After the ghost-hunting master descended the mountain, his fame spread throughout the capital.

That chilling "I don't accept it" was like an icicle, piercing the softest part of Song Suya's heart.

She trembled violently and could no longer maintain her composure.

She abruptly turned her head away, tears streaming down her face like broken beads, her voice choked with sobs, barely forming sentences.

"Dusheng, you...you must be exhausted from your journey. Get some rest. We'll come to see you again when your father and brothers return."

Before she could finish speaking, she turned around in a panic and almost stumbled towards the door.

The intricately embroidered skirt tripped on the threshold, causing her to stumble and nearly fall.

Fortunately, he managed to steady himself by grabbing the door frame. His back view showed panic and dishevelment, and he quickly disappeared outside the door.

Jiang Dusheng stood still, like an emotionless jade Buddha, his gaze calmly following the staggering figure as it disappeared outside the door.

Throughout the entire process, he didn't utter a single word to try and persuade her to stay.

The door had only been closed for a moment when a rhythmic knocking sounded.

"Go in." Jiang Dusheng's voice was calm and even.

The woman who pushed open the door was an old woman with her hair neatly combed, her back straight, and her eyes sharp.

"This old servant, Zhao, greets the young lady." She bowed respectfully.

"This old servant is a maidservant of the madam and is now in charge of personnel affairs in the inner courtyard. The madam cares deeply for the eldest young lady and has specially instructed this old servant to assign a group of clever and capable maids to serve you."

She stepped aside.

Outside the door, more than ten maids in blue dresses filed in and knelt on the ground in a row.

Everyone lowered their eyes and held their breath, making the large room so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Granny Zhao held a register in her hands, a perfectly measured smile on her face:

"Young Miss, this is the roster and brief information of the maids. Please feel free to choose any you like, and you can change them at any time if you find any that don't suit your taste."

Jiang Dusheng glanced up and looked over, while some bowed their heads deeply, their necks curving into a submissive arc.

Some glanced up furtively, their eyes filled with curiosity or awe as they peered in.

Some had shifty eyes, concealing thoughts that were not easily detected.

Jiang Dusheng walked step by step from the front to the back of the line, with his hands behind his back, and finally stopped in front of the last maid.

The maid was only thirteen or fourteen years old, with almond-shaped eyes and cherry lips, and a pair of small dimples on her cheeks, which were slightly pursed at the moment due to nervousness or anticipation.

Seeing that Jiang Dusheng had stopped in front of her, a hint of uncontrollable joy flashed in her eyes.

Those dimples also appeared slightly, carrying a touch of charming innocence.

Jiang Dusheng didn't see her joyful expression; he simply slowly raised his right hand.

His fingertips did not touch the maid, but hovered three inches in front of her brow.

A clear light seemed to flow through her eyes, and her voice was as light as snow falling from the eaves:

"Of the three souls and seven spirits, only the last soul and four spirits are barely holding on..."

She turned her head slightly, and her gaze finally fell on the maid's face.

At this moment, the maid's pleasing smile had already frozen in place.

Jiang Dusheng's tone remained calm:

"Speak! What kind of wandering ghost came from, and how long has it been possessing this girl's body?"

The moment these words were spoken, the air seemed to freeze.

The maid suddenly looked up, her once bright eyes now completely black, almost entirely filled with black.

Her mouth stretched out to the sides in an inhuman arc, all the way to her ears.

The voice she spoke was no longer the clear, bright voice of a young girl, but rather a strange tone mixed with a male voice:

"Ha...What's it to you?!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the woman's hand, with its veins bulging, moved with lightning speed, carrying a stench, and grabbed at Jiang Dusheng's throat.

"what!"

Granny Zhao and the other maids had never seen anything like this before. They screamed and retreated in panic, creating chaos.

Just then, Jiang Dusheng took a few steps back, and somehow, a string of warm-colored sandalwood prayer beads appeared on his wrist.

She shook her head gently and let out a faint sigh, as if she were regretting something beautiful.

His eyes narrowed instantly, "Go!"

With a clear shout, the Buddhist prayer beads in her hand flew out.

The 108 beads were not randomly arranged, but suddenly scattered in the air, instantly bursting with golden light.

Like an invisible net, it firmly enveloped the possessed maid.

The prayer beads hang in the air, their golden light weaving together to form a cage.

The possessed maidservant let out a mournful roar, her voice sometimes male, sometimes female, distorted and deformed.

