Everyone else was blind to the situation here.
Only Gu Wuji quickly realized that at that moment, a faint white light emerged from Old Master Xia's body, effectively blocking the female ghost.
Seizing the opportunity, Gu Wuji had already rushed to Old Master Xia's side, standing in front of him and staring steadily at the female ghost before him.
It was clear that as time passed, the female ghost had become even more powerful, to the extent that those standing in front of her felt suffocated.
The appearance of the female ghost had also become clearer, reaching a level where people around could notice the anomaly.
Indeed, the appearance of this female ghost was completely different from the woman in the portrait, if one had to say...
"You must be Old Master Xia's second wife," Gu Wuji spoke, his peripheral vision catching something, and he discreetly signaled towards a corner without making any sound.
The people around were all shocked, but upon reflection, it made sense, considering the tragic death of the second wife; it wasn't strange for her to become a ghost.
Old Master Xia's expression was very complex, a mix of loss and guilt.
Perhaps because her power had greatly increased, believing Gu Wuji was no longer a threat, the female ghost sneered and looked over, "Such knowledge is meaningless... Knowing it has no impact on me. However, I am quite curious how you found out."
"I saw it before," Gu Wuji said, his expression complex, "I saw those memories of yours, which utterly surprised me. I hadn't expected the situation back then to be like that..."
The people around were momentarily stunned, unable to keep up with the conversation between them, wondering what Gu Wuji knew that they didn't.
"It was all his fault!" The female ghost's face turned cold upon hearing Gu Wuji's words, her gaze towards Old Master Xia becoming incredibly fierce, "He had promised to marry me but fell in love with that woman, saying he wanted to treat her well now. How could I possibly forgive such behavior!"
Everyone hadn't expected to hear such explosive gossip at this point, feeling as if the scene had shifted from a horror thriller to a family drama, but the one sharing the gossip was a terrifying female ghost... This mixture of fear and eagerness for gossip was a novel experience for them.
Hearing the female ghost's words, Old Master Xia's expression immediately turned bitter, "I am sorry. Everything was my fault. I had decided to live well with her, and you should have pursued your new life as well... Now, even if you want to kill me, I have no complaints."
The incident that had occurred was incredibly melodramatic, likely a story of a family heir who married for business reasons to save the family but ended up genuinely falling in love with the marriage partner.
"Do you think such light words from you can solve the problem?" the female ghost scoffed, her words filled with disdain, "Everything I told you back then was a lie. The child in my womb wasn't the result of a drunken accident; it was fake from the beginning. It was just a ghost I nourished with my own body... Why do you think that woman killed herself?"
As the topic of nourishing ghosts with one's body came up, several people immediately looked towards Xia Xi and the masked man behind him. Xia Xi, with a look of surprise, indicated he had no knowledge of this. As for the man behind him, he simply shook his head.
Despite their suspicions, the crowd had no evidence... Besides, it seemed like the Bai family hadn't really been exposed for doing anything like this to outsiders.
"What, what are you saying?" Old Master Xia's face showed utter astonishment, as he suddenly realized that what had happened was completely different from what he had believed to be the truth.
Back in the day, although Old Master Xia was adept in business, he was utterly indecisive in matters of the heart. Deciding to part ways with his childhood sweetheart, she, devastated by the event, drowned her sorrows in a bar and ended up sleeping with someone, waking up with no memory of the affair, and later discovered she was pregnant.
Old Master Xia believed that it was all his fault and, in an attempt to preserve her reputation, claimed responsibility for the pregnancy. He had planned to explain everything to his wife later, but before he could, she took her own life in their home, leaving him wracked with guilt ever since.
He had only wished to see his wife's spirit one last time before he died, only to find out that the ghost that had been haunting him all along was his childhood sweetheart.
Gu Wuji was also shocked by this revelation; after all, he had merely intended to observe a female ghost's memories and had stumbled upon such explosive information... That female ghost had really gone all out in her revenge against Old Master Xia.
In her memories, the female ghost had spoken to a man with a blurred face. Gu Wuji noticed then that this man gave him the same vibe as the ghost he had seen in the bar's TV.
Decades have spanned, yet this man still exists; he might not even be human," Gu Wuji pondered in silence, "Could he also be a high-tier player? But could a high-tier player live for so long?"
After that, the female ghost used a special method to nurture spirits within her body, and attacked Mr. Xia's wife, seizing the opportunity to possess her. That very night, she drove the latter to suicide.
