New Year's Big Shopping Spree

Annual market.

The sky gradually darkened.

Lights flickered on one after another, creating a great atmosphere.

Seeing that there were still people selling lanterns, Ning Jiaojiao bought one and continued shopping with Ning Zheng.

"I just don't know why the night market shops all love to use red lanterns?"

Ning Zheng mused as they walked, "It makes even the air turn red, making this ghost market at night feel very eerie."

Logically, the remnants should follow the patterns of their former lives.

During the annual market in life, the lanterns should have been colorful, so why do the lanterns after their death all tend to be red?

To help set the mood?

To scare people better, to eat people?

But it couldn't be like that.

Because none of them thought they were dead, nor did they consider themselves ghouls.

Honestly, this wasn't very scientific!

Could it be that after death, they all became red-green colorblind, and therefore could no longer distinguish colors?

So they all uniformly used red lanterns?

Then, they not only had a cognitive deficit regarding "death" but also a cognitive deficit regarding "color"!

Perhaps there was another possibility.

Was it their craving for blood that made them sensitive to red?

Just like some carnivorous animals in nature, such as sharks, which become frenzied upon sensing blood.

He browsed the market, his mind wandering, delving into science.

Mainly because Ning Jiaojiao had dragged him from day to night, leaving him with only his thoughts to pass the time.

For a moment, Ning Zheng felt that his second body shouldn't be for cultivation, but for his feet.

After all, his mortal legs were getting a bit tired from walking.

After a day of shopping, Ning Jiaojiao had bought quite a lot, even a small cart, which Ning Zheng was responsible for pulling behind her.

Not much money was spent.

And Ning Zheng approved of many of the things purchased.

Clay pots and bowls were practical items, and they indeed needed to stock up.

They, the dead, bought them just for fun, bound by the "logic of their former lives" like puppets, but he, the living, truly needed pots and bowls.

"Right, let's go buy clothes."

Ning Zheng suddenly remembered that they did need to buy a batch of the simplest clothes.

After all, it was almost New Year's.

Since they were already out shopping, as the Manor Lord, he should buy some new clothes for his employees, right?

The previous clothes were old ones left by the slave blacksmiths on the mountain, and they were almost used up. When the blacksmiths were revived, they would need a new batch of clothes to wear.

Before, the Money Boy and Money Girl didn't distinguish between genders, but now there were humans.

They still didn't distinguish between genders.

This was Little Ai's suggestion.

The Little Ai assistant had said at the time, "Give them a few cuts to process them, they'll love it! Otherwise, it might not pass the review in their world."

Ning Zheng naturally followed the suggestion; Sword Forging Manor should focus on pure love.

"You want to buy clothes? Go to Sister Er Niu's place!" Ning Jiaojiao said, "It's cheap and good."

After bypassing several streets, Ning Zheng arrived at a shop.

A woman was sewing clothes by the entrance, with clothes hanging inside.

Inside, vibrant red wedding dresses, red robes for grooms, casual wear for scholars, and various ethnic minorities' metal headdresses were displayed, a rich variety that dazzled the eyes.

The ghost tailor was called Er Niu. There was no difference between her life and her death.

Except for a slight fondness for eating people, she sewed clothes day in and day out, in a monotonous routine.

Because there was no meat to eat, her instincts made her stuff her bubble cavity with layers of cloth bandages.

She was essentially a cloth person, appearing eerily strange.

In fact, most bubble spirits who couldn't make ends meet and had no meat to eat did this to have a physical sensation.

Filling their empty bubbles with things related to their obsessions in life could also be turned into attack methods.

It could be said that most poor ghosts who couldn't afford to eat in life would also be poor ghouls who couldn't afford to eat after death.

Sure.

Only cultivators who have opened three flowers can cover their eyes with spiritual energy to see her true form.

Entering the shop.

Ning Zheng, who had no desire to browse, didn't even glance at the exquisitely sewn clothes. He directly and with great wealth pointed to the most ordinary style and said, "Give me two hundred sets of these coarse linen clothes."

Er Niu was stunned. "So many? I don't have that much in stock."

