"It’s just... it’s just..."

Xiao Liu looked troubled and hesitant, but after meeting Su Nian’s gaze, she closed her eyes, steeled herself, and forced the words out through gritted teeth.

"We were all wasted, so... someone smashed the gravestone with a rock, and another person peed by the grave."

This was the first time Su Nian had ever seen someone so intent on asking for trouble.

For a moment, she didn’t know whether to be impressed or disgusted.

[I’ll give ’em a ’6’ for that. Just wow.]

[Damn, that’s ballsy. The fact that they survived long enough to find the Host means that ghost is a real softie.]

[Seriously, it’s a miracle they’re still alive. That ghost is a saint.]

[I have no words. I thought this kind of stuff only happened in horror movies.]

[SHOCKER! Young Woman Goes to Cemetery at Midnight... to Do THIS.]

"Host, *sob*, I know I was wrong! Help me!"

"Can you save my friends, too? They’re all really good people!"

"Besides! My friend told me about you! She said you can kill ghosts with your bare hands! You’re so powerful, you can definitely save them, right?!"

Su Nian shot her a sidelong glance, her tone perfectly flat.

"Everything is bound by karma. Your finding me today created a karmic link between us. But I can’t help anyone else."

[If I were the Host, I wouldn’t even save her.]

[I mean, seriously, where does she get the nerve to ask the Host to save other people?]

[So shameless. Acts without thinking about the consequences, and now that there’s trouble, she expects the Master to clean up her mess.]

[Exactly! Why should the Master bend over backward for her? I don’t think she should help at all!]

However, some viewers disagreed.

[You can’t just say that. A life is a life, after all.]

[Yeah, the Host is really powerful. If she can save them, why not just do it?]

"Master, please, I’m begging you! I know you’re powerful, can’t you help me save them? I’ll pay you! I’ll pay you a lot of money!"

As Xiao Liu spoke, she picked up her phone and tried to scan Su Nian’s payment code again.

But the instant she touched the phone, that strange sound came from it again.

Frustrated, she gave up on her phone and started frantically digging through her purse. A moment later, she pulled out a few bank cards.

She looked at Su Nian, her face a mask of desperation.

"Master, I’ll give you all my money! Please, I’m begging you, save me! Save them!"

But Su Nian only shook her head, her expression resolute.

"It’s not that I won’t save them; I have no grounds to. You did something wrong. You defied the natural order and showed no respect for the dead. It’s only natural that you face the consequences."

"I cannot interfere lightly. As for you, you sought me out and I accepted your payment. That created a karmic bond between us. I have no such obligation to the others."

"I do have the power to save them, but I cannot willfully defy the laws of karma."

[The Host is right. You reap what you sow. They have no one to blame but themselves.]

[Sigh, but can’t the Host just make an exception and save them? So many lives are on the line.]

[I don’t know what to say, so I’ll just give them two words: Deserved it!]

After Su Nian refused her again, Xiao Liu collapsed onto the stool, her face a picture of despair.

After a long moment, she finally looked up.

"Is there really no other way?"

Su Nian nodded.

Seeing Su Nian’s nod, the last flicker of hope in Xiao Liu’s eyes died. She snapped, acting like a madwoman.

She jerked her head up and shrieked at Su Nian.

"Why won’t you save them?! It’s not like we did it on purpose! What’s the big deal? Just save them!"

"People like you should just go die!"

[Holy shit! I can’t believe her. What kind of person is she?!]

[So shameless. I’m speechless. Good thing the Host didn’t help.]

[The Host never should have bothered with trash like her.]

[I’m speechless. Why doesn’t she just go die?!]

A stream of profanity poured from her lips. Her sanity had been fraying ever since she realized she was being haunted by multiple ghosts the day before.

Now, facing Su Nian’s repeated refusals, she was on the verge of a total breakdown.

She shrieked and hollered, as if trying to vent all the helpless fury inside her.

For someone like this, Su Nian’s solution was simple: a refund.

"You can go now. Thanks to your little tantrum, the karmic bond between us is broken..."

Su Nian’s tone was calm. She’d been making an effort to be more civilized lately, so she refrained from cursing the woman out directly.

[SERVES HER RIGHT!!!]

[Isn’t that a bit harsh? She was just having a breakdown. If the Host had just agreed to help, she wouldn’t have acted like that.]

[I’m speechless. What a psycho!]

She just tossed the money at her and told her to leave.

Xiao Liu shot Su Nian a hateful glare, turned on her heel, and left without taking the money.

"I refuse to believe you’re the only so-called ’Master’ in the world!"

"I don’t think you’re so great, anyway!"

Su Nian calmly listened to her tirade.

Then, a thought struck Su Nian.

"Are you absolutely sure you don’t want my help?"

"Positive! I wouldn’t want help from someone like you anyway!"

Su Nian raised an eyebrow. "You’re positive, then?"

"Positive!"

Xiao Liu snapped back, but inwardly, Su Nian relaxed.

The girl had severed the karmic link between them herself. Since that was the case, Su Nian was no longer obligated to help her.

Xiao Liu stormed off, but she left her phone and the money behind.

Su Nian put a hand to her forehead and called after her.

"Don’t forget your things."

[The Host is such a good person, still reminding her.]

[Nah, the Host probably just thinks leaving her stuff here is bad juju.]

[She just tried to bribe the Host. As if our Host is short on cash.]

She spun around, her eyes blazing with even more fury, as if Su Nian had just insulted her.

She snatched the money and her phone, then stormed away again.

Su Nian felt a sense of relief. She was a civilized person now; she had no desire to deal with classless people.

But seeing the inky-black death energy clinging to the woman’s forehead, Su Nian said nothing more.

As for Xiao Liu, she began to regret her outburst barely ten minutes after leaving. She had been furious back at the Master’s place, but at least she had felt safe there.

Now, even though she was surrounded by people, she kept feeling that some of them were strange, as if they were staring at her.

"Forget it. I have to go back and beg her."

Gritting her teeth, she hunched over and started walking back, only to notice a strange person who seemed to be staring at her constantly.

She cautiously stared back, but the longer she looked, the more her blood ran cold. The person looked just like the woman from the portrait on the gravestone.

Especially that expression... it was identical to the one in the funeral portrait!

"Help! Help me!"

"Master, *sob*!"

She cried out, desperately trying to push her way through the crowd to get back to Su Nian.

But the "people" in the crowd grew more and more numerous, trapping her in the center, making it impossible to escape.

Meanwhile, Su Nian was already welcoming her next client.

This was a lavishly dressed woman, impeccably maintained. The enormous diamond ring on her finger, in particular, glittered with the light of wealth.

[I may be broke, but that doesn’t stop me from seeing that diamond is real.]

[I can’t appraise diamonds, but I can tell from her handbag that she’s no ordinary person!]

[Whoa, a rich lady! She’s loaded! Her outfit alone must be worth millions.]

And this rich woman’s very first words after taking a seat were:

"I think my daughter has been switched!"