Stepdaughter of a wealthy family? The little darling of a Beijing tycoon

"But what's wrong with this situation? I live in this body, and you can still see this familiar face every day, just like before."

Her tone shifted abruptly, becoming threatening: "If I leave this body, Mengmeng's physical form will lose its soul's support and instantly perish. Do you really want to watch your beloved die?"

Zhou Chengyi's body trembled, and his face instantly turned pale. On one side was the relationship he had shared with his partner for eight years, and on the other side was his current predicament, caught between a rock and a hard place. The other party's threat plunged him into deep turmoil and pain.

Upon hearing this, the female ghost scoffed confidently, "What makes you so sure she's still here? A soul separated from its body has no place to rest; it would either be scattered to the winds or taken back to the underworld by the underworld officials. There's no way it could stay in the mortal realm for half a year!"

What you believe to be true may not be the truth.

Shen Jingshu's eyes were cold and her expression was completely calm. As soon as she finished speaking, she gathered spiritual power at her fingertips and took out a yellowed ghost-seeing talisman out of thin air, then handed it to Zhou Chengyi, who was standing beside her in shock.

"With this talisman, you will be able to see the person you wish to see."

At the same time, Shen Jingshu raised her hand to form a seal, and a faint golden, mysterious spell swept through the air, precisely enveloping the imprisoned female ghost.

An invisible array instantly unfolded, causing the temperature in the entire living room to plummet and the air to become chillingly cold. In the previously empty corner of the living room, a transparent and ethereal white figure slowly emerged.

Zhou Chengyi's pupils suddenly dilated, and his breath hitched.

That figure standing quietly in the corner of the sofa, dressed in a simple white dress, with gentle and serene eyes, was the image he had loved for eight long years, etched into his heart. She was the real Mengmeng before the car accident—gentle, quiet, and fond of reading!

"Mengmeng!"

Zhou Chengyi's heart clenched suddenly, and he could no longer control his surging emotions. He ran quickly toward that familiar figure, wanting to hold his beloved, whom he had been longing for day and night, tightly in his arms.

But the next instant, his arm pierced straight through the transparent soul, leaving nothing but emptiness, unable to grasp anything.

A cold sensation swept over his entire body, and an overwhelming sense of powerlessness instantly enveloped him.

In her illusory form, Mengmeng gently shook her head, her voice ethereal yet tinged with endless sorrow: "Cheng Yi, it's no use. I'm just a soul now; no one in the mortal realm can touch me."

She looked up at Zhou Chengyi, her eyes filled with surprise: "You...how could you see me?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she slowly turned her head, her gaze falling on Shen Jingshu, who stood calmly on the sofa. She instantly understood: "It was the master who helped me, wasn't it?"

Shen Jingshu nodded slightly: "Now that the person involved has shown up, you should explain the cause and effect of today's events yourself."

As Mengmeng's soul drifted through the living room, she took a deep breath, the fear and sorrow of the day of the car accident surfacing in her eyes, and slowly revealed the truth that had been buried for half a year.

"Six months ago that morning, I was planning to go to the bookstore to buy books. Everything was fine when I was driving through the intersection and waiting at the traffic light."

"Suddenly, a heavy truck from the opposite direction went out of control and came hurtling towards my car. I instinctively swerved to avoid it, but the speed was too fast and the impact was too great, so it was no use."

"A loud crash was heard, and my car was thrown out of the car, rolled several times on the road, and finally crashed heavily to the ground."

The intense pain that swept through her memories made Mengmeng's soul tremble slightly.

"I instantly lost all consciousness and fell into a coma. When I regained consciousness, my soul had left my body and was floating in mid-air."

"I saw the roadside crowded with passersby, and I saw the medical staff rushing over and doing everything they could to save my body. I panicked and followed the ambulance all the way to the hospital."

"I watched as the doctors and nurses took turns trying to save me, watched the fluctuating curves on the monitors gradually stabilize, and watched my body pull away from the danger of death. I was overjoyed, thinking I could come back to life, and desperately tried to crawl back into my own body."

At this point, Mengmeng's voice choked with sobs and filled with endless despair.

"But I just can't do it. My soul seems to be blocked by an invisible force. No matter how I try or how hard I try, I can never go back to my own body."

Mengmeng's soul remained in the same place, filled with resentment and helplessness.

She was unwilling to simply disappear, and even more reluctant to part with Zhou Chengyi, with whom she had spent eight years, so she stayed by her hospital bedside day after day. She quietly watched herself lying unconscious, and watched Zhou Chengyi's unwavering care day and night.

He sat by her bedside every day, softly recounting the moments they had shared in their youth, speaking of his hopes for the future, his tone gentle, his eyes never wavering with worry and deep affection. Every whispered word pierced Mengmeng's soul like a needle, leaving her heartbroken and powerless.

Several days later, the body lying on the hospital bed finally slowly opened its eyes and fully woke up.

But the person who woke up was no longer her.

That familiar body housed a completely unfamiliar soul. Temperament, speech, and mannerisms were drastically different.

The gentle, quiet, book-loving, and serene woman of the past has vanished without a trace, replaced by a flamboyant, carefree, pleasure-seeking, and game-addicted stranger.

Mengmeng, who was floating to the side, witnessed all of this and was filled with anger and pain, almost to the point of madness.

Time and again, she rushed forward recklessly, trying to reclaim her body and tear apart the usurping ghost. But every time she approached her flesh, she was violently repelled by a thick barrier of yin and yang, her soul trembling and unable to get any closer.

After several futile attempts, she finally came to terms with reality.

She was just a helpless, lonely soul, powerless to resist and unable to refute.

Left with no other choice, she could only silently follow the two of them, all the way back to the villa that held all the beautiful memories she and Zhou Chengyi had shared, with Zhou Chengyi and the stranger who had taken over her body.

For six whole months, she stayed by his side day and night, never leaving his side.

She watched helplessly as someone else used her face, her identity, and her lover of eight years to live the life that should have been hers.

Watching the other person completely overturn all her habits, dressing flamboyantly, becoming addicted to games, and spending money recklessly, turning her originally quiet and stable life into a complete mess.

Countless days and nights, Mengmeng tried to leave traces, tried to remind Zhou Chengyi of the truth. She desperately created a breeze, shook the objects, and tried her best to make a faint sound, but the living and the dead are separated, and mortals cannot connect the five senses of the living and the dead.

Zhou Chengyi could not see her, hear her, or touch her, and was completely unaware of the hidden truth around him.

She could only watch helplessly as her lover was filled with doubt and torment, unable to do anything about it.

Through days of torment, Mengmeng finally pieced together the whole truth.

She overheard the fake Mengmeng making a private phone call and learned the whole conspiracy of this body-swapping scheme from the conversation.

The female ghost who possessed her body was named An Yue.

An Yue was the daughter of the wealthy An family in Beijing. Her family owned a food factory and was quite well-off. Before her death, she was unrestrained and indulged in a life of debauchery, spending her nights in bars.

An Yue was involved in a serious car accident while driving under the influence of alcohol. Her body was shattered on the spot, and her remains were mutilated, leaving no possibility of recovery.