After the ghost-hunting master descended the mountain, his fame spread throughout the capital.

Just then, a series of footsteps approached from afar.

Xie Jinchen strode in, carrying a middle-aged man dressed in fine silk and satin, whose fat body jiggled.

His expression was indifferent, and his aura was steady, with only a trace of lingering murderous intent remaining at his fingertips.

Behind him followed the pale-faced steward of the Jia family, and several servants with bruised faces and eyes filled with fear.

The fat man being carried like a chick by Xie Jinchen was none other than the master of this place, Master Jia.

— Jia Renyi.

Jia Renyi was casually thrown to the ground by Xie Jinchen, where he lay slumped like a lump of mud, his voice trembling as he said:

"My two valiant heroes! Heroes! Fairy! If you wish for wealth, I, Jia, am willing to give up all my riches, just please spare my life!"

Ignoring Master Jia's pleas, Jiang Dusheng raised his chin and said to Wangjizi, "Go, release my ghost."

She paused, her voice turning colder, and added, "Keep your hands clean. Otherwise, I won't hesitate to cripple your harmful cultivation."

At this moment, Wangjizi dared not have the slightest thought of resistance; having his cultivation destroyed was even more terrifying than being killed.

He scrambled to open the courtyard gate, rushed into the house, and released Wang Dazhuang from the cloth bag.

As soon as the bag was loosened, a shadow darted out, spun around twice in the air, and seemed a little dizzy.

Upon seeing Jiang Dusheng standing leisurely at the courtyard gate, he suddenly burst into a deafening howl and lunged forward, but stopped abruptly three feet in front of Jiang Dusheng, not daring to actually collide with him.

"Master, you've finally arrived! If you had come any later, your most loyal subordinate would have been turned into lamp oil by this stinking Taoist priest!"

Wang Dazhuang burst into tears, utterly miserable, "He locked me in that dark, tattered sack that smelled awful! He bullied me! Master, you must do me justice!"

While crying and pleading, Wang Dazhuang looked at Jiang Dusheng, and his courage suddenly returned.

His eyes darted around, and he floated back to Wangjizi's side, raising his semi-transparent foot to kick Wangjizi's buttocks repeatedly.

"You dare to catch me! You dare to be so arrogant! You dare to put me in a tattered bag! I'll beat you to death, you old coward!" He kicked and gloated, completely forgetting how cowardly he had been inside the bag just now.

Ruan Guyan watched from the side and couldn't help but cover her face with her sleeve and chuckle.

Jiang Dusheng then shifted his gaze from the disheveled Wangjizi to Jia Renyi, who was slumped on the ground.

She squinted slightly, carefully examining his face.

This person has a round, fleshy chin and a round nose, which are signs of good fortune and wealth. However, at this moment, there is a persistent dark aura between his eyebrows.

This black aura seemed to be formed from countless wisps of resentment, which were slowly eroding his life palace.

Even more bizarrely, his complexion, amidst the dark sea of ​​resentment, possessed an unnatural, rosy glow, as if forcibly infused with life force, creating a stark contrast with the resentment and appearing exceptionally eerie.

"Covered in resentment, invaded by death energy, his three souls unstable, yet his life force is weak and strong..." Jiang Dusheng muttered to himself, a hint of disgust flashing in his eyes:

"The soul lamp flickers but forcibly continues to burn... This is not an ordinary case of being possessed by evil spirits or having bad luck. This is... defying the heavens and borrowing life, using the lifespan and soul power of others to prolong one's own dying breath."

Her gaze pierced Jia Renyi like an icy spike, her voice chilling, "Speak, how did you steal someone's lifespan?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Renyi's body trembled violently, and the cold sweat on his face poured even more profusely.

He glanced at the obviously unreliable Wangjizi, then at Jiang Dusheng, knowing that he was doomed today.

Jia Renyi sighed deeply, his tone filled with despair and resignation. "I...I am Jia Renyi, a well-known...philanthropist in Qinghe Town."

When he uttered the words "great philanthropist," he felt a sense of irony and lowered his voice.

"Pfft!"

Wang Dazhuang, who was floating nearby, couldn't help but laugh out loud. Fortunately, he was a ghost, so his voice was inaudible to mortals.

"Jia Renyi? False Renyi? What a fitting and ironic name." Wang Dazhuang winked at Ruan Guyan.

Ignoring Wang Dazhuang's sarcasm, Jia Renyi continued his story, his tone wistful with reminiscence:

"About half a year ago, I suddenly felt my health deteriorating day by day. I consulted countless famous doctors and took countless tonics, but nothing worked. I even felt that my time was coming to an end."

A look of lingering fear crossed his face. "Just when I was feeling utterly hopeless, I unexpectedly met Daoist Wangjizi..."

Jia Renyi glanced at Wangjizi, who was slumped on the ground, and lowered his voice, "The Daoist priest does indeed have supernatural powers. He saw at a glance that my life was coming to an end and that medicine could not cure me. Later, he moved into my residence."

"I asked him, 'Master, is there really no other way? I, Jia Renyi, have done good deeds all my life and am extremely wealthy. Am I just supposed to wait to die?'" Jia Renyi's voice became agitated.

"He told me... there is a way. But it requires extraordinary measures to defy fate. He said I could do more good deeds and accumulate merit in secret, which might move Heaven and extend my life."

Jia Renyi looked anxiously at Jiang Dusheng, as if trying to prove his innocence, "Master, please understand! I listened to the Taoist priest and took a large sum of money to do good deeds! I didn't harm anyone! I just wanted to accumulate merit and save my life!"

"Oh?" Jiang Dusheng raised an eyebrow, his tone unreadable. "What kind of good deed?"

"I...I went to all the major pharmacies in the city, specifically looking for poor families whose patients were terminally ill," Jia Renyi quickly said. "I felt sorry for them, so I gave their families a large sum of money, enough for them to live comfortably for the rest of their lives."

"Those families were all extremely grateful, calling me a living bodhisattva and a great philanthropist! As a result, my reputation grew even more."

As he said this, a hint of vanity and schadenfreude even appeared on his face:

"Master, look, I am truly doing good! I gave them money so their family could survive and so they could receive medical treatment. Isn't that a meritorious act?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Dusheng chuckled softly.

The laughter, however, was colder than ice in the dead of winter to Jia Renyi, causing him to shiver involuntarily.

Jiang Dusheng slowly took two steps closer, looking down at Jia Renyi. His voice wasn't loud, but every word struck Jia Renyi's heart like a hammer:

"Giving money...is to build a reputation, and even more so to sever karmic ties, right?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Renyi's face drained of color instantly, his lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a sound.

He never expected that Jiang Dusheng could see through his secret from just a few words.

"Because what you've truly seized isn't some illusory merit." Jiang Dusheng's gaze was piercing, as if he could see into the deepest, most sordid secrets of his soul.

"What you're drawing upon... is the last vestige of life and vitality remaining in the bodies of those terminally ill individuals, teetering on the brink of death, isn't that right?"