"From now on, your home and family are mine."

The vast floor-to-ceiling windows and the spacious, well-lit interior of this grand villa were a perfect ensemble. Outside the windows, waterfalls and ponds were interspersed, surrounded by meticulously sculpted flowers and plants.

He Yan roamed back and forth in the villa, feeling immensely pleased.

"Let's toast."

She held a wine glass, her slender nails quickly slicing open the bottle.

"Baby, you're amazing."

The one speaking was that Taoist priest, who turned out to be He Yan's boyfriend, also skilled in some sorcery.

Upon discovering Meng Lianlian's superior fate, he harbored intentions of theft and alteration.

Now successful, the two naturally celebrated in the grand villa.

"Thank you, darling."

"Thank me? Why don't you thank me instead?"

I suddenly appeared, making the drinking pair feel at a loss.

They were bewildered but filled with contempt.

After all, they weren't human.

A black mist lunged at me.

I quickly dodged.

"You actually evaded it."

The Taoist priest angrily threw out a talisman.

But I instantly crushed it into ashes.

"An unskilled Maoshan disciple, put away those petty tricks."

I mocked coldly.

"Ha, who are you, meddling in affairs?"

Seeing that I identified his origin, he hurriedly asked aloud.

"Don't be in such a rush, you'll find out."

"Do you still remember Wen Chuchu?"

I asked, full of ridicule.

"Who's Wen Chuchu? Are you looking for the wrong person?"

He Yan bared her teeth and claws, seemingly wanting to tear me apart.

But unable to break through the barrier I set up, she could only make frightening faces to scare me.

"Do you know Chuchu?"

The man countered.

This man was actually Wen Chuchu's brother, Wen Lei.

He was a good-for-nothing who, by a stroke of luck, learned a couple of tricks from an exorcist.

He then began to boast and swindle, flaunting himself around as a Maoshan exorcist.

Not only did he fail to help his own sister, but he also did everything he could to stop her from going to school.

He wanted to marry her off every day.

Once, he feigned repentance, making Wen Chuchu believe he had changed, and she was deeply moved.

But who knew, Wen Lei soon sold his sister to a remote impoverished village.

If it weren't for a college student who noticed something was amiss, Wen Chuchu would have ended up locked away in the mountains, bearing children for bachelors for the rest of her life.

After this incident, Wen Lei was kicked out of the family by his parents.

They were so angry that they refused to acknowledge him as their son.

And thus, Wen Lei became obsessed with learning dark arts.

"Haphazardly learned and inferior in skill, causing this calamity today; you can only reincarnate as an animal in your next life."

I spoke calmly, sealing his fate.

"Such arrogance, what if I am evil? In this world, might makes right!"

Wen Lei unleashed a deadly attack, and after dodging, he fled to the garden.

I followed closely, casting a spell.

The talisman burned him, and he threw He Yan to shield himself.

"Wen Lei! You!"

He Yan's shallow abilities couldn't withstand my talisman.

Unlike the one given to Meng Lianlian earlier, which was to lure her in, this one was a genuine ghost-exorcising talisman.

Any evil spirit would at least shed a layer of skin if not die upon contact.

He Yan fell, and Wen Lei fled in panic.

As I was about to pursue, I was suddenly tripped and fell to the ground.

My legs felt bound by something, and I couldn't move.

A chill crept up my back as the outside grew colder.

Suddenly, the sound of suona filled my ears. Fixed in place, I couldn't move an inch.

A black mist rose into the air, and the whole villa suddenly turned into paper.

The smoke thickened, and the sound grew louder.

I hadn't noticed Wen Lei had already appeared behind me.

"Hahaha, you thought Meng Lianlian was my target?"

"Look." He spoke with pride, his tone mocking.

"I told you long ago, I would never fail."

His voice was full of confidence and arrogance, as if backed by infinite power.

Wen Lei laughed wildly, the sound of the suona stopped, his laughter piercing through the black mist, enjoying his victory.

The paper villa couldn't withstand the wind and was on the verge of collapse.

The garden turned into a pool of blood, red liquid flowing incessantly.

"My target is you, Xie Ran."

Wen Lei grinned viciously, continuously pointing the pool of corpse oil at me.

"It's you."

I realized the person before me wasn't Wen Lei; he had already been replaced.

"Indeed, it's me. Unexpected, isn't it, you wretch? One day, you'd fall into my hands."

Wen Lei increased his pace, directing the filth towards me.

"Now!" he continued, his tone dripping with contempt.

"You all can witness my greatness. I have embarked on an unstoppable journey, while you can only watch your defeat."

"Ha, a repeated loser is still a loser. You haven't progressed one bit in a hundred years."

As I spoke, I moved my feet and ascended into the air. The bright full moon shone directly; today was the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The one before me was a malevolent ghost I had subdued years ago. Speaking of years, it had actually been a century or more since then.

During the Qing Dynasty, a traitorous soldier robbed and slaughtered a village, then was reported and executed by an officer.

After his death, seeking revenge on the officer who had long perished in war.

He impersonated the officer and joined quislings, committing atrocities in the officer's name.

When I discovered him, he was enraged and wanted to stab me to death.

Only to find out I was an exorcist. In his capture, he escaped while I was weak.

"You got away before, do you think you can escape again? Rest assured, you're not out of options; there's still a dead end for you."

I cast a net towards Wen Lei. Both Wen Lei and He Yan screamed and fled upon contact.

"Fisherman’s net, ghost-bane."

Standing in the dim room, one hand rested on the table, fingers lightly tapping the wooden surface in a mocking rhythm.

I had anticipated things wouldn't be so simple and was well-prepared. This was an exorcist family heritage.

If not wanting to hear his true identity, I wouldn't have waited so long to capture him; I allowed him to reach his peak before catching him all at once.

"Spare me, I was deceived by Wen Lei, it was his plan!”

He Yan pleaded from within the net, her voice pitiful.

"Did you spare Wen Chuchu? When she was cyberbullied, when she jumped off a building..."

My expression was indifferent as evildoers seldom realize their wrongs and only make the innocent pay.

People like Wen Lei were overly self-confident or arrogant, satisfied with their actions, even thinking they were justified.

Meng Lianlian, He Yan, Wen Lei were all the same. They were immersed in self-aggrandizing, refusing to admit any societal norms, rationalizing their actions in all ways, self-centered.

Capturing the two ghosts into the net, I started a fire to destroy the paper villa and the corpse-oil pool.

Let the fire reveal the truth to them.

"Breaking news: Last night, a sudden fire broke out in Xishan, caused by piled-up sacrificial paper igniting a wildfire. Fortunately, no casualties were reported. We remind everyone to be cautious with paper-burning during ancestral sacrifices."

"Breaking news: Our city's Sheng Tian Group heiress has gone missing, along with her cousin..."

"Meng Lianlian and her cousin have disappeared. She mentioned her cousin just before the last holiday."

Liu Jingqi watched the news, ranting to me in the dormitory.

"Maybe they went abroad."

I replied noncommittally. Maybe to places beyond this world.

"Indeed, I don't get the rich. They just vanish abroad, forgetting about unregistering and being declared missing."

"Maybe so."

With my head resting on my hands, the task was completed, why haven't they taken me to the next life yet?