Time passed second by second, and the sky was beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

Pan Weiyin stayed in her son's room and only felt relieved when she saw Chen Daozhi's complexion gradually recover. However, she waited and waited but Chen Zhenghong did not return. At four o'clock in the morning, she could not sit still any longer and went straight to the secret room without paying attention to Chen Zhenghong's instructions.

"Ah! Zheng Hong, Zheng Hong, what's wrong with you? Your hair—" Pan Weiyin saw Chen Zheng Hong's white hair as soon as she entered the secret room.

"What's wrong?" Chen Zhenghong was immersed in the inexplicable standoff. He felt that his son was like a pool. He was adding a lot of water to it, but there was a small hole in some corner that was leaking water, so the merit could not be stored.

Pan Weiyin rushed over in a panic, "Zheng Hong, stop! Stop! Your hair, your hair is all white!"

!!

Only then did Chen Zhenghong suddenly realize that he... he seemed to be using his lifespan to perform the ritual...

"Pfft!" In a fit of anger, the young and vigorous Chen Zhenghong actually vomited blood.

"Ah! Zheng Hong! What's wrong? Don't scare me."

Chen Zhenghong's hands trembled as he destroyed the human skin talisman. He quickly ended the secret technique, but when he stood up, his legs were so weak that he almost couldn't stand. Pan Weiyin quickly supported him so that he wouldn't fall.

"Give me... a mirror."

"A mirror? ...A mirror!" In her panic, Pan Weiyin could only find a bronze mirror for Chen Zhenghong.

Chen Zhenghong must have been terrified by the prospect of dying young, for he dared to even look into the ghost-summoning mirror.

The moment that face, which looked twenty years older, appeared on the bronze mirror, a wisp of black energy instantly coiled around it, transforming in the blink of an eye into a ferocious ghost with a blue face and fangs.

"Ah! Ah! A ghost!" Pan Weiyin had never seen anything like this before and screamed on the spot.

"Shut up! Give me the peach wood sword!" Holding on to his last breath, Chen Zhenghong engaged the vengeful ghost in a fierce battle.

Fortunately, this was in the Chen family's secret room, where there were many magical artifacts and talismans. With the help of these artifacts, Chen Zhenghong was finally able to capture the evil spirit back into the soul-summoning mirror.

However, the use of the secret technique had already consumed an unknown amount of his lifespan, and with his mind already unstable, the battle with the vengeful ghost caused Chen Zhenghong to lose his balance and fall straight down.

"Ah! Jeong-hong!"

······

The next day, Chen Ke slept until late morning.

Last night, he thought Chen Zhenghong was going to risk his life for his son, but he stopped at the last moment.

However, I estimate he doesn't have many years left to live.

Putting aside everything else, Chen Daozhi definitely surpasses the original owner in choosing to be reincarnated. He was willing to risk his own father's life to steal merit for him. If the two of them had switched places, the original owner would probably be wreaking havoc in the Xuandao Realm by now.

Chen Ke sighed as he left the guest room. It was almost noon, but the entire Chen family home was quiet.

Crossing the courtyard, Chen Ke saw someone near the main house and walked over.

Since we've kept him here, we should at least provide him with meals, right?

Halfway there, he saw Chen Zhengxin leading an old man in a blue cloth robe carrying a medicine box. Chen Ke quickly hid behind a pillar, not wanting to see the idiot.

Unexpectedly, the two people in the courtyard started talking, "Immortal Master, is there any way to help my elder brother—"

Before Chen Zhengxin could finish speaking, the old man shook his head. "Patriarch Chen has damaged his lifespan by using a secret technique. Secret techniques are inherently against the will of Heaven and violate the laws of nature. Since things have come to this, there is no need to force it any further."

"But even if my elder brother's lifespan was shortened, how come he's still unconscious?"

The old man sighed. "According to Madam Chen, the head of the Chen family was attacked by a vengeful ghost right after he finished using his secret technique. At that time, the head of the Chen family was extremely weak, and the evil energy from the vengeful ghost invaded and damaged his body's essence. It's normal for him to fall into a coma."

"I have already prescribed the medicine. Patriarch Chen should wake up soon after taking it. However, his health will certainly be much worse than before. It's best to leave the task of exorcising the ghost and collecting the soul to the younger generation of the family."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ke understood. It turned out that the one who was going to be killed by Pan Weiyin was Chen Zhenghong.

"Then, Immortal Master, how many years does my elder brother have left to live?"

"Alas, I am not capable of observing a person's lifespan. I can only estimate it by looking at a person's energy and spirit."

"How is my older brother's energy and spirit?"

"Pfft!" Chen Ke couldn't help but laugh.

Chen Zhengxin is definitely out of his mind. His older brother is lying in bed unconscious, and you're asking the doctor how he is?

What can happen? Let a ninety-year-old man fight a vengeful ghost and see what happens. Of course, he won't live much longer!

"Who is it! Who's there? Come out!"

Chen Ke swaggered out and said, "I think this pillar is quite good. I studied it and found that it has excellent energy and spirit. I estimate it can be used for another hundred or two hundred years."

Upon seeing that it was Chen Ke, Chen Zhengxin's face immediately darkened. "You wretched child! Who taught you to behave like a villain and eavesdrop on people's conversations!"

Chen Ke: ""

Chen Ke ignored Chen Zhengxin and turned away. He needed to go out and buy some cinnabar talisman paper to draw a protective amulet to avoid these idiots and prevent it from affecting his intelligence.

Seeing Chen Ke turn and leave without saying a word, Chen Zheng was furious. What a wicked son... He really is a wicked son, he and Chen Ke are incompatible from birth!

"Immortal Master, I'm sorry you had to see this. Now, please observe my elder brother's spirit and energy..."

"...Master Chen is already in his nineties."

!!

His older brother is actually ninety years old?

Chen Zhengxin looked on in disbelief.

Seeing this, the old man sighed inwardly and walked away alone.

Those who defy the will of Heaven will eventually face retribution.

Chen Zhengxin walked into the room in a daze. Pan Weiyin and Old Mrs. Chen were at opposite ends of the bed, crying their hearts out.

Chen Zhengxin's eyelids twitched suddenly. Judging from the two of them, he thought Chen Zhenghong had already left.

"Second Uncle, what exactly happened to my father?" Chen Daozhi had been in a daze since he woke up this morning.

He had only taken a nap, and his father was already lying weakly in bed, his hair completely white, looking like a man in his sixties or seventies.

Chen Zhengxin gave Chen Daozhi a heavy look, feeling it was time to tell Chen Daozhi what had happened.

"Daozhi, come with me first, your second uncle has something to tell you."

Inside the ancestral hall where the Chen family enshrines their ancestral tablets.

Chen Zhengxin told Chen Daozhi the whole story.

Chen Daozhi was stunned after hearing this.

The merits on his body weren't his own, but belonged to his cousin Chen Ke? Or were they obtained by his father using a secret technique that sacrificed his lifespan?

Putting all that aside, Chen Ke is my second uncle's son. How could he agree to do this for his father?

Isn't this tantamount to sending Chen Ke to his death?

"Aren't you shocked that I agreed to let your father take Chen Ke's merits?" Chen Zhengxin knew what Chen Daozhi was thinking just by looking at the shocked look in his eyes.

Chen Daozhi nodded stiffly.

"Because your grandfather once predicted that a peerless genius would emerge in your generation of the Chen family, leading the Chen family back to its former glory. This is something that all generations of our Chen family have dreamed of, and your father and I are no exception."

So when you were born, our whole family had high hopes. Born with a pure Yang destiny, you were destined to be a ghost hunter; we all thought that person would definitely be you.