Rebirth as the Richest Woman in the World
Chapter 277 Not Simple (First Update)

Chapter 277: 277 Not Simple (First Update)

In the space behind the mirror, there stood a woman in a red dress!

Her complexion was deathly pale, like a sheet of paper, while her lips were a strikingly abnormal red, as though they might bleed at any second.

Her eyes were bulging, as if she was staring right at you, with the corner of her lips curled up into a chilling arc.

Her facial expression was very stiff and extremely discordant.

The light reflected off her body, casting a sinister gleam.

This was clearly a paper effigy!

In front of the paper effigy was an altar with two half-burned incense sticks, one long and the other short.

One stick of incense is to venerate the deceased, two sticks are to venerate ghosts, and three sticks are to venerate heaven, earth, and humanity.

The different lengths of the incense also represented omens of good or bad fortune.

This was a sign that Lin Xiaoman’s soul had transformed into a malevolent spirit.

Surrounded by an intense ghostly aura.

The resentment was too overwhelming.

In front of the two incense sticks, there were also two candles, one red and one white, likewise one longer than the other.

The candles were placed with the white on the left and the red on the right, symbolizing Yin on the left and Yang on the right. The candle on the right had almost burnt out, leaving but a tiny stub. Now, the room was filled with only a cold Yin energy. If this continued, within no more than 10 days, Wen Ziyao’s Yang energy would be completely drained, and she would die in terror.

In death, she would only enter the path of beasts, coming and going, suffering the torments of incessant reincarnation.

The others did not recognize the likeness of the paper effigy, but Shen Suhua did.

It was clearly made to resemble Lin Xiaoman in life.

The features were rendered with delicate finesse; at a glance, it looked as though it were a living person.

Upon seeing the paper effigy clearly, Shen Suhua’s breath became unstable, and she stumbled back two steps, falling directly to the ground, her body collapsing into a heap of mush.

Wen Ziyao, on the other hand, hugged her arms, sobbing quietly and shivering violently.

Chu Jin also noticed that under the feet of the paper effigy there was a transparent glass container.

Inside the container floated the corpse of an infant, clearly showing human features; it appeared to be at least four months old.

It turned out that Wen Ziyao had not only raised a ghost but also a little ghost.

However, the presence of the little ghost could no longer be felt in the room; it seemed to have dissipated into nothing.

This person was truly insane!

It was evident that Wen Ziyao’s true target was Lin Xiaoman, with the little ghost being only incidental.

Four living people.

One paper effigy.

The body of an infant.

The room was brightly lit, and the paper effigy standing behind the mirror seemed as if it had come to life, silently staring and surveying each person in the room with her eyes.

The air was permeated with a cold, rotten, damp, and bloody scent that was nauseating.

Clearly, this time, everyone smelled it.

Li Mi frowned deeply; it was too strange. How could there be such an odd smell in the air all of a sudden?

The look in the paper effigy’s eyes was too eerie.

Chilly drafts swept through the room, causing the curtains to sway from side to side. The wind chimes hanging by the window clattered and crossed paths, ringing discordantly, like the presence of chaotic ghostly shadows in a horrifying and spine-chilling scene.

Everyone’s hearts nearly got stuck in their throats, almost too scared to breathe loudly. The atmosphere was so quiet that only the sound of heartbeats remained.

An eerily cold and strange presence suddenly spread throughout the air.

It was as if, the next second, the paper doll would walk out from behind the mirror.

Chu Jin stared at the paper doll for a few seconds before slowly opening his mouth, "It’s Lin Xiaoman, isn’t it?"

The clear voice poured into the air, tinged with Spiritual Power, slowly wrapping around the hearts of those present, and the previously eerie and terrifying air also gradually disappeared into the atmosphere with her words.

Her voice was like a ray of golden sunlight in the darkness, illuminating the earth.

It gave people a glimpse of life and hope.

It dispelled the fear in their hearts.

Even so, Li Mi and Shen Suhua still dared not lift their eyes to look at that paper doll.

Because it was too terrifying, no matter from which angle you looked at the paper doll, it seemed to be staring back at you.

As if it weren’t a paper doll, but a living person, a living person whose face was covered with white powder, horrifying to the extreme.

It made one’s scalp tingle and one’s flesh creep.

One really couldn’t fathom what Wen Ziyao was thinking, to actually hide such a sinister, terrifying and evil thing inside the mirror.

And to place it in the bedroom, right in front of the bed!

The mere thought of something staring at her from the foot of the bed while she slept sent shivers down Li Mi’s spine.

She had only been abroad for ten years; how could Wen Ziyao have changed so much.

Her courage had soared to the heavens!

Li Mi’s hand, holding the crucifix, was clammy with sweat, and she involuntarily murmured a verse from the Bible, "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."

In such a moment, all she could think of was the Lord and the Bible.

Wen Ziyao also knew she could no longer hide the truth and buried her head deep in her arms, her voice rising with a sob, "...Yes, it is Lin Xiaoman."

"Tell me, why did you use such a malicious scheme, to scatter Lin Xiaoman’s soul, to tear it apart? Even though she’s already dead, why can’t you even let go of a wisp of her soul?" Chu Jin’s eyelashes trembled lightly, a cold light flashed in her eyes as she looked at Wen Ziyao, her mouth curling into a cold arc.

By now, Wen Ziyao’s intent had become very clear.

She was playing this game of four corners to summon back Lin Xiaoman’s soul. She not only wanted to satisfy her various desires through Lin Xiaoman but also to scatter her soul so that she could never reincarnate.

"It’s not that I can’t let her go! It’s that she wouldn’t let go of me first!" Wen Ziyao’s emotions suddenly broke free, and she lifted her head sharply, her eyes empty and lifeless, her face still streaked with tears, "She’s already dead, yet she keeps haunting me. I only thought of this method out of desperation. Isn’t a living person better than a dead one?"

Chu Jin’s lips still bore a trace of that icy curve, her peach-blossom eyes shimmering with a light like clear water, pure and flawless like a child’s, yet with an entrancing charm. The two aspects coexisted without clashing, and she looked at Wen Ziyao, her red lips parting slightly.

"Does that include satisfying your various cravings for her? To use her and then scatter her soul?" Chu Jin’s voice grew colder, "Miss Wen, you really know how to use things to their fullest."

"I originally only wanted her to vanish from this world, to stop haunting me, but then I heard that by raising a ghost one could achieve one’s heart’s desires, so I just..." Wen Ziyao said through her tears, "Master Chu, I really realize my mistake now, I shouldn’t have done this to Little Man, but it wasn’t only my fault. If she hadn’t clung to me, I would never have done such a thing. Her death has nothing to do with me, why should she haunt me! She committed suicide!"

Chu Jin frowned slightly, "If it has nothing to do with you, then why would she haunt you? Every effect has its cause."

"No!" Wen Ziyao clasped her head with both hands, shaking violently, her emotions once again out of control, "She committed suicide! She committed suicide!"

Chu Jin placed a hand on Wen Ziyao’s shoulder and spoke softly, "Tell me the story between you two, why she committed suicide, and why you feel guilty." Her voice was light as a feather, yet tinged with magic, miraculously calming Wen Ziyao’s emotions.

Wen Ziyao looked up at Chu Jin, her mind seemingly bewitched, and began to speak slowly, "Little Man and I were very close friends before, during our sophomore year..."

The story, roughly, was like this.

Wen Ziyao had indeed been very close friends with Lin Xiaoman; they shared a dorm room and were inseparable every day.

They were as close as blood sisters.

In their sophomore year, at a social event, both fell in love with a senior at first sight.

Latterly, in matters of the heart, both were quite rational and proposed a fair competition, pursuing the senior without interfering with each other, allowing him to make his own choice.

In the end, the senior chose Lin Xiaoman.

But the friendship between Wen Ziyao and Lin Xiaoman did not sour because of the senior’s choice; their relationship remained the same as before, eating together, watching movies, wearing the same clothes, like a pair of twins.

The only difference was that what was once a twosome had become a threesome.