The Entire Harem has Transmigrated - Chapter 18

Jiang Li was momentarily stunned.

For a fleeting moment, she had genuinely been taken in by the girl’s act, even instinctively reaching out to embrace her.

But the daze lasted only an instant. Before her hand could even brush Ruan Qingqing’s skin, Jiang Li snapped back to her senses and ruthlessly pushed the girl away again.

“Miss,” Jiang Li said coldly, her brow furrowed, “please maintain your composure.”

“Waaah…” Ruan Qingqing continued to sob softly. When threats and intimidation failed, she began gently shaking Jiang Li’s arm, softening her tone. “Please, just one hug… just one…”

Jiang Li: “……”

Jiang Li had never encountered anything like this before.

She couldn’t quite articulate her emotions. After a long pause, she finally found her voice, her tone still icy. “Stop acting cute.”

She wanted to say, “Acting cute won’t work. I really don’t know you,” but under the girl’s relentless persistence and relentless pestering, she inexplicably opened her arms.

“Just one hug,” Jiang Li said, her lips pressed into a tight line.

As soon as Jiang Li finished speaking, the soft, fragrant girl threw herself at her again.

This time, Ruan Qingqing went even further. Instead of hugging Jiang Li’s waist, she stood on tiptoe and wrapped her arms around Jiang Li’s slender neck, pressing her entire soft body against hers, their curves fitting perfectly together without a single gap.

Jiang Li froze completely.

She had never been in love and disliked physical intimacy. This was the first time she realized that a hug could be so close, leaving no space between them, not even enough for the wind to pass through.

An indescribable, strange emotion began to spread wildly through her. The stars twinkled brilliantly overhead, the evening breeze whispered softly, and Ruan Qingqing nuzzled Jiang Li affectionately, her voice small: “I missed you so much.”

After a long moment, Jiang Li finally snapped out of her daze. She pushed the girl away again, her voice cold as she warned, “You’ve got the wrong person.”

Ruan Qingqing had stopped crying, but she insisted, “I told you, I haven’t mistaken you. You’re the one who’s forgotten me.”

Jiang Li asked, “Do you have any proof?”

Ruan Qingqing thought for a moment, then made a circle with both hands and held it up. “Your two waist dimples are this big.”

Jiang Li: “……”

Ruan Qingqing pointed a few centimeters below Jiang Li’s heart and said earnestly, “You also have a small red mole here.”

Jiang Li’s expression turned icy. She grabbed Ruan Qingqing’s wrist, pinned it against the car, and demanded in a harsh voice, “How do you know that?”

Jiang Li could dismiss Ruan Qingqing’s claims about her waist dimples as nonsense, but the location of the red mole was too specific. No one should know about it.

Could it be that I had a one-night stand with this girl and then completely lost my memory? How could such a melodramatic thing happen?

But Ruan Qingqing’s answer was even more absurd: “Because we bathed together in our past life, so I know.”

Jiang Li: “?”

Jiang Li: “Past life?”

Ruan Qingqing nodded, her mood completely calmed. She said to Jiang Li, “For you, it was indeed a past life, so you’ve forgotten me. I forgive you.”

Jiang Li was utterly speechless.

After a long moment of contemplation, she finally came up with a plausible explanation: “Did Jiang Minhui send you?”

After all, apart from Jiang Minhui, who had cared for her in childhood, no one else would know the location of that mole.

Ruan Qingqing looked puzzled. “Who’s that?”

Jiang Li replied, “My grandmother.”

Ruan Qingqing exclaimed in surprise, “You actually have a grandmother?”

Jiang Li fell silent.

Ruan Qingqing quickly explained, “It’s just that in your previous life, you had no other family—only Master and me. That’s why I asked.”

She wanted to say more, but noticing the middle-aged man nearby casting curious glances their way, she held back.

I should talk to the Imperial Preceptor about our past life when we’re alone.

“I still need to go to the cemetery,” Ruan Qingqing said after a moment’s thought, looking expectantly at Jiang Li. “Could I get your contact information? We can connect again another day.”

The girl’s eyes were clear and bright, filled with simple, pure joy, as if meeting Jiang Li was a source of genuine happiness. Moreover, she was strikingly beautiful, radiating a soft glow even in the dim night—both charmingly innocent and alluringly graceful.

It was just a request for contact information; there seemed no reason to refuse.

But Jiang Li was ruthless. After a brief pause, she spoke without reservation, “I don’t believe in reincarnation or an afterlife. Young lady, whatever your intentions, let me tell you this: don’t waste your time on me.”

Ruan Qingqing’s smile froze, her expression bewildered. “What do you mean?”

Jiang Li’s brow furrowed coldly as she replied, “I mean I have absolutely no interest in you. There’s no need for us to contact each other again.”

Ruan Qingqing stared at her in disbelief, her almond-shaped eyes widening in shock. Finally, anger flared, and she threatened to cry again. “How could you say that?” she sobbed. “Jiang Li, I only paid attention to you because you used to be so kind to me! If you’re not nice to me anymore, I’ll never speak to you again!”

Jiang Li remained unmoved, not even glancing at Ruan Qingqing. She simply instructed the driver to prepare to leave in a cold voice.

Furious, Ruan Qingqing wiped her tears with the back of her hand and ran off, crying.

Xiao Li couldn’t contain his curiosity and ventured, “Miss, is this some romantic entanglement you’ve gotten yourself into?”

Jiang Li’s gaze swept over him like a razor-sharp blade, her tone icy. “I never get involved in romantic entanglements.”

Xiao Li, terrified, clamped his mouth shut and immediately bent down to open the car door for Jiang Li. But she remained rooted to the spot.

