Upon hearing Bai Xiao's words, Nie SangSang gripped the teacup tightly in her hand.
After a long while, he said with reddened eyes: "I admit that Nie SangSang's death was not a simple case of difficult childbirth, but it was all her own fault!"
As he said this, he was not looking at Jiang Xiaoxiao or Bai Xiao, but rather into the void.
He was clearly reprimanding the ghost of Nie SangSang.
"I told Yu Er that she didn't need any status, and she wouldn't have to come into the residence. I just wanted to buy her a house outside so she had a place to stay."
"Yu Er was heavily pregnant, just like you were about to give birth."
"As someone who was about to become a mother, why couldn't you be more understanding toward her?"
"Yu Er never fought or made demands. Whenever she saw me, she worried that you would get angry and urged me to come home early."
"But you? As the daughter of the prestigious Nie Family, you didn't even have the slightest bit of tolerance!"
"Nie SangSang, you have truly disappointed me!"
The bloody Nie SangSang, who had been standing beside Jiang Xiaoxiao, suddenly laughed upon hearing these words.
The eerie, terrifying laughter echoed through the room, sending chills down one's spine.
Chen Sixi's eyes rolled back, and he fainted from fright.
Suddenly, a gust of ominous wind swept through the room, and the front hall doors slammed shut.
Nie SangSang revealed herself, with disheveled hair and a blood-stained body. Her eyes had lost all human warmth, seeping with blood and resentment, twisted and eerie.
In a flash, she circled behind Bai Xiao and grabbed his throat with her icy hands, her long, black nails digging into his flesh.
In that instant, Bai Xiao felt that he was just a hair's breadth away from death.
All his voices were choked back in his throat.
In his ears was Nie SangSang's laughter.
Gloomy, terrifying.
Bai Xiao was frozen from head to toe, unable to move a muscle.
"Since you love her so much, why are you still staying at the Nie Residence? You should have gone down to accompany her!"
After saying this, Nie SangSang increased the force of her grip.
It was only then that Bai Xiao began to struggle.
He kept reaching out to pry off the icy hands around his throat.
But to no avail.
Nie SangSang had clearly made up her mind to take his life.
"Mas...ter..."
Unable to speak, Bai Xiao could only look at Jiang Xiaoxiao with pleading eyes.
Jiang Xiaoxiao said, "Only the one who tied the bell can untie it. Since you were the one who caused her death, only you can now allow her to dispel her resentment."
Bai Xiao felt desperate.
Nie SangSang had already become a vengeful spirit.
Besides death, what else could he do to appease her anger?
But he didn't want to die!
Old Master Nie had recently drafted a will, and he was about to become the heir to the Nie Family's fortune.
The will...
Oh, right, the family started being haunted since the drafting of the will.
And it was precisely because of the haunting that the will had not yet been finalized.
Thinking of the immense wealth within his grasp, Bai Xiao was unwilling to die just like that.
There was also Xiaoyan, his and Yu Er's child...
With these thoughts, Bai Xiao mustered all his strength to try and shake off the female ghost strangling him.
But human strength could never match that of a ghostly spirit, and the more he struggled, the tighter she strangled him.
He could no longer breathe at all.
Bai Xiao glared defiantly, was he really going to die tonight?
"Stop!" Jiang Xiaoxiao looked at Nie SangSang, "If he dies, you will never be able to reincarnate."
But Nie SangSang would not relent, surrounded by an ominous aura of resentment, utterly terrifying.
"For someone like him, death would only be a mercy," Jiang Xiaoxiao said. "Let him suffer in life, unable to either live or die."
"If you agree, release him now. But if you still feel unsatisfied, you can also take him away. I won't stop you."
Upon hearing this, Nie SangSang released Bai Xiao while bursting into tears.
"My child..."
Jiang Xiaoxiao nodded, "I know."
The real Nie Xiaoyan had already died along with Nie SangSang that night.
The current Nie Xiaoyan was the son of Bai Xiao and that other woman.
Since their due dates were close, Bai Xiao had long planned to make Nie SangSang "suffer a difficult childbirth" on the night she was due, and then substitute his child with the other woman for the real Nie Xiaoyan.
His goal was to gradually usurp the Nie Family's fortune.
The son-in-law who had been raised as a member of the Nie Family for so many years had ultimately turned out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing.
In the back courtyard.
Old Master Nie was trying to lull Nie Xiaoyan to sleep when a maid suddenly rushed in, "Master, Master, something terrible has happened!"
Old Master Nie's face darkened, "Can't you see Young Master is sleeping? What's with all the ruckus?"
The maid said in a panic, "It's the son-in-law, he has gone to the county office to turn himself in!"
"What!" Old Master Nie thought he had heard wrong and stood up abruptly, hurrying toward the front courtyard.
Indeed, Bai Xiao was nowhere to be seen, only those few people who had come to exorcise the haunting remained.
Old Master Nie's face turned grim, and he was about to question the servants when he heard a sobbing voice from behind, "Father..."
Old Master Nie froze, turning around to see Nie SangSang standing beside Jiang Xiaoxiao.
Though the resentment had faded, she still bore her beautiful appearance, only paler than usual.
"Sang...Sangsang?" Old Master Nie called out, tears streaming down his face.
At that moment, nothing else mattered. He rushed over in a few quick strides and gazed at his daughter, "Sangsang, is it really you?"
Nie SangSang knelt before him with reddened eyes, "Your daughter has been unfilial, unable to accompany her parents any longer."
"Sangsang..." Old Master Nie took out a handkerchief to wipe her tears but found he could not touch Nie SangSang.
Old Master Nie seemed to understand something, turning to look at Jiang Xiaoxiao.
Jiang Xiaoxiao said, "Miss Nie's time is limited, Old Master Nie. Say what you need to say to her quickly."
When Old Master Nie looked back at his daughter, his face was already streaked with tears.
No wonder he and his wife had always felt that their daughter had never left - she had truly never gone.
"Master, is there no way for Sangsang to stay with us forever?"
Old Master Nie knew his request was selfish, but as a father, he wanted to lavish all his selfishness on his only daughter.
Jiang Xiaoxiao shook her head, "She was able to remain at the residence before because her resentment had not been resolved. Now that her grievances have been avenged, if she does not reincarnate, she will only become a homeless, wandering ghost."
"Resentment?" Old Master Nie was bewildered, "Don't tell me, Sangsang's death..."
"Father, you and mother were all deceived by that beast Bai Xiao."
Nie SangSang tearfully explained the whole truth to Old Master Nie.
After hearing everything, Old Master Nie nearly fainted.
The son-in-law he had been so proud of was actually a hypocritical wolf in sheep's clothing!
The grandson he had doted on had no relation to their family at all!
"That beast, how dare he commit such an unconscionable act?" Old Master Nie trembled with rage.
"Sangsang, don't worry. Even if I have to spend the entire family fortune, I will make sure he rots in prison for the rest of his life!"
