Kong Fan sighed as he spoke. If he had known the place was like this, he never would have bought it. He must have used up eight lifetimes' worth of bad luck.
Cultivators' money didn't grow on trees. He had taken out a mortgage to buy this place.
And he couldn't sell it on to some unsuspecting victim.
Now he didn't even dare go home. The moment he stepped inside, the Poverty Ghost took his money.
What a nightmare.
He hoped the Celestial Master from Dragon-Tiger Mountain and the helper she had brought could solve the problem.
"Okay, leave it to me." Zhou You loosened up, preparing to take on the Poverty Ghost one-on-one.
"Do you have one of those talismans you used to seal the Sight-Obscuring Ghost last time? Give me one."
When he and Su Tingxue had dealt with the Sight-Obscuring Ghosts last time, Zhou You had eaten one, while Su Tingxue had sealed the other.
Su Tingxue blinked and handed him a yellow talisman. "You need this? Aren't you just going to eat it?"
Zhou You shook his head repeatedly. The Poverty Ghost was so terrifying that he didn't dare sink his teeth into it.
"The Poverty Ghost is stronger than a Sight-Obscuring Ghost. You have to subdue it before you can seal it," Su Tingxue warned. Sealing the Poverty Ghost wasn't that easy. It was nimble and resistant to talismans, or she would have sealed it yesterday.
Kong Fan handed over a flashlight. "I couldn't afford the electricity bill, so they cut the power. It's pretty dark inside."
Zhou You: "..."
Weren't these conditions a little too grim?
Taking Su Tingxue's talisman and Kong Fan's flashlight, Zhou You went upstairs and opened the front door.
Zhou You switched on the flashlight. Kong Fan's home was filled with all sorts of bottles and cans, all delivered by courier.
The bottles bore labels reading "East Sea seawater," while the cans were called "Tibetan Plateau air."
Zhou You imagined Kong Fan must have had a breakdown when those packages arrived. He probably wanted to strangle the Poverty Ghost.
Had the Poverty Ghost been taken for a sucker while alive, so now it cursed others to become suckers after its death?
Zhou You shook his head and stopped trying to make sense of the Poverty Ghost's logic. He searched around with the flashlight.
"Any ghosts here?"
"Carrying a talisman? Another Daoist?" A gloomy voice emerged from the darkness, sounding half like laughter and half like sobbing. Zhou You immediately aimed the light toward it.
A skeletal middle-aged man leaned against the wall, disheveled yet perfectly at ease, blending into the darkness. Under the flashlight's beam, his figure looked insubstantial, almost transparent.
"Judging by your eyes, you can see me?" the Poverty Ghost asked with a laugh, its voice rasping and grinding like a worn-out machine.
"Poverty Ghost." Zhou You hadn't expected it to stand there without making the slightest effort to hide.
"Daoist, anyone richer than me deserves to die!" The Poverty Ghost's expression filled with venom at the sight of Zhou You.
Why? Other people lived such dazzling lives, especially these young people, brimming with energy and bright futures. Why was it alone plagued by misfortune, unable to make any money its entire life, abandoned by its wife and children, even disowned by its parents?
Money. It was all because it had no money!
It would curse everyone to suffer the same fate!
The Poverty Ghost activated its ability, then was stunned when it saw Zhou You's money.
Not a single cent!
No money in his pockets, and none on his phone either!
"Never mind. You can go." For the first time, the Poverty Ghost had met someone poorer than itself. It felt sorry for Zhou You and wanted to let him off.
It had at least had a couple of coins in its pocket when it died.
"I'll beat you to death!" Zhou You flew into a rage.
The Poverty Ghost moved nimbly and unpredictably, dodging Zhou You's fist.
While alive, it had dodged creditors chasing it for repayment. After death, that had mutated into an ability that made it difficult to catch.
"No, you have money! You transferred your assets beforehand!" The Poverty Ghost spotted Zhou You's little trick.
Through its eyes, it could see a faint thread attached to Zhou You. It was so well concealed that it hadn't noticed it at first.
A thread like that meant someone had transferred their money under the pretense of lending it out.
So he came prepared. I knew nobody could possibly be this poor.
He has some brains, but how could a petty trick like this fool me?
The Poverty Ghost attached its consciousness to that barely visible thread and was stunned once again.
Only fifty yuan?!
Has this Daoist fought other Poverty Ghosts before?
Whatever. You're not keeping that fifty yuan either!
