Somewhere deep in the messy hills of the Eight-Hundred-Mile Range.

Elena Summers scanned the scattered graves all around and sighed, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper.

Following the sketchy directions drawn on it:

“When you see Old Wang’s grave, go right. Keep walking until you find a grave that looks pretty new, then turn right again...”

She looked at the half-broken headstone in front of her. Yeah, looked new enough.

“Then jump into a pit, crawl toward the water for a bit, stand up, jump east three times, and tada—you’ll find the way.”

She seriously wanted to call her bestie and ask if all their grave-hunting missions were this abstract.

Too bad there was no signal.

And as if that wasn’t bad enough, there weren’t even any ghosts hanging around to ask for directions—guess the place had been left alone way too long.

After bumbling around all afternoon, Elena finally stumbled upon a lonely grave buried in a thick patch of weeds.

She stuck a spirit-incense into the ground.

After a while, a faint soul slowly materialized from the grave, his nearly see-through figure gradually gaining shape with the help of the incense.

Elena didn’t bother with small talk. “I’m here for something. Someone sent me to find a jade fox paperweight. Where is it?”

That spirit immediately blew up: “You tell those two greedy witches I'm never giving it to them! Rich as they were, they just watched me die from illness without lifting a finger! Didn’t even bother with my burial! Now they want my stuff? Over my dead—well, too late for that!”

Elena’s patience vanished in a flash. “Henry Bennett, you ditched your wife and kid, spent all your money chasing women, never gave your family a dime—then when you were broke and sick, you crawled back asking your wife for cash? That paperweight was part of her dowry, not yours to take. So drop the act, will you?”

“You! You’re with them, aren’t you?! Trying to snatch a dead man’s stuff? She married me, that means all her things are mine! She still thinks she can take anything back? Dream on!”

Elena couldn’t stand whining newbies who didn’t know their place—especially idiots like this who hadn’t been crushed by reality yet. She rolled her shoulders. “You’ve got one last chance to spill. Or I’m gonna let off some steam right here in this lovely little countryside.”

He got halfway into another rant before his ghost-wailing got cut off—violently. Everything fell silent.

An hour later, Elena climbed out of a dirt pit, holding the jade fox in her hand.

She looked at the tattered remnant of the spirit and brushed the dust off herself.

Honestly, she’d wanted to talk it out, maybe even offer to move his grave somewhere nicer. But with how mouthy he was even after death, he basically forced her to go full-on exorcist mode.

She eyed the flawless jade—it was smooth, high-quality stuff.

“Tsk, some people really had no shame. Even in death, trying to claim someone else’s dowry like it was their personal treasure.”Back on the roadside, it was already pitch black. At this hour, only black-market cabs were running. Elena Summers flagged one down without thinking too much, but the second she got in, she shut her eyes in frustration.

Just her luck.

Sure, it was a black-market cab, but damn—did it have to be this shady?

She was the only remotely normal person in the entire car. The driver had dumped bodies before, and the couple sitting up front? Traffickers—man, it was like a crime-themed road trip.

And that wasn’t even the worst part. Every single one of them? Empty eyes, zoned-out stares, dark foreheads shrouded in gloom.

All signs pointed to a major catastrophe.

Three of them at once? That wasn’t bad luck anymore—this was doomsday.

Elena scratched her head and mumbled inwardly, “Seriously, is heaven outsourcing now? Just pile them up and yeet them all at once?”

In the cab, the middle-aged guy in the passenger seat perked up the second he saw her—young, pretty, solo traveler? Jackpot. He kept throwing glances at the woman in the backseat.

The woman nodded slightly, like she got the signal loud and clear.

The driver noticed too. He honked twice, then chuckled. "Man, this trip’s gonna be worth it."

The man grinned back, his yellow teeth gleaming. "You get first dibs."

"Gas prices aren’t cheap, you know."

"Whatever she’s got is yours."

They both laughed, all sleaze and menace.

