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

The moment the words left her lips, Granny Zhou's eyes widened in shock, but she still managed a hoarse voice as she said, "What...what did you say? I don't understand!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Dusheng was neither angry nor annoyed. Instead, he chuckled softly, a laugh tinged with sarcasm. "Unwilling to tell the truth? No problem."

She tilted her head slightly, her gaze passing over Granny Zhou on the ground, to the female ghost still bound by chains, and finally back to Granny Zhou's face. "Then I will speak for you."

"That female ghost..." Jiang Dusheng pointed at the female ghost, as if carrying an invisible pressure, "She's your biological daughter, isn't she?"

"no!"

Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, Granny Zhou sprang up suddenly, only to be held down firmly by the guards, and could only deny it in vain with a shrill voice.

However, the undisguised fear and panic in her eyes already said it all.

Although Chen Erya and the others nearby couldn't see the female ghost, they seemed to be awakened by those words, suddenly remembering something, and exclaimed:

"That's it! Granny Zhou's daughter, I think her name was Chunhua! She also drowned four months ago! At the time, they only said it was an accident, and she was buried hastily. Could it be..."

Before she finished speaking, the silent female ghost slowly raised her head, her ghostly eyes filled with sorrow and a hint of relief.

She spoke, her voice hoarse and ethereal, "Mother..."

This call contained no filial piety, only endless irony and resentment.

"Your retribution has finally come."

The female ghost turned her gaze to Jiang Dusheng, "That's right, I am her biological daughter, Ke Chunhua."

"What a pity..." Her laughter was shrill. "My own flesh and blood is nothing more than a pawn in my mother's hands, used to show loyalty to her master in exchange for wealth and glory."

Upon hearing this, Granny Zhou wanted to say something, but Jiang Dusheng gave her a cold look.

The guards beside her immediately understood and used a cloth that had been prepared beforehand to tightly gag her mouth, leaving only her struggling "mmm" sounds.

Ke Chunhua's ghostly eyes flickered, as if she could see through the people in front of her and return to the day that changed her fate.

"My name is Ke Chunhua." She repeated her name, as if confirming an identity that had long been forgotten.

"Four months ago, the eldest daughter of the Zhou family accidentally fell into the water. When she was pulled out, she was already dead."

"Others may not know, but my mother... when she was young, she followed a wandering sorcerer and learned some unorthodox methods. Although she was not proficient and only knew some rudimentary talismans, she was extremely skilled in the art of changing one's life and face."

Ke Chunhua's voice was laced with sarcasm, "Magistrate Zhou has indeed treated this nanny, who knows a bit about the ways of the world, quite well. She has even taken good care of my younger brother, treating him almost like her own son."

"After the young lady passed away, my mother secretly called me into the inner room." Ke Chunhua's voice was very soft, with a nightmare-like daze.

"She grabbed my hand with terrifying strength, and her eyes shone with an unnerving light."

She said, "Chunhua, the magistrate has been kind to your mother and has treated your younger brother as his own son, nurturing him with great care. Now that the eldest young lady has suffered such a calamity, the Zhou family is in dire straits! You must save the eldest young lady, save the Zhou family, and also save your brother's future!"

"I was terrified and said, 'Mother, the young lady is dead! How can I possibly save her?!'"

Ke Chunhua imitated Granny Zhou's tone at the time, her voice full of coaxing:

"My mother stared intently at me and said in a low voice, 'Chunhua, listen to your mother! Your birth chart is somewhat similar to that of the eldest young lady, and your figures are also similar.'"

"She has just passed away, and her soul is still far away. As long as it hasn't been six hours, I will take you to the place where she fell into the water. At that time, I have a way to perform a ritual underwater to bring the young lady's soul back and temporarily place it in your body!"

At this point, Ke Chunhua's voice trembled with tears, "When I heard that, I was so scared that my soul almost left my body, and I kept backing away."

The ghostly tears in her eyes couldn't flow; instead, they transformed into a chilling aura. "I said, 'Mother! You've gone mad! This is evil magic! It's going to kill me!'"

"But my mother stepped forward and grabbed me tightly, her nails digging into my flesh. She lowered her voice, and her eyes gleamed with a light I had never seen before:"

"Silly girl, would your mother harm you? This is just a temporary measure! Just endure it underwater for a while, I promise you, at most four months!"

Ke Chunhua's voice turned incredibly cold at this point: "She said, 'Four months is the first minor cycle of the soul-transferring technique.'"

"At that time, Mother will find a suitable woman, and using the same method, at a specific time, carry her across this special bridge in this dark coffin that gathers yin energy."

"The formation under the bridge has already been set up. Once the coffin is on the bridge, when the time comes, you will drag her soul to the bottom of the river to suffer the torment of imprisonment in your place! And her still warm and alive body..."

Ke Chunhua's eyes were bloodshot as she stared intently at Granny Zhou, each word seemingly squeezed out from between her teeth:

"Then it will become a new home for your soul! Then you can come back to life, have a clean and innocent identity, and your mother will secretly prepare some dowry for you, find you an honest family to marry into, and our family can still live a happy and harmonious life!"

"Haha...hahaha..." Ke Chunhua's voice suddenly turned into a mournful and desolate laugh, which sent chills down one's spine.

"What a brilliant plan! I'll use my life and soul to save the young lady's life and the Zhou family's wealth."

"Using the life and soul of another innocent woman to exchange for my rebirth! And my mother, and my son whom she regarded as her lifeblood, were the beneficiaries from beginning to end!"

"But!" Ke Chunhua suddenly shrieked, her ghostly body contorting violently with agitation, "Having come back to life in someone else's body, am I still myself?!"

"Where in this world can you find the real Ke Chunhua?! She's nothing but a monster who wears someone else's skin, steals their life, and is haunted by water ghosts in her midnight dreams!"

"Even though I knew it was like that... I still did what she said. I'm not a good person either."

Ke Chunhua's gaze returned to Zhou Mama, whose mouth was gagged and whose face was filled with terror. "Mother, it's just a pity..."

Her voice suddenly became extremely soft, calm, "Four months have passed. You found a substitute, but you underestimated human nature..."

A complex and enigmatic expression appeared on Ke Chunhua's face, a mixture of mockery and sorrow: "I miscalculated her family's desperate resistance, and I also miscalculated fate! Tonight, someone who shouldn't be on the bridge happens to be passing by..."

Xie Jinchen's face, which had been listening calmly, suddenly turned icy.

The chilling aura of someone who had long held a superior position emanated from him.

"Investigate. Where is that Miss Zhou in the palace now, and what is her title?"

The moment he finished speaking, one of the two bodyguards who had been standing behind him like a shadow swayed slightly and disappeared silently into the night.