I'm Broke

"Boy, what are you running for? Is your ancestor really that scary?" The voice had barely reached his ears when the young man in white appeared before Li Yichen.

"G-g-great-grandfather..." Li Yichen forced out a smile that looked worse than crying, then asked miserably, "You're not here to take me down there, are you? I haven't lived long enough yet."

Li Yichen felt utterly miserable. Being poor was bad enough—did he have to die young too?

The Ghost Emperor Haoran slapped him on the head in irritation. "Who said I was taking you down there? I just came to have a look around the mortal world."

Hearing that, Li Yichen immediately stopped being afraid. "Oh, so that's all it is! You scared me to death."

The Ghost Emperor Haoran rolled his eyes at him. "Tell Great-Grandpa, what's your name?"

"My name is Li Yichen."

"Radiant brilliance lights the Northern Star; starlight flows and shines upon grand verse." The Ghost Emperor Haoran praised him. "A fine name."

Then he continued, "Let me ask you: after a thousand years, how many people are there in our branch of the Li Family? Why are you the only one here? Where are the others?"

"They're gone. I'm the only one here." The mention of "a thousand years" left Li Yichen stunned and dizzy, with only one thought in his head. My great-grandfather is a thousand-year-old ghost?

"Hmm?" The Ghost Emperor Haoran frowned at once and said unhappily, "Those unfilial descendants! Only a thousand years have passed, and they already dare disobey me. They nearly ruined my pursuit of the Heavenly Dao. Truly unfilial!"

"Um... G-great-grandfather..." Looking at the young man before him, who appeared barely twenty, Li Yichen found the word "great-grandfather" rather hard to get out.

"Hmm? What is it?" The Ghost Emperor Haoran looked at him, his expression softening considerably. If not for this boy, who knows how many more years I would have had to wait to reach the Ghost Emperor realm? I must nurture him properly.

"You may have misunderstood. What I meant was, aside from my dad, I'm the only young man left in the Li Family," Li Yichen hurriedly explained.

"What?" the Ghost Emperor Haoran asked in disbelief. "You mean there are only two people left in my line, including your father?"

"Yes, you heard right. That's how it is." Li Yichen felt helpless too. Over a thousand years of upheaval, countless bloodlines had died out. Heaven had already shown them mercy by leaving even him in their branch.

"How is that possible? A thousand years ago, the Li Clan was so prosperous! How could it have dwindled to this?" The Ghost Emperor Haoran's face was filled with disbelief, his expression desolate. "Even if I've become a Ghost Emperor, what does it matter?"

For a thousand years, aside from pursuing the Heavenly Dao, the thing he had found hardest to let go of was the continuation of his bloodline.

"The swallows that once nested in the halls of noble houses now fly into the homes of common folk." Seeing his genuine sorrow, Li Yichen could not help sighing too. "How much can change in a thousand years? You should know better than I do."

"Especially during that catastrophe in China a few decades ago. Countless families were completely wiped out in that war."

He saw that the Ghost Emperor Haoran remained silent, his head lowered as though lost in grief. Suddenly, he felt the temperature around him plummet, and goose bumps instantly covered his exposed skin.

Then something white seemed to drift past his eyes. What's that? Goose feathers? he wondered. But he could not move, so all he could do was swivel his eyes as hard as he could.

He soon found out what it was, because something white landed on his exposed skin, cool to the touch and carrying an icy chill.

It's snowing? And it's fucking coming down in huge flakes? Li Yichen was nearly scared to death. This was Jinling, and it was only late August, when temperatures could climb above thirty degrees Celsius. Who would believe it could snow in weather like this?

Even back home in Hebei, it could not possibly snow at this time of year.

But he soon noticed something strange. Although snowflakes were drifting from the sky, they seemed to fall only within a hundred meters of them. There was not a single snowflake anywhere else. It was unbelievably bizarre.

He was no fool, and he immediately figured out the key point: this strange snowfall had to have something to do with his Great-Grandpa.

As shocked as he was, he grew increasingly excited. Looks like this Great-Grandpa I've stumbled into is no ordinary guy. If I can wheedle a few goodies out of him, won't I be set for life? Mwahahaha...

Did he say "Ghost Emperor" just now? What's a Ghost Emperor? The more Li Yichen thought about it, the more excited he became.

Suppressing his wild delight, he hurried to reassure him. "Great-Grandpa, you can't just compare us with the best. You have to look at those worse off too. Sure, there aren't many people left in our branch, but some bloodlines have died out completely. You should count your blessings. At least Heaven left you one last sprout like me."

This time, the Ghost Emperor Haoran finally responded. He raised his head and looked at Li Yichen, the confusion in his eyes giving way to clarity, then, surprisingly, to a hint of fervor.

His stare made Li Yichen uneasy. If he had not been unable to move, he would have wanted to run.

"You're right. Heaven has still left me a seed." The Ghost Emperor Haoran suddenly smiled. "As long as the Li Family still has a male descendant, and as long as I'm here, our bloodline will never die out." With that, he waved his hand. Li Yichen felt his whole body relax, and he could move again.

As the Ghost Emperor Haoran's mood settled, the snow immediately stopped falling and the temperature rose rapidly. Soon, the snow on the ground melted into water, leaving not a trace behind.

Li Yichen nearly drooled at the sight. If I could do that—oh man, wouldn't that be awesome? I could whip up a little romance whenever I wanted, and those pretty girls who haven't seen much of the world would fall right into bed with me!

"As the bearer of our clan's bloodline, I hereby declare, as your Great-Grandpa, that your most important duty is to carry on the Li Family line." The Ghost Emperor Haoran paid no attention to his little fantasies and issued the order outright.

"Huh?" Li Yichen immediately gaped. Am I going to become a breeding stud? Happiness seems to have arrived a little too suddenly.

"What do you mean, 'huh'?" The Ghost Emperor Haoran rolled his eyes in displeasure. "What? You're not willing?"

"You don't think carrying on the family line is easy, do you?" Li Yichen had grown bolder now, and his speech became more casual. I'm the last sprout, after all. I'm precious.

"Is it complicated?" the Ghost Emperor Haoran asked matter-of-factly, not considering it a problem at all.

"I can't give birth myself, can I? I need a partner, don't I?" Li Yichen explained helplessly. "I'm completely single right now. I don't even have a girlfriend."

"Then why aren't you hurrying up and finding one?" With the continuation of the family line at stake, the Ghost Emperor Haoran immediately grew serious.

"You make it sound so easy!" Li Yichen said with a miserable expression. "I'm flat broke. Who would want to be with me?"

Then he simply took off his shoes, revealing socks riddled with holes, and said woefully, "I'm so poor I'm practically begging for food. How would I have the money to support a girlfriend?"

"Then what do you suggest?" The Ghost Emperor Haoran thought he had a point. Back in his day, he had been a wealthy young master and could have as many women as he wanted. Although times had changed, things were probably still much the same in that regard.

"How about giving me some money?" Li Yichen asked tentatively. "I don't need much. Just eight or ten thousand taels of gold would do. That shouldn't be hard for you, right?"

Then, under Li Yichen's eager gaze, his great-grandfather's pale, handsome face visibly reddened. At last, his lips moved, and he managed to get out a few words. "I'm broke."