True Tycoon Her Empire, Her Rules

Chapter 170

Along the trail, Mervin took it upon himself to educate his online audience about what to do if they ever stumbled upon a ghost in the wilderness.

While Winnie had chosen to share light-hearted tales, Mervin was dead serious as he instructed viewers on how to draw blood from a fingertip to ward off evil and how to chant incantations with the right hand gestures.

The audience in the live stream were speechless.

“He actually seems to want to teach us how to exorcise demons.” “Great, my eyes have got it, but my brain’s already forgotten.” “I've got it with my eyes. My hands, not so much!”

“Our mentor teaches arcane arts with a focus on sincerity.”

As one of the three representatives of the arcane practitioners, Gentry couldn’t miss out on the chance to showcase his knowledge when he saw Winnie and Mervin sharing some supernatural stories. With a chuckle, he said, “I’m not as

knowledgeable about the Mystical Sects as Winnie and Mervin, so I'll share a story about the time a fairy visited me in my dreams as a kid.”

Gentry might not have had any real powers, but he was a master storyteller. After all, as an internet sensation and a self-styled oracle, his knowledge in these matters was

extensive.

As he walked and talked, not only the live stream audience but even the fellow guests were spellbound, and before they knew it, they had reached the summit of GoldenMaterial © NôvelDrama.Org.

Horizon Hills.

Fortunately for the group, as soon as they reached the top,.the sky was painted with the hues of dusk, casting a breathtaking glow over the mountains, prompting awe from both the guests and the viewers.

The production crew quickly captured several stunning shots of the scenery.

They also took a group photo of the guests, which could easily be mistaken for a snapshot from a pure travel show.

Then, taking advantage of the remaining light, the group took the cable car down the mountain from halfway up the slope. By the time they returned to the B&B, night had fallen completely.

12:51:

Due to the live stream, the B&B had received several inquiries in the afternoon from guests who had come because of its reputation, only to find out they had been deceived.

Unfortunately, Carter had vanished after descending the mountain alone in the afternoon, likely anticipating the backlash from being exposed and choosing to hide

away. The production crew wasn’t too keen on seeing him either at that point.

In the evening, the crew prepared a lavish dinner for the guests and two invited couples, and everyone laughed and joked until the live stream ended, then retired to their rooms for some rest.

After a long day, the guests were too exhausted even to check their phones and almost immediately fell asleep after washing up.

Mae, although she had tried to act normal throughout the day, couldn’t resist checking her online reputation on her phone the moment the live stream ended.

As expected, the internet was not kind to her hoarding the bracelet and attempting to pin the blame on Winnie, and she lost over a million followers on social media. The comments section gave her a throbbing headache, despite her agent and fans‘ best efforts to moderate the backlash.

Meanwhile, Winnie’s followers had surged by millions once again. All the praise that had been heaped on Mae seemed to have shifted to Winnie overnight.

Mae couldn't shake off the feeling that Winnie had stolen her fans. She even darkly speculated whether this was all Winnie’s doing, stepping on her to build her own reputation.

In that moment, Mae forgot that it was because of Winnie that she had been able to continue on the show with peace of mind that morning.

Her mind was consumed with the thought that all her present woes were because Winnie had pointed out the problem with the bracelet on camera, and had

intentionally neglected the fact that she had kept one, leading to her public humiliation...

Just then, Winnie, having finished her nightly routine, saw that Candace had already fallen asleep and signaled to Mae to turn off the lights and rest.

Mae, on impulse, shot her a glare and retorted irritably, “Who are you to tell me what to do?” 12:51 Chapter

By the time she realized she shouldn’t have spoken to Winnie like that, it was too late. But her pride wouldn’t allow her to apologize to Winnie, so she pretended she hadn't said anything and turned her back to Winnie, feigning sleep.

Winnie observed Mae's silhouette, her almond—shaped eyes deepening in thought, and after a moment, she simply shrugged and left it be.

Due to Carter’s deceit, the people staying here had been tainted with a touch of resentment.

But such feelings merely amplify one’s darker side; they don’t arise from nothing.

Mae’s attitude toward her, in a way, reflected her inner grievances.

Winnie wasn’t upset by her behavior. After all, beyond this variety show, she wasn’t likely to interact with Mae again.

What occupied Winnie’s mind more than Mae’s mood, influenced by the faint resentment, was how to completely dispel these lingering negative energies.

As the clock struck midnight, the usually sound—asleep Winnie opened her eyes in the darkness. Glancing at the two peacefully sleeping figures beside her, she got up quietly, quickly got ready, and left the B&B with her backpack.

She headed for the path they had taken during the day and casually tossed a talisman into the air, “Spirits of earth and air, unite as one; | command thee, bring forth a cleansing breeze!”

With her chant, a gentle breeze seemed to gather under her feet, and Winnie ascended the mountain swiftly, disappearing into the night.

She moved like the wind through the woods, and in under an hour, she reached a clearing where the forest thinned. According to the police investigation, this was the spot where Carter’s wife had died.

Logically, with the soul departed and the remains gone, there should be no lingering evil here. Yet, from what Winnie had observed, the resentment clinging to Carter stemmed from this very place.

What puzzled her was that even if the lingering attachment had turned into resentment because of Carter, it shouldn’t have affected so many people.

Especially since the resentment wasn’t deep but seemed to weave intricately through 1251 everything.

If her instincts were correct, there had to be something else in these woods, something affecting the persistence of these resentful energies...

That was precisely why Winnie started trekking through the dense forest in the dead of night, guided only by the silver glow of the moon.

Digging into her backpack, she pulled out a piece of parchment, and with a practiced flick of her wrist, she cast a circle of protective runes, their ethereal lines shimmering in the lunar light.

Following the faint tendrils of malevolence that twisted through the air, Winnie searched methodically. Eventually, her steps brought her to a shadowed, damp clearing.

Despite the summer’s arid embrace, which withered the surrounding foliage, the soil here remained oddly moist, and even emitted a subtle chill that seemed unnatural.

With her target site identified, Winnie retrieved a sturdy shovel from her pack and set to work. But as soon as the blade bit into the earth, she felt an unusual resistance.

Raising an eyebrow in determination, Winnie slapped a charm onto the shovel’s surface. In the next instant, the ground yielded as if made of soft cheese, layer after layer peeling away effortlessly under her steady hands.

Before long, a chilling discovery was unearthed-a skull, stained a sinister shade of crimson.