The mystery of what was being suppressed in the Daoist temple's backyard was finally clear, leaving Kuang Feifan and Feng Tian reasonably satisfied, though several uncertainties remained. But as the story reached this point, Ji Ping suddenly displayed an air of utter exhaustion; whether from excitement or anger, his face was flushed crimson, and he was gasping for breath.

Kuang Feifan frowned slightly and asked in a low voice, "Do you need a break?"

Ji Ping closed his eyes and took a long moment to compose himself before shaking his head. "No need. Since I promised to tell you, I will finish."

Everything Ji Ping knew about himself, his father had learned from that servant. Periodically, the servant would enter the Ghost Realm, but he didn't reveal much to Ji Ping's father, so Ji Ping only knew that his mother had abandoned him after his birth, only to die suddenly soon after for unknown reasons—which was why Ji Ping became an orphan.

It went without saying that summoning Ji Ping into the "Ghost Realm" this time clearly meant the servant intended to abandon Ji Ping's father and instead enlist Ji Ping's help.

Unexpectedly finding himself in this situation, Ji Ping felt a pang of awkwardness, but before he could make a decision, a gust of sinister wind swept through, and his father, who had been standing before him seemingly shrouded in mist, vanished into the wind as if dispersed by a breeze.

Once the sinister wind passed, a humanoid figure condensed from bluish-gray mist appeared not far in front of Ji Ping.

A chilling voice echoed from nowhere: "You are my grandson."

This was not a question, but more like a command, prompting Ji Ping to blurt out instinctively, "Grandpa!"

What happened afterward was relatively simple. Given Ji Ping’s nature, it took little effort for him to agree to help the servant and Miss Luo achieve rebirth.

Helping meant survival; not helping meant, just like his father, his soul would scatter to the winds.

Considering Ji Ping’s character, there was little hesitation; he was not close to his father and felt no affection for him, and survival was his paramount principle, so he chose the former without a second thought.

As for Ji Ping's task, he needed to locate the target, approach him, so the servant could strike. Luo Jingjing was the first and primary objective.

However, because the servant was currently suppressed, he couldn't give Ji Ping all of Luo Jingjing's details, only her appearance, which was directly imprinted into Ji Ping's mind. Ji Ping wasn't worried about this aspect; his identity offered the greatest convenience for tracking people, so after some time, he managed to find out exactly who this initial target was.

Everything else relied on the servant's abilities. As previously analyzed, one of the servant's powers included materializing the deepest fears residing in a person's heart.

Kuang Feifan and Feng Tian never imagined that the various dangers they faced stemmed from Ji Ping's fear of death and desire to live. Yet, the biggest lingering question was why the "Nine Revolutions Soul Suppressing Formation" appeared in the haunted house, and why the old Daoist priest’s master set up that formation to suppress the souls of the servant and Miss Luo.

In truth, Ji Ping wasn't entirely clear about this either, as he knew nothing about the Nine Revolutions Soul Suppressing Formation and was ignorant of array arts. However, when the servant’s soul recounted his experience, he mentioned that the event where he and Miss Luo were burned to death in the fire was actually engineered by the servant. Furthermore, his spirit influenced the Daoist priest invited by the old Master Luo, causing him to accidentally set up the "Nine Revolutions Soul Returning Formation" instead of the intended "Nine Revolutions Soul Suppressing Formation," all so that when the time was right, the souls of the servant and the young lady could successfully be reborn.

Hearing this, Feng Tian showed a look of sudden realization. So the formation in the haunted house was not the true "Soul Suppressing Formation," but rather a "Soul Returning Formation." However, Feng Tian was perplexed; he couldn't fathom why the old Daoist priest’s master would mix up the formations. Ji Ping claimed it was due to the servant's influence, but Feng Tian’s daily work involved frequent contact with spirits and deities, which also meant frequent interaction with people; he considered himself well-versed in human nature. Seeing the evasiveness in Ji Ping's eyes as he spoke, Feng Tian was seventy to eighty percent certain that Ji Ping was not telling the whole truth.

Frowning slightly, Feng Tian glanced at Kuang Feifan, noticing him tilt his head, staring at Ji Ping with a thoughtful expression. Knowing that Kuang Feifan was leading this interrogation, Feng Tian wisely remained silent, not wanting to disrupt the conversation that was now running on track.

