Huo Ning had initially found Li Lu’s profile picture somewhat familiar.  

Now, she finally understood why.  

It was the original host’s younger sister, Huo Baiwei.  

This younger sister—  

Huo Ning’s lips pressed into a thin line, her gaze cold.  

On the surface, Huo Baiwei’s act was nearly flawless. When the original host was driven out of the house due to the karmic sores on her face, Huo Baiwei was the only one who offered any financial support.  

The original host had always been deeply insecure about the dense, red sores covering her face. Huo Baiwei had introduced her to a reputable doctor at a top-tier hospital and even lent her sixty thousand yuan when she couldn’t afford the treatment.  

Later, it was also Huo Baiwei who suggested that if the original host was truly desperate for money, she could take out online loans.  

The treatment plan provided by the doctor Huo Baiwei recommended wasn’t entirely useless—but the results were minimal at best.  

Still, that faint glimmer of hope was enough for the original host.  

However, the exorbitant medical fees quickly became insurmountable. Forced into a corner, the original host resorted to online loans and maxing out credit cards, patching one debt with another.  

With interest piling up, she soon found herself drowning in three million yuan of debt.  

Keep in mind, as a host, the original host only earned four thousand a month.  

Unable to repay the crushing debt, and forced to play the fool on camera just to survive, she eventually reached her breaking point—opening the gas valve at home to end her life.  

Huo Ning exited the search page.  

To be fair, Huo Baiwei’s photos were meticulously edited.  

At first glance, she appeared kind—soft features, smiling eyes, radiating sweetness and approachability that naturally drew people in.  

But Huo Ning had glimpsed something unusual through the video.  

Huo Baiwei’s forehead was always covered by wispy bangs, unmovable even in the wind.  

Because lifting those bangs would shatter her innocent facade.  

Without them, her features turned sharp, almost menacing.  

And if one looked closely at her photos, despite her smile, her eyes were wide, hollow, and eerily dark—devoid of warmth. Stare too long, and an unsettling chill crept in.  

It was a shame Huo Ning’s abilities hadn’t fully recovered yet.  

If she had even one percent of her past strength, she could’ve seen what Huo Baiwei was hiding.  

She had never been one to assume the worst of others—but some things were hard to ignore.

Logically, Huo Baiwei shouldn’t be someone she’d suspect—after all, she was the only one who had shown the original host any kindness.

But compared to the original host’s memories, Huo Ning trusted her own instincts more.

The moment she saw Huo Baiwei’s photo through the screen, an overwhelming sense of discomfort settled in her chest. 

Silently, Huo Ning filed the name away in her mind.

No matter what, it never hurt to stay vigilant.  

Just as she was thinking this, her phone suddenly rang, the shrill tone piercing the air.

Glancing down, she saw the words “Cousin” flashing insistently on the screen.  

She took a deep breath, a creeping dread tightening her scalp.  

Help!  

Who is this cousin?! 

I don’t know her! 

But whether she knew her or not, Huo Ning still answered the call.

What if it was something urgent?  

“H-hey, Ningning… are you home? Do you have time to come back these next few days? Grandma… she’s really sick, and I… I’m afraid…”  

The voice on the other end was choked with sobs, the crying stifled, as if holding back a flood of despair.

A sharp pang shot through Huo Ning’s heart, a wave of sorrow spreading uncontrollably. 

She clenched her fist, forcing down the emotions that weren’t hers to begin with.

Calmly, she replied, “Don’t panic. Is Grandma in the hospital right now? Send me the exact address—I’ll head over immediately.” 

“O-okay. Call me when you arrive, and I’ll pick you up from the station.”  

Her cousin quickly wiped away her tears and sent the location to Huo Ning. 

Only after hitting send did it belatedly occur to her—Grandma had always been hospitalized at this same place. 

Why did Ningning need the address again?  

And this time, Ningning seemed… different. Unusually composed.  

She hadn’t burst into hysterical sobs at the news like before. Instead, she had calmly reassured her not to worry.

Huo Ning packed a few changes of clothes in silence. 

She opened her phone and withdrew the money she’d received the day before.

Between divination fees and viewer donations, after the platform’s cut, she had roughly seventy thousand yuan left.

In the face of a serious illness, seventy thousand might not be much—but it was better than nothing. 

“Master Huo, where are you going? Can I come with you?”

Cheng Shuang had just floated back inside when she saw Huo Ning slinging a travel bag over her shoulder, ready to leave.  

Huo Ning frowned slightly and shook her head.

“No. I don’t have anything here that can house you. If you follow me around, you’ll disrupt the energy fields of the living around me.”

Ordinary people who frequently interact with ghosts are more prone to falling ill. 

When weakened by sickness, their yang energy diminishes, making them even more susceptible to spiritual intrusion.

Especially since she was visiting her sick grandmother this time—

The elderly are particularly vulnerable to such influences.

Cheng Shuang pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement before floating back out.  

When she returned, she was holding a small box in her hands.  

She opened it to reveal a jade bracelet, its surface smooth and luminous.  

Lowering her head, Cheng Shuang stared at her feet—where no shadow fell.  

“Master Huo, this was my favorite jade bracelet when I was alive. If you wear it, I can reside inside. Don’t worry, I won’t come out and cause trouble for you.” 

Huo Ning had initially intended to refuse.  

But she couldn’t hold firm under Cheng Shuang’s pleading gaze.  

Earlier that morning, she had recited a cleansing incantation for Cheng Shuang, and the ghost’s face was no longer the mangled, bloody mess from before—instead, it had regained the delicate beauty of her living days.  

Faced with such a lovely young girl, Huo Ning couldn’t bring herself to keep rejecting her.  

After a brief hesitation, she finally nodded and accepted the bracelet.  

Slipping it onto her wrist, she found its cool, soothing texture surprisingly pleasant.  

Just to be safe, she silently cast another purification spell to cleanse the bracelet’s energy.  

The original host’s grandmother lived in Yecheng, about an hour’s high-speed train ride from the capital.  

For that entire hour, Huo Ning didn’t stop—she scrolled frantically through her relatives’ social media posts, matching names to faces with the help of their notes.  

The cousin who had called her earlier was Song Zhen, the daughter of the original host’s eldest uncle.  

But the more she looked, the deeper her frown grew.  

Why do all the relatives on her mother’s side have facial features that suggest a short life?

Huo Ning considered that photo filters and editing might be distorting their appearances, making misjudgments understandable.  

Yet when she finally met Song Zhen at the station, her frown only tightened further.  

How strange. 

Song Zhen had a faint golden aura of accumulated virtue surrounding her—a sign of merit and protection.  

But despite this, she was plagued by misfortune, and her wealth palace (the area of the face governing finances) was shrouded in dark energy, with only the tiniest sliver of light remaining.  

Huo Ning casually struck up a conversation, probing for more details.  

Within a few exchanges, she had subtly extracted Song Zhen’s birth date and time.  

When she calculated the Bazi (Four Pillars of Destiny) based on this information, her expression darkened completely.  

Song Zhen’s destiny configuration was extraordinarily noble—by all rights, she should have lived a life of wealth and prosperity, untouched by poverty.  

Yet right now, Song Zhen was wearing faded jeans and a snug, worn-out T-shirt, her entire outfit worth no more than forty yuan.