Her gaze drifted into the boundless darkness, and the image of the girl, tear-streaked and vulnerable, resurfaced in her mind. What if something terrible happens to that soft, easily bullied girl tonight?

Jiang Li clenched her slender fingers and suddenly sprinted in the direction the girl had fled.

She ran for what felt like an eternity, but the girl remained out of reach. The slender figure had vanished into the wind, leaving no trace behind.

Xiao Li chased after her in the car, frantically honking the horn and shouting, “Miss! Miss, get in the car first! What are you doing?”

Jiang Li pressed a hand to her knee, panting. She recalled Ruan Qingqing’s earlier words, her brow furrowing slightly. Finally, she opened the car door and climbed in, ordering Xiao Li, “Take me to the cemetery.”

Xiao Li was on the verge of tears. “Why are you going to the cemetery? Even though Madam and the others are there, you’re a ghost magnet and can’t even exorcise them! Aren’t you just going to make things worse for everyone?”

Jiang Li smirked, her gaze piercing the driver. “Do you want to drive, or do you want to get out?” she asked, her voice chilling.

Xiao Li immediately straightened up, swallowing hard. “Yes, I’ll drive,” he said.

He couldn’t afford to cross the young miss. What choice did he have?

But when they arrived at the cemetery, Jiang Li couldn’t enter. A malevolent ghost was wreaking havoc that night, and the Metaphysical Sect had dispatched experts to exorcise it. The area was already warded with an array and guarded by sentries. Jiang Li was stopped as soon as she approached.

“Has a little girl come through here?” Jiang Li asked. “She’s wearing light-colored jeans and a pale yellow cardigan, very pretty.”

The guard recognized her and answered truthfully, “A crying girl ran past just now. Her magical skills were impressive—she blocked us with talisman paper and bypassed the array to force her way into the cemetery. We assumed she was some kind of expert and didn’t dare pursue her further. We reported the incident to our superiors.”

A sobbing little girl, an expert? With impressive magical skills?

Jiang Li found it hard to believe, but she couldn’t shake her unease. She sent a message to her grandmother, asking her to look after the girl if she saw her.

Jiang Minhui had no time to check her phone messages.

The malevolent ghost that had appeared in the cemetery possessed centuries of cultivation. Ruthless and unscrupulous, it thrived by draining the life force of humans and devouring its own kind to strengthen itself. It preyed not only on the living but also on other ghosts, its crimes so heinous they were beyond description.

“Be careful!” Jiang Minhui blocked a dark shadow’s attack with her cane, pulling the Metaphysical Sect disciple behind her. Her expression was grim. “This fiend’s cultivation is formidable. I cannot destroy it alone. Everyone, hold your talismans ready and follow my instructions to form a formation. Do not act alone.”

The massive black shadow loomed over the cemetery, emitting a coarse, grating laugh that seemed to mock the humans’ arrogance and ignorance.

Jiang Minhui’s brow furrowed deeply, her expression stern. The remaining members of the group braced themselves, preparing for the arduous battle ahead.

Suddenly, a earth-shattering wail shattered the malevolent ghost’s eerie, tearing sounds. Before anyone could react, the little girl in the pale yellow cardigan darted forward and stood before them.

“Get out of the way!” Jiang Minhui raised her cane, trying to protect the child, but what happened next left her utterly dumbfounded.

She watched as the seemingly frail young girl opened her hands. With an unknown gesture, she seized the black shadow that had been hovering freely in mid-air. But this was only the beginning. Next, the girl, sobbing uncontrollably, began swinging the shadow down to the ground. The Malevolent Ghost reverted to its original form and struggled, but it was futile. The girl, still weeping, relentlessly beat it until its soul was completely shattered.

Everyone was stunned into silence.

These were all elites of the Metaphysical Sect, yet they had never witnessed such a brutal method of exorcism.

“L-Little Master…” someone ventured to call out.

Ruan Qingqing didn’t even turn her head, responding through her sobs, “Don’t bother me. I’m in a bad mood and don’t want to talk to anyone.”

She singled out the malevolent ghosts, striking them with a palm strike from her left hand and a punch from her right, extracting their Ghost Qi to feed Bai Xiulian before dispersing them. The entire process was as effortless as strolling through her own backyard, encountering no resistance whatsoever.

“This is a once-in-a-millennium metaphysical prodigy! How fortunate I am to witness such a sight with my own eyes!” Jiang Minhui gazed at Ruan Qingqing’s retreating figure, her eyes shining with excitement, even the wrinkles on her face trembling with emotion.

Jiang Minhui had planned to befriend Ruan Qingqing after she finished, but Ruan Qingqing was genuinely in a foul mood and wanted nothing to do with anyone. After exorcising the ghost, she vanished without a trace, leaving no one able to keep up with her.

“Was that a celestial being descending to earth?” The people around Old Madam Jiang were still in a daze.

Old Madam Jiang suppressed her excitement and ordered everyone to search for Ruan Qingqing before getting into her car.

Then she saw a message from her granddaughter.

Old Madam Jiang’s eyes widened. She immediately called Jiang Li and shouted into the phone with surprising vigor, “I don’t need you to catch ghosts anymore! Just bring that young woman back to me, and we can discuss everything else later!”

Jiang Li, confused, replied, “I don’t even know her. I was going to ask you about her…”

“Bullshit!” Jiang Minhui retorted. “I give you three days to invite her to our home as a guest. If you fail, I’ll sever our grandmother-granddaughter relationship, and you’ll never set foot in the Jiang Family’s house again!”

The old woman’s voice was so loud that even Xiao Li could hear it clearly.

Not out of schadenfreude, but simply to remind her, Xiao Li said, “Miss, I remember she asked for your contact information earlier, and you refused…”

Jiang Li: “……”