Don't mess with that Miao boy, he's sickly and perverted.

After crying for a while, she squatted down on the ground, her wide boots that never fit properly were loosely on her feet. Her round body was crooked and she couldn't squat steadily, so she simply sat back down on the ground.

Suddenly, a hand gently landed on her head.

So gentle, so slow, like when her mother hummed a lullaby to lull her to sleep as she was a child, her fingers brushing across her cheeks and then stroking the top of her head.

She was like a lost treasure that had been found again.

She slowly lifted her face from under the handkerchief, and through her tear-blurred vision, she still saw that girl.

She smiled at her again, with a hint of pity, her tone as gentle as a spring breeze that caressed her heart, bringing forth new buds even in a barren and desolate place.

"Were you born in Sanchao County? It must have been a very difficult journey for you?"

Zhu Yu had tears in her eyes.

She had almost forgotten the hardships she had endured.

Because there was no one to talk to, she could only grit her teeth and swallow it down. But when someone suddenly asked her that question, a wave of bitterness surged into her nose. She was flattered and didn't know how to answer.

"If you were truly greedy, you wouldn't have opened a run-down inn in this remote, impoverished place. There are plenty of good shops out there," Chai Xiaomi said earnestly, looking at her.

"When you fell just now, the jade thumb ring on your hand cracked, but you didn't even look at it. You were only concerned with touching the wooden ring on your little finger. Wood isn't worth much, but you treasure it so much, which shows it means a lot to you and proves you're not a greedy person at all. You set up this formation not to improve your luck and make money, right?"

"The reason you don't want to reveal the method to summon the ghost baby is because you're afraid we'll dispel its soul. Actually, you're protecting it, aren't you?"

Zhu Yu blinked blankly, surprised that such a young girl had seen through her seemingly flawless bluff.

"Yes...and not entirely."

The girl guessed most of it correctly, but there was also a very small part of the reason, which stemmed from her selfishness.

When the Soul-Locking Array is set up, the thing that the ghost infant cares about most must be placed in the center of the array in order to lure it into the array and suppress it in this small space.

However, the yin energy is heavy at night, and yin winds cannot be allowed to leak into the formation. Otherwise, the ghost infant, being curious, might sneak away through the gaps.

If it accidentally escapes the Soul-Locking Array, the only way is to ignite that item. Only then will the ghost infant sense it and rush back anxiously.

This item is not only what the ghost baby cares about most, but also what she cares about most.

Zhu Yu lowered her head and gently turned off the wooden ring on her little finger.

This is the only keepsake my mother left me.

If you want to summon it back, you can only light this wooden ring. But if you don't summon it back, not to mention whether it will cause trouble, a little ghost with such cultivation level could be swallowed whole by a powerful demon.

When we found it, it was already on its last legs, about to vanish into thin air.

But because of her extraordinary obsession and resentment, she endured it for more than 20 years until she found it.

"Are you sure you don't want to dispel its soul?"

Jiang Zhiyu had already realized from their conversation that the matter was not so simple, so he said, "As long as it never does anything to hurt people again, I can forgive it this time."

Chai Xiaomi: "We keep our word. How about I swear an oath to you too?"

Wu Li: ......

The boy silently turned his back.

He didn't want to hear the word "swear" again anytime soon!

After hesitating several times, Zhu Yu finally lit the wooden ring.

The flames flickered, emitting a strange, deep purple light that was exceptionally beautiful.

Chai Xiaomi hugged her knees and gazed quietly for a moment. Suddenly remembering something, she turned around and excitedly ran to Wu Li's side, gently patting his back.

"Lili, look!"

"What are you looking at?" He ignored her and didn't move an inch.

With her meager strength, it was as if she hadn't eaten enough; even tickling him felt too weak, and she certainly couldn't move him an inch.

Chai Xiaomi, however, didn't give up and tugged at him hard: "See!"

"Try pulling again? Are you tired of living?"

"Not tired of it, not tired of it." She replied, but she was still determined to walk around to face him, looking at the cluster of purple flames in the distance, and then pointing to her eyes.

"See that? The color of this flame is as beautiful as your purple eyes!"

Pretty.

This is the first time someone has said that his heterochromatic eyes are beautiful.

From childhood to adulthood, these eyes have always been seen as eerie and ominous, filled with contemptuous mockery and disgust.

As for those strangers who don't know him, after a brief moment of amazement when they first see his face, they will always take another look into his eyes. That look is full of wary scrutiny, and in short, it's not about liking him.

Chai Xiaomi seemed to be the only one who would stare intently into his eyes.

Wu Li slowly lowered his eyes to meet her gaze.

In her dark, clear pupils, he saw that small, flickering flame.

The firelight reflected in her eyes, swirling and swaying like a warm spring pond, rippling with tiny waves; if she wasn't careful, she would fall into it.

The boy suddenly snapped out of his daze, crossed his arms, and gave him a look as if he were an idiot:

"Your black eyes can actually reflect purple?"

"Ah...right, eyes aren't mirrors." Chai Xiaomi smiled sheepishly.

"Fool."

"Fool."

One sound fell, and another rang out.

They are clearly not from the same person.

Chai Xiaomi frowned and looked in the direction of the sound. She saw a tiny little dumpling lying at her feet, completely naked.

She instantly realized—this was the ghost baby.

At this moment, it was no longer the scarlet pupils I had seen in bed, but had turned back into a pair of round, black eyes.

It wasn't particularly cute; its skin was wrinkled and hadn't fully developed, showing a lingering redness, unlike the plump and fair appearance of a typical baby.

Even... a little ugly.

That's understandable; the baby must have died shortly after birth.

"Idiot... idiot..."

The little creature kept chirping persistently, almost in a pleading tone, stretching out its short arms toward Chai Xiaomi as if begging for a hug.

Wu Li bent down, glanced at it a few times, and commented indifferently, "Ugly doll."

Chai Xiaomi closed her eyes, sometimes really wanting to find a needle and thread and sew his mouth shut.

It's fine to just think it in your heart, why do you have to say it out loud!

"Get this straight, is it your place to call me 'idiot'?" He raised an eyebrow, his tone domineering. "Only I can call you that. Get out of my way!"

The ghost baby was stunned, tilting its little face up as if it understood but not quite.

But when Wu Li glared at it with those gloomy eyes, it became afraid.

"Wah—" she cried out in fright.

The waiter in the corner had already rolled his eyes back and completely passed out.

Zhu Yu rushed over, carefully cradled the ghost baby in her arms, and gently patted it to comfort it: "Don't cry, don't cry, sister is good, sister won't cry anymore..."

A large, stout adult is holding a wrinkled little baby and calling her "sister".

This scene is as bizarre as it gets.

After finally managing to soothe the sobbing ghost baby to sleep, Zhu Yu raised her head and explained in a low voice:

"She was—my older sister, who died thirty years ago."