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

Jiang Dusheng looked at the obviously thick stack of silver notes handed to her, then at the stack of silver notes that originally belonged to her in Xie Jinchen's hand, and remained silent for a moment.

For some reason, she always felt that Xie Jinchen was lying.

But his expression and tone were so serious that she couldn't find anything wrong with him at the moment.

She blinked, but ultimately accepted the thicker stack of silver notes.

She looked up at Xie Jinchen, a hint of obvious strangeness in her eyes, "Your number is wrong, it's too much."

As she spoke, she deftly counted out ten thousand taels of silver notes, carefully put them away, and handed the rest back, saying, "Here you go."

Xie Jinchen's gaze fell on the silver note that Jiang Dusheng handed back, then slowly moved to her face.

His handsome face showed no emotion in the swaying light and shadow of the carriage, except for a barely perceptible twitch of his long, raven-feather-like eyelashes.

In the end, he took back the silver notes and casually tossed the stack of silver notes he had exchanged with Jiang Dusheng back into the secret compartment of the carriage.

The carriage soon arrived near the side gate of the Jiang residence.

The coachman lowered his voice and asked, "Young Master, the eldest son of the Jiang family is guarding outside the gate. Should we still go over?"

Xie Jinchen raised a hand and lifted a corner of the carriage curtain, glanced at the side door, and then let out a sneer: "Has the Jiang family suddenly grown brains?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Dusheng looked through the corner of the curtain that he had lifted and saw Jiang Zhiyuan standing anxiously by the side door, pacing back and forth.

Her eyes remained expressionless as she said calmly, "Let's go. I don't have much stuff; I can have someone come back to get it tomorrow when they're not around. Please trouble you, Young Master Xie, to take me to the nearest inn."

She really didn't want to create any more unnecessary arguments and emotional entanglements with the Jiang family.

Since it's already over, let's cut it off cleanly and decisively.

Upon hearing this, Xie Jinchen didn't say anything more, but tapped the carriage wall with his finger.

The coachman understood, and the carriage drove straight away from the street where the Jiang residence was located without stopping.

After Xie Jinchen escorted Jiang Dusheng to a clean and tidy inn, he took his leave.

The next morning, before dawn.

While Jiang Dusheng was still in a daze, half-awake, he suddenly felt a damp, cold air close to his face.

She frowned, her eyelashes trembled slightly, and she slowly opened her eyes.

A paper face, wrinkled and blurred from being soaked in tears, was right in front of me.

The paper figure's originally delicate features were now soaked with ghostly tears, wrinkled and stuck to the edge of the bed. Its eyes, painted with cinnabar, were now somewhat blurred by the tears, and it was looking at her with a mournful expression.

Jiang Dusheng: "!!!"

Almost reflexively, she stirred her fingertips with spiritual energy and was about to make a hand seal to send the unidentified object flying.

"Waaaah! Master! You...you don't want me anymore?!"

A mournful male voice came directly from the ugly, almost unsightly paper figure, filled with deep grievance.

Jiang Dusheng abruptly stopped his hand seal gesture, and the veins on his forehead throbbed faintly.

Is that ugly thing Wang Dazhuang?!

Jiang Dusheng sat up, rubbing her temples. She frowned impatiently, her voice still low and hoarse from just waking up: "Shut up! Stop howling."

The ghost of Wang Dazhuang inside the paper figure trembled with fright and immediately covered his mouth with his paper hand, afraid to cry out.

He lifted his paper face, soaked with ghostly tears, and looked at Jiang Dusheng with a mournful yet cautious gaze, explaining in a sobbing voice:

"Master, if you hadn't stayed away from the manor last night, I would have been worried and eavesdropped under the beds of the people in the Jiang family. I wouldn't have known that you had severed ties with the Jiang family..."

"You just left like that, without even taking the little one with you... Waaah, and I was still thinking of you! While they were frantically searching for you early this morning, I secretly took out all your usual things!"

After saying this, as if recalling the painful memory of being abandoned, the paper figure trembled and looked like it was about to burst into tears again.

