"Xiang Jiao, you said Elder Sun drove you and your mother out, so how could he treat you like this? What about his son?" Xiao He, positioned as a police officer on the side, asked Xiang Jiao with urgency.

Xiang Jiao wiped the blood from her mouth and smiled faintly. "Heh heh, it was my mother who wanted to save face back then; otherwise, I wouldn't have resorted to such drastic measures to eliminate Big Mother and her son. Hmph, later, when we swapped him out for an actual grandson, the old man actually locked me up for a day and even had people beat me." As she spoke, Xiang Jiao's expression turned utterly malicious, looking as if she wished to tear Elder Sun apart: "I wish I could flay the old bastard alive!"

"Hey, Sister Sun, you don't have to hate him that much, do you?" Xiao He remarked casually.

But upon hearing Xiao He's words, Xiang Jiao shot up like a rabid dog, her speech becoming like that of a shrew railing in the marketplace: "What did you say? My mother died at the old man's hands! It was all his fault! Otherwise, how could I not see my mother now? Do you know how miserably he drove us to the brink back then? Do you know how I clawed my way up from being a beggar step by step? If I hadn't been so resolute, would I be standing here alive today? Do you even know?"

After this outburst, both Xiao He and Zhou Huan felt a constrained helplessness; they deeply understood Xiang Jiao's feelings and were convinced by her display, thus believing every word she spoke.

"Alright, I'll continue. That old man deserved to die. He was already failing anyway, so I simply sent him on his way. Back then, I killed Big Mother, and I beat his son until he was an idiot and threw him into the river. Then, I brought back a boy I had bought from an orphanage. Haha, the old man loved boys, and that’s precisely why he took me in and stopped abusing me like before. So, I resolved then that I must have my revenge, that I must secure justice for my mother." As Xiang Jiao spoke these words, she looked smug and triumphant, the wrinkles on her face crinkling into a wide smile.

Zhou Huan frowned deeply: "Then aren't you a faithless, prodigal scion?"

"To hell with the Sun family! I haven't wanted to live properly for a long time. I'm content with having survived this long. I’ve already gotten what I wanted anyway; what's there to fear?"

Zhou Huan shook his head with deep pity, then lowered his gaze to pick up the bundle he had placed on the ground. Suddenly, he remembered something. He glared fiercely at Xiang Jiao, then addressed her righteously: "Xiang Jiao, I don't entirely believe what you've said right now. Today is the final seventh day of mourning for Old Master Sun. If you truly intend to confront him face-to-face, then survive until tomorrow night, and come with us. I know your poison powder has limitations; if you don't wipe it off within three hours of application, it becomes life-threatening."

"Hmph hmph, Zhou Huan, the Sun family's business is clear. Our business can never be postponed indefinitely. I promise you, after we finish with the Sun family matters, we will settle our score privately. Otherwise, it will be endless and agonizing!" Xiang Jiao began wiping the scented powder from her face.

"When has Zhou Huan ever shied away from such things? I'll wait for you. Should we go with the police now?"

As soon as Zhou Huan finished speaking, a police officer entered through Exit Two, escorting a man. That man was Sun Zhi, who staggered slightly, staring at Zhou Huan and declaring, "Well, if that bitch Sun is dealt with, I’ll be the heir to this house."

"Pah! You’re nearly disowned by our Sun family, and you still want to fight for it?" Xiang Jiao expressed her strong dissatisfaction.

The newcomer took one look at Xiang Jiao's demeanor and realized that mere words wouldn't suffice. He chuckled more heartily: "You don't need to put on such an act. You were the one who started things with Big Brother back then. You even wanted to throw me into the river to drown me, but I was lucky! If not for an old woman saving me, the one standing here talking might be a ghost right now!"

"Spare me the theatrics. You're a boy; whatever you say in this house is law. Did any of you ever consider the feelings of my mother and me? We couldn't sleep in a proper villa, yet we were forced to live in the remote mountains, and you brought in that waste, Li Guang. How could you expect me to swallow that insult?" Xiang Jiao spun out a continuous stream of grievances, causing everyone present to cover their ears, waiting for her torrent of complaints to end.

Sun Zhi approached Xiao He, saluted her first, and then continued his history: "Now that you are all here, I can tell you the truth. I am not the Old Master’s biological son. He never had any sons. It was simply because he adored having a son so much that my mother—that is, your Big Mother—found me from outside. In fact, I was conceived by my mother and the Second Young Master of the Sun family. I really didn't want to reveal this secret, but I have no choice today."

"Hahaha, so that's why I said when digging up the earth, we might uncover a skeleton. I suppose it's your father's, then?" Xiang Jiao was already numb by this point, and everyone else present was utterly confused; the affairs of such a wealthy family were just too complicated, with so many twists.

Upon hearing this, Sun Zhi’s eyebrows twitched: "Hmph hmph, and your mother’s skeleton, has it still not been found?"

"Who says? I went to see it just a few days ago; the skeleton is perfectly fine where it is." Xiang Jiao recalled visiting the gravesite in her dowry clothes not long ago and definitely seeing her mother's remains.

