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

"You really aren't going to care about them?"

Wuyou followed Xia Ximo out of the courtyard and, watching his retreating figure, couldn't help but ask a question.

She didn't answer immediately, but instead glanced at the osmanthus tree in front of the door.

It's easy to imagine how harmonious and joyful this family of four would be, sitting under the osmanthus tree during the season when the osmanthus blossoms are in full bloom.

Given Zhou Zigui's character, if he hadn't suffered this misfortune, he and Liu would likely have had a large family and many children and grandchildren to enjoy their company in their later years.

pity…

Xia Ximo stood in front of the door for a while, then looked back again.

However, just as they stepped down the stairs, they heard Zhou Zigui's voice coming from behind them.

"girl…"

He stood behind the hall door with Liu and their two children, but because the spirits feared the sunlight, they could not step out.

"Have you thought it through?"

Xia Ximo asked coldly.

Although the voice was cold, there was a clear hint of relaxation in the tone.

Behind him, Zhou Zigui took his wife's hand and said, "Although I regret that my wife and I are so in love but cannot grow old together, it is already a great blessing to have received this affection in this world."

"We could not live and die together, but we can go to the Yellow Springs hand in hand. We should be content. If God has mercy, we will surely meet again in the next life."

Xia Ximo remained indifferent after hearing these words, but responded with a snort.

Wuyou was surprised that she didn't tell the blunt truth this time.

It does have a bit more of a "human touch".

Zhou Zigui continued, "There's one more thing, which I promised you, Miss..."

Xia Ximo raised her eyelids. "What?"

Zhou Zigui pointed to the osmanthus tree beside him: "I buried my ten ingots of gold under this osmanthus tree as a gift to you, young lady."

So that's what it was about.

"Um."

Xia Ximo responded again, but there was no joy on her face. She simply turned to him and asked, "Anything else to say?"

Zhou Zigui smiled, shook his head, and bowed deeply, saying, "Thank you, young lady."

Wuyou collected the souls of his entire family into the Soul-Crossing Lamp.

Xia Ximo picked up a small hoe from the yard and dug under the osmanthus tree for a while, eventually unearthing a dark little box containing ten ingots of gold.

After taking the gold, she left the Zhou residence but headed towards the entrance of the East Market, intending to hire a carriage to go directly to Zheng Daoyuan's residence.

However, as I passed by a shop, the sign for "Zhou Ji Pastry" came into view, but the shop door was tightly closed, and it looked like it had been closed for a long time.

Xia Ximo sensed that the soul within the Soul-Crossing Lamp trembled slightly, clearly deeply moved by this place.

Looking at this time-honored brand, she paused slightly, her eyes thoughtful.

They hired a carriage, but went back to the Ren residence first.

The housekeeper, Ren Cong, was leisurely watering the flowers in the courtyard when he was suddenly startled to see a figure reflected on the wall next to him. His hand trembled, and he spilled water all over the ground.

"Miss Xia, how come you walk without making a sound?"

He clutched his chest, clearly terrified.

Xia Ximo walked up to him and handed him a box, saying, "I need you to do me a favor."

Ren Cong was startled again.

Ask him for a favor?

That's really rare.

He glanced at the box, a look of surprise and uncertainty on his face, and asked, "What's in this box...?"

Xia Ximo instructed, "There's a pastry shop called 'Zhou's Pastry' in the East Market. Find a reliable person to take it over. Is this money enough?"

Ren Cong took the box, opened it, and was startled again.

A full ten ingots of gold.

Forget finding someone to take over the shop, you could just buy it outright.

"This is definitely enough..."

As the steward, Ren Cong was in charge of all the food, drink and daily necessities of the entire Ren residence, including Ren Fengjue's clothing, food, housing and transportation.

He often wandered around the streets and knew the situation in both the East and West markets very well.

Upon hearing "Zhou Ji Pastry," one would know that it is a well-established brand with more than ten years of history. However, due to the owner's misfortune half a year ago, the shop could no longer operate.

I heard that some of the guys inside had a falling out over differing opinions for a while, but the specifics are unclear.

However, it's a real shame to suddenly stop developing such a prime location.

Ren Cong had no idea why Xia Ximo suddenly wanted to meddle in the shop's affairs...

He was about to explain the various implications when Xia Ximo said bluntly, "That's enough. If there's any extra, you can take it."

"..."

Previously, the young marquis had given her one hundred taels of silver, which she took as a matter of course.

When they were tailoring winter clothes for her, they were even more rude and insensitive.

Ren Cong had always been dissatisfied with her.

He even secretly thought that this woman must have come to his house for some reason, even if she wasn't trying to "climb the social ladder".

Now that I think about it, her attitude towards the young marquis showed absolutely no intention of currying favor.

But if the goal is to make money?

That's ten ingots of gold! And she gave them away without even blinking?

Ren Cong was completely baffled, but Xia Ximo gave him no room to make excuses and turned to leave the mansion again.

On the way to the Shuntian Prefectural Government, Wuyou risked being silenced but still had to say a few words.

"Why didn't you keep a single one of those ten ingots of gold?"

"After you leave Ren Fengjue, you'll inevitably need to spend money while you're in the mortal realm, right?"

"Could it be... that they're not planning to leave?"

As soon as he asked the question, Wuyou felt himself being restrained by a strange force.

It had no choice but to shut up quickly, but couldn't help muttering a few more words to itself—

She must also be reluctant to leave.

And judging from the situation that followed, her entanglement with the young master of the Ren family would only deepen!

Because Zheng Daoyuan's death was suspicious, no funeral was held in the mansion until the case was closed.

In the past two days, in addition to the investigation team coming to the door, people have also come to offer their condolences and sympathy.

Xia Ximo had visited the day before, and upon her return, the gatekeeper and servants treated her with utmost respect.

After informing the housekeeper, she was quickly taken to Zheng Daoyuan's study.

Strangely, the other party's ghost was not seen in the room.

After looking around, Xia Ximo noticed a wisp of yin energy swirling in the courtyard behind the study and asked, "Whose courtyard is that in the back?"

The butler hesitated before replying, "Yes...it is our young master."

"Take me there."

Hearing her say this, the steward said, "Miss has already seen my young master's condition. Madam doesn't want him to know about the master's death and is treating him badly..."

Xia Ximo interrupted him, "Your master is clinging to him; that's really bad for him."

Upon hearing this, the butler was taken aback. He looked up and saw the other person staring at him with a pair of dark eyes, and a chill ran down his spine.

He didn't dare ask any more questions and immediately went to lead the way.

The two had just entered the courtyard where Zheng Ze lived when a strange, eerie wind suddenly blew in.

Xia Ximo glanced around and indeed saw that the main house was filled with a gloomy atmosphere.

She took a few more steps closer, and the spirits within the soul-ferrying lamp began to tremble.

Just then, a ghostly wailing sound came from inside the room.

Through the half-open door, Zheng Ze could be seen sitting at his desk, while Zheng Daoyuan's ghost floated nearby, wailing and crying.

He reached out, seemingly wanting to touch his son, but the soul had long been separated from the human world. No matter how he touched him, they were already separated by the yin and yang, and humans and ghosts were no different.