"No! Please, save me! I've told you everything you wanted to know. You can't go back on your word. You have to save me. Please..."
Zhaozhao tugged at the clothes the crazy woman was holding onto. It was the first time she had so directly witnessed the evil of human hearts as her master had described, and it made her feel nauseous.
After much restraint, Zhaozhao controlled her temper and asked, "Now answer my third question. Who exactly told you the method to seize the fortune from Zhuang Ming? And who turned Zhuang Ming into the eye of the formation?"
Hearing this question, the woman on the ground averted her gaze guiltily. She looked extremely scared and didn't dare to pester Zhaozhao anymore. She took several steps back and curled up in the corner of the sofa, covering her face with her hair and remaining silent.
Seeing her reaction, Zhaozhao understood immediately. It was probably this woman who had come up with the whole idea.
"You're so vicious," Zhaozhao said bluntly, leaving no room for the woman to defend herself. It tore off the last shred of her dignity and exposed her despicable deeds in the sunlight.
Cheng Sang, who was standing beside her, couldn't bear it any longer. He had been traveling between Kunlun Ruins and Wutong Mountain since childhood, and the people and demons he had met were all elegant and kind-hearted. Although he knew there was a lot of hidden filth in the world, he had never faced it directly. Looking at this woman now, he felt physically sick.
"You've harmed someone's son, and you still have the nerve to question why he's seeking revenge on you? How shameless."
It was probably something in those words that irritated the woman. She suddenly became extremely agitated, pointing at Cheng Sang and shouting, "What do you know?! People like you just sit there high and mighty, blaming others. Yes! I admit I'm vicious! But who knows the pain in my heart? I was the one who met Zhuang Tingzhen first. I should have been his wife. But just because Liang Yueshu was rich and powerful, I had to be his mistress in secret! After all these years, just when I finally waited for her to die, and it wasn't even me who killed her. Why can't she let me go even after her death?! Do you think I was the one who made all this happen to Zhuang Ming? No, I'll tell you. It was his inhumane father who did it with his own hands!"
The woman was in a very strange state. She kept tearing at her hair, laughing and crying at the same time, and occasionally hitting her head against the ground. "His business wasn't going well. He didn't have the ability but was too unwilling to stop. I just gave him a suggestion. He was the one who found the people and did the things. Why should all the blame fall on me in the end? There's no such logic!"
Looking at this woman, Zhaozhao thought she was pathetic, but at the same time, she was even more hateful.
"I don't want to distinguish right from wrong. Anyway, you're just as bad as Zhuang Tingzhen. You're all scumbags," Zhaozhao said straightforwardly as always, hitting the nail on the head.
"Tell me the whole process of how you set Zhuang Ming as the eye of the formation and where you learned this method."
The woman had now gradually calmed down, not as crazy as before. She pushed back her messy hair and assumed a bargaining stance with Zhaozhao. "Take me out of here first and guarantee my safety, and I'll naturally tell you."
"Are you bargaining with me?" Zhaozhao squinted her eyes, and the air pressure around her dropped.
"Anyway, I'm just a worthless life. If you don't take me away, I'll still die. I've thought it through. I'm not afraid of anything. If you still want to know these things and save that brat, then take me away," she said recklessly.
Zhaozhao instinctively looked at Cheng Sang. It was he who had found out about Zhuang Ming's situation. She wanted to ask Senior Brother Xiaowu's opinion to see if there was any other way to save Zhuang Ming.
Cheng Sang received the signal from his junior sister. He sighed helplessly and shook his head. "There's no other way. These people are so vicious. They set that boy as the eye of the formation, preventing him from leaving this villa and gradually consuming his vital energy. The only way now is to know the whole process of their sacrifice of Zhuang Ming, find the formation they drew, and destroy it from the four corners - east, south, west, and north. Only then does Zhuang Ming have a chance to survive."
