[Damn, Sister Cheng Shuang is badass! Kill her!] 

[I mean… Li Lu doesn’t deserve to die, right? Is it really okay for Cheng Shuang to kill her like this? Won’t she herself be destroyed too? If the host ends up “saving” her later, I’m unsubscribing.]  

[We have our own version of the Virgin Mary in China.]

[Host, thank you. It’s really hot outside, but I just turned off my AC.] 

[Wait, host, are you seriously not going to stop this? Not that I feel bad for Li Lu or anything, but if she dies, won’t the police hold you responsible since this is your livestream?]  

Huo Ning let out a slight yawn.  

Just as Cheng Shuang’s hair was about to pierce into Li Lu’s body, she raised her hand, stopping her half-heartedly.  

“Calm down. She was going to die anyway—no need to dirty your own hands.”  

Cheng Shuang’s hair instantly retracted.  

Li Lu collapsed onto the floor, coughing violently as she gasped for air.  

Her head spun, her vision darkened, and she didn’t even have the strength to stand up and pour herself a glass of water.  

Before she could fully process the terror of near-death, Cheng Shuang’s ghost slowly began crawling out of the air conditioner.  

Li Lu’s vision went black, and she fainted on the spot.  

The viewers who had been enjoying their AC at home felt their blood run cold.  

[Thank you, AC Warrior.] 

[We have our own version of Sadako in China.] 

[I just turned off my AC and hid under my blanket. My mom called me crazy, but then I showed her this scene—now we’re both hiding under the blanket together.]

[Sister Cheng Shuang, why didn’t you just phase through the wall? Did you really have to choose such a bizarre way to make your entrance?]  

[Maybe she just wanted a more… unique introduction.]  

Huo Ning also thought her entrance was… special.  

She cleared her throat and pointed at the unconscious Li Lu on the floor, asking the bloodied Cheng Shuang, “Do you want to try waking her up?”  

Cheng Shuang levitated Li Lu’s cup and splashed a glass of ice water onto her.  

Li Lu groaned as she slowly regained consciousness—only to nearly faint again from terror.  

Cheng Shuang’s chilling voice echoed in her ears.  

“Host, what did you mean earlier when you said she was going to die anyway?”  

Back when she had been pushed off the building by Su Miaomiao, her family had tried to seek justice for her and had asked Li Lu to testify.

But Li Lu took the money the moment she agreed, spreading lies online and profiting handsomely from it. 

How could someone who thrived by feasting on the blood of others possibly meet a good end? 

Cheng Shuang grinned, revealing her ghostly white teeth.  

She was far too curious about this woman’s fate!  

Li Lu’s face drained of color, her mind ringing with a deafening buzz as she stared blankly at Huo Ning on the screen.  

Huo Ning ignored her.  

Instead, she turned to Cheng Shuang and said, “If you hadn’t shown up, Li Lu would’ve been taken to a bar by Su Miaomiao, Li Qing, and Zhang Yu in a week. That night, she’d be plied with alcohol until she blacked out.”  

“She’d have a drunken one-night stand with a strikingly handsome man—someone lavish, gentle, and attentive. She’d convince herself she’d stumbled into a CEO romance trope.”  

[Pfft—I’m dead. What an idiot.]  

[Do people still believe in Cinderella and the CEO fantasies these days?]

[Wake up! A rich CEO won’t fall for you—he’ll just play with your body and emotions. If you cling too hard, he’ll have a hundred ways to ruin you!]

Cheng Shuang’s expression remained cold.  

This was exactly the kind of delusion someone like Li Lu would have.  

“And then?”  

Huo Ning took a sip of water. “Then this man would take her to all sorts of high-end clubs and underground gambling dens, slowly addicting her to betting and drugs. The million Su Miaomiao gave her? Gone in no time.”  

“Her Prince Charming would dump her the moment she ran out of money. Her family, disgusted by her uselessness, would kick her out.” 

“Broke and desperate, tormented by addiction, she’d turn to theft. Eventually, she’d try to rob a group of homeless men—only to be beaten to death by them.” 

For the first time, Cheng Shuang’s face twisted into a smile of pure satisfaction.  

“How deserved. Seems I showed up too early.”  

Li Lu’s entire body went cold. She couldn’t believe she’d ever do those things—  

Nor that her fate could be so horrific. 

Seeing her expression, Cheng Shuang’s lips curled into a frosty smirk. “Li Lu, you were bold enough to take that blood money—but not lucky enough to spend it.”

[This ending is beyond satisfying.]

[I’ll bet a steamed bun that Prince Charming was 100% set up by Su Miaomiao!]  

Huo Ning liked that comment.  

“Sharp guess. It was Su Miaomiao’s doing. That casino? Owned by the Su family.”  

