Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Boundless Love, The Spiritual Child’s Return

Li Ruonan’s eyes flew open. Her heart was pounding, and she was gasping for air. Her gaze traveled down her arm, where she saw Chen Letong’s hand clamped tightly around the tip of the blade.

“Wh… why…”

’Why save me?’

Chen Letong slowly released the blade, pulling the knife from Li Ruonan’s hand. Then, her ethereal gaze turned toward Shen Zhiyao.

Shen Zhiyao understood what she meant and began to cast the Soul Crossing Spell on Chen Letong.

Golden talismans drifted down onto Chen Letong’s body, one by one, carrying away her resentment.

Before long, Li Jiajun collapsed from exhaustion and fainted.

Chen Letong’s ghost soul, meanwhile, faded into a transparent silhouette. The silhouette then slowly solidified, transforming into a graceful young girl.

The girl had delicate features and wore a red, traditional-style dress. She began to perform a dance of blessing, just as graceful and vibrant as she had been all those years ago.

The Soul Crossing Spell continued. The golden light enveloping the girl grew brighter, and the pace of her blessing dance quickened. Finally, she dissipated into the air, becoming a streak of golden light that shot into the Great Black Buddha Mother’s shrine, transforming into a Spiritual Child and entering the golden statue.

Shen Zhiyao said, “Her resentment has scattered. She has become a Spiritual Child.”

Li Ruonan murmured, “Her resentment is gone? Didn’t she hate me to the bone? Didn’t she want me dead? Why did she save me?”

Shen Zhiyao said, “The truth is, she never intended to kill you from the start. She just wanted you to experience her pain, to make you understand that you were wrong, and to make you truly repent.”

“Back then, every man in Chen Family Village had been in Chen Letong’s room. All the women had given her nasty looks and targeted her.”

“In the first year after her death, she only wanted the villagers to realize their mistake and sincerely repent. But the villagers stubbornly insisted they had done nothing wrong. That’s what led to Chen Letong killing every single person in the village.”

“If they couldn’t recognize their mistakes while alive, then she would make them atone with an agonizing death.”

“You should be thankful that you finally recognized your mistake at the last moment. Chen Letong felt your sincere repentance, which is why she grabbed the blade instead of letting you disembowel yourself like the other villagers.”

“In the end, Chen Letong was still pure of heart and kind by nature. Even after she died and became a soul-reaping specter, she still left the villagers a sliver of hope for survival.”

“It’s a shame. Such a kind person met such a tragic end, while a malicious person like you got married, had a child, and lived a happy life. This world truly is unfair, isn’t it?”

“Chen Letong…” Li Ruonan’s memories came flooding back, and she recalled the first time she ever met Chen Letong.

That year, on the day Chen Letong first arrived in Chen Family Village, she was wearing the red-and-green traditional attire of the Miao Clan. She was adorned with a host of silver ornaments that clinked and clanked as she walked.

They first met in the Chen Family Ancestral Hall.

That day, a group of young punks had surrounded her, demanding protection money. “You’re… Li Ruonan, right? Heard your family’s loaded! We don’t wanna make things hard for you. Just give us all the money you have for our protection fee, and we’ll let you go. How about it?”

Back then, Li Ruonan was timid and didn’t have any money on her. All she could do was cower in a corner, trembling with fear.

Just when she was feeling helpless, Chen Letong, dressed in her Miaojiang attire, rushed out with a broom. “What are you doing? Don’t you know this is the Chen Family Ancestral Hall? Is this really the place you think you can collect protection money? Don’t you know I’m a key figure in this village, that the village chief will side with me? If you’ve got the guts, tell me your names. See if I don’t get someone to teach you a lesson!”

“Tch, we’re not asking you for money. What are you doing butting into other people’s business!”

“What’s your name? How dare you oppose the Spiritual Child! I’ll write down your name and tell the village chief!”

“Fuck, you for real? You just wait!”

After spitting out the curse, the punks turned and left.

That day, Chen Letong saved Li Ruonan from her predicament. Li Ruonan was incredibly grateful, and the two became good friends. After that, Chen Letong would go to Li Ruonan’s house every day to bum a meal.

But this wonderful friendship was shattered by her family.

As time went on, Chen Letong grew ever more graceful and vibrant, and the looks her family gave her grew more and more hostile.

Soon, her family began to constantly speak ill of Chen Letong in front of her, trying to drive a wedge between the two girls.

The real breaking point came when her family planted Li Ruonan’s favorite toy in Chen Letong’s room.

Without investigating, Li Ruonan assumed Chen Letong had stolen it.

Because of this, they had a complete falling out and became like strangers.

After breaking off her friendship with Chen Letong, Li Ruonan started spreading rumors about her all over the village, slandering her at every turn.

Unexpectedly, the villagers began to ostracize Chen Letong as a group, targeting the outsider in all sorts of ways.

At first, Li Ruonan never expected things to turn out this way. When she tried to explain, all she got in return were scornful glares from the crowd.

The villagers had begun to ostracize and target her, and they were all united on this front.

Even the village chief turned a blind eye.

Li Ruonan’s family was well-off, but with so many people ostracizing Chen Letong, she didn’t dare let out a peep.

Gradually, she too was assimilated. She went from finding it unbearable to bearing it, from being a bystander to a participant…

Nineteen years had passed, and she hadn’t dared to think back on anything related to Chen Letong.

She was afraid of Chen Letong, so afraid that she was willing to forget everything about the past.

Only now, as Chen Letong’s vengeful spirit dissipated, did she finally understand. She and the little sister from nineteen years ago had been inseparable, the best of friends.

All because of her own selfishness, she had destroyed a life. Later, terrified of being isolated, she had buried her head in the sand like a coward and tacitly approved of the villagers’ bullying of Chen Letong.

“Letong… Chen Letong… I was wrong, I was so wrong… I’m so sorry! I’m sorry!” she wailed, breaking down completely, but there was no going back.

Wrong was wrong. A lifetime of guilt could never undo it.

Shen Zhiyao glanced at Li Ruonan, then walked over, shattering the somber atmosphere. “Hey, you brought your phone, right? That ten million we agreed on, just send it to my Alipay!”

Li Ruonan had just finished her emotional breakdown. Suddenly being hounded for payment, she couldn’t process it for a moment and just felt completely bewildered.

Shen Zhiyao frowned. “You’re not thinking of backing out on the deal, are you? Chen Letong has only become a Spiritual Child; she hasn’t left yet. Should I go get her and have her over to your place for a cup of tea?”

Li Ruonan immediately panicked. “No, no! I’ll transfer it right now. Open your Alipay QR code!”

Soon, a notification for a ten-million-yuan deposit popped up on Shen Zhiyao’s Alipay.

Her smile stretched nearly to the back of her head as she laughed dazedly. “Hehehe, it’s so nice when there’s no platform fee…”

With the money received, Shen Zhiyao was about to leave when Li Ruonan suddenly called out to her. “Streamer, wait! Why hasn’t my daughter woken up yet? Is she okay?”

“Chen Letong, in her guise as the Great Black Buddha Mother, possessed her for too long, causing her to faint from exhaustion. Later, go to the Buddhist shrine on the seventh floor and pay respects to the Great Black Buddha Mother. Then take her home to rest for a while, and the talisman on your daughter will disappear.”

Holding Li Jiajun, Li Ruonan’s face was etched with worry. “…”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep