huddled in Mother Lin's arms, looking weak and feeble. 

"Jiaojiao, tell me what happened. Did your sister…" 

"Ah! Ghost! Stay away from me, go away!" 

Xue Yuan was pushed away and ended up falling on the ground. 

"Jiaojiao?" Xue Yuan was dazed from the fall and hadn't fully reacted. 

Jiaojiao looked at her in fear and mumbled, "Ghost… Ghost… A ghost…" 

In fact, Jiaojiao really did see a ghost. It was resting on Xue Yuan's shoulder. She had forgotten her initial intention to teach Zhou Yang a lesson; her mind was consumed by the dark environment and the ghostly figure that had disfigured features. 

Now, that same ghost was on Xue Yuan. 

"No… No, help!" Jiaojiao screamed. 

Jiao Lin's parents were perplexed. The reason they were willing to believe Xue Yuan was because of her friendship with their daughter, Jiaojiao, but Jiaojiao was completely unaffected by Zhao Yang, the illegitimate daughter from the Xue family. Instead, she had a strong reaction to Xue Yuan, her close friend. 

A'Yang glanced at Xue Yuan, and the female ghost on her shoulder shrank back upon seeing that A'Yang didn't make any move against her. The ghost clung tightly to Xue Yuan's body. 

"Wasn't she supposed to be a geocentric spirit? How could she have left that place?" whispered Zhou Yang as she hid behind A’Yang. 

A'Yang didn't say anything. She just shook her head in response. 

"Xue Yuan, what's going on here?" Wu Meijun tried to help Xue Yuan up, only to find that her hands and feet had turned bitterly cold. 

"I don't know. It's true that Jiaojiao followed my sister. When they didn't come back for a long time, I went to check on them and found Jiaojiao unconscious." 

"Them?" Xue Jianping grasped the key point. 

"Yes, both Jiaojiao and Pan Cheng. Pan Cheng went missing too. Jiaojiao and Pan Cheng went in there together." 

Jiao Lin's parents hurriedly called Pan Cheng's parents, and Pan Cheng arrived shortly after. 

"Jiaojiao? Jiaojiao? How did she end up like this?" 

"Pan Cheng, you were with Jiaojiao at that time. Did you see who attacked her?" 

"I—I…" Pan Cheng looked at Xue Yuan and then turned her gaze to Lin Jiao. "I don't know who attacked her." 

"Why wouldn't you know?" 

"I really don't know." Pan Cheng put her hands over her head and kept backing away behind her parents. 

Suddenly, Wu Meijun rushed in front of A'Yang and raised her hand to strike, but before the slap landed on her face, A'Yang firmly caught her hand. 

"Aren't you going to apologize quickly?" Wu Meijun struggled to break free, speaking in frustration. 

A’Yang sneered, let go of her hand, and walked slowly toward Pan Cheng while fixing her gaze upon her. "Aren't you going to speak up?" 

"I don't know. I really don't. It was too dark inside, and I didn't dare to go in. I… I just ran away. I don't know what happened." Pan Cheng cowered and continued to back away until she reached a corner and then crouched down. 

"All of you said you followed me in. Then, I’ll ask this. Just because Xue Yuan said it was me, should it be automatically assumed that I did it? Could it not be that she was mistaken? I don't seem to know her well, so how could she recognize me at a glance?" A’Yang’s question aroused confusion among everyone except for the Xue couple. 

Even Pan Cheng, looking perplexed, raised her head. "Yeah, it didn’t seem to be her." 

Xue Yuan's expression changed drastically. She was sure she hadn't mistaken the person. How could it have turned out like this? 

Zhou Yang, on the sideline, let out a disdainful snort. These shameless people. If it weren't for the immortal saving her, she would have been killed by the female ghost long ago. 

Almost instinctively, Zhou Yang ignored the fact that Lin Jiao had been pushed in by 

A'Yang. 

———————————————————————————–

Translator: So fellas checks notes is this green tea bitch behavior? 

Also damn Spirit-Yang is fangirling so hard.

Zhou Yang- gesturing to A’Yang She’s the best guy around

Others- what about the murder she commited

Zhou Yang – What murdaaa