Tang Xiaoling's delighted laughter rang out from the Carousel.
One little hand gripped the handle while she held the other high, waving it back and forth.
"This is amazing! I've never ridden a little wooden horse before. It's so much fun!"
Standing nearby, Old Lady Zhao watched her enjoying herself, a look of heartfelt joy spreading across her face.
The sight could not help reminding her of her little grandson back when she was alive.
She remembered taking him to the Amusement Park for the first time. As it happened, they had ridden the Carousel then, too.
Just like Tang Xiaoling now, her little grandson had shouted and squealed with excitement.
In the end, he had insisted on riding it ten times before reluctantly leaving.
For a moment, Old Lady Zhao slipped into a daze.
It was as though Tang Xiaoling had turned into her grandson before her eyes.
Especially when she saw how innocent and cheerful the girl was, she felt they were exactly alike!
In that instant, warmth welled up in her heart.
It was the familial affection she had never felt again since dying and becoming an evil spirit!
Just then, however, the Jade Pendant on Tang Xiaoling's chest suddenly began to glow faintly.
Immediately afterward, something miraculous happened!
A screen of images appeared before Old Lady Zhao, visible only to her.
The scene it displayed was the moment just before her death all those years ago!
She saw herself dangling in midair, having been flung out of the Roller Coaster.
Desperate to survive, she clung tightly to her grandson with one hand.
Likewise, her little grandson's eyes brimmed with tears as his small hands held on firmly, refusing to loosen their grip even slightly!
But a child of only ten could not possibly hold on to her while the Roller Coaster hurtled along at high speed.
In the end, he had gripped her so hard that his fingernails dug into her flesh!
The pain had been too much for Old Lady Zhao, and she had let go!
"S-so... my little grandson never bit me!"
At the sight, two trails of bloody tears instantly ran down Old Lady Zhao's face!
Only now did she finally understand that she had misunderstood her grandson all along!
From beginning to end, her young grandson had used every ounce of strength he had to try to pull her back up!
But with everything happening so urgently, she had been unable to tell what was going on.
She had simply assumed that her grandson had bitten her hand hard to make her let go, afraid she would drag him down with her!
"Xiao Hu, Grandma was wrong! Grandma should never have resented you!"
At that moment, Old Lady Zhao was overwhelmed with guilt, her tears pouring out like a burst dam.
Sadly, evil spirits had no tears. Only blood could take their place!
Tang Xiaoling, who had been having a wonderful time, suddenly heard Old Lady Zhao crying and hurriedly looked up.
She saw tears streaming down the old woman's face as she sobbed bitterly.
"Grandma, what's wrong? Was Lingling naughty? Did I make you angry?"
"Lingling won't ride the wooden horse anymore. I'll listen to you, Grandma. Please don't cry, okay?"
Tang Xiaoling gently comforted Old Lady Zhao, reaching out with a chubby little hand to wipe away her tears.
Though to anyone else, it was all blood.
In Tang Xiaoling's eyes, however, those were nothing more than perfectly ordinary tears.
"Lingling... you're such a good child. You're the sweetest."
Old Lady Zhao held Lingling's little hand as she spoke through her sobs.
But just then, she suddenly sensed something.
After a hundred years as an evil spirit, she could actually enter the supreme Netherworld!
At the same time, the way to reach the Netherworld appeared in her mind!
"This..."
Old Lady Zhao felt the world spinning around her, her mind reeling.
Had the way to reach the Netherworld not been deeply imprinted in her mind,
she would have thought it was all her imagination.
This was the Netherworld!
Rumor had it that any evil spirit who entered could become a Netherworld Soldier and thereby increase their cultivation!
If they earned the Emperor's favor, their prospects would be limitless.
Even becoming a ghost king who guarded an entire region would no longer be an unreachable dream!
After all, her current boss, Ghost King Zhong, worked for the Netherworld.
He had once been just like her, with nothing more than the cultivation of a lowly vengeful ghost.
But a chance encounter had unexpectedly earned him the Ghost Emperor's favor, allowing him to achieve everything he had today!
"Thank you, Lord Ghost Emperor! Thank you, Lord Ghost Emperor..."
Old Lady Zhao kept repeating those words.
She was so excited that she began to look almost delirious.
Seeing her like this, Tang Xiaoling could not help asking worriedly:
"Grandma, are you okay?"
That soft call instantly brought Old Lady Zhao back to her senses.
When she looked down at Tang Xiaoling, a faint suspicion began to form in her heart.
Especially since she had suddenly witnessed the scene just before her death.
Could that have been the legendary treasure, the Karma Mirror?!
Old Lady Zhao's expression flickered with doubt and astonishment, while the ghostly aura around her rapidly brightened and dimmed.
She had once heard a legend that the Netherworld possessed a precious mirror called the Karma Mirror!
Any ghost reflected in it would have every scene from their life revealed!
Neither the evil deeds they had committed in life nor the good bonds they had formed could remain hidden!
Could I have received this opportunity because I made Tang Xiaoling happy?!
Once that thought arose, Old Lady Zhao could no longer get it out of her head.
And the more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed!
Even one of Tang Xiaoling's pets was Sky Dog, an auspicious beast who filled her with dread!
Having a Karma Mirror to protect her as well hardly seemed strange!
Otherwise, how could an evil spirit with mere vengeful ghost cultivation suddenly receive the means to reach the Netherworld?
After all, even the weakest among its hundreds of millions of Netherworld Soldiers was at the ghost fiend level!
At her cultivation speed, it would take at least several hundred years to reach the level of a ghost fiend.
And even then, she would only be the lowest sort of ghost fiend!
There was no way she could catch the Netherworld's attention!
"Lingling, Grandma is fine. I'm just too excited!"
Old Lady Zhao looked kindly at Tang Xiaoling and hurried to explain.
By now, she was almost certain.
Tang Xiaoling's origins must lie within the Netherworld!
Though she still did not know which great figure's child the girl was, someone protected by so many treasures could hardly be of low standing!
And her newfound ability to reach the Netherworld surely had something to do with the girl!
But that left Old Lady Zhao in a dilemma.
Should she obey the Netherworld's rules and set off immediately to report for duty?
Or should she stay in the Amusement Park and protect Tang Xiaoling?
A second later, however, she wanted to give herself a hard slap.
With my meager abilities, how am I qualified to protect Tang Xiaoling?
Can't I see she's holding Sky Dog in her arms and petting him?!
Not to mention the magical Karma Mirror protecting her!
Who in this entire Amusement Park could so much as harm a hair on her head?
Even if Ghost King Zhong himself came, he'd have to kneel obediently and wait on her with care!
"Grandma, what's really wrong?"
Tang Xiaoling looked at Old Lady Zhao, who was crying one moment and smiling the next, and asked with concern.
"Grandma is fine. It's just that I have to leave."
Old Lady Zhao gently stroked Tang Xiaoling's hair, her face full of loving smiles.
If she had previously feared Tang Xiaoling's background, now she truly liked this child from the bottom of her heart!
It had nothing to do with anything else, only that the girl had resolved the misunderstanding between her and her grandson.
Even if Tang Xiaoling had no powerful background, she would still protect her with all her heart!
Before you continue