Sun Zhi gave a faint, cold smile: "It's gone. Definitely gone. Because I took the skeleton of Second Mother. I fed it to the dogs! Hahaha! You killed my mother, and then you dug up my father’s skeleton. Now give me back my father’s bones." Sun Zhi's eyes changed color. Xiang Jiao was furious at his words; without even wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth, she scrambled up, preparing to rush forward and physically attack Sun Zhi.

Xiao He and Xiao Li separated them. Zhou Huan turned and entered the inner room. The moment he stepped inside, he froze, stunned.

Xiang Jiao's room was easily forty square meters. A long table held various cages, each containing live venomous creatures. On the wall cabinets above, various powders were stored. In the back was a small altar table. Opposite the long table was a double bed, apparently where Xiang Jiao slept. Zhou Huan walked to the altar table and saw an urn containing ashes, and in front of the urn lay a tablet inscribed: "Spirit Tablet of Sun Family's Second Master."

Seeing this, Zhou Huan understood everything. The thing Sun Zhi had been opposing—Xiang Jiao hadn't done it at all. Yet, he had dug up and taken away Xiang Jiao’s mother's ashes. Witnessing the decline of this grand household, Zhou Huan’s heart trembled with a kind of nervous awe; it was profoundly moving.

"Sun Zhi, come into Xiang Jiao's room and look!" Zhou Huan called out. Xiao Li half-escorted Sun Zhi into the inner room. When Sun Zhi saw his father's ashes, tears streamed down his face. He truly didn't know what he should do then.

Outside the door, Xiang Jiao let out a cry of agony. Blood began to flow from her eyes, ears, nose, and the corners of her mouth. Her breathing grew weak: "Sun Zhi, I didn't move Second Uncle's ashes. The skeleton dug up from the house belonged to a servant from our old place. Your mother—yes, I killed her. Now that I am dying, let's call it even. Please, properly bury my mother's ashes. All the Sun family assets are yours!"

"No!" Li Guang, who had apparently revived, crawled up again, clutching his head: "After I served you so diligently for so many years, am I to get nothing?"

"Yes, yes. There is ten million deposited in your card. The PIN is our wedding anniversary. I want to say... I... I... was too harsh... to you... I'm sorry!" With these words, Xiang Jiao’s life concluded—the inevitable consequence of playing with fire.

But Li Guang, discarding all restraint, rushed to Xiang Jiao's side, gathering her tightly in his arms. He wanted to cry, perhaps shout some heroic declaration, or utter words of anguish, but nothing came out. The sound he started to shout choked back in his throat halfway.

Xiao He acted decisively: "Alright, Xiao Li, Dongzi, help take them both out. This place needs evidence collection and tidying up. As for the final verdict, that will be for the court to decide. Brother Huan, would you mind..."

Zhou Huan truly couldn't smile at this moment. He turned and instructed his apprentices to start burning paper offerings for the deceased, while he himself left with Xiao He through Exit Two.

"Xiao He, I need to go to the funeral home to see Elder Sun's remains. He should be able to return to his spirit form around midnight tonight," Zhou Huan murmured deeply.

Xiao He nodded: "Go then. I'll handle things here. Return early; I'll wait for you!"

Zhou Huan nodded, got into the car, and sped toward the funeral home. Along the way, his mind churned with turbulent emotions. Such a large Sun family, countless assets, yet such a tangled history: Big Mother and Second Uncle's illicit affair resulting in a son, the daughter killing Big Mother, the son enduring hardship but remaining ignorant of his own family's lineage, and the daughter later marrying a eunuch as a husband. This chain of events, it seemed, only Elder Sun could unravel clearly.

Zhou Huan drove faster and faster, almost flying. With a sharp screech of tires, his car stopped outside the morgue entrance of the funeral home. Old Xu was sitting on a bench at the entrance and saw Zhou Huan approaching from a distance.

"Master Zhou, you've finally come. Tonight is the night of the spirit return; if you hadn't come, I don't know how I would have gotten through it. It's quite frightening!" Old Xu said as soon as he saw Zhou Huan.

Zhou Huan smiled faintly: "It's fine. Spirit return night; as long as you don't provoke them, nothing will happen. Take me inside to look."

"Wait, I'll open the door for you!" Old Xu unclipped a set of keys from his belt, selected the right one, and opened the door, allowing a wave of cold, corpse-like energy to billow out.

Zhou Huan inhaled a particularly pungent and heavy odor of advanced decomposition: "Master Xu, is there a newly arrived corpse here? Why is the smell of decay so strong?"

"No, Master. Recently, those who die first are cremated first. We haven't stored many bodies here; most are processed quickly." Saying that, Old Xu sniffed his nose too. "You're right, where is that smell coming from?"

The two followed the odor inward. Passing through the familiar heavy iron gate, Zhou Huan immediately sensed something was wrong. He immediately ordered Old Xu to step out and rushed into Elder Sun's temporary storage room.