8:00 PM.  

Wu Xin had recently been promoted. After work, he went out carousing with his friends, each covering for the other’s misdeeds.  

(Carousing is the activity of drinking alcohol and enjoying oneself with others in a noisy, lively way.)  

After several rounds of drinks, the group arrived at the largest foot massage parlor in Jiangcheng.  

“Brother Wu, you’ve been riding high lately. Now that you’ve struck it rich, you can’t forget your brothers. Tonight’s on you.”  

Wu Xin usually put on a respectable front, but at this moment, he was too drunk on his own success. He struck a superior pose. “No problem.”  

“Brother Wu’s luck is just too good. His biggest competitor in the department died in a car crash—heard it was two lives lost at once.”  

When someone mentioned Zhou Man, Wu Xin smirked disdainfully.  

“Women—once they’re pregnant, they should just stay home and take care of their husbands and kids. Who told her to work herself to death? If something happened, she brought it on herself.”  

In his tone, he had completely forgotten what he had done to Zhou Man. He simply attributed her death to bad luck and her own fault.  

Just as he was speaking, his phone suddenly rang.  

“That tigress my mom set me up with is calling again. Hold on, I’ll step out to take this.”  

With that, he turned and left.  

The moment he stepped out, the sycophantic friends in the private room all simultaneously dropped their flattering expressions, revealing looks of disgust.  

“What a piece of trash! Gets one promotion and suddenly thinks he’s hot shit!”  

“Let him enjoy it while he can. Sooner or later, someone’s gonna drag him down!”  

Meanwhile, Wu Xin, having just perfunctorily dealt with his girlfriend in the hallway, spotted a graceful figure in a white dress not far away.  

Drunk and emboldened, seeing no one else around, a wicked impulse seized him. He lunged at the alluring figure.  

He hugged the beautiful “woman,” a lecherous grin spreading across his face. “Hey sweetheart, where you headed? Come on, big bro will take you to a private room.”  

“No answer? Fine! If you’re gonna play hard to get, don’t blame me!”  

“I’ll take you right here!”  

Zhou Man stood behind him, watching coldly as he lost himself in hallucinations, lusting after a stone pillar.  

A sinister smile curled her lips as she grabbed his head and slammed it into the pillar—over and over—until his breathing stopped completely.  

The next day, local news outlets in Jiangcheng all published the same bizarre headline:  

—Drunk Man Strips and Attempts to Engage in Lewd Acts with Stone Pillar at Foot Massage Parlor, Ends Up Crashing His Head Repeatedly Until Death—Is This the Distortion of Human Nature or the Collapse of Morality?  

And just like that, Wu Xin not only died—he also became infamous.  

As a result, the largest foot massage parlor in Jiangcheng was also ordered by authorities to undergo rectification.  

As for Zheng Yunfan’s case, it caused an uproar online and even alarmed the authorities. Officials launched an investigation, and what they uncovered was far worse than what he had publicly admitted.  

The entire entertainment industry was thrown into chaos. Involved celebrities scrambled to pay back taxes, issue clarifications, take drug tests, and release statements.  

Netizens, like excited melon-eating raccoons, scurried around in a frenzy.  

As for Zheng Yunfan’s bizarre behavior during the press conference, authorities attributed it to drug-induced insanity.  

Those netizens who claimed to have seen ghosts in the livestream were even invited by local officials for a “tea session,” where they were sternly warned against promoting superstition.  

Notably, this incident brought Huo Ning unprecedented popularity—she gained 70,000 followers in just a few days.  

But that’s a story for later.  

For now, Huo Ning watched as Zhou Man, Song Tingting, and the ghost infant, their lingering grievances resolved, stood before her. She began chanting the rebirth mantra.  

Once finished, she smiled at Huang Xiu and her daughter.  

“Alright, they’ve been liberated. You two should get some rest too.”  

After a pause, she turned to Lin Shuangshuang and added, “Her body’s yang energy was severely depleted. Make sure she gets plenty of sunlight when possible.”  

“Of course, the best remedy is to do good deeds, uphold justice, and cultivate inner righteousness. With a strong aura of integrity, no malicious spirits would dare approach you.”  

