My Home Really Was an Instance

"Dad, is Brother Lin a good person?" Inside the shop, Song Ling had also been thoroughly confused.

"Yes." Song Jinnan and Wu Xiuxiu exchanged a glance and nodded firmly.

The world was too dark, and children lacked judgment. If she spoke without restraint and caused trouble, everyone would suffer for it. Better to let her live in a world of innocence.

[Deng Libuduo] set the remaining food and wine on the table.

Song Jinnan and his family stood in a corner, watching Lin Bai and Qingfeng Daoist nervously. All the arrogance they had shown while fighting [Long Xi] yesterday was gone.

Of course, their ghostly aura was gone too.

Apart from their feet not touching the ground, they looked like a perfectly normal family.

Qingfeng Daoist sat on the lame-legged stool, continuing to supply negative emotion points while also contributing another batch of imperfection points to Lin Bai.

Unable to beat Lin Bai in a fight or escape him, the Daoist had finally emerged from behind the Shield Armor Talisman to gamble on a slim chance of survival.

Only when he sat at the same table as Lin Bai did his anxious heart settle somewhat.

Heaven have mercy—he had never encountered such a shameless opponent in his life.

The holes in the table and the chopsticks of uneven thickness only assured him that he had made the right decision. Lin Bai was a lunatic. What normal person would turn his own shop into this wretched mess?

"Little Deng, don't just stand there. Sit down and eat with us." Lin Bai warmly beckoned to [Deng Libuduo], who stood nearby holding the wine jug.

"Master, you two talk. Your disciple will pour the wine." [Deng Libuduo] was exceptionally obedient. Even though Lin Bai had not acknowledged him, he already considered himself a disciple. He believed that one day, he would win Lin Bai over.

"You've been busy all day too. We're closed for the evening, so eat and drink your fill. Old Song can pour the wine. They don't need food or drink." Lin Bai smiled at Song Jinnan.

Song Jinnan gave a dry laugh, glanced timidly at Qingfeng Daoist, and floated over to take the wine jug from [Deng Libuduo]. "Mr. Deng, please take a seat. Shopkeeper Lin has shown us kindness. It's only right that we serve him."

With enough effort, even a ghost could become a waiter.

The beating Qingfeng Daoist had taken had not been wasted.

Lin Bai felt secretly pleased. He had to admit that with a high fortune stat, everything went smoothly.

[Deng Libuduo] did not hand over the jug. Holding it, he stood ramrod straight beside them and smiled. "Shopkeeper, you told me to hold myself to the virtue of a gentleman. Although you haven't accepted me as your disciple yet, in terms of rank, you are the shop owner and I am a shop assistant. Sitting at the same table as you would disregard that distinction.

"In terms of age, Qingfeng Daoist is my elder, and I am his junior. Sitting with him would upset the order between elder and junior. Your disciple cannot reach your level yet, so I will begin by disciplining myself through proper conduct. Thus, it is only right that I stand beside you and serve. Please don't try to persuade me."

What made a player? This was a player.

Once he knew the criteria, he put all distractions aside and focused entirely on completing the quest.

To pass Lin Bai's test as soon as possible, he had even begun imitating the way Lin Bai spoke.

What a star. You're learning fast!

Lin Bai gave [Deng Libuduo] an approving look. "Very good. Without rules, you can't draw a proper circle or square. Start with the little things, and in a few days, you'll qualify to enter my sect."

"Thank you for your praise, Shopkeeper. I'll work hard," [Deng Libuduo] said respectfully. An NPC is still an NPC. No matter how shrewd he is, he's bound by his underlying programming. It's just a game—how strict could it really be?

Qingfeng Daoist looked at [Deng Libuduo] in astonishment, then at Lin Bai, roaring inwardly, This is all a fucking act! Are you blind? At this rate, he'll become a gentleman, my ass. At most, he'll become a hypocrite...

Suddenly, a shiver ran through him, and he understood how Lin Bai's way of doing things had come about. Disciples trained by such a twisted sect would be strange indeed if their personalities weren't warped.

Lin Bai thought, That's exactly the effect I want. Even if it's an act, you'd better keep acting. As long as you can fool the system, you're a model of morality in my eyes, and my good disciple.

[Deng Libuduo] filled their broken bowls with wine, then stood to one side again.

Qingfeng Daoist sighed inwardly and raised his wine bowl. "A toast to you, Shopkeeper."

Lin Bai did not move. He looked at Qingfeng Daoist with a faint, knowing smile and tapped the table lightly. "Daoist shareholder, haven't you forgotten something?"

Qingfeng Daoist froze, put down his wine bowl, and took the bamboo tube stuffed with banknotes from inside his robe, his face aching with reluctance. He handed it toward Lin Bai, loath to let it go.

Lin Bai reached out to take it, but had to tug several times before he managed to pull the tube free.

The instant the bamboo tube left his hand, the muscles in Qingfeng Daoist's face twitched rapidly. He reached forward to grab it, but caught only air.

For a moment, he seemed to have had his soul drawn out. Looking at the bamboo tube in Lin Bai's hand, he closed his eyes in anguish.

