"Tianhe, if I can't find Lin'er, how can I go on living?" Liu Ping sobbed, burying her face in Zi Tianhe's shoulder.
Zi Tianhe gently patted her back, his own eyes welling up with tears. "Pingping, Lin'er will definitely come back!"
A man doesn't shed tears easily, but only when his heart is broken. As a father, how could Zi Tianhe not be heartbroken by his daughter's disappearance? If Liu Ping's tears were on the outside, Zi Tianhe's were flowing within.
Zi Lingling watched her parents, Zi Tianhe and Liu Ping, their hair turned white, and her guilt and self-reproach were overwhelming. Her parents, barely in their early forties, had aged so much because of her. How could she bear it?
"Dad! Mom! Ling'er is back," Zi Lingling choked out.
However, Zi Tianhe and Liu Ping showed no reaction, as if they hadn't heard her.
"Dad! Mom! Ling'er is back," Zi Lingling cried again, her voice trembling, but still, there was no response.
What was going on? Right! Zi Lingling suddenly remembered that she was in a spiritual state. Zi Tianhe and Liu Ping couldn't hear her.
"Dad! Mom! I'm here! I'm here!" Zi Lingling cried out in a panic, but Zi Tianhe and Liu Ping remained unresponsive.
What could she do? What could she do? Seeing the two figures embracing and weeping softly, Zi Lingling was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. But she was powerless. The living and the dead were separated by an impassable gulf.
Zi Lingling slumped to the ground weakly, her heart filled with bitterness. At that moment, Zi Lingling's physical body on the altar steps was already streaming with tears. Father's love was like a mountain, and mother's love was like water. She, a skilled poison doctor, owed no one in her life, yet from birth, she was destined to owe her parents her life, and that debt only grew. Her parents' love was too profound to be severed.
"No, I can't just accept fate!" Zi Lingling pushed herself up from the ground and lunged towards Liu Ping and Zi Tianhe.
Alas, she missed. Her hands passed through Zi Tianhe and Liu Ping's bodies, but she could not feel the warmth of their skin.
"Ah!" Zi Lingling let out a long, mournful cry. "No! I refuse to accept this! It must be that my power is not strong enough! I must cultivate! I must cultivate!" At this moment, her burning resentment transformed into the motivation for cultivation. "Dad! Mom! Wait for Ling'er! Wait until Ling'er becomes strong enough, I will definitely return to protect you by your side!"
Suddenly, a blinding light flashed, forcing Zi Lingling to close her eyes. When she opened them again, she found herself no longer in the old house. Her soul was now in a villa. What shocked her eyes was seeing two naked people embracing each other.
"Ah!" She screamed and was about to leave the room when she heard a woman's voice. "Shu Heng ge, that bitch Zi Lingling is already dead. What do we do next?"
Shu Heng? And that voice... Zi Lingling paused for a moment, then opened her eyes. She saw that the two naked bodies were her sister, Zi Xiaoling, and her former suitor, Yan Shuheng.
Bitch? Zi Lingling was taken aback, then felt a chill as cold as snowflakes in the depth of winter. She never expected that the person who used to cling to her, affectionately calling her sister, would now call her a bitch! Heh! Zi Lingling sneered. Some people were truly ungrateful vipers.
Zi Lingling felt this way because Zi Xiaoling was not her biological sister, but was adopted by her father, Zi Tianhe, from an orphanage. However, despite being adopted, Zi Tianhe and Liu Ping had never treated Zi Xiaoling poorly. Whatever Zi Lingling had, they would prepare the same for Zi Xiaoling. And Zi Lingling had always doted on this sister. Food, drinks, toys, clothes, everything, she would set aside a portion for Zi Xiaoling. When others bullied Zi Xiaoling, she would unhesitatingly stand up for her. She truly treated Zi Xiaoling as her own sister. Now, her dear sister was calling her a bitch behind her back. How could Zi Lingling not feel heartbroken? More importantly, how did Zi Xiaoling know she was dead? Could it be...
Yan Shuheng patted Zi Xiaoling's bare, rounded buttocks and asked, "Xiaoling, are you sure that bitch is dead?"
Zi Lingling let out another cold laugh. Yan Shuheng, her former suitor. Now, he too called her a bitch. It was a good thing she had firmly rejected him back then, otherwise, this two-faced individual would surely bite like a mad dog someday.
Zi Xiaoling playfully poked Yan Shuheng's bare chest and said, "You're so annoying! Can't you talk nicely? Must you always be so hands-on!"
Yan Shuheng gave a lewd smile and said, "If you're showing me so much of yourself, aren't you inviting me to be hands-on?" As he spoke, he patted Zi Xiaoling's backside again.
Zi Xiaoling pushed his hand away and said coyly, "You're so indecent!"
"Ahem!" Yan Shuheng coughed lightly, his hand still roaming Zi Xiaoling's body, and said, "Then let's talk about something serious. How are you so sure that bitch is dead?"
Zi Xiaoling giggled and said, "Because... the person who killed her is... me!"
The light in Zi Lingling's eyes completely dimmed. Her guess had actually come true so quickly.
Yan Shuheng suddenly sat up and asked, "Are you telling the truth?"
Zi Xiaoling also sat up and smiled faintly, "Of course it's true. Otherwise, why would I have been laying low in the Zi family for so many years? Zi Tianhe caused my family's ruin, so I must collect my debts!"
"Debts? What debts?" Yan Shuheng asked Zi Xiaoling in surprise.
Zi Lingling's eyes blazed as she looked at Zi Xiaoling. If not for the separation between the living and the spirit, she would have personally strangled Zi Xiaoling to find out.
A flicker of pain crossed Zi Xiaoling's eyes. "Shu Heng ge, do you know the Meng family?"
"The Meng family? The Meng family... Meng... Meng Corporation?" Yan Shuheng thought for a moment before realizing with a sudden understanding.
Meng Corporation? Zi Lingling frowned. She remembered that Meng Corporation's chairman, Meng Rugue, had a life-or-death friendship with her father. No wonder her father adopted Zi Xiaoling; it turned out Zi Xiaoling was Meng Rugue's daughter. But why was Zi Xiaoling here to collect debts?
"Yes! So, when Zi Lingling said she was going to the Human Emperor's Cave, I followed behind her. That bitch was completely defenseless against me from beginning to end, so she never would have imagined that while the mantis stalks the cicada, the oriole is behind." A fierce glint flashed in Zi Xiaoling's eyes. Back then, the Meng Corporation went bankrupt, her father Meng Rugue jumped to his death, and her mother drank poison. All of this was caused by Zi Tianhe. Therefore, she wanted revenge!