Chapter 178: The Seventh Witch

Chapter 178 -175: The Seventh Witch

It was an unusual night. A lot happened.

Then again, perhaps every night is filled with stories, both good and bad.

「Six hours earlier…」

South Sea, Bai Shui Home District.

A young girl in a school uniform walked up a decrepit staircase.

She wasn’t particularly tall, about five-foot-three.

But she was blessed with an impressive bust and a pair of long, perfectly rounded legs.

Those legs made up a significant portion of her height, measuring a full meter long.

Normally, a girl with such a great body and pretty face would be quite confident.

This girl, however, hunched her shoulders and slouched, her hair intentionally let down to hide her face as much as possible without blocking her vision.

Her name was Zhang Shi’ai, a girl with an inferiority complex that ran bone-deep.

Zhang Shi’ai walked to the door, clutching an award certificate, and knocked.

Her face was full of anticipation.

She was hoping that when her father found out she had ranked first in the entire school, he would give her some well-deserved praise.

After a while, the door didn’t open.

She could clearly hear the sound of mahjong tiles being shuffled inside, as well as her mother and her friends’ angry curses and loud laughter.

‘Maybe my knock was too soft. They probably didn’t hear it.’

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

This time, Zhang Shi’ai knocked louder.

A moment later, the sound of cursing grew closer.

A woman with a cheap cigarette dangling from her lips opened the door.

Zhang Shi’ai called out weakly:

“Mom.”

The middle-aged woman cursed at her:

“You useless money pit, what are you knocking for?!

If you hadn’t ruined my feng shui, do you think I would’ve lost?!”

Zhang Shi’ai shrank back, forcing an awkward laugh.

“Mom, well…”

The middle-aged woman pushed Zhang Shi’ai out the door.

“Go, go, go! Go find your dad! You’re full of heavy Yin Qi, don’t ruin my luck.”

With that, the middle-aged woman slammed the door shut.

Zhang Shi’ai stared at the dark door and said in a voice as quiet as a mosquito’s buzz:

“I ranked first in the whole school.”

Zhang Shi’ai knew no one could hear her.

She glanced at the darkening sky.

She was afraid of the dark, and she knew her mother wouldn’t open the door for her again.

Clutching the certificate, Zhang Shi’ai lowered her head and walked back down the stairs.

…

After walking for a long time, she reached another housing complex.

Zhang Shi’ai entered the stairwell.

Her dad lived here.

But she didn’t dare go up.

Two years ago, her mom had an affair with a mahjong buddy, and her dad divorced her.

Her dad already had a new family.

He had married another woman.

That woman had a son.

After her dad married that woman, they also had a baby, a girl.

Zhang Shi’ai was afraid of disturbing her dad’s new life.

She glanced at the ever-darkening sky, then at the brightly lit stairwell.

Finally, after an internal struggle, she decided to go to her dad’s home.

She was truly terrified of the dark.

Zhang Shi’ai went upstairs, walked to her dad’s front door, hesitated for a moment, and knocked.

“Oh, my darling daughter is back?”

The middle-aged man opened the door with a beaming smile, but the moment he saw Zhang Shi’ai, his smile froze.

“Wh-what are you doing here?”

Zhang Shi’ai’s own smile became awkward.

The middle-aged man said:

“Come in first, we’ll talk inside.”

Zhang Shi’ai walked in, her head bowed.

“My mom… she told me to find you.”

As she spoke, she tried to show the award certificate to her dad.

Before she could even hand it to him, the man burst out cursing:

“Your mom’s playing mahjong again, isn’t she?!

I give her several thousand a month, and she can’t even take care of her own daughter?!

I must’ve fucking owed her in a past life!”

Zhang Shi’ai flinched. She pulled the certificate back, her head bowed, not saying a word.

Just then, footsteps sounded at the door.

“Daddy! Mommy took me to the amusement park today, and she ordered a birthday cake! It’s being delivered soon!”

A sweet, childish voice came from behind her.

Zhang Shi’ai turned around.

It was a little girl who bore some resemblance to her dad.

‘So it’s his other daughter’s birthday today.’

The “auntie” stood behind the little girl. Her gaze held a trace of hostility, but she still smiled and said:

“Oh, Shi’ai, you’re here. Have a seat for a bit.”

The woman shot a look at the dad.

“Come into the room with me.”

Zhang Shi’ai glanced at the darkness outside the window. Her head bowed, she stood frozen in place as if being punished.

Not long after, the sound of arguing erupted.

“Are you trying to make trouble for me?

It’s my daughter’s birthday! Why did you call her over?

Do I owe that mother and daughter something?

Isn’t the monthly allowance I give them enough?”

“How the fuck was I supposed to know she’d come tonight?! I’ll go kick her out, alright?”

The hand Zhang Shi’ai used to grip the certificate wouldn’t stop trembling.

“I hate you.”

The sweet, childish voice piped up again.

Zhang Shi’ai froze for a second, then lowered her head.

