Chapter 8: The Perils of a Love-Struck Mind

"Oh, Mother, she is..."

"Mrs. Pei, my name is Jiang Zhiyue, and I am Young Master Pei's assistant." As she spoke, Jiang Zhiyue gave Pei Heng a wink.

They had just agreed that she would be his personal bodyguard, specifically responsible for his safety. Furthermore, she would craft a comprehensive, customized solution for him based on his unique destiny.

"An assistant?" Mrs. Pei looked at her son, full of confusion. She had no idea when Pei Heng had started hiring young, beautiful assistants like everyone else.

Pei Heng nodded repeatedly. "Yes, Mother, this is my new assistant, Xiao Jiang. Assistant Lin was quite seriously injured and is still in the hospital, so I found a temporary replacement."

"Oh, I see."

With Pei Heng's support, Mrs. Pei sat down elegantly on the living room sofa.

Jiang Zhiyue walked over. Taking advantage of a lull in their conversation, she held a talisman between two fingers and slapped it onto Mrs. Pei's forehead without hesitation.

The action was so sudden that the woman had no time to resist, and the talisman stuck firmly in place.

"Ah!"

A shrill, miserable scream erupted instantly. Black, wispy smoke hissed from the flesh on Mrs. Pei's forehead. The expression on her formerly gentle and sophisticated face twisted into something hideous. Clutching her face, she collapsed to the floor in agony.

Pei Heng was stunned. He instinctively reached out to help, but Jiang Zhiyue kicked him toward the front door, sending him rolling right to the feet of his father, who had just rushed in.

Seeing the scene in the living room, Mr. Pei was shocked and shouted with a booming voice, "What are you doing?"

Mrs. Pei clutched her face. "Husband, help me! This woman is trying to kill me! Quickly, drive her out!"

"What did you do to my wife?"

"Can't you see? The woman in front of you is not your wife at all. Have you ever seen a normal person who is afraid of a talisman?"

At these words, both father and son froze.

"Don't listen to her! What talisman? I can see clearly that she smeared sulfuric acid on this paper! Husband, save me, it hurts so much, it hurts!"

Seeing his wife in such distress, Mr. Pei's eyes reddened. "Don't be afraid, honey! I'm coming to save you!"

Mr. Pei strode forward, but Pei Heng grabbed his legs tightly. Having taken a kick from Jiang Zhiyue, he had regained his senses.

"Dad, don't go over there. She might really not be Mom. Think about it—when has Mom ever called you 'husband'?"

Jiang Zhiyue watched the spectacle with detached amusement as she turned to look at Mr. Pei. His face and neck flushed red at being asked this.

"What's wrong with that? I'm a man who loves his wife dearly—don't I deserve to be called 'husband'?"

"Dad, get a grip! I've seen the power of Xiao Jiang's talismans with my own eyes. I even prepared the materials for them myself. She drew them right under my nose; it's impossible that they were pre-smeared with acid."

Pei Heng's words carried weight. Mr. Pei became cautious, but it only lasted a moment before he started struggling to crawl toward Mrs. Pei again.

"I don't care! That's still my wife's body. Even if she isn't my wife, I can't let her body be harmed. If your mother comes back and sees her face destroyed, she'll be devastated—she loves her appearance so much!"

Jiang Zhiyue stared at Mr. Pei in disbelief. Is that really the point? Did he not understand a word she said? Shouldn't the priority be finding a way to force the soul occupying his wife's body out?

Just then, Mr. Pei, having crawled a few steps closer, let out a scream and scrambled back in a panic. "A ghost!"

He turned to Pei Heng. "Son, did you notice your mother's face just now?"

Pei Heng nodded, his expression strangely grave. "Yes, I saw it. It looks like a serious injury, but if she has surgery in time, there's a good chance she can recover. You don't need to worry too much, Dad."

Mr. Pei took a deep breath and asked Jiang Zhiyue, "Are you a Taoist priest? Did you see her face just now?"

Jiang Zhiyue widened her eyes. "Look, I did what I did to save your real wife! Only by driving out the wandering ghost occupying her body can we have a chance to wake her up. Don't think about blaming me for the medical bills! I'm not paying for cosmetic surgery!"

No one was going to swindle her out of money!

Mr. Pei sighed heavily. Was he really the only one who had seen his wife's face transform into a stranger's for that brief second? It felt somewhat familiar, but he couldn't place who it was.

Jiang Zhiyue ignored the father and son. She shouted, "Get out of the way!" and charged forward with her fists raised.

Mrs. Pei gave her a sinister smile, and a wisp of cyan smoke, invisible to the others, slowly seeped from the crown of her head.

Then, a translucent, ghostly female figure appeared out of thin air. The woman had bloodstains trailing from the corners of her eyes, her face filled with resentment.

"Why? Why? Husband, why did you hire someone to deal with me? What am I lacking compared to her? Anything she can do for you, I can do too. For your sake, I could even love the son she bore as if he were my own. Why can't you see my devotion?"

Faced with the stranger's accusations, Mr. Pei looked bewildered and retreated in terror. "Wait, who are you? I don't know you! Don't call me husband; we aren't familiar with each other."

"Ha!" The woman gave a painful, cold laugh. "You've actually forgotten who I am? Why treat me like this? What was wrong with loving you? For you, I turned myself into this neither-human-nor-ghost creature, and yet you tell me you don't remember me!"

"Ah, how dare you forget me!"

"Oh, no!"

Seeing the woman about to lose control, Jiang Zhiyue stopped watching the show and quickly threw several talismans at the ghost.

Suddenly, piercing, agonizing screams echoed through the air.

Despite the intense pain, the woman desperately tried to drift toward Mr. Pei. Unfortunately, before she could even touch the hem of his clothes, Jiang Zhiyue dragged her back.

Having run out of the talismans she had prepared, Jiang Zhiyue stroked her backpack like a treasure, then steeled her heart and decided to use physical force to exorcise the ghost.

The ghost clearly lacked any real combat experience. After a few rounds, she was quickly subdued and pinned in place by Jiang Zhiyue.

Jiang Zhiyue scoffed internally. She had said it before: a "love-sick" brain was a disaster. Men only hindered one's progress. If this female ghost had spent the time she obsessed over men on cultivating her powers, Jiang Zhiyue wouldn't have won so easily.

"Speak. Who exactly are you? And where is the real Mrs. Pei?"

The woman burst into hysterical laughter, her eyes once again streaming with blood.

Jiang Zhiyue gave Mr. Pei a look, signaling him to coax the ghost a bit. If she cried every time she was asked a question, how was she supposed to get any useful information?

Mr. Pei clearly didn't understand her intent, and the two stared at each other in a stalemate for quite a while.