It could make money burn spontaneously.
The Poverty Ghost's consciousness sped along the thread, reaching No. 2 Middle School in an instant.
During study hall, the Female Emperor was playing Gomoku with the Pen Fairy.
They had drawn a grid on the back of an exam paper with a gel pen, then used a pencil to mark Xs and Os for black and white stones. After finishing a game, they could erase the Xs and Os and play another.
The Pen Fairy had never played before. The Female Emperor had taught her.
"I win." With five black stones in a row, Chu Xiaoyao calmly declared her victory.
Of course, she wrote those words on the paper.
Talking wasn't allowed during study hall.
Nuomi pouted. She had already lost several games in a row. The Female Emperor was so good.
"Huh?"
Nuomi rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things.
Without any warning, she saw a thread suddenly extend from the fifty-yuan note in the Grand Supreme Elder's pencil case.
The thread stretched out through the window, its other end leading somewhere unknown.
She sensed intense malice coming from it.
"Shoo, shoo."
As though swatting a fly away, Nuomi reached out and snapped the thread.
"Aaaah-"
Struck by an attack of unknown origin, the Poverty Ghost had its thread severed, and its consciousness was instantly yanked back in front of Zhou You.
Waiting to greet it was a fist capable of twisting off a bottle cap one-handed.
The Poverty Ghost took a heavy blow and staggered back several steps.
Seriously, at least attack with a talisman! What kind of Daoist punches ghosts?!
That single blow told the Poverty Ghost it was no match for Zhou You. It had never been good at fighting anyway.
I can't beat him, and he has no money. Where did this Daoist come from? He doesn't have a single weakness!
Still, the Poverty Ghost didn't panic. This was its home turf. It could pass through walls and hide whenever it wanted, dragging things out forever. Could this Daoist afford to keep that up?
The Poverty Ghost's figure flickered. It passed through the wall behind the television, moving from the living room into the bedroom, and Zhou You lunged at empty air.
Several times in a row, Zhou You watched the Poverty Ghost escape right in front of him, unable to catch even the hem of its clothes.
Zhou You finally understood the Mighty Warrior's fury upon seeing him. Being unable to catch someone weaker than yourself really was infuriating.
"Kid, stop wasting your energy. Get as far away as you can! You'll never catch me!" The Poverty Ghost laughed wildly from a bedroom away.
A cold, sinister voice sounded behind the Poverty Ghost, making its hair stand on end.
"Caught you."
Two large hands covered the Poverty Ghost's eyes. It violently twisted its head a full hundred and eighty degrees. In the pitch-black darkness, Zhou You stood silently behind it.
The Poverty Ghost's heart stopped.
Terrified, it hurriedly fled through the wall.
Before escaping, it looked back toward Zhou You. He remained where he was, his mouth opening and closing without making a sound.
The Poverty Ghost understood what Zhou You meant.
He was saying, "Can. You. Really. Escape?"
The Poverty Ghost passed through a wall into another room, staring fixedly at the pitch-black doorway and panting raggedly. The last glimpse of Zhou You kept flashing through its mind.
"Let's see how you show up this time!"
Its vision went black again.
"I told you. You can't escape."
The Poverty Ghost tried to flee again, but Zhou You was tired of playing. He planted his large hand over its face and slammed it into the floor with a crash.
Ordinarily, ghosts could pass through floors, but the Poverty Ghost couldn't leave this apartment. It was pinned firmly to the floor and beaten.
Zhou You's punches were heavy and powerful. A single blow battered its entire face.
Seizing the opportunity, Zhou You stuck the talisman onto the Poverty Ghost's face, eagerly expecting to draw it inside. He felt he was doing a convincing job, enough to count as a Daoist.
Nothing happened.
"Huh?"
Zhou You remembered what Su Tingxue had said when she handed him the talisman: he had to subdue the Poverty Ghost before he could use it.
Does this still not count as subduing it?
After thinking it over, Zhou You experimentally continued beating the Poverty Ghost until it was barely clinging to life.
The Poverty Ghost shakily raised a hand in surrender. "Wait! Whatever you want to ask, I'll talk."
Ask what? Zhou You had nothing to ask, so he kept beating the Poverty Ghost.
Fragments of the Poverty Ghost's soul scattered and drifted toward Zhou You's mouth, making his stomach growl with hunger.
I'm so hungry. Maybe just one bite?
Before you continue