Everyone naturally assumed the wife had killed herself due to being unable to withstand the shock...
As for the female ghost's sudden death on her wedding night, it was because the spirit could no longer be contained within her body and eventually turned against its host.
One can only imagine how tragic the female ghost's death must have been, and wonder how much of an impact it had on Mr. Xia at the time. That he hasn't developed psychological scars is a testament to his strong mental fortitude.
The female ghost's spirit, unwilling to let go, lingered in the villa, eventually sealed within a portrait until it was released today due to certain circumstances.
"Using someone else's body to nurture a ghost, creating tragedy only to collect the spirit later. His attitude is as if he's watching a play, from the beginning he didn't have to do it this way, but did so because he found it amusing..." Gu Wuji frowned, feeling a sense of disgust towards the man, despite being someone who usually takes life as it comes.
The others were stunned by the truth.
After the female ghost gleefully revealed everything, she turned to Mr. Xia with a sneer, "You wished to die alongside that woman, didn't you? But let me tell you, don't even think about it. Now, you'll only die by my hands!"
As her words fell, the female ghost transformed into an inhuman shape, her body twisted, covered in blood, with ghastly wounds all over, lunging directly at the people in front of her.
Several masters had already prepared to act in secret while listening to her speak earlier. Now, they summoned various talisman papers, but couldn't even get close to the ghost woman.
At this critical moment, Gu Wujì suddenly produced a rope, managing to restrain the ghost woman who was only an arm's length away. However, the rope's quality was too poor, showing signs of disintegration in just a short moment.
Taking a deep breath, Gu Wujì shouted towards a certain spot behind him, "Give me that thing!"
Instantly, a shadow darted from behind, tossing a blood-stained doll into Gu Wujì's hands.
The shadowy ghost had returned from the beginning, and Gu Wujì had noticed it hiding in the dark. He had been deliberately dragging out the conversation with the ghost woman, in reality, to allow the shadowy ghost time to search the surroundings for anything suspicious.
Fortunately, the ghost woman, thinking she was completely safe and having rarely found an opportunity to speak in decades, had indeed spoken for so long, allowing the shadowy ghost to successfully find the doll.
"You actually—" The ghost woman, who had been unrestrained before, suddenly changed her expression. She immediately stopped paying attention to Elder Xia and aimed to kill Gu Wujì directly.
The rope that had been restraining the ghost woman completely turned to ashes and vanished at that moment. This item was thus thoroughly rendered useless.
"It's already too late." Gu Wujì, without any hesitation, closed his eyes and performed a purification spell on the doll in front of him.
The doll, originally covered in fresh blood and looking extremely eerie, began to slowly lose its bloodstains. Eventually, it looked much cuter and more normal, just like an ordinary doll.
Gu Wujì sighed in relief. After all, the ghost woman's strength wasn't that formidable and was within the range he could forcefully purify. However, the strength she displayed was already too great, rendering the purification spell ineffective.
He had entertained this thought before, but the fact that the item could actually be used for purification also made things easier... Otherwise, he would have been troubled over how to deal with the ghost woman.
During the purification process, the ghost woman let out screams of agony, eventually reverting to her original human form before reluctantly dissipating into light particles.
The shadowy ghost took advantage of the chaos to stealthily return to Gu Wujì. Given the tumultuous situation, hardly anyone noticed that the doll had been thrown to Gu Wujì by a ghost; they assumed it was one of the villa's servants instead.
Gu Wujì remembered that the incident here was man-made, but the hall was too crowded, and he couldn't spot anyone acting unusually.
"It makes sense, after all. Who would openly reveal themselves while acting?"
The way people looked at Gu Wujì had changed.
Originally, others had doubted the unremarkable woman's claims of being a hermit expert. Although they didn't say much, they were skeptical, feeling that Gu Wujì lacked the aura of a master, probably just mutual flattery in business.
But she's really that formidable! What kind of expert is she?
Master Xia's expression was complex as he inquired to Gu Wuji, "Has she disappeared?"
"Fortunately, I just purified her... or should I say, helped her transcend," Gu Wuji explained.
How could he be so ruthless! Those who can be purified must be treated with purification.
"That's good then," Master Xia sighed, even though he realized he had been deceived initially, he still believed he bore most of the responsibility... though, in reality, it could also be said to be partially related.
Gu Wuji didn't have much of a reaction to this; he just became more determined not to pursue a relationship.
