The next morning, Yu Ning got up quite early.

Xiao Kui came running over with her phone in hand.

“Ning-ancestor! Quick, look! The trending search list!”

Yu Ning took the phone from her and saw that the number one trending topic was a piece of breaking social news.

Early in the morning or in the dead of night, PR companies weren’t working, so no one was manipulating the rankings. Shocking news often made it to the top during this window, making the list relatively more authentic.

“Man Found Dead on the Street?”

Yu Ning read the headline out loud.

“Click on it, check the comment section—there are photos of the body!”

Since the content moderators weren’t on duty yet, it was also the time when gory photos might slip through.

Once the moderators came online, these would automatically disappear.

Yu Ning clicked in and quickly skimmed through the article.

The incident happened in the same city she and Xiao Kui had visited just the day before.

In the early hours of the morning, a street cleaner discovered a male corpse lying on the roadside. That was all the news article said.

If it were just that, it wouldn’t have trended.

Though the country had excellent public security and major crimes were rare, sudden deaths from accidents or illness weren’t exactly unheard of.

The shorter the article, the bigger the story.

Yu Ning scrolled quickly to the comment section.

As expected, it was more sensational than the article itself.

Several users claiming to be locals near the scene had posted vivid descriptions, and some even included photos.

One commenter said the cleaner had seen someone lying in the greenery and assumed it was a drunkard.

They called out but got no response, then noticed a strong metallic smell of blood.

When they shined their flashlight over, they saw the man’s abdomen was split open, with his intestines spilling out.

Terrified, they called the police immediately.

That comment included a photo. Yu Ning zoomed in—high resolution.

No wonder it had gone viral. For people used to peace and quiet, this kind of shocking image definitely deserved to top the trending list.

But what truly surprised Yu Ning and Xiao Kui wasn’t the gruesome way the man died—

—it was the identity of the victim.

“Isn’t that the competitive eater from yesterday?” Yu Ning recognized him immediately.

The man’s eyes were open, but his face was smiling. He looked strangely peaceful, as if in his final moments, he hadn’t died in fear, but in pure joy.

“Yes! That’s why I called you over—Ning-ancestor, didn’t you notice yesterday he had the face of a doomed man?”

Xiao Kui believed that Yu Ning’s face-reading skills were nearly unmatched. They’d been close to the man yesterday—how could she have missed something like that?

Yu Ning found it strange too. She stared at the photo, studying his face again and again, a chill creeping over her.

“Forget yesterday—I still can’t tell today that he was fated to die. His facial features are just… plain. Nothing unusual at all.”

If she were judging based on the head alone, Yu Ning wouldn’t even realize the person was dead.

As a face reader, she wasn’t limited to reading the living. At her current level, she could also discern things from the deceased.

But with this victim, she truly couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary—and that was the scariest part.

No signs of trouble—yet the man had died!!!

“What’s going on?” Mo Xiaokui was baffled.

Actually, not only could Yu Ning not read anything from his face—when she used the Life Ruler to measure his lifespan through the photo, it indicated he was still alive, with several decades left.

Reading a dead person as still alive—that was terrifying.

“This is a first for me too…”

Yu Ning had already felt something was off about him yesterday.

His features were so ordinary it was unsettling—so ordinary that it made her feel something was deliberately hidden.

Now it seemed her instincts had been right.

“Someone altered his qi of appearance—used a method we don’t know to cover up his true facial destiny,” Yu Ning concluded.

“Who could possibly have that kind of power?!” Xiao Kui was stunned.

Yu Ning shook her head.

“My master once told me that powerful celestial masters can alter their own appearance qi to deceive people like us. But what they create is a false mask. Only they themselves can see their true face.”

Compared to just blocking the qi, modifying it required far greater spiritual power. This allowed someone to blend in among ordinary people, effectively hiding from even a skilled face reader like Yu Ning.

“But my master emphasized—they can only alter their own qi, not someone else’s. Does this dead man look like someone who practices cultivation to you?”

Xiao Kui wasn’t sure either, because neither of them could deduce anything about the man with their current abilities.

“My gut tells me… he really was just an ordinary man. Someone else altered his appearance qi for him,” Yu Ning said, following her intuition.

“So complicated…” Xiao Kui was completely lost.

“I happen to be burning a car offering for Brother Liu today—I’ll ask him if he knows anything.”

After breakfast, Yu Ning and Xiao Kui headed down the mountain. Aunt Wu arranged for a driver to take them.

Xiao Kui’s task was simple—help a nouveau riche tweak his home’s feng shui.

The tycoon was preparing to renovate his courtyard and had hired a feng shui master.

Yu Ning tagged along. The moment she laid eyes on the man, she could tell from his face that he’d made his money through shady means, so she didn’t bother being polite.

The tycoon kept eyeing Yu Ning. Whenever Xiao Kui was busy, he’d come over and try to strike up conversation—his words clearly hinting at wanting to keep her as a mistress.

Yu Ning didn’t want to interfere with Xiao Kui’s business, so she pretended not to understand and avoided the man—also restraining the agitated black cat in her arms.

If she didn’t hold him back, the cat would’ve pounced and clawed the guy’s face off.

Xiao Kui finished the feng shui setup quickly, and Yu Ning got ready to leave with her.

But the tycoon was relentless. He chased after them and used the excuse of asking a question to lure Yu Ning into a secluded corner.

“As long as the price is right, there’s no woman I can’t sleep with. Name it. There are no cameras or people here—go ahead and quote a number.”

“You paid my friend in full?” Yu Ning’s eyes lit up when she heard there were no cameras.

“Of course. Money’s not an issue for me.”

“No cameras?” Yu Ning confirmed again. The black cat in her arms twitched with anticipation.

Oh dear.

The tycoon had no idea that both Yu Ning and her cat were already getting ready to strike.

Faced with such a fatal question, he had foolishly answered without hesitation.

No cameras? What were they waiting for?

So—Yu Ning and the black cat moved almost simultaneously.

Yu Ning landed a solid kick to his gut, while the black cat lunged and left a giant claw-mark across his greasy face.

Their teamwork was seamless. Afterward, Yu Ning even caught her cat mid-air with grace.

“Ahh! You actually dared to hit me?! You little b*tch! I’ll ki—AAAGH!”

Before he could finish his threat, another scream rang out.

The black cat leapt back and taught him a lesson in manners—with a vicious flurry of claws.

Only after the beatdown did Yu Ning elegantly cradle her cat and stroll away, light-footed and unbothered.

The man, his face drenched in blood, flew into a rage and scrambled up, chasing after her furiously.