The little girl was full of resentment.

“You’re the one making my daddy and mommy fight. I hate you. Vampire!”

Zhang Shi’ai quickly turned away, running a hand through her hair to let the long strands cover her eyes.

“I’m sorry, I’ll leave right now.”

Zhang Shi’ai turned and ran out of her dad’s home.

Her name was Zhang Shi’ai, but no one loved her.

…

Zhang Shi’ai wandered aimlessly through the streets.

Her back hunched over more and more.

As if she were carrying a mountain that wasn’t hers to bear, a sin that wasn’t hers but that she was forced to carry all the same.

With nowhere to go, she curled up under a bridge.

She stared blankly at the countless lights of the city.

She, too, wanted a single candle flame to call her own.

After a long time, as the early morning hours arrived, the streets emptied and the lights went out.

A terrifying darkness enveloped her.

‘You money-losing piece of trash, it would be better if you were dead. You shouldn’t even be alive.

You’re ugly and hideous, worse than a toad!’

After a long while, she suddenly remembered something.

Zhang Shi’ai took out her phone and opened a streaming app.

Her favorite “big sister” was streaming on it.

That sister was so beautiful, so gentle, the only person who was willing to speak to her kindly.

Everyone called her a thirst trap, a tease, a slut.

But to her, that sister was an Angel.

Her dancing was unbelievably beautiful!

Zhang Shi’ai typed into the live chat:

“Sister, I got first place!”

Su Taotao:

“Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

This Su Taotao was none other than the Lazy Witch, Su Yubo.

Even after becoming one of the leaders of the Witch Association, she hadn’t given up streaming.

Before, she streamed to make money. Now, she streamed for her Cultivation.

Zhang Shi’ai froze.

She’d expected her to say, “That’s amazing, Shi’ai!”

Zhang Shi’ai wasn’t stupid. She knew that streamers were in it for the money, and even a couple of perfunctory words would have been more than enough.

Therefore, she was ready to take even a perfunctory compliment and twist it into a sign that she was loved.

She never expected that Sister Taotao would actually be concerned about her, asking why she was still awake.

Su Taotao:

“Let me dance for you.”

Zhang Shi’ai watched her sister’s dance. It was a hand dance.

It was beautiful. Watching it, lulled by her sister’s gentle voice, she fell asleep.

In her dream, after her birthday, her mom and dad were asleep in their room while she sat on the sofa, secretly eating the leftover cake like a little mouse, and her sister was there, watching her with a gentle smile.

…

When she woke up, it was already past five in the morning.

She sneezed.

After sleeping under the bridge all night, she had caught a cold.

Zhang Shi’ai quickly got up and started running toward school.

She didn’t have any money for the bus, so she had to run.

By the time she reached the school gates, it was already a little past nine.

The street vendors selling grilled sausages, skewers, and other snacks had already set up their stalls by the entrance, starting their day’s business.

The man selling lunch boxes pointed at Zhang Shi’ai and said to the owner of the neighboring stall with a nasty smirk:

“Showing up for school this late… she must’ve slept with someone last night. Probably got worn out. Look at her messy hair.”

The owner of the next stall saw Zhang Shi’ai and exclaimed in surprise:

“Holy shit, look at that chest! And those legs!”

The lunch box vendor’s smile grew even more lecherous.

“Hehehe, of course her chest is big. Someone must’ve groped it into that size.”

Zhang Shi’ai kept her head down and hurried toward the school.

Suddenly, the lunch box vendor saw something and his eyes went wide with shock.

A supercar pulled up to the school gate, and two beautiful women got out.

One had golden hair tied back in a ponytail.

The other had long, flowing waves of purple hair.

Both women had explosive figures, the kind that could make you fall for them with a single glance.

“Well, well. No wonder they can afford a supercar. They must be a pair of sisters servicing a sugar daddy.”

The lunch box vendor wiped the drool from his chin, his mind running wild with speculation.

…

PS: Thanks to Helpless in the Human World for the 588 coin donation.

Thanks to Rat King for the 588 + 1666 coin donations.

Thanks to Ma Fei for the 1666 coin donation.

Thanks to A Shallow Dream’s Wound for the 1666 + 1666 coin donations.

PS: I’ve had to deal with a lot of personal matters this year. My mother was hospitalized over the New Year and was only discharged less than a week ago.

While writing tonight, I received terrible news that my grandmother is critically ill.

I had originally planned to pick up the pace today, but my mind is a tangled mess and I’m completely beside myself. I’m afraid that if I rush things, I’ll cause problems with the plot.

I just rushed back from the city to the countryside. I have to stay by her bedside tonight. I’ll start writing again once I’ve had a chance to calm down.

I will do my best to release extra chapters soon!

It’s been hard on everyone, having to put up with an author with so many personal issues.

When I get back, I’ll start a livestream. You can all supervise my writing. If you tell me to stop after 24 hours, I’ll stop. If you don’t, I won’t even stop to eat.