"It's fine, I'll pay a deposit, and you can start making them. I'll pick them up later." Ning Zheng offered two magic coins as a deposit.

He wasn't afraid of her running off with the money.

Following the logic of his life, the embers were an honest person who kept his promises in life, and he would surely be an honest ghoul who kept his promises in death.

Of course, that was except when he was having an episode.

As for these clothes having a deathly aura, like burial items?

Could they reduce lifespan or be unhealthy for the living if worn for too long?

Ning Zheng figured those blacksmiths wouldn't care.

They all seemed to wish for a bad end rather than a long life anyway.

It was good enough to have clothes to wear!

"Do you want cloth shoes? With so many clothes, you can't go without cloth shoes."

Er Niu took out a pair of thick cloth shoes, speaking softly, "I sewed these myself. The soles are sewn with three layers, stitch by stitch, they're very sturdy."

"No, thank you," Ning Zheng shook his head.

"Then straw sandals?" Er Niu saw it was a rare big order and said, "These are even cheaper."

Ning Zheng shook his head again. Although he really wanted to do some serious shopping and buy them as New Year's gifts, he truly didn't need them.

It wasn't that straw sandals were too expensive, it was that the blacksmiths liked walking barefoot, feeling close to the earth, and sometimes even taking a bite.

When he was on the mountain, Ning Zheng would occasionally see a few squatting in a corner, wiggling their butts and burying their heads in the dirt to gnaw away, a rather peculiar sight.

"Then do you want bamboo baskets?" a deep, hoarse male voice came from next door.

Next door was the bamboo basket shop.

It displayed bamboo baskets, bamboo beds, and bamboo mats, run by Er Niu's husband, Brother Li, a bamboo craftsman.

Under his spiritual eyes, a lifelike bamboo effigy also came out to greet them.

After bidding farewell to the couple, he placed the clothes on the pushcart behind him.

Ning Zheng was bored at the moment, wondering if he should go to the bookstore to take a look and buy some books for the young blacksmiths on the mountain.

After all, they seemed to enjoy reading.

With the New Year approaching, he should also give some benefits to the people in the manor, clothes, books, they weren't worth much.

"Yes, I should buy some."

"With their easily satisfied nature, bringing them a gift will probably make them happy all day."

He had a good impression of the bookstore.

Years ago, it was in the ghost bookstore, which was considered extremely ominous, that he found a treasure, obtaining many basic cultivation methods, which led him to start cultivating.

Because it was a prosperous era of the Immortal Path, much basic knowledge and miscellaneous talks were quite common among mortals. After all, scholars bought their books from bookstores.

Having made up his mind, Ning Zheng prepared to take Ning Jiaojiao there, considering it the end of his day's activities. Suddenly, he spotted "Su Yu Niang" in the bustling crowd.

Ning Zheng couldn't help but freeze, thinking, Why did Su Yu Niang come down from the manor? And to the night market here?

He looked closely at the rice flower hair on her head, which was filled with a familiar shadowy aura.

The good news was that it had actually worked.

The bad news was that she was actually dead.

However, could the shadow spirit rice grown from a dead [ember] still be eaten?

If it could be eaten, then this would be a walking, humanoid spirit rice.

Spirit rice, perhaps it was about to be completed!

"Jiaojiao, do you want bait when we go fishing?" Ning Zheng asked, pulling Ning Jiaojiao, who was walking ahead.

"Yes! Could the market be selling bait now?"

Ning Jiaojiao, holding a chicken cage in her left hand and a lantern in her right, said, "I just had a feeling I'd struck gold today."

"It's almost evening, and it's not safe. That sister clearly looks like she's from out of town and has nowhere to stay. Let's trick her into coming home with us," Ning Zheng said with a gentle smile. "She can help us fish at night as payment for lodging."

Ning Zheng suddenly realized it.

He had been wondering what opportunity the annual market held, and which of the villagers were so kind.

So the opportunity was you.

No wonder Ning Jiaojiao's luck had surged by over 100 points, because the bait she longed for had appeared.