Master Xia seemed to recall something, his eyes filled with sorrow, "You've really gone through a lot this time. I had hoped to see her again. But I suppose she wouldn't want to see me either."
"Not necessarily," Gu Wuji thought for a moment before speaking, "That lady has always been by your side... Earlier, the reason why the female ghost didn't harm you was because that lady was secretly protecting you."
It was only after he got close to Master Xia that he noticed the truth behind the faint white light from before.
Master Xia was momentarily stunned, his expression changing several times before finally feeling relieved, "Thank you very much. So she has always been by my side... and I never noticed."
The surrounding people were also deeply moved.
Seeing that things had finally come to a close, everyone began to remember the main purpose of this banquet. Wasn't it Master Xia's decision on his successor? Now that Master Xia's dilemma had been solved by Master Gu, could it be...
Upon realizing this, Xia Yangshuo felt dizzy. He did want this position very much, but he had never thought that it would actually fall to him. He was suddenly flushed with excitement and couldn't speak for a while.
"Come over here, all of you," Master Xia looked at the Xia family descendants around him, with the air of someone about to announce something important.
They immediately approached, although they all felt jealous and envious of Xia Yang. Who cares if Xia Yangshuo is lucky? Damn it, he managed to invite Master Gu, didn't he?
Xia Yangshuo stood beside Gu Wuji, taking deep breaths to keep himself from passing out right there and then.
"This banquet was originally held to decide the successor of the Xia family," Elder Master Xia said. "After everything that's happened before, I've finally made up my mind."
Elder Master Xia's gaze shifted towards Gu Wuji, filled with nostalgia, leaving Gu Wuji bewildered, pondering what he could possibly be reminiscing about...
It didn't take long for Gu Wuji to figure out what Elder Master Xia was thinking.
"It's all thanks to Master Gu here that I was able to fulfill my wish," Elder Master Xia's tone was one of appreciation. "Therefore, I've decided—"
...
...
Ning Yang, carrying the butler in a rush, finally made it to the staircase.
He hadn't been too far behind Gu Wuji initially, but along the way, he encountered all sorts of phantom barriers, and a bunch of ghosts came to entangle him. Although these ghosts were within his capability to deal with, having the butler as a dead weight made things significantly more troublesome.
...The end result was that they only managed to come down after everything had ended.
"I hope Master Gu is alright..." Ning Yang thought, only to glance from the second-floor staircase and see all the Xia family members gathered below, with Elder Master Xia speaking to Gu Wuji.
"The Xia family member who can marry Master Gu will be the future successor of my family," Elder Master Xia declared.
Gu Wuji: "..."
Gu Wuji: "??" To reflect on his past was one thing, but to pull a stunt like this was something else.
He felt that Elder Master Xia was downright toxic in his emotional reasoning, otherwise, how could things have turned out this way?
Others: "..."
Even Xia Yangshuo, who was initially the most excited, thinking he was about to clinch the position of the successor, was now stiff as a board.
How could things have turned out like this?!
No one knew Gu Wuji's true identity better than Xia Yangshuo. It was damn clear that Master Gu would never end up with a man!
Hearing this from above, Ning Yang was so close to cursing out loud. None of these Xia family members were worthy of Master Gu, a bunch of toads lusting after swan meat.
Ning Yang felt relieved when Gu Wuji was the first to voice his refusal, clearly stating he had no such intentions.
Others also felt that such a proposition was inappropriate and immediately wanted to persuade otherwise, but the old master appeared tired, claiming he needed to rest, showing his determination was firm.
In reality, Elder Master Xia had sensed a deep crisis looming, and with Gu Wuji being such a reliable person, if the younger generation could establish a connection with him, they would undoubtedly reap many benefits... If they couldn't even manage this, they shouldn't dream of inheriting the Xia family's wealth.
The message was to discuss this matter further in the future. Given the old master's robust health, there seemed to be no immediate worry, and everyone had to wait for him to change his mind.
Of course, this didn't stop some members of the Xia family from harboring thoughts of seducing Gu Wuji, their hearts eager to try.
At this moment, the gloomy atmosphere in the room also completely dissipated, along with the eerie feeling. The ghosts outside the window vanished, the lights brightened, and everything returned to normal.
[Completion of a random mission in the real world.]
[Rewarding the player with 2000 points and granting a chance to load a save in the instance.]
