Chapter 50: My Ashes!

Mother Zhang politely yet firmly escorted Mrs. Qiao out. Although Mrs. Qiao looked extremely reluctant to leave, she had no choice but to comply.

I followed them outside and saw Mrs. Qiao complaining to Gu Tingchu.

Gu Tingchu?

I was somewhat taken aback. I never expected to find him here.

Since when had he grown so close to Mrs. Qiao?

Before I could wrap my head around it, I heard Gu Tingchu offering comfort. "It's alright, Auntie. Please calm down and don't let this upset your health. It is simply not worth harming yourself over such matters."

Mrs. Qiao let out a heavy sigh. "Xiao Gu, you are the only sensible one. If Yunzhou had even half of your consideration, how wonderful would that be? Look at him now—just because he wanted to pick a fight with Yanxin, he ran off and hasn't returned for over twenty days. I honestly have no idea what is going on in his head."

I didn't miss the flash of provocation that crossed Gu Tingchu's face, but he put on a hypocritical front and said, "Brother Yunzhou probably has his own reasons. Perhaps it's because he knows he has parents like you to fall back on. Unlike me, born into an ordinary family, I have never dared to be so reckless."

Mrs. Qiao sneered, but said nothing more.

"Enough, let's go."

With that, the two of them left together.

I did not miss the lingering malice that flickered across Gu Tingchu's eyes.

For some reason, a wave of panic gripped my heart.

Could Gu Tingchu have done something?

Right—that bowl!

He was the one who had won that set of blue and white porcelain bowls at the auction, the ones carved with Tibetan scripts...

Daring not to think further, I turned around and sprinted back toward the room where the tableware was kept.

Sure enough, the moment I approached the dishes, my body was instantly sucked into a beam of light.

It was exactly the same as when I had been pulled into the amber, and into that mask.

This bowl was made from my ashes!

Gu Tingchu was utterly depraved and psychotic; he had used my ashes to craft tableware and then gifted it to Grandmother!

How could he do such a thing?

How could I have been so blind before as to not realize how vicious he truly was? Even though I was already dead, he refused to let me go, nor would he let the Qiao family go.

Perhaps it was because Grandmother had always been good to me that he devised such a venomous method.

No wonder when I first saw that piece of amber, I felt the figure inside looked somewhat strange. Looking at it now, it was because the corpse lacked the support of bones, making its shape appear distorted.

And my bones had been ruthlessly stripped from my flesh to be forged into a set of tableware!

I couldn't understand. I simply couldn't comprehend what kind of deep hatred or grievance existed between us. I had done nothing wrong; why did he treat me this way?

Was it just because I was with Qiao Yanxin?

But what did that have to do with me? Our parents arranged for us to marry simply because we grew up together. If he wanted revenge, why didn't he go after the Qiao parents? Why target me like this?!

By daring to do this, he must have planned meticulously to ensure my remains would never be discovered.

My corpse... to this day, not a single person knows of my death.

By the time everyone finds out I am dead, I will probably have already passed through the cycle of reincarnation.

As time goes on, with my body nowhere to be found, people will eventually forget all about me.

After all, I was never anyone important. I was merely a dependent child raised by the Qiao family, not of their own flesh and blood. Why would anyone care about me?

Aside from Grandmother, apart from this gentle, kind old woman, not a single soul cared whether I lived or died. Not one.

They might think I died, or perhaps they would think I simply went missing.

Yet not a single person would ever find my body. Who could possibly imagine that my remains had been chopped into pieces and turned into various household items, resting in the hands of the Qiao family?

Who could ever guess that those objects were actually parts of my corpse?

However, if my soul cannot rest in peace, does it mean I am destined to exist as a lingering spirit for the rest of eternity?

When will this kind of torment finally come to an end?

I refuse to spend my entire life like this, clinging like a parasite to the side of the Qiao family.

I sat leaning against Grandmother, looking at her withered frame and wrinkle-lined face, feeling a bitter ache in my chest.

Grandmother’s physical condition probably couldn't hold out much longer.

Before long, she would pass away. When the last person in this world who cared about me died, would anyone else even remember me?

Mother Zhang brought over a steaming bowl of bird's nest soup and placed it within Grandmother's reach.

"Old Madam, please have a little. You barely ate anything this evening. Eating a bit now will be good for your health."

Grandmother sighed and gently pushed the bowl away.

"Forget it, I have no appetite. Just leave it there for now."

"But how can you not eat? Don't you want to keep your health up and wait for Young Master Qiao to return? If Young Master Qiao finds out you skipped dinner, he's going to lecture you again."

I knew Grandmother disliked eating at night, likely because her digestive system was too weak, so she generally avoided evening meals.

However, back when I was alive and found out about it, I used to nag her relentlessly, insisting she had to eat every single night—even if she didn't want much, she had to consume something small.

Whenever I caught her skipping a meal, she would inevitably have to endure a long lecture from me.

Recalling something from the past, Grandmother let out a soft, lingering sigh.

"Very well, bring it here."

Taking the bowl, Grandmother ate a couple of bites before letting out another heavy sigh. "Did you see how they were acting? I have no idea what kind of spell that Gu fellow cast on them. To actually call Yunzhou an outsider—isn't that Gu fellow much more of an outsider? At the very least, Yunzhou was raised by them since childhood; they know his roots inside and out. Could that Gu fellow possibly be a good person?"

"Yunzhou is the most filial child. Even if he were angry, it is practically impossible for him not to contact his family. Even if he didn't contact them, surely he would at least contact me. Yet he hasn't even made a single phone call. To my mind, nine times out of ten, something must have happened to him."

Grandmother closed her eyes, her gaze deep with sorrow.

Seeing this, Mother Zhang quickly consoled her. "Old Madam, please don't worry too much. I think you're only thinking this way because the Madam's words upset you just now. Young Master Qiao probably just doesn't want anyone to track his whereabouts yet, which is why he hasn't called home. If he were to call you, wouldn't the Young Miss find him the moment she looked?"

"But... that strange thing in the suburban outskirts back then—I still remember it clearly to this day. And when has Yunzhou ever left home for such a long time without leaving a single trace? The people we sent out haven't found a single thing. Tell me, could it be that something has genuinely gone wrong with him?!"