Chapter 173: Chapter 173: Adopted Paper Daughter, 9 Drops of Blood Left. Give It All to Her?

"Mr. Zhuang..."

Xiaoye looked at the paper figure, her expression troubled.

"Honestly, I only created the organization for my sister in the first place. You heard it yourself—it’s all a misunderstanding."

"I don’t care if it’s a misunderstanding or not!"

The blood-red paper figure known as Mr. Zhuang was only the size of a palm.

The candlelight in the room flickered in the wind, stretching his shadow long and thin and radiating a chilling aura.

"Since you made a promise to me, backing out will have its price."

"..."

Xiaoye fell silent.

Yes.

She had promised Mr. Zhuang.

To overthrow the City Lord’s rule.

He was the one who had whispered in her ear back then.

But... now that she knew the truth,

she no longer had the motivation to carry on.

Xiaoye said apologetically, "I’m truly sorry, but I must break our contract."

"I’ll accept any compensation you require, but on this one point, I must disband the Embers!"

As soon as she said this,

a strange sound emerged in the room.

THUMP!

THUMP THUMP!

It sounded like a heartbeat.

It was impossible to tell whose heart was pounding so loudly.

The blood-red paper figure had no facial features,

but a sinister feeling could be felt emanating from its blank face.

’He was a high-level Evil Star. If he hadn’t been gravely injured, why would he have ever attached himself to her?’

’He possessed the ability to transform anomalies into paper figures.’

’As long as their hearts were filled with despair, he could strike when they were vulnerable.’ 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

’Over the years, he had already taken control of the members of the Embers, as well as some of the residents in the ghost city. All he had to do was use his ability, and he could convert them into his own power.’

’Just as his recovery was nearly complete...’

’that new City Lord, whether intentionally or not,’

’started some ridiculous milk tea shop for poverty relief!’

’She used it as an opportunity to diminish his control!’

’The paper figure could already feel his grip weakening.’

’If he let this continue,’

’then all his years of planning would be destroyed in an instant!’

’As for the agreement with Xiaoye, that was a lie too.’

’A world of chaos? What a joke.’

’What he wanted was this ghost city!’

’A ghost city ruled by him!’

’He never thought this fool would believe it without a doubt.’

’But it wasn’t all bad news.’

’He’d heard that the new City Lord had the old City Lord’s blood in her possession.’

’Though she only took out one drop,’

’he could guess that if she was using such a precious treasure as a lottery prize,’

’she must have a lot more!’

’If he could just seize it all, it would definitely help him break through to become a top-tier Evil Star, or even a Great Evil!’

’Since this idiot wanted to give up,’

’this pawn was no longer of any use.’

"Useless trash. Giving up on everything after just a few words!"

"What use are you to me?!"

He immediately let out a low, cold snort.

BUZZ!

Under Xiaoye’s wary gaze,

a pair of drawn eyes suddenly appeared on the blood-red paper figure’s face!

As those eyes snapped open,

Xiaoye instantly grabbed her sister, preparing to flee!

She knew this Mr. Zhuang was no good, so she had always been prepared.

This entire house was built with flammable materials.

A single spark was enough to set it ablaze!

All she had to do was escape—

"AHH!!!"

Before Xiaoye could take a single step,

her body stiffened in an instant, leaving only a pained cry hanging in the air.

Her clothes, her flesh and blood, even her entire skeleton—

all of it turned into thin, white paper in the blink of an eye!

Her black pupils became two lifeless ink dots, and her crimson hair turned into long strips of paper. It was as if all life had been drained away, leaving only a paper shell in her likeness.

A cold wind blew past.

Xiaoye’s paper hair rustled, and the dim candlelight illuminated her face, which was still frozen in an expression of panic.

"This is the price for betraying me."

The blood-red paper figure looked at her coldly.

As for Xiaoying, who had remained silent, planning to get her sister to safety before figuring out what to do next,

he just gave a light wave of his hand!

SWISH!

In that instant,

Xiaoying felt her heart stop!

Her legs, which had been running while carrying the paper figure that was once her sister, came to a halt.

Her heart...

had turned into white paper all by itself!

From the inside out, as if she were being frozen,

she could see her flesh solidifying inch by inch into ghastly white paper.

Just then, the blood-red paper figure’s eyes vanished as it said sinisterly, "Don’t panic yet. Your sister isn’t dead. I’ve just temporarily helped her evolve."

"As long as you do one thing for me, I promise I won’t harm either of you."

"Once this is done, the entire ghost city will be mine!"

"This place will become a world of paper people!"

...

「That night.」

Countless anomalies in Fengdu Ghost City had the same nightmare.

They dreamed of a terrifying paper figure.

That paper figure spoke of the despair hidden in their hearts.

And it invited them to overthrow this decaying ghost city!

Unconsciously,

their bodies flickered with a strange light—the cold glint of white paper.

「At this moment.」

Cecil was curled up, hiding in an abandoned house.

For days, she had been surviving by rummaging through trash cans for food.