Meanwhile, the woman leaned in closer to Elena, all fake-sweet. "Hey little girl, traveling alone? You're in luck—our area’s got clean air, lots of fresh produce. Just a shame about the twisty roads up ahead—mountain path and all. You might wanna prep a bag… in case you get carsick."

Elena waved her hand dismissively. "Sick of traveling, yeah. I’m on a work trip."

The guy turned around, eyebrows raised. "Work? Out in this backwoods place? What kinda job sends you here?"

"Grave digging," Elena said plainly, pulling a folding shovel out of her bag and knocking it lightly against the seat. "Not an easy gig these days. Last few graves I hit were all dry—waste of a hike."

That shut them up real quick. Only then did they notice the mud all over her clothes. They’d assumed she just slipped in the mountains or something.

The woman said quietly, "That's… not exactly a kind line of work, honey. Messes with your karma."

Elena shrugged. "Messes up the good karma too. Still better odds than kidnapping or killing people for a living, wouldn’t you say?"

Dead silence.

But before any of them could move, a deafening crash echoed from the slope up ahead.

In that split second, Elena swung her shovel and smashed the window, dove out the side, and tumbled a few times down a grassy slope.

When she looked up, the van she'd been sitting in seconds ago had been completely flattened by a massive runaway truck.

No way anyone in there was getting pulled out in one piece.

They were done for.

The echoes faded, leaving nothing but stillness behind.There was a faint noise coming from the Maybach that had just tumbled down the mountain.

Zhang the driver slowly came to his senses. His arm throbbed painfully, and when he turned his head, he saw the back door wide open—his boss was gone!

Instinct kicked in and he tried to move, but the crushed frame of the car pinned him down.

Just as despair crept in, the mangled door was yanked open. A crisp voice cut through the chaos like a lifeline.

"Hey, how’re you holding up?"

Following the voice, he looked up and saw a young woman—barely looked out of college.

His gaze dropped to her hand—the one that had just ripped the door off. Slim fingers, and a vibrant jade ring on one of them.

Wait—she literally tore the door off?!

Snapping back to the moment, Zhang blurted out, "I think my arm’s broken… And my boss! He’s gone! We came to check his leg, he's disabled. Please, can you help me find him? He’s a good man..."

His legs were still stuck, thanks to the collapsed front of the car.

"You’re lucky to be breathing. Try to hang tight and wait for help," Elena Summers reassured him. She glanced around—they were in the middle of a chain-reaction pile-up. It was a total mess, with casualties every direction. Some reeked of karma, others just unlucky. Blood everywhere.

Heart heavy, Elena pulled out a hefty pair of jade bangles from her bag. Forming a peace seal with her fingers, she flung nine talisman papers into the air.

As the papers burned slowly, her bangles began to lose color, fading to grey before shattering completely.

People nearby started to visibly recover—energy and alertness returning to their faces.

She walked over to the nearby wreck of a large truck—the one that’d caused the mess. The driver inside had a head full of blood and was unconscious.

A quick scan told her all she needed to know—his fate? Prison sentence for life, guilty on all the vices. No way he'd die today.

Elena didn't waste her effort. She reclaimed the bit of spiritual energy clinging to him, and with that sliver she marked a charm on her own eyelid.

Immediately, the world’s colors shifted. Evil souls glowed red, fresh spirits lingered near their broken bodies—and in the corner, something else...

A wheelchair, wreathed in a soft violet glow!

Elena’s eyes lit up like she’d struck gold. She couldn’t tear her gaze away.

Her body was a ticking clock—born with a short lifespan, her only way to survive was accumulating merit to extend it. But she couldn't naturally gather spiritual energy. Her only option? Drain it from jade or gems, then use it to help others and, in turn, earn more merit.

But that's time and energy—not to mention, the resources ran out fast. The moment she ran out, she’d be done for.

Which was exactly why she hadn’t used a single charm when digging up that grave earlier or fighting her way out of that death-trap car. Every bit had to count.

That violet glow... if she could just borrow some from the wheelchair, she could’ve cast three or four spells just now. Heck, gained another week of life.

Unable to resist, she stepped forward and laid a hand on the wheelchair.