Holding a lantern, guiding souls across, Lady Hou comes from the underworld.

Zhong Yi lay in the cave in a daze, his body fluctuating between hot and cold, and his consciousness coming together and dissipating.

Suddenly, I felt as if my life was about to end.

That was the first time he had ever been so close to death.

But the thought of death filled him with resentment, and a fire burned within him.

As the fire burned, it turned into hatred.

He began to hate himself for his humble origins, for his frail health, for his unattractive appearance, and even for his cowardly and timid nature…

Because of hatred, he felt increasingly resentful.

Just then, the dark figure inside the temple reappeared.

It whispered to him, almost like a spell, "Your body is no longer useful. Now I'll give you a choice."

The shadowy figure pointed to Zhong Ming not far away and asked, "If you want to live, you must abandon this close friend and use his body to survive."

"Look at him. Although he is not as learned as you, he is more handsome and taller than you, more beautiful than you, and most importantly, stronger and more courageous than you."

"Do you want to choose?"

Hearing these words, Zhong Yi felt a surge of emotions.

Zhong Ming lay beside him, also fast asleep, but his physical condition was clearly much better than his own…

He was unable to make a decision.

Because Zhong Ming was his best brother, and had always taken good care of him.

Seeing that he remained silent, the shadowy figure continued, "Since you are going to the capital to accomplish great things, this is the first decision you need to make. In the future, you will face countless similar choices."

"Those who aspire to great things must be decisive and ruthless. How can you expect to gain a foothold among the powerful and influential in the capital with such hesitation?"

Zhong Yi opened his mouth, and his teeth began to chatter.

The shadowy figure sneered coldly, "It seems you're not cut out for great things, and you can forget about going to the capital for the imperial examinations!"

The phrase "going to the capital for the imperial examination" seemed like a blow to the head.

Zhong Yi finally woke up. He gritted his teeth and hardened his heart, "I...I choose, I choose!"

He struggled to his feet, then knelt and kowtowed repeatedly, pleading, "Please, let me live! I must go to the capital for the imperial examination! I want to achieve fame and success! I'm willing to pay any price!"

The shadowy figure finally nodded in satisfaction: "Not bad. People should think more about themselves. Once you have power and influence, what kind of friends can't you have?"

With that, it laughed wildly and then disappeared into the cave.

As dawn broke, the rain had not stopped.

Amidst the chaotic sound of rain, Zhong Ming was the first to wake up. He glanced at Zhong Yi beside him and was startled.

"Ayi, wake up! Are you alright?"

Zhong Yi's face was deathly pale and his breath was weak. Clearly, if he did not receive timely medical treatment, his life would be in danger.

He knew he couldn't delay, so he gritted his teeth and made a decision.

"Ah Yi, you have to hold on! I...I'll go find someone to rescue you!"

As Zhong Ming spoke, he disregarded the heavy rain outside and ran towards the cave entrance.

However, before he could even escape the cave entrance, a strange wisp of black mist appeared out of nowhere and pierced through his body on the spot.

Zhong Ming immediately fell to the ground. Looking back, he discovered that Zhong Yi had somehow gotten up and was slowly walking towards him.

He was surrounded by black mist and had an indifferent expression.

Zhong Ming sensed something was wrong and tried to escape, but found that his body was out of control and he couldn't move at all.

He cried out in terror, "Ayi, what...what happened to you?"

Zhong Yi remained silent, walked up to him, and suddenly lowered his head, whispering three words to him.

"sorry."

After the rain stopped, Zhong Yi walked out of the cave alone, gazing at the rising sun in the distance, as if he saw a bright future ahead.

From then on, he was no longer called Zhong Yi, but Zhong Ming.

-

The moment his soul was forcibly extracted from Zhong Dingyan's body, Zhong Yi's chaotic consciousness flashed through his memories of the first half of his life.

Finally, the body that didn't belong to him fell heavily to the ground.

The departed soul was fixed in mid-air by a strange force.

The room was suddenly brightened again, and the extinguished candles slowly lit up.

"Taoist priest."

As Xia Ximo called out, Yan Zhengchu also saw the soul in mid-air.

He realized what was happening and immediately cast a transformation talisman.

Under the influence of the talisman, Zhong Yi's soul was thus directly exposed to everyone's sight.

Yu Lang involuntarily took a step back, also taken aback. "Who exactly is this soul now?"

Yan Zhengchu replied, "It should be Zhong Yi, the scholar from Liuhua Lane."

"How can he be so...young?"

"The soul does not age; it retains the form it took before leaving the body."

Yu Lang suddenly realized.

Ren Fengjue had no idea what had just happened, but he still subconsciously looked at Xia Ximo first.

Seeing that she was unharmed, he turned to look at the spirit in mid-air and asked, "Minister Zhong, should I call you Zhong Ming now, or Zhong Yi?"

Zhong Yi seemed still in shock. He stared at Xia Ximo in horror and asked, "Who... exactly are you?"

Xia Ximo raised an eyebrow slightly, gave a cold smile, and retorted, "What do you think?"

Zhong Yi looked down at the body on the ground again, still finding it hard to believe…

More than thirty years have passed, and he never imagined that he would reappear in this way.

Yan Zhengchu said, "You old bastard, you're really vicious. You've occupied your best friend's body for so many years, and now you're not even sparing your son."

"Where did you put the spirits of your two sons?"

Zhong Yi did not answer.

Yu Lang said indignantly, "He could even harm his own son. I never imagined that someone like that could serve as an official in the court for so many years. It's chilling to even think about!"

Yan Zhengchu then asked, "What exactly happened with the Ghost Temple back then?"

Zhong Yi suddenly gave him a cold glance and said sarcastically, "What? You, a Taoist priest, are going to worship too?"

Yan Zhengchu scoffed dismissively, "This Daoist priest is here to subdue that evil spirit!"

"You?"

Zhong Yi shook his head with a sneer: "It's one thing to subdue those ghosts who have no power, but I'm afraid you don't even have the qualifications to see 'ghosts and gods'."

Although Yan Zhengchu knew his own limitations, he couldn't lack the necessary imposing presence.

"Whether I can kill it or not is another matter, but if I find out where this evil spirit is, I certainly won't let it run rampant in the human world!"

At this moment, Ren Fengjue also spoke up: "Minister Zhong, even now, you don't still believe that those so-called 'ghosts and gods' are truly trying to help you, do you?"

These words caused Zhong Yi's smile to freeze slightly.

But only for a moment, and he stubbornly retorted, "Of course, I am able to possess all of this because it was bestowed upon me by the 'ghosts and gods'."

Ren Fengjue replied, "You have studied diligently for so many years, and your knowledge is genuine. You have earned the Emperor's favor through your own abilities."

"On the contrary, is it worth losing so many important people in your life because of those so-called 'ghosts and gods'?"