Bai Xue was itching to curse at her mother, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she almost choked on another mouthful of herb ash water.
After struggling to swallow most of the bowl, Bai Xue pushed the crowd away and bent over to vomit it all out.
"Oh no! What if it’s all for nothing?" An Hao said anxiously, "Should we, perhaps, prepare another bowl?"
Hearing about another bowl, Bai Xue was furious, "An Hao, you little hussy! Do you want to drown me?!"
"Huh?" An Hao asked deliberately, "Are you Bai Xue? Or are you not my mom, just pretending to be stupid and teasing me?"
Bai Xue didn’t want to keep up the act, but An Hao’s words forced her back into character, "You girl, mom rarely comes to visit, how could you treat me ? I’m angry now, I’ll go home to your father!"
"Don’t!" An Hao quickly stopped her, "You’ll scare him."
An Ping was extremely irritated by Bai Xue’s performance, clearly seeing her slip up. Thinking of his mother who had passed away, and how Bai Xue dared to involve her, An Ping seethed with hatred.
"Sister, perhaps your herb ash method is useless. Didn’t that witch Liu say filthy things can exorcise evil spirits? How about I fetch some sheep dung and animal urine? These things are potent; they’ll definitely work."
"Yes, yes, yes!" An Hao nodded eagerly, "Go, go! The more, the better. I’ll even sacrifice the yard if it’ll save Bai Xue."
"Alright," said An Ping before he ran off like the wind.
Hearing they were going to fetch dung, Bai Xue turned pale with fear.
She definitely didn’t want to end up like Zhang Juyun and her daughter, forced to eat faeces, did she?
An Hao was ruthless, and Bai Xue truly believed the girl was capable of doing such a thing.
She hesitated, unsure if she should hold out for Witch Liu to arrive or to just give up the act now. But before she could decide, she heard someone mention, "Blood, ghosts are afraid of blood!"
"Right!" An Hao instantly agreed, "Auntie, you’re spot on. Let’s make her see some blood."
No sooner had she spoken than she rushed into the house, grabbed a row of needles from the sewing box, and handed them out to the women in the yard, "Sorry for the trouble, ladies, but for Bai Xue’s life, please prick hard!"
"Prick Bai Xue, of course. You don’t expect us to prick ourselves while helping, do you?"
As soon as Bai Xue heard they were going to prick her, she immediately objected, "No, no, no! Don’t prick! I’m Bai Xue!"
Finally, she told the truth.
With a secret sneer, An Hao clenched the needles and jabbed them fiercely at her fingers, "Don’t lie to us! I haven’t even started pricking!"
"I am Bai Xue," Bai Xue insisted.
With a frown, An Hao pretended to be angry, "Were you deceiving us from the start? What’s your objective? If you were truly possessed, could you sober up so quickly?"
"Exactly! Bai Xue, what are you up to?" the crowd interrogated her.
If she kept pretending, she’d be pricked, but if she stopped, her true motive would be fully exposed. Could she face anyone after that?
Bai Xue truly felt like crying without tears.
This wretched girl, when did she become so cunning?
"An Hao, I really was possessed by your mother..."
An Hao saw that Bai Xue was still being stubborn and decided she wouldn’t go easy on her, "What nonsense are you spouting? Is my mom not gone yet? Hold on, we can’t stop until we drive her out. It’d be bad for your health."
With that, An Hao called out to the others, "Come on, start pricking! Consider it a good deed from you ladies."