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

Jiang Dusheng walked steadily out of the Meng residence, followed by Meng Xueyan and Xu Yishuo.

The midday sun was shining brightly, and the streets were bustling with pedestrians.

She looked up at the sky, her clear eyes reflecting the azure light, yet seemingly shrouded in a thin mist unseen by others.

Xu Yishuo, who was standing nearby, keenly noticed her emotions and asked softly, her voice filled with concern:

"Miss Jiang, what's wrong?"

Jiang Dusheng withdrew his gaze, turned his head and smiled slightly at Xu Yishuo, a smile tinged with regret:

"It's nothing. It's just that when I was looking at Lord Meng and Madam Meng just now, I suddenly realized that your parents both loved you very much. It's just that their love looked different."

She paused, her voice calm, "Your parents' love is unconditional tenderness; they only wish for your peace and happiness, that you suffer no hardship. But Meng Xueyan's father…"

She paused for a moment, as if searching for the most fitting description, "His love is more like a strictly regulated courtyard. He poured his heart and soul into building it for her, not allowing a single brick or tile to be crooked."

"He thought he had given her the strongest protection, but he forgot to ask her if she liked the scenery in the courtyard."

After listening, Xu Yishuo thought of the Jiang family's attitude towards Jiang Dusheng. The obvious estrangement and scheming were far removed from love, and she couldn't help but feel pity and wanted to say a few words of comfort.

However, before she could utter any words of comfort, the faint smile on Jiang Dusheng's face vanished abruptly.

Her gaze suddenly sharpened as she swept towards an alleyway diagonally behind her. "Yin energy?"

Jiang Dusheng quickly took out the bone flute and put the souls of Meng Xueyan and Xu Yishuo into the flute to nurture them.

Immediately, her figure swayed like a ghost, her steps seemingly unchanged, but her speed suddenly increased as she chased after the alley where the yin energy had disappeared.

Amidst the crowds on the long street, her figure quickly disappeared into a relatively quiet side street.

As she chased him to a corner, the shadow on the wall swayed, and a pale, cold-skinned hand suddenly reached out from the side and grabbed her wrist.

Jiang Dusheng reacted extremely quickly, flipping his wrist to grab the opponent's pulse point, while his other hand, with fingers pointing outwards, contained a spiritual light that could ward off evil, and was about to strike down fiercely.

"it's me."

A deep, familiar voice rang out promptly, tinged with urgency.

Jiang Dusheng's palm strike suddenly stopped, and he looked up to see Xie Jinchen's handsome face right in front of him.

"Xie Jinchen?"

She withdrew her palm strike.

Xie Jinchen quickly whispered, "It's not appropriate to say more here. Come with me."

He grabbed her wrist and led her through several narrower alleys with light and swift movements, clearly very familiar with the area.

Finally, he put his arm around Jiang Dusheng's waist, lightly touched the ground with his feet, and darted into a private room on the second floor of a rather grand restaurant facing the street. The window then closed silently.

The private room was elegantly furnished and filled with a faint sandalwood fragrance, isolating it from the hustle and bustle of the street.

Jiang Dusheng steadied himself, looked at Xie Jinchen who had released his grip, and raised an eyebrow to ask:

"Young Master Xie, please explain?"

Xie Jinchen walked to the table, picked up the warm teapot, poured two cups of tea, and pushed one of them toward Jiang Dusheng.

He twirled the lustrous emerald prayer beads on his wrist, his voice low and apologetic:

"I apologize for my rudeness in the heat of the moment. That eerie aura must have been deliberately released by my father's men to lure you there."

Jiang Dusheng walked to the table and sat down, without touching the cup of tea. Hearing this, he chuckled and said, "It seems I've boarded a pirate ship, and I've been watched since I first boarded."

She raised her eyes, her gaze clear and cold as she looked at Xie Jinchen: "Originally, I had no desire to hear about, much less get involved in, the grudges and entanglements of you royal nobles."

"But now it seems that if I don't understand clearly, not only will I not be able to find your mother's remains, but I'm afraid even I will be thoroughly investigated by your father's people and get into endless trouble."

