Demon
"You heard it all, didn't you? Look at me—so miserable! You must feel incredibly happy inside, right?"
Yu Linlang looked at her calmly and replied, "What does your misery have to do with me?"
"Stop pretending in front of me! I know you better than anyone, Yu Linlang. You act indifferent on the surface, but deep down, you must hate it!"
"You are actually the most pitiful and pathetic person in this family—just like me. No, even worse than me!"
"Though you are the governor's most precious daughter, you were abandoned by your mother as a child and forced to live like a rural girl for more than ten years. Don't you hate her?"
Yu Linlang shook her head, her expression calm. "I feel nothing."
To her, the people in the governor's house were merely strangers. And how could a normal person feel strong emotions toward strangers?
"Lies!" Yu Qiuping staggered forward, pointing a trembling finger at her, her voice rising in anger. "How could you not feel anger, resentment, or hatred? You're not some immortal without emotions! You just won't admit it. But I know—you hate Yu Pianpian more than anyone!"
"Yu Pianpian… she's the treasure of this household, the proud and noble lady of the mansion. She barely has to lift a finger to return home, and everyone bends over backward to please her."
Yu Qiuping let out a bitter laugh. "Isn't it ridiculous? We are both daughters of Governor Yu, yet our fates are so different."
"Everything Yu Pianpian desires is handed to her on a silver platter. And me? I have to fight for every scrap. I tried everything—flattery, obedience—just to earn a better life for myself, but in the end, I still got nothing! Hahaha! What a joke!"
Her voice turned icy. "Madam Fang and the others were stupid and unfair. They failed to stop you from returning home."
"It would have been better if you had never come back, Yu Linlang. Yu Pianpian said that as long as you remained out of this mansion, she would plead with my mother to find me a better marriage match. But you… why did you have to return?"
As she spoke, a trace of desperation flickered in her eyes. "Why did you come back, Yu Linlang? There's no place for you here. You're just humiliating yourself—just like me!"
Yu Linlang's voice remained cold. "My reasons are none of your concern. And your aunt lacked the courage to stop me from returning."
"Hah! My aunt?" Yu Qiuping sneered. "What could she possibly do? She couldn't even stand up to Madam Fang! In the end, I had to secretly bribe an old servant with a large sum of silver."
She chuckled darkly. "My mother's family is poor and powerless, while the Huo family comes from the capital. How could she possibly compare? What could she do against them?"
"But there is one thing my aunt has that the Huo family doesn't—she loves her daughter. She has no money, yet she still gambled everything away at Changle Gambling House."
"And your uncle? He went to the gambling house to ask for money, but the governor caught him. Now he's been detained."
"Ma Gui is not my uncle," Yu Qiuping spat, as if the very thought disgusted her. Her whole body trembled.
"Why should I call him that? He's just a servant—not worthy of the title."
Yu Linlang looked at her coldly. "Your heart is filthy and rotten. Do you really think you deserve happiness?"
Without another word, she turned away, pushing past the rain-dampened branches, stepping onto the pebbled path, and disappearing into the night.
Yu Qiuping remained by the pond, laughing wildly—then crying.
Later That Night
"Is the eldest lady losing her mind over her misfortunes? Why did she come back, yell, and make trouble for half the night? Now, even I can't sleep," Jiujin muttered, glancing out the window.
Outside, Yu Qiuping sat by the window, staring into the wind, muttering to herself like a lunatic.
"Let her be," Yu Linlang said without even lifting her eyelids. "She's only smashing things from her own house. No matter how much of a fuss she makes, she won't become any richer because of it."
Baliang chuckled, shutting and locking the window. She turned to Yu Linlang and said, "Miss, you should rest. We'll be outside."
Yu Linlang frowned. "If staying in the main house is too uncomfortable, find an inn on Chongyuanfang Street and stay there at night. You can return in the morning. Rent a place for three months—it shouldn't be too expensive."
The two girls nearly burst out laughing.
"My lady, don't worry about us," Jiujin said. "We're not delicate noblewomen. We've spent nights sleeping in fields before. This is nothing."
"Exactly," Baliang agreed, grinning. "Besides, the servants here won't dare provoke us."
After all, Jiujin was the kind of person who wouldn't hesitate to make a servant bleed if provoked. Who would be foolish enough to cross her?
The two of them blew out the candle and left. From the west wing, Yu Qiuping's eerie laughter echoed across the courtyard.
Yu Linlang lay in bed, wide awake. Yu Qiuping's voice rang through the night, making it impossible to sleep.
Sighing in frustration, she sat up cross-legged and entered her shopping space.
---
The Mysterious Shopping Space
Inside, bright lights illuminated the vast five-story structure. Each floor spanned over a thousand square meters, filled with an endless variety of items—clothing, home appliances, daily necessities, fresh seafood, grains, oil, rice, flour, fruits, vegetables, and snacks. Anything one could imagine was here, in limitless supply.
She hadn't browsed this shopping space properly in years.
Four or five years, at least.
When she was younger, she relied on it for survival. But as she grew stronger, she used it less and less—only occasionally, for transferring goods.
She avoided thinking about this place. She avoided touching anything inside it.
Everything here was too advanced—too out of place. Using these things too often risked exposure.
Besides…
Every time she used it, it reminded her of the past.
Yu Linlang withdrew from the space and forced her eyes shut, trying not to dwell on old memories.
Life was good now. Peaceful, even.
If this shopping space were to suddenly disappear, she thought she would feel relieved.
That would mean she had finally severed ties with her past, escaping the nightmare once and for all.
But it never disappeared. It followed her, like a shadow.
She shouldn't be afraid, she told herself.
She was no longer the weak girl from before. No one could control her now.
She had been here for twelve years. When she first arrived, she had been only three years old—frail and fragile, barely clinging to life.
She had crawled out of the depths of hell, inch by inch, alongside her senior brother.
The past should be severed. She couldn't let it trap her.
Yu Linlang's eyes suddenly snapped open.
A red glow flickered in the depths of her pupils, spreading like ripples in water.
"Come, then," she whispered, staring up at the gauzy canopy above her bed.
A sneer curled on her lips.
"I've killed you once. I can do it again.
Twice.
Three times.
Thousands of times.
Countless times.
As long as you dare to come… I will be waiting."