“People like her, who treat lives as disposable, would never just hand a million to someone they despise. Every cent they ‘gifted’ Li Lu would’ve found its way back to them.” 

Li Lu’s blood turned cold.

That bitch Su Miaomiao!  

Li Lu bit her lip in resentment. “Host, I don’t want to end up like that. I want Su Miaomiao to pay—please help me!” 

Since she was doomed either way, she might as well drag Su Miaomiao down with her!  

Huo Ning tilted her head, glancing at Cheng Shuang beside her. “Do you want to deal with them yourself? Or let them tear each other apart?”  

Cheng Shuang’s pitch-black eyes shifted.  

“Let them destroy each other.”

Su Miaomiao’s family had protective wards, and she wore talismans—with her current strength, killing her would be nearly impossible.  

Better to let them fight like crabs in a bucket.  

Huo Ning nodded, her gaze settling on Li Lu.  

“Turn yourself in. Expose Su Miaomiao’s crimes. Report the Su family for drug trafficking and tax evasion. And hand over the evidence you saved—proof that Su Miaomiao killed Cheng Shuang—to Cheng’s father and the police.”

Perjury and defamation carried legal consequences.  

Li Lu nodded awkwardly.  

She was an adult. Whether she liked it or not, she had to face the repercussions of her actions.  

She didn’t want to go to prison.  

But she really didn’t want to die.  

Compared to losing her life, jail didn’t seem so bad.  

Thankfully, she’d distrusted Su Miaomiao enough to keep critical evidence—now, it would become the blade of her revenge.  

Huo Ning ignored Li Lu’s choked sobs, turning instead to Cheng Shuang with a sigh.  

“Come to my place. I’ll help you move on.”  

Poor girl. If not for the bullying, if not for Su Miaomiao—she might’ve had a bright future.  

But to her surprise, Cheng Shuang refused.  

Her eyes brimmed with gratitude, yet tears streaked her face. “How could I deserve to move on? I got my own mother killed! Even my chance at revenge came from her sacrificing her soul!” 

Not everyone who died unjustly could return as a vengeful spirit.  

Cheng Shuang was proof.  

On the seventh day after her death—the Returning Soul night—she’d watched as a man in white robes, his face veiled by a hat, appeared in her home like an immortal descending from the heavens.  

He told Wang Wen—Cheng’s mother—that Cheng Shuang’s fate was retribution for Wang Wen abandoning her family.  

If she wanted to atone, she’d have to offer her soul.  

Only then could Cheng Shuang gain the power to seek vengeance.

That very night, Wang Wen lit three black incense sticks before a strange idol, sprinkled her blood on the ashes, and took her own life.  

Cheng Shuang had desperately tried to stop her, but it was futile.  

Huo Ning had been born in an era when drowning baby girls was rampant. Her own parents had abandoned her on a mountain, where she was nearly carried off by wild wolves.  

It was only because her master saved her that she survived.  

Having never experienced a single day of maternal love, she couldn’t fully grasp Cheng Shuang’s grief or share her pain.  

“She sacrificed herself because Su Miaomiao is her biological daughter—her own flesh and blood who killed you. She felt guilty but couldn’t seek justice for you.”  

“If not for her, you might never have suffered this fate. So why give up your chance at reincarnation for her sake?”  

From Huo Ning’s perspective, Wang Wen was pitiable, but not worth Cheng Shuang’s self-sacrifice.  

Besides, a soul offered in sacrifice wasn’t so easily reclaimed.  

Cheng Shuang wiped her tears and shook her head.  

“Su Miaomiao helped her homewrecking mother and scumbag father force my mom to leave with nothing—how could she ever deserve to be Mom’s daughter?”

“When I was little, I was reckless and kept eating random things, poisoning myself multiple times. My dad was too careless to notice. If not for Mom, I’d have died long ago.”

Not to mention the gentle, meticulous care Wang Wen had given her throughout her life.  

Huo Ning, perhaps emotionally detached by nature, felt little resonance with this.  

But even if she didn’t understand, she respected it.  

“Do as you wish. But finding your mother’s soul won’t be easy.”  

“Her body’s already been cremated. Even if you find her, she can’t return to her old life.” 

Cheng Shuang’s eyes burned. “That’s okay. Just seeing her again would be enough.”  

Huo Ning gave a slight nod.  

After instructing Li Lu on how to confess and expose the truth, she moved to end the stream—  

Only for Cheng Shuang to hesitantly stop her.  

“Host…” The ghost girl fidgeted. “Could I… stay and train with you?”

Without power, she risked being devoured by other spirits—let alone finding her mother.  

“We’ll see.”

Neither refusing nor agreeing, Huo Ning bid her audience goodbye and shut off the broadcast.  

She pulled back the curtains. Outside, the night was ink-black, the hour late.  

Calculating the time, she murmured, “If I leave now… it’ll be just right.”