"Daoist, don't be so reluctant." Lin Bai smiled at him, pulled the banknotes out of the bamboo tube, and counted them one by one. "In your hands, these banknotes stay dead, dwindling every time you spend them. In mine, they become a hen that lays golden eggs, multiplying more and more."

Qingfeng Daoist stared fixedly at Lin Bai counting the banknotes, bitterness filling his heart. So what if it lays golden eggs? The hen isn't in my nest anymore.

With the money counted and the assets pocketed, his steadily growing wealth made Lin Bai feel especially secure. Looking at Qingfeng, who seemed as though his father had died, he smiled and consoled him. "Daoist, don't look so mournful. Let me work it out for you. Today was our first day in business, and our net profit was twenty-five taels. At that rate, we'll make seven hundred and fifty taels a month, or nine thousand a year. You hold a ten-percent noncontributing stake, so your annual dividend will be nine hundred taels. You'll recover your three thousand taels in less than four years. Everything after that is pure profit. Doesn't thinking of it that way make you feel much better?"

Motherfucker!

Qingfeng Daoist's brow twitched violently, and he said urgently, "Shopkeeper Lin, that wasn't how you calculated it earlier! You clearly said the daily profit was fifty taels..."

"Daoist, at the time, you wanted to buy my shop. It's perfectly normal to charge a premium for such a profitable business." Lin Bai waved a hand. "Don't concern yourself with those details. Daoist, it took you until forty-five to save three thousand taels. Now you'll earn nine hundred in a single year. Just tell me—is that profitable or not?"

"It is." After supplying Lin Bai with another wave of negative emotions, Qingfeng Daoist forced himself to nod. Under another man's eaves, you had no choice but to bow your head. An annual dividend of nine hundred taels was no small sum.

"There you have it. Fighting and killing won't solve anything. Cooperation and mutual benefit are the path to lasting success." Lin Bai raised his wine bowl. "Come, Daoist. From now on, we're one family. Bottoms up."

With a complicated expression, Qingfeng Daoist raised his broken bowl, clinked it against Lin Bai's, and drained it in one gulp. At this point, only wine could ease his misery.

When he finished the wine and looked up, however, he discovered that the wine in Lin Bai's bowl remained untouched. His expression changed. "Shopkeeper Lin, you..."

Looking at Qingfeng Daoist, who had become a bird startled by the twang of a bowstring, Lin Bai lifted his bowl and took a sip. "Daoist, don't measure a gentleman's heart with a petty man's mind. I conduct myself openly and honorably. I wouldn't poison the wine. If I truly wanted to harm you, I would have set the fire earlier. Why go to all this trouble? I simply can't hold my liquor and cannot drink freely with you. I hope you won't take offense."

Though the words were unpleasant, the reasoning was sound. Qingfeng Daoist let out a defeated sigh and cupped his hands bitterly. "You have impressive methods, Shopkeeper Lin. I concede defeat."

Lin Bai smiled and returned the gesture, then picked up the uneven chopsticks and put a piece of beef into his mouth. "Daoist, now that we're one family, there's something I can't figure out. Would you enlighten me?"

Having already handed over the silver and drunk the wine, Qingfeng Daoist simply let go of his reservations. He motioned for [Deng Libuduo] to refill his bowl, downed it again, and wiped the wine from his beard. "Please ask, Shopkeeper."

"Old Song's family are clearly ordinary ghosts. I can't see anything special about them. Back then, Daoist Li could have delivered them and sent them on to reincarnate, earning merit in the process. Why did he have to trap them here for ten years?" Lin Bai asked. "And don't give me any nonsense about becoming spirit cultivators. I don't believe it."

At those words,

Song Jinnan and his family all pricked up their ears.

"Why ask when you already know, Shopkeeper Lin?" Qingfeng Daoist gave an awkward chuckle and looked around. "Didn't you open a shop here with the same aim as the Returning Dragon Temple?"

"What aim?" Lin Bai asked.

"You truly don't know, Shopkeeper Lin?" Qingfeng Daoist frowned.

"To be honest, Daoist, I took over this shop because my senior brother said there was an opportunity here connected to me. I really don't know what it is." Lin Bai casually spun a lie and cupped his hands. "Please enlighten me."

"Your senior brother certainly has a keen eye." Qingfeng Daoist picked up a piece of meat and tossed it into his mouth, then snorted. "This place is a Spirit Realm Rift. It'll open in seven years. Isn't that a fine opportunity?"

A Spirit Realm Rift?

What the heck was that?

An instance!

Lin Bai froze.

[Deng Libuduo]'s eyes lit up. He had hit the jackpot.

"Understand now?" Qingfeng Daoist smiled faintly. "Three years ago, my grandmaster's junior brother wandered through here and was invited by the local neighborhood head to catch ghosts. He saw at once that this place was a rift leading to the Spirit Realm. Afraid that recklessly revealing it would stir covetous desires on all sides, he decided to handle it quietly, using the ghostly aura of Song Jinnan's family to conceal the leaking spiritual energy. He had intended to leave a few benefits for our sect's disciples ten years later. Who would have thought it still wouldn't escape your senior brother's discerning eye..."