The Hardworking Female Ghosts

"You say the mayor knows about this? Do you dare come with us to see him?" Li Haoran didn't believe their lies and hoped to see fear in their expressions.

Unfortunately, no.

The four humans and three ghosts waited all night in the dilapidated temple. Just before dawn, as the moon gradually emitted a soft halo and transformed into the sun, they set off for the mayor's location.

Ancient Locust Town is famous for its locust trees, which can be seen everywhere. They are all old trees, and the thickest old locust tree is so thick that three Lu Yangs cannot wrap their arms around it. The white-clothed female ghost, who calls herself Xiao Qi, said that this old locust tree is over a thousand years old, older than the town itself.

The locust tree is shady, so the whole town has a gloomy atmosphere, which is very cool and makes it a good place to escape the summer heat.

Of all the towns Lu Yang visited, Guhuai Town was the largest.

Moreover, Guhuai Town is thriving and will grow even bigger in the future.

After identifying themselves to the yamen officials, the town mayor quickly came out to greet them. The mayor was somewhat wealthy and always had a smiling face.

"I never expected Ask Dao Sect to come here. I am so sorry for not welcoming you properly." The town mayor apologized as soon as he saw him, adopting a very humble attitude.

Lu Yang noticed that the town mayor had the Foundation Establishment Late Stage.

The town mayor noticed the three female ghosts behind the four people, his expression changed slightly, but he quickly regained his composure and said politely, "My surname is Fan, and my given name is Fan Guiren. You can call me Xiao Fan."

"Please come in, all four of you."

"Mayor Fan, you're too kind." Lu Yang took a sip of the tea Mayor Fan poured, nodded slightly, and said, "Hmm, I can't tell what kind of tea it is."

"Mayor Fan probably knows why we're here: we want to understand the origins of these three female ghosts."

"As expected." Mayor Fan was dejected. To be honest, he didn't really want to talk about this, but since the people from the Ask Dao Sect came to ask, he had no choice but to answer.

"Does Mayor Fan know about these three female ghosts sucking people's yang energy?" Lu Yang went straight to the point.

"I know. A traveler came to me to report that a female ghost was sucking people's yang energy in a dilapidated temple outside the town. When I heard about this, I thought it was serious and immediately took people to check it out."

"When I arrived at the dilapidated temple, I realized that Xiao Qi and the other two ghosts were not the kind of evil ghosts that would drain a person's yang energy in one go, but rather good ghosts who had no intention of harming people."

"Back then, Guhuai Town wasn't as bustling as it is today. I wanted to develop the tourism industry and increase the town's income, but a bunch of locust trees alone wouldn't attract enough people."

"I thought of a female ghost. To be on the safe side, I even checked the laws and regulations. I found that the laws only prohibit female ghosts from absorbing yang energy so as not to cause harm or affect people's normal lives, but they don't completely prohibit female ghosts from absorbing yang energy."

"The female ghost absorbing yang energy doesn't count as prostitution, which means the traveler doesn't even have to pay."

"Furthermore, the tax regulations do not state that ghosts need to pay taxes for absorbing yang energy."

"After careful consideration, I decided to use a female ghost as a gimmick to promote Ancient Locust Town. And you know what? It worked quite well. Many travelers came seeking romantic encounters, and the town's income visibly increased. With the local finances improving, the county rewarded me, and I was financially well-off. So, I smoothly cultivated to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage."

"The county government originally intended to promote me, but being a town mayor here, with food, drink, and Spirit Stones, is much better than being a subordinate in the county, so I declined."

"Even if I'm promoted to the prefecture level, I'll wait until I reach the Golden Core stage before going." Mayor Fan has a very clear plan for his political career.

The three female ghosts nodded repeatedly after hearing this, indicating that they were innocent and good ghosts.

"Wait, if this is a good thing, who was it that asked our sect for help, saying there was a female ghost here?" Meng Jingzhou wondered.

This mission wasn't discovered by the sect itself, but rather someone reported it to the Ask Dao Sect.

Competitors?

Does this industry have competitors?

Mayor Fan was also surprised. He thought that Lu Yang and his two companions had just happened to pass by, discovered the female ghost, and then exorcised the demon.

How could it be that someone reported it?

"Mayor Fan, do you have any leads?"

"Not yet... By the way, can I ask what the mission statement says?"

"It means that there is a female ghost in Guhuai Town who sucks away people's yang energy, causing the scholar to become listless and lethargic."

Mayor Fan's expression was strange.

"Does Mayor Fan know what happened?"

Mayor Fan nodded. "The Xiucai family has a son, everyone calls him Xiao Zhou. Xiao Zhou's academic level is average, and he has failed the Xiucai examination several times."

"But Xiao Zhou's mother always felt that it was because Xiao Zhou kept going to see the female ghost that he was distracted by her, which made him lack energy and not study hard."

"Xiao Zhou's mother came to me, hoping I would punish the female ghost, but everyone knows Xiao Zhou's academic performance is poor. He's playful by nature and can't concentrate on his studies. He has absolutely nothing to do with the female ghost."

"I just thought she was throwing a tantrum and ignored her. After Xiao Zhou's mother left, several people attributed their children's failure to pass the imperial examinations to the female ghost, but I refuted them all."

"I never expected them to be so persistent, taking this matter all the way to the Ask Dao Sect."

Mayor Fan sighed, "Xiao Qi and the other two have already done their utmost in this matter."

The white-clad female ghost, Xiao Qi, said, "Our three sisters were afraid that this matter would become too big and let the righteous path know of our existence, so we summoned the poorly performing scholars in the town to the temple and gave them lessons."

"We three sisters all came from scholarly families, so we were more than capable of teaching them."

"If they do well in their studies, they get a reward; if they don't do well, they don't get a reward. Under this reward and punishment system, their grades have improved by leaps and bounds."

Lu Yang looked the three female ghosts up and down. The red-clothed female ghost's lips were swollen like sausages, so let's leave that aside for now.

The white-clad and green-clad female ghosts were both beautiful and dressed in revealing clothing, each possessing their own unique charm. How could those scholars possibly concentrate on learning from them?

Oh, right, there's no reward if you can't concentrate on learning.

"The scholars are also willing to learn in this way. Take yesterday as an example, there was a once-in-a-decade torrential rain, and it was as dark as night during the day, but Xiao Zhou and others were still willing to brave the rain to listen to our lectures. They studied until the rain stopped before they left the temple, exhausted."

"I never imagined that despite all our efforts, their parents would still report us." Xiaoqi felt that life was hard; it's not easy to live, and it's not easy to die either.

Lu Yang concluded, "So you run a private school during the day, teaching students, and then wander around the town at night, absorbing yang energy at inns?"

"Yes."

Lu Yang and the other two felt ashamed upon hearing this, as the female ghost was more diligent than all three of them.

Qin Yanyan listened with amazement, "So this is what ghosts and monsters are like?"

Xiao Qi continued, "That's not all. Seventy percent of the yang energy we absorb has to be handed over to the government, and only thirty percent is ours."

"Huh? Who are you handing it over to?" Lu Yang wondered, since the imperial court didn't need yang energy.

"He's our superior, we all call him Master Mi. Master Mi also said that there are some treasures left behind by the previous leader in Guhuai Town, and he told us to keep an eye out for them."