Specializing in fishing for ghosts that crave human essence!
Lin Chen had Sun Erniang receive customers in the inn while he hid in a shadowy corner.
Before long, a customer arrived.
A Starved Ghost with a belly as big as a drum, legs thin as poles, and a throat fine as a needle came tottering through the door.
Sun Erniang welcomed it with a smile. "Honored guest, our inn has fine wine and meat. If you'd like a snack, we also have big, fluffy mantou!"
But the Starved Ghost ignored her and went straight toward the steamer of Meat Buns in the front hall.
As it turned out, the Starved Ghost was the lowest-level ghost, possessing no intelligence at all and driven only by its hunger.
Seeing that her first customer had no "oil" to squeeze from it, Sun Erniang found it rather boring;
She took a sharp boning knife from the workshop on the second floor and swept forward.
Bone Chopping Saber Technique activated. After a few chops, she cut down the Starved Ghost and collected a Bloated Corpse (White) material.
Lin Chen was in no hurry. The night was long; there would always be a big fish.
After chopping up several low-level little ghosts in succession, a Bloody Yin Wind suddenly swept in, rousing Sun Erniang's spirits;
Having likewise experienced countless Bloody Wind and Rain, Sun Erniang knew that some ruthless character who had killed countless people had arrived.
A tall woman in black bent down and entered the inn. She wore a hat and a mask, wrapping her face up so tightly that not even her features could be seen.
Sun Erniang still greeted her with a smile. "Honored guest, would you like some Meat Buns~?"
The woman in black revealed only a pair of wide-open eyes and said, "Mm, they smell great!"
Mother Yaksha asked, "Honored guest, how many would you like?"
The woman said, "I have a huge appetite. Bring me as many as you have."
Sun Erniang smiled. "Please eat to your heart's content. If they aren't enough, I'll make more for you on the spot!"
Then she brought over a dozen steaming-hot white Meat Buns and arranged them on the table.
Sun Erniang stood by attentively, waiting to see whether the woman had any other requests.
The woman in black first removed her hat. Just as she was about to take off her mask, she said:
"Do you want to watch me eat? I have rather ugly table manners."
Sun Erniang replied, "Since you have no further instructions, I'll take my leave for now."
But the woman in black grabbed Sun Erniang and pressed her. "Why aren't you watching me anymore?! Are you looking down on me?"
Resentful ghost energy began gathering around the woman;
"You're not allowed to leave. Stay here and watch me eat!"
Without caring whether Sun Erniang was willing, the tall woman removed her mask...
Revealing a gigantic mouth split open at the corners!
The grotesque mouth stretched all the way to her earlobes, like a huge, winding black centipede;
She was actually a Slit-Mouthed Woman!
Sun Erniang's brows furrowed. She yanked her hand free with her other hand, retreated several steps, and warily stared at the Slit-Mouthed Woman.
The Slit-Mouthed Woman temporarily ignored Sun Erniang, instead captivated by the fragrant Meat Buns on the table.
This was the effect of Sun Erniang's Skinning and Mincing. The resulting "Ghost Meat Buns" were extraordinarily alluring, stealing the female ghost's attention.
The Slit-Mouthed Woman lifted the entire large bowl. Her bloody maw opened and closed like a black hole, swallowing all dozen-plus buns in a single bite!
What an appetite!
Next, the Slit-Mouthed Woman turned toward Sun Erniang and asked:
"Do you think my table manners are beautiful?"
Sun Erniang had already been cursing inwardly. This wicked female ghost isn't here to court death—she's here to toy with me! She's practically a moth flying into the flame, provoking the fire to burn her!
"Are my table manners beautiful?"
"Are my table manners beautiful?"
"Are my table manners beautiful?"
The Slit-Mouthed Woman advanced step by step, demanding an answer with every sentence!
The resentment around her had already gathered to its thickest. She would not stop until she received an answer!
Seeing that Sun Erniang still refused to answer her question, the Slit-Mouthed Woman began to transform;
She opened her mouth as wide as possible, baring her fangs as though she meant to devour a person, and charged forward;
"Do you think I'm ugly!? Then I'll make you look like this too!"
Sun Erniang clapped her hands. "Then let you see what our inn is capable of! Uncle, please make your move!"
The female ghost's split mouth snapped shut, but it did not bite Sun Erniang. Instead, it bit down on a Peach Wood Club thrust across its path!
It was Wu Song, who had taken action after advancing to a blue card.
The Peach Wood Club's exorcising effect burned the Slit-Mouthed Woman's mouth terribly, forcing her to spit it out at once.
