Lin Zhitong couldn't make the decision, so Tao Hua Ying took her hand and said earnestly:
"After my daughter died, I was trapped in the mud of the Ghost Market and couldn't leave. It was you, Miss, and Young Master who brought me out and let me understand love again. Moreover, you treated me kindly. If I remembered your kindness, how could I have the face to stay by your side?"
"In today's competition, what we need is not a meaningless sacrifice, but to help you win the competition and obtain the position of sect leader. Therefore, Lian He and Hei Chuan Lu are not suitable. You only have one choice, and that is me!"
"Miss, let me do it!"
Tao Hua Ying looked at Lin Zhitong with determination, and her words were very reasonable.
If one person was destined to be sent for the competition, Lian He was a remnant soul, and Hei Chuan Lu's strength was insufficient. In front of Lü Xin, neither of them could last long.
This seemed like a multiple-choice question, but the answer was only Tao Hua Ying.
Tao Hua Ying didn't have much confidence in being able to withstand Lü Xin's attack, but she would do everything she could to delay time.
As long as Lin Zhitong could control the red-clothed fierce ghost earlier than Lü Xin, Tao Hua Ying would have succeeded.
Tao Hua Ying looked at Lin Zhitong, waiting for her to make a decision.
Lin Zhitong closed her eyes, pursed her lips, and was engaged in an intense internal struggle.
At this moment, even Yan Shou Yi couldn't give her advice, because besides Lin Zhitong herself, no one else could bear the consequences of failure.
Suddenly, Lin Zhitong opened her eyes.
She clasped Tao Hua Ying's hand in return, and said with a firm tone, "Hua Ying, I believe in you, and you must believe in me too!"
Lin Zhitong believed that Tao Hua Ying could withstand Lü Xin's control.
And she also hoped that Tao Hua Ying would believe in her, believe that she could control the red-clothed fierce ghost faster than Lü Xin!
Tao Hua Ying smiled and nodded heavily: "Okay!"
The two women turned around and looked at Lü Xin side by side.
However, the relationship between Lü Xin and the red-clothed fierce ghost was different. Lü Xin stood proudly, while the red-clothed fierce ghost knelt on both knees, like a dog raised by Lü Xin.
Tao Hua Ying released her hand and walked towards the red-clothed fierce ghost, finally sitting beside it, but facing Lü Xin.
"Let's begin," Tao Hua Ying said lightly.
She was ready to face anything.
Lü Xin didn't even glance at Tao Hua Ying. Instead, she looked at Lin Zhitong and asked, "Shall we begin?"
Lin Zhitong came before the red-clothed fierce ghost and sat opposite it, sizing up its terrifying face for a while.
She took a deep breath: "Let's begin."
Lü Xin nodded and walked up to Tao Hua Ying, but she stood, looking down at Tao Hua Ying.
"I hope you can last a little longer under my hands, otherwise... it will be too boring."
Tao Hua Ying retorted, "Bring it on, I'm not afraid of you!"
"Hmm..."
Lü Xin pondered for a moment, then suddenly reached out and placed her hand on Tao Hua Ying's forehead!
The Soul Summoning Bell on her wrist instantly let out a jingle-jangle sound, chaotic and disordered. Just listening for a moment made people feel restless!
Even more terrifyingly, strands of earthworm-like black energy emerged from Lü Xin's Soul Summoning Bell and directly drilled into Tao Hua Ying's head!
In an instant, Tao Hua Ying couldn't help but let out a painful scream to the sky!
"Hua Ying!"
Lin Zhitong was greatly alarmed and instinctively wanted to reach out, but she stopped herself.
Because she saw Tao Hua Ying's tightly clenched hands.
Tao Hua Ying was persevering.
She couldn't betray her efforts!
Lin Zhitong gritted her teeth, withdrew her hand, and looked at the red-clothed fierce ghost in front of her.
Only by subduing this red-clothed fierce ghost as soon as possible could she live up to Tao Hua Ying's efforts!
...
In a daze, Tao Hua Ying opened her eyes.
She looked around and found herself on a strange street.
The buildings on both sides of the street had ancient and modern styles. There were many vendors on both sides, and the people shouting and selling were also strange. Some had no heads, some had only upper bodies, and some had their eyeballs falling out, yet they acted as if nothing was wrong and continued to hawk their wares.
"Where is this... the Ghost Market?"
Tao Hua Ying was startled in her heart, wondering how she had returned to this place of sorrow.
"Mama..."
At this moment, Tao Hua Ying felt someone tugging at her finger. She looked down and saw a cute little girl with two pigtails timidly holding her hand.
"Mama, where is this? Yin Yin is so scared..."
The little girl's eyes were teary, and she couldn't help but grip Tao Hua Ying's hand and hug her thigh.
"Yin Yin?"
Tao Hua Ying's nose twitched suddenly, and she immediately squatted down, hugging the little girl tightly.
This little girl was Tao Hua Ying's greatest regret, the source of countless agonizing moments over the years.
She was Tao Hua Ying's daughter, a poor girl who died and went to the underworld with her mother at the tender age of five.
After Tao Hua Ying and her daughter died, to sustain her daughter's fragile soul, Tao Hua Ying had to absorb the yang energy of living people to nourish her daughter.
But in ancient times, there were many capable individuals or disciples of major sects traveling the martial world. Female ghosts like Tao Hua Ying, who absorbed people's yang energy, were the most favorite targets for people of orthodox sects.
Because her strength was not great and she had done bad deeds, dealing with such female ghosts was risk-free and could earn praise.
Therefore, Tao Hua Ying was often hunted by righteous people, and had to live like a rat crossing the street, constantly on the run with her daughter.
Later, during an escape, Tao Hua Ying failed to protect her daughter completely, and she was severely injured by a Taoist priest from Longhu Mountain.
Enraged, Tao Hua Ying fought desperately against the Longhu Mountain Taoist priest, eventually driving him away at the cost of serious injuries.
To heal her wounds and for her daughter to recover, Tao Hua Ying had no choice but to start killing people and seizing their vital essence.
As a result, her body began to be stained with malevolent energy. Although she saved her own and her daughter's lives, it also attracted more pursuit from orthodox sects!
A hundred years passed in a blink of an eye, and the turbulent times allowed Tao Hua Ying a period of peace.
But when the upheaval ended and the Longhu Mountain Taoist priests descended the mountain again for training, Tao Hua Ying and her daughter's peaceful life was shattered once more.
This time, Tao Hua Ying encountered her most terrifying opponent in hundreds of years – Zhang Yin of Longhu Mountain.
Zhang Yin was incredibly powerful, and Tao Hua Ying was no match for him. She was repeatedly defeated and finally fled with her daughter, accidentally escaping into the Ghost Market.
Even though Zhang Yin's magical powers were immense, he couldn't enter the Ghost Market for a time. This made Tao Hua Ying breathe a sigh of relief, thinking she had finally escaped Zhang Yin's pursuit.
These memories surfaced in Tao Hua Ying's mind, but the subsequent memories abruptly stopped.
She didn't remember what happened after entering the Ghost Market.
Vaguely, Tao Hua Ying felt she had forgotten something, but seeing her daughter crying in her arms, she no longer cared about anything else. She gently patted her daughter's back and softly comforted her:
"Don't be afraid, Yin Yin. Mama is here. Mama will absolutely not let anyone hurt you. It's very safe here, and we don't have to be afraid of that smelly Taoist priest anymore!"