She lightly tapped her fingertip on the smooth tabletop. "Go ahead and speak."

The jade prayer beads spun slightly faster between Xie Jinchen's fingers, revealing his inner turmoil:

"I was careless before. That day in front of the restaurant, I openly looked for you. I suppose that's why my father started keeping an eye on you."

He paused, then continued, "If I'm not mistaken, he sent someone today to deliberately leak information and lure you there, firstly to probe your background, to see if you have any real skills, and how sensitive you are to Yin energy."

"Secondly, I also want to see why I'm looking for you."

Xie Jinchen looked into her calm eyes and slowly said:

"Miss Jiang, once these words are spoken, you'll be truly trapped on this pirate ship. The dangers involved far outweigh the recovery of the remains themselves. Are you sure you want to hear them?"

Jiang Dusheng withdrew his hand from the table, his tone calm and decisive: "Now, do I have any other choice? Who told me that I still need to rely on you, Your Highness, for medical treatment every fifteenth of the month?"

She spoke of the words "treat illness" with profound meaning.

Upon hearing this, Xie Jinchen chuckled softly.

He stopped turning the prayer beads, and his deep voice reached Jiang Dusheng's ears:

"Alright. Then I will tell you."

"My mother did not love my father." His words were startling, yet his tone was as calm as if he were recounting a story unrelated to himself.

"But my father, Xie Dai, was obsessed with my mother, to the point of... madness."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Dusheng's fingers tightened almost imperceptibly as he held the teacup, and his eyes narrowed suddenly.

She seemed to have a vague idea of ​​what was going on.

Xie Jinchen didn't look at her, seemingly immersed in his own narrative, or perhaps uncovering a long-sealed secret:

"The reason my father went to such lengths, even resorting to dark and evil methods, was to steal my mother's remains and hide them in a place that would be difficult to trace..."

He turned back, his gaze meeting Jiang Dusheng's, the emotion in his eyes as deep as an icy pool. "Perhaps, it's not just about possession, but also about... preventing someone else from finding it."

Someone else?

Jiang Dusheng's mind raced.

Another person whom even the powerful Duke feared so much…

Considering the rich, noble purple aura emanating from Xie Jinchen, powerful enough to intimidate ordinary evil spirits, this was something no ordinary noble family could possess.

A horrifying image quickly took shape in her mind.

The identity of the person who could make the Duke of Zhenguo feel so threatened is almost obvious, pointing to that supreme position.

This pool is too deep; the bottom is unseen.

Jiang Dusheng suddenly placed the teacup back on the table with a soft "ding," which was particularly clear in the quiet private room.

She raised her eyes, looked at Xie Jinchen opposite her, and spoke in a calm tone without a trace of emotion:

"Young Master Xie, is it too late for me to leave this pirate ship?"

She asked directly, even naively, as if she were simply asking whether a normal transaction could be reversed.

Upon hearing this, Xie Jinchen was slightly taken aback, and then chuckled softly.

His smile seemed to stir the tense atmosphere of the private room, as if touched by an invisible hand, and the light filtering through the window seemed to linger on his face.

"It's too late."

He stopped laughing, uttering those two words, his gaze fixed on Jiang Dusheng, devoid of any hint of jest. "From the moment you sat down to hear this story, you were already on the ship. Now you want to get off?"

He shook his head slightly. "I'm afraid that won't work."

Jiang Dusheng unconsciously rubbed the Buddhist prayer beads on his wrist with his fingertips.

She suddenly realized that this deal wasn't worth it.

If it weren't for the powerful purple aura emanating from Xie Jinchen, she would have died.

But now that she knows all this, she feels that she's not that far from the word "death."

Knowing too many secrets is itself a deadly thing.

Xie Jinchen took in the subtle changes in her expression. He suddenly leaned forward slightly, closing the distance between them.

The crisp scent of cedarwood wafted over, carrying with it an invisible sense of oppression.

His gaze was piercing, looking directly into Jiang Dusheng's eyes, his deep voice carrying a hint of seduction:

"You guessed it, didn't you?"

Jiang Dusheng's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained impassive. He even forced a smile and said firmly, "No."

The quick denial only revealed his guilty conscience.