Looking at the ugly paper figure soaked in tears, Jiang Dusheng restrained himself from crumpling it up and throwing it out the window.

Before Wang Dazhuang could open his mouth and make an even louder noise, someone swiftly pointed and flicked their fingers, sending a silencing talisman flying out and landing it on Wang Dazhuang's mouth.

"Ugh...uh?!"

Wang Dazhuang's voice abruptly stopped.

He waved his arms frantically, pointed to his mouth, and the paper figure twisted and turned in his haste, making him look even more comical.

Jiang Dusheng watched him fussing around expressionlessly until he calmed down a bit, then slowly asked, "Now, can we be quiet?"

The paper doll Wang Dazhuang immediately stopped all movement and nodded stiffly.

Jiang Dusheng slightly raised his fingertip, and a silencing talisman floated down. "How did you find your way here?"

Jiang Dusheng stopped looking at him, stood up and walked towards the washstand in the room.

Wang Dazhuang's voice immediately became eager, as if he wanted to claim credit, "Master, you have no idea! In order to find you, I asked every wandering ghost in the surrounding streets."

"Although most of them were in a daze, there were always a few girls who remembered the cinnabar mark on their foreheads who entered this inn..."

"I asked them one by one, and followed the directions they pointed out until I found it..."

His voice trailed off, finally tinged with a hint of guilt, "I...I only slightly disturbed a few people, but I swear I didn't scare them! Really!"

Jiang Dusheng: "..."

She now understood what it meant for ghosts to have their own ways, but she had underestimated the intelligence network of these wandering spirits in the marketplace.

Without turning her head, she warned, "From now on, no one is allowed to enter my house without my permission. Especially..."

She paused, recalling the scene she had just witnessed upon opening her eyes, "While I was sleeping, I opened my eyes and saw a ghost. How unlucky."

Wang Dazhuang shrank back inside the paper figure, and said "Oh" in a wronged tone, "I'll remember."

Jiang Dusheng quickly finished washing up, sat down at the table, took out scissors and paper from the package Wang Dazhuang had brought out, and cut out a new paper doll body that was even more handsome than before.

She drew out Wang Dazhuang from the old paper figure, guided it with her fingertips, and injected it into the heart of the new paper figure.

As the old gave way to the new, the eyes of the new paper figure, drawn with fine ink, seemed to come alive for a moment.

Then, she drew several runes on the new paper figure with her fingers, the light flowing from her fingertips, solid and not dissipating. As the last stroke fell, she softly shouted, "Solidify!"

The light entered the paper, faintly revealing a layer of golden light, which then disappeared.

"The talisman has the effect of solidifying the body and repelling water. If you cry and wail in the future, as long as you don't jump into the river yourself, your body probably won't disintegrate."

Upon hearing this, Wang Dazhuang tentatively moved his hands and feet, and twisted his waist.

Sure enough, the paper seemed much tougher, and it felt less soft and fragile than before when moved around.

His face immediately lit up with joy, and his voice became even louder, "Thank you, Master! Master's skillful hands! Master's benevolent heart!"

Jiang Dusheng ignored his flattery, packed his things, and put the necessary items into an inconspicuous cloth bag:

"I need to leave the city for a few days. You stay in Changling City and help me find a suitable house."

After a moment's thought, she added, "I want a quiet place, preferably with a small courtyard, and the price should be under five thousand taels. Once you've found a good spot, write down the location, and I'll decide when I get back."

"Yes, Master! Leave it to me!" Wang Dazhuang puffed out his chest in his new body, full of confidence. "I'll definitely find you a comfortable and affordable place to stay!"

After making the arrangements, Jiang Dusheng did not leave the city immediately.

She first went to Ruanhongxuan, found Yue Rao, and obtained the earring that was still imbued with the lingering scent of broken warm jade.

Afterwards, he picked out a chestnut horse that looked docile at the horse market, and following the wisp of scent from the earring, he rode out of Changling City.