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

Jiang Dusheng shook his head slightly, a barely perceptible sigh in his voice:

"But you... are greedy for life and afraid of death, your obsession is too great, and you refuse to submit to fate. One wrong step, you listened to evil and wicked people and practiced this heaven-defying and life-stealing technique. From then on, every step you took was wrong, and you will never be able to get back."

"Now, all the good fortune you accumulated in your early years has been squandered in one day because of your act of stealing lives and damaging your virtue, and instead, you have accumulated a lot of karmic obstacles."

"Not only will you not die a peaceful death in this life, but your soul will also suffer the torment of being devoured day and night by the blood resentment of the original owner of the lifespan you stole, and you will never have a day of peace."

"According to Chapter 73 of the Netherworld Volume of the Fengdu Xuanlu, those who steal the lifespan of living people shall enter the Iron Ball Hell and the Molten Copper Hell, where they shall suffer the torment of being pierced by scorching iron balls and having boiling copper poured into their mouths day and night, in a continuous cycle, until the term of punishment calculated from the stolen lifespan is completed, and their sins are somewhat cleared."

"And the blood and resentment on your body..." Jiang Dusheng's gaze seemed to already see that tragic scene, "It may even drag you into the Blood Pool Hell... Jia Renyi, what you borrowed is not lifespan, but a pass to the eighteenth level of hell."

"The eighteenth level of hell..." Jia Renyi collapsed to the ground, his eyes vacant, muttering the same words over and over, his obese body trembling uncontrollably.

After a brief moment of distraction, he somehow mustered the strength to struggle to his feet, tears streaming down his face, and tried to rush over to grab Jiang Dusheng's skirt, pleading with her:

"Master! Fairy! Please save me! I truly know I was wrong! I was blinded by greed and bewitched by this Taoist priest! I'll give you any amount of silver you want! Just please save me and don't send me to hell!"

"I am willing to give away all my wealth to offer incense and recite scriptures daily to atone for my sins! Please! Show me the right path!"

Upon seeing this, Xie Jinchen frowned almost imperceptibly, a hint of disgust flashing in his eyes.

Before Jia Renyi could get close to Jiang Dusheng, Xie Jinchen raised his foot, not with force, but with a light kick, and sent the lunging Jia Renyi flying to the side, coldly saying, "Stay away."

Jia Renyi was kicked and rolled on the ground, covered in dust and looking even more disheveled.

He dared not rush forward again, and could only collapse to the ground, staring intently at Jiang Dusheng with desperate, pleading eyes.

Jiang Dusheng ignored Jia Renyi's pleas and turned his gaze to Wangjizi, whose face was ashen, before slowly walking over to him.

Seeing Jiang Dusheng approaching, Wangjizi disregarded his internal injuries and pain, and used both hands and feet to scoot backward, trying to get away from this female demon who could see through all his tricks at a glance.

Seeing this, Wang Dazhuang perked up, floated behind him, bared his teeth and claws in mid-air, making a ferocious and menacing gesture, and chuckled sinisterly:

"You stinking Taoist priest, if you dare take another step back, believe me, I'll devour your three souls and seven spirits right now, draining your cultivation! You won't even have a chance to become a ghost!"

Wang Jizi was so frightened by Wang Dazhuang that he froze on the spot and dared not move.

Jiang Dusheng stopped in front of Wangjizi, looking down at him with a calm gaze that carried an oppressive force like a mountain.

"Speak. Why are you capturing the ghosts under my command? Since you're after money, you've already profited handsomely from performing the life-borrowing sorcery for Jia Renyi. Why create unnecessary trouble by capturing ghosts for no reason?"

Wangjizi opened his mouth, his face showing an anxious expression, as if he wanted to say something, but no sound came out even after his lips opened and closed several times.

His eyes were filled with terror and anxiety. He frantically pointed to his own throat, then to Jiang Dusheng, then to a certain direction outside the courtyard. His movements were chaotic and his expression was agitated, but he was still unable to speak.

Jiang Dusheng raised an eyebrow. "A silencing spell?"

She raised her hand, a glimmer of light emanating from her fingertips, and drew a rune in the air to break the curse:

"The sky is clear and the earth is bright; laws and decrees are enforced."

"The ban on speech and silence has been broken!"

"Imperial Edict!"

With her final shout, the clear light rune transformed into a stream of light and disappeared into Wangjizi's throat.

Wangjizi shuddered violently, as if the throat that had been choked by an invisible force had suddenly been released. He coughed a few times, gasped for breath, and was finally able to utter a hoarse sound.

He dared not conceal anything, nor did he bother to organize his thoughts; he spoke with fear and lingering apprehension as he recounted:

"It was...it was a man. He was masked, tall and thin. He...he sneaked into my room before dawn and gave me this!"

Wangjizi trembled as he pulled a crumpled silver note from his pocket; the note had a face value of one thousand taels.

"He told me that there were two ghosts possessing paper figures eating tofu pudding on the street early in the morning, and that I must capture them."

"After it's done, the thousand taels will be mine, and there will be even more rewards later... I... I was greedy! I really didn't know these two ghosts had an owner, let alone that they were your subordinates, Master! If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have dared to do it even if you gave me ten lives!"

"A man in black? A thousand taels?" Xie Jinchen and Jiang Dusheng exchanged a glance, their eyes flashing with a sharp light.

In an instant, many clues came together.

Arresting Wang Dazhuang, that's such a familiar method...

Combined with that sudden imperial edict…

"Lure the tiger away from the mountain!" The two shouted in almost unison!

No wonder Duke Xie returned to Changling before them.

Perhaps he never returned to Changling, and Emperor Cangqi's imperial edict was within Xie Dai's expectations, or even part of his plan.

After figuring things out, Jiang Dusheng didn't hesitate; his gaze towards Wangjizi was now devoid of any warmth.

"As a Taoist practitioner, you do not uphold the righteous path or perform good deeds. In pursuit of wealth, you first aid the wicked and use evil magic to borrow lives, harming people's lives and damaging their virtue."

"Today, I will cripple your cultivation, sever your ability to harm others, and destroy your foundation for casting spells, so that you will no longer wreak havoc on the world."

As soon as he finished speaking, Wangjizi's eyes widened in horror. Before he could even beg for mercy, Jiang Dusheng had already gathered a point of dazzling golden light at his fingertips and swiftly pointed it at his dantian and brow.

At the same time, her clear voice, each word like a decree, echoed in the deathly silent courtyard:

"The mystical pivot is reversed, and the spiritual root is severed."

"All false doctrines and heretical practices will now vanish!"

"break!"

"No!" Wangjizi only managed to let out a short, shrill scream.

The moment that golden light entered his dantian and between his eyebrows, it seemed to detonate a miniature magic-breaking lightning talisman within his body.

Wangjizi's body stiffened abruptly, then he began to convulse violently, his face instantly turning ashen.

His once bright eyes quickly dimmed.

The spiritual energy he had cultivated for many years suddenly collapsed, centered on his dantian, and ran rampant along his meridians before quickly dissipating into nothingness.

"Pfft!" He spat out another mouthful of blood. This time, the blood was dark in color, with a faint glow of dissipated spiritual energy. It landed on the bluestone slab and quickly seeped away, leaving no trace of spiritual energy.

He felt as if all his energy had been drained away, and he collapsed limply to the ground, staring blankly at the sky.

All his cultivation vanished into nothingness.

From then on, he could no longer sense spiritual energy, draw talismans, or control magical artifacts. Moreover, because his foundation was destroyed, he would be weaker than an ordinary frail old man and suffer from various illnesses.