That cry of "Mother" left Mother Liu's face streaming with tears. She stiffly turned her head to look at the daughter she had avoided seeing for decades.
She could no longer maintain her savage, ferocious expression. It gave way to affection and longing as she struggled to say, "Ying'er, you finally..."
"You're finally willing to see me."
Without the spirit medium's spell sustaining her, Liu Ying reverted to how she had looked just before death, covered in mud and filth, her black hair trailing to her ankles and concealing her empty belly.
Only her bloodshot eyes stared fixedly ahead.
Standing beside them, Jian Ran silently grumbled that an invisible cage imprisoned every one of them.
Mother Liu,
Liu Ying,
and even Li Zongsheng
were all too deeply trapped in their own obsessions, unwilling to take a step forward or return to the past...
And the monster born of selfish desires had become a tool for them to vent their anger.
Human tragedies were often like this, beyond anyone's power to prevent or remedy.
If they became vengeful ghosts, they could only rely on fortune-tellers, Taoist priests, and spirit mediums like Jian Ran to deal with them and guide them to peace, so...
Hey, that was where business came from.
"All right, enough nonsense." Jian Ran broke through the resentful atmosphere and stepped straight between them. "Keep separate matters separate. You two can sort out your problems later."
As he spoke, he turned and waved. "Hey, you trying to run away. Get your ass over here!"
Li Zongsheng, who had been trying to tiptoe away unnoticed, said nothing. I can't afford to mess with this mother and daughter. If they lose their tempers, they could shatter what's left of my soul...
"As a grown man, stop trying to run away from