Pain spread from her finger.
It wasn’t light at all—if anything, it was quite forceful.
Liu Feng allowed Liu Qiu to keep biting her finger, a smile slowly spreading through her eyes.
This person really was timid.
The one who had replaced “Liu Qiu.”
“Sister Qiu, even ghosts should take proper care of their souls. I only wanted to apply some medicine to you.”
Those words made Liu Qiu bite down even harder.
Suddenly, she tasted blood.
She sniffed and hurriedly let go of Liu Feng’s fingertip.
She hadn’t meant to draw blood.
“I don’t want any medicine. I’m not injured at all.”
Her tear-blurred eyes couldn’t make out Liu Feng’s face clearly.
She only knew that Liu Feng’s lips were curved upward, as if smiling.
Liu Feng bent down and examined her carefully.
“Is that so?”
She leaned in too close.
Liu Qiu pressed her lips together and tried to turn her head away.
But Liu Feng caught her chin, leaving her unable to move.
Liu Qiu pushed against Liu Feng’s shoulder.
“Don’t come near me.”
A hand appeared on her thigh.
She let out a muffled sound and began struggling.
“Don’t!”
She tried to close her legs, but Liu Feng was wedged between them.
If she tightened them, she would only clamp down on Liu Feng’s waist.
“You can’t treat me like this. I—I’m your sister.”
Not only was she her sister.
She was also a ghost.
Liu Feng’s soft laughter sounded.
“That’s right. You’re my sister. Shouldn’t you teach your younger sister how to grow up?”
“Sister, I’ve touched it. It’s very wet. We could start right away.”
Liu Qiu’s tears fell like pearls from a broken string, one after another without end.
She felt like a fish laid out on a chopping board, completely unable to resist Liu Feng.
“Liu Feng, I’m scared. D-Don’t touch me. Please.”
Her whole body trembled violently.
She couldn’t blush anymore.
All that remained on her pale face was unmistakable fear.
Liu Feng suddenly laughed, straightened up, and stepped back.
At the same time, she released Liu Qiu’s ankle.
“Sister Qiu, Feng’er was only joking.”
Liu Qiu wiped away her tears and hurriedly slipped back into the puppet.
“D-Don’t joke like that again. I don’t like it.”
It had been too frightening.
She had truly thought Liu Feng would enter her.
Thankfully, it had only been touching.
Liu Feng only smiled without speaking.
At that moment, the door was pushed open and Liu Huang walked in.
“Sis, has the sickly one come back?”
Liu Feng calmly placed the small knife on the table.
“She’s back.”
Liu Huang glanced at the blood on Liu Feng’s finger but didn’t comment.
Her gaze shifted to the puppet lying on the bed.
She walked over and picked it up.
“Sickly one, let’s go. I’ll take you into town to have some fun.”
Liu Qiu was more than eager to be taken away.
“Liu Huang, are we leaving right now?”
Hearing the nasal tone in her voice, Liu Huang raised an eyebrow.
Her gaze briefly swept toward Liu Feng, who was watching with a smile.
What had she done to make her cry?
“Mm. We’ll head out and ride straight there.”
As they reached the doorway, Liu Feng’s voice came from inside the room.
“Huang’er, be careful. Don’t let a Daoist discover you.”
Liu Huang waved her hand dismissively.
“I know.”
She placed the puppet on her shoulder and strode outside.
Liu Qiu clutched at Liu Huang’s hair and asked quietly, “Liu Huang, I’m already dead. Can you stop hating me?”
If Liu Feng toyed with her like that again, her heart wouldn’t be able to take it.
Her trousers were still torn at the crotch.
She wondered if someone burning paper trousers for her would let her change into them.
Even if she was a ghost now and no one could really see her, she still had a human sense of shame.
Liu Huang mounted the horse cleanly and placed the puppet in front of her.
“So you know you’re hated.”
The horse began to run.
Liu Qiu grabbed at Liu Huang’s trousers.
“I—I know.”
“But I’m dead already. You can’t bully me anymore.”
“If I get angry, I’ll kill you all.”
Liu Huang burst into loud laughter.
“Sickly one, what nonsense are you spouting? You can’t even leave that puppet. How would you kill me?”
“And if you killed me, I’d become a ghost too. Perfect. I’d cling to you forever.”
Liu Qiu choked on her words.
She had only meant to scare her, but clearly Liu Huang knew exactly how weak she was and wasn’t afraid at all.
“Hold tight. I’m going to speed up. Once there are more people around, don’t talk to me.”
“Wai—”
Before she could finish, Liu Huang urged the horse into a gallop.
The puppet’s body was too light and bounced off the saddle.
Liu Qiu felt dizzy from the jolting.
No, she had to hold tighter.
With that thought, she pressed the puppet body against Liu Huang and gripped her trousers tightly.
But the horse ran too fast.
Even gripping firmly, she was still jolted upward.
“Slow down!”
“Hahaha! Sickly one, even as a ghost you’re still this timid!”
The wind howled past her ears.
After adjusting to the jolting, she realized something.
Since her body was made of wood, her backside didn’t hurt at all.
But when she spoke, she felt strangely sensitive.
A thought surfaced in her mind.
Perhaps when Liu Huang and the others touched the puppet, they weren’t truly touching wood but the soul trapped within it.
That would explain why being poked by Liu Huang had made her collapse to the ground in discomfort.
There had been no pain, just that strange sensation.
Lost in her thoughts, she noticed the speed slowing.
She lifted her head and met Liu Huang’s lowered gaze.
“Liu Huang, watch the road.”
Liu Huang clicked her tongue.
“Sickly one, where are you sticking yourself?”
Liu Qiu froze.
Sticking where?
She looked down and finally realized.
She had pressed herself against Liu Huang’s crotch.
Mortifying.
