What Does a Ghost Like You Need Money For?

"Which faction do you belong to, you fierce ghost? Are you from the Nine Nether Cult?!" Zhao Po blustered, borrowing the tiger's might to interrogate the drowned ghost. The drowned ghost shook his head vigorously, emphasizing that he harbored no malice. "My coming here was a pure accident, truly. "I was originally a fisherman in the East Sea. After drowning, unwilling to accept my fate, I turned into a vengeful spirit. By chance, my corpse came across a yin wind stone, and so I became a drowned ghost. "The East Sea is boundless, teeming with all kinds of creatures and shoals of fish. I stealthily absorbed the yang energy of various sea creatures, gradually raising my cultivation. From a drowned ghost that couldn't even bear the sunlight, I advanced to a Qi Refinement drowned ghost, gaining the ability to protect myself. "Once I had the means of self-preservation, I slacked off and wandered around the East Sea, leaping out of the water from time to time to scare people. As my courage grew, I wanted to explore the depths of the East Sea where I hadn't dared to go in life. But the moment I left the safe waters, I ran into a hundred-jin fish king that opened its mouth and nearly sucked me right in. "Seeing that this wouldn't do, I hurriedly scrambled back to the safe waters, firmly resolving never to leave them again! "I cultivated slowly in the safe zone, devouring the yang energy of fish schools and occasionally stealing the fishermen's sacrificial offerings. "We fishermen had the habit of making sacrifices to the East Sea. But since I'd drowned anyway, it was obvious those sacrifices did nothing to ensure safety, so I ate them without the slightest worry. "Later on, I didn't even know what cultivation realm I had reached. I just buried my head in cultivation, ignoring everyone. One day, I met an immortal cultivator who tried to capture me to refine me. I chased him off with ease, taking his storage ring and some cultivation manuals. Only after studying the manuals did I realize I had already reached late Foundation Establishment. By then, I had been dead for two hundred years. "Knowing the direction of cultivation, I continued to cultivate. Another eight hundred years passed, and I finally reached mid-Nascent Soul. Throughout that entire time, I never took a single step out of the safe waters. "I originally intended to wait until the Soul Formation stage before leaving the safe waters. But who would have thought—someone ambushed me and knocked me out with a single slap! By the time I woke up, I was already in this pool." Lu Yang interrupted the drowned ghost's confession: "In other words, you don't know who brought you here either?" "I don't." "Did that person have any distinguishing features?" "Stronger than me." "...Continue." "It took me several days to figure out what was going on. It turns out this place is near Hanshui City in Huangzhou of the Great Xia Dynasty, at the westernmost edge of the Central Continent, untold tens of millions of li away from the East Sea. "In my state, I can't ride a flying boat or anything, so I had no choice but to stay here. "While scouting the surroundings, I met a married couple in Baishui Village. The husband is named Liu San, and the wife is Huang Zao'er—this person right here." The drowned ghost pointed to the unconscious woman lying beside them. "At first, the two of them were terrified when they saw me. But after realizing I had no ill intentions, they grew bolder and asked if I could fake Huang Zao'er's drowning so they could commit insurance fraud and give me a portion of the compensation payout. "At the time, I didn't have a single copper and desperately needed money, so I agreed. "With my abilities, staging the illusion of Huang Zao'er drowning was child's play. Even the coroner couldn't tell real from fake. After getting the compensation, Huang Zao'er was supposedly buried on the surface, but in reality, she was hidden here with me. "The couple planned to leave Baishui Village and move to another city to live once the heat died down. "How was I supposed to know that right now is a period of strict crackdowns on haunting ghosts, and the imperial court is cooperating with some Corpse Driving Sect specifically to target me! "I didn't want to blow things out of proportion, so whenever I saw someone, I ran. If I couldn't run, I just scared them off. Just