In reality, although Kuang Feifan didn't understand array arts, he also sensed that Ji Ping hadn't disclosed the truth regarding the "switch" of the formation. Still, this matter didn't significantly impact their current situation; he was more interested in other things.

"Why were your traces left at the murder scene of the gas station manager?"

Ji Ping sighed, "Before this, I had never killed anyone, and he had to die..."

Killing that person was a necessity for Ji Ping. Just as he narrated, the task given to him in the "Ghost Realm" was to find the required offerings for the formation, and the offerings were autonomously selected by the formation itself. Luo Jingjing was the first, the "key" for the formation to formally activate.

The formation required the first offering to be guided by a medium, meaning Ji Ping needed to step in and arrange for the medium to be placed where Luo Jingjing could come into contact with it, preferably carrying it on her person.

According to the servant, once the medium touched Luo Jingjing and the first offering was prepared, the formation would activate, and thereafter, it would operate on its own, marking the "Soul Locking Seal" on all the other offerings without further need for Ji Ping's involvement.

"Medium? What is it?" Feng Tian was curious about this, and Kuang Feifan wanted to know as well.

"A bone, a piece of charred bone."

Kuang Feifan’s brows knitted into the character for 'river' (), asking with confusion, "What does that have to do with the gas station manager?"

Ji Ping offered a wry smile. "When Luo Jingjing died, the bone wasn't found, but it ended up in the hands of that manager. That guy was deranged. When Luo Jingjing worked at the gas station, she kept some things in her personal locker; the bone was in there, placed with some manuscripts related to the supernatural. The manager took it out of sheer curiosity."

Saying this, Ji Ping snorted through his nose, "As expected, curiosity killed the cat..."

"Did you give the bone to Luo Jingjing?"

Ji Ping shrugged. "A bone, and a story about a 'Ghost Chariot.'"

Kuang Feifan gritted his teeth and said coldly, "A trap to lead her to her death."

The muscles in Ji Ping's face twitched a few times. After a long pause, he merely pursed his lips and gave a faint, wry nod.

"You killed the manager to retrieve the bone?" Kuang Feifan pressed.

Ji Ping let out a breath. "I was just going to look for it, who knew I'd run into him. It was unavoidable, so I had to kill him. It's a pity that Feng Tian arrived right after I finished, so I had no choice but to desperately try to lure him toward the nearby lake, which also prevented me from properly cleaning up the murder scene in time."

Feng Tian nodded. So, the reason they were told to split up earlier was to search the manager's residence for the bone.

Kuang Feifan considered this, then asked again, "Why lead us into the 'Ghost Realm'? Didn't you need us to be the 'offerings' for the formation? What would happen when that so-called Soul Returning Formation finally materialized?"

Ji Ping hesitated. "Luring you into the 'Ghost Realm' was my idea. Unfortunately, I failed to kill you in the lake, but I had to kill you, because yesterday was the moment the formation was at its strongest, so you all had to die."

Kuang Feifan scoffed. "No need to ask, that female ghost must be Miss Luo. It seems she has considerable power, able to control the water monkeys in the lake."

Ji Ping confirmed with an "En." "It's simple; the well suppressing their remains is connected to the artificial lake below."

Kuang Feifan and Feng Tian involuntarily nodded. This piece of information was crucial; it at least explained why so many water monkeys haunted the artificial lake—clearly, the servant had many tricks up his sleeve.

But Kuang Feifan immediately thought of another question and couldn't help but turn to Feng Tian, "Isn't that artificial lake stagnant water?"

Feng Tian also looked somewhat puzzled, turning to Ji Ping. Ji Ping pouted. "The water in that artificial lake connects to the canal."

"Oh."

Although Kuang Feifan and the others had learned almost everything they needed, the ultimate question finally surfaced. Based on Kuang Feifan’s intuition, the servant being killed by the Luo family and everything that followed were no coincidence; in fact, it was highly likely that the servant had planned all of this long ago. The reason for this assumption wasn't baseless conjecture: if the servant planned for rebirth, it couldn't have been a sudden whim; there must have been a plan, and the crucial element in this plan involved the Daoist priest invited by the Luo family and the Daoist temple that was built.

"Ji Ping, what is the relationship between the old Daoist priest’s master and you people?" Kuang Feifan asked coldly.