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She had heard stories before about people raising ghosts at home to make money or hiring masters to check the feng shui of burial plots. But those were only stories. She had never seen anything like it herself.

That didn't mean she wasn't scared. Fear was exactly why she'd never dared listen to such stories. Now she was immensely grateful she didn't live alone. Otherwise, she might not have slept tonight.

Shen Luoluo's voice continued—

[The monk lied to her, saying this was a calamity written in her fate. She was destined to bring misfortune upon her husband, which was why he had ended up like this after marrying her. If she didn't rid herself of the calamity, she couldn't escape it and might even lose her life.]

[The woman was terrified. In tears, she begged the monk to help her, saying she would pay anything. The monk then proposed "dual cultivation," claiming it was the only way to break the calamity in her fate. He warned her not to tell anyone about it. If she did, the calamity would strike back, and she would be dead within three days.]

By now, everyone understood what was going on. It was an obvious scam. The warning about a backlash was really because the monk was afraid the woman's husband or family would find out he planned to practice "dual cultivation" with her. If they came after him, both he and the woman would be lucky to get away with just a scolding or a beating. They could even lose their lives.

As bystanders, they could tell at once that it was a lie. But the woman was caught up in it, and she believed in ghosts and spirits. It was easy to see how she had fallen for it.

But this