There are the twelve Heavenly Stems, the twelve Earthly Branches, and the twelve Palaces of Longevity, plus the four square pillars. If they don't know the exact location and shape of the formation they drew, it would take Zhaozhao and the others ages to find it on their own. Moreover, Zhuang Ming was too young and obviously couldn't hold on that long.
Originally, according to the plan, Zhaozhao had intended to trick Zhuang Tingzhen into voluntarily handing over Zhuang Ming. And when she took Zhuang Ming away, Zhuang Tingzhen would have to remove the shackles on Zhuang Ming first, and then her goal would be achieved. But now, Zhuang Ming's mother had captured Zhuang Tingzhen, and his whereabouts were unknown. It seemed that the matter of this formation would have to be postponed for a while.
The only breakthrough now was this woman who was scared out of her wits but still holding on to negotiate with them.
"You'd better keep your promise. If I find out you're lying to me, I'll throw you into the eighteenth level of hell. Anyway, the sins you've committed are enough to send you there," Zhaozhao deliberately made a fierce expression to scare her. The woman quickly got up from the ground and repeatedly promised.
After reaching an agreement with her, Zhaozhao handed the woman over to Cheng Sang to watch over. She then carefully searched the Zhuang family's villa again. After finding nothing, she took the woman away from the villa.
Before leaving, Zhaozhao went to find Zhuang Ming and brought him back to the villa.
Even though the villa was haunted, it was still safer than the cold and small greenhouse outside. Moreover, the ghost in the villa was Zhuang Ming's mother, and Zhaozhao didn't think his mother would do anything to harm him.
Zhuang Ming was finally back home. Looking at this strange yet familiar house, his eyes immediately filled with tears.
This was the place where he had lived with his mother and grandfather. He hadn't been back for a long time.
"You stay here and live well. Sister will order takeout for you often so you won't go hungry. In a while, after I've taken care of some things, I'll come to pick you up. Okay?"
"Okay," Zhuang Ming nodded obediently. He then looked around fearfully and pulled on Zhaozhao's hand, asking in a low voice, "Where's Dad? Isn't Dad at home? And what about Aunt Jiang? They won't drive me out again, will they?" Aunt Jiang he was referring to was his stepmother.
Seeing him being so cautious, Zhaozhao felt extremely heartbroken. She bent down and pinched his face, telling him, "No, no one will drive you out again. You live here well. Your dad and Aunt Jiang won't be coming back. Don't worry."
After getting Zhaozhao's definite answer, Zhuang Ming's tense little face finally relaxed a bit.
He smiled, showing his little white teeth. "Goodbye, sister. I'll be good at home."
Zhaozhao waved goodbye to him. Before leaving, she sprinkled tracking powder on Zhuang Ming. She wasn't sure if Zhuang Ming's mother would come back to take him away, so she could only use this method just in case.
As long as Zhuang Ming's mother came back, even if she was a ghost now, as long as she came into contact with Zhuang Ming, the tracking powder would stick to her and she wouldn't be able to get rid of it. Then Zhaozhao could find out where she was hiding.
When Zhaozhao closed the iron gate after leaving the Zhuang family's villa, a thought suddenly flashed through her mind. She turned around and went back.
She plucked a leaf from her body and used her magic to turn it into a long tree branch. She placed it in a pavilion in the Zhuang family's garden.
According to Zhuang Ming's stepmother, they used to often see the figure of Zhuang Ming's mother. But at that time, Zhuang Ming's mother would only scare them at most and didn't do anything to actually harm them, let alone try to take their lives. But today, such a thing suddenly happened, and she didn't know why.
If there was any difference between today and the past days in the Zhuang family, it was probably that they had taken the initiative to come here and Zhaozhao had taken away the wooden carving with a fragment of her tree spirit heart.
Zhuang Ming had said more than once that his mother was going to look for a big tree. From the current situation, Zhaozhao could basically confirm that the big tree they were looking for was herself. Coupled with the matter of the wooden carving, Zhaozhao deliberately used herself as bait and cast the hook. She just didn't know if Zhuang Ming's mother would take the bait.