Gu Wuji was surprised; the 2000 points were nothing special, but the opportunity to load a save was truly astonishing. Even though the system claimed to be a game from the beginning, no player truly believed it was just a game.
Gu Wuji had never considered that the system would include an option to load saves. If one could come back to life after being killed by a malevolent ghost, wouldn't that mean having an extra life?
Such a reward was something all players dreamed of. And now, to receive it so casually made Gu Wuji feel an unreal sensation.
[The player has obtained a new item in this mission.]
[Ragdoll: At first glance, it appears to be a regular doll, but its material is quite special, allowing ghosts to attach to it and communicate with living people. If used in a special way, this doll can become a medium for the appearance of malevolent ghosts.]
Gu Wuji carefully stored the doll away, knowing such a dangerous item must never be allowed to circulate. After all, who would use such a thing in the real world?
[After the mission ends, the memories of ordinary people will gradually fade, forgetting most of the events, but memorable incidents will be filled in by the world's rules.]
Instantly, the expressions of everyone in the room changed, feeling as if they had suddenly forgotten something. "What just happened?"
"Ah, I remember now. It seems like there was a sudden power outage, and then Old Master Xia had a heart attack. Thanks to Miss Gu's help, Old Master Xia was safely taken care of..."
"Although I can't remember very clearly, Miss Gu is really nice. No wonder Old Master Xia wants her to be the wife of his heir."
People began to discuss animatedly, recalling only such kind acts. However, for some reason, they felt that Gu Wuji was particularly strong, harboring an inexplicable fondness for him.
Gu Wuji: "..." Not bad, the patch the world's rules applied was pretty reliable.
Of course, for those involved who originally knew about the ghost, their memories weren't significantly altered.
After tonight, the mysterious Miss Gu, the master, is likely to become very famous, but Gu Wuji knows she will basically never appear again.
Soon after, the Xia family began an investigation and found an actress dressed in white, originally intending to play a ghost to scare people, hidden in a secluded corner. She claimed to have mysteriously fainted before everything started and had no idea what had happened.
As for the father and son duo who were up to no good, they were also discovered unconscious on the second floor. Upon waking, they claimed to have forgotten everything...
In reality, it was the shadow ghost who had passed by and incidentally saved the two, plus the female ghost who had just appeared was not strong enough, so she spared these unrelated parties.
Although their lives were spared, their scheme was exposed, letting everyone know that for the sake of inheritance, this father and son had hired an actress to pretend to be a ghost to scare people. All the other strange occurrences in the house were naturally blamed on them, and that very night, they were taken away by the police.
They were bewildered, feeling as though they hadn't caused all this trouble.
The few who had initially run out to call the police were found unconscious in the garden, their memories also fragmented, stopping at the moment they ran out.
Despite the eerie nature of tonight's events, it was almost over, and miraculously, no one had died.
The masters invited by Young Master Xia looked at Gu Wuji with even greater admiration. If they didn't know that Gu Wuji would definitely not agree, and also had their own limitations, they would have even wanted to take Gu Wuji as their master right there.
Ningyang approached, feeling that after tonight's events, he had gotten closer to Gu Wuji, who had even saved his life! Perhaps now was the chance to exchange contact information with Gu Wuji...
However, Gu Wuji immediately received a system prompt informing him that the time for his disguise was ending.
For some reason, Gu Wuji felt like Cinderella, worried about revealing his true identity once midnight struck... He definitely did not want these people to know his real identity!
Gu Wuji immediately excused himself, saying he had other matters to attend to and hurriedly left with Xia Yangshuo, only managing to tell Ningyang, "You did quite well," before disappearing.
Leaving Ningyang behind, feeling both disappointed and excited, completely caught up in his emotions.
...
After the banquet ended, the atmosphere inside the house evidently turned colder, with only the servants still cleaning up.
In a hidden corner, where Xia Xi and the masked man, who should have left, appeared, a servant with a numb expression stood before them.
Anyone else present would have recognized this servant as the one who had gone to check the masked man's true identity earlier.
"You did well. Without you, relying solely on that female ghost wouldn't have been enough," Xia Xi said, smiling at the servant. In the dim light, a hint of red seemed to emerge in his eyes. "But now, everything is over, and you can rest."
Upon hearing this, the servant directly picked up a sharp dagger from nearby and plunged it into his own heart.
Xia Xi then sighed, his tone remarkably indifferent, "However, it seems likely that my identity might be exposed... This body probably can't be kept any longer."