A Huge Haul

Thinking of how twenty-three sticks of Spirit Incense had gone just like that, Qin Yang's heart ached. There was a Mass Burial Ground west of Green Forest City, along with a graveyard that had existed for at least several thousand years. Ghosts were plentiful there, and there were quite a few cultivators who controlled and raised ghosts. Spirit Incense was in high demand.

From purchasing the materials for a stick of Spirit Incense, to finishing the incense, then air-drying and nurturing it, even with his decent craftsmanship, it would take at least a month before the finished product was ready. One hundred First Grade Spirit Stones per stick, no bargaining. This was a high-end product in the general store, the pillar that held it up.

In the blink of an eye, more than two thousand spirit stones were gone. Qin Yang's liver trembled with pain...

After calculating it briefly, nearly a month's profit had vanished just like that.

And with that stick of Bodhi Incense mixed among the Spirit Incense, forty days' worth of profit was gone...

Now, looking at the pile of ghosts sprawled across the ground, Qin Yang could not help feeling his anger surge. He wanted nothing more than to kill these ghosts...

Unfortunately, that was all it was—a thought. Spirit Incense truly benefited ghosts, but these ghosts were clearly a bunch of paupers. They had probably never been so extravagant before. With stick after stick of Spirit Incense being lit, they surely did not know that inhaling too much at once brought great benefits, but it was also like getting drunk, muddling their minds and sending them into a deathlike stupor.

On top of that, the Bodhi Incense, when used together with it, greatly catalyzed the effects of Spirit Incense. The benefits were greater, but the incense intoxication would be even more severe.

If Spirit Incense had not needed time to take effect, he would not have dared use it until he got here, after the ghosts had let down their guard...

"Though the investment was not small, the harvest is not small either. Harvest season has arrived, and the farmer uncle reveals an honest smile..." Qin Yang pursed his lips and snickered as he walked through the courtyard, gathering every Storage Bag from the ghosts.

After casually opening a few, Qin Yang curled his lip.

"They really are a bunch of poor ghosts..."

He opened several at random. The Storage Bags contained only some First Grade Spirit Stones, or some low-grade medicinal herbs produced near the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb. They were herbs suited to growing in environments thick with Yin Qi, and none were of high grade. At most, they were worth a few dozen spirit stones.

Put together, they were not even worth as much as the Storage Bags...

Qin Yang could not be bothered to look any further. After putting them all away, he took a bone urn from his own Storage Bag. The urn was dull gray, as though covered in a layer of dust. It looked utterly inconspicuous, yet it was a genuine mid-grade Magical Artifact, the best Magical Artifact Qin Yang possessed.

He had gotten it previously from opening equipment. Its name was the Bone Urn of the Ancient Ghost. Apart from storing ghosts, it had no other use. He had wandered through the Mass Burial Ground before and captured some wandering souls, but their price had been too low—not even enough to cover his trouble. To catch Ghost Soldiers, he would have to enter the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb's territory, where the risk was too high. In the end, the bone urn could only gather dust in his Storage Bag...

Who would have thought it would prove so useful this time...

"Low-grade Ghost Soldiers, average price fifty spirit stones. Mid-grade Ghost Soldiers, average price two hundred. High-grade Ghost Soldiers, average price five hundred..." Qin Yang muttered as he picked Ghost Soldiers off the ground and tossed them into the bone urn. Once he had thrown every ghost in the courtyard into the Bone Urn of the Ancient Ghost, he roughly calculated the total value and could not stop himself from beaming.

"I've really struck it rich this time..."

He turned and walked to the rear courtyard, where he looked at the female ghost sleeping soundly facedown on the bed and sighed regretfully.

What a pity this female ghost had already reached the Ghost Soldier realm. Once she woke up, the bone urn likely would not be able to suppress her. With over two hundred Ghost Soldiers of varying strength inside as well, they would surely break the urn and escape. Then he would be finished...

A Ghost Soldier—and one like her, practically no different from a living person, clearly with exceptional aptitude—would start at no less than three thousand spirit stones...

What a pity...

While lamenting inwardly, Qin Yang casually took the Storage Bag she had set aside, one that looked like an embroidered pouch, then wrote a note and placed it on the table before leaving without looking back.

Knowing when to stop was the only way to live longer. If he got too greedy, it might truly cost him his life.

After leaving the manor, he found a few more ghosts sleeping themselves dead at the entrance. Their strength was too low, so Qin Yang could not be bothered collecting them. He lit a stick of ordinary incense, and once the smoke shrouded him, he broke into a mad dash.

Before long, thin mist drifted about, and the manor behind him vanished with it. In its place stood an eerie, bizarre tomb, with stone beasts guarding either side. The tomb doors ahead stood wide open. Only after exiting through them and walking down a passage over a dozen zhang long did he return to the surface.

When he looked back, he saw a small ceremonial archway over a zhang tall above the tomb, bearing the three words: Tomb of the Virtuous Consort.

"Imperial Concubine De?" Qin Yang paused slightly, wondering to himself. There was no mortal kingdom within three thousand li of Green Forest City. Whose consort was this Imperial Concubine De?

The thought flashed through his mind, and Qin Yang cast it aside. He quickly left the place. When he reached the edge of the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb, he casually found an open patch of land and buried his two previous clients there.

After finishing everything, Qin Yang hurried out of the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb and followed the small path back into Green Forest City.

This time, he did not return directly to West City. Instead, he took a detour through South City and arrived at a secluded coffin shop.

"Old Ghost Hei, I've got goods." At his low shout, an old man with a gloomy face and dressed in burial clothes emerged from the back. Yin Qi curled around his entire body, making him look nothing like a living person.

Yet Qin Yang knew perfectly well that, according to rumor, Old Ghost Hei had maintained this appearance of someone about to step into a coffin for decades. Supposedly, several decades ago, Old Ghost Hei had already put on burial clothes and made himself a coffin, simply waiting to breathe his last...

Unfortunately, after all those decades, Old Ghost Hei still looked the same. Everyone had long since ceased finding it strange...

Qin Yang had come to Old Ghost Hei this time because he was a middleman who specialized in trading ghosts and had a good reputation. Moreover, Qin Yang's shipment this time was rather large. He did not trust anyone else, but Old Ghost Hei was the most trustworthy. After all, if those Ghost Soldiers woke up, that would be real trouble...

Qin Yang casually set the Bone Urn of the Ancient Ghost on the table, then took a step back to indicate that Old Ghost Hei should inspect it himself.

Old Ghost Hei placed a hand on the bone urn. In just a few breaths, his drooping eyelids, which had seemed half-dead, abruptly lifted. His eyes gleamed as he looked at Qin Yang, and a sinister smile appeared on his lips.

"A big deal indeed..."

"Name your price."

"One hundred sixty-three low-grade Ghost Soldiers, thirty-two mid-grade Ghost Soldiers, and nine high-grade Ghost Soldiers. Eighteen thousand spirit stones, plus a free piece of advice. How about it?"

"Deal." Qin Yang roughly calculated according to the average prices. The offer was not outrageous; Old Ghost Hei had to make some profit too.

"Straightforward. My advice is that you should never go to the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb again. Otherwise, you'll die a very ugly death..."