A Ghost Needed Money for What?

"Which vengeful ghost are you? Are you from the Nine Nether Sect?" Zhao Po, using his position of power, interrogated the drowned ghost.

The drowned ghost shook his head vigorously, emphasizing that he meant no harm. "I came here purely by accident, really."

"I was originally a fisherman from the East China Sea. After drowning, I was filled with resentment and became a vengeful spirit. By chance, my corpse encountered a Yin Wind Stone, and I became a drowned ghost."

"The East Sea is boundless, teeming with all kinds of creatures, with schools of fish swimming around. I secretly absorbed the yang energy of various sea creatures, gradually improving my cultivation. From a drowned ghost who couldn't bear the sun, I advanced to a drowned ghost in the Qi Refining stage, gaining the ability to protect myself."

"After I protected myself, I relaxed and wandered around the East China Sea, occasionally leaping out of the water to scare people. I became bolder and bolder and wanted to go to the depths of the East China Sea that I dared not go in my previous life. As soon as I left the safe waters, I encountered a fish king weighing about 100 pounds. When it opened its mouth, it almost sucked me in."

"As soon as I saw that this was not going to work, I quickly ran towards safe waters and made up my mind not to leave the safe waters!"

"I cultivate slowly in the safe zone, absorbing the yang energy of the fish, and sometimes I steal the offerings from the fishermen."

"We fishermen have a tradition of offering sacrifices to the East China Sea. I even drowned, which shows that even offering sacrifices to the East China Sea cannot guarantee safety. So feel free to eat the offerings."

"Later, I didn't know what level I had reached in my cultivation. I just kept cultivating without paying attention to anyone. One day, I encountered a cultivator who wanted to capture me and refine me. I easily drove him away and obtained his storage ring and some Cultivation Method. After studying the Cultivation Method, I realized that I had reached the Foundation Establishment Late Stage. At that time, I had been dead for two hundred years."

"After knowing the direction of my cultivation, I continued to cultivate. Eight hundred years later, I finally reached the Nascent Soul Middle Stage. During this time, I never left the safe sea area."

"I originally planned to leave the safe sea area after reaching the Spirit Transformation stage, but I didn't expect someone to ambush me and slap me unconscious. When I woke up, I was already in this pool of water."

Lu Yang interrupted the drowned ghost's confession, "So you don't know who brought you here either?"

"Have no idea."

"What are the distinguishing features of that person?"

"Better than me."

"...Please continue."

"It took me several days to figure out what was going on. It turns out that this place is near Hanshui City in the Desolate State of the Great Xia Dynasty, which is the westernmost part of the Central Continent, separated from the East Sea by countless miles."

"I can't take a flying boat or anything like that in my condition, so I guess I'll just have to stay here."

"When I was scouting the area, I met a couple in Baishui Village. The man was called Liu San and the woman was called Huang Zao'er. This is the person." The drowned ghost pointed to the unconscious woman lying next to him.

"At first, the two of them were very scared of me, but later, seeing that I meant no harm, they became bolder and asked me if I could stage the scene of Huang Zao'er drowning so that they could defraud the insurance company and I could get a share of the compensation."

"I was penniless and desperately needed money, so I agreed to their offer."

"With my abilities, it would be very easy to create the illusion that Huang Zao'er drowned. The coroner wouldn't be able to tell the difference. After receiving the compensation, it would appear that Huang Zao'er was buried, but in reality, she was hidden with me."

"The couple planned to leave Baishui Village and move to another city after things calmed down."

"But I didn't expect that, right now, during the crackdown on ghosts, the imperial court is collaborating with some corpse-driving sect to specifically target me."

"I don't want to make a big fuss. I run away when I see people, and if I can't run away, I scare them away. I just scared away a Golden Core cultivator a few days ago, and now here are four of you Golden Core cultivators!"

The drowned ghost looked aggrieved; he had almost lost his life for a little compensation.

The four wouldn't just listen to the drowned ghost's side of the story. Lu Yang asked, "How did Huang Zao'er faint?"

"I knocked her unconscious. Letting her live freely in the water would consume too much of my Law Power. It's easier to just knock her unconscious and put a protective shield on her."

"Wake her up."

"OK."

The drowned ghost dared not disobey, and with a slight flick of its index finger, it awakened Huangzao'er.

Huang Zao'er was still dazed and didn't know what was happening when she saw four people and a corpse surrounding her, creating an incredibly oppressive atmosphere.

Huang Zao'er had never seen anything like this before. She answered every question, and what she said was pretty much the truth. It turned out that the couple had developed a wicked idea to commit insurance fraud, so they conspired with the drowned ghost to swindle the Chamber of Commerce's compensation money.

"That doesn't make sense either. What would a ghost like you need money for?" Meng Jingzhou narrowed his eyes, keenly noticing the logical flaws in the drowned ghost's confession.

The ghost's Yin Qi is too heavy, which will make mortals feel uncomfortable instinctively. The ghost is too conspicuous, making it very difficult to even enter the city. It requires a lot of effort to disguise itself, let alone buy things on the street.

As for going to the Chamber of Commerce, that's even more impossible. The Chamber of Commerce is full of cultivators who can see through the ghost's disguise at a glance.

Furthermore, how much compensation would a mortal receive? It wouldn't even amount to a few Spirit Stone. What use would a Nascent Soul Middle Stage ghost, a powerful being who could command the winds and rains in the East Sea, have for such a small sum of money?

Look at those three beautiful ghosts, Little Five, Little Six, and Little Seven. They go door-to-door providing services at night, working hard all night without getting paid.

"How dare you lie to us!" Meng Jingzhou's body blazed with fury, his eyes glaring at the drowning ghost.

"No, not at all! Even ghosts need money!" the drowned ghost cried out, trying to explain.

"Look, I'm a fisherman who drowned at sea. I've always lived in the sea and am a sea ghost. Now I've come to this cold pool. Although the Yin Qi is sufficient, it's still fresh water, and I'm not used to living here."

"I told Liu San and his wife that after they got the compensation money, they would use the money to buy salt and pour it into the pond, so that the pond water would turn from fresh water to salt water."

Lu Yang: "..."

Meng Jingzhou: "..."

Man Gu: "..."

Zhao Po: "..."

This was the first time they had ever heard of water ghosts being divided into seawater ghosts and freshwater ghosts.

Lu Yang secretly transmitted his voice to Zhao Po: "Your Desolate State has many ghosts. Have you ever heard of water ghosts being divided into seawater ghosts and freshwater ghosts?"

"Our desolate state is separated from the East Sea by an entire continent. This is the first time I've ever seen a ghost from the East Sea." Zhao Po felt that his knowledge was insufficient.

Man Gu were used to this, and even took pride in it.

Following Brother Lu and Brother Meng, I can broaden my horizons wherever I go.

The Immortal Fairy rolled around on the bed, her little feet kicking back and forth, mocking Lu Yang for his narrow-mindedness. "You're so ignorant! You've forgotten the two kinds of first-grade Golden Core I told you about, one called the Three Rivers and Five Lakes Pill and the other called the Boundless Ocean Pill. The biggest difference between the two is that one is made with saltwater and the other with freshwater!"

"My lord, didn't you use your hidden power to absorb the water from the pool? You'll know once you taste it!" The drowned ghost was still searching for evidence to prove that he was telling the truth.

Lu Yang asked with a dark expression, "Where did the fish in that pool go?"

"It's so salty!"

The second update will be before 11 PM.