Chapter 141: Life for Life

In a dim room, Madam Feng Jiang Mengyun looked at the unconscious Feng Xiran on the bed, her eyes filled with deep worry.

She pleaded desperately with the black-robed man beside her: "Daoist Priest, I beg you, no matter what, please save my daughter."

Feng Xiran was born prematurely, her body especially weak after birth; even the doctor said this child might not survive.

Jiang Mengyun tried every method to save Feng Xiran, but none worked; in her utter despair, she unexpectedly encountered the Daoist Priest before her.

The Daoist Priest said: "This child is congenitally deficient and carries a killing aura in her fate; to survive, she must exchange life for life."

Jiang Mengyun originally did not believe in such things; after all, she came from an educated family, and the education she received since childhood made her disbelieve in gods and spirits.

But at that time Feng Xiran's life hung by a thread, even the doctor was helpless; with no other recourse, Jiang Mengyun would try even the slightest possibility.

What Jiang Mengyun did not expect was that the Daoist Priest actually succeeded; seeing her daughter recover day by day and gradually grow up, her worries finally began to fade.

But Feng Xiran had been vomiting blood repeatedly, especially this time, which was extremely dangerous, and even the doctor could not find the cause; left with no choice, Jiang Mengyun had to seek out the black-robed person again.

However, Jiang Mengyun did not see that beneath the black-robed person's cloak, the face was covered with hideous, terrifying scars from burns.

At this moment, the face, so vicious, was twisted and deformed, the sinister eyes brimming with bone-deep killing intent.

His hoarse voice said: "I once told you, for your daughter to live, she must borrow another's life; the better the person whose life is borrowed, the worse off your daughter will be; the worse the borrowed-life person, the better your daughter will be."

"Now that girl has returned, she comes to you demanding her life back, to reclaim what is rightfully hers."

The man's sinister voice echoed in the dim room, instantly giving everyone a chilling feeling.

Jiang Mengyun could no longer maintain her composure; her body trembled uncontrollably, and memories she did not wish to recall surged forth.

Jiang Mengyun had always refused to admit that, in saving her daughter, she had indirectly harmed another innocent girl, as if not thinking about it made the matter nonexistent.

But now the black-robed person directly unearthed the secret buried deep in her heart, forcing her to confront it.

Jiang Mengyun, panicked, asked: "Daoist Priest, what must I do to save my daughter?"

"It's too late; everything is fate, go back!" the black-robed person's words amounted to a death sentence for Feng Xiran.

Jiang Mengyun dropped to her knees, tears and voice intertwined as she begged: "Daoist Priest, I beg you, please save my daughter; if you can save my daughter, I am willing to pay any price."

The black-robed person looked at Jiang Mengyun, the corner of his mouth curling into a cold arc: "You say, to save Feng Xiran, you are willing to pay any price?"

Jiang Ruoyun turned her head resolutely; as long as she could save her daughter, even if it cost her own life, she would be willing.

"Good, then I will tell you: Su Ruo is the girl whose fate your daughter borrowed; logically, since your daughter borrowed her life, she should already be dead, but for some unknown reason, she is still alive.

The Borrower and the Provider are in a relationship of mutual diminishment.

The better she fares, the worse your daughter fares; conversely, the worse she fares, the better your daughter fares.

Nowadays, she not only lives well, but has also inherited Jishi Hall; Jishi Hall is a pharmacy that has been healing and saving people for a hundred years.

Su Ruo has now become its owner, naturally inheriting Jishi Hall's karma and merit; from now on she will surely receive the Heaven and Earth Blessing, with Blessing bestowed upon her.

Naturally, your daughter can no longer borrow life from her; she can only wait for death!

But if you want your daughter to live, it is not without a solution: as long as Su Ruo dies, your daughter will naturally be able to live.

Jiang Mengyun shuddered, collapsing to the ground; although she did not like Su Ruo, she had never thought of harming her life.

Although she had a bad temper, she had never harmed anyone.

The black-robed person gave her an icy stare and said: "Su Ruo and your daughter can only have one survive; you decide who lives."

Jiang Mengyun fell into deep turmoil; she did not want to harm Su Ruo, nor did she want her own daughter to die, her heart having undergone a fierce struggle between heaven and self.

In the end, maternal love for Feng Xiran overcame the last shred of conscience in her heart.

"I want to save Ranran, Daoist Priest, I beg you, no matter what, please keep my daughter alive."

Jiang Mengyun felt she was not wrong, because maternal love is selfish; she would do anything to save her daughter, even the most heinous act, and it could be forgiven.

But she had not considered that the girl whose life she had innocently taken also had a mother.

Upon hearing Jiang Mengyun's words, the black-robed person's face curled into a sinister smile; looking at Jiang Mengyun kneeling and begging on the ground, his eyes were filled with deep mockery.

Who knows, one day when she learns the truth, she might regret today's decision—things are getting more and more interesting!

The black-robed person brought Jiang Mengyun into a secret chamber, picked up a doll, wrote Su Ruo's birth characters on it, then tossed it to Jiang Mengyun: "Bite open your fingertip and let the blood drip onto the doll's brow."

Jiang Mengyun's trembling finger obeyed; she dared not utter a word, fearing that any misstep would anger the person before her and cause him to stop saving her daughter.

As Jiang Mengyun's blood dripped onto the doll, Su Ruo in the alley immediately lost the ability to move.

Today was originally a school holiday; after paying respects to her teacher, Su Ruo prepared to go home to see An'an and Qin Xiao, she got off the bus and walked home, seeing that she was about to reach her house after passing through the alley, when her body suddenly lost the ability to move.

Su Ruo's whole body froze there; although her mind was perfectly clear, no matter how hard she tried, her limbs would not obey.

Su Ruo had never encountered such a situation before; she panicked and asked the system: "001, what exactly happened? Why won't my body obey?"

001 was also astonished; it scanned Su Ruo's body, found nothing wrong after examination, yet she could not move, and even 001 could not explain it.

Su Ruo almost instantly guessed that this matter was definitely related to those who wanted to secretly harm her, and only they could accomplish such a thing silently.

They must be acting because of Feng Xiran's sudden vomiting blood and fainting today.

Just as Su Ruo was thinking of a solution, several burly men wielding sticks walked toward her.

One of the men, with a sinister gaze, said: "Su Ruo, right? Someone paid money to buy your life; we few brothers are also taking people's money to eliminate disasters for them—make it clear, even if you want revenge, don't mistake the person on the Yellow Springs Road."

After the man finished speaking, he immediately raised his stick and slammed it hard toward Su Ruo's head.