Wu Song said coldly:
"You ate your meal. Did you pay?"
The Slit-Mouthed Woman had transformed to the extreme. Ignoring everything else, she opened her enormous mouth even wider and tried to swallow Wu Song's entire head!
The next moment, Wu Song sent her flying out of the inn with a single blow.
Wu Song carried the club outside and said:
"My elder brother said that fighting isn't allowed inside the inn. If you break the furniture, you won't be able to afford the compensation!"
The female ghost then drew two bloodstained blades, traced a semicircle through the air, and slashed toward Wu Song's face;
Wu Song moved with nimble footwork and slipped sideways past the attack. Then he gathered his strength and swung the club;
Exorcism Heavy Club activated!
It struck the Slit-Mouthed Woman squarely on the forehead. The power that shattered evil left her dazed and senseless.
Then Wu Song tossed aside the club, grabbed the female ghost, and said:
"Since you didn't bring any money, then pay with your life!"
After several punches, he beat the Slit-Mouthed Woman's mouth crooked and face askew, scattering her ghost energy.
After Wu Song dealt with the female ghost, Sun Erniang came out with a smile. "Uncle, thanks for the effort. Leave the rest to me."
The Mother Yaksha gathered up the two daggers and lifted the Slit-Mouthed Woman's body. She could not help praising it. "So plump—and such fine meat filling!"
And so, Sun Erniang solicited customers while Wu Song took action;
The good materials were kept, while the inferior ghost corpses were dragged by Sun Erniang to the second-floor "Flesh Workshop" to be processed into buns.
Slaughtered, made, and sold on the spot!
Fresh ingredients guaranteed!
The front hall of Happy Forest on the first floor also triggered the Flesh Fermentation trait: the wine vats absorbed the residual flesh and produced 2 portions of "Burning Saber Fiendish Wine."
Lin Chen discovered a business opportunity!
Ordinary ghost corpses could be bought for several thousand yuan per jin on the market;
But "Burning Saber Fiendish Wine," an alcohol-type item with the properties of restoring health and dealing Killing Intent damage, was worth at least tens of thousands.
Lin Chen's flesh-based black inn had actually become an entire processing industry chain!
Using cheap, worthless ghost corpses and fermenting their flesh into the more valuable "Burning Saber Fiendish Wine."
This business was anything but a loss!
Unfortunately, the ghost corpses in the card shop were all too poor in quality, and most of them had already "gone sour," making it difficult to trigger Flesh Fermentation.
Fresh flesh was still needed to have a high chance of producing "Burning Saber Fiendish Wine"!
Lin Chen noted down these market insights, further enriching and perfecting his "Black Inn Economics."
Moreover, as Sun Erniang continued slaughtering chunks of meat, she accumulated dense blood energy and Killing Intent.
It even faintly stirred the starlight in the heavens. A fierce Baleful Intent descended, landing on the Crossroads Slope Skinning Yaksha - Sun Erniang card.
The card's Descending Evil Star trait also changed—
Sun Erniang, the Earth Fiend Evil Star, descended into the world as an Earth Fiend Star. She was the star governing fierce slaughter, possessed high spirituality, and could accumulate blood energy and Killing Intent to advance.
The card's star rank also rose from two stars to three.
Lin Chen clicked his tongue in amazement when he saw this. What astonishing upgrade speed!
That was right!
Sun Erniang was different from the two Heaven Dipper Stars, Wu Song and Lu Zhishen. Sun Erniang was an Earth Fiend Star.
The Heaven Dipper represented the momentum of yang essence, governing righteous and fierce power;
The Earth Fiend represented the energy of yin and evil, governing matters of fierce slaughter.
Their advancement paths were actually different!
Wu Song and Lu Zhishen had to practice chivalry, display divine might, and retrace the path of heroic epic before they could draw down astral radiance;
Sun Erniang, on the other hand, only needed to kill!
The more she killed, the denser her Killing Intent!
The more flesh and blood she had, the faster she advanced!
She was remarkably similar to those Ghost Cards that demanded enormous prices—but Lin Chen's version happened to be the lossless edition.
Lin Chen compared and calculated. "Compared with the Heaven Dipper heroes, the Earth Fiend heroes are much quicker to cultivate! But their ceiling is definitely lower too."
That did not matter, though. Lin Chen did not treat Sun Erniang as a main battle card. She did not need an especially high ceiling; being able to advance sooner and become combat-ready was already a good thing!
"All I need from her is that knife of hers—for now, it's fast enough and ruthless enough!"
Seen this way, Sun Erniang might be the card with the fastest upgrade speed in the short term!
Before you continue