In fact, Ji Yuanming wasn't the only one who climbed into a sheet-metal cabinet. Jian Ran did too.
The moment he stepped onto the second-floor corridor, his long, slender fingers rapidly formed a seal. He turned and told Lu Yanting to leave at once, then, without wasting a second, broke through the golden light and stepped into the metal cabinet.
Before Jian Ran could catch his breath, someone planted a solid kick on his backside. He instantly lost control of his body and plunged headfirst inside.
Outside the sheet-metal cabinet, voices clamored in confusion. "Hurry up and shut it tight. Get the mud and sand ready. Pour it in on my command."
"Seal the gaps around the wardrobe doors. Yes, use glue..."
Jian Ran frowned and tried to move, only to discover that he had no control over this body at all. Quiet sobs reached his ears.
"Ying'er, just tell us. Where does he live?" A woman's choking sobs came from outside the cabinet, her calls weak and full of anguish. "Are you really going to protect him like this? Even throw your life away? Has all my love for you been for nothing?"
"Liu Ying'er, your mother has said all that, and you still refuse to see reason?!" The speaker's voice was aged and stern, seemingly carrying considerable authority. "After your disgraceful behavior, how is the Liu Family supposed to hold its head up in this village?!"
"We only want to find that man and make him take responsibility for you, to get you justice. Why can't you understand?!"
The body Jian Ran inhabited still said nothing. She only kept crying, as though she would never stop until every last tear had run dry.
Someone outside sighed, then gave an order in an emotionless voice. "Pour it in. It looks like she won't give up until she's staring death in the face!"
"No, don't-"
"Ying'er, please say something!"
"Ying'er-"
As mud and sand poured through the hole overhead, Liu Ying instinctively raised her head, one hand covering her belly. The fetus, over four months along, seemed to sense what was happening and kept moving, its desire to survive intense.
Soon, the mud and sand reached her chest, and Liu Ying struggled to breathe.
So did Jian Ran. He thought to himself, Wasn't this just supposed to scare her?!
Were they actually going to do it?!
Two lives lost in one body.
The resentment would definitely be even stronger!
"Liu Ying, you still won't talk?! Are you really not afraid of dying?!" The elder in the Ancestral Hall waved a hand, signaling those pouring in the mud and sand to stop. "Even if you're not afraid, shouldn't you think of the child in your belly?"
At the word "child," Liu Ying seemed to have been struck where it hurt. She struggled desperately in the mud and sand. "Spare my child! He's innocent!"
The elder was about to say more when a voice suddenly rang out from the crowd of onlookers. "Clan Leader, we've found Li Zongsheng's mistress!"
"Where?!" The Clan Leader turned.
The woman inside the metal wardrobe instantly stiffened, disbelief covering her face.
"I'm that damned bastard's mistress! Has he tricked someone else too?" A heavily made-up woman in a qipao approached, her voluptuous figure swaying as she swung her hips.
At the sight of the metal wardrobe covered in mud and sand, she froze, then pressed a handkerchief to her chest. "Oh my, what is that? Gave me such a fright."
"What are you to Li Zongsheng?!" Liu Ying demanded at the top of her lungs.
"Why is there a voice coming from inside?!" Terrified, the woman turned to flee, only for a burly man to block her way.
The Clan Leader narrowed his eyes, a cunning gleam flashing through them.
The woman felt a little guilty. After all, having taken the money, she had to deal with the trouble. She could only steel herself and turn back. "Miss, Li Zongsheng is my man."
"I've already borne him two children."
"But that damned bastard turned his back on me and insisted the children had nothing to do with him..."
"You're lying!" Liu Ying kept shaking her head, tears streaming down her face. "I don't believe you!"
"He said he'd never been in love before. I was the only one!"
"Hahahahaha!" The woman sounded as though she'd heard the funniest joke in the world. "Little girl, can you trust what a man says?!"
"He told me he loved only me too, that he'd marry no one else. Then he turned around and found himself a rich family's daughter."
Unable to bear the shock, Liu Ying's mother had to be supported by others. Hearing this, she grew even more agitated and gasped for breath as she spoke.
"Ying'er, you-you mustn't be foolish! He's gone back to the city. He forgot about you long ago!"
Liu Ying didn't respond. She only kept crying.
Though he was inhabiting Liu Ying's body, Jian Ran still noticed something was wrong.
Leaving aside where this woman had come from, the situation itself was suspicious.
They could find Li Zongsheng's mistress, but not his home address?
Wasn't that bullshit?!
If Liu Ying had been even a little calmer, she would have heard that something was off.
Then again, who could keep a clear head in such foul, foul-smelling mud and sand?!
Without a response from her own daughter, Mother Liu could no longer withstand the shock and fainted. Liu Ying's father, who had remained silent beside her, finally lost control and cried out, "Dear, please don't let anything happen to you!"
Although Liu Ying couldn't see what was happening outside the sheet-metal cabinet, she was acutely sensitive to her father's voice. She cried urgently, "Dad, what happened to Mom?!"
The daughter who had been doted on at home had now become a slut who would sleep with anyone. Filled with shame and anguish, Liu Ying's father forced bitter words through clenched teeth.
"Your mother's dead!"
"From now on, she has no daughter like you!"
"We're leaving."
"We can't stay in this place anymore!"
"Dad!" Losing control, Liu Ying raised her hands and pounded on the metal wardrobe. "Don't go! Save your daughter!"
Holding his wife in his arms, Liu Ying's father paused. A moment later, he still walked away without looking back.
The situation in the Ancestral Hall reached a stalemate. Someone approached the Clan Leader. "Clan Leader, what should we do now? Liu Ying has a one-track mind. She won't budge..."
"No matter what, that child cannot be allowed to stay!" The Clan Leader's face was sinister, his gaze vicious. "Keep pouring!"
"At worst, it'll be two lives lost in one body!"
"Clan Leader, don't you want the money?!" the man said urgently.
Hearing this, Liu Ying's expression changed. "You're putting me through all this just to demand money from Li Zongsheng?!"
"Of course! Shouldn't there be a price to pay for such disgraceful behavior?!" the Clan Leader sneered, settling into the Grand Master's Chair. "Didn't you hear me?!"
"Keep pouring!"
"Her own parents don't care whether she lives or dies. What have we got to be afraid of?!"
The burly man holding the bucket of muddy water raised it high once more and poured it straight through the hole in the top of the metal wardrobe.
This time, it came faster, reaching Liu Ying's neck in an instant.
With the last of her strength, she forced a cry from her throat, her voice wretched and hoarse. "Will you only be happy when I'm dead?!"
"You won't even spare the child in my belly?!"
"Just how vicious can you be?!"
"Fine, fine, fine-"
"Every single person here, remember my words."
"I, Liu Ying, swear that after I die, I'll become a vengeful ghost."
"I will never let you off-"
By the time Jian Ran heard this, he was struggling to breathe. Dazed, he muttered inwardly,
These fucking idiots.
So this was how they'd dug their own graves...
Before you continue