She loosened her grip and shuffled backward.
“I—I didn’t mean to.”
Liu Huang sneered.
“You’d better not have. Don’t make me change what I call you.”
“Sickly one sounds better than pervert.”
Liu Qiu fell silent.
It was Liu Huang who had placed her between her legs, and she had been riding so fast.
The puppet was light.
She had to hold tightly to avoid being thrown off.
Liu Huang flicked her forehead.
“You’ll rub something wrong at this rate.”
Liu Qiu turned to look at the lush forest.
It was just hard wood.
It didn’t have spikes or fire.
How could it rub anything wrong?
Liu Huang just loved exaggerating.
The horse began running again, though not as fast as before.
Liu Qiu loosened her grip and even found the leisure to admire the scenery.
As the sun climbed higher, they reached the town.
This was Liu Qiu’s second time here, though in a different form.
The town wasn’t large, but it was lively with people coming and going.
She didn’t stay inside the puppet this time and instead floated beside Liu Huang.
People who brushed past Liu Huang passed straight through her body.
No matter how many times she saw it, it still felt miraculous.
“Don’t look at others.”
Her wrist was grabbed, and Liu Huang pulled her close so their shoulders nearly touched.
Liu Qiu turned to look at her.
Liu Huang stood tall and long-legged, towering over most people.
Her skin was sun-kissed wheat-colored, and her entire bearing was heroic and spirited.
She hadn’t forgotten the fierce gaze Liu Huang had given her on the rooftop.
Neither of the Liu sisters was simple.
A passerby nearby thought Liu Huang was speaking to them and turned around.
“Are you talking to me?”
Liu Huang glanced at them coldly.
The person stiffened and quickly walked away, clearly frightened.
“Liu Huang, aren’t you afraid people will think you’re crazy?”
Talking to thin air would be considered insane even in her original world.
Liu Huang’s lips curved upward.
“What’s there to be afraid of?”
More people looked over, but once they met Liu Huang’s gaze, they quickly turned away.
“If they think I’m crazy, so what? None of their business.”
Liu Qiu couldn’t help but find it amusing.
Liu Huang was tall and imposing, yet she carried a delicate puppet in her hand and occasionally muttered strange words.
The sight was undeniably funny.
She laughed aloud.
Liu Huang’s gaze landed on her curved lips.
“It’s the first time you’ve smiled like that in front of me.”
More precisely, it was the first time she had seen Liu Qiu smile so happily.
The sickly one truly had a beautiful face.
She looked good crying.
She looked good smiling.
Liu Qiu’s smile faded.
Her eyes widened slightly.
“What did you say?”
“Tch. Troublesome.”
Liu Huang tightened her grip on her wrist.
“Want something to eat?”
Liu Qiu shook her head, then hesitated before speaking.
“Liu Huang, can you burn a paper pair of trousers for me?”
Even if her long skirt covered it, she still felt strange about it.
“Your trousers are ruined?”
She nodded quickly.
“Ruined.”
Liu Huang could roughly guess why she had been crying.
Her trousers had likely been torn by Liu Feng.
And probably not in an ordinary place.
“Fine. That’ll cost you six taels of silver.”
Liu Qiu’s eyelashes trembled.
“I can’t repay you.”
Liu Huang snorted.
“You can. There’s something on you that I want.”
“When I want it, will you give it to me, Liu Qiu?”
It was the first time Liu Huang had called her by name so seriously.
Liu Qiu thought carefully about what she still possessed.
She was a ghost now.
She had nothing of value left.
“I don’t have—”
“I say you do. It just depends on whether you’ll give it.”
Liu Huang cut her off.
After a moment of thought, Liu Qiu nodded lightly.
She had nothing anyway.
What could Liu Huang possibly take?
“Walk farther away. That one’s crazy, talking to no one.”
“Such a good-looking person. What a pity.”
“Hurry up. Don’t catch the madness.”
Whispers drifted around them.
Liu Qiu’s thoughts were pulled away.
Sure enough, Liu Huang’s behavior made people think she was insane.
But Liu Huang seemed completely unconcerned.
Suddenly, a little girl squeezed out of the crowd and ran to stand before Liu Huang.
Her big round eyes shone brightly.
She pointed at the puppet in Liu Huang’s hand.
“Big Sister, can you sell this doll to me?”
“It’s so pretty!”
Liu Huang’s expression instantly turned cold.
“Not for sale.”
With that, she walked past the little girl and disappeared into the crowd.
Liu Qiu felt something was off.
She turned to look back and realized the little girl had vanished from where she stood.
“Daoist, I’ve already left a mark on that person.”
The little girl bowed respectfully to a tall woman.
The woman nodded.
“Mm. You may leave.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the little girl’s body dissipated.
“Feeding a ghost with one’s own body. How interesting.”
There were actually people who practiced such crooked arts.
A thousand-year blood locust tree was naturally a nurturing ground for ghosts.
If carved with someone’s birth characters, it would become that ghost’s possession.
Add a relic stained with human blood, and the owner of that blood would continuously provide vitality to the ghost within the blood locust wood.
Judging from that person’s demeanor, she likely knew there was a ghost, yet still acted so recklessly.
The woman smiled silently.
“I wonder whether she doesn’t know… or knows deliberately.”
More likely, she had been seduced by that alluring ghost.
That ghost floated beside her, looking both pure and strangely seductive.
With such a face, luring someone was only natural.
But no matter how beautiful, a ghost was still a ghost.
It had to be subdued.
Unfortunately, she would have to deal with another matter first.
There was still a man-eating hedgehog spirit to capture.
If You Notice any translation issues or inconsistency in names, genders, or POV etc? Let us know here in the comments or on our Discord server, and we’ll fix it in current and future chapters. Thanks for helping us to improve! 🙂