Merit-based card draws, quickly become a Heavenly Emperor

Fang Zheng said, "Cultivation level is not everything. Just like when we hunted that eighth-grade tiger demon, if we had faced it head-on, we probably would not have been its match."

But we used traps, crossbows, and poison, taking advantage of their surprise, and actually hunted down and killed such a ferocious tiger demon.

Fang Zheng turned to Liu Qingyu and asked, "Has Lord Chu told you anything about the servants in his household?"

Liu Qingyu recalled, "Just like what you interrogated me before, my benefactor, all the affairs of the Chu family were handled by Granny Gui."

Fang Zheng then asked, "Does Lord Chu mention you to his servants?"

Without hesitation, Liu Qingyu replied, "Absolutely impossible!"

My father told my mother and me personally that he was investigating a major case and had made many enemies in Yongqing County.

Apart from a close friend living far away in the prefecture, Lord Lü Zhengfeng, he had not mentioned to anyone that he had found his long-lost wife and daughter.

A glint flashed in Fang Zheng's eyes as he said, "So that means Granny Gui couldn't possibly know that Chu Tiankuo actually has a daughter who was lost in Yongqing County?"

"certainly."

Fang Zheng smiled. "Looks like I've caught the fox by the tail."

.......

To verify his guess, Fang Zheng came up with a plan.

He ground a bowl of thick ink and carefully sketched on the rice paper.

Before long, a woman's beautiful appearance appeared on the paper.

With the finishing touch technique, the eyebrows, eyes, mouth, and nose are all complete, and each strand of hair is clearly visible.

Fang Zheng put down his pen and covered Liu Qingyu with the cardboard. The ghost's soul crawled inside, and the cardboard seemed to come alive as it stuck to her.

A moment later, a living girl stood in front of them.

Dressed in a plain white dress, with slightly red eyes, she was stunningly beautiful, without a single flaw, exactly like Liu Qingyu in life.

Half a month ago, it wouldn't have been possible to achieve such a lifelike and vivid appearance.

During this period, not only did Fang Zheng's cultivation level improve and he drew the [Dragon's Eye-Catching] talent, but Liu Qingyu's cultivation level also advanced by leaps and bounds, breaking through to the eighth grade minor completion.

This is mainly due to the auspicious influence of her official position as a ghost-patrol officer, and it is also inseparable from the support and gratitude she receives from Fang Zheng as her sworn brother.

Fang Zheng nodded in satisfaction, and at this moment, Guan Tieyi also released the news.

In the teahouses north of the city and at the entrance of the south street, people were saying that Chu Tiankuo's long-lost daughter had been found and was living in Anping Town. She was coming to the county in the next few days to pay her respects to her deceased father.

Fang Zheng went to the servants of the Chu family to deliver a message, saying that Lord Chu's daughter had arrived in Anping Town, and asked Granny Gui to arrange a carriage to pick her up.

Grandma Gui's reaction was even stronger than Fang Zheng had anticipated.

She grabbed Fang Zheng's wrist, her voice trembling, "What did you say? Your daughter is in Anping Town?"

Fang Zheng nodded.

Granny Gui released her grip, her eyes reddening, and murmured, "Heaven has eyes, thank you, Master Fang."

She had mentioned to Fang Zheng before that Chu Tiankuo had a daughter who was missing and asked Fang Zheng to help keep an eye out for her. She didn't expect to get news so quickly.

In less than half an hour, Granny Gui had hitched up the carriage.

The driver cracked his whip, and the carriage headed out of the city toward Anping Town.

Beside the official road outside Anping Town, Liu Qingyu, disguised as a girl, stood under an old locust tree.

Seeing the carriage approaching in the distance, she lowered her head, her shoulders trembling slightly, looking utterly heartbroken.

The carriage stopped.

Grandma Gui lifted the carriage curtain and peeked out half her face.

Her gaze was like a knife, scrutinizing Liu Qingyu from head to toe.

Alarm bells rang in Liu Qingyu's mind, but she timidly called out, "Grandma Gui?"

Grandma Gui's wrinkles smoothed out, and she squeezed out a few tears.

"So alike, so very alike!"

"His features are exactly like Lord Chu's."

She reached out tremblingly and grabbed Liu Qingyu's arm. "Child, get in the car. Grandma will take you home."

Liu Qingyu got into the carriage. The carriage turned around and headed back the way it came.

Less than five miles outside Anping Town, the roadside gradually became deserted, and there was no sign of human habitation in sight.

Grandma Gui suddenly shouted, "Stop the car!"

The driver pulled on the reins, the horse snorted, and stopped.

Liu Qingyu asked timidly, "Grandma Gui, why did we stop? We haven't reached the county town yet."

The curtain was suddenly flung open, and Granny Gui's deeply lined face peered in, less than a foot away from Liu Qingyu.

She stared at Liu Qingyu for a long time, then suddenly smiled.

"Child, don't be afraid."

Your mother-in-law will take you to see your father.

Liu Qingyu's eyes widened, and the color drained from her face instantly.

She shrank into the corner of the carriage, her voice trembling: "Grandma, what did you say?"

My father is already...

"He's dead. I poisoned him to death." Granny Gui continued, her grin widening.

"You think your father really has a sudden illness?"

That was the medicine I put in his food.

Day by day, little by little, he ate until he could barely stand.

Liu Qingyu stopped crying, raised her head, and looked at her through teary eyes.

Grandma Gui was so engrossed in her pleasure that she poured out all the words that had been bottled up inside her, completely unaware of the cold glint in Liu Qingyu's eyes.

"I locked him in the house for seven or eight days and wouldn't let him see anyone."

Those ordinary servants couldn't see through my illusion at all and thought everything was normal.

"I drugged your father; he's weak all over, but his bones are still as hard as ever."

She paused, then her smile turned sinister. "I saw your portrait in his study. I wanted to force him to reveal your whereabouts so I could kill you too and make him feel the pain of losing his son."

But he was too stubborn; he wouldn't say a word, and eventually he died.

Liu Qingyu wiped away her tears and asked in a low voice, "Did you kill him?"

Granny Gui said smugly, "That corrupt official certainly died at my hands."

Now his daughter is going to die at my hands.

"My son, I've avenged him!"

After saying that, she grabbed Liu Qingyu by the neck, her withered fingers tightening like iron clamps: "Alright, you've said your piece, your mother-in-law will send you on your way."

Liu Qingyu did not struggle.

She let Granny Gui choke her, and slowly the corners of her mouth curled up into a strange smile.

That smile didn't seem like that of someone who was about to die.

Grandma Gui's heart skipped a beat. Just as she was about to increase the pressure, she suddenly felt that something was wrong with her touch.

The neck being held in the palm of his hand felt like paper, not like the skin of a living person.

"You are not human!"

Before the words were even finished, Liu Qingyu's face began to crack.

Starting from the center of the forehead, a thin line extends down the bridge of the nose, like a crack on a mirror.

The cracks multiplied and became denser, and fragments fell down, revealing another face beneath.

It was bluish-white with black eye sockets and bright red lips.

The red dress peeked out from under the plain white dress, fluttering in the wind.

Granny Gui's pupils contracted sharply, and she tried to let go and retreat, but it was too late.

Liu Qingyu's ghostly claws emerged from the shredded paper and grabbed her wrist.

The claws had black, sharp nails that dug into the flesh, causing Granny Gui to scream in pain.

"An eighth-rank cursed ghost!"