The cold wind was howling, with flakes of snow fluttering in the sky. The tranquility of Xu Village, nestled deep within the Daqing Mountain, was shattered by a pitiful wail.
"Please, let me go! Miss Ning is still in the well, please save her! I will kowtow to you!" Zhang's forehead knocked on the ground again and again, going purple in short order.
However, Zhang Ruhua, standing at the side, took pleasure in her misfortune: "Your short-lived daughter's death is a good thing. After all, the elder son of the Zhu family is supposed to marry a ghost bride. The dead ones are more valuable!”
Zhang was clinging desperately to the edge of the well, her eyes filled with despair.
Zhang Ruhua continued to speak her cynical comments: "Moreover, to get into the Zhu family is like a blessing fallen from the sky! It was Miss Ning who wanted to jump into the well. Whose fault is that? It's her for not cherishing luck!"
…
Who was that?
Who was speaking?
In the deep well, Xu Anning suddenly opened her eyes, exhaling a string of bubbles.
On the well bank she could not see, the two sides were still confronting each other.
"You ungrateful creature! If Miss Ning had gone to the Zhu family, she would be the Lady!" the old Madam Xu pounded the ground with her cane and began a command at the Zhu family's servant, "You two, hurry up and fish her out!"
Just as the servants of the Zhu Household were about to rush towards her, Zhang, with grim determination, leaped straight into the well.
Over her dead body would she let them take Miss Ning away!
However, a powerful force emanated from the bottom of the well, pushing Zhang right out from the well.
Before she could figure out what was happening, she heard Zhang Ruhua burst out laughing: "Didn't you want to jump too? Why are you afraid of death now?"
Mrs. Zhang stared blankly at the well, ignoring her.
Was what happened earlier just an illusion?
Was it Ning who had pushed her out?
Even though Mrs. Zhang ignored her, Zhang Ruhua kept on ranting, "I heard that dead people sink quickly. I advise you not to waste your effort. Your cheap girl must have sunk to the bottom of the well by now... Ah! Ghost! Ghost! Ghost!"
In the narrow edge of the well, a fair little hand was groping at the top.
Following that, Xu Anning, with her wet hair scattered across her face, looking just like a water ghost, slowly emerged from the well, her voice hoarse, "Aunt, who did you say is the short-lived ghost?"
Zhang Ruhua fell on her bottom, trembling for a long while without being able to utter a word.
Under the eaves, Old Master Xu and Madam Xu exchanged a glance, their faces filled with fright.
Zhang Ruhua hurriedly clung to Madam Xu's leg, "Mother, what should we do now? The wretched girl is back for revenge!"
Madam Xu collected herself and was the first to softly say, "Miss Ning, we did what we did for your own good. Going to the Zhu family is a fortunate thing."
"Is that so? If it's so good, then why didn't Zhang Ruhua's daughter go?" Xu Anning gave a cold smile and slowly climbed out of the well.
For every step she took forward, Zhang Ruhua and her group retreated a step back, until they had nowhere to back into.