Even the original owner, who could lose anything, would never lose this cloth doll.
She probably never dreamed that her most beloved cloth doll would be one of the things that took her life.
Ginsengfruit clicked its tongue: [The methods of scheming against people are truly difficult to guard against. The original owner probably never even dreamed that her most beloved cloth doll was one of the accomplices that killed her.]
To outsiders, the copper coin exuded Evil Energy, but now it lay quietly in Yun Ran's hands. A bone-chilling aura pierced into Yun Ran's body, seeping into every crevice of her bones and every organ.
Fortunately, the Yun Family had a wealth-gathering feng shui formation that resisted some of the Evil Energy's effects on Yun Ran; otherwise, the original owner would have died even sooner.
To those without any cultivation, this Evil Energy is like a Death Sentence, but for a cultivator like Yun Ran, it was child's play.
Yun Ran murmured incantations under her breath, and soon, the Evil Energy that had seeped into her bones was completely expelled.
Along with it, the copper coin, which had seemed full of Evil Energy, now appeared clean and pristine.
In a somewhat dilapidated temple in the mountains, an old Taoist who was meditating suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood and abruptly opened his eyes.
His eyes were sinister yet desperately suppressed madness. He quickly calculated something with his fingers, then spat out another mouthful of blood.
"Good, very good. Someone has actually broken my curse and even caused it to backlash against me!"
Previously, he had sold many such malicious items in exchange for a substantial amount of money, securing his chance and even finding a substitute.
If someone were discovered to have been affected by such a curse, it would be difficult to remove, let alone to cause a backlash against him.
But now he had indeed been backlashed, which could only mean one thing: the person who broke the curse had a higher cultivation level than him. The substitute had died, blocking only part of the backlash.
He immediately took out his phone and made a call to investigate which family had caused the problem.
Now was a crucial moment in his retreat, and he could not afford to be disturbed. If someone dared to spoil his plans, they could just wait for their death!
Yun Ran slept very well that night, completely unaware that merely breaking a Life-taking Curse had caused a significant disturbance in the circle of harm-doers.
"Knock, knock, knock..."
A series of knocks on the door abruptly woke Yun Ran. Looking at the layout of the room, she remembered that she had returned to the Yun Family.
Gone were the days when she could sleep until waking naturally; Yun Ran's face instantly fell, realizing she indeed wasn't destined for an easy life.
Opening the door, she saw Qu Ying's face, which, despite being heavily covered with foundation, could not hide her dark circles.
From the original owner's memory, once Qu Ying started applying makeup, it meant a new round of complaints and crying was about to begin.
Then the original owner would rush out to fight injustice, and after Qu Ying gained some benefits, she would immediately turn around and stab the original owner in the back.
This vicious cycle had been going on for nearly a decade, and it was unclear whether the original owner hadn't realized it or simply didn't want to puncture that layer of pretense.
Unfortunately, Yun Ran was not a person of overflowing sympathy. Seeing Qu Ying like this elicited no emotions in her.
She yawned lazily and said, "You're knocking on my door so early in the morning. What's the matter?"
Yun Ran glanced outside the window, noting that dawn was just breaking. Even the roosters weren't up crowing yet.
Qu Ying's gaze scrutinized Yun Ran, feeling that Yun Ran had been a bit strange since returning from the ancestor worship ceremony but couldn't pinpoint what was off.
She had seen behind Yun Ran's ears, and indeed there was a red peach blossom birthmark; it was something that couldn't be faked.
"Ranran, are you still blaming mom?"
Yun Ran was suddenly all confused. Was this really something to be brought up first thing in the morning?
"Huh? What?"
Qu Ying was momentarily choked up, originally planning to come in and, like before, pour out her grievances, waiting for Yun Ran to charge into battle for her.
Yun Ran quickly pushed her out of the room and followed out herself, also closing the door behind her.
"Mom, my room isn't tidied up yet, it's very messy, let's sit in the living room for a while, just tell me what you need."
Qu Ying felt even more strongly that Yun Ran had changed.
Her public persona had always been that of a virtuous wife and good mother, never competing or contending, no matter how the Yun Family treated her, she never complained.
Only in Yun Ran's small room could she freely express her dissatisfaction and grievances.
Now Yun Ran had pushed her out, how was she supposed to talk? There were surveillance cameras in the living room and other places in the house, she wouldn't dare utter a word of dissatisfaction.
Especially seeing Yun Ran with an expression that seemed to say 'hurry up and speak, I don't have the time to listen to your nonsense.'
Qu Ying's face grew increasingly ugly, and Yun Ran quickly shouted to a maid cleaning not far away, "Quick, call the doctor, my mom isn't feeling well!"
The maid ran over, seeing Qu Ying's extremely pale face and got scared, quickly going to call the family doctor.
Yun Ran took this opportunity to slip away, running while patting her chest, "I need to leave for a while, with this temperament, even if no one provokes her, she might end up harming herself out of anger, I refuse to be the scapegoat!"
[Without you, my daughter, taking on burdens up front, I can already foresee that your mom's days ahead won't be easy~]
"You don't understand, this is called 'rectifying my past mistakes'. Didn't Qu Ying always teach the original owner to not compete or contend? Now I'm just going to fully embrace her philosophy!"
Ginsengfruit immediately gave a thumbs up: [Brilliant, truly brilliant, using magic to defeat magic!]
By the time everyone was having breakfast, Yun Ran had already come back from her run.
Yun Wan was just about to mock Yun Ran for being inhuman, her own mother was ill, and she had disappeared without a trace.
But Yun Ran spoke first, "Dad, our school has arranged a study tour for a month. I initially declined because I was worried about mom, but now I want to reapply."
At these words, Yun Jinyang, who was replying to an email, was shocked enough to lift his head.
The original owner never wanted to leave the house even on weekends, fearing that the Yun Family would seize the chance to bully Qu Ying, always wanting to be her knight in shining armor.
Now she was willing to leave the Yun Family for a month? Was she not afraid that they would bully Qu Ying?
Yun Wan looked at Yun Ran with a mix of defensiveness and disgust, "What tricks are you trying to pull now!"
She and the second young mistress, Yun Qing, were twins, three years older than Yun Ran, and were 19 this year.
During their coming-of-age ceremony, both of them had received shares gifted by the family.
But then Yun Ran made a scene, and had people in Hai City not known Yun Ran's true character, the Yun Family would have almost become a laughingstock.
Thinking of this, Yun Wan was so angry she was practically gasping for air.