Bai Ye froze in place.  

It took him a long while to find his voice again.  

“How did she die?”  

Huo Ning sighed.  

“Suicide. She turned on the gas and let it fill the house.”  

Bai Ye closed his eyes in pain, overwhelmed by guilt.  

“I didn’t protect her well enough.”  

When his eyelids slowly lifted again, his eyes were filled with a chilling ferocity, his fists clenched so tightly they creaked.  

“I should have killed the Huo family back then!”  

Huo Ning was stunned.  

“What do you mean, you should have killed the Huo family?”  

She explained to Bai Ye that she had no memory of the past.  

With a grave expression, Huo Ning looked at Bai Ye. “If possible, I hope you can tell me everything you know.”  

The sudden rise of the Huo family and the downfall of the Song family both carried an indescribable sense of eerie absurdity.  

Bai Ye slowly lowered his eyes, a faint shadow of gloom emanating from him.  

“I actually don’t know much. By the time I met Sister Ningning, she had already been kicked out by the Huo family.”  

“Back then, I was being hunted by a fox demon and was severely injured. Sister Ningning saved me.”  

“Later, I found out that the Huo family kept harassing and bullying Sister Ningning, so I wanted to kill them to avenge her.”  

But not only did he fail to kill the Huo family, he was nearly obliterated by the defensive array outside their home.  

Bai Ye’s eyes darkened, the veins on his wrists bulging. “If you want to avenge Sister Ningning, you’d better be careful. The Huo family’s background runs deep.”  

Huo Ning frowned.  

Bai Ye was no ordinary person.  

He was a cat demon with five hundred years of cultivation.  

If even he was powerless against the Huo family, it was no wonder the Song family had fallen from grace and been reduced to poverty.  

“Is there anything else you know? You can tell me everything.”  

The Huo family had to be dealt with—not just because she had taken over the original owner’s body and needed to seek justice for her.  

Now that she was living under the original owner’s identity, there was no telling when she might fall victim to the Huo family’s schemes.

“It’s easy to dodge an open attack, but hard to guard against a hidden arrow. A snake lurking in the gutter might strike someday.”

Huo Ning lowered her head, a faint glimmer flashing in her eyes.  

For now, what she needed to do was resolve the Song family’s predicament.  

Bai Ye’s gaze lingered on her, his eyes filled with sorrow, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.  

“Just say whatever’s on your mind.”  

Huo Ning walked into the supermarket, pushing a shopping cart. Passing through the daily necessities section, she grabbed two towels and some other toiletries for herself.  

Bai Ye’s eyes reddened, his voice hoarse with emotion. “Can you… not tell Uncle Song and the others the truth?”  

“Especially Grandma. She’s old—she wouldn’t be able to take the shock.”  

Huo Ning sighed and nodded sympathetically.  

“Don’t worry, I definitely won’t tell them.”  

She couldn’t help but feel regret.  

The original owner had clearly liked Bai Ye quite a bit.  

And the way Bai Ye spoke about her—his tone, his expression—was far from indifferent.  

But fate had played a cruel joke on them.  

After finishing her shopping, Huo Ning turned and pushed her cart toward the checkout counter.  

With one hand carrying the shopping bag and the other holding her phone, she opened Tengjiao Live and scrolled through her private messages.  

She had to swipe through a flood of DMs before finally finding one that asked if she could help catch ghosts.  

Just as she was about to reply, a new message popped up at the bottom of the chat.  

[Shi Wei Jian Ji: Master Huo, hello. Sorry to bother you again. You were offline earlier, but I see your avatar is lit up now. May I ask—do you offer ghost-exorcism services?]  

Huo Ning clicked on the user’s profile and saw that their IP address was in Ye City. She immediately typed a reply.  

[Immortal Huo’s Daily Fortunes: I do, but ghost-catching and fortune-telling are priced differently.]  

[Shi Wei Jian Ji: Money isn’t an issue. Could we switch to another platform to discuss the details?]

That was fine by her.  

Huo Ning sent over her WeChat ID, and within seconds, she received a friend request.  

The moment she accepted, the other party immediately asked about her rates.  

Huo Ning requested an address—her pricing depended on the number and strength of the spirits involved.  

[Shi Wei Jian Ji: [Location]] 

Huo Ning took one look at the address and nearly laughed.  

Well, well—isn’t this the same hospital where Grandma is staying right now?

[Immortal Huo’s Daily Fortunes: 300,000. Additional charges may apply for unexpected situations.]

After sending the message, the other end fell into a brief silence.

After a while, a new message popped up.  

[Shi Wei Jian Ji: But I remember your rate for exorcism was only 50,000 on the first day. Why is it so much higher this time?]  

[Immortal Huo’s Daily Fortunes: Pricing is based on the number of spirits and the intensity of their resentment. If the price isn’t suitable, you’re welcome to find someone else.]  

[Shi Wei Jian Ji: But 300,000 is way too much. Can you lower it? How about 200,000?]  

Desperation wasn’t good for business. Huo Ning glanced at the message and closed her phone.  

The account owner clearly wasn’t short on money—300,000 wasn’t a big deal for them.  

The reason they were haggling like this was simply because, in their eyes, someone of her status—despite her skills—wasn’t worth that much.  

Then again, it made sense. Her Tengjiao Live account only had around 88,000 followers, and 10,000 of those were inherited from the original owner.  

With her current follower count, charging 300,000 was bound to make people hesitate.  

But Huo Ning really didn’t have the patience to bargain.  

If trust hadn’t been established, even if she agreed to their price, they’d still feel like they were overpaying and that she was taking advantage. Subconsciously, they’d look down on her.  

Huo Ning didn’t care how people usually saw her.  

But when it came to ghost-catching, she had to care.  

In her past life, she’d seen too many tragedies where a lack of trust led to clients refusing to cooperate during exorcisms, resulting in innocent lives being lost.  

Bai Ye stood beside her, eyeing the shopping bag in her hand, and reminded her, “There are ghosts in the hospital. You must have noticed.”  

The reason he came every day was partly to look after Sister Ningning’s family—and partly to protect her grandmother from supernatural harm.  

But he couldn’t recklessly deal with these vengeful spirits.  

The fox demon was still watching him. If he exposed himself, he’d bring disaster upon both himself and the Song family.  

Huo Ning glanced at him. “Yeah, I noticed. And?”  

Bai Ye: “…” 

And shouldn’t you be thinking about exorcising them?  

Huo Ning couldn’t read minds, but Bai Ye’s expression made his thoughts obvious.  

She smirked.  

“I’m only responsible for protecting my own family. I don’t like meddling in other people’s business.” 

Besides, the hospital was already looking for someone to handle the ghosts.  

They’d probably find a cost-effective master soon enough. Those spirits wouldn’t be causing trouble for much longer.  

Which meant she didn’t need to lift a finger.  

Bai Ye: “…”

He lowered his eyes, jaw tightening, and stayed silent.  

After a long pause, he finally said, “You’re nothing like Sister Ningning.”  

“She would feel sorry for even a hurt stray cat or dog on the street. You seem like the type who only sweeps the snow off your own doorstep.”  

Huo Ning gave him a strange look.  

“If she hadn’t been the type to pity injured strays, do you think she would’ve saved you?”

Bai Ye: “…”