Ge Feng's words left Chen Miao stunned.
One corpse, one tael of silver, one Calamity-Guarding Object.
Chen Miao suddenly understood why a tael of silver was so hard to earn, yet seemingly every household in the Mortal World owned a Calamity-Guarding Object.
The more he thought about it, the more formidable this rule of the Demon-Suppressing Bureau seemed.
What family never lost anyone, whether to old age or an accident?
As long as someone died, they could receive a tael of silver.
That silver could improve their lives, but presumably few people would spend it that way.
With that tael of silver, they no longer had to fear a wandering ghost suddenly entering their home one night.
With that tael of silver, they gained a respite in which to live in peace and work toward earning the next one. Even if they failed to save enough before danger arrived... as long as another person died, they would receive another tael and another period of safety. The implications were chilling, but wasn't this a different kind of "ancestral protection"?
Of course, where there was a bright side, there was also a dark one.
Chen Miao thought of the corpses in the abandoned village.
Calamity-Guarding Objects could ward off ghosts, but not people whose hearts were as monstrous as ghosts.
If someone powerful harbored evil intentions, ordinary people would become their "silver in reserve."
Still, Chen Miao felt that since the Demon-Suppressing Bureau dared to establish such a rule, it must have measures to curb such things. Otherwise, the world would never have retained the order amid chaos that he had seen.
But would wealthy households with no shortage of money follow this rule too?
And why did they pay to collect corpses? Was it merely to give ordinary people a chance