Chapter 135: Twin Sisters
“I am looking at you only because I want you to untie the cloth bag and put me inside as well,” Xia Wan explained softly.
“Xia Ye’s mind has been completely blinded by hatred. She is on the verge of turning into an irredeemable evil ghost. I cannot stand by and watch her destroy herself. I have to save her. Please, help me.”
Lin Huai let out a long, measured breath, nodding after a moment of thought. “Whether you can convince her or not, I will open this bag in one hour. I have no intention of taking the blame for murdering an official domain attendant.”
Her gaze hardened slightly. “As for Xia Ye, she is merely an undocumented stray spirit. Once you reclaim your rightful post, nobody in the administration will care about her fate. I could easily let the spiritual energy of this bag dissolve her entirely, scattering her soul forever.”
Pain flashed across Xia Wan’s scarred features. She bowed her head, pleading desperately, “Please, give me just a little time, and give Xia Ye one last chance. I know I can reach her.”
Lin Huai crouched down, loosening the crimson drawstring of the enchanted sack. “Fine. You have exactly one hour.”
Xia Wan nodded gratefully and slipped into the red pouch. The moment she entered, the fabric began to thrash and twist even more violently than before.
Lin Huai acted quickly, snapping the drawstring tight to make sure Xia Ye had no chance of slipping out.
Inside the dark, restricted space of the bag, Xia Wan wrapped her broken, mangled arms tightly around her twin sister. Two streams of dark red tears seeped from her empty eye sockets.
“Xia Ye… I am your elder sister,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “When we were still in our mother’s womb, we held each other just like this. Even on the day we were born into the world, our tiny hands were clasped together.”
She held the struggling ghost tighter, refusing to let go. “Do you remember? When we were little, you overheard the doctors say that you had absorbed the nutrients meant for me in the womb, leaving me fragile and sickly. Back then, you patted your chest and promised you would protect me for the rest of your life. You swore you would look after me forever.”
Xia Wan’s voice broke with emotion. “Xia Ye… have you truly forgotten all of that?”
Pinned beneath her sister’s embrace, Xia Ye could barely move. She clutched her head in agony, desperate to shut out the words. “Shut up! Shut your mouth! Childhood promises don’t count! If you cared about me, why did you refuse to step outside that day?! Why did you hide behind the front door and watch those vile traffickers drag me away?! Xia Wan, admit it—you wanted to get rid of me all along, didn’t you?!”
Xia Wan raised her voice, her tone firm yet filled with heartache: “Xia Ye! Open your eyes and think back! Why didn’t I walk out that door? And why were you running outside in the first place? Do you really not remember?!”
Tears spilled freely down Xia Wan’s cheeks. “It was because I had stayed out in the freezing snow to keep you company! My fragile body couldn’t take the cold, and I collapsed with a burning fever! You panicked and sprinted into the street just to fetch a doctor to save my life! Xia Ye… we loved each other more than anything in this world! How could you let yourself forget?!”
Xia Ye’s twisted, furious face went completely blank.
The painful memories she had buried under years of bitter resentment cracked through the darkness, rising to the surface with sharp clarity. A wave of realization struck her like a physical blow: the person she had spent years tormenting was the very person who had loved her most in the world—and the person she herself had once cherished above all else.
She stared speechlessly at Xia Wan, trembling as her sister gently recounted the forgotten warmth of their shared past.
Outside the pouch, Lin Huai did not waste a single second. She swept through the eighth-floor vault, collecting several valuable relics left behind by deceased travelers. Alongside the fallen police officer, she discovered the intact remains of a wealthy woman draped in opulent jade and gold jewelry, deciding to bring her along as well.
Wheeling the two bodies up to the main entrance, Lin Huai summoned her blood jade coffin to phase through the hospital walls. With a wave of her hand, she placed both corpses reverently inside the dimensional interior.
Dong Xiaobao had no desire to share her sleeping quarters with fresh corpses. The chubby infant floated out immediately, pouting her lips and glaring at Lin Huai with clear grievance.
Lin Huai chucked the little girl under the chin with an affectionate smile. “Be good, Xiaobao. The moment I deliver these two to their final resting places, you can have the coffin all to yourself again.”
Appeased, Dong Xiaobao cheered up, babbling happily as she circled Lin Huai’s head.