a few days ago, I scared away a Golden Core cultivator, and now four Golden Cores show up at once!" The drowned ghost looked thoroughly aggrieved. For a measly compensation payout, he had nearly lost his afterlife. The four wouldn't just take the drowned ghost's word for it. Lu Yang asked, "How did Huang Zao'er end up unconscious?" "I knocked her out. Letting her live freely underwater consumes too much magic power, so it was easier to just knock her out and put a protective bubble over her to save energy." "Wake her up." "Right away." Not daring to disobey, the drowned ghost lightly cast a spell, flicking a pinpoint of bright light from his index finger to awaken Huang Zao'er. Huang Zao'er was still groggy and had no idea what was happening, only to see four people and a corpse surrounding her with an overwhelming aura of intimidation. Having never seen such a terrifying setup, Huang Zao'er answered every question, and her story largely matched the ghost's: the husband and wife had harbored wicked thoughts of committing insurance fraud, so they colluded with the drowned ghost to scam the chamber of commerce out of the compensation payout. "Something still doesn't add up. What does a ghost like you need money for?" Meng Jingzhou narrowed his eyes, keenly picking up on a logical flaw in the drowned ghost's confession. A ghost's yin energy was too heavy, instinctively making mortals feel uncomfortable. Ghosts were far too conspicuous, making even entering a city exceedingly difficult and requiring immense effort to disguise themselves, let alone buying things on the street. As for visiting a chamber of commerce, that was even more impossible—chambers of commerce were full of cultivators who could see through a ghost's disguise at a glance. Furthermore, how much money could a mortal's compensation payout possibly be? Added together, it wouldn't even amount to a few spirit stones. Why would a dignified mid-Nascent Soul ghost, a figure who could call the wind and summon the rain in the East Sea, need such a pittance? Just look at the three seductive ghosts, Xiao Wu, Xiao Liu, and Xiao Qi. They provided door-to-door night service and didn't even ask for money after toiling all night long. "What nerve, still trying to fool us!" True Fire blazed around Meng Jingzhou as he glared fiercely at the drowned ghost. "I really am not! Even ghosts have things they need money for!" The drowned ghost cried injustice, hurriedly explaining, "Look, I was a fisherman who drowned in the sea and lived in the ocean all this time—I'm a saltwater ghost! Now that I've been brought to this cold pool, even though the yin energy is sufficient, it's freshwater after all. I'm just not used to living in it. "So I told the Liu couple that after they scammed the compensation payout, they should spend the money to buy salt and dump it into the pool! That way, the pool water could turn from fresh water into salt water!" Lu Yang: "..." Meng Jingzhou: "..." Man Gu: "..." Zhao Po: "..." This was the first time they had ever heard that water ghosts were divided into saltwater ghosts and freshwater ghosts. Lu Yang secretly sent a voice transmission to Zhao Po: "Your Huangzhou has a lot of ghosts. Have you ever heard of water ghosts being split into saltwater ghosts and freshwater ghosts?" "Our Huangzhou is separated from the East Sea by an entire continent. This is my first time even seeing a ghost from the East Sea," Zhao Po felt his breadth of knowledge was sorely lacking. Man Gu was already accustomed to such oddities, and even felt rather proud. Following Brother Lu and Brother Meng, one broadened their horizons wherever they went. Inside the spiritual space, the Immortal Fairy rolled around on the bed, kicking her little feet back and forth as she mocked Lu Yang for his narrow mindset: "Lacking knowledge, aren't you? Did you forget the two kinds of first-grade Golden Cores I told you about? One is called the Three Rivers and Five Lakes Core, and the other is the Boundless Ocean Core. The biggest difference between them is that one uses salt water and the other uses fresh water!" "My lord, didn't you suck up the pool water with your Universe in the Sleeve? You'll know with a single taste!" The drowned ghost was still scrambling for proof that he was telling the truth. With a darkened expression, Lu Yang asked, "Then where did the fish in the pool go?" "They all salted to death."