Her gaze then shifted to Lin Shuangshuang’s parents.  

“Romantic fate isn’t something you can force—not everyone is destined to have it. Let things take their natural course. If you keep interfering with her choices, history might repeat itself.”  

What she really wanted to say was, Stop pressuring her—your daughter is destined to be a wealthy single woman for life. But after some thought, she opted for a gentler phrasing.  

After this ordeal, Lin Shuangshuang’s parents never dared pressure her again.  

They’d rather she stay single forever, as long as she remained safe and sound.  

As for Yu’s mother, who had delivered the cursed amulet to the Lin family, no one brought her up.  

What was there to say?  

Just moments ago, they’d received news: Yu’s mother, unable to accept her daughter’s death in the wealthy household, had gone completely insane.  

On another note, Zhao Kai—who had brought his mistress home for some fun—had planned to try out some bathroom play. But the moment he opened the door and saw his wife’s corpse in the bathtub, he was so terrified that he suffered permanent performance issues.  

But none of that concerned Huo Ning anymore.  

She collected her final payment, took a cab home, and withdrew the livestream donations into her account.  

Between her fortune-telling fees and the audience’s tips (after the platform’s cut), she pocketed nearly 15,000 yuan.  

Early the next morning, Huo Ning took her ID card and went to the bank. After paying off and canceling one of her maxed-out 50,000-yuan credit cards, she made the minimum payments on a few others.  

Her bank account balance was once again teetering on the edge of despair.  

Less than 300 yuan left. The future is bright!  

Back home, Huo Ning ordered the ghosts in her house to cook her a bowl of spicy and sour glass noodles. As she ate, she started her livestream.  

[Streamer, you’re eating so deliciously! Damn it, now I want some spicy noodles too!]  

[Came here from Zheng Yunfan’s scandal—streamer is so gorgeous and badass!]  

[Fan of Tingting here to thank the streamer for clearing her name! Sending a ‘Phoenix Coronet and Embroidered Robe’ gift! Love you, streamer!]  

[So many kind people are now sponsoring Song Tingting’s little sister, and her parents have the best medical team. Streamer is beautiful inside and out—she deserves to be worshipped!]  

[Streamer, pick me! I want a fortune reading—I want to know about my studies!]  

[Me! Me! Streamer, I want to know about my career!]  

[I’m different—I want to know when I can marry the streamer!]  

[Hey, did you just get back from abroad and are still jet-lagged? Stop daydreaming in broad daylight!]  

Huo Ning hadn’t expected her second livestream to attract so many viewers.  

After a moment’s thought, she put down her chopsticks. “I’ll send out a ‘lucky bag.’ Whoever gets it gets a reading. Same rules as before—one ‘Phoenix Coronet and Embroidered Robe’ gift per reading.”  

With that, she tapped the screen a couple of times and casually sent out the lucky bag.  

System Notification: Congratulations to user [Qi An] for receiving the lucky bag!  

Huo Ning initiated a video call with Qi An.  

A young man with hollow eyes, a hunched back, dark circles under his eyes, and lips tinged with purple forced a weak smile at the camera.  

“Hello, streamer.”  

Huo Ning’s brows furrowed tightly.  

This guy had a problem.  

Based on his physiognomy, he was originally destined to live to eighty-five.  

But right now, his pupils were dull and lifeless, shrouded in thick death energy—clearly showing signs of impending doom.  

And the room behind him? Dense with ghostly energy. You’d need at least four or five ghosts gathered to create an aura that strong.  

Qi An let out a bitter laugh. After sending the payment, he raised his exhausted, empty eyes.  

“Streamer, I don’t actually want a reading. I can feel myself about to leave this world. I just want to use my own experience to warn anyone interested in the occult.”  

(Occult: connected with magic powers and things that cannot be explained by reason or science)

Huo Ning’s frown deepened so much it could crush a fly.  

She chugged a glass of water, unsure how to react to the young man on the right side of her screen.  

With a heavy sigh, she looked at him with a mix of pity and frustration.  

“You really are the living embodiment of ‘if you seek death, you shall find it.’”