She had been with Wen Chao for almost half a year, going by her count. Half a year was as long as it took for Wen Chao to go from being fond of a woman to being bored of her. She’d initially thought she was special, that she could hold out to the very end. But Wen Chao’s growing impatience of late had warned her she was no different from the others.
Biting her lip, Wang Lingjiao thought for a moment, then crouched to pull a small chest from under the bed.
This small chest contained all the valuables and precious weapons she had managed to fleece for herself by every means possible during the six months she’d spent by Wen Chao’s side. The valuables could be spent, and the weapons used for self-protection. Though she hadn’t wanted to accept it, the day had finally come.
Wanting to take inventory of how much stuff she had, she dug a small key from her belt and opened the lock, grumbling, “Scumbag, greasy toad, you’re gonna die sooner or later. I’m only too glad to not have to serve you anymore… Ah!”
She fell back and slumped on the ground.
She had seen what was inside the chest the very instant she opened it—none of the treasures she’d once cherished. The only thing huddled in the chest was a ghastly pale child!
Wang Lingjiao shrieked with fright as she kicked out both legs to retreat backward. She always kept this chest locked and kept the only key on her at all times. How could there be a child inside? She barely even opened it once a month. How could she not know if a child was hidden in there? How could the child still be alive?!
She kicked the chest over, overturning it so the bottom faced her. For a long time, there was no movement.
With shaking legs, Wang Lingjiao clambered up off the ground. She wanted to get closer to take another look but didn’t dare to.
There’s a ghost, a ghost! she thought.
Her cultivation was extremely weak, so if there was a ghost, she couldn’t deal with it on her own. But it suddenly occurred to her that this was the Overwatch Office. There were talismans pasted outside the main gate and on the exterior of every room that would surely protect her. Rushing out, she tore down the talisman outside her room and stuck it on her chest.
With a talisman on her chest, she was more at ease. She tiptoed back into the room and found a garment hook, which she used to turn the chest over from afar. All her treasures were stacked neatly inside. There was no child at all.
Wang Lingjiao breathed a sigh of relief. She crouched down with the garment hook in hand and was about to start taking inventory when she suddenly noticed two pinpricks of bright light under her bed.
It was a pair of eyes.
The pale child was lying under the bed, meeting her gaze.
This was the third time tonight that Wen Chao had heard Wang Lingjiao scream. His fury blazed higher, and he roared, “Stupid bitch! So jumpy. Can’t you give me a fucking break?”
The influx of aggravating news had temporarily left him without time to seek out new beauties. Not to mention his worry that those he did find would be shady, unreliable assassins sent by those insignificant clans. If it weren’t for that, as well as his need for someone to warm his bed at all times, he would long have told that woman to scram.
“Men! Make her shut up!” he bellowed.
No one answered. Wen Chao kicked a stool, sending it flying. The flames of his anger blazed yet higher.
“Where the hell is everyone?!”
All of a sudden, the door to his room was flung open. Wen Chao snapped, “I told you people to shut that bitch up, not barge in…”
The moment he turned his head, the latter half of his statement died in his throat. He saw a woman standing in the doorway of his room.
This woman’s facial features were all crooked, as if someone had smashed them to pieces and then fitted them back together. Both her eyeballs aimed in different directions—the left staring at a crooked angle above, and the right staring crookedly below. Her face was contorted beyond recognition. It took Wen Chao a great deal of effort to recognize her from her revealing gauze robe.
It was Wang Lingjiao!
Wang Lingjiao’s throat gurgled as she took several steps closer to him and reached out her hands. “…Help…help…save me…”
Wen Chao screamed and unsheathed his new sword, slashing at her. “Get out! Get lost!”
His sword sunk into Wang Lingjiao’s shoulder, and her features contorted even more as she shrieked. “Ahhhhhh…it hurts, ahhhh—it hurts, ahhhh!”
Wen Chao didn’t even dare pull out his sword. He grabbed a stool and bashed her with it, shattering the stool. Wang Lingjiao staggered and then kneeled, prostrating herself on the ground as if she was kowtowing to someone. Her words were incoherent as she mumbled and sobbed.
“…I’m sorry…I’m sorry…spare me, spare me, spare me…”
As she kowtowed, blood flowed from her seven apertures. She was blocking the doorway, so Wen Chao could not flee but only push open the window and scream heartrendingly.
“Wen Zhuliu! WEN ZHULIU!”
On the ground, Wang Lingjiao had snatched up a leg from the shattered stool. She frantically stuffed it into her mouth, laughing as she did.
“Okay, okay, I’ll eat it, I’ll eat it! Ha ha, I’ll eat it!”
And just like that, a section of the stool leg was shoved down her throat!
Wen Chao was scared out of his wits. Just as he was about to jump out of the window and flee, he suddenly noticed something in the courtyard. There stood a figure dressed in black, stark amidst the moonlight pooling on the ground.