Under the double torment of physical and mental anguish, she had developed a high fever.

Her brows were tightly furrowed.

She was trapped in a deep nightmare.

In her dream, Yun Zhenyue had turned into a paper figure and was relentlessly hunting her.

There was no escape, no hope!

Without her even noticing,

her eyes, once her greatest source of pride, had unknowingly turned to paper and ink.

...

「Inside the City Lord’s Manor.」

Yun Zhenyue welcomed Xiaoying in with a look of surprise.

She hadn’t expected Xiaoying to show up at her door with urgent business so late at night.

A light rain was falling.

The tips of Xiaoying’s hair were damp.

Yun Zhenyue wondered what the matter could be.

Yun Zhenyue immediately prepared a set of clean clothes, intending to have her take a bath before they talked.

But Xiaoying shook her head and pulled down the collar of her tightly wrapped clothes,

revealing a shocking sight to Yun Zhenyue.

"What... happened to you?"

Xiaoying’s neck had turned into white paper.

Looking down from her neck, the paper extended to part of her chest, all of it lifeless.

Yun Zhenyue had thought it was some special ability of Xiaoying’s.

But seeing that her hands and head were still flesh and blood,

the combination was absolutely horrifying!

Si Qin, who happened to be nearby, had a look of alarm in her eyes!

’She had just received news that the anomalies in the ghost city were rioting!’

’Nearly half of them!’

’For some reason, those anomalies had turned into paper figures!’

’They had lost their reason and their sense of pain!’

’And anyone who came into contact with them seemed to get infected, turning into a new paper figure!’

’To make matters worse, it was raining and would likely continue for several days.’

’Using fire against them would be difficult.’

’Besides, if she lost control of the fire, it could easily harm the innocent.’

’The whole situation was giving her a massive headache.’

"So you’re saying... that blood-red paper figure told you to give this to me?"

"And this little paper figure can replace me?"

After Xiaoying finished explaining the whole story,

Yun Zhenyue looked at the small paper figure in her palm.

The paper figure had the exact same appearance as her.

Its clothes, its facial features—everything was identical!

It was exquisitely detailed!

She said that all Yun Zhenyue had to do was drip her blood on this paper figure,

and she would be replaced by it!

"Yes..." Xiaoying nodded silently.

This was what the blood-red paper figure had sent her to do.

To exploit Yun Zhenyue’s trust in her.

To have her silently replace Yun Zhenyue.

This little paper figure was his masterpiece.

Once this was done, he would restore her sister.

A vicious, backhanded scheme!

This was proof enough of how much he feared Yun Zhenyue.

But...

Of course Xiaoying wasn’t going to listen to him.

She wasn’t an idiot. She could judge for herself who to trust.

Besides,

she could never bring herself to harm Yun Zhenyue, who had been so good to her.

"City Lord, we must apprehend that paper figure immediately!"

"If this continues, the entire ghost city will be completely assimilated by him in less than a day."

Hearing the anxiety in Si Qin’s voice,

Yun Zhenyue gently took the paper figure from Xiaoying’s hand.

BUZZ!

Before a wide-eyed Si Qin could stop her,

Yun Zhenyue used her Purifying Hand!

A white light immediately appeared!

A stream of blood-red light emerged from the paper figure’s body, followed by a terrified shriek. The sound grew fainter and fainter, gradually annihilated by the Purifying Hand!

Just then,

a strange feeling arose in Yun Zhenyue’s mind.

’It was as if...’

’she could now connect with this paper figure?’

Her Purifying Hand had dispelled the malice within the paper figure.

Now, only the purest, most innocent consciousness remained.

"It actually worked," Yun Zhenyue took a sharp breath.

’After all, the Purifying Hand could purify all malice.’

’She had only ever used it for healing before.’

’This was the first time she had ever seriously used it to ’pacify’ something into a blank slate.’

’She had only meant to test it out.’

’Who knew that the blood-red paper figure had apparently trusted Xiaoying too much?’

’He must have thought she was an honest girl who would do as she was told.’

’But he never expected this, did he?’

’Turns out Xiaoying has a rebellious streak.’

’There were no hidden traps in this little paper-figure lookalike!’

’He was probably afraid she would discover any tricks.’

’And now, he’d ended up sending a treasure right to her doorstep.’

Yun Zhenyue immediately dripped a drop of her blood onto the paper figure.

The next second,

a muddled yet deeply dependent feeling surfaced in her mind.

It was like she had just gained a daughter.

And at that very moment,

Yun Zhenyue received a system notification.

[Ding! You have received a contract invitation!]

[Paper Figure · Yun Zhenyue requests to become your adopted daughter. Accept?]

"Huh?"

’It really is a daughter?’

’Suddenly, Yun Zhenyue had a bold idea!’

’Gu Yuan said his blood couldn’t be used by her, right?’

’Well then...’

’It should be fine to use it on this little paper figure, shouldn’t it?’

’After all, she still had nine whole drops!’