Li Hongjin only complained casually before rushing home. He was busy every day, and time flew by, as if he was racing against time to do everything.

Ji Xiaoyao found the painting in no time, but just as he opened it to confirm if it was the same one that Lin's father had seen, a sudden change occurred. Because of his previous experience, he was wary of the cat in the painting, but he overlooked the people in the painting.

As soon as the scroll was unfurled, the cat pounced. Ji Xiaoyao instinctively dodged, but his back was exposed at that moment, and his body was instantly pulled into the painting by a powerful force.

Ji Xiaoyao's body instinctively went into battle mode, but before he could even stand firmly on his feet, he saw an antique courtyard filled with all sorts of ancient men.

Ji Xiaoyao watched the men warily, his black sword immediately appearing in his hand, only to find them all looking up at the excited crowd upstairs.

One of them said, "I heard that the girl tonight is the daughter of an official, and she is proficient in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting."

Then someone said, "That's right, especially since she has the title of the most beautiful woman. If her family hadn't committed some crime and been sold off by the court, we probably wouldn't even have been able to see her, let alone have the chance to get close to her."

Upon seeing this, Ji Xiaoyao instinctively clenched his fists, because his Ji family had also experienced something similar back then. In a large family of over a hundred people, some were beheaded, some were exiled, and some were sold off.

Without exception, young women would be sold into prostitution; those with strong personalities would die, while those who were lucky enough to survive would suffer a fate worse than death.

The environment changed again in the next moment. A young girl struggled desperately on the bed, but still could not escape the clutches of an old man. A kitten rushed up to the man's back and scratched him, but was instead thrown hard to the ground. It fell and could not get up, but luckily did not die.

Enraged, Ji Xiaoyao swung his sword to save the man, but the blade passed right through him without any force. He suddenly realized that this must be a memory of the man in the painting from his previous life.

The scene shifts again, and one day the unfortunate girl is finally bought by a man to be his concubine. However, the concubine's fate is not much better than that of the girl in the brothel. Only then does she realize that all the affection she once had is gone, and now all that remains is scheming.

The man bought her only to make money, and repeatedly gave her away as a bargaining chip. Only the cat she kept by her side was her only comfort. But how many years can a cat live?

Later, the kitten died, and the girl's beauty faded with age. The man indulged his wife and sold her again. In the end, she died of illness in the coldest winter.

After death, filled with deep resentment, she transformed into a ghost. She first returned to the man's house, causing chaos and leading to the tragic deaths of everyone in the household. Later, she returned to the building to seek revenge and resume her old ways, hoping to kill all the unfaithful people in the world.

By chance, the kitten also turned into a zombie cat and hid with the woman in the painting of their most beautiful time, painted by the family artist when they were young. However, the paper was ultimately fragile, and they kept hunting down those who had hurt them and then used their skin to repair the painting.

Later, all those who had killed them died, and the unfaithful men could not be killed off. So they sealed themselves inside the painting. Somehow, Lin Shengqi's father opened it. In the kitten's mind, humans were all bad people who would bully its owner, so it bit them directly.

Ji Xiaoyao skimmed through the life of this unfortunate girl, feeling quite heavy-hearted. He thought of his wife who had died for him, and of the young women in the Ji family who had been sold off.

However, this was just a prelude; the real event was yet to come. When the girl transformed into the most beautiful and charming young woman, she then transformed into Qiu Niang's face, looking at Ji Xiaoyao with tender affection, and said in utmost gentleness, "Husband, you're back."

Demons and monsters are best at bewitching people and can strike at the deepest desires in people's hearts, especially when a person is in a low mood and almost defenseless. So even General Ji, whose intelligence far exceeds that of most people, couldn't help but be momentarily stunned.

Even if Ji Xiaoyao realized in the next second that it was all fake, a despicable tactic by demons and monsters to eat people or to bewitch them, it was also the best tactic, the situation would reverse in that moment of confusion—General Ji was trapped in the painting.

It's true what they say, even the most seasoned hunters can get their eyes pecked by a goose. But Ji Xiaoyao knew in his heart that this man and cat weren't trying to trap him, but to devour him. It's just that he was too strong to be devoured for the time being.

Although neither the man nor the cat could do anything to Ji Xiaoyao, he couldn't do anything to him either, so for a short time they maintained a delicate balance.

However, Ji Xiaoyao knew very well that if he was trapped for too long, the balance would be broken, and the result would be that he would be devoured, or like those who died, he would reinforce the canvas for them in another form.

Neither outcome was what Ji Xiaoyao wanted, so he had to find a way to get out as soon as possible. Perhaps the other party understood his thoughts, because the girl, with Qiu Niang's face, kept waving in front of Ji Xiaoyao, using all sorts of poses and truly going to any lengths.

Although this unfortunate girl had met all sorts of men in her life, she had never met a man like Ji Xiaoyao, who was upright and devoted to his wife. So all her attempts to seduce him were in vain.

The girl, dressed in light gauze and holding a kitten, sat barefoot on the ground and sighed, "Luckily we used some tricks beforehand, otherwise we really wouldn't have been able to trap him. But even if we trapped him, we couldn't enjoy him. What a pity!"

The kitten stretched out its paw and patted the girl's hand, then spoke in a human voice, "Since gentleness, coquettishness, and charm don't work, let's use the most direct method: his wife's death, and see if he can still remain unmoved."

"Is it feasible?" The girl stared blankly at the empty space in the distance, as if she were talking to herself, "Is there really a man in the world who can be so devoted to his wife?"

The kitten didn't understand human emotions and simply said, "Anyway, we don't have any better ideas right now, so we might as well give it a try. If it succeeds, great; if it fails, we'll figure something out. We can't just let him go or let him escape."

"...Okay, I'll give it a try." The girl said, almost to herself, "Suddenly, I feel this is so boring!"

Although some things have rotted away in time and memory, and the people are no longer the same, but have transformed into terrifying demons and monsters, there are always times when the past is brought up again because of someone or something, and one's heart is tortured again, becoming even more demonized. It's really annoying!