Chapter 3

Chapter 3

What happened after that was only natural.

She tore apart the talismans suppressing me, held up her umbrella, and led me out of the ruined temple.

Back to the rear courtyard of the wealthy Ning family.

Shuyue’s parents had died young, and the Ning family had used the riches from her mother’s dowry to raise an entire den of ingrates.

In the end, they had even plotted to murder her for her wealth and steal away the bright future that should have been hers.

Those ingrates were so very much like the cousin I had protected and raised under my wing, only for her to steal my husband, murder my parents, and sever my head.

So, whether it was for helpless, isolated Shuyue, or for the body I wanted…

Shuyue and I, human and ghost, formed an alliance and conspired together for a beautiful rest of our lives.

In the middle of the night, I slipped into her grandmother’s courtyard. Her grandmother was pounding the table, cursing those useless thieves for letting that little bitch return to the residence.

I blew out the oil lamp in one breath. While everyone fumbled around in panic to relight it, I seized the old wretch by the throat.

As her eyes widened in horror and she trembled at the sight of my headless body, I gave a gentle twist. With a crack, I snapped her neck.

She slid limply from her armchair like a chicken with its neck broken.

When the lamps were lit again, all that remained was the blood spilling from the corner of her mouth and the terror still frozen in her eyes.

Once the old wretch was dead, Shuyue’s eldest uncle put on the airs of the head of the household, barking orders left and right. He wanted to use Shuyue’s parents’ money to hold a grand funeral and save face.

So Shuyue and I, teeth clenched in fury, blocked his path late one night.

Catching him off guard, Shuyue pulled out a club and knocked her arrogant uncle into the water with one blow. Then she planted her foot firmly on the top of his head and let him struggle, thrash, and flail, forcing him under until he drowned alive.

Two people had died in the same household, yet the eldest branch’s mother and son still showed no remorse. Instead, they blamed Shuyue, saying she had an evil fate and had brought disaster on the entire family.

So we decided to finish what we started.

That very night, I slipped into the mourning hall and blew over the candles in one breath.

When Shuyue’s aunt and male cousin screamed that there was a ghost and staggered toward the doors in a mad rush, I swept my wide sleeve through the air. With a clap, the doors and windows slammed shut, and the two of them were burned alive inside.

The chief culprits behind the deaths of Shuyue’s parents were all gone.

Then I took my headless body and pounced onto the bed of Ning Guanyun, the cousin who had meant to ruin Shuyue’s innocence.

She was still sitting beneath the lamp, writing a letter to Shuyue’s childhood sweetheart. Every word and sentence was meant to shift the blame and bring a great hatred down on Shuyue’s head.

I let out a cold sneer, grabbed her by the ankle, and while Shuyue held a teacup and watched the show, I dragged Ning Guanyun all over the room and flung her around with tremendous force.

I hurled her until stars burst before her eyes and her organs nearly turned inside out. Only then did I loosen my grip and toss her back onto the wooden bed.

Just as she bared her teeth in pain and tried to crawl off the bed, I shot my headless neck out from underneath it and let out a sinister, cackling laugh.

She was so frightened her soul nearly left her body. Half mad with terror, she fled in every direction.

But no matter what she did, she could not shake me off her heels.

At last, when her strength gave out and she collapsed to the floor, her breath faint and weak, I climbed onto her back and laughed darkly.

“Hey. How are you?”

Her body curled in on itself, and she was frightened to death for good.

It was a body that, aside from its shattered heart, was intact everywhere else.

It suited me perfectly.

From then on, I became Ning Guanyun, Shuyue’s older sister.