A smile curved Jiang Dusheng's lips as she made a grasping motion with her fingers, causing the golden net of light to tighten.

The trapped maid struggled violently, emanating a black aura of resentment that attempted to corrupt the golden light.

"Let me see what you look like, you ghost who has taken over someone else's body."

As soon as Jiang Dusheng finished speaking, he drew a calming talisman in the air with his left hand.

The talisman transformed into a stream of light, shooting directly at the opponent's brow.

"Ugh!"

With a painful howl, a blurry gray phantom of a young man was forcibly forced out of the maid's body.

Two faces overlapped and appeared on the head, which was extremely eerie.

"...Granny...save me..."

The maid's faint voice was squeezed out intermittently.

Granny Zhao was already pale with fright, her finger trembling as she pointed at the struggling phantom of the male ghost:

"You...you are...you are Old Li's son from the kitchen?!"

These words were like a boulder thrown into water, and the other maids present gasped in surprise:

"It's him! Li Shuanzi, the one who fell into the well half a month ago!"

"Oh my god, wasn't he dead? How could he be possessing Xiao Huan?!"

"No wonder Xiao Huan has been acting strangely these past few days; even her tone of voice has changed..."

Upon hearing that his identity had been revealed, the male ghost's phantom became even more agitated, unleashing a torrent of black resentment as it attempted a final desperate gamble.

"Stubborn and obstinate."

Jiang Dusheng's eyes turned cold, and he no longer hesitated.

She made a hand seal with her right hand, pushed forward sharply, and shouted:

"Soul, scatter! Spirit, refrain from lingering! Imperial decree—exile!"

In an instant, the prayer beads shone brightly, and the sound of chanting could be faintly heard.

The male ghost named Li Shuanzi let out a unwilling roar, but ultimately could not resist this overwhelming power, and his entire phantom was completely stripped from the small ring by the golden light.

Having lost her support, the maid Xiao Huan's body went limp and she collapsed to the ground. Although her face was pale, the bluish-black death aura between her brows had begun to dissipate.

Li Shuanzi's soul, forced out, twisted and writhed within the golden light, filled with malevolence and resentment.

Jiang Dusheng slowly stepped forward, looking down at the struggling soul:

"Yin and Yang are in order, and life and death are distinct. Knowing that one will die, why not enter the cycle of reincarnation instead of forcibly occupying another's body, thus only increasing one's sins?"

The maids around were stunned by what they saw, and a chill ran from their feet to their heads.

Is this young lady, who just returned from the temple, a human or a ghost...?

Granny Zhao was drenched in cold sweat, and her eyes were filled with awe as she looked at Jiang Dusheng.

Knowing he couldn't escape, Li Shuanzi stopped struggling.

He stared intently at Jiang Dusheng, his eyes filled with resentment and confusion, and hissed:

"Didn't you come from a temple?! Buddhism emphasizes compassion and saving all sentient beings, right? My affair with Xiaohuan is our own karma, what right do you have to meddle?!"

When questioned, Jiang Dusheng didn't get angry but laughed instead.

That smile was faint, yet it made the cinnabar between her brows appear even more crimson, like a red plum blossom suddenly blooming in the snow, eerily cold.

"Oh..." she drawled, a smile playing on her lips, "...I forgot to tell you."

"Besides studying under the abbot of Nanchansi Temple, I also have another master, whose Taoist name is Xuanji Zhenren."

She paused, admiring the sudden crack in the other person's expression, and slowly uttered the second half of the sentence:

"So, who told you I'm just a Buddhist disciple? May the Heavenly Venerable grant you boundless blessings, I am... a practitioner of both Buddhism and Taoism."

"Dual cultivation of Buddhism and Taoism?!"

Li Shuanzi's soul fluctuated violently, and his anger caused the black aura around him to boil. "Then you should understand even more that the word 'love' transcends life and death."

"I fell in love with Xiao Huan at first sight. We were destined to be apart in life, but in death, I can share the same body with her and be together forever. What's wrong with that? Since you practice Buddhism, why can't you grant me this wish instead of driving me to my death?!"

"To grant your wish?"

Jiang Dusheng repeated the word, and the last trace of warmth in his eyes vanished.

Her tone suddenly turned icy, each word like ice:

"Your idea of ​​staying together forever means taking her body, erasing her consciousness, and turning her into an empty shell to satisfy your lust?"