She didn't care about Ning Yitao. All she knew was that everything that originally belonged to her had been snatched away by this woman.
It was all because of Ning Yitao that she had started to lose her luck. This thought had taken root in her mind and turned into an obsession.
Yun Ruichu blamed herself for bringing Ning Yitao home, which had led the Yun family to this dire situation.
Since that day, Ning Hong was afraid to go anywhere. At home, she would be beaten and scolded. When she went out, the other socialites around would mock her.
To avoid being kicked out of the family, Ning Hong had to summon up her courage and go looking for Ning Yitao.
She threw away the phone with the tracker, and based on her memory, she went to the old rental house of Ning Yitao's. But she wasn't there.
At that moment, Ning Hong was wandering alone on the street.
She was afraid to go home.
But after a while, even she herself thought it was rather ridiculous.
Home. Could that place really be called a home?
Ning Hong had been walking on eggshells every day in the Yun family's old mansion.
She increasingly felt that Ning Yitao didn't deserve to be in the spotlight. She was just someone who should have been left rotting in a dark corner.
Ning Hong had spent all her savings hiring a private detective to find the Taoist temple.
Yun Fanghai had stopped giving her money. In order to turn the situation around, he had staked everything on Ning Yitao. He was determined to find her.
Since Ning Yitao hadn't submitted the severance agreement yet, Ning Hong had no other choice. She used her connections and bribed the relevant institution to reject Ning Yitao's agreement.
She also planned to find the agreement first and tear it up. Then, this mother - daughter relationship would be maintained whether Ning Yitao liked it or not.
In this way, she could use public opinion to save the Yun Corporation.
She had been staking out in front of the Taoist temple for several days. To find the severance agreement, she had hired people to secretly search every corner of the temple, but it wasn't there.
She patiently waited until Ning Yitao came back.
When she saw Ning Yitao's suitcase, she thought the agreement was inside. Just as she was about to make a move, the group set off without changing anything.
To avoid arousing suspicion, she followed them closely, hoping to find an opportunity to search the suitcase.
She also wanted to see what this daughter of hers was up to.
Finally, standing in front of Ning Yitao, Ning Hong learned what it meant to humble herself.
Rarely showing a good attitude when facing Ning Yitao, she forced a bitter smile on her face and said, "Ning Yitao, my good daughter. Please help your mother. Ask your husband to invest in the Yun family. If the situation continues like this, your mother won't be able to survive."
Ning Yitao scoffed. "Don't try to get on familiar terms with me. We've already severed our relationship. Whether you live or die has nothing to do with me."
After saying that, she pushed past Ning Hong and went downstairs for breakfast.
Ning Hong chased after her closely, her tone urgent. "Good daughter, good daughter. You must be just saying that out of anger. How could you treat your mother like this?"
Seeing that Ning Yitao didn't even look back, she decided to use both soft and hard tactics.
She stopped in her tracks, pretending to be tough and putting on the authority of a mother. She shouted, "Ning Yitao! I'm your mother. You have to listen to me."
Ning Yitao didn't even spare her a glance. She calmly closed the elevator door in front of her, ignoring Ning Hong's embarrassed attempt to stop the elevator.
As the elevator door closed, the world finally became quiet.
However, Ning Hong was just acting. Her acting skills were indeed good, but her cleverness was just wasted on the wrong things.
Money can make the mare go. Of course, she could also get Ning Yitao's room card.
But she was doomed to be disappointed. The severance agreement was in Ning Yitao's sachet. Even if she spent all her savings, she wouldn't be able to find it.
Ning Yitao had just walked downstairs, already forgetting about Ning Hong. She was wondering why Duan Qinghuai wasn't in the room this morning.
As soon as she reached the first floor, she saw a large table full of breakfast in front of him. He was sitting quietly at the table alone.
He exuded an extremely cold aura. His chiseled face showed no expression, and his black eyes were unfathomable. He looked like someone who didn't want to be approached.
He was completely different from his obedient self in front of Ning Yitao.
"He really looks like a person in a high - position," Ning Yitao thought.
As if sensing something, Duan Qinghuai looked up and met Ning Yitao's gaze.
His cold eyes softened immediately when they landed on Ning Yitao. A faint smile appeared on his face.
"I seem to be really different in his eyes," Ning Yitao had this thought for some reason.
Just as Ning Yitao was about to walk over, she saw Chu Zhiyuan rushing in through the front door, looking around in a hurry. When he saw Ning Yitao, he jumped up without caring about his image, waved, and ran over in a panic.
"How's it going? Have you found anything?"
Chu Zhiyuan gasped, looking extremely anxious. He even forgot what Ning Yitao had told him not to call her "ancestor" and blurted out, "Ancestor, come with me quickly to look for Yun Lianmeng. She's missing."
Then he started to tell the whole story on his own.
"Last night when I went back and found Yun Lianmeng, she found a cellar in the witch's house. There were many young children in it. From their clothes, it was obvious that they weren't from the village. They might have been abducted by the witch."
"At that time, you told me not to enter the village, so I went around through the forest and found the cave where Xie Qian said she was hiding."
"Then, I turned around and couldn't find Yun Lianmeng, who had been following me all the time. I was so worried that I, I didn't listen to you. I entered the village, but I still couldn't find her."
As he spoke, Chu Zhiyuan's lips trembled slightly. His uneasiness grew stronger, and his eyebrows were knitted into a deep frown.
Ning Yitao took the bag from Chu Zhiyuan's waist where Yun Lianmeng usually stayed. Using the remaining aura, she closed her eyes, stretched out her hand, and calculated her location.
The golden thread connecting Duan Qinghuai and Ning Yitao glowed faintly and extended to the bag.
After a while, the tassel of the bag actually floated in the air, pointing in a direction.
Ning Yitao opened her eyes, looked in that direction, and said, "She's lost her way. She's still at the cave where you last lost her. It's just that she's been pulled into an illusion. The talisman I gave her is enough for her to get out of danger."
"Since you've already entered the village, the 'witch' must have noticed. Let's go. There's no need to wait. We'll go and help Yun Lianmeng."
Chu Zhiyuan reached out to pull Ning Yitao and was about to rush out.
Before his hand could touch her, it was knocked away by Duan Qinghuai in mid - air.
Before he could ask a question, Ning Yitao added, "We'll arrive around noon. That's when the yang energy is at its strongest. It'll be easier to help Yun Lianmeng get out of trouble."
Behind them, Ning Hong, who hadn't found anything in the suitcase, followed them again, stubbornly believing that Ning Yitao had hidden the agreement on her body.
*********
However, the so - called witch didn't know that in this world, even if she managed to gather and refine so many souls, the formation wouldn't succeed.