Returning to the eighth basement level with the baby resting on her shoulder, Lin Huai noticed that the red cloth bag had stopped thrashing. No muffled screams or venomous curses filtered through the fabric. The silence was so absolute that it felt as though the pouch were completely empty.
A sudden worry crossed Lin Huai’s mind, quickening her pace. Could Xia Wan have been dissolved by the spiritual energy inside?
She hastily untied the drawstring. Seeing Xia Wan’s spiritual essence still resting peacefully within, she let out a quiet sigh of relief and opened the mouth wide.
“Xia Wan, your hour is up. Please step out.”
A soft glow shimmered in the air, and Xia Wan materialized before her.
Lin Huai’s eyes widened in sheer astonishment. Standing before her was a fully restored, radiant young woman. Her missing limbs were back, her facial features were completely healed, and not a single scar remained on her fair skin.
“How did your body recover like this?” Lin Huai asked, genuinely puzzled. She knew for a fact that the Birth Ghost’s pouch held no healing properties whatsoever.
A gentle, peaceful smile graced Xia Wan’s lips. Stepping forward, she enveloped Lin Huai in a warm, grateful hug. “Thank you, Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice. Xia Ye has finally forgiven me.”
She stepped back, explaining softly, “And thank you for lending us this sacred pouch. The space within is woven from the spiritual essence of a primordial womb. Xia Ye and I were originally born together from the same flesh, and inside that vessel, our spirits reshaped one another. We have now become one.”
As she spoke, she turned her body around.
Resting on the back of her head was an identical, exquisite face—though her features were twisted into a petulant, annoyed scowl. “Hmph! Big Sister, I only agreed to forgive you! I never said I was going to forgive this wretched human!”
Xia Wan turned back around with an amused chuckle. “Pay no attention to Xia Ye’s complaints. I hold full dominion over this body now, and I will keep her in check.”
Her gaze turned formal and respectful. “Player Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice, please accompany me to the reception desk on the first basement level to log the records for the two bodies you are transporting. From this day forward, the doors of the Morgue will remain open to you—all the way until you reach the end of the road!”
Lin Huai finally relaxed her vigilance, offering a bright smile as she followed the attendant back toward the elevator, with Dong Xiaobao perched obediently on her shoulder.
Behind the reception counter, Xia Wan pushed the heavy leather ledger toward Lin Huai. As Lin Huai bent over to fill in the entries, Xia Wan looked warmly at the infant resting beside her neck.
“She is extraordinarily fortunate to have crossed paths with you,” Xia Wan murmured.
Lin Huai neatly inscribed the names of the fallen police officer and the jeweled woman. When she reached the column marked “Claimant,” she hesitated for a brief second before firmly writing down her player handle: Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice.
Xia Wan glanced over the entries, nodding with satisfaction as she closed the book. “Everything is in order.”
She lifted her hand, waving her sparkling, studded nails toward the baby. “Farewell, little darling. Since your big sister is the person you cherish most in this world, you must grow strong and protect her with everything you have.”
Lin Huai glanced at Dong Xiaobao in mild surprise. Can spirits communicate directly through pure thought?
Dong Xiaobao couldn’t speak a single word, yet Xia Wan seemed to read the baby’s innermost feelings with effortless ease.
More importantly, a tiny spirit like this already dreamed of protecting her?
Lin Huai didn’t take the words lightly. An underworld attendant of Xia Wan’s rank would never offer empty flattery. Her praise meant that Dong Xiaobao’s spiritual potential was boundless.
Dong Xiaobao offered no complex response, simply nuzzling her soft, chubby cheek affectionately against the curve of Lin Huai’s neck.
Lin Huai smiled, gently patting the baby’s back before pulling up her holographic interface. “Xia Wan, let’s exchange friend contacts. If anything comes up, we can communicate directly through the system. I know Xia Ye loves nail art, but what about you? What kind of gifts do you like? Tell me, and I’ll see if I have them in stock—or I can bring them along on my next visit.”
Xia Wan shook her head gently. “All I have ever wanted was Xia Ye. Having my sister by my side is more than enough.”
Her eyes drifted back toward Dong Xiaobao, a tender warmth softening her gaze. “Xia Ye and I are sisters, just as you and Little Bao are bound as sisters. Perhaps this was the destiny that brought us together today. You saved both of our souls, so in return, I